Meanwhile, Charles leaned back on the sofa and fell into deep thoughts.
'First thing, I have to confirm that the Red Prince and the Watcher class member are the same individuals or different ones. These strange prediction abilities are not to be messed with. I need to act more cautious and started researching about this [Watcher]... No, that's the mistake I made last time. If I hadn't gone to Brook's Street, Addie Baker wouldn't have come after me using the Watcher's artifact...
So, my job is not to search for Watcher. I will enter the Dreamworld often and try to gain more Exp points. After that, I will Rank-Up my both Classes and accompany Jimmy as Edith Oliver. When the time comes, I will reveal myself as Marie Holmes and trick it into signing the contract... Nah, that won't work at all.
Hmm, which contract would do the trick? I need to find a reason to get closer to Jimmy and sign a normal contract with him...
He is the one who invited me to this Mission. So, when I'm at a disadvantage during the Mission, I will argue with him for involving me in a dangerous task and force him to sign a contract to compensate me for my loss. But I need to lose some precious artifact during the Mission to make my action feels real. Which one should I sacrifice? Ghost Dagger? Nope, it isn't worth much. Starfall Codex? Nope, it's a priceless treasure. Ember Pistol? Nope, it's my only trump card...
Should I lose any one of Addie's artifacts?' He furrowed his brows for a moment and soon chose to lose the 'Coin of the Helper' artifact. Although it was a rare artifact, Charles felt nothing in front of a real Series-A artifact.
'Once the Holem's Crown signed the contract, I will take full control over the Holem's Crown and would search for the [Watcher] with its help.' He nodded his head thoughtfully and soon glanced at Eve, who was still leaning her back against the cold concrete wall. She also seemed to be thinking about something and stared at the ceiling in a daze.
"What's on your mind, mom?" He raised his eyebrows and asked.
Eve blinked her eyes as she heard her son's words and soon straightened her back. After that, she walked two steps in front, sat on the opposite sofa, and spoke in an uncertain voice.
"Something feels wrong, Charles. After the Kidnapping incident, our life seems to have changed completely. Wherever we took a step, thorns seem to be popped out of nowhere and harming us. Shall we sell this house and go away from this city?"
Charles got stunned by her words and soon widened his eyes.
'What happened to her? Did she see an anomaly in my Fate?'
"What did you see?"
"I didn't. But why should we destroy our peaceful life by involving in others' business?" Eve inhaled deeply and said.
"No, it's the quiet opposite, mom." Charles deliberately paused for a second and then continued with a grave tone,
"The reason for the variations in this City peoples' fates are due to a certain individual. That certain individual might be the reason for my father's assassination. He might be the one who manipulated us to come to this Riverdale City and seemed to be plotting a big scheme."
"Are you still clinging on to that possibility?" This time, Saron widened her eyes and stared at him in shock. The last time when Charles mentioned those words to her, she didn't take it seriously. But now, she also began to feel that it was possible as she had long sensed the coincidental anomaly in the Riverdale City.
"Yes, My Lady." Charles didn't say anything further and simply nodded.
"If there really is a schemer after you guys, what is he after?" Saron became interested all of a sudden and asked further.
"What's there to think about? His target is the Holem's Crown." Charles said as a matter of fact.
"Oh, that's right. I almost forgot about that artifact." Saron placed her hand on her forehead and nodded.
Before Eve could say another word, Charles waved his head and said with a sigh.
"Don't put too much thought into it, mom. I will take care of it."
After that, he stood up from the ornate sofa, went near the spiral stairs, and moved upstairs. He then reached the second floor, walked on the smooth tiled floor, and soon arrived in front of his bedroom door on his right side.
He was about to place his hand on the doorknob but suddenly stopped. He then took out a gold coin from his space ring and pressed the small blue gem at its center.
It was the [Watcher's Coin] artifact!
A second later, his vision turned blurry as he soon found himself standing above a large crater. He then glanced at the surroundings and soon noticed that the crater was almost covered the size of Riverdale City. Sharp rocks, bounders, and lavas spread all over the crater, causing Charles to stare at the vision in puzzlement. Before he could look further, his vision blurred once again, and soon he found himself standing in front of his bedroom door.
He blinked his eyes twice, placed his hand on the doorknob, turned it a little, and opened the door.
