It was as if he had swallowed a fly. Egril’s face horribly contorted as he stared at the insignia before finally he closed his eyes in defeat. It was a high-ranking official of the Arcane Council, any competent chief in the Republic of Mercenaries knew that name. Even though it wasn’t a mainstream organization, or even one with widespread fame, it also wasn’t an exactly obscure name. They had dealings all across the world, and needless to say the Republic of Mercenaries was no exception.

  And as he took in the person before her, he couldn’t help but be shocked as he used Appraisal on her again. This time, however, he used the available information in his mind to piece together a more accurate picture of what he was seeing.

  [Sovereign of Shadows [Legacy Branch of ???]. Lvl. 340]

  Indeed. He wasn’t able to see her Legacy Branch, not since he first spotted her. However, her identity as an Arcane Council member changed everything entirely. His mind rapidly thought, combing through possible notable shadow magic users and finally?— it arrived at something. The infamous elf with multiple wanted notices.

  “D-Dark Reaper…”

  Her eyes hearing that curled into friendly crescent moons. “Oh my, you know me?”

  “I-I?—”

  “Don’t worry.” She chuckled, putting away the emblem. “We’re not here for trouble, but I hope you can help me find whoever framed my beloved master.”

  M-Master? His mind spun as he turned to look at the brunette beside her. The demon summoner is her master?! Doesn’t that mean that she’s at the very least an executive apprentice?! If not an Arcane Council executive?

  He paled looking at Amber, though the woman in return simply raised her brow, evidently not knowing what was happening.

  “Of c-course, I can arrange for someone to look into it,” Egril finally said, trying to remain composed. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “We’d like to stay here for a few days, can you arrange some accommodations?” Amber asked, casually.

  He nodded. “That’s the least we can do as an apology for you, Great Lord.”

  Hearing that, Amber was even more confused but before she could voice anything out Frei laughed.

  “Relax, we’re all friends here, right? No need to be so formal”

  “Y-Yeah…”

  Shortly after the meeting ended, much to Egril’s joy. Now all he had to do was tell his subordinates to not go bother those people, and that it was all a big misunderstanding. He even explained their allegiance in order to save them the trouble. With the Republic of Mercenaries in chaos, the last thing he wanted is to point a blade again at what was essentially a neutral party.

  It was best to let the Arcane Council to do whatever they wanted for now!

  * * *

  Soon, they found themselves at a luxurious inn. Or at least, as luxurious as it could get within a fortified city during what was essentially a nation wide lockdown. The room was cozy, and it even had a window overlooking the entire city, the hay roof laid overhead contributing to the comfortable atmosphere.

  But Amber, didn’t exactly pay attention to that, instead her mind was fixated on how Egril had treated them after Frei made her move.

  “What did you even show him?” Amber turned to her elven companion, confused. “He was like…”

  “Like a dog wagging his tail?” Frei asked amused.

  “Kind of,” Amber acquiesced somewhat uncomfortable with the analogy.

  “It’s simple really, I just showed him my official identification as an Arcane Council member,” she said, lying on bed. “We have some influence in the republic so it was rather easy to use my authority to save ourselves the trouble.”

  “Doesn’t that mean they think we’re members of the Arcane Council now?” Aveline asked beside her, sitting on the same bed. “Also, that guy probably thinks Amber is some bigshot from the organization.”

  Frei nodded. “He totally does.”

  Amber blinked. “That’s…”

  Actually, was there even any issue with that? She didn’t actually think so. She had quite a lot of enmity with the Arcane Council already, having stolen their artifacts and possessions as well as killed plenty of their members. In fact, it was no exaggeration to say close to half of the strongest human enemies she has faced during her journey were Arcane Council members.

  Of course, she didn’t count, maybe it was closer to a third, but point was their bloodthirst for one another ran deep. So, using their name to get away with certain things certainly wasn’t particularly wrong or even weird. Though, them thinking she was some executive or something? She didn’t know how to feel about that one.

  “I suppose it’s fine,” Amber said shaking her head. “For now, I suppose we should wait to see what the results of the investigation are, and also decide what comes next.”

  “Hmhm, you said you needed to get stronger,” Frei added. “That might be a bit difficult given the current status of the republic.”

  Amber nodded as she raised her hand.

