SPIRIT SOUL

Oddly enough most kingdoms expected the Quetzacoatl, or to be precise the Master of the Guild to propose a tournament.

In fact, most people had already heard about the Master of the Guild, and that he arranged tournaments in different areas of the Shalivra valley.

This was the mysterious Guildmaster's way of finding and taking promising talents under his wing, nourishing them in order to become even stronger as his underlings would represent the might of the Guild.

After hearing the rumors that spread through Briskadnt only a day after the Quetzalcoatl had disappeared, Kyle was not sure what to think about it.

He felt that everyone was taking the dangers too lightly, considering the fact that every single living being could have died the day before.

Yet, in the end, it didn't happen, and Kyle believed that most people were simply overjoyed about this fact and expressed their relief in different ways.

As such, he decided to not mind the issues at hand for the time being.

Instead, he looked out for Sven, whom he wanted to ask for advice on how to enter the Lahin kingdom without being considered an outlaw.

In the end, finding him was even easier than Kyle had thought because he had promised the small unit of the Blazing Legion to treat them to good food and alcohol.

Thus, after meeting them he also said that they could ask Captain Sven to join them later.

Having already spent most of their time drinking until they couldn't anymore, the Soldiers had celebrated their victory the day before.

As such, he didn't really want to talk about a serious topic on a day the Soldiers of the Lahin and Anadra kingdom were supposed to be celebrating their survival.

Because of that, he had waited for a day to have lunch with them.

In the meantime, the small group around Kyle tried to procure intel about the Guild, what exactly the Quetzalcoatl had said to the Armies when they had halted their slaughter before it had sent a voice transmission to everyone.

This was quite important in their opinion because many words could have a hidden meaning and so the message of the majestic beast could be interpreted in many ways.

However, in the end, there was not much they had figured out, and the only bothersome factor was the notification the guildhall in Briskandt received just a short while before their lunch appointment.

Kyle, Beatrice and Yasmine had spent some time in the guildhall in order to figure out if there were new missions which was evidently not the case.

The war between the three parties had forcefully been halted by the majestic beast which was great.

Nevertheless, the tension was still present, and it was quite obvious that many issues had yet to be solved.

Thousands of individuals of each race had been killed.

As such, trouble was awaiting all of them, even after the Quetzalcoatl had appeared and asked everybody to retreat.

In fact, Kyle believed that the Guild was creating more issues by intervening than solving them.

Unfortunately, this didn't really make a big difference to the Guild itself because it was quite obvious what the plan of the powerhouse behind the Guild truly was.

And this became even more evident with the intel Kyle had already procured, followed by the notification the Guildhall had received.

'Does he want to test me? Because I might be dangerous and pose him a threat, or is his plan to recruit me if I'm promising enough?'

If the powerhouse behind the Guild had wanted to kill Kyle, he would have already done so by now.

After all, Kyle was only at the Low Vitae stage, and quite far from reaching the Krysal stage, or anywhere close to being considered dangerous.

As such, he didn't really feel threatened right now.

In fact, Kyle had heard enough about different Old Souls to understand that they were not exactly on good terms with each other.

They were all trying to establish their superiority over the others which led to occasional strifes which he was still oblivious to, and that all of them were quite scheming.

While pursuing their own selfish plans, they asked their subordinates and loyal supporters to influence other races through their actions.

This made the ordinary and clueless citizen have a specific reaction which only made it easy for the Old Souls to achieve their goals.

This was intelligent, but quite a hassle for people like Kyle, who just wanted to become stronger in order to adventure through Shima, to find out the mysteries of the Universe, and to explore different cultures.

He had had enough of the Old Souls' annoying interferences, but it was crystal clear that he would have to be stronger than them in order to show that he was not to be taken lightly.

However, to his misfortune, his path was paved with obstacles and plentiful hindrances.

Thus, the notification the Guildhalls all over the territory of the Sadorla forest and surrounding Kingdoms received was quite intriguing, even to Kyle!

[For the next 21 days, a dome has been erected around the center of the Sadorla forest. After these 21 days have passed, specific restrictions of the dome will be removed, allowing beings below the physical age of 20 to enter the center of the Sadorla forest.

One will be able to find numerous treasures, including 10 mutated Licara flower seeds in the center of the Sadorla forest! The Guild took the majority of the remaining seeds as compensation for the trouble the three parties have caused to the Licara flower's health.

In return, however, the Guild provided other treasures such as powerful weapons, other equipment, spatial rings, and even rare treasures such as essences of the purest form of elements.

There will even be cultivation, martial arts and other kinds of manuals, including tomes about recipes for potions, specific alloys and inscribing concoctions!

However, in order to make the situation in the Brawl fair, one may be allowed to leave the dome with numerous items, but for every single item that one takes out of the dome, he or she has to wait for a day before seeking re-entry!

As for the rarest treasure, they send out a signal once it is picked up by a living being.

The Brawl will be observed and those who showcase the highest level of talent may receive an invitation to join the Main branch of the Guild.

Good luck and prepare well!]

As the notification had popped up right before the lunch appointment, the environment during lunch turned quite awkward.

Nobody was really sure what they should be talking about because everyone was busy trying to digest the provided information.

