Inside the box were various body parts in pristine condition. It looked like they had been preserved well, but he was disgusted by what kind of body parts they were. On top of various monster parts were human legs and arms; even more sickening was that some were very small, as if they had come from children.
Feeling more confused and repulsed than he had in a long while, he went over to another box. This one was also hidden from his senses, and he pried it open. Thankfully, this box didn’t have any children's limbs, but the jars of blood didn’t make him feel any better.
The next few boxes didn’t have anything weird in them. They were full of metals and other materials. But he was still confused why the body parts and blood were inside a box. Were they some kind of resource for experiments? Was it someone’s hobby?
He had no idea and was about to incinerate all of them on a basic principle, but before he could do that, he realized that if he destroyed everything, he wouldn’t be able to find out what they were for. So, rather, he collected a good number of them and stored them away in his dimensional space. As for the others he couldn't bring along, he incinerated them.
While they had removed his storage ring, they had no idea he had other means of spatial storage. It was slightly sad to lose the ring; it had been very useful, but he was more upset about losing some of the snacks and other random items he kept inside it. He had a good number of clothes in there, too. Though he should be grateful that almost everything of value was kept inside his dimensional space.
Thank god for that void shard. It didn’t seem like much, but it was probably one of the best rewards he’d ever gotten, if not for its simple utility.
He felt a large number of forms converging near the warehouse, though. Were they responding to Selene's false lead?
Regardless, he understood it wasn’t the time to stay. It wasn’t much, but he hoped these things would help him figure out why Celestine wanted to gain control of Clan Yoshu.
There were several barriers around the warehouse, but they appeared to be malfunctioning or something. He could see them flickering a little bit. This might have been Selene’s doing. But just in case, he teleported through the barriers with [Void Step] and made it out safely. He hadn’t sensed Celestine on his way out or anywhere in the warehouse. She had probably gone back to her place for the night, which was probably why Hayden felt comfortable visiting him earlier.
He didn’t go back to the inn, though. As amazing as a bowl of their delicious stew sounded, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Instead, he immediately headed toward Clan Yoshu. Not only would he be safe with Kaito, but he also wanted to tell the man what Celestine wanted him to do to his daughter.
Then again, Hayden was a part of Clan Yoshu, so he didn’t know how safe he would be. He was certain that Kaito could protect him somewhat, but did that include the man’s own family? The other issue was how he was supposed to get inside Clan Yoshu. [Void Step] was a powerful skill that allowed him to get past anti-spatial enchantments, but he didn’t think it would allow him to talk inside a fortified compound so easily.
He was starting to regret getting himself involved. Would it just be easier to kill Celestine and Hayden? Maybe. That option became increasingly alluring as time went on.
He sighed and swiftly reminded himself that he wanted to find more information about the Conclave. And Lady Celestine seemed to be the best lead so far. If he could find out where she was, that would be the best.
As it turns out, his wisdom knew no bounds, and he had placed a Phoenix Mark on Hayden during the nice little training session they had together. The man had been so busy slapping Julius around and doing his best to help him, he hadn’t even realized when the mark latched onto him.
Julius hadn’t really expected much, and it was a little bit of a risk considering Hayden was a Tier 5. With that being said, Julius already noticed that Hayden didn’t have the sensitivity or the awareness that Celestine had. So if there were someone to try it on, it would be Hayden.
Fortunately, it seemed to work, and Julius felt the mark’s presence even after he escaped. While tracking the mark, he found out that Hayden returned to Clan Yoshu’s estate immediately after his visit to Julius. He was quick, too, moving quite fast; he must have really been scared of Celestine finding out he went back to the warehouse.
However, while Julius was roaming the city aimlessly, he was alerted that the mark was moving once again. He perked up from the food stall where he was enjoying a bowl of warm soup. It wasn’t the best soup, but it was the only thing he found that was open at this time of day.
Speaking of the time, the sun had almost risen over the horizon. People were slowly trickling into the streets, getting to work. He quickly finished off his soup and the last piece of bread before heading off to where the Phoenix Mark was going.
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When he finally arrived at the location of the mark, he was greeted by a large house in a residential area. It wasn’t quite the size of Clan Yoshu’s mansion, but it was still a very nice house. Several guards were at the front gates, and a powerful barrier covered the entire property.
Was this where Celestine was staying? If so, then he had gotten very lucky and was glad that he had placed a mark on Hayden.
He stayed outside, watching the building for half an hour, and only then did he see Hayden leave through the gates. The man looked furious, going so far as to insult and shove aside one of the guards. Julius didn’t move to follow the man; he stayed back and inspected the house.
