Based on Soren’s ‘Intelligence’ stat right now, the wooden dome could easily stay intact for around thirty minutes. On top of that, it's defensive and healing capacities had also increased significantly. If its glaring weakness was not taken into consideration, then this would be one of the most powerful spells that Soren had. But obviously, that weakness was something that could not be ignored as it could cost Soren his life in a battle. So, given those facts, this spell had currently become just a secondary spell for him that he used only outside of battle or in special circumstances; like now.

The defensive power of this wooden dome was not something that weak Beasts like Stone Hounds could break through. After realizing this fact, a wave of relief spread through the people inside the dome. Soren was also standing in there with these people, totally unfazed by the looks of admiration and gratitude that was evident on their faces. In fact, the only reason he had done this was so that he wouldn’t have to deal with all the Beasts outside; he found it tiresome. By doing this, he not only completed his obligation towards the mission but was also able to stay where he wouldn’t be bothered by the small-fries.

………..

While Soren and the merchant group were being attacked by the Stone Hounds, two people dressed in white robes arrived in Eastwood. Both these people looked to be around sixty years old and had silver-gray hair; one had it cropped short while the other’s was of average length.

As they entered the town which had no guards to spare for the main gate now, they were startled at first and then became confused. They had been traveling for quite some time now and had not received the latest news. As such, they had no idea what had happened to Eastwood; hence, their confusion. So, to properly understand what had happened to the town, they decided to visit City-Guard’s Barracks first.

Things had settled down quite a bit and the town had also started to recover from the bloodbath that Soren had left in his wake. The only thing people remembered about that day now was the black-armored knight wielding a large black broadsword with a tattered cape flowing behind him; surrounded by hundreds of undeads. This image of Soren’s Forsaken Knight had already become the source of nightmare for many people living in Eastwood. In the end, they had given him a name that spread around the area like wildfire; Black Demon. Of course, these people were not aware that the Black Demon who had given them nightmares upon nightmares was, in fact, created by someone else. Most of those who knew about this were already dead, and those who still lived made a unanimous decision to not reveal anything about it to anyone.

But because this incident had involved the death of so many Rank 1 Initiators at once, it caused a huge splash in the Stuteron Kingdom. As such, the decision-makers of the kingdom were left with no choice but to act and send out an investigation team. And given that there were living witnesses of this incident, it didn’t take long for this team to conclude that the culprit was a Rank 1 Necromancer wearing a cat-shaped mask; they had not blamed this on Soren as they had no concrete proof that it was him under that mask. As a result of that, a sketch of Soren’s alias Zero with the cat-mask had already been issued with a bounty of 3000 Middle-Grade Mana Crystals.

……

The white-robed old men sat in their chairs while deeply pondering about all the information they had just received. The reason they had to come to this backwater town was that this was the last known location of a missing person from their Organization. Of course, this missing person did not have such importance in the Organization that these two high-ranking Initiators had to look for him personally. The thing that made these Initiators move was actually the Initiation Stone that the missing person was supposed to bring back to the Organization.

This Organization that these two people belonged to was called ‘Blinding Sun’. It was a cult type of Organization that put the Light Element above any other; they basically worshipped the Light Element. Although ‘Blinding Sun’ still had people with different elemental affinity among its ranks, they belonged to the lowest hierarchy level. And for some reason, one of those people who belonged to this lowest hierarchy level was actually sent to buy the Initiation Stone that was supposed to be auctioned in this town. In the end, that Initiation Stone had allowed Soren to complete his Initiation process and become an Initiator.

After finding out all the details about Soren and thinking it through, the two old men finally decided to not pursue this matter anymore; they had been given the authority to decide such things. The main factor that influenced their decision on this matter was the probability of Soren being the one who did this to Eastwood town and killed that many Rank 1 Initiators at once; things had been exaggerated after going through many versions but these two truly understood the underlying terror of such power. And it was just an Initiation Stone, after all; it was not worth it to make an enemy out of such a person for an item which they could never retrieve. And like that, this matter came to an unexpected close; of course, the death of the red-haired man had been completely ignored by these two old men as they didn’t deem his death worthy enough of their time.

………..

It didn’t take long for the Initiators to take care of all the Stone Hounds. And because of Soren’s defensive spell, no one amongst the core group was injured; the Stone Hounds never even reached them. This was the best scenario that they could hope for in case of an attack.

“You have our deepest gratitude, Sir.” Hamish deeply bowed in front of Soren and thanked him with a grateful expression. He then faced the other Initiators who had fought the Stone Hounds and repeated the same action.

Now that the issue had been solved, everyone started to clean up the area with a smile on their faces; after all, this was easy money for them. After cleaning the dead bodies of everything that could sell well, the Initiators and the maids began to pack up; it was time they left this place as the blood could attract more trouble.

Soren also walked back to his carriage with Argus in tow and went inside to rest. He was a little tired after practicing his spells for so long, so he wanted to take a nap.

…..

Two days after the incident with the Stone Hounds, the group finally arrived at Kilguard. The low ranking Initiators excitedly got off their carriages after they gained entry into the town, raring to go and have some fun. Soren also got off and decided to look around the town on his own; the group was scheduled to leave on the day after tomorrow so he had enough time on his hand.

Looking around, Soren found that this town was much more developed than the last two that he had been to. Even the level of lifestyle seemed much higher here; people walking on the streets here wore expensive clothes and had exorbitant accessories on them. But of course, Soren knew that these things could not set the level of a town. Only the amount and rank of the Initiators residing in that place could determine whether it was truly high class or not.