  “Actually, I’ve been thinking of perhaps using this.” A journal manifested on her grip. “However, I don’t really know what to expect from it or if it even is a good idea.”

  With that, she tossed it towards Frei as she blinked. Then after inspecting it for a moment her eyes widened in shock.

  “This… you actually got it?”

  Amber simply nodded. It was none other than Ishtar’s Journal, the reward she had gotten from the final treasure room in the Shattered Tower. It was said that using one of Ishtar’s Journals was equivalent to a whole class advancement, but its description was clear. It would teleport whoever used it?— to god knows where. Even though at first she entertained the idea of using it and confronting whatever danger there was to be found at the location, a more critical issue would arise upon using it.

  Where would she end up? If she ended up at the bottom of the ocean, or at the other side of the world it would certainly be problematic.

  “Do you think you can figure out where it leads?”

  Frei examined it for a moment, before she closed her eyes. “I’ll see what I can do, but don’t get your hopes up. This thing is ancient magic.”

  “I see, just do your best then.”

  Nodding Amber got to thinking.

  Right now, she had grown stronger from the Shattered Tower and even grown a lot of her skills from the six month long battle, with every single of her main class skills reaching 5th Rank Level 10; Accursed Reignition, Quick Dash, Accursed Creation, Inexorable Momentum, Inexorable Body, Accursed Strength, Accursed Recovery, Accursed Rage Synergy, Accursed Battery?.

  A lot of them were at the cusp of breaking 6th Rank, which was a terrifying milestone, but she also felt that it was getting increasingly harder to break these milestones. Forget reaching 9th or 10th Rank, Amber suspected it would take her a very long time for even 7th or 8th Rank, which only made sense. Her only 6th Rank Skills were resistances, and one of them came from the Curse of Disintegration which she still couldn’t exactly withstand?.

  In all honesty she was beginning to feel like the peak of 6th Rank was what was possible in Vir with perhaps low 7th Rank. As for getting 8th Rank? Yeah right.

  As for her Legacy Branch Skills, Crimson Fervor, Crimson Fuel had reached the peak of their rank at 3rd Rank Level 10. And other Skills, such as Crimson Sense, and Crimson Break had reached 3rd Rank. Though, Crimson Sense’s 3rd Rank was a bit weird, but to begin with the Skill itself had always been odd. Essentially simply allowing her to detect the presence of other people by feeling their blood. It’s 2nd Rank allowed her to glean the emotions of people ?— if she wanted ?— by their blood pressure.

  And 3rd Rank was well…

  3rd Rank ?— You can keenly sense if someone you have defeated before approaches you with hostile intentions.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  It just allowed her to tell if someone she defeated before was coming to harm her. It was an odd upgrade. To begin with, she hardly let people live after all. And those she had ‘defeated’ like the Primordial Spirit of the Shattered Tower probably wanted nothing to do with her, but an upgrade was an upgrade.

  Crimson Break had also received an upgrade.

  The Skill itself was straightforward, mainly pushing her bloodline to enhance her physical attributes by consuming it. It was basically trading her Vitality for strength?— considering half of her Legacy Branch Skills did that, it wasn’t particularly unique. It’s 2nd Rank just gave her more keen senses when using the Skill. However, the 3rd Rank was actually a great upgrade.

  3rd Rank ?— While this skill is active physical exhaustion is reduced by 30%.

  At first glance it looked a bit dumb, after all, for someone like her who could fight for six months straight it would be no big deal. But she had felt it back when fighting the Primordial Spirit. This Rank was absolutely broken. Because of one simple thing.

  It directly affected how much of her own strength she could exert with Primordial Exertion; the Skill that essentially let her use all her available energy and exert it in a single burst to essentially pulverize something on one hit, or draw it out as a temporary increase at the cost of leaving her utterly exhausted once she drew out all her body’s potential.

  In short: this Rank just gave that Skill a 30% damage boost.

  Other skills had also seen gains; Crimson Destruction had increased a full rank and reached level 10. Going from 2nd Rank Level 8 to 3rd Rank Level 10. The Skill itself was straightforward, it was just extra damage against enemies that could suffer internal damage, and it’s 3rd Rank increased the chances of causing internal organ failure so it wasn’t all that special.

  And lastly, Demonic Frenzy had reached 2nd Rank. This skill which originally rewarded her for stabbing herself ?— causing a burst of strength upon doing so and granting her the Curse of Hemorraghe as well as rousing her emotions to become unstable ?— had received a straightforward upgrade.

