"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT?" Desper slammed his hand over the table while screaming at the old man in front of him. "DO YOU THINK I'M A SLAVE HERE OR SOMETHING?"
"Desper, calm down!" Eland pulled Desper back while trying to calm him down.
…
15 minutes ago.
After Bron left, the team didn't stay for too long. Then they separated, everyone going his own way. Desper and Eland left together and were going to the Order Hall.
While they were walking through the streets, Desper asked, "Did you find anything?"
Eland shook his head. "No. There is no one following us. Unfortunately, I think you were imagining things."
Desper frowned and asked in a sharp tone, "Do you think I really was?"
He clearly didn't like that. Who would like someone to call him insane?
"There is nothing to get upset about," Eland replied calmly. "You have gone through many horrible things in the past three and a half months. It actually would be strange if you didn't gain any mental issues after that. I'm sorry, Desper, but you might need to go to the Medical Hall and ask for help."
He added, "There is nothing to be ashamed about. You are not the first one or the last one to experience that. We, cultivators, have to fight monsters almost every day. Many of us can't endure that."
Desper's frown slowly disappeared. He didn't say a word and considered going to the Medical Hall if he felt something like that again.
When they arrived at the Order Hall, they went to a certain room. As usual, there was an old man sitting inside with a small table in front of him.
Eland stepped forward and talked to the old man. "We are here to ask for permission to visit village number 211."
While saying that, Eland placed his token and Desper's on the table.
If a disciple wanted to visit their home village, they must ask for permission, not because they were not allowed to do that, but because it was to provide them with a special array to hide their Essence fluctuation from the monsters, so they wouldn't attract them to the village.
If someone was caught visiting a village without permission and without that array, the disciples responsible for stationing in this area would treat them as Lurkers and execute them immediately.
The old man looked at their tokens, but didn't pass them on the table as usual. Instead, he looked at them and said one word.
"Denied."
"Huh!?" Both Eland and Desper were shocked.
"Denied? What do you mean by that?"
Eland was very confused. During his years in the sect, it was his first time hearing about a permission being denied. On the other hand, Desper clenched his fists tightly, his eyes opened widely, and his breath raged.
"Denied is denied," the old man responded indifferently. "Not only that, he is not even allowed to leave the sect."
He said that while pointing at Desper.
Desper couldn't hold himself anymore.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT?" He slammed his hand over the table while screaming at the old man in front of him. "DO YOU THINK I'M A SLAVE HERE OR SOMETHING?"
"Desper, calm down!" Eland pulled him back.
"That is an order from the Elders," the old man continued.
"WHAT ORD…"
"DESPER!" Eland shouted.
"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN? DON'T YOU HEAR HIM?
Eland picked up the tokens, pulled Desper, and left the place.
Outside, although Desper didn't calm down, he just stood in place, not knowing what to do.
"Everything started to connect now," Eland muttered.
"What is connected?"
Desper asked, biting his fingers, still furious.
"You weren't imagining it," Eland answered. "There was probably someone following you, and he was ordered to do that by the Elders."
"Elders? What do they want from me?"
Eland rubbed his chin. "Did you do anything yesterday?"
"Yes, I did."
Eland frowned. "What was that?"
"I slept all day."
Suddenly, Eland lost his ability to speak.
He rubbed his forehead and said, "For now, I will take you to your apartment. Try not to leave it until tomorrow. By then, I will have asked the Elders about your situation."
Desper opened his mouth, but no words escaped. He was very angry, but also, he knew he couldn't do anything but wait.
A sudden thought ran through his mind.
'Did they find out about my identity?'
However, he expelled it immediately.
'If they had had a way to detect the Svikari Bloodline, they would have caught Varik before me.'
In front of his apartment, before they separated.
"Desper," Eland called him.
"Hmm?" Desper turned.
"I'm sorry for doubting you."
Desper didn't respond and entered the building.
Inside the apartment, he went to his special room and cultivated for another hour. Then he went to his bed. After swallowing another sleeping pill, he quickly went into a deep sleep.
…
Knock… knock… knock.
The next day, Desper woke up to the noise of someone knocking on the door.
He got up and opened the door.
"Varik?"
"Hello, Desper. It has been a while. Two weeks, isn't it?" The yellow-haired man had his usual smile.
Desper nodded and let him inside.
"You look terrible, don't you?" Varik asked after noticing how exhausted Desper was.
"Sighhhhh… the first mission was… horrible."
"Hmm? Explain, please." Varik leaned his back against the couch and crossed his arms. "I have a lot of time today."
Desper took a deep breath and explained everything.
At first, he didn't like Varik at all, but now, he couldn't hate him. Without what Varik had taught him, Desper would have been dead on the first day of the mission when the Lizardmen attacked him.
It took Desper about two hours to tell him everything that happened during the mission: the strange behavior of the monsters, the deadly injuries he had gotten, how the Detection Desk had failed to send the signals, the Distress Signal, the Double Signal…
After hearing the story, Varik was surprised, then confused, then frowning.
He looked at Desper and questioned, "Is there anything strange that happened after you returned?"
Desper's eyes widened. "How did you know?!"
