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Walking through Miracle\'s headquarters, Jade enjoyed the tranquility of the gardens as she wondered why Zaphreal had called for her. Thus far, he had refused to speak. It was clear he was on guard against others.

"Why did dad tell me to meet you here?" She finally asked as they made their third journey around the gardens.

Jade remembered hearing that Eldrian used to also enjoy spending his time in these same gardens, back when he was still working for Miracle. Especially the tree they were currently standing under.

Zaphreal sighed, struggling to say what needed to be said. "Those damn fools." He muttered, turning his head towards the sky, only to find the vibrant purple flowers of the tree welcoming him.

"Jade, what I am going to tell you needs to stay between us." Zaphreal said, continuing to say that the only other who knew about this was Oier, her father. "Too many are becoming rushed now that we are so close to realizing our ideals..."

"What happened?"

"Nothing yet. We can be glad about that, at the very least." Placing his hand to his forehead, as if to keep the migraine away, Zaphreal explained what those genius fools had done.

"We\'ve always been searching for a way to bring more mana to Earth. I\'m sure you\'re aware of this much."

Jade nodded. This was the common directive of the company. The one common goal held by all its different departments. Some were more focused on this task than others, but this was the end goal for all.

"Julius, well... he\'s eccentric, but at least he\'s aware of the potential dangers of his experiments. Denis and Ludwik, however..."

"What did Julius do?" Jade asked, far more concerned for him than the other two. Since Zaphreal said they had not yet done something, she felt less need to worry about the problems yet to come. And more worried for her eccentric friend.

"He\'s been continuing to experiment with himself. It has shown some results, but..."

"Is he safe?"

"Like I said, he knows the dangers."

"And Denis and Ludwik?"

"They\'re aware, but ignoring the dangers of their experiments. They\'ve been fiddling with microbes. Mostly bacteria. Their ideas are simple, and it is showing results, but... I can only imagine the nightmare we\'ll have if their experiments escape and mutate."

Jade nodded. It was easy to imagine the damage that a magically enhanced microbes could bring on society. Certainly it could be beneficial too, but the chance of it mutating to help humans was unlikely. It was more likely to become a terrifying magical disease.

"Why did you ask me to come here?" All this, however, did not seem to need her to come here. She wasn\'t someone in a powerful position. Sure, her dad held considerable sway in the organization, but he already knew. Zaphreal wasn\'t trying to use her to reach her dad, which meant...

"That\'s right. According to our intel, you\'ve kept contact with Eldrian."

"Yes, but..."

"We don\'t expect it to be perfect. But we—I need you to protect your friendship... if we can even call it that."

"Why?"

"It should be obvious, but I\'ll explain..."

—

About two weeks had passed since Two\'s death. Over those two weeks, Eldrian had spent almost every moment training. Perhaps not always physically, but he had been constantly controlling his mana and shifting his mind to his soul.

Honing his mind, if you will.

He never wanted something to block his senses like last time. For this, he was doing his utmost to master a technique to be conscious in both his body and soul at the same time.

This was like attempting to dream while staying awake and aware. It was extremely easy to lose oneself in the \'dream\', or be ripped from it by something happening before you.

Through Eldrian\'s practice, he learned just how valuable Two\'s existence was for his connection to his soul. Without Two, it was like the dreamworld (Eldrian\'s soul) disappeared when Eldrian didn\'t consciously focus on it. Which caused his attempts to access it to be slowed, taking more conscious effort. Like he had to reopen the connection each time.

It was still far easier than when Eldrian was learning to access it through the magic abyss trick, but it was no longer as easy as a shift in his thoughts.

"Are you sure about this?" Eldrian asked.

"I was hesitant. I\'ll admit that much." Erik said. There were a few reasons he hadn\'t rushed over. His business, for one. He couldn\'t just abandon it on a whim. But another was this hesitation.

The item he had offered Eldrian was something extremely rare. And something that might be needed to save Akarui\'s life one day.

"In that case, I\'ll be fine. Keep it." Declining the offer, despite how delectable it seemed, Eldrian pushed the fruit back towards Erik.

"She can\'t use it currently. And she had been getting better."

"But that might not last. Besides, I\'m also getting better. This would cheapen what happened." Eldrian said, resolutely refusing the fruit of life. "We are slow to learn because we aren\'t the ones to pay for our actions in this world... I want to learn."

Hearing this, Erik sighed. He understood there was no convincing Eldrian now. Storing the fruit away, he smiled. He was truly glad that his friend could fight against the temptation of the fruit.

"Alright, but I\'m still going to stay and help."

"Bwa haha," Eldrian guffawed. That was a very welcoming thought. "Did you bring Akarui?"

"No, I had her stay in Taurtania and manage the shop. She\'s grown a lot and should be able to hold down the fort with the stash I left behind. We also have a few helpers now."

"Good." Turning serious, Eldrian turned to the south. Just over the horizon, a fierce battle was unfolding. Currently, he was being held back from the front lines because of his condition. A terrible thing to do to a wounded man.

"How goes the war?" Erik asked, naturally shifting to the more serious talk.

"Their testing us, trying to goad us to use all our ammunition. But the soldiers are doing well. Only relying on the cannons when truly needed. Thanks to our friends on the walls, we\'re able to spot the hidden captains and the higher undead. I\'m also relaying what I can."

"And the duke is waiting for the lich to appear. But what will we do if something stronger makes it appearance?"

"Then we\'re screwed. Especially if it gets close without us noticing. Which is why I am examining each dot approaching the kingdom."

"And how long can you continue to do that, without refilling your reserves?"

"I\'ve already dropped back to level 41, but I have a over four billion XP to go through. So I guess I can manage for a while. Though I don\'t get much details on those stronger than me. I can still identify them and let everyone know their location."

This method was by no means full proof. And Eldrian could only afford to identify around eight million more. The current undead army already stood two million strong. Most were lower undead rabble, but mixed in the rabble were a few deadly killers.