Since the house was surrounded by an illusion, any outsiders would only see a batch of trees in its place. The illusion would also deter away attention in its direction to ward off any unwanted visitors. That's the reason why animals and monsters couldn't disturb it with their aimless wandering.
Arthur opened the window and looked outside. It was eerily quiet. However, flying figures could be seen now and then. Arthur looked at them and realized they were the silver-masked cloaks of the royal family.
"You didn't answer my question," Amelia said after standing behind him. Arthur ignored her. "I said…" She tried to ask again. It was about the reason the royal family was here.
"Have you not interfered in my matters enough? Do you think I would help you get stronger if you keep this attitude?" Arthur snapped at her.
Amelia closed her mouth, indignant that Arthur was being too tyrannical. Still, the temptation of getting stronger stopped her from complaining.
"Why do you want to get stronger, anyway?" Arthur saw that it would be a while before they can come out, so he wanted to hear her reasons. In response, Amelia simply snorted.
"Hey, Ice Milk, I thought you were a cold rational person. If I'm going to help you, I need to know your reasons."
"I'm not just going to tell you my private matters."
"Oh yeah? It seems you're forgetting that I'm letting you in on my secrets." Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest as he watched Amelia hesitate.
"It's… Family issues."
"Everyone has family issues."
"My father divorced my mother because she gave birth to a girl."
"Oh…"
"He said I was too weak to inherit the… guild." Amelia spat out the last word like it was dirty.
"Your father is a guild master?"
"Yeah."
"So, you want to prove him wrong? To take over the guild?"
"I don't care about his stupid guild. I want him to apologize, to live forever in regret for leaving my mother." Amelia's face was dyed in genuine anger that Arthur saw one before in the mirror.
"I see."
"That's why…"
"Yeah shut up now, I get it." Arthur waved her off, and Amelia again found him to be too disrespectful.
"You'll help me?"
"Uh, you can't give out any information about me, right?"
"Y-yes."
"I'll see what I can do." Arthur thought it was possible to help her using permanent runes. "Three mana cores. The higher the tier, the stronger you'd become." Arthur raised his hand to stop her from thanking him as he saw her face full of gratitude. "In return… I want 10% of the guild shares if you ever inherit it."
"That's unreasonable!" Amelia stood up from her seat in agitation but Arthur remained calm.
"My strengthening is not a one-time thing. If I want to get those shares, I'd have to help you get there."
These words made Amelia swallow back the words that were on the tip of her tongue. She looked at Arthur for any signs of bluffing, but she was only greeted with his golden and unshakable eyes. The hut became quiet as Amelia pondered the offer.
"… Okay." Amelia nodded her head in the end.
***
Deep into the forest, surrounded by bushes from everywhere and shortly after Arthur made his escape, Alfred Yalen was accompanied by the golden-masked person as he lied on his face and had the golden mask person heal his burned-out back.
"A single mutt did this to us?! Why did you not capture him immediately?" Alfred gritted his teeth in hatred and glared at his subordinate.
"I had no choice, your highness. This fire is not a regular one. If I left you suffering there, I doubt your back would be scarless afterward."
"Scars are the least of my concerns!"
"Your father would still question their origin,"
"I can hide them."
"Still…"
"Shut up! All of you failed!"
"I'm sorry, your highness." The golden-masked person apologized sincerely. However, he didn't so remorseful as if he was still convinced that the prince's safety took priority.
"Have they found him yet?" The prince ignored him and asked.
"If he had the ring, I doubt we'd be able to find him."
"That failure, Dimon, had a single job yet he failed so miserably. If I had known better, I wouldn't have insured this task to him and did it personally."
"That would raise suspicions, your highness."
"How about keeping these comments for yourself? I know that already." The prince snapped and turned his head but doing so made his back burns feel even more painful. He turned his head when the golden-masked person nodded and gritted his teeth in humiliation.
"What about the goblins? If you couldn't find him, kill any goblins in the area. They were his minions, right?" The prince suddenly had an idea and a sinister grin emerged on his face. Although the golden-masked person thought such a provocation were a waste of time, he still nodded nonetheless and ordered his followers to do as instructed.
***
After she had told him her reasons, Amelia spent her time practicing mana control. She was even more diligent than Arthur, who's training has lessened after he left the trial. It couldn't be helped as he had no time for these things, but he has already started planning how he would train after he gets back.
It was then that something pricked his heart. Arthur felt a sudden loss, making him confused at the sudden emptiness. It took him a moment to realize that one of his goblin bonds have been broken. A goblin had died.
"We need to leave." Arthur was already gathering his things before Amelia could answer. His body has healed to a certain extent thanks to his high stamina and he couldn't just stand idle.
"What? Why so suddenly?"
"Someone has crossed the line." Amelia wanted to ask more, but she got a look at Arthur's furious face. She had no idea what happened, but she couldn't just follow him and risk her life.
"What's going on?" Amelia asked as she blocked Arthur's path. In the dimly lit hut, Arthur's eyes glowed especially bright against the background. It was the first time Amelia saw someone's eyes glowing like this, and it sent chills down her spine.
"They're hunting my followers."
"The goblins?"
"You sure know a lot about me," Arthur smirked in mockery and pushed her out of the way. Before he left, he threw the mask at her and asked her to change. He could make use of the ring to hide his identity. Thus, it would better if Amelia hid her identity although it was already revealed.
Amelia nodded her head and changed her clothing, something she had in her storage artifact, in another room. It was a few minutes later and Arthur felt another goblin dying.
"These bastards…" Arthur gritted his teeth as a fierce expression dyed his face.
With a swing of the door, he was already sprinting madly somewhere. Amelia sighed and used her lightning to keep up with him. They started traveling back the way they had already come from. Arthur seemed to run instinctively toward a certain direction that was different from earlier.
They started maneuvering around the thick forest by climbing the mountain ranges sloped ground and going around it. When Amelia started hearing the screams of monsters in the distance, she could vaguely feel the change in Arthur's mood.
"You should be…" Amelia tried to dissuade him from doing anything foolish, but the ground underneath him exploded and he was gone. Amelia followed his blurred-out figure as he descended the mountain like a bullet toward the source of the noise. "…calm? Or not." Amelia sighed and followed behind him. His speed reached a realm that would easily contend with rei-rankers, making Amelia feel her heart palpating at the notion of becoming this strong.
The average rei-rankers' age ranged between 20 and 25. If she could become one at 18, that would be a feat itself. Of course, there was monstrous genius out there who defy this common sense with talents.
When the ground became more leveled, Arthur was already a long distance away from her. Amelia stared at his back and wondered why he was so agitated over some goblins. She followed him until the noises of battle turned to tiny vibrations in the ground. They could now see a group of goblins surrounded by two silver masked cloaked individuals.
It was then that she saw it. Arthur's speed, that has already been more than she could keep up with, exploded further as he appeared behind one of the two cloaks. Before any of them could realize, Arthur was already stabbing his dagger deep into the assailants' back.