'That looks really promising.' Vicente commented to Torne with a curious expression on his face. 'But I'll have to be one of the strongest. I'm sure I'll be hunted as soon as I start to control my second special power.'

'It will happen one way or another. The consciousness of your second magical form is hiding it inside you. But at some point in the future, your progress will send signals to the continent's experts. At that time, they will begin to hunt you down, even if you've lived a life of seclusion in the mountains.' Torne explained.

'Your first enemies will be humans from this woman's organization.' Torne pointed in Layla's direction. 'But they won't be able to do anything against you once you fully control your second gem.

Then, you'll have enemies from the monstrous races of the continent. Vampires will sooner or later stand in your way, along with other monsters that are difficult to fight.

These will be your real enemies, the ones who can make you use everything you have, master. You must be careful with them whenever possible. They won't hunt you down because you're a threat. They'll do it to use you as a nutrient to grow stronger.

Humans will eventually give up on you, but monsters like vampires will never do it. You have to be strong and cautious to defeat them. If you can do that, you will be able to reach the peak of the continent.'

'Reach the peak?' Vicente laughed. 'I just want to save my sister.'

'The magical journey has no turning back. It's like the cursed city you just passed, master. Once you start down that path, there's no turning back. The only way is to go all the way and survive.' Torne advised. 'If you want to avenge your family and then bring safety to Nina and Lauren, you'll have to be invincible.

As long as you're not feared and invincible, enemies will use them to weaken you. They can take them away from you if you don't know how to deal with such problems.'

Vicente clenched his fists as he listened, imagining that he would have to do things to achieve his goals that would eventually attract the attention of enemies. After that, there would be no point in telling the world he didn't want any trouble.

He sighed in realization.

'I'll do my best.'

Torne liked Vicente for many reasons, but the fact that this young man was intelligent and listened to the voice of the most experienced was what pleased him most.

He smiled from the space of this young man's consciousness and said to comfort his master. 'Don't worry about it yet. It will take you years to reach such a level. You'll still have the chance to see Nina become an independent adult before you have to fulfill your potential.

Just remember what I've told you. It will be important for the future.'

...

Vicente and Torne would eventually talk about everything there was to talk about after the long time they had been unable to communicate.

After a few hours that day, it would be time for Vicente to get some rest while Layla took care of his safety.

The next day, they would shop in this border city before finally heading west, intending to travel for another week before their next stop.

Layla had sent a letter to Jasmine in the city where they had stopped, telling her about the monsters they had encountered on their way.

Apart from that, nothing important happened to them in that city. The journey over the next few days wouldn't be that eventful for them either since the area they had just entered was one of the weakest in the state.

It would only get busier next week when they enter the dynasty's deepest parts.

...

Six days after they departed from the small city near the Chutha Dynasty's border with the Seidel Kingdom, Layla's letter reached Jasmine in Saltstar City.

Receiving such a message from her friend and protector, Jasmine learned a little about Layla and Vicente's condition and how far they were from her current city.

But she also read about something disturbing, hearing for the first time about the goblins between Millfall and Martell Village and about the recent case of the ogres near the western end of Seidel Kingdom.

These were two rare cases in those areas, but serious enough for someone like Jasmine to worry about.

Human forces conquered the continent and became dominant in most of Polaris Realm. But this had only happened after many ancient wars and the coming together of many different races to form the Magic Alliance.

The Magic Alliance was a non-exclusive organization that included most of the continent's human powers. Its sole purpose was to deal with matters related to the war against the monsters and the threat of new wars.

In the distant past, it had given humanity victory in the last war against the monsters, bringing humanity out of hiding to dominate more than 65% of the lands of the Polaris Realm.

Without the Magic Alliance, 80% of the continent's current human cities would not exist, and the human population would be much smaller.

Given the history behind the continent's current state, Jasmine didn't underestimate Layla's warning. As soon as she read the letter, she issued a warning to her organization to be on the alert for the presence of monsters in the Seidel Kingdom.

In particular, she wrote a letter to her father detailing the disturbing sightings of monsters throughout the kingdom and the province where she currently lived.

Finally, she sent a communiqu to her organization's headquarters, pointing out the possibility of a monster-

related problem on the continent.

She didn't expect an immediate response, but she wanted to alert the local forces at least that a serious problem might be lurking.

If she could find out more in order to prepare her group, that would be great. But that was all she could do, for now, given her position.

Either way, she warned the members of the Fuller family about Vice's concerns and his current condition. She warned Rory and the others to be more careful.

The sighting of a group of monsters was something that could happen. But two sightings in such a short time were very strange!

...

With Jasmine's movements, Vicente and Layla were successful in their plans to prepare their people and alert larger forces to the problem.

Meanwhile, they were approaching the next city they would stop in, the first major metropolis they would visit on their way to the Bone Mountains.