Chapter 30: A long night.

"Ma-Madam..." A man came into the Player Association building. "There's something you need to see..." He looked terrified and didn't dare to lift his head.

Madam squinted her eyes, staring at the man while she was enjoying her drink. She walked outside the building and the first thing she saw was the dead body of the man that Rigel had killed. She looked at the state of the man where his torso had ripped apart and a hole in his head.

She didn't show any expression while everyone around her slowly moved away to avoid her wrath. She suddenly sighed and pulled her hair back with her eyes closed. She wasn't furious or saddened by the fact that he died.

"We found his body in the field down south. We didn't know what happened, but we brought him here as fast as we could," The man explained and he was petrified because he remembered what happened to the other guy where she pierced her dagger from his chin.

"I told you to retreat if you couldn't win against them. Now look at you, dead like a moron," The Madam muttered. "Wrap his body and put him in a coffin then bring him to the teleporter. Send his body to the city and tell the guard that Hien is inside that coffin," she said.

The man nodded and carried Hien's dead body away.

"You guys have 2 days left, keep that in mind," Madam warned all the Players around her and then went back inside.

Madam sat down and massaged her nose bridge, remembering Hien's dead body and how bad it was. She wondered who could kill Hien because Hien's level was 230, and he was in the top 100,000 players inside the tower. She didn't believe it was the same man that killed the Players or the Swamp Knight.

"It can't be that they're here on the 1st floor..." Madam muttered with her arms and legs crossed. "Are they here for that man?" she squinted her eyes and started to speculate on the possibilities.

Madam thought and believed the issue was more problematic. She decided to leave to inform the executives about what happened on the 1st floor.

Rigel opened his eyes because his body was shaken by something. He realized he was on a wagon, and forgot what happened after he defeated the man. He looked around and saw Naya and the others were in the wagon with him.

"Good morning sleepy head. I thought you were dead," Naya looked at Rigel. "You passed out for 3 days," she added.

Rigel tried to get up, but his body was numb and he couldn't move much because of it. He looked down and saw his body was covered in bandages.

"It's a miracle that your body can recover from that. I don't know how, but your body has an amazing recovery speed," Larkin said. "You need to rest for a few more days until your body is fully recovered," he added.

"Where are we?" Rigel looked at the rocky valley and dead trees behind the wagon.

"We are going east. The least favorite place on the 1st floor, and we are going to make a new hideout there," Kane answered while reading a book. "I know that you don't want to stick around, but it would be best if you let us take care of you first. You can go wherever you want after."

Rigel laid down and closed his eyes again and used the time he had to open up another circle in his body. He was extremely lucky that the man he fought was affected by low-tier magic. If that man had strong magic resistance, it wouldn't work and he should be dead back there.

"How did you learn magic?" Isaias looked at Rigel. "I could sense a trace of magic when we found you," he was curious about Rigel's ability to use magic.

"I can feel them running through my veins. I tried to understand it and somehow I could grasp the basics of magic," Rigel answered still with his eyes closed. "It was thanks to the Cores that I absorbed."

"You can feel it running through your veins? Do you even realize what that means?" Isaias could no longer be surprised by Rigel's feats. "That means the amount of Mana inside is massive. I can use magic, and I can't even feel it running in my body. From all the mages that I know, none of them can feel the Mana running in their veins," he added.

Rigel didn't respond to Isaias' words because he already knew that and kept focusing on training his body. He had to open up the 3rd circle by forcing his nervous system to carry a lot of magical energy or Mana was what they called it.

"Can you not? Let the man rest in peace. He deserves it and don't bother him for your curiosity," Caius said as he coached the wagon.

A day passed, and everyone decided to rest and made a small camp to stay the night. The east was a desert, filled with monsters that hid under the sand, but Kane and the others knew an oasis hidden in the desert, surrounded by cliffs.

"I did say you might need a few days to recover, but it looks like your body is already healed," Larkin looked at Rigel's body where the wounds had been closed and dried up.

"I guess so," Rigel looked at his body covered in scars just like in his past life. He wished that he could keep those scars as a reminder, but the moment he died and got brought back to life, he would lose them.

"Are you going to leave tomorrow?" Kane asked as he prepared the tent for everyone.

"Yes. I can't stay hidden like you because I will keep attracting attention wherever I go. It would be better if I go on my own and I don't like the feeling of guilt by having you guys around me," Rigel answered and gave his reason.

Hearing that, they understood his reason and decided to throw a farewell party for him.

The night was long, everyone had fun and put aside their problems and anxiety. It was a pleasant night for everyone, including Rigel who had forgotten how to have fun.

Everyone was asleep except for Rigel because he was preparing himself to leave. He didn't want to wait until morning and it would be best if he didn't have any lingering feelings toward them. He left and returned to the rocky valley, riding his horse with only the moon and stars that accompanied him.

"He left already?" Kane came out of his tent and saw Arnel standing and staring at the valley in the far distance.

"Yes, and I also have to leave," Arnel responded.

Kane looked at Arnel and then closed his eyes as he nodded with understanding. He heard the sound of the clanking armor being dropped and then a final clanking sound of the iron mask. When he opened his eyes, he saw a handsome man with his light blue hair and bright yellow eyes staring at the moon. He had gills hidden behind his ears after the wind blew his hair.

"I forgot that you're that handsome," Kane said as he stretched his arms. "Seeing you get rid of that facade, I believe you're going back to the headquarters?" He asked.

"It's classified," Arnel looked at Kane with a gentle smile. "After all, I'm The Hand of the Resistance. Whatever I do, it's a top-secret," he added as he wrapped his scarf around his neck and hid the gills.

Kane hummed as he sat down outside his tent and enjoyed the silent night, thinking it would be a perfect time to watch the sunrise.

"That man, what was his name?" Kane looked at Arnel.

"Hien, one of Madam's trusted aides. He's not an easy opponent," Arnel answered as he grabbed his stuff. "He's ranked 98,219th in the Player's leaderboard. With that being said, it's unbelievable that Rigel could kill him," he raised his eyebrows and put the bag on his bag.

"But you could defeat him, right?" Kane looked at Arnel.

"I could, and I was planning to," Arnel nodded. "If it was Madam. I don't think I could win against her," he added.

"Well then, I'm not going to make you stay here any longer. You can leave and I'll make some excuse when the others wake up," Kane said.

Arnel hummed as he grabbed a scroll and tore it apart, transferring his body to some location. 

(On an unknown floor)

Arnel looked at the abandoned city in front of him as he walked into it and checked his surroundings. There were so many buildings that barely stood and would collapse if there was an earthquake. He then entered one of the ruined buildings and found a hatch that was hidden under the ragged carpet. He went down and was immediately welcomed by a person with messy hair covering the whole body like an assassin.

"Welcome back. The Lady has been waiting for you," The assassin said.

"Yeah, and I finally have some good news for her," Arnel responded as he looked at the long dark hallway in front of him.