“Can I come with you?” Suddenly, Olivia came into his line of sight as Soren was checking out the town. For some reason, this Rank 1 Initiator had been really impressed by his action of protecting the ‘weak’ when he had used his <Withering Wood> and had decided to become friends with him. Soren already found her annoying before, but after that day, her actions had become the main cause of his headaches.

“No.” Soren’s answer was straightforward. He really didn’t want to deal with her. If he had the option to, he would have chosen to abandon the mission. But as it was hard to find any other similar mission, he had to stick with this; no matter how much she annoyed him. Of course, he was planning on going to the Hunter’s Association once to check if they had any other similar missions; the possibility was low but he still wanted to confirm.

After rejecting her, Soren walked away leaving behind a pouting Olivia. She then muttered something with an inaudible voice as she saw Soren walk off into the distance. Apparently, Soren had underestimated the level of impression that he had left on her. Though, this could not be blamed on Soren as he could never have guessed the reason why she had become so infatuated with him.

Not knowing and also not caring about what was going on in Olivia’s mind, Soren walked towards the Hunter’s Association. This time, because of his eye-patch, he had no trouble asking people for directions as he easily reached the building. It took him about five to ten minutes to completely check the mission lists before walking out with a slightly disappointed expression; he really couldn’t find a mission that could take him to his destination. And so, he now had to continue his current one if he wanted to reach his destination without any hassle.

Coping with his disappointment, he decided to look for a big shop where he could buy what he wanted to. If this town had a branch of ‘Myriad Items’, he was planning on going there; after all, he had their membership card which came with many benefits.

……..

Soren walked towards the biggest pub in the town after asking for directions. He had already bought what he needed from the ‘Myriad Items’ branch and was now moving towards the pub which seemingly sold the ‘Freezing Lava’; he had really been craving for that. He had actually thought before that this drink was only sold in that club in Eastwood. As such, he was really surprised when the shopkeeper recommended this after knowing that Soren was looking for a pub.

As for the items he bought, when Soren was looking through the list before, he had unexpectedly found a middle-grade cultivation technique that focused on ‘Agility’ and ‘Vitality’ stats. Although it was quite expensive, he had immediately bought it; much to the delight of that young shopkeeper. Apart from that, Soren had also bought different spell vessels of defensive spells to study their basic structure; though, he had removed the spells from his Soul Form after recording their spell formation. And as for his hopes of getting a good staff in this town, he was disappointed on that front; there was nothing there that really made him want to spend on it.

After buying what he needed, Soren had walked out and moved towards the pub that the shopkeeper had recommended. He had to stay in this town for a while so he was also planning on looking for a place to spend the night; of course, after he had satisfied his craving first.

……

The sky became darker as the winter sun went down after releasing a bright and warm afterglow that seemed like a sign of its reluctance.

Soren was currently sitting comfortably on a sofa while enjoying the silent and dim atmosphere in the pub with his drink—Freezing Lava; the soothing music running in the background made his mood even better. A red tint had already appeared on his face which was a clear sign of him being drunk. Apparently, the ‘Freezing Lava’ here was a little different than the one that Soren had drunk last time; this one had Mana infused in it. And so, without knowing it, Soren became a little tiddly.

“Soren, you should have invited me if you were planning on drinking.” Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, Olivia had also found her way there. A deep frown appeared on Soren’s face as he looked up towards her; although he had started to feel a little tipsy, he was still well under control.

“I was about to leave. Have a good night.” Soren said in an annoyed tone as the serene atmosphere that he was enjoying was now destroyed.

“Please listen to me. I have a proposition for you.” Olivia didn’t give Soren a chance to leave and just sat down on the sofa opposite him.

Given her actions so far, Soren had already deduced that she wanted something from him. So, he reluctantly decided to get it over with once and for all as he said, “Go ahead.”

“From what I saw before, you seem like a really good guy. Your actions of helping the weak in need really impressed me. So, I wanted to ask something of you. I hope you don’t reject me,” Olivia spouted some nonsense at first but then got to the main point.

“I am hoping that you become my fake husband for some time.” However, that main point was something that almost caused Soren to spurt out the drink in his mouth.

“You are joking, right?” After calming down from his initial shock, Soren asked incredulously.

“Not at all. My family actually wants me to marry someone for political reasons but I don’t want that. So, in a fit of anger, I said that I already have someone that I like and ran away from home. And I want you to be that someone and marry me; only for some time, of course.” Seeing the weird expression on Soren’s face, Olivia decided to explain everything in detail.

“And what do you expect my answer would be?” Soren asked as he completely sobered up, much to his annoyance.

“Of course, it would be ‘yes’,” Olivia replied with a confident tone.

“Too bad, it’s a ‘no’.” Soren was starting to get really irritated at this point.

“Why would you reject me?” Olivia asked back with a confused expression like she didn’t understand Soren’s thought process at all.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Soren frowned and put down his glass on the table, getting ready to head out of the pub.

“Soren, you are weaker than me. With your cultivation level, shouldn’t you be tactful enough to not reject someone who you can’t beat?” Olivia said as she started releasing her aura.

“Take it however you want to, I am leaving.” Soren got up from the seat and started walking, completely ignoring the aura that was meant to suppress him.

“You’ll regret this decision.” Seeing him leave like that, Olivia finally couldn’t control her temper and threatened him outright.

Soren suddenly stopped in his tracks as he heard those words. He then turned around and brought his face close to Olivia’s ears. His warm breath hitting her ear started to fluster Olivia as she then heard him whisper,

“Don’t give me a chance, Olivia; because I’ll slit your throat in a heartbeat.”

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