Two full days had passed since Suleiman's feet stepped onto the land of the city. Two days were not enough to calm the storm raging inside him. He sat on the cold floor of his room, his back resting against the stone wall, his knees drawn up to his chest. He raised his arm before his eyes and slowly examined it, as if searching within it for the answer to a question he had not dared to speak aloud. His fingers trembled slightly, not from the cold, but from the weight of the thoughts that had piled up in his mind since entering this new world.
The room was almost empty. Dim light slipped through a small high window, and shadows danced across the walls whenever the flame hanging in the corner moved. The silence was heavy, and Suleiman felt its weight in his chest more than he heard it with his ears.
Suddenly, without warning, the door opened with a dry wooden sound, and Narvik entered. His steps were confident as always, but his sharp eyes, accustomed to reading people, stopped on Suleiman for a second longer than usual. Narvik needed no more than a single glance to realize that his friend was drowning in deep anxiety.
"Is there a problem, Suleiman?" Narvik asked in a calm voice as he sat directly on the floor in front of him, leaving a small distance between them that suggested respect more than restraint.
Suleiman slowly raised his eyes and looked at Narvik for a few silent moments, as if weighing his words before speaking them. Then he let out a long sigh, the sigh of someone carrying a burden greater than himself.
"You know that I entered the Connected World," he finally said in a low voice. "And this world... is completely different from the Manuscript Reader World. That is why I am thinking... thinking of going into seclusion."
Suleiman's words were not exaggerated. He was absolutely right. The experts of the Connected World were unimaginably powerful, and any confrontation with them without sufficient preparation would end in only one way: death. There was no room for mistakes, and no second chance.
Suleiman sighed once again, as if the first sigh had not been enough to release what was inside him.
"I want to develop the Completion of Light skill," he finally said, and a spark of determination appeared in his eyes despite the anxiety mixed within it.
The Completion of Light skill was considered the most important skill in the entire Manuscript of Light, and Narvik knew this well. When this skill was activated, pillars of pure light erupted from the ground, and the greater the number of these pillars, the stronger and more lethal the skill became without the slightest doubt.
Suleiman continued speaking, and excitement slowly crept into his voice despite his worry. "Also... I want to develop the Moon Flower Explosion skill and the Blue Death Snake skill. I want to raise them to a new level. And above all that, I want to master the Crossed Light skill, the one exclusive to the Connected World."
Narvik smiled faintly, the smile of someone who saw ambition in his friend that deserved support rather than warning. He reached into his inner pocket and took out an old ring engraved with delicate symbols. It contained small shining stones known as "Energy Stones." As their name suggested, these stones replenished the energy reserves of their holder, and they were certainly useful for anyone intending to enter a long seclusion away from people's eyes and the noise of the city.
"Take it," Narvik said simply as he extended the ring toward Suleiman. "You'll need it more than I do now."
Elsewhere in the city, Baran walked through the crowd while the entire city buzzed with news and whispers passing from mouth to ear.
"Did you hear? The Princess of the Sun Kingdom is here! And so is the Young Master of the Star Night Sect!" one man said with obvious excitement.
Another replied, "Yes, and the Prince of the Ice Kingdom is here as well. The City Lord has announced that there will be a battle between them, and the winner will become the strongest fighter below the Connected World!"
"What?! I've never heard of this before. When is the duel?"
Baran walked past these conversations without paying them much attention, as if the noise of the city meant nothing to him. But inside, his thoughts revolved around something entirely different.
"Hmm... Narvik can enter the Connected World whenever he wants, but me?" Baran muttered to himself as he continued walking with slow steps, his eyes lost in the distance.
Suddenly, he remembered something Suleiman had told him before. He stopped for a moment and said in a low voice carrying a mixture of regret and determination, "I can't believe that my aunt Herolina is still alive... I have to meet her. But I'm far too weak right now."
This admission was painful for Baran. Although he was already powerful, and even Narvik himself was not entirely sure he could defeat him in a face-to-face battle, Baran did not measure his strength by comparing it to Narvik's, nor even to the Demoness's. Instead, he measured it against the Kings, especially the King of the Kingdom of Light. His standard for himself was far higher than all of them, and that was what made him feel insignificant despite all the power he possessed.
