While the Seidel Kingdom's capital was experiencing its moment of greatest terror, 26 days had passed since the death of the Paragon, who had invited Vicente to join a sect of the Trevora Kingdom.

Vicente's party was currently in The Pure Enclave, having entered the area a few days earlier.

Their journey between The Hungry Canyon and The Pure Enclave had bounced, and the party had dealt well with the monsters along the way.

Onyx did his best to suppress his cultivation and not draw unnecessary attention. As much as the group was in the dark about the major events on the continent, they assumed the vampires must be after high-level experts.

With Onyx hiding, they didn't attract any major trouble, even considering the various incidents that had happened around them in the past few days.

Still, they had killed around 5,000 magical creatures in those days, mostly creatures from the Dark Path.

The magical creatures of the Dark Path seemed to work with the vampires, or at least had similar purposes. As such, they encountered many of these creatures.

But none of these battles really threatened the group's structure. With a Paragon and several Sovereigns with their new essences, the battles had continued with the same level of danger as before.

Their opponents were getting stronger, but they were also progressing according to the danger of the places they were going.

Thus, they had entered The Pure Enclave, a special area for the elements of the Light Path in the far north of the continent's central area.

It wasn't as large an area as The Hungry Canyon, but it was still as large as the Scott Province, and it was an area basically ruled by Light Path beings.

After entering the area, the group had already conquered Sarah's pentagram, and now they were at a Magic Spring they had found the day before!

...

Nestled in the hilly terrain of The Pure Enclave, Vicente's group had established their camp in an area the size of a fighting arena covered with rocks and mud.

At the top of one of the many trees in the area, Onyx leaned against one of the highest branches, the farthest place he had found from the Magic Spring, where his master was.

As a creature of the Dark Way, an area with a strong elemental affinity to the elements of the Light Path would naturally weaken Onyx the closer he got to it. So, he was at the top of a tree, where he could see the group, but also be relatively far away from the positive elements in the area.

In one corner of the rocky area, a few huts could be seen, with what looked like mud pools scattered irregularly around the area.

These weren't mud pools, but Magic Springs that were especially beneficial to practitioners with an affinity for the earth and water elements.

So not only was Vicente meditating in one of these small mud pools, but so were Lina and Sarah.

Casey, Rory and Layla were in the small makeshift camp, watching the group's surroundings, but also waiting for their companions to finish cultivating.

Hours ago, the three of them had entered the small mud pools in the area where they were cultivating to absorb the elements compatible with them.

As they already knew, The Pure Enclave was especially interesting for those with a positive elemental affinity. In particular, the strongest elements in the region were earth, air, and lightning. But other elements such as water and fire were also common.

The situation in that area was so good that if they had grown up there instead of in Seidel Kingdom, it was possible that all of them, except for Vicente, would have become peak Sky Sovereigns by now. As for Vice, he would certainly be a Mid-

level Paragon.

That's how good The Pure Enclave area was!

While Casey and Layla monitored the surroundings with Onyx's help, Rory cultivated outside the small mud pools, continuing his preparations for his hunt.

He was so close to achieving his primary goal for this trip that he couldn't contain his anxiety. With his fourth essence, it was likely that he would reach the peak level of an Earth Sovereign, with the possibility of advancing in level even before he returned to the kingdom.

In fact, at the beginning of the journey, he had already thought he would advance before returning to Grandis, but now he thought his advancement would come not long after Lauren's rescue attempt.

So, while his companions worked, he concentrated on accumulating mana.

Vicente had gone as far as he could in this area, improving his elemental affinity with the earth element.

'Very good, master. You've absorbed more from this opportunity than I could have imagined. The moment you absorb your fourth pentagram, it is likely that you will advance directly to the beginning of the 5th stage,' Torne said in Vicente's mind in a positive tone.

'When you add your fifth pentagram, your first and second essences should strengthen.'

If that happened, Vicente would be left with the following configuration of pentagrams: green, cyan, green, cyan, cyan.

That would be shocking!

This configuration of pentagrams would even be superior to the normal configuration for Archmages!

Archmages were usually magicians who had developed their first essence at least once, and the most talented ones had strengthened it more than once.

This meant that a common magical configuration for Archmages was: yellow, orange, yellow, green, green, cyan.

Only an Archmage who had absorbed magical essences formed without the involvement of living creatures, such as the pentagram on Vicente's necklace, could have a higher configuration. But even someone like that, a rarity, wouldn't be far ahead of Vicente if he reached that level!

Vicente opened his eyes as he rose from the mud puddle where he had spent hours absorbing his chance.

'Hmm, I think so,' he smiled with determination.

Torne saw Vicente looking at Sarah and said. 'She should develop her first pentagram to the orange degree in the next few minutes. As for Lina, if she becomes an Archmage in the future, it's possible that she will transform her first essence into a yellow one.'

The first pentagram of the color yellow was quite difficult, and of course, it would make any magician at the top of the continent.

'Becoming an Archmage, huh? That will be difficult,' Vicente sighed.

He knew how difficult cultivation became with every step forward. His talent was exceptional, but it wasn't the same for Lina and the others. With green-grade talents, it was possible that they wouldn't get past the 5th stage unless they cultivated for a few thousand years!

Torne was silent for a moment, then he asked for something important. 'Changing the subject, master, how do you plan to proceed with your pentagram hunt for the Throne of Darkness? Will you do it in the presence of your companions or will you leave them to hunt alone?'