In fact, Sven and Kyle had greeted each other heartily in the beginning but soon turned quiet, not sure what to make of the information provided by the notification.

Kyle felt that it was quite intriguing because he never had a Brawl with numerous prodigies that were likely to gather around the Sadorla forest in the following 3 weeks.

However, considering his cultivation base, and the fact that prodigies below the physical age of 20 were allowed to enter the dome only after 21 days, Kyle didn't feel it was right for him to enter it.

Everything was just too weird.

Not entering was the decision he made from a logical and moral point of view.

As such, Kyle hoped to be able to find a different way to solve his issues and make use of the tension, and attention on the Sadorla forest to get inside the Lahin kingdom.

"With the Sadorla forest being turned as the center of attention, is there no way for me to enter the Lahin kingdom without attracting the hatred of the Lohar race, and the royalty?"

Unfortunately, when Kyle saw Sven's reaction, he could only sigh, thinking that it might be quite difficult.

His fears were proven correct as Sven answered,

"Right now, there is no way for the three of you can enter the Lahin kingdom unharmed. And that is even if I consider that you are not an Aldra.

To be honest, if you were alone, I would have easily taken you along with me to the Glory Knight academy saying that you're Baroness Selene's slave which she purchased from abroad, but with the Phoenix princess, and…ehh..Beatrice, it was, right?..with Beatrice and the Phoenix princess together, I cannot help you, even if I want to!"

Kyle had already figured that this would be the case. However, he was still astonished that Sven told him that he could have arranged for his safe passage into the Lahin kingdom, if he were to be alone.

A year ago, this hadn't been possible.

Thus, Kyle couldn't help but take a second glance at Sven, trying to figure out what might have changed about Sven, to allow him to bend the rules to such an extent.

Yet, seeing the content expression on his face, even though the situation was clearly not in his favor, Kyle blurted out what had been on his mind.

"Did something change between you and your sister?"

If he recalled correcty, there had been quite a few disagreements between Sven and his sister, who had been the guildmaster of the guildhall in Vila town.

However, all of this was turned unimportant when Kyle looked at Sven's expression that froze for a moment only to nod his head with a faint smile on his lips.

"In the recent years the Lohar race faced quite a few incidents in which a Variant baby with only the Maest vein was born, and that includes royalty. As such, the laws and innate discrimination against Lohars that had only awakened the Maest cultivation vein changed quite a lot.

What served as a major catalyst for this change happened last year when a relative of the queen gave birth to a black-furred Lohar with only the Maest vein. It caused quite an uproar and the Queen had to intervene.

Trying to restore normalcy in such a disturbing scenario made her be pretty harsh with anyone who wanted the baby Lohar to be expelled.

Thus, I was able to bring my sister back to the Lahin kingdom. She is currently living with my wife!

Ah…and I would be receiving a promotion after this war. That's why I said I could bring you into the Lahin kingdom without too much trouble, if you were confused about that."

Kyle just nodded his head and preferred to stay quiet even though he was happy for Sven.

Everything about the situation with his family seemed to have improved a lot.

However, that was not something Kyle could say about his circumstances.

Meanwhile, as he was thinking about Sven's words, Yasmine and Beatrice threw glances at him once in a while.

They felt uncomfortable about the fact that the Captain of a Blazing Legion unit was ready to offer help to Kyle to enter the Lahin kingdom. Just him.

This meant that Kyle might be considering leaving them behind, while promising to return once he found Selene.

Yet, even if the latter part might not be the case, it was possible for Kyle to simply leave.

Fortunately, he didn't seem to be thinking like that as his expression didn't brighten.

Instead, Kyle seemed to be thinking even harder about the situation they were currently in.

Everyone was having food, and only Kyle seemed to be deep in thought while holding the fork and knife with his wrists resting against the edge of the wooden table.

After a few minutes had passed, the others were almost done and about to get up from their seats, when Kyle nearly jumped up from the bench he was sitting on.

His gaze regained focus as he turned his head straight towards Sven, who halted in his tracks.

He figured that Kyle had gotten an idea, which made him interested in hearing him out.

"If I procure a Licara flower seed, and give it to Selene as some sort of tribute, will that be enough to allow entry to my group into the Lahin kingdom?

After all, Selene can then give the Licara flower seed to the Queen. If she appreciates it, the three of us should be able to enter the Lahin kingdom without too much trouble…I guess?"

This seemingly simple idea that had flashed through his mind caused everyone to feel astonished.

Even the Soldiers around him that hadn't really listened, and had been busy eating and drinking to their heart's content couldn't help but turn to Kyle as if he was insane, while Beatrice and Yasmine's expression lit up instantaneously.

"Kyle…either you are suicidal, insane, or both...what kind of stupid idea is that? Even if you were able to procure one of the mutated Licara flower seeds, and return with all your limbs intact, which is close to impossible, why would you gift it to someone else?

Do you even know the value of the most common Licara flower seed??"

It looked like Kyle's simple question had aggravated Sven, as he had reprimanded him in a stern voice.

Yet, after seeing Kyle's expression and the fact that he shrugged his shoulder made things even worse. But what truly made Sven furious was when Kyle answered in an innocent voice,

"Nope, not a single clue."