n

n

nAfter the auction concluded, the items I purchased were immediately brought to my room by Grandmaster Zun.

n

"The required cost for these items has been deducted from your profit of the Golden Pills,

" he said.

"As for the rest of the money…

"

nHe took off the ring on his finger and handed it to me.

"It is all contained within here. You may check if you wish.

"

nI nodded and went through the ring, which functioned similar to a Space Locket. After visually confirming everything was there, I put the ring into my own Space Locket — the pendant around my neck.

n

"Thanks. It's been a pleasure.

"

nGrandmaster Zun bowed respectfully.

"No, I should be the one saying that. If you ever decide to sell Golden Pills again, please do come here to the Mordem Auction House. You are always welcome as a VIP.

"

nI smiled, but my mask was on my face, so he couldn't really see.

"Noted. Take care, Grandmaster Zun.

"

n

"Yes. You too, young man. And worry not — the auction house will not reveal your identity under any circumstances.

"

n

"Good to hear.

"

nWith that, the old man left. After storing everything into my Space Locket, I turned to the two girls.

n

"Take my hands. We're getting out of here before all the other VIPs clutter the door.

"

nAxilia and Ling Xin nodded and each took one of my hands.

nLevel Three Space Magic — Warp Gate.

n*****

n

"… Whew. We're back.

"

nAfter going through the portal I made appear beneath our feet, we were easily transported back to Axilia's manor in the blink of an eye. Axilia, having never witnessed this before, blinked in wonder.

n

"Woah… darling, that was cool~

"

n

"That's called Space Magic,

" I said, patting her head.

"Ling Xin, once we get back to the Living Realm, can you, uh, smuggle some Awakening Stones for Axilia? With your position, that should be easy, right?

"

n

"I suppose so,

" Ling Xin replied.

"I'm willing to do it, of course, but not without a price. If you want me to get her Awakening Stones… you have to go on a date with me. How about it?

"

n

"Uh… sure? Whenever I have time.

"

n

"Hehe, good try, sister… but that's not happening,

" Axilia replied with a sinister smile.

"I don't want your Awakening Stones, if the cost of it is darling~

"

n

"You two…

" I sighed.

"Can you stop fighting for five minutes? I don't see An Yan and An Xue argue like you two do.

"

n

"An Yan? An Xue? Who are they?

" Axilia asked, tilting her head.

"More targets to kil- I mean, love rivals?

"

nI stared at her like, 'don't think I didn't hear that', but decided not to expose her and instead just head into the house.

nOnce we were in private, the first thing I did was write a simple letter to the prince, scheduling our meet-up for tonight.

nTomorrow, midnight. Behind the princess's manor.

nFrom the Unnamed Alchemist.

nOnce I was done, I handed the note to Ling Xin.

"Deliver this to the prince's postbox. With your Shadow Magic, staying concealed should be easy.

"

n

"Whatever master wishes~

" Ling Xin said with a seductive smile, planting a light kiss on my cheek and winking.

"Don't have fun with Axilia without me, mkay~? I'll be very upset if you do…

"

n

"Just go already,

" I said, rolling my eyes. Ling Xin blew a kiss and left, taking the note with her. Watching the door close behind her, I sighed.

"Now then…

"

nBrowsing through my Space Locket, I took out three items I obtained from the auction. The Cloak of Yharnav, the mysterious egg, and the black rock that almost looked like polished obsidian.

nFirst off was the Cloak of Yharnav. I began taking off my current clothes to try it on, but…

n

"Darling… fufu~

" Axilia giggled and suddenly pounced on me, pushing me backwards a few steps.

n

"Woa- hey-!

"

nShe lowered herself a little and began tenderly licking on my bare chest, sliding lower and lower until she reached my waist. Realizing what she was going to do, I hurriedly stopped her and held her steady.

n

"Not now, Axilia. I'm trying to test out this new armor set.

"

n

"Eh…? But…

"

nI smiled and reached around her body, pulling her close to whisper beside her ear.

n

"Don't worry… I'll satisfy you and Ling Xin both tonight, until you beg for me to stop.

