CH56: Interesting Find and Return

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CH56: Interesting Find and Return

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[Notice: Gandr has found a High Energy Environment with an Immature Energy Soul. Does Host wish to sacrifice this environment and Immature Soul to improve {Fool's Sanctuary}?]

[Y/N]

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I was stunned.

High Energy Environment was what the Interface called a Mana Vein. Also, An Energy Soul was what it called a Mana Soul.

The Great Tree in my {Fool's Sanctuary} was a budding Energy Soul the {Private Realm} grew from concentrating all the energy converted from the mana in my previous Mana Vein into its Vein Core.

In other words, the Great Tree, a budding Energy Soul, was formed from the total energy in the Mana Vein.

Yet, the Mana Vein possessed an immature Energy Soul. An Energy Soul a grade higher than a budding Energy Soul.

This tells you how large and old this Mana Vein was.

To think such a Mana Vein was hidden under this unassuming mountain.

'Shared Vision.'

I got a look at the Vein from Gandr's eyes.

The wall as far as the eyes could see was filled with Mana Stones. Low-grade and Mid-grade Mana Stones littered everywhere. Further towards the centre of the Vein, I saw High-grade Mana stones and even a few Top-grade ones.

Finally, at the very centre of the Vein was a thin crystal tree, no more than one metre tall.

The mana on its body gleamed more luminously than a Top-grade Mana Stone. I didn't need anyone to tell me this was the Mana Soul.

Then, I realised why no one had found this Vein. It was due to the Mana Soul.

Mana Souls had the ability to hide the emissions of a Mana Vein. Unless one stumbled into the Vein, it was difficult, if not impossible to sense a Vein with a Mana Soul.

Which meant Gandr was a special existence in Arun.

With this, the Supreme-grade Incarnate had paid back its acquisition cost with interest.

Now, I had to decide what to do with the Mana Vein. Should I leave it so that I could get Mana Stones from it? Or Should I sacrifice it to the {Fool's Sanctuary} and possibly upgrade its ambient Energy?

Both options had pros and cons.

The first option would solve my Mana Stone needs, but on the flipside, I would face a problem of secrecy.

Mana Stones weren't something an individual could easily own. The government would takeover the Vein from me if they found it, especially since it was within Landrose City's limits. This meant anything I decided to do with the Vein, I had to do so secretly to earn the most benefits.

Frankly speaking, it would be a hassle.

For the second option, sacrificing the Mana Vein would improve the Ambient Energy of my sealed space. With that, there should be improvements to the advantages of the space to me. The downside is that I wouldn't have Mana Stones for use.

I contemplated what to do as I walked with Anastasia.

In that moment, I noticed strange markings on the walls of the Vein through Gandr's eyes.

Gandr moved around according to my instruction.

To my shock, I realised that the markings were part of a gigantic Mana Circle!

Gears ran in my head. I realised that this Mana Vein might not be ownerless as I thought.

It's possible a large organisation set up the circle a long time ago to draw Mana into the spot to form a Vein. Eventually, the Vein produced a Mana Soul.

If by chance the organisation gains the loyalty of the Mana Soul like the Pangea Saint did with his Mana Soul those years ago, they may produce a powerhouse the likes which Arun had never seen.

Realising this, I knew what decision I had to make.

I'm sorry to whoever drew the Circle, but it's impossible for me to spit out the meat that was now in my mouth. Plus, I suspect the organisation had something to do with Anastasia's kidnapping.

It's too much of a coincidence that this particular Castle was chosen to keep her.

Of course, there's a possibility that I am wrong, but it was justification enough for me to take the mine.

I can only pray for the organisation if I am wrong.

While I decided to sacrifice the Vein, I had to be smart about it. I couldn't draw attention to Anastasia and myself. So, I couldn't take the Vein while we were still there.

I happened to see a detection inscription worked into the circle, so the organisation would know when something happened to the Vein. In that case, I planned to wait until mine and Anastasia's return was confirmed before I took the Vein.

We fortunately found horse-drawn carriages at the stables of the castle.

I was able to calm the horses, I believe thanks to my Charm Stats, and both Anastasia and I were able to ride one of them.

These horses were called Bull-horses, as they were as strong as Bulls and could bear a lot of weight. They were pretty docile for beast and were the most common carriage horses you'd find in Landrose, and the Bayveth Republic as a whole actually.

I left Gandr to wait in the Mana Vein while we made our escape.

The serpent didn't complain as it gladly devoured the Ambient Energy in the Vein while waiting for my order to sacrifice the entire Vein.

We rode the horses down the hill and got to the main rode. We could see the lights on the horizon to our left as we rode down, so we knew that was the direction of the city centre. We followed the main road in that direction.

The President's daughter was missing. Law enforcement officers would be sitting on pins at the moment. So, as long as we found one of them, we could better guarantee our safety.

