Radeon took in his surroundings. Readiness hung in the air, sharp and heavy, as if a grand assault were about to begin right in front of him.

Cultivators sat in their individual tents, qi circulating around them as they pushed toward the most optimal state for battle.

Only a few guards of gilded core roamed freely outside. Everyone present understood that the coming battle would be a high level one.

A medical practitioner beckoned him toward a large tent with a simple point of her finger. No greeting. No small talk. Her intent was clear.

Inside, the woman formed hand seals and called on the power of earth and nature. Her palms swirled with a vibrant green hue as she channeled the energy.

She drew a symbol of balance in the air, then let the power flow into Radeon's wounds. Scabs formed in an instant, old cuts tightening as if weeks had passed.

Radeon stood steady. His aim was to stay. To listen. To gather the gossip of those who had been hit too hard on the front lines.

"I want to visit the injured commander. May I know where his tent is?"

The woman hesitated. As a medical practitioner, she had no real reason to refuse him. In the end she only sighed and pointed toward a ward grander than the rest.

There, Radeon tried to pull aside the curtain. A layer of qi shielded the entrance, humming against his fingers. Someone inside was guarding a secret.

"The honorable one's tent seems closed," he muttered.

Radeon bowed to the medical practitioner and left. He kept to the shadows. He did not let the captain see him. Nor any member of the crew.

He circled the medical tent and ran his fingertips along the heavy fabric walls, feeling for the places where qi pooled and twisted to hide the truth.

Finding his mark, he sent out a threads of his own qi on the ground. Imperceptible tremors crawled along the earth. The vibrations shimmered back to him like a record played straight into his ears.

"The Hemal Tithe Cult's main sect was on central plain of Emperia was it not? What are they doing in these backwaters?"

"I say they are building a weapon out there. They move too sneaky. Too secretive."

"The higher ups might be involved, our lives despite reaching gilded core are but fodder and…"

"What was it?"

The two voices went silent at once. A palm stroke pierced through the cloth, but Radeon was long gone. Long enough to hear their small conspiracies.

'Those private tent's looked nifty, might as well refine this trunk in it.'

He strode toward the shattered ships where he knew the captain would be, ready to ask for a few hours with the tent.

The captain stood near the ruined pilings, watching the galleon rise again plank by plank. Hammer blows rang in the distance while sawdust mixed with the air.

"Captain, you staying here" Radeon asked.

The captain did not answer with words. He only nodded, eyes far away. Radeon could not tell what ran through his mind.

"You are a gilded core, right. Let me borrow your tent."

"Sail Knife. I lost my pouch."

Radeon's mouth curled into open disdain that he wore like a mask he had practiced. In the old man's memories the captain had been a gambler to the bone.

That history folded neatly behind Radeon's eyes while he played the righteous first mate that would assist his captain.

"I... I felt someone steal it," the captain said. "I did not gamble it this time."

"Let me rest in your tent. You have lost much more before. What is the point of mulling over it now"

The captain fished out his token and pressed it into Radeon's hand. He still looked miserable over the lost spirit stones, yet no doubt flickered in his eyes as he surrendered the right to the tent.

Radeon hurried off and carried the small tree trunk into the cultivator's tent. Inside, one could see an array etched onto the floor, built so that cultivators could absorb the energy of heaven and earth without pause.

He checked each brushstroke of the lines. Simple and crude, yet it did its job well. Thinking quickly, he left the small trunk inside the tent and stepped back out, feet already searching for what he needed to modify the array.

Radeon headed toward the spot where the array experts worked, busy weaving a massive formation into the camp itself.

He did not dare draw close. He only walked the outer edge of their work zone, boots crunching on gravel.

He did not want his face remembered, least of all by array masters whose memories were sharp as blades.

'Array copper paint goes to the east tent. The west tent holds the elemental stones. Brushes in the north. Servants and guards moving in and out of the south.'

"Disappear," he whispered.

His form blurred and vanished from regular sight as the invisibility took hold.

Radeon went for the brushes first, the least interesting item in any warrior's eyes.

His invisible hand snatched ten at once. He tucked them into his cloak and slipped out of the tent.

He ducked behind another tent and let the invisibility drop. The world sharpened, colors in body gaining weight again.

He glanced at the three low-grade spirit stones attached to his cloak that powered its ability. Two of them still shimmered faintly. The last was nearly opaque, its light choked to a dull obsidian.

"Around an hour. Maybe a bit more," he murmured.

Radeon went next for the paint. The bucket sat in the open, the metallic smell of array ink stinging his nose.

He pulled out two lengths of cleaned pig intestine. Their openings swallowed the paint fast as his qi pushed it along.

When both skins sagged heavy with stolen copper paint, he left the bucket half-full and darted away toward the final target.

At the elemental stones, he stopped. Here, he would need more than quick hands. A guards stood watch, his aura muffled.

Even so, Radeon knew he was a gilded core. The air around him felt dense, like standing too close to a storm.

He had no confidence, the guard wouldn't suddenly turn stupid just because he wanted to walk past him.

Radeon took cover behind a nearby tent and changed his face. Bones shifted under his skin as he molded his features into Giovanni's.

He rubbed his hands over his cheeks until the new face felt natural, then started jogging in place to summon sweat. Soon his breath came fast and ragged, shirt clinging wet to his back.

He pulled out a middle grade spirit stone. Its brightness lit his palm, pure and tempting.

A single one like this was worth a thousand low grade counterparts. Enough to make even a gilded core think twice.

The guard stood firm, eyes sharp, watching for anyone who might try something clever.

In his view, a sturdy young man staggered closer, drenched in sweat, face drawn with exhaustion.

"Sir... Sir..." Radeon wheezed.

"What is it, boy. Speak your mind. What urgent business do you have with me"

"Medical... Tent... Commander... Is..." Radeon forced out, cutting his words short, making his speech clumsy.

"What did he say?" the guard muttered.

Radeon raised the middle grade spirit stone. He widened his borrowed eyes and let naive eagerness creep into his expression. The heavy glow of the stone threw strange light over his face, making the moment feel secret.

"He told me. If I gave you this. You would know immediately."

"Shush," the guard hissed. "Alright. Alright. I got it. Lower the stone."

He looked around to make sure no one else had noticed the fortune in Radeon's hand. Then he leaned closer and dropped his voice.

"I have a fresh set of uniform inside. Take it and stand guard for a while. The time it takes a cup of tea to cool is all I need."

"I understand, sir," Radeon said. He tried to put real excitement into Giovanni's voice.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.