Rivers of the Night

Theron looked up. He had already sensed this person coming—everything down to their wild aura had been grasped from him.

Second Gold Resonance. A Tyre. But very clearly carrying an aura that was far more than what a single tier of cultivation could account for.

He was significantly older than Monet, maybe 20 or 21 years old, but he was only a single cultivation tier stronger. That didn't make Theron look down on him, but instead made him focus his intention on the man all the more.

Cultivation in Gold Mancy was slow—very slow. That Theron knew. There was a significant gap.

Even if one wasn't as fast as Theron, reaching Gold Mancy—the first tier, anyway—would be a ten-year affair at most.

But for the worst of Gold Mancers, an entire ten years to ascend one small realm was actually a dream they aspired to.

Knowing all of this, Theron should be using terms like "only" a single tier above. However, he had very good reason for doing so—that being that given the gap he felt between the two, he wouldn't have been surprised if Raan reached Gold Mancy at 10 or 11 years old, giving him plenty of time to reach even the Third Resonance, given his genius status.

But he hadn't.

That told Theron something about Gold Mancy at the higher echelons of society that he had been beginning to understand, but was now far more solidified in his mind.

Resonance mattered far less in Gold Mancy than in any other Realm.

In Bronze and Silver, one's Resonance tier would tell you a lot about a person's power. At most, you could learn if they had a Mana Resonance to tack onto that or not.

But in Gold Mancy… there was another deciding factor…

One that Theron had an inkling about but had the desire to learn much more of.

Raan looked down at Monet before shifting his gaze to the two princes in the distance.

"Come help her. Otherwise, she will die."

The two Tyre Princes seemed to finally snap out of it, rushing forward. Grabbing Monet, they stopped her from struggling and pulled her to the side, rapidly casting one Healing Spell after another.

"Her Core is damaged. You two won't be able to fix that," Raan said coldly.

The two Princes were taken aback again, blood draining from their faces. Without another word, they both shot into the distance, carrying her along with them.

They had wanted to stay and see the fallout, but clearly Raan was sending them away, and they had no desire to get on his bad side.

It wouldn't be until they were a long distance away that they realized both of them weren't needed to carry a single girl.

"It is a great taboo of the guild to touch another Mandate Badge," Raan spoke slowly.

'Guild?' Theron silently noted, looking down at the badge in his hand. It had grown completely dim.

"Are you of the Black Clan? You are far from your territory, and this isn't your place to stir up a mess."

"Did another one of you come to stick up for your relative? To think a five-year-old would cause so much nonsense," Theron replied, still squatting, and still looking at the badge in his hands as though it were far more fascinating than anything else.

And that was because it was.

The more he observed it, the more magical it felt. It didn't seem to have any real substance to it. It was as light as foam, and it almost felt like if he squeezed it, it would shatter. But…

It somehow also felt like it could instantly become as heavy as it needed to be—and as hard all at once.

It was free-flowing, free-forming, yet rigid and very real. A piece of metal—or maybe some other solid thing—that carried all the mystery of the world, and yet laid it bare for all to see.

"I don't know what you speak of, but the Tyre Clan doesn't fear the Black Clan, nor would it tolerate disrespect from them."

"A good thing, then, that I don't come from the Black Clan."

Raan's eyes narrowed, and some laughter came from the trees.

"Fascinating, fascinating. What a shocker. Such a powerful Water Mancer that doesn't come from the Black Clan. I would ask if the Seijin had found you, but then you wouldn't be here, now would you?"

Ippe blinked, fascination in his eyes. Maybe only someone as frivolous as him would mention the Seijin so casually.

"First the Black Clan. Next the Seijin. It seems that you nobles are only really capable of looking at the world through a single lens. You must not believe it's possible to rise up without one of your Ancestors wiping your ass everywhere you go."

Theron spun the badge on the edge of his finger, finally looking up.

"Tell me. Do you have one of these?" Theron asked, his gaze meeting Raan's.

The last hints of dullness in Raan's eyes, already fading away, suddenly vanished completely.

"And so what if I do?"

"I want to see it," Theron replied calmly. He didn't seem fazed by the growing wild aura on Raan's body, nor the fact that he seemed to be a Light Mancer with the body of a beast.

"Is that so?" Raan asked slowly, light beginning to emit from the claws on his hands and feet. It looked as though they had become shimmering gold, sharp points of light.

"I'd also like to know what you mean by Bronze Laws."

Raan's eyes sharpened, not just because it felt ridiculous that Theron wouldn't know, but also because it meant he had heard their conversation.

How could he have overheard them through the lightning barrier? How could he even eavesdrop on a conversation without them realizing, as a Water Mancer of all things?

Theron slowly stood, his hair swaying in the wind.

"I've almost crippled two Tyres today. An inauspicious number. Let's make it three."