Soon, we arrived within the City proper.

Anastasia suggested we try to get to the City centre as close as possible. This would reduce the risk of an unforeseen attack by our abductors.

I felt something was off with what she said but I complied anyways. I also wouldn't like to put my life in the hands of law Enforcement.

Consequence of my previous life, I wasn't a fan of law enforcement. Most times, I had to either bribe them to look away, or act away from their eyes so I wouldn't be caught by them.

Let's just say I never saw eye to eye with Law Enforcement.

We evaded police checkpoints and patrols as we headed towards the Rose Palace. Anastasia was surprisingly good at covert movements.

The whole situation reminded me of the time Annabelle and I had to escape pursuers as we made our way to the border where we could be extracted in my previous life.

It helped that the police was more focus on searching carriages and other means one could use to transport people than looking for the people. It couldn't be helped. They wouldn't expect we had escaped and were evading them.

Normal people would run to the police when they escape so they never considered we ourselves would be hiding from them.

Anyway, we managed to get close to the Rose Palace before we were finally spotted.

"Stop there!"

The gate was just a few metres away. I was ready to make a dash for it, but Anastasia suddenly ran towards the person who called out and embraced them.

"Uncle Harry, it's me." She said.

"Lady Anna." The person greeted.

I would later find out that the man was Harry Clive. The Personal Bodyguard to President Armstrong, Anastasia's father, and the current Chief of Security of the Rose Palace.

The man was at 7-rings and I suspect he was a powerful Lord-rank, just below the Champion rank. He definitely had more mana than DarkBlade, however, I believe the old fox would still win in a one-on-one fight.

Harry came off as one of those 'pure' knights.

He reported in that Anastasia and I had returned.

We only made it past the Palace lawn and were about to reach the entrance when two figures shot out of it. One hugged Anastasia and the other held my shoulder, checking if I was injured or not.

President Armstrong hugged his darling daughter while Rowland checked my health.

I was glad he didn't hug me.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"No. I need to sleep. I forced my body to rouse before the toxins left my body." I said.

I gave him a look. He understood immediately.

"Come into the Palace-"

"Sorry, President Armstrong. I need to return him to the Guild immediately. I need to have our doctors check him. You must know about his condition by now."

Both men knew they were speaking nonsense. Rowland simply didn't want to leave me to the hands of the Administration, considering that the President's own daughter was kidnapped from under their noses.

Just then, the different association heads and bigwigs in the city and country who were at the Palace for the meeting came out.

"Boy, you are back. Thank goodness." – Herbology Association Head.

The other three Association heads I had acquaintance with also showed their concern, much to Rowland, President Armstrong and the other bigwigs' surprise.

"I'm sorry for worrying you. I'm tired today and will be returning home to rest. I'll visit your Associations tomorrow to finalise our agreement."

"Nonsense. How can I allow someone who has just gone through what you've experienced to stress himself? I'll come to your Guild tomorrow with some potions to help you." – Alchemy Head.

The other heads said similar words.

The Guild Carriage arrived and Rowland quickly helped me into the carriage along with the Wolf cub in my arms, who none of the bigwigs seem to notice.

Fortunately, Rowland didn't ask me any question that night... nothing about the kidnapping, about the reason I didn't want to enter the palace nor about the bloodied wolf cub

I would tell him about the former later. As for the latter, it won't matter anymore.

After all, the reason I didn't want to enter the Palace was because I could feel an overwhelming aura coming from a mana source within it.

It was a Hero ranker.

It didn't take much to realise the Hero must be the representative of the Union who arrived at the Royal Palace. After all, Heroes are no longer bound to countries but instead to the Union.

So, a Hero wouldn't be in the Rose Palace unless they were from the Union.

The major reason why I didn't want to enter the Palace was because I didn't want to appear before the Hero.

I've read it is nigh-impossible to lie in the presence of a Hero.

Their superior presence forces those weaker than them to tell the truth. I would certainly be grilled if I entered the palace, about the kidnapping incident and it was very likely I would be unable to lie.

If I couldn't lie or bullsh*t, then I'd have to reveal my secret... something I can't have.

Plus, looking at the faces of those present, I had discovered who planned the kidnapping.

Ordinarily I wouldn't care about it, it wasn't my problem. However, they touched Anna. That made it my problem.

But revenge is a dish served cold. It would take sometime before I begin punishing the person.

I gave the person time to enjoy some moment of peace. When the time comes, and the Fool sets his targets on him, he would wish he never touched Anna.

Of course, I took a little interest before I left. The change in the man's expression showed my suspicion was spot on.

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[Notice: Gandr has found a High Energy Environment with an Immature Energy Soul. Does Host wish to sacrifice this environment and Immature Soul to improve {Fool's Sanctuary}?]

[Y/N]

**

I clicked yes.

(To be continued...)