They're coming.

* Remaining time: 64:35:21 *

* Underground slave warehouse near the town square of the Valley City. *

[A successful heart transplant may be able to remove the constraint of the heart.]

'Heart transplant? Like I've got one in my pocket.' Aiden frowned in his heart, 'Is there no other way?'

[The water mage may be able to remove the constraints.]

'A water mage?' Aiden knew about the healing properties of the water. Healing was not Alex's strong point, but Sara is a full-fledged water healer. But the ESS had a different idea.

[A water mage of level 4 is required]

'Level Four? They're only found on the planet Will. How am I going to find one here?' Before he could curse out, he was stuck with an idea, 'No, it might be possible. I should find a way to escape.'

Up until now, what Aiden had understood about the slave tattoo was that Lord Arcid was the only person he had to obey. It might have been because the blood used to brand him was Arcid's. On the other hand, he would have no difficulty fighting or resisting others.

'I've got to escape as soon as I can.' Making his mind, he was quick to check the surroundings.

There wasn't much of anything in the room in which he was kept. There was nothing other than the mana crystal light on the roof and the empty cage on the edge of the room. The door to the room was made of wood.

Although he didn't know what was waiting outside, Aiden didn't have a problem escaping it. But the problem was the cuff that tied him to the wall.

He could feel that some kind of mana was flowing from the cuffs to his body. And it was stopping his wind mana from circulating inside him. Before he could think of a way to escape it, the door of the room opened.

"That bastard dared to ask me to prove my words with a truth stone." Arcid barged in the room with a face full of anger. But looking at Aiden, it was replaced by a smile, "Little did he know that I didn't have any relation to their death."

"It was a natural response." A thin man with a round glass entered behind him. "The loss, Jewel has suffered, is not a small one. On top of that, he had lost his right hand."

"I could understand Kaiser, but he was also worried about someone else. But he couldn't ask out loud in the presence of the city lord." His smile became brighter as he continued, "But that's what makes me wonder, why was he so worried about you? Is he having some kind of dealings with you?"

"Yes." Even if Aiden didn't want to say that, the constraint on his heart made him change his mind.

"Huh?" Although he asked out of curiosity, Arcid had never expected a positive answer. And it wasn't just him, the man behind him was also surprised.

"To think that Jewel has some kind of dealings with people on the other planet..."

"What did you give him?" Acrid could not resist asking.

Aiden grinned his teeth as he stared at Acrid. Arcid smiled back and said, "Come on, tell me. You know you're not going to be able to resist much longer."

And that was the truth. The pain in his heart was becoming unbearable, as Aiden said, "He wanted cultivation techniques."

"Cultivation techniques?" Arcid really couldn't understand the meaning of it, but the man in the glass was excited. He asked, "Was it a mana cultivation technique?"

Looking at Arcid, who was also staring intently at him, Aiden nodded.

"Tell me," cried the man in the glass.

Even Arcid was surprised that his calm and collected manager could get so excited. He couldn't help asking, "What's so great about the mana cultivation technique?"

"If my guess is correct, then it was with a mana cultivation technique, one could use mana without ingesting a beast essence."

"Like those Northers do?" As soon as his manager nodded, Acrid said, "Tell me everything. Don't you dare lie to me." And the only thing Aiden could do was to comply with the order.

It took a while before Aiden could say everything he knew about the technique. But instead of being happy, both of them were frowning.

"Only wind mana cultivation technique?" Even if they wanted to beat other mana cultivation techniques out of Aiden, they couldn't.

Arcid had the earthen mana and the manager's mana type was fire. So the wind mana cultivation technique was useless to them.

"So you have wind mana?" After receiving the nod from Aiden, he turned towards his manager and asked, "have you checked?"

"Yes. And also water." The manager turned toward Aiden and said, "He is a rare dual-Elementalist."

"Huh? That is good. There are a few dual-mana beast essences in my collection. Should I use them?" Listening to Arcid's words, the manager couldn't help frowning.

"Don't say it." But Arcid stopped the manager from talking, "I know they are pricey. But they are just gathering dust. And it is not like anybody else could absorb it."

Looking at Aiden he added, "and I have a feeling that he might be the one. He might be able to absorb it."

To the manager, the smile on Arcid's face looked like the smile of an evil scientist. But he couldn't deny the fact that he had the same feeling.

After all, they have never tried it on the one who can wield mana without a beast essence. Thinking about it, he too was a little excited.

"Let's go now. First, I need to check the essence." Arcid then turned to Aiden and said, "Don't you dare to move from this place."

************

* Remaining time: 61:53:21 *

* The house of the lord of Oracles*

Even though it was in the deepest part of the mountain, the full moon still illuminated the area. The night was calm and quiet as the door of Oracle lord's house opened with a bang, and a man ran out.

Even if he was the most respected person in the city, he looked more like a mad old man right now. His white hair was messy, and his clothes were untidy. However, he couldn't care less. He ran to the city lord's house, barefooted.

The distance between the two houses was not too much, and the old man soon reached his destination.

"Who's going there?" One of the guards shouted, but as soon as they saw the old man, they did not dare to raise their heads.

"Where is the Lord?" Even before the guard could answer, the old man had already entered the house. Soon enough, he found the girl at the dinner table.

"They are coming." The old man's heart-wrenching cry sent startled the city lord. Looking at the old man's ashen face, she could understand that something was wrong.

She was quick to send everybody out of the room and give the old man a seat. Then she asked, "What's wrong?"

"They are coming." The old man talked like he was in a trance.

"Calm down, uncle. Calm down and tell me what's going on."

"They are coming." It was the same old words. But before she could say anything, the old man went on, "It's tomorrow. They're coming here tomorrow."

"What?" She couldn't control herself and slumped back into her chair, making it groan and bulge. "But you said we have more than ten days left."

"They're coming. They're coming tomorrow."

She was very angry at the old man's repetitive words, but she couldn't show it. Still, she cried, "Guards." The guards, outside the door, walked in without wasting any time.

"Call every one of the city guard legions. Call all the slave trades, mercenary leaders here. Gather every able-bodied man and woman in the valley city. NOW!"

"Why?" He knew it was disrespectful, but that word escaped his mouth in shock.

"NOW!" Hearing the city lord's growl, they didn't dare to waste any more moment and ran out of the room.

"But why?" she couldn't stop herself from asking again.

The old man shook his head and said, "They are coming for him. The man with the scar on his chest."

"What?" She dared not to believe those words.

Yet the old man sighed and added, "They are coming to save him."