Thessa stood in silence, her eyes aimed toward the ground as she waited. There were a few others around her, though only two really mattered—both of whom were from the Luminiscent Moon Sect.
They weren’t really of concern, actually. One of them was from the Ironhart Clan, a young man that seemed to have become Thralix’s replacement. He was Drystan’s little brother, and technically the dead Thralix’s cousin.
He was only at the Eighth Resonance, but he was also about a year younger than Thralix.
Though this was the case, no one was under any illusions that he and Thralix were on the same level, not unless he—by some miracle—awakened his bloodline to Silver Resonance as well.
The other member of the Luminiscent Moon Sect was of the Ashenvale Clan, a familiar young lady with a shockingly pale face. This was the younger sister of the Ashenvale Clan pair.
This young lady was technically an enemy, but Thessa couldn’t bring herself to take her seriously in the slightest. Today, she had come here for the sake of entering the Fourth Level; she didn’t care about anything else.
However, that didn’t stop her from being on full alert. Drystan’s little brother, Veron, made sense. The Ironharts had already extended an olive branch to the Nightingales, and were likely here to show their loyalty.
But why were the Ashenvales here?
Thessa sent a glance toward the young girl. She had an odd name, Oxon, they called her. It was a weirdly masculine name for such a fragile little girl. She must have been at least 16 or 17 given her strength, but she looked closer to 12 years old than anything else.
There should be no foul play. This branch was called the Nightingale Pagoda for a reason. If she had wanted, she could enter the Fourth Level just based on her status alone, but in this sensitive time, she couldn’t easily do things like that.
And then there was a rumble.
“Apologies, princess consort. There are an oddly high number of individuals who want to participate today, and I’ve been forced to arrange things.
“You should have told me you were visiting; we would have granted you a grand entrance and ceremony. Apologies again for the poor hospitality.”
An old man with vigorous vitality and ruddy, wrinkled skin strolled in with billowing robes of black and silver. He should have been the Branch Manager of this Pagoda—Manager Yuan.
Thessa opened her lips briefly to reply before closing them again.
Behind the Branch Manager, another youth appeared and her gaze couldn’t help but sharpen.
Theron.
He appeared with that same gentle demeanor, a caring smile, a soft gaze. He was a handsome little man with an unassuming sort of sharpness to him—one that one would only notice after he decided to unsheathe it the slightest bit.
Thessa shook her head and looked back to Manager Yuan.
“No, you don’t have anything to apologize for, Manager Yuan. I came here today uninvited, but I would like to take on the same challenge as everyone else.”
“Not a problem, not a problem at all. What challenge would you like to take, princess? The alchemy challenge, perhaps?”
A Spirit Mancer with Fire Mana control was maybe one of the most unique combinations in the world. Almost all secondary profession geniuses were born from Soul Mancers, and Spirit Mancers were their direct opposite. So Thessa learning alchemy was akin to Theron ever mastering a weapon or martial art resonance.
But in this case… Thessa’s genius seemed to be shining through.
“No. That would be too boring,” Thessa said calmly. “I would like a trial by combat.”
Even Manager Yuan was taken aback, let alone the others. Didn’t this mean that Thessa wanted to fight a Silver Mancer for the right to enter the Fourth Level…?
At the Bronze Resonance? Impossible.
The gap was too big, even if Thessa was at the Quasi Silver level.
Theron was the only one that didn’t seem very surprised by this.
Right now, he was functioning under the impression that the Nightingale Clan knew that he was River. But that didn’t mean that all of them knew.
In addition, did it matter if they knew? Not acutely, it didn’t.
Daggers of the Night was a hidden pawn of the Nightingale Clan, not an open one. They wouldn’t easily tie these two things together until the time was right, or else Sadie wouldn’t have to hide her identity.
When Theron said he was walking a tightrope of life and death, he meant it with every fiber of his being.
Manager Yuan seemed caught between a rock and a hard place, not knowing what to do. This was too dangerous to take a risk on, but he also didn’t want to offend the princess consort.
For now, he could only stall.
“This is… unexpected. In that case, it will take some time to prepare a Silver Resonance Mancer of the proper level. In the meantime, what do these other young geniuses want to do?”
“I will take the Mana Density test,” Veron replied.
“I will take the Mana Resistance test,” Oxon said with a cute little smile.
“I plan to take the Mana Control test,” Theron chimed in softly.
“I see, I see. You’re all quite different, then. These tests are already prepared; you can start readying yourselves now. Give me a moment, please.”
Manager Yuan quickly left, leaving the youths and their handlers behind. They all seemed to have a protector except for Theron himself, yet he seemed to be the calmest of them all.
“Theron!” Oxon smiled brightly at him.
“Hello, Oxon. How have you been?”
“I would have been better if someone didn’t forget me,” Oxon pouted. “You just chatted up me and my sister and then you disappeared, leaving us like whores by the side of the road. What happened to our words of love?”
Theron sighed on the inside. What words of love? What chatting up? All he had done was talk to them for a bit at the banquet.
“These sorts of words can’t be said even as a joke anymore, Oxon. Otherwise my fiancee might kill me.”
Thessa’s eyes sharpened as her head snapped over, while Oxon nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Fiancee?! Since when?!”
Theron chuckled lightly, a hint of pride on his expression and the slightest blush on his face.
“It seems my words moved the Vermouth Clan. I will have Malaya’s hand in marriage.”
Oxon’s eyes opened wide.
“Disgusting.”
In the silence, the venomous words that seethed with a fiery menace were all too obvious.
And of course… they came from a certain princess consort.