  It’s 2nd Rank just made it so that if she injured the enemy, she’d get the same effects as if she had harmed herself. Of course, all things considered harming herself brought a lot of benefits allowing her to for example, instantly store rage in Accursed Rage Synergy and allowing her to empower a hard hitting attack. So, she didn’t really feel much of anything by Demonic Frenzy getting its 2nd Rank.

  As for General Skills Cursed Blazing Bolt had reached Level 10 but oddly enough she could tell there was no 2nd Rank for it to get. So, it was a bit pointless. Mana Sense Acceleration was in the same boat?— the Skill just allowed her to consume mana to enhance her senses so she supposed it wasn’t a big deal.

  All in all, her gains from within the Shattered Tower had been substantial, and she would soon get her 250 Class Advancement. She was quite looking forward to see what the Advancement requirements would be for her class. After all, the System had ominously warned her that each advancement would have extra requirements to initiate.

  But even with all of this Amber was far from confident with killing the Demon of Genesis, let alone facing someone like Dargon, an executive from the Arcane Council and an existence who was over Level 400. Right now, it could be said her strength was top tier within Vir, but if she compared herself to the likes of the elite, or even Frei who was almost there, it fell a bit short.

  She needed to keep growing stronger. But it also troubled her. After all, all these people had been around for hundreds of years, and had had many opportunities to growth, unlike her. Even though she had seized every opportunity, she still had a long way to go.

  A sigh left her. For now, she would focus on what she could do.

  “Frei,” Amber called.

  The peach-fuzz haired elf jolted, having been pulled from intently studying Ishtar’s Journal tilted her head in confusion.

  “What is it, my beloved master?”

  Amber paused before chuckling. “Did you finish the bone rune schematics?”

  “Oh, hm… They should be done soon,” Frei said simply. “Still, are you that desperate to grow stronger?”

  “I am desperate, not only that but I’m actually pretty underleveled at this point relative to how strong I actually am,” Amber said simply.

  Frei looked over at her for a moment and sighed. “You are, even I am underleveled and should probably be around low Level 400, yet you can probably defeat me in battle.”

  “Is that really what you think?”

  Hearing her, the elf just solemnly nodded before continuing. “For now, I think I can finish the schematics in a day or two, so let’s focus on that and then… putting them to use.”

  Frei got a weird look saying that as she turned to Amber.

  “Which by the way, as I told you before may be the worst pain you’ll ever experience,” she added. “You haven’t experienced it yet, but if you decide to back out after just doing a single bone, I won’t blame you.”

  Amber pursed her lips before speaking.

  “We’ll see, I’ve figured out a way to stop the healing so it’s possible to carve them. As for the conduits, we’ll use curse constructs that I’ll make. Though.” Amber tilted her head, she actually hadn’t prepared in this regard. “I can only make a two permanent ones once a day.”

  “It shouldn’t be troublesome. We can just do your biggest bones first, then do the smaller ones. As for the smallest ones, they don’t even have runes,” Frei said. “Since all the runes are interconnected, it all just depends on how good you are at making these intricate constructs.”

  Amber nodded. “Alright, let me know when one part is done and then I can work on it.”

  It was worth noting that the schematics actually included a good part of her skull, so Amber actually wasn’t all that enthused to essentially be skinned alive in order to achieve this. However, in a way it was a way to push her limits, so reframing the approach in her mind greatly reduced the mental burden of thinking about it.

  “Sure thing,” Frei nodded before turning to Aveline. “I’ll need plenty of your help to revise what I’m working on.”

  Hearing that Aveline nodded. “Of course.”

  Alright, looks like this is taken care of.

  Amber smiled. “Well then, I’ll go look around the city since I’m finally free.”

  “Do you need my Arcane Council badge or whatever?” Frei called.

  She pondered for a moment, standing at the doorway before accepting.

  “Sure, but I just plan to take a look around.”

  Following her words, it was tossed over to her and she caught it with one hand, looking it over for a moment. It was a simple emblem of the twin moons of Vir with a gilded golden border.

  “The emblem is of a high ranking official, so just keep that in mind,” Frei waved. “Your servant is actually quite the big shot.”

