"He is the son of Borus! Capturing the only son of lord Borus! His reputation and ego will be disrupted! Your action will only agitate him! There will be no chance of survival!" Barnes released a maniacal laughter.

Atlas remained dumbstruck for a period of time, dazed at his spot.

"You feel that! The tightness wrapping your heart! The traumatization in your head!? Fear! I know you're afraid now! I know you..."

"Wow! That's amazing! This information just saved us a sh*t ton of time and effort." Atlas actually began cheering, as if unaffected by name of Sinister Scales.

[Does this guy even understand the power they possess?] Barnes screamed in this soul. This is bullsh*t! Why can't he see even the tiniest indication of fright in his tone?!

Atlas clasped his hands. "Well then. Since we've finished the current case, how are we handling him?"

"Erase him?" Nova suggested. His parazonium gleamed again, bringing the fear back into Barnes's eyes. "Just kidding. Tell us a way to contact Borus, and give us the techniques you mentioned. Might as well collect all we can."

"In the shelf, third row." Barnes succ.u.mbed to the majority.

"One? One scroll? That's it." Nova retrieved a black scroll, frowning with disappointment. Cultivation techniques are rare, most of them being low ranked.

Everything a.s.sociated with Warrior arts have categories. This scroll is mostly likely a low ranked one, expected from a Tier 1 Axonn.

"It's still something. Let's check it out."

They unfurled the scroll, only to realize it was surprisingly a medium grade scroll! He could tell from the intensity of Aura pervading around the inner surface of the scroll.

"How did you get this?" Atlas questioned Barnes. A Tier 1 Axonn, has a medium grade scroll? He must be d.a.m.n lucky to obtain it.

"A gift for my loyalty to Borus."

"Slick." He s.h.i.+fted his vision onto the instructions in the medium grade scroll.

The instructions were ill.u.s.trated with words and occasional ink paintings, guiding the user step by step to mastering it.

'Sinister Dragon Claw'. The t.i.tle provided its name.

"Is it safe to a.s.sume that the Sinister Scales is built off this technique?" Atlas took a gander at Nova. Rather than an independent technique, 'Sinister Dragon Claw' seemed to be more of a combo, a series of move sets.

It somewhat works like 'Punches', which is incredibly powerful after every ascending move.

"Seems legit. Try it, we won't know until we use it."

"We can learn it later." Atlas turned around to glance at Bob and Barnes. "Keep Bob away from all possible contact with the outside world. For Barnes, it's better if we interrogate him for a while longer for more detailed information. Like weaknesses or the specific count of enemies we are facing."

"I still can't believe we're taking someone hostage. Isn't that what bad guys do?" Nova approached Atlas, the Aura pervading around the scroll fading as he furled the scroll nicely.

Atlas opened his pouch to take out a few needles, getting ready to heal and awaken the drugged, unconscious women. "After what these people have done to the innocent, our actions justify."

Everyone proceeded to do their respective jobs.

Even when Bob was taken away, he was silent and dumbfounded, murmuring the same words over and over again. It's definitely going to be difficult to cope with this news, the father he's been with his whole life informing that he wasn't his real father.

———————————

At night. In the mansion of Atlas.

———————————

"Do you play video games?"

"Of course."

"Like what?"

"Pokémon!"

"Same!" Atlas, Nova and Hugh cheered in unison. "All generations from Red, Gold, Diamond, Black to X and Sun."

"What's Pokémon?" Blade, still blur as ever, questioned. Logical question from a person who has stayed in the mountains to train for all his life.

The team from Blood Hound have booked themselves a hotel to stay into. Petal and Tristan were rich enough to afford a luxurious stay in hotels as well, while penniless Blade was offered to occupy one of the many remaining rooms to rest.

The boys were in the kitchen, having copious conversations.

Atlas smiled with nostalgia. "You haven't played it? Then that's sad. You've missed on the best part about life."

"Yeah. He's right. But Atlas, why did you suddenly bring that up?"

"In every video game before a boss fight, what are the items we need to prepare to ensure a certain victory?"

"Weapons, armor... hmmm... oh, and meds! Oh yeah. Meds. You're suggesting us to purchase alchemy pills." Nova nodded in realization.

Atlas swiped out few sheets of paper from an external pocket in his needle pouch. "I was planning to try this out the last time when we were here. Remember, Nova? Those a.s.sa.s.sins really screwed our plans up badly."

"You've literally got everything! But before you proceed with practicing, shouldn't you acquire a Alchemy Cauldron first?" Nova said.

"Give me a sec. I'll figure it out."

[Yo. Nam. Do you copy?]

{What's up?} Nam leaned against an upside down bell-shaped stool, scrubbing his long white beard. It's funny how his hair is thinning while his beard is growing long and healthily.

[Have things been popping up lately? I don't know, as time progressed?]

{Not really.} Around the arcane shrine, also appeared multiple objects, but most of them being ordinary furniture and indistinct items, for example, this stool like metal pot he's leaning on.

[Come on. There must be something valuable, something unique. Have you seen an alchemy cauldron?]

{Never seen or heard of anything like that.}

[Cauldron... cauldron... a pot like thing... with unfamiliar ruins or patterns? Solid metallic material? Possibly a stand in the bottom? It's hard to explain.]

{Oh.} Nam paused for a while, adjusting to a better position. He looked back all of a sudden, examining the stool he was leaning on to rest. {There is one thing that kinda fits your explanation. But I'm not sure what it is.}

[Great! Can you get it out to the real world like how you inserted the chain technique elsewhere?]

With absolutely certainty, Nam answered confidently. {No, I can't.}

Nova, Blade, Tristan and Hugh waited by the side in confusion as Atlas stood there motionless, looking dumb as he occasionally twitched the muscles around his face.

[Oh come on. Try pressing some b.u.t.ton or squeezing it like last time. That might work?]

{Nah. Trust me. This pendant relates to you, so you control it. I remembered you triggering the chain technique last time. What did you do?}

[I concentrated and used my Third Eye to sorta visualize the words in my head. Though I'm pretty sure it won't work as not everything resolves around...]

A wide beam of white light rained from the sky, engulfing the cauldron and vanished without trace.

[Spiritual Energy.]

Atlas's jaw dropped as a metal bell-like object smashed onto the wooden floor, leaving a visible dent as a string of white light dispersed, which connects the object to his pendant before his chest.

{Atlas. A sky-beam just dropped from the sky! And the stool is gone! You won't believe it! I could have died there!} Nam exclaimed with a hint of sarcasm.

{Trust me. If the pendant wanted to end you, you would have been a wisp of air right now. On the bright side, it actually worked. I can remove objects from within the pendant with my Spiritual Energy. Except that I feel really exhausted for some reason...}

Atlas staggered one step forward before tilting too much, showing no intention to stop the fall as if his energy has just been completely drained.

Nova snapped out of awe earlier than Hugh and Blade when a cauldron appeared out of nowhere.

He caught Atlas by one arm, allowing Atlas to slip smoothly on the ground, right beside the cauldron.

Ignoring the snoring Atlas, Nova scrutinized the cauldron, reading aloud the words inscribed in modern language.

'Beginners' Alchemy Cauldron'.

Atlas has from somewhere, and somehow, magically brought them, a Cauldron for Alchemy.