By The Blood

In the ballroom, hill sat on a chair waiting for the red haired vixen, remaining unaware that the woman of his dreams had long been taken by another.

Karl remained in the room long after the thugs had left. For one, he needed the rest before nightfall, and second, he needed to plan his next moves.

After his conversation with the bloated lady, Karl managed to narrow down the list of relatively weak noble families to one: the Noel family. Supposedly, they had been going through a financial crisis due to the War of Grace. Their primary exports—ores, gems, and other minerals—were sourced from Donnersburg. However, after the City of Storms closed off their borders to the rest of the empire, the Noels were cut off from their main source of income. Now, they were barely hanging on by a thread.

Perfect! A family like that wouldn’t draw too many questions if they were to perish. Not that killing nobles wouldn’t attract unwanted attention, but Karl had a plan. Instead of wiping them out in one blow, he would gradually weaken them. He would steal from them every few nights, killing just enough to weaken their position but not too much to decimate them outright. That way, they would notice the attacks and reinforce their defenses, making things even harder. With each attempt, Karl would inch closer to unlocking the white flames while also dismantling a noble family. It would serve as proof of his dedication to "rebuilding the empire." Not that he cared much for the empire itself, but for now, he had to play along with the powerful.

While waiting for Louis or another faction member to arrive, Karl decided to search through the room. Maybe he would find something useful. After countless minutes of unpacking and rummaging, he came up empty. Well, except for the few bedbugs crawling within the sheets. Karl winced at the sight of them. Despite having been in this world for a long time, he was still an earthling at heart and had a natural revulsion to such disgusting creatures.

After that disappointment, he sat down and began inspecting his items: the syringe, the bone claws, a finger, and the voicestone. To Karl, all these were weapons, tools to be used in the right situations. The syringe could induce a forced evolution, which might do more harm than good to his enemy. The bone claws, by far his most lethal weapon, only needed to pierce someone's skin, and they would do the rest. Though Karl suspected the claws weren’t foolproof. They probably had weaknesses—perhaps something to do with class differences or powers that directly countered them.

Because of this, Karl was eager to gain an offensive power of his own. With it, he would be able to hold his own against enemies, rather than relying on others or seeking help. Lost in thought, Karl took out a pair of strange glasses, wiping the lenses with his shirt to clear away any smudges.

What a peculiar item. It can reveal things that aren't visible to the naked eye. This could be extremely useful. I doubt the nobles are unaware of high Astra, and they likely use it to protect themselves. At least with these glasses, I can peer into their defenses and figure out a way to overcome them…

But, like everything else, it probably has its limitations. Some higher Astra might even be hidden from it. After all, Vin had the eyes herself and still couldn’t directly see the veil over that place... Speaking of Vin…

Karl thought about his kidnapper and recent ally. Had she escaped the Invigilators? From the strange noises he had heard, it wasn’t hard to deduce who had come. But she didn’t seem afraid of them. Maybe she has another secret, like that strange golden light that can protect her.

That light of hers is different from the Invigilators' light, but it seems to have the same purifying effects. Maybe it’s a stronger version? He couldn’t be certain.

And how is Aurelian doing? Karl pulled out the voicestone, debating whether to contact the shard bearer. No, he’s probably still busy. Calling him now might be a bad idea. He placed the stone back in his pocket, but a new idea began to form.

Taking the stone out again, Karl examined its rough surface, studying the various edges and the dried drop of his own blood. Is this also made from high Astra? It seemed likely, given that he’d never heard of stones with such unique properties. Not that they didn’t exist—he simply hadn’t encountered them before.

After pondering for a few more moments, he sighed and held the glasses close to his face. He didn’t put them on immediately, not wanting to risk seeing something he shouldn’t or hearing something better left unheard. Caution, after all, was also a virtue.

With the glasses at a safe distance, he opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the mist, swirling around as if his room had been submerged in the whiteness of the outside world. Everything seemed to be shrouded in a deep, dark sea, giving him the illusion that he was drowning. But he wasn’t.

Shaking off the false sensation, he glanced around the room, hoping to spot something his normal eyes had missed. It didn’t take long to realize the futility of the effort. There was nothing in the room except the mist, blurring all things with its whiteness, and the gentle sway of what seemed like water, which overlapped with everything. No strange symbols. No monsters. Nothing.

This puzzled him.

Can those things not enter the room? He remembered the balloon monster, wondering how such creatures—or others like it—couldn’t be seen inside the houses. As he pondered this, a thought struck him. The Ministry.

Considering how devout the Ministry was in its mission to stop all things related to Astra, it made sense they might have placed protections on the buildings. Perhaps there were symbols or wards on the structures that acted as barriers against the creatures. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

Of course, these were just guesses—he had no concrete information. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t find out. He could leave the motel and inspect it from the outside, though he wasn’t keen on the idea of seeing something he wasn’t prepared to face. Not yet, anyway. Not without the means to protect himself.

Satisfied for now, he cast a final glance at the strange rock, and just as he expected, odd white symbols were floating around it. Some were embedded in the stone’s surface, while others stretched outward as if connected by invisible threads.

My imagination seems to be getting wilder...