Unlike Clan Yoshu, the house wasn’t as well defended. Not by a long shot. Sure, there were at least a couple of strong barriers, but he didn’t sense the same oppressive mana and enchantments that he did at Clan Yoshu’s estate. And he was much more tempted to sneak in.
In fact, he was already planning a way inside. He spotted an area from which servants and staff were coming. It looked like the building was where they lived. They were going about their duties and seemed so busy that he felt like it would be easy to pretend to be one as long as he made it past the barrier and through the gates.
So after making sure he planned out a general idea of where he was going to go and how he was going to get out, he slowly made his way over to the servant’s quarters and, when he made sure nobody was looking, used [Void Step].
He felt the anti-spatial enchantments try to prevent him from entering, but his void skill allowed him to step right through them. However, he felt another enchantment trying to scan him. This one wasn’t something he could just ignore with his void skill. He didn’t know what else to do, and so he stepped fully into the void, letting his entire presence vanish. He knew he didn’t have a lot of time. When he inevitably returned to the real world, he would need to deal with whatever that scan was.
It was likely some kind of enchantment that inspected all individuals who entered within a certain distance. It was also likely that the scan was aura-based, and people with authorized auras wouldn’t set off an alarm. That, or they had something on their person that would act as an identification card of sorts.
He probably should have expected something like this, but to his credit, he wasn’t used to doing things like this. He wasn’t a trained spy or assassin, so his lack of experience was reasonable. Not that those excuses would help him.
However, he had an idea. He already knew that he could avoid aura detection if he erased all hints of his aura. But he didn’t know if it would work the same for an enchantment like this. Then again, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice, and he quickly began to take control of his ruinous aura.
He created a thick bubble and slowly began to squeeze it together. He needed to erase his presence completely. He needed to make it look like there was nobody there in the first place. That way, the enchantment wouldn’t have anything to target or ping.
It was extremely difficult, especially with how strong his aura had been getting. The stronger he and his soul became, the harder it was to hide his aura. Fortunately, [Calm Before Ruin] was a seriously powerful skill. He felt his mind go into overdrive, expanding wide as it did everything it could to help him hold onto the technique. When he was sure that not a single piece or speck of aura was getting out, he finally canceled his void skill, appearing at the back of the servant’s quarters.
To his relief, the net of mana that had been about to scan him and his aura rolled right over him as if he wasn’t there. He held his breath, making sure that he was in the clear, and only when he didn’t sense any of the guards making moves did he feel safe enough to continue.
He snuck into the quarters and found a uniform that fit him. The other servants and staff didn’t seem to pay him any mind. They were too busy getting themselves ready, and when he got dressed, he looked in the mirror. To be honest, he was pretty happy with his look. He’d already changed some of his features with his Lightweave Necklace. He changed his hair color to a rusty brown and gave himself really soft facial features. He made himself look as innocent as possible, nothing like someone who was trying to sneak into someone’s home. He did spot a few people glancing in his direction a few times, probably not recognizing him. Though they probably chalked it up to him being new, and more importantly, they were too busy to care.
He slowly made his way toward the main house, and thanks to some liberal teleportations and his spatial skill, he positioned himself inside an empty room where he could track people coming in and out of the house.
He also confirmed that Celestine was inside the house. She was sitting on the balcony of her bedroom, having morning tea. He waited there, hoping that something would happen, and thankfully, it didn’t take long for someone to knock on her door.
It was an older man with long hair pulled back into a bun and dressed in a very nice suit. He looked like a butler of sorts. He couldn’t understand what they were talking about; his spatial skills didn’t allow him to do that, but based on Celestine’s rigid posture, the man was not a regular servant.
He was only Tier 4 as well. This made Julius a little more curious about the old man. It was why he snuck out of the room and followed him. The large number of servants made it easier too. He was able to get close enough to place a Phoenix Mark on the man.
Julius even decided to follow the old man when he left through the gates. He had already proven that the house was easily infiltrated, and believed he could come back another day. But his instincts told him that this old man was important, or at least offered some valuable insight into what Celestine was doing.
So he continued to tail the old man as stealthily as possible. Thanks to the mark, he was able to keep a safe distance and keep track at the same time. They were entering an abandoned part of the city, though. There were fewer people around, and the ones who were around were either homeless or ruffians.
Julius was focused on the man and keeping an eye on him that he almost failed to sense the blade slashing at the back of his neck.
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