Third Person's POV

Their exchange was short, clipped, and without excess as neither of them wasted any words.

And though there was no real camaraderie between them, Alrin showed no intention of raising his blade against Ethan.

He had no clear measure of this youth's strength, and more importantly, had no real enmity with him.

Such recklessness as the one shown by his travel mate was not his habit, unlike the two burdens who traveled at his side.

Ethan had sensed precisely that sentiment, and so he didn't press the matter.

With a final nod to Alrin and ignoring the venomous, glowering stares of the sultry woman and the battered brute, he vanished from their sight like a specter slipping into shadow.

For a long breath, silence hung between the three, and then, finally unable to hold back, the brute finally snarled,

"Why didn't you attack that pipsqueak, Lord Alrin?"

The sultry woman turned her eyes toward Alrin as well, with the same question flickering across her face.

But Alrin didn't even look back, and his thin frame was already walking away, while his raspy voice drifted over his shoulder.

"I had no enmity with him. So why would I attack?"

The brute's jaw dropped, and his face twisted with indignation as a thought crossed his mind.

'This bastard..."

"B-but didn't you see what he did? He killed Snaky outright, and he nearly killed me too!"

Alrin halted only briefly, and his amber eyes flicked back with a cold and sharp gleam in them.

"Did I tell you to ambush him, or did you have some prior grievance with him?"

His voice cut like a blade in a calm and merciless fashion.

"If not, then do not come to me whining about grudges you brought upon yourself. I am neither your servant nor your father, so it would be better that you grow up."

The content of the words and the subtle derision in them landed like a slap on his face, and the brute fell silent, as his cheeks burned red with shame and anger twisting in his gut.

He lowered his head, unable to meet Alrin's gaze, but the anger accumulating in his chest from the merciless words of Alrin was fully directed at Ethan, as he couldn't do anything against the bamboo thin Alrin anyway.

On the other hand, the sultry woman wasn't nearly so merciful as her lips curled into a mocking, playful smile, and her eyes brimmed with amusement as they raked over his broad back.

And the brute could feel it, her scorn that was like a knife against his pride.

In response, his fists clenched tightly, and his eyes flashed with venom before he quickly masked it.

'Just you wait, you slut,' he thought bitterly as his hatred found a medium to vent.

'You dare laugh at me? I will make you kneel beneath this lord's crotch and teach you what respect means.

And Alrin… that bastard! Grandfather should have crushed him in his crib. They say outsiders never truly belong in their own bloodline, and they are indeed right.'

The thought seethed and burned in his head like a wildfire, but outwardly, he stayed silent and followed after them with his head bowed.

---

Meanwhile, as Ethan moved with quiet precision through the forest, he noticed something unsettling, and it was that he could see several figures spotting him as easily as he spotted them.

For a brief moment, his heart tensed, but he quickly calmed himself, as he remembered that it was still broad daylight and his dark movement magic was not providing him with the camouflage and blending that he hoped for.

More importantly, he had already suppressed his aura down to that of a freshly advanced Elemental Sea cultivator.

So, to them, he appeared no different than an above average talent who was participating in this trial.

His steps slowed as he approached the deep interior where the faint silhouette of the dark castle seemed even closer, though suddenly, he sensed something strange in the atmosphere.

A strange disturbance rippled ahead, and it was a fluctuation that was too strong to ignore.

He froze just short of a wide clearing that was roughly visible from his position, with his senses stretched taut, and it was then that it struck.

A visible wave of multicolored elemental energy swept across the clearing and washed over him like a sudden tide towards him.

Ethan staggered and not due to the force but to his shock, as he nearly lost his composure as the raw force pressed against his body.

And what amazed him was that instead of being hostile, it was intoxicating.

The energy was dense, vibrant, and pure, and almost like a light cool rainshower in its vibrance.

As it coursed through him, his every cell seemed to sing with delight.

His flesh, blood, and even his spirit stirred and resonated with a sensation so blissful it bordered on overwhelming.

His chest rose sharply as he inhaled and greedily drew in the energy-laden air.

In the next second, his eyes flared with light like torches, and only one sharp and unshakable thought surfaced in them.

'A treasure!'

Without hesitation, Ethan pushed through the dense foliage, brushing aside the swaying rattans that hung like green serpents in front of him.

The air was thick with floral fragrance, and soon the forest opened up before him.

He stepped into a sunlit clearing carpeted with wildflowers, their petals shimmering faintly in the dancing light.

As he looked on further, he found a colossal tree in the center of that flower bed with its trunk broad and roots sprawling like the claws of an ancient beast.

Though it dwarfed every tree around it, what drew Ethan's gaze was not its size but what it bore.

At the very top, dangling from a single thick branch, was a lone cluster of fruit, five in number.

He could instantly conclude that they were no ordinary fruits.

As he focused on them, he found them to be shaped much like the ripe mangoes from his past life.