  Amber looked at it for a moment before laughing quietly. “I already know that, Archmage Frei. It’s not surprising you hold a decent position in the Arcane Council.”

  “It’d be higher, but that shitty organization gets on my nerves with how much loyalty they require.” She snorted.

  Hearing that, Amber nodded. “Well, you’ll leave it in due time. So no point in wondering about that now.”

  Frei nodded before continuing.

  “Anyway try to not use the badge much, if ya ran into an actual member that’d be problematic,” Frei continuing before pulling a piece of paper from her storage ring. “Talking about that, I’ll gather some information in that regard. There’s an actual good chance there are some here, be careful.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Amber opened the door and after biding her farewells, she left. Afterwards, the first thing she did was find the inn-keeper. Before actually going out, there was actually a very important thing that needed to be done. An incredibly important thing. Amber solemnly looked at the man who tensed up, and finally, she voiced her desire.

  “Do you have a bath? The room doesn’t have one.”

  “A-A bath?” the man paused and then nodded. “There’s a public bathhouse right next to our inn.”

  “Alright.”

  With that, she left the inn and headed to the bath house. Though on the way she drew many curious glances, including from the person standing there for entry, Amber knew that this was necessary. This was her mission. After all, she was pretty filthy all things considered.

  After paying and getting inside, the first thing she did was store her armor and possessions in her storage ring and then she immediately got to the bathing part of the establishment. Which was a massive room that had pillars and a large swimming pool, it was reminiscent of a roman bath in her mind. There were also individual showers, or areas to wash oneself which is what she did.

  Her appearance, drew the glances of the few people present. Thanks to her levels and strength, her body had undergone qualitative changes. Then, after her Class Advancement her entire body had essentially been reconstructed. It was no exaggeration to say that Amber was one of, if not the most beautiful woman in the entire bath house.

  However, contrary to her appearance, the first thing she did was take out her armor and wash the filth and dried blood off it under the astonished gazes of everyone. Then, as she was doing so, Amber blinked for she felt intense enmity a moment later.

  “Huh.”

  It was the 3rd Rank of Crimson Sense at work. And from the looks of it, it was quickly approaching; having just entered the bath as well. Amber blinked, as the person stopped behind her and called out.

  “Hey.”

  She turned, seeing a red-haired woman. She seemed familiar, but Amber couldn’t quite place her finger on it. However, from the looks of it she had defeated her at some point.

  [Fire Mage. Lvl. 273]

  And she was higher level than her.

  “This place isn’t for washing your clothes,” she sternly said.

  “I know but it’s an emergency,” Amber said simply as she finished up. “Do you need something from me? I can sense that you…”

  Amber tapped her chin.

  “Really want to kill me right now.” She smiled.

  The woman frowned. “Anyone associated with your organization deserves death, what else do you expect?”

  Hearing that, Amber paused then shook her head.

  “If you’re just here to try and kill me then at least wait until I’m done bathing.”

  After her words, the hostility of the woman dropped by a large margin. Which was odd all things considered. She didn’t exactly know what organization the woman was referring to; the demon summoners or the Arcane Council, so she just left it at that. By the looks of it, she could continue with what she was doing.

  So, Amber moved onto washing her filthy body, and simultaneously, the woman sat beside Amber. This time, she used a simple spell?— one that Amber recognized, it was a sound isolation barrier.

  “I know you’re a member of the Arcane Council,” the woman said softly.

  Amber frowned. Then turned to look at the woman, but this time she really looked at her. At her expression that seemed hesitant, at her tense body ?— how seemingly ready she was for battle ?— and finally at her hair once more. And she remembered.

  This woman was the mage that had blasted her with an explosion during the battle at the city gates.

  “Are you just here for revenge? If so then just let me bathe in peace,” Amber said flatly. “Or did the Arcane Council hurt someone dear to you? In that case also wait till I’m done bathing.”

  The woman pursed her lips.

  “Actually I have a great aspirations.”

  “Aha.”

  “While I hate you for summoning demons,” she continued.

  I didn’t really summon them, but okay.

  “You’re also a member of the Arcane Council, so I have one simple request to make of you.”

  Amber’s ears twitched hearing that and finally she turned to look at the woman who seemed hesitant.

  “What is it?”

  She took a deep breath, and then she looked up with resolve. Meeting Amber’s gaze with utmost seriousness.

  “I want to join the Arcane Council.”