Varik's frown deepened.
"Okay, Desper. I need you to explain everything that happened from the minute you returned till the minute we are talking now." He said it in a serious tone. "Everything, even the food you had during these days."
"Am I in danger?" Desper asked nervously.
"There is a high chance of it."
Desper took a deep breath and narrated everything that happened: sleeping using pills, being watched by someone, meeting with his team, taking his share of cores, rejecting Bron, trying to take the permission to visit his village…
He didn't miss anything.
After hearing everything, Varik kept rubbing his chin for about ten minutes in silence.
In the end, he closed his eyes and said, "That explains a lot."
"Explains what?!"
Varik stayed silent for a while, thinking of something.
"It is better that I don't tell you now," Varik finally said.
"What do you mean?"
Desper was utterly confused and irritated. Who wouldn't be? He was in danger, and Varik preferred not to tell him.
Varik reassured him. "Don't worry. The sect is doing that to protect you."
"Protecting me?!" Desper was stunned. "From what?!"
"You will probably understand everything by today."
"Can't you tell me?"
"Sorry, Desper. It is better I don't. All I can say is just prepare for a huge shock."
"A huge shock?" Desper repeated, his face filled with mixed emotions. What could shock him more than what had happened in the last few days?
Varik stood and said, "Let's talk about what I've come for."
Desper stared at him in silence.
"From what you've explained, you used your Svikari power in two fights, didn't you?"
Desper thought for a second and nodded. His running away from that O-Rank bear couldn't be considered a fight, could it?
"I think that you have enough control over it so, you are ready for the next step," Varik said while wearing his metal gauntlets. "Let's move to your special room."
In the special room, Desper held his dual swords while facing Varik.
"Now hit me with all of your strength, but without activating the bloodline."
Desper was a bit confused, but he still rushed at Varik and attacked him with a vertical strike from one of the swords.
The collision made a high metallic sound, but due to the soundproof effect of the room, no one outside the room could hear it.
"Good, now I want you to activate your bloodline power, but don't make it spread into your body as usual," Varik instructed. "I want you to direct it only toward your Origin."
Desper frowned. "Is that even possible?"
His Svikari power was always aggressive and always tried to invade all of his body without limitations. Resisting its spread alone was very hard already, let alone directing it.
"Just try it." Varik smiled.
Desper took a deep breath and released the green power in his stomach. As usual, it tried to break free of his control and spread throughout his body. At first, Desper limited its spread, then he tried to control it toward his Origin. The power resisted fiercely, which made his face twist.
He didn't give up and kept gathering the power, directing it to his Origin. Until finally, after two minutes, the green power touched the border of his Origin. Suddenly, the power stopped resisting and went into the Origin by itself.
Desper was shocked as he didn't have to direct it anymore. The power went into his Origin and spread through his channels into his bones and muscles. He felt the power filling them. It wasn't as much as when he used his bloodline, though.
Desper looked at Varik in surprise.
Varik smiled widely. "Look at your sword."
Desper raised one of his swords and looked at it. His jaw dropped when he saw his reflection in the sword.
His eyes were normal! There were no green veins!
"Isn't that amazing?" Varik was amused by Desper's reaction. "We can use part of our power without anyone noticing."
"That is really… amazing." Desper was still in shock. "Now, I can use it without being caught."
But then he frowned. "But won't that let the sect know that I'm a Svikari?"
If someone suddenly appeared to have power above his level, wouldn't that arouse suspicion?
Varik shook his head. "Don't worry. This ability is our biggest secret that no outsider knows about. They will only think that you have an insane talent."
"Now, attack me again."
Desper nodded and charged at him with the same vertical strike like before. Again, Varik parried it easily.
"You are in the 4th stage, but controlling the power with the Origin will make you possess the strength of a 7th stage," Varik explained.
It was only two stages less than when using the full power! And he didn't have to risk beigh caught!
However, Desper suddenly grimaced.
"It consumes a lot of Essence."
He noticed that the Essence in his Origin was decreasing significantly.
"You are right," Varik confirmed. "Although using our full power needs double the amount of Essence compared to not using it, when we use our Origin to control it, it consumes five times the Essence, even though it is still weaker."
"Five times?!"
Desper felt really annoyed. At first, he had a financial problem, since his cultivation consumed more than usual. If he wanted to use this new ability regularly, it would only worsen his financial state.
Varik continued.
"So, that is what you need to do in the next few days." He looked at him and said, "First, you should train to reduce the time you need to activate it. Two minutes is a lot. Second, you should start training to fight while absorbing Essence from the red stones at the same time, since you will probably need that in the future."
Desper's eyebrows furrowed. "That isn't going to be easy."
Fighting alone needed a lot of concentration. Now he had to split his focus between fighting and absorbing a stone. That might even kill him.
Varik shook his head. "Don't worry. With enough training, it will be just like breathing."
Then he walked to the door of the room.
"That is all for today," he said while opening it. "I advise you to stay in this room for today, as someone will probably visit you to explain the things you wanted to know about the strange restrictions imposed on you."
After that, he left the apartment, leaving Desper sinking into his thoughts.