'Is it worth taking the risk?' Abium frowned before asking another question.
'How many years will it take for her to break through into a third-tier mage by normal means?'
'If she uses the normal spirit technique to improve her spirit, it would take at least 400 years for her to enter the third-tier realm. Although she could use other forbidden ways like the Soul Tricker artifact method and the demon's spirit devouring method to increase her spirit power, I don't think those methods are still available in this era. Even if she had such method, I'm pretty sure the Light God Welo's believers would hunt her down and burn her in the name of purification.' Azolla's words made Abium widen his eyes.
'But 400 years is too long, right? Won't she die before that?' From the outer appearance, Tabitha looked more like a 50-years-old woman.
But Abium knew her real age must be around 400 hundred years and thought she wouldn't live for another 400 years.
Meanwhile, Azolla let out a deep sigh inside his mind like an older woman and spoke.
'Yes, kid. That's why she has to find another way to live longer. Warlock Pathway is the best option for her now. If she selects a suitable bloodline for her body, she'll live for another 1000 to 2000 years. It also depends on how strong the bloodline purity.'
'No wonder she ran off excitedly.'
Abium suddenly thought about himself and asked.
'What about me? How many years would it take for me to break through into a second-tier mage?'
'From the speed you are progressing, I can say it would take around 10 to 30 years, kid. But once you reach the second-tier realm, you will face a big challenge to increase your Spirit Power.'
Abium's eyes widened as he heard those words.
More than ten years? What will he do if the demons invade his territory? Although he picked up the safest region in the whole southern mainland, he still can't rule out the possibility of the demons invading his territory using other means.
'Although only Greater Demons like Susur and below level demons like Mid Demons, Lesser Demons, and imps will invade the mainland, they will still come in large numbers.' He frowned deeply and soon fell into deep thoughts.
'I don't have time to wait that long.' As he was thinking about his future, Azolla replied with a chuckle.
'If you want to discover the truth about the mysterious shackles, you must first find a way to increase your strength, kid. I can help you with some aspects like increasing your spirit power, but you have to do the rest on your own.'
Abium nodded solemnly and asked another question.
'What will happen if I inject the dragon's blood essence into my body? Can I also choose to walk on the path of Warlocks now?' He asked curiously. After hearing much about the mysterious shackles, Abium felt he might've chosen the wrong path again.
As if Azolla had seen through his current thoughts, she gave another chuckle and added.
'There is nothing called Wrong path, lad. Every path has its limitations and advantages. Whether one can reach the peak depends solely on his efforts.'
'Moreover, walking on the Warlock path is more dangerous than the Mage Path. I wouldn't recommend that path for you. I would be surprised if that woman managed to extract a single drop of blood essence from the bronze dragon's scale, though.' Her reply made him realize he knew little to nothing about the mages.
But he knew it wasn't the right time to research those things.
At that moment, Lily took out another item from her ring and gave it to him.
'Hm? What is this?' Abium narrowed his eyes and soon noticed that it was a brown-colored scroll!
"I took this item from Iskax yesterday and thought of sending it to any one of the Royal Guards later. But now I changed my mind." Lily said calmly.
Meanwhile, Abium caught the scroll, opened it using both hands, and tried to read the content.
But soon, he frowned as he noticed it was written in an unknown language.
He also sensed the smell of blood oozing out from the scroll and sniffed it.
"They used Blood instead of Ink for writing?"
Except for those demons, who would do something like that?
After some thought, he stored the scroll into his space ring and waved his hand.
"I'll take care of it. You don't have to worry too much about it."
'When I return to the magic tower, I must visit the library section and check if there is any abyssal language book.' As he was in deep thoughts, Helena finally cleared her throat and asked while looking at Lily coldly.
"Care to explain who this pretty lady is, Abium?"
'Oops, I almost forgot about this. Wait, why is Helena's voice appears a little colder?' Abium quickly shook his head and spoke.
"She is an old friend of mine. She and her sister will be staying with us from now on."
But Helena gave him a suspicious glance and soon spoke.
"I can see that you are terrible at lying, Abium. Who is she anyway?"
Upon hearing those words, Abium coughed twice to change the topic.
"I will explain to you once we reach the mansion, Helena."
After a few minutes of travel, the carriage returned to Nobles' Borough and reached Baron Auguinare's mansion.