Baran let out a deep sigh and headed toward the market. However, he paid no attention to the luxurious shops whose fronts glittered with gold and silk. Instead, he went directly to the place where scrap was sold, that narrow crowded corner where people spread their goods directly on the ground, with neither storefronts nor decorations.
Baran knew very well that most of the people who came to this place were humans rather than Cultivators. For that exact reason, there was always a high chance of finding valuable items whose true worth humans did not realize. Even if a Cultivator came here, they still might not recognize the value of some of these things. But Baran was different. Thanks to the strict and precise teachings of his master Zavlian, he knew almost everything. Even if he encountered something he did not know exactly, his sixth sense would immediately alert him that he was facing something of true value.
Baran knelt before an old man's stall and carefully sifted through the scattered small items with patience. Before long, however, he stood up and moved from one stall to another, his eyes moving quickly among the goods without settling on anything in particular.
"These items are very valuable, and they'll be of great benefit if you intend to walk the path of the Cultivators," another man said while looking at Baran with a fake business smile. His merchandise consisted of flowers and plants of various colors and sizes, neatly arranged on an old piece of cloth.
Baran examined the plants carefully and thought to himself, "All of these plants are worthless to me." He was about to turn away when his eyes suddenly caught sight of a flower completely different from the others. It was entirely green, crossed by thin blue lines that shimmered as though pulsing with hidden life.
"How much is this flower?" Baran asked directly without any introduction, his eyes still fixed on the strange flower.
The seller smiled broadly, like someone who had finally found a customer who appreciated his goods. "Its price is twenty Energy Stones."
Baran frowned slightly and thought to himself, "They trade with Energy Stones instead of money? It's a good thing I have plenty of Energy Stones. Unlike money, I'm very poor in that regard."
The seller noticed the frown on Baran's face and quickly added in a tone that tried to sound accommodating, "It's the only flower of its kind in this entire city. My son found it in the mountain by pure chance. Fifteen Energy Stones. That's the final price, and I won't lower it any further."
Without hesitation, Baran paid the price, bought the flower, and carefully placed it inside his inner pocket. He continued wandering among the stalls for some time until he spotted something else that strongly caught his attention.
"Hmm... Isn't this the Demon Seal?" he muttered to himself as he approached.
The item was a piece of metal about the size of a fist. At a single glance, even a small child would realize that it was one piece separated from three other pieces, making a total of four separate parts. Baran bought it without hesitation, then returned home after finding nothing else worthy of his attention.
Baran entered the house and heard the voices of Narvik and Suleiman talking in the main room. He approached them and said with a tone carrying a bit of friendly sarcasm, "Oh, Narvik, everyone in the city is talking about you... and about the Demoness as well."
Narvik turned toward him and calmly replied, "Yes. I went yesterday and spoke with her, and we set the date for the duel." Narvik's desire to become the strongest below the Connected World knew no limits, and he was ready to pay any price to achieve it.
Baran sighed, then quietly took the flower out of his pocket. The moment Suleiman's eyes fell upon it, he was suddenly shocked. He rushed toward it with unexpected speed and shouted, "That flower! Please, give it to me!"
Baran smiled and casually tossed it to him as though it was nothing worth making such a fuss over. This flower was called "Connected Peak." As its name suggested, anyone who consumed it while at the peak stage of the Connected World would immediately advance to the Legendary Stage, the stage that many dreamed of but only a few ever reached. This flower was not so rare as to be impossible to obtain, for Narvik already possessed one, but it was rare enough to justify all of this astonishment.
Then, with a smile even wider than the first, Baran took out the Demon Seal and placed it before them.
Shock was clearly visible on both Narvik's and Suleiman's faces at the same time. The moment they saw the old metal piece, a brief silence filled with questions spread through the room.
Baran smiled once again, this time with confidence, and said in a calm yet firm voice,
"I will complete the Demon Seal."