Opening the paper, he narrowed his eyes lightly. Inside it, there were three things written.

A port’s name, the date, and the time.

That’s it.

Emperal smiled when he saw this, tucking the paper into his pockets, stepped forward, and started walking towards the spot he and Calder had decided to meet.

Unknown to him, a pair of golden eyes watched all his actions.

...

The next morning, Calder appeared to sit at the table, eating his breakfast with a happy and satisfied expression.

Seeing this, Emperal’s brow twitched.

"Guess someone got lucky yesterday."

Emperal jested as he picked up a small, uneven mug.

"Lucky? This daddy here is the child of Lady Luck!" Calder replied, his face was full of smiles.

"Lucky? Hmph, brat, don’t flatter yourself. I am sure she must have ripped off a huge chunk from your pocket."

Emperal snorted. It would’ve been okay if the guy hadn’t announced it pompously, but he did. Naturally, Emperal had to bring him back to earth; they had an important mission ahead.

"..."

Calder refused to lower himself and speak to his boss. After all, he was the one who got laid, not Emperal.

"Alright, pack up. We are leaving for the Tidewatch port along the Cliffcoast road."

Emperal spoke, his voice serious.

Seeing this, Calder sighed and nodded his head. Although the journey was dangerous and incredibly risky...the rewards were worth it.

Emperal wasn’t the kind of man who wouldn’t give what they deserved, even after the completion of their previous mission; he was paid more than what was necessary. And the result of it was obvious.

Stage One Verth Wielder.

Calder had broken through and successfully entered a realm that forty percent of the populace could only long for.

"Alright, let’s go, and by the way...?"

Calder gestured through his eyes, moving them sideways and repeating the action.

"She will meet us at the port."

Soon, they left Dawnreach after having breakfast, the Cliffcoast road was the most civilized path Emperal had travelled since coming back from Draventhar’s capital.

It had an actual stone surface, filled perfectly, and maintained. The Firebird-blood patrol units were visible at an altitude.

Calder walked beside him quietly.

"So...shall we?"

"No."

"But can we at least try—??"

"...No."

"Come on, don’t be so stingy."

"Fine...I want you back here in exactly two minutes. Be late, and you’re staying here alone."

"Hehe, thanks."

Calder rushed towards what seemed like a...brothel. Emperal shook his head. According to Calder, he wanted to say goodbye to the Crane-blooded woman he had been with yesterday.

Exactly five minutes later, Calder walked out. Scratching his head with a silly smile on his face, much to Emperal’s dark face.

...

Tidewatch was smaller than Dawnreach; it was a port settlement built where the Cliffcoast’s white cliffs lowered down to sea level. The harbour was drilled directly into the limestone. Shark-blood and Orca-blood fishmen moved through the docks with high efficiency.

The air smelled of fish and salt.

And at their meeting point, there she was. Vara was waiting at the harbour’s eastern pier.

Her black hair and brown eyes glowed below the radiant sun. She had the same smiling expression, as if last night hadn’t happened.

Except for the blush on her cheeks and neck. Looking at the two men coming, she stood up.

"You are late," she said.

"Yes, thanks to your beloved Mr Joker over there."

She looked at Calder, only for him to tilt his head embarrassingly to the side.

"Vara, I will be direct with you. I need the information about the Consciousness Mirror, and yes. Before you ask, I want the real deal. Not the cheap copies."

Vara’s eyes widened when she heard those words. She looked at Emperal in surprise.

"...You know about the Consciousness Mirror?"

Emperal barely held back his curses and tried to be as smooth as possible.

"Yes, do you know where it is?"

Emperal asked, his voice urgent.

Hearing this, Vara sighed. "I do know of its location, but it’s not a thing of your level to obtain."

"You just give me the address, and I will figure out the rest."

Vara went silent when she heard those words.

"The beast protecting it is almost at the end of its breakthrough to the Verth Lord."

Emperal sucked in a cold breath when he heard her words, Verth Lord? He was here...struggling to fight a peak Verth Wielder.

In the stages of Verth Shaper, one builds or constructs a processing chamber. It was an internal space where the raw Verth is drawn through the pools and is broken down.

It is through this that one can access the Elements and thus use an Elemental technique.

It was like a Forge, where the Verth is compressed and further refined to a higher degree. The Forge’s quality determines the Elemental quality.

In Stage One, a rough chamber is established where the Verth gains basic elemental affinity based on the Cultivator’s Spirit Root.

In Stage Two, one further refines this chamber, turning it into a Refined Chamber where the Forge walls intensify, and the user can use and process more Elements. And if the Spirit Root willed it, it could even Forge more than one Element!

And finally, at Stage Three, it becomes a Master Chamber, where it gains independence and becomes self-sustaining without the cultivator’s control or will.

This was Verth Shaper; these three major realms make up the first Phase of cultivation. And unfortunately for Emperal, the Verth Lord cultivation falls into Phase Two, the second major realm.

Aka, he was fucked.

"Sigh, is there no other way?"

Emperal couldn’t help but ask, his voice was hopeful. Hearing just the words she needed, a grin broke out on her face.

"There is a way, actually, this way is far, far better than whatever plans you were going to come up with."

Emperal’s ears perked up when he heard that, "What is it?"

Even Calder leaned forward, curious to know.

"Become my Second-in-command and serve me for a hundred years."