Everything falls into place.

That’s what I am feeling right now.

I thought that Varic’s mission was just a simple ‘I hope I will earn money from this’ type of quest. I didn’t know I would gain a lot from this mission... and saying ‘a lot’ seems disrespectful.

I gain an ‘enormous’ amount of wealth and power in this mission.

Aside from the dimensional bag, subspace ring, bags of gold and magic crystal.

The real treasure is the black magic book and…

“The Fruit.”

I feel like I am lying on the soft cotton candy cloud right now as I said that.

The Tree of the Beginning.

It is the most ancient tree in the world, this tree supports the world from the moment it is born. The source of all life as the author says.

In the book, the author provided an art for the fans to enjoy the beauty of this magnificent tree. The Tree of the Beginning is located at the very center of the world. It is in the middle of the ocean and part of its tangled root can be seen above water, and the majestic truck is going straight to the heavens. From the upper part of the art, you could see very few branches that had leaves and fruits in it.

Then there is a giant vine-like creature embracing the trunk. The tree is protected by a powerful Titan named Gaia.

The incarnation of life itself.

I glance at the book and the fruit, and there is one conclusion that I made.

“There are powerful people moving behind the curtain.”

“The black book contains Divine Tier level magic spells. This is not a joke.”

…

“First of all, to cast a Divine Tier Magic you need at least 20 Circles to create this magic.”

That means they have at least Five 4-Circle Mage or Two 8-Circle Mage and a 4-Circle Mage, the combinations are endless.

“But that’s not all, to put it in a medium you need the equivalent circle of mages to control the magic and seal it on the medium. Yet in the end that is not enough.”

I touch the book.

“The materials will burn and eventually it will explode when the medium cannot handle the power inside.”

Then I flip the pages of the book.

“That means each of these pages are built on materials that can hold and withstand the power of Divine Tier Magic Spell. Hahahaha.”

I was so happy I covered my mouth immediately.

“There is one conclusion I can make.”

I look at the fruit then back to the book.

“They have a way to gather materials on the Tree of the Beginning.”

“These are powerful people indeed.”

…

…

…

Then something clicks on my head.

“Shit!”

“Isn’t this a story line created for the main character… fuck!”

I didn’t want to become the protagonist of a story. I didn't want those kinds of things.

“But those bastards are really planning on killing a lot of people in Slothub ha…”

In the future, those people will create chaos on Slothub.

“Well what is their end goal?”

I picked up The Fruit and started to eat it.

Crunch!

“Munch! Munch!”

“N? Nicolas… Well those items are made for royalties that for sure. So let’s just assume that the Duke is involved. He started the war and it failed due to Silver but then the letter said it is not their end goal. So what is it?”

“Hmmm… why would they like to start a war…”

…

“What is the cause of the war again? If I’m not mistaken Slexor demands a payment for disrespecting the prince… something like that. But of course Vosleno didn’t want to pay up.”

This information came from Cole memories.

“But war will affect you, your people and money. Are they that stupid? War is not an investment.”

I shake my head.

“What if? The war and their main goal is not linked together.”

I then glance at the first 30 pages of black book.

“Divine Tier Dominate Spell. From the very beginning this is a very challenging magic to create. You need an 8-Circle Black Mage as the foundation for this magic, which is really an uncommon profession because they are shun by the society, and to top it all, turning it to a Divine Tier Spell would require the black mage to synchronization with other mages and a they will also require a lot of magic crystal to retain its balance.”

“At the same time, to create a Divine Tier spell, it would require a lot of time to cast this spell and the power fluctuation can be felt by any mage within the distance. So using a divine tier spell in war or combat is not recommended.”

Then I flip the page once again.

“That is why they seal the spell on a divine quality material. This will make it an instantaneous cast.”

“If I’m joining the war, isn't it wasteful to spend 30 pages of a dominant spell on a divine quality material. Instead I should focus on large scale magical spells or instant death spells. If they already have a Black Mage, why would they trouble themselves just to dominate someone?”

Crunch!

…

…

“If that is the case.”

I look at the subspace ring.

“Subspace ring and Black Book combination… Divine Tier Dominate Spell…”

Chuckled.

I thought of something funny. By reading a lot of novels and comics, I have some predictions on what they wanted to do.

“Do they want to control the kingdom?”

“Divine Tier Dominate Spell will not miss and it cannot be blocked, even if they are Aura Master or 8-Circle Mage their skill is not enough to escape it. However, 30 pages… 30 people isn't too much.”

Crunch!

“Let’s see. The King, the Queen… Hmmm… ah the nobles… yeah.”

…

“If the nobles are involved, 30 might not be enough…”

Crunch!

I look at the contents of the book once more and finally I nod, I finally get it.

“That is the reason why, there are ‘these’ kinds of spell here.”

Gulp!

I finished eating The Fruit.

Small particles started to appear around me.

I was surprised when they slowly arrived in my sight, then I shook my head and got my thoughts back.

“Well whatever their plan is… I don’t want to be involved in it… I really don’t care.”

Then I started to hear things.

Hi! Hi! Hi!

A cute baby sound.

Hi! Hi!

They are laughing and look like they are having fun.

