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Which is how he found himself sitting and eating ice cream surrounded by people kneeling or crawling on the ground as they tried to move towards him. When anyone managed to move a bit, Jake just looked at them to use Gaze or amplified his Pride of the Malefic Viper a tiny little bit.

Caleb stood at the back, shaking his head as more than half of the E-grade assassins had already passed out, with only two of them able to hold on somewhat.

“Make sure you don’t kill any of them,” his little brother commented.

“Relax, none of what I do is lethal unless I make it,” Jake said dismissively.

While this wasn’t the most exciting thing he had done, it was good practice. It was not often he could find living test subjects that were also intelligent, and he didn’t want to go out in the wild and just torture innocent animals for his own practice.

It was important to learn to control your skills, not just at max power, but also at lower volumes – to correctly identify how much intensity you needed to put into neutralizing someone or something. To begin with, Jake was already pretty good at this, but more practice was always welcome.

And the reason why Caleb had asked him to help? Well, it was Bloodline-related. Caleb knew Jake had a Bloodline simply by his own lived experience, even if he didn’t know what it did in detail. But, staying true to his promise to Villy, Jake had not shared the description of his Bloodline with anyone. Ever.

Instead, he had leaned into one part of it, the part which amplified his presence and also had a suppressive effect of sorts. It was one impossible to hide anyway, and if the public perception was that it was all his Bloodline did, that would only be beneficial to him. Keeping that he had one a secret was impossible no matter what, and it wasn’t that overpowered if all it did was the presence-stuff.

But even this effect was incredibly potent, as Caleb had tested and confirmed a theory over these last three days – prolonged exposure gave permanent resistance. Presences of more powerful beings passively exuded pressure on those weaker than themselves, with this effect being especially noticeable between grades. A qualitative difference.

While the more powerful person could suppress this element, it was still there, and if you found yourself before a far more powerful foe, having resistance to presences would be priceless. Training this resistance was difficult, though. Being around more powerful people did help build resistance, but it was more of an acclimation process. It wasn’t permanent, but more like how Jake had adapted to being deep underwater.

There were ways to train it, skills to give resistance – Jake’s own Big Game Arcane Hunter as an example – and items helping too, but what Jake did was on another level, according to Caleb. It led to qualitative growth.

Caleb himself was a prime example as he had become borderline immune to presences. He could stand before Umbra, and while he did feel the pressure, he could handle it. Jake was in many ways just desensitizing others to presences. If one had stood before the Primal Hunter, was a god really that scary?

“How long can you keep it up?” Caleb asked as Jake finished his ice cream.

“I don’t think that’s the question here,” Jake shrugged as the last guy’s eyes rolled behind his head as he passed out. All of them were only around level 50-60, so it would be a bit too much to expect of them to hold out against the legendary Pride and Jake’s Bloodline.

“I guess not,” Caleb agreed as Jake got up and deactivated his skills. He deposited the chair as he went over to his little brother, preparing to leave.

A few people came in after Caleb motioned to them and carried the passed-out recruits into a room to rest. Now, while Jake was an awesome brother happily helping family, he wasn’t doing this for free. They had come to an agreement, and as it was the last day before the Auction, it was time to get his payday.

The two of them walked to a heavily protected building and passed through a few barriers with a token.

Walking in further, they came to what Jake could only describe as an elevator.

“You guys made an elevator?” Jake asked. “Why not just, I dunno, a small teleportation circle?”

“Cost and security,” Caleb answered. “Space mages can hone into close-by circles and use those. Also… this is just as fast and just safer in every way. Additionally, it’s easier to lock down and trap someone beneath using this method.”

“Oh? Thinking of locking me in the cellar?” Jake asked teasingly.

“Not gonna lie, it would probably work quite well and annoy you plenty,” Caleb answered.

“Oh, I would definitely be annoyed and then proceed to break out and have a little ‘sparring’ match with my dear little brother. Again,” Jake threatened. And it was a threat.

Their sparring match a few days earlier had not really been a match. Instead, it had been Jake and Caleb going to the outskirts of Skyggen, followed by a fifteen-minute beatdown where Jake countered his brother’s moves one by one until Caleb’s boosting skill ran out.