"

n

"Darling~

" Axilia licked her lips, pink, heart-filled eyes shining with lust.

nTaking a deep breath, I pushed her away and wrapped the Cloak of Yharnav around myself. Despite being an ancient relic, its condition was kept pristine — either that, or the auction house just cleaned it before putting it up for bid.

nEither way, I had already scanned this thing for poison, so I wasn't in any danger here. The only problem was…

n

"Axilia, go up the stairs, and don't come near me until I say it's safe. Apparently, this thing can drain life force, so until I can figure out how to turn that feature on and off whenever I choose, I need you to stay a good distance from me.

"

nAxilia, having been promised a fun night by me, nodded obediently and went up the stairs to watch from above. Personally, I didn't feel anything particularly different from my old outfit. After glancing in the mirror, I could safely say it looked a lot more stylish and 'cool', but that was about it.

nThis was called a cloak in the auction, but really, it came as a full set — the cloak, the pants, the boots, a lean hat, and even a water-proof mask to go along with it. The hat, which pointed down in an angled manner, when paired with the mask, covered my face nearly completely, leaving only my eyes out in the open so that I could still see.

nAdd the cloak and trousers onto that, and my entire body is pretty much covered. Since gloves and socks came along with the set as well, I pretty much had everything apart from underwear — which I could supply myself with.

nAll in all, despite the seemingly clunkiness of the set, it actually felt quite lightweight. The cloak, trousers, and boots are all waterproof along with the hat and mask, allowing me to work in the rain with no problem at all. Due to how tightly it latches onto my body — as if it were a perfect fit for me — even if I was submerged underwater, none would get beneath my clothes. That was great, since the feeling of being wet while wearing clothes really sucked.

nNow, all that was remaining was some testing. Turning to Axilia up the stairs, I spoke.

n

"Stay there, Axilia. I'll be right back — I just need to test out this power on some animals.

"

n

"Mkay~

" She responded airily.

"Come back soon~

"

nI nodded and headed out of the manor, then set off for the forest. I wasn't too particularly worried about Axilia, since she was plenty strong in her own right.

nSummoning my Chaos katanas, one in each hand, I closed my eyes.

nLevel One Psychic Magic — Detect Presence.

nAfter several seconds, my eyes opened once more.

nThere.

nTurning to my right, I headed into the woods, blades at the ready. It didn't take long for me to find what I was looking for — a beast that looked like a killer boar with two sharp pincer-like tusks that jutted out the sides of its face. Its eyes were bloodshot red, with no pupils. Quite a scary sight, yeah, but not for me.

n

"GRRER!

" The hog growled and launched itself towards me, but I dodged out of the way with ease, without even needing to use magic. The combination of vampire blood and Ascended Seraphim ichor within my body has made my agility and physical strength far beyond anyone could even imagine. Add my Chaos's amplification powers as well (yes, it worked on my physical traits as well and not just my magic), and I become a true monster.

nStrangely enough though, the hog didn't seem to have lost any life force at all despite brushing right past me there. Instead, it turned around and jumped at me again, not losing any speed or power.

nOf course, even at its maximum strength, it was no match for me, and I once again evaded with extreme ease. It thought I was its prey, but to me, it was just a lab rat, really.

nStrange… it doesn't seem to have lost any power at all… were the legends really just rumors after all?

nStill not wanting to believe it, I narrowed my eyes. The pig charged at me once again, but this time, rather than just dodging, I suddenly teleported behind it and smashed it against the dirt-filled ground, pinning it to the floor.

n

"GRAGHHH!

" It roared in pain and fury, but its lifeforce still hasn't dwindled a bit. Even after several seconds to a full minute, it was still furiously kicking its feet and trying to get out of my unbreakable grasp.

nDisappointed, I stabbed the boar with my Chaos katana, killing it instantly as the corruption of the Chaos absorbed its body and turned it into power for me.

nWait.

nMy Chaos katanas didn't do that before. It could steal the traits of other weapons it came into contact with, but it couldn't steal the life energy of the lives it took and transform it into power for me.

nWhich means…

nSlowly, I rose from the ground, and watched as the poor beast's body disintegrated into nothing but bones. My eyes widened.

n

"So… that's the armor's power…

"

n