Karl studied the strange rock for several minutes, concluding that the symbols etched into it were primarily meant to connect him to whoever or whatever the symbols were linked to. In the end, the rock didn’t seem to serve a particularly useful purpose—it was just a medium, one that anything else could easily fulfill. So if that was the case, why use the rock when something smaller or more portable could do the job?

It didn’t take long for him to figure that one out: the Ministry wanted to conceal the existence of high Astra! It made more sense for the masses to believe that some rough stone with an odd sheen had special powers, rather than something more refined or portable. Karl suspected the rock was used deliberately to make the public think that the stone itself was special, not something else behind it. After all, there were plants, animals, and rocks with special properties everywhere, making it easy for the Ministry to convince people of their authenticity.

Karl felt satisfied, likely because he had uncovered yet another secret closely guarded by the Ministry. With that, his thoughts shifted to something else entirely—Anette.

The loyal woman had been missing for days, and the only thing Karl knew about her was that she was conducting some sort of investigation, probably related to the mission he was about to carry out today. But what was it? The special people Fredrick had mentioned? Who were these special individuals that the faction was so willing to go to such lengths to rescue?

Based on the knowledge he had gathered, Karl could only guess that these special people might be mutants, especially considering Fredrick's surprise when he saw Ludwig. Perhaps that theory was close to the truth.

As he pondered these things, Karl suddenly sensed someone approaching. It was strange that he could do that, but with each new power unlocked, his intuition and overall senses seemed to be sharpening.

Just then, the wall opposite him rippled like the surface of a disturbed lake. A hand sleeved by a white cloth emerged, followed by a leg, then another, and finally a head. Soon, standing before Karl was the pale-faced Louis, holding the odd stone tablet in his arms.

The man looked around with a passive, almost unimpressed expression. Karl stared at him, feeling a sour look threaten to break across his face, but he kept his composure, saying nothing. He merely watched the man. Moments passed, and both remained silent.

Not this time.

Seconds ticked by. Minutes. But Karl still refused to speak. After what felt like an eternity, Louis finally scoffed and said, “Are you ready?”

Karl nearly smiled, but instead, he simply nodded. He wasn’t sure why, but outwitting Louis, who had always irritated him, gave him a strange sense of satisfaction. It felt good to be in control of the situation.

“Where?” Karl asked, his tone growing colder.

“You’ll see.”

What’s that supposed to mean? Am I not allowed to know, or is he just messing with me? Karl wondered. He hadn’t done anything particularly wrong to this man, and yet Louis seemed to harbor some enmity toward him. Why? Of course, Karl also considered the possibility that Louis treated everyone this way, no matter who they were.

Standing leisurely from the bed, Karl took a few steps toward Louis, realizing with each step that the man was actually taller than him. Then again, everyone was taller than him. Karl sighed inwardly and asked, "How are we going?"

Before he could even finish the sentence, Louis’s arm shot out at a surprising speed, grabbing Karl’s arm. Of course, Karl could have easily dodged the move, but based on Louis’s demeanor and the personality he had gleaned from him, it didn’t seem likely that he was trying to cause harm. Nevertheless, Karl’s fingers instinctively curled around one of Frederick's fingers, prepared to pierce if anything suspicious occurred.

As soon as Louis took hold of Karl’s hand, the surroundings began to warp as if reality itself had been pinched and twisted. This reminded Karl of what Vin had done before.

Still marveling at the sensation, the room suddenly vanished, and Karl felt that strange, familiar sensation of drowning. Astra! he quickly realized.

Around him was an almost infinite expanse of darkness, faintly illuminated by distant pinpricks of white light. However, something was different this time—he was in a new part of the Astra. The oppressive force that had tossed him around before was no longer present, and there appeared to be an almost invisible pathway surrounding them, stretching far into the darkness. For some reason, Karl felt that this illusory pathway was some sort of barrier, perhaps protecting them from the main currents of the Astra. But he couldn’t be sure.

He could still see the vast darkness of the Astra, the distant booming sounds that resembled thunder, and the strange overlapping waves that seemed to ripple through everything. But now, in the distance, he noticed something else—a strange silhouette. It stretched high into the Astra, like a black tower or pillar. Other than that, he couldn’t make out much.

What if I used the glasses? Karl thought.

But he hesitated, remembering what he had seen the last time. He wasn’t exactly scared, but caution was necessary. Still, he wasn’t alone this time, and Louis seemed adept at navigating the Astra, considering he could “fly” through it. Karl wasn't sure how Louis managed this, or why it was even necessary. But he had already figured that the Astra somehow shortened the distances needed for travel. It was clear from how he had arrived so quickly in Canen after Anette had detonated the soul bomb. But unlike before, the experience now was much smoother.

Karl mused for a moment, then sighed inwardly. Maybe the barrier protects us from whatever dangers lie within the Astra. He needed to grow stronger; if this was a means to that end, he had no choice but to take it.

They were moving now. It felt like they were gliding through a narrow tube, with water pressing against both sides. The air felt damp and cold.

Steeling himself, Karl watched Louis, who was still holding his hand, then he reached into his pocket, pulled out the glasses, and placed them on.