A ball of red light appears on the side of the room, then a ball of white light appears on my side, different colors and hues of light are now appearing in my room one after the other.

 I tried to touch them but my hand just passed through.

“Elementals.”

That’s right, these are elementals…

Creatures that are the closest to nature and the world itself.

No one can see them except for a few people who are blessed by nature and the legendary Elementalist, is the only person who can communicate with the elementals.

For me, I will not become an Elementalist.

More likely, one of the elementals will like me enough that they will decide to bond with my soul.

Hi! Hi! Hi!

The elementals move around the room.

They look like they are dancing around me.

(This is beautiful… They are beautiful.)

They look like cotton candy that have dim light inside them.

And the way they dance around me, feels like I am inside a room full of Christmas lights that is slowly and moving gently by the wind.

But after a while…

Each of them left… one by one…

“Sigh.”

I looked at the ceiling and smiled.

“Eating ‘The Fruit’ wouldn’t give you a 100% chance of bonding with elementals, I already know that before I eat ‘The Fruit’.”

“It just gave me ‘a chance’ to bond with one of them. The author said that you will be counted as one of the lucky ones if an elemental bonds with you.”

I tried to reach out to the last yellow element in front of me before it slowly disappeared.

“Still I feel satisfied in having this once in a lifetime experience.”

I look at the loot resting on the table.

“Ahhh…”

My heart pounds from excitement.

I stand up and stretch.

I put the gold, magic crystal and jewelry box inside the dimensional bag. Then put the dimensional bag and black book inside the subspace.

For the ring, it will attract too much attention so I need to buy a glove first thing tomorrow morning. For now, I will just keep it in my pocket.

Suddenly, I felt disappointed.

“Ahhh… it's still a waste that none of the elementals bonded with me.”

I still keep my smile as I shake my head.

Elementals are powerful assets. They will stay with you until the day that you die, they will protect you from harm and by binding with your soul you can even use their powers.

You can shoot fireballs without mana, cause a tornado because you felt like it and you can call the rain even if you are just thirsty.  

But bonding with them is a one in a million chance. For the elementals, bonding with your soul is like a marriage to them and they will only bond to a person they are extremely compatible with.

Still, it feels like a waste that none of the elementals that visited me is compatible with my soul. Just having one of those will greatly improve ‘my power’ significantly.

I lie down in my bed after tidying up.

I put my hands under my head.

“Well… (ahhhh) there is nothing I can do about it.”

I close my eyes.

“Thank you for that wonderful experience, Elementals.”

As Cole fell asleep that night, a colorless entity gently fell down to his chest like a snowflake that slowly landed on the ground.

*********************************

(Where? Where? Where is it?)

The gray-haired man is currently pacing around this room.

This man is already 55 years old but his body still looks prime and if anybody would’ve seen him they would not even look at the old man as a weak person.

Knock! Knock!

(Is he here?)

“Come in!”

The door of my office room opened and a man with brown hair and fine build entered my office.

He smiled at me and slowly walked toward the couch and sat down.

With his arm running across the chair he looks at me and nods.

(Tsk. These people didn’t even know common courtesy.)

“Guild Master Bollea, how's the search?”

“Your excellency… I have personally looked at the treasure we obtained in the raid but unfortunately the dimensional bag you are looking for is not one of them.”

The way he talks shows that we are at the same level.

Bam!

I slam my fist on the table.

I looked at him and he didn’t even flinch.

“You have to look for it again! Hold any adventurers that join the raid. I want to search for them all.”

The man in front of me smiled and shook his head.

“That won’t do, your excellency.”

He looks at the window.

“We are not part of your kingdom, as adventurers we are free to move wherever we want. Of course we are required to follow the country's rules and regulations but holding the adventurers in a single city without proper explanation is a terrible idea. The council will question your motives and they might even remove the guild in this city if they believe you are turning the adventurers into your prisoners.”

(Who cares about the council? Who cares about the adventurers?)

(So what? What now?)

(I already received the second letter which contains the plan and list of items inside that bag.)

Bam!

(Shit! Why did I make that decision? Just because I don’t want to attract any attention I thought having a personal knight fetch the item is enough.)

(Shit! Shit!)

(I should have called in an Aura Master but a lot of Nobles are already staring down at me, I guess that won’t do.)

“But Bollea, the contents of the bag are…”

Bollea raised his hand telling me to stop.

“Duke Nicolas, I don’t need to involve myself in the contents of that bag. We are thankful that you lend us your soldiers and in return the Adventurer Guild, following your request, we check each and every adventurer before they leave the camp.”

“The administrator even had soldiers beside them when they did the inspection. In addition to that the soldiers together with the administrator also sweep the area, thrice.”

He holds three fingers in the air.

“I think we already cooperated enough with the city.”

Then he leans forward.

“Duke.”

I look him in the eye.

“There is also a possibility that they already sold the items.”

I began to shake.

(The content of the bag… the content of the bag will change this country.)

(Not just that.)

(That item…)

(Is almost within my grasp.)

Bollea shakes his head.

“I will take my leave, your excellency.”

Bollea exited my office.

After that,

Bam! Bam! Bam!

That day the people inside the mansion heard Duke Nicolas rages inside his office all day.