Abium and others stepped out of the carriage one by one and soon noticed Baron's carriage arrived ahead of their own.
"What took you guys so long?" Baron Auguinare stepped out of the carriage and asked in confusion.
At that moment, Richard jumped from the driver's seat and answered before others could.
"We went to Merchants' Borough before coming here, Teacher."
"I thought so." Baron nodded his head in understanding and started walking towards the main building.
"You guys go ahead. I'll park the carriage in the carriage house and come back." Richard said solemnly and once again climbed up to the driver's seat.
Meanwhile, Abium and others nodded, moved towards the main building, and soon reached the entrance.
At that moment, Butler James stood there waiting at the entrance door and bowed his head in greeting.
After confirming everyone was okay, he walked closer to Baron Auguinare and spoke in a suppressed voice.
"A 'Young Lady' tried to sneak into our mansion earlier and caused a commotion, My Lord. But when I interrogated her, she said that Lord Abium was the one who told her to come here.'
"Guest? Who is it?" Baron furrowed his brow and shifted his gaze towards Abium.
"She didn't even reveal her name, My Lord. So, I've no choice but to let her wait in the main hall." Butler said in a solemn tone.
Meanwhile, Lily widened her eyes and hurriedly spoke.
"It must be my sister Sara!"
Without delay, she stepped forward and walked into the main hall.
Abium and others followed her and soon stepped on the red-carpeted floor.
Sofas and chairs were placed at the center in order, while a white chandelier was hung up in the ceiling, illuminating the whole main hall.
After a swift glance, Abium turned his gaze towards the front and saw a wavy black-haired young lady sitting on a red couch.
Unlike before, Sara had already changed her assassin outfit and now wore a tunic-type dress.
When she heard the multiple footsteps from the entrance, she quickly stood up from the couch and waved her hand at her sister.
"I thought it would take hours for you guys to come back." She hurriedly moved toward Lily and gave her a tight hug.
Upon seeing the black-haired girl, Helena's and Baron's faces turned pale. They instantly identified that she was the one who killed King Sewallus a while ago and stood rooted at the stop for a whole two seconds.
"What is she doing here?!" Baron soon snapped out of the shock and asked in a deep voice.
Simultaneously, he and Helena moved their hands toward their waist and unsheathed their sword before pointing the tip at Sara.
"How did she come here?!" Helena spoke in a hoarse tone due to the shock and tried her best to calm down her trembling legs.
The next instant, she stepped forward, leaped towards Sara, and thrust her sword at her head.
But before Helena's sword could reach Sara, Abium suddenly appeared before her, casually deflected the sword using his own, and stopped her.
Following that, he sheathed his sword and started explaining their situation.
"In short, they are victims of the demon and being used by the Red Python organization like slaves." He ended his talk.
"B-But she did kill the king in front of everyone, right? Won't it become a problem for us?" Helena asked with a frown while slowly sheathing her weapon.
"Your current action is more like treason, Baron Abium." Baron Auguinare also said solemnly and showed a tensed look.
Abium knew about what would happen if this news got out. But he wasn't worried much about that matter.
'After the Grand Nobles' Gathering, this whole kingdom will flip over. So, all I have to do now is bring them to my territory and let them stay there for a year or two. After that, no one will remember the king's assassination due to the constant riots and massacres.' Abium thought to himself.
"You don't have to worry much about this matter, Lord Baron." Abium smiled mysteriously and waited for Baron Auguinare's approval.
Meanwhile, Baron stood there pondering for a whole minute and nodded.
"I don't care whether she lives or dies. But she can't go out of this mansion from now on." He knew how serious this matter was and decided not to take this carelessly.
Quietly, he turned his gaze towards Butler James and asked.
"Did anyone see her when she entered the mansion?"
"No, My Lord. She covered her head in a hood when she entered the mansion and only revealed her face to me just a while ago." Butler James responded with a stiff tone.
"Good. From today onwards, do not let any outsider into our mansion." He paused, turned his gaze towards Sara, and added.
"Also, you shouldn't even leave the second floor from now on. Ask your sister's help or my butler's help if you want to eat or drink." His words were sharp and cold.
Noticing the seriousness, Sara and Lily also turned solemnly and bowed.
"We'll do as you say, My Lord."