It turns out that a super-fast assassin focusing on taking down his foe in swift, unexpected blows isn’t the most effective versus someone with near precognition and insane instincts. After their little bout, Caleb had even expressed his condolences for any assassin ever hired to kill Jake.

“Then I guess I won’t lock you inside the storage vault,” Caleb answered, clearly not wanting a repeat.

“I hope some good stuff is down there,” Jake commented.

“Doesn’t mean you get it,” Caleb teased.

“I can just take it.”

“Then I’ll tell mom and dad and get you in trouble,” Caleb countered flawlessly.

“Goddamn snitch,” Jake grumbled with faux anger as the elevator began traveling downwards to somewhere deep underground.

They were silent on the rest of the way down as Jake estimated they went roughly four or five kilometers beneath Skyggen. The elevator finally stopped as they reached the bottom, and even on the way down, Jake felt the intensity of dark mana increasing. By the time they were at the bottom, it was far more intense than even the Forgotten Sewers back during the tutorial.

Anyone without the affinity would be utterly blinded for sure, though naturally, it didn’t bother the brothers.

They entered a large cavern with magical scrips and reinforced walls after passing through a few more barriers and physical gates. Inside, Jake saw several storage items locked away behind barriers.

But what instantly caught Jake’s attention was what was in the middle of the cavern. A pool of what looked like completely black water with a diameter of around eight meters. It surrounded a flower only a meter across that gave off a powerful aura, and Jake’s Sense of the Malefic Viper was making him aware of how potent the herb was.

He naturally used Identify.

[Umbral Lotus (Legendary)] – A lotus born of eternal darkness in the shadow of a god. This lotus flower releases incredible amounts of dark-affinity energy into its immediate surroundings, creating an Umbral Domain. Anyone deemed an enemy by the Lotus may be consumed by the shadows to become nutrients. It periodically sheds leaves that contain some of the flower’s power. As long as it stands beneath the shadow of Umbra, this flower will forever grow. Limited alchemical uses, but all creations will be incredibly potent with neurotoxin and perception-limiting effects. Consumption will lead to corruption.

The flower was utterly black, and the leaves seemed to almost be swaying in the air. The center of the Lotus was still partly closed, and from deep within, Jake felt more dark-affinity mana than he had ever felt before. It was a natural treasure… or perhaps it wasn’t right to call it natural? It seemed too well-fitting for the Court of Shadows to find a flower directly related to their god like this.

“Where did you get it?” Jake asked as he stood there impressed.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? As you may guess, it isn’t naturally occurring but something we more or less created. The custom option in the tutorial store allowed us to coordinate and buy the items necessary to summon it, even if it was only at ancient rarity when we first got it,” Caleb answered.

“It grows that fast?” Jake asked, surprised. He had read herbs and other natural treasures could grow… but to go from ancient to legendary was not easy and could take countless years.

Caleb smiled as he pointed to the center of the flower. “It ate a Pylon. My Pylon.”

Momentarily shocked, he looked at his brother in disbelief. “Is… that smart?” Jake asked with genuine concern. He knew from Miranda’s profession that the Pylon was very important, and if they lost it for good, the City Lord would suffer severely.

“I don’t think it can be anywhere safer, and once it is fully consumed, the Lotus itself will serve the same function. Pylons are incredible energy sources anyway, and fusing them will only bring benefits. Hopefully, this Lotus will be a source of power for the Court for many years to come. Also… once fully merged, the Lotus can move.”

Jake nodded, as he was still skeptical. He could see some benefits, but also issues that could arise.

“Anyway, payment?” Jake finally said, returning to the topic at hand. “I don’t assume you’re giving me the flower, even if I would be very flattered.”

“No, I’m giving you this,” Caleb said as he raised his hands towards the Lotus. It responded as dark mana swirled around it like a whirlwind. It disappeared as fast as it had appeared, and towards them floated three leaves.

Jake didn’t even wait for them to land before he Identified them.

[Umbral Lotus Leaf (Ancient)] – The leaf of a legendary rarity Umbral Lotus. This leaf is incredibly poisonous and releases dark-affinity mana all around it. Consuming it may lead to adverse effects. Many alchemical uses and creations will have neurotoxin and perception-limiting effects.

Caleb caught the three leaves as he held them out towards Jake. “This is your payment.”