After locking the wooden door from inside, He went near his bed, sat on it, and then thought of the strange vision in confusion.
'Is that the future of Riverdale City? What caused that crater?' Suddenly, he thought of Bishop's earlier words and became gloomy.
'Looks like I need to speed up my plan.' He heaved a heavy sigh and then took out the 'Nightmare Stone' from his space ring. He placed the stone in his pocket, lay on the bed, and placed his head on the cotton pillow.
As usual, he closed his eyes for a moment and soon fell asleep.
...
After some time, Charles opened his eyes in the Dreamworld, sat up suddenly on the old dusty wooden bed, and took out the pupil-less eye from his space ring.
At that time, the gloomy old house suddenly shook for a second and soon returned to normal. Charles raised his eyebrows as he heard window clattering noises, howling winds from outside, and grew solemn.
With a frown plastered on his face, he tapped the pupil-less eye twice and activated the 'Shadow Eye' skill. A second later, a cloud of dark smoke came out from it and soon formed into an eye-shaped shadow with two bat-like wings.
Simultaneously, Charles also felt the connection from the shadow-eye and controlled it to move outside. Using the eye, he scouted the nearby rooms slowly and went downstairs. Once he made sure that no strange creatures were hidden in his house, he breathed out a sigh of relief and then looked outside. Unlike the last time, the whole city was filled with gusty winds and appeared to be in the middle of a large tornado!
Widening his eyes, Charles stared at the dusty red sky, and soon his whole body went stiff.
Up there in the dusty clouds, he saw a shadow of a dark lizard-like creature with wings hovering above the city and let out thundering roars from time to time.
"Dragon." He squeezed out a single word and soon ran back to the second floor through the spiral staircase. After a few seconds, he entered his bedroom and soon exited the Dreamworld.
Although he was curious to know more about that dragon-like creature, he didn't dare to take the Dreamworld creatures lightly.
...
After some time, Charles woke up in his bedroom and soon shook his head. He actually thought of using the 'Dreamworld' to gain some experience points, but he didn't think that a monstrous lizard would ruin his plan in a second. Quietly lamenting for a second, he let out a bitter smile and concentrated his attention on mastering his spell models.
Days passed as he secluded himself in his room, and soon it was September 10th.
During the past few weeks, he entered the Dreamworld thrice to try his luck and gained 1420 exp points by killing seven dark goblin-like creatures and two lizard-like creatures. Currently, he had 3709 Exp points in his Experience bar. But that was not his real achievement. Due to his hard work, Charles finally mastered his final [Flame Body] spell model today and was about to Rank-up!
If he faced Addie now, he would have an easy time battling him. During the past few weeks, he also visited the Withering Shadows office once and learned some city ruin information. This time, Luke tailed Willy Pickton and found some clue about the City Ruins hidden in the depths of Unexplored Forest. He mentioned that Willy and many other mystics were gathering secretly for a while and seemed to be planning to explore the Unexplored Forest.
As for those three [Historians] 's disappearance? It was still shrouded in mystery.
Casting those thoughts away from his mind, Charles stood up from the tiled floor and soon furrowed his brows as he saw the Rank-up question in the game interface.
[Main Class Rank-up Quest: Sense the presence of your soul.
Quest Description: Mages are masters of elements and mysteries. But to become one, you need to learn about your soul and the Inner-world. Find a guide and learn more information about the Inner-World. Once you obtain enough information, try to sense your soul.
Quest Rewards: 500 Exp
Mission Deadline: None.]
'Rank-up quest? Does that mean I don't have to spend hundreds of Exp or consume a Class-gem to Rank-up?' He got confused for a moment and soon thought of the 'Inner-World.'
'I do read something about 'Inner-World' in one of the library books. What book is that again? Soul of Mysteries? Nah, I think its name is Secrets of the Soul.' He thought for a moment and soon decided to check it quickly.
After changing his cloth into a casual one, he walked out of his bedroom and went to the Wisdom Library. It was around 11 A.M.
The rising sunlight scorched his back from the east as he stepped out of his house and soon walked on the El Street road. Charles didn't stop anywhere and soon reached Oliver Street. Charles then entered the Wisdom Library. He directly went to the fourth floor and started recalling his memories about where he put the book containing information about the Inner World. After searching for a while, he soon found the book called the 'Secrets of the Soul' and started reading it.
