Daniel nodded without denying it — his trip to the Endless Spirit Mountain had truly been full of incredible opportunities.
He'd only gone there to advance his rank, but ended up obtaining not only the legacy of death, but also a legendary sword.
"Oh right, what's up with your eyes?" August finally noticed Daniel's eyes.
A clear, black liquid surrounded his irises, with golden pupils in the center. It was scary in a way, yet had a unique kind of beauty.
"Huh? It's actually related to one of the opportunities I got. Nothing too special." Daniel didn't go into much detail, and fortunately, August didn't press him further.
"Actually, I came here to thank you," he said with a smile.
"For that incident? It's nothing. No need to thank me."
"Maybe for you it was just a simple order, but for me, it meant a lot."
August just laughed and didn't say anything else. His main goal was to build a good impression in this boy's mind, and it seemed like it was working.
After that, they talked about a few random topics, including when Daniel and his family would be heading to the capital.
Daniel had a lot of questions about the capital — ever since being reincarnated into this world, he hadn't really left this city, except for a few school field trips.
"The capital, huh? Well, it's a city like any other… except every genius in the country gathers there. The big guilds, the government, everything is based there."
"It's actually a great idea that you're moving there. With all the monthly and yearly events, you'll be able to reach your full potential."
"But I suggest you stay careful over there. Until you join a guild, try not to cause trouble or get involved with anyone — I won't be around to help you anymore," August explained.
"Thank you so much."
"Oh right, you'll need a lot of money to live a good life in the capital. I suggest saving up as much as you can."
Daniel nodded. While his financial situation wasn't bad at the moment, he knew that at best, he was still at the bottom of the wealth ladder among the awakened.
But he wasn't too worried. He had plenty of gold coins from the Celestial Domain, and if he ever ran out, he could just get more.
"If it's not too much trouble… can I ask if you have any escape Talisman?" he asked.
"Oh? Escape Talisman? What do you need those for?" August raised an eyebrow. Was this kid in some kind of dangerous situation?
"Well, it's like this…" Daniel briefly explained what had happened in the Free Zone of Erin — just the part about the elves surrounding it and how he wanted to get out.
"I see. I do have a few escape Talisman, but I'm not sure if they'd work for you," the chairman said, stroking his beard.
If what this boy said was true and the elves had surrounded all the cities in the free zone of Erin, then they'd probably accounted for escape scrolls too.
Escape Talisman were simple items — you injected mana into them and they would teleport you a certain distance from where you were.
But they weren't absolute. With the right kind of array, one could disrupt their activation and make them unusable. The same method worked on teleportation portals.
"I was actually planning to buy some from the store, but I'm not sure if anything under rank B would be useful," Daniel said.
"With your situation, rank C or B escape Talisman really won't work. You'd need at least a rank A one."
"If I remember right, I should have a few rank A escape Talisman. I got them as rewards in some events I won, but I've never used them," August said after thinking a bit.
"Isn't that kind of a waste? Those talisman must hold some memories for you," Daniel said with curiosity.
"Not really. It's better to give them to you — think of it as investing in a genius. At worst, you'll pay me back in the future."
After that, August made a call and told someone to go to his house and bring the scrolls.
"Thank you so much. I'll pay whatever they cost."
"No need. Just keep in mind there's a chance they won't work," August warned.
Daniel nodded. He was aware that the elves might've sealed the entire area with arrays — although he doubted they'd dare to go that far.
After all, those were still the Central Plains. Sending an army to surround one of the Free zones was already pushing the limits of disrespect and violation of the rules.
If they dared to seal the entire region with arrays, that would be like slapping the entire world in the face. He doubted they were that stupid.
After that, Daniel stood up to say goodbye. He'd done everything he needed here — now it was time to train a bit.
Tomorrow, he had to return to the Celestial Domain to finish the rest of his tasks there — including helping Andreas and Ilaris escape.
After that, he needed to deal with the court issue, and finally, he'd be ready to challenge the second floor of the tower.
He wanted to take on the tower as soon as possible, but he was afraid it might take too long and cause him to miss the court session.
"Heading home?" August stood up as well.
"No, I want to train a little first. I want to see how much I've improved."
"Oh? So you're heading to the training room? Why not try the new technology instead?" the chairman asked with a smirk.
"New technology?" Daniel asked, confused.
"We've actually built a new training field at the Awakened Association — it's for awakened individuals to test their strength against simulated opponents."
"There's even a national ranking system. If you manage to beat a certain number of simulated challengers, your name gets added to it. If I'm not wrong, the top three…"