Staring at them a bit, Jake frowned. “This seems like overkill for three days of terrorizing new recruits.”

“It may seem like that, but honestly? The Lotus has been shedding them passively for a while, and no one could use them for anything besides a ritual here and there. While I don’t doubt our alchemists can make great use of them in the future… none of them are up to snuff quite yet. So better you use them before they go to waste and wither,” his brother said.

“Well, I ain’t gonna say no to great stuff,” Jake relented, not requiring much convincing. He put the leaves in his storage as he began to consider what he could make with them. Well, naturally, he would make some kind of neurotoxin; the thing just was… Jake had never made a neurotoxin before. Guess that’s one thing I’ll have to learn for sure.

On a side note, he and Caleb had considered having Jake teach the alchemists of the Court a bit but decided not to. First of all, Jake had no teaching experience, and trying to speedrun learning it in three days seemed a bit dumb, and secondly… Jake really didn’t want to.

He would rather be with his family and had instead spent these three days just being on holiday. He had relaxed with his parents, gone shopping and eaten out with them, and just seen the city. Both of them. It was a bit sad to say, but Jake was now more familiar with both Skyggen cities than he was with Haven.

Jake had also met his little nephew, which was a novel experience as the baby began crying hysterically every time he got close. At least for the first two days. Caleb had insisted on Jake still seeing Adam and just had either him or Maja stay with them to calm the kid down. Jake knew what Caleb was doing and wasn’t sure how to feel about his brother using Jake to make a newborn build up resistance to presences, but he also understood why he did it.

These days had been great for Jake to calm down and relax. To ground himself and just focus on more mundane elements of life. He hadn’t crafted a single thing or had a single fight outside of smacking around his little bro for being cheeky.

The two brothers took the elevator up from the underground vault again as they split up, with Caleb having some work and Jake heading home, where a meal was already halfway prepared. Jake was ushered out of the kitchen and sent into another room where he played with his little nephew, making full use of his experience with Sylphie.

All children liked when he made things float around in the air.

Also… while Jake didn’t explicitly practice anything during this time, he couldn’t really help himself. His ability to conjure stable arcane constructs improved day by day as he worked on realizing his dream of making a fully-functional toy firetruck. He had succeeded earlier that day, and it had been a great success.

Maja was with him in the room as Jake sat with the kid that was no longer scared of him, rolling a purple firetruck of pure mana back and forth.

“Have you ever considered getting kids of your own? I think you would do great,” Maja said with a smile.

Jake shook his head. “No… not really. And it isn’t something I plan on truly considering for a long time. It isn’t a simple decision. To me, for more reasons than most.”

The thought had appeared, primarily when he talked to Villy about Bloodline-related things. Jake knew it was called a Bloodline because of its hereditary elements… which meant there was a chance Jake’s children would have his Bloodline in some form or another. It was rare a direct copy for the more powerful ones, but just elements of it, and it was even possible he had a child with an improved version. For that reason, and the fact he was still a young bachelor with dreams of killing dragons, he had no plans to settle down anytime soon.

“No pressure,” Maja shrugged. “I heard from Caleb you plan on becoming immortal, so you do have literally all the time in the world.”

“That’s why I’ll never say never. Well, except just now,” Jake said with a cheeky smile.

They kept chatting a bit longer, Caleb out of the house to prepare for the upcoming event. Jake saw him enter the compound in his sphere just before an announcement appeared.

System Announcement:

The Auction will begin in one hour. All participants of the Treasure Hunt can also attend the Auction. The Auction will be an opportunity to dispose of unwanted treasure and procure what you desire. A select few items will be provided directly by the system during the Auction based on Earth’s performance in the Treasure Hunt.

Note that no fighting will be tolerated during the Auction, and the event will last for one full day. Further details will follow if you choose to participate in the Auction.

“One hour for the Auction,” Jake said to Maja, who nodded in acknowledgment.

It was no doubt an important event and one Jake had been looking forward to somewhat. Mainly because he had a lot of Credits and liked new shiny things.

But… before that, he would sit down with his family and have a nice dinner as he knew it would be a while before he would come by again. They all knew, which is why Caleb had gotten things done early to be home.

The meal passed by uneventfully as they chatted and enjoyed each other’s company as time slowly ticked by, and soon it was time for the Auction to begin.