For the next few days, Vicente would remain in the capital city of Eldoria, waiting for the results of the Sky Sovereigns and Paragons who had begun absorbing vampire blood earlier.",

He intended to leave with the three Archmages in that city after the men's progress was complete, finally beginning his return to the northern region with the stop in The Hungry Canyon already planned for the coming weeks.

The three Archmages, the king of the Trevora Kingdom, the former king of the western territories of this state, and the fugitive from the north, had all recently advanced to the sixth stage. None of them had their sixth pentagram, so they didn't hesitate to accept the opportunity to travel north with Vicente.

Although there were several monsters with cyan pentagrams in those areas of the continent at the moment, they were Dark Path beings that were incompatible with these three Light Path magicians. Only by traveling north could they obtain the cyan pentagrams they so desperately wanted to strengthen themselves even more.

That was exactly why they were willing to risk traveling with Vicente and were willing to leave their domains to complete this mission.

But before that, they had to prepare themselves and leave behind a group strong enough that there would be a place for them to return to in the future!

...

While the men finished absorbing the vampire blood, Vicente was gathered with the three Archmages, sitting on the floor while a small table with hot drinks was set up in front of them.

In a courtyard, in the middle of a garden, the four of them were once again discussing their travel plans, something they had done several times in the past few days.

"Paul, can you tell us where we can find more Archmages to travel with us?" Vicente asked seriously to the blond man, with some white hair under the yellow, sitting in front of him.

The man shook his head negatively and regretfully. "I wanted to know where they might be, but it's very difficult for me to guess.

I think I'm not the only one who managed to escape, hide and find his way to an area not ruled by the monsters. But other survivors of the northern forces could be literally anywhere.

In the two years I've been hiding and fleeing the north, I've hidden in city ruins, forests, caves, and even traveled among Light Path beasts.

If we go looking for human Archmages, we'll have a lot of work for little result. If an Archmage wants to hide, they'll do it very well and it will be almost impossible to find them."

"I agree." Said Jacob, the former monarch who lost his lands to the monsters. "I think our chances of finding Archmages will be better if we travel to the beast tribes.

We'll find potential allies, and it's possible we'll even find some powerful humans among them. Like Paul, I also moved with beasts during my escape from the monsters."

"I see... It's a pity. But let's stick to my previous plans. We'll head straight for the strongest beast tribes of the Light Path on our way north." Vicente sighed when he said these words.

Any help would be welcome right now. But if they had to work too hard and overstretched their journey north, that wouldn't be good.

"But I have a question. The three of us are going to hunt pentagrams. What happens if our bestial allies are compatible with us?" Ayden asked.

"We will specifically ally ourselves with beasts not compatible with you. This will avoid internal conflicts within the group." Vicente said with little thought. "The team we're going to form will fight the monsters. As I've already warned you, we will most likely face superior 5th stage vampires on this journey. Therefore, having 6th stage allies will be more important than a new power for you.

So let's not hunt down our own allies." Vicente smiled at Ayden and looked meaningfully at the others.

"Even if they're no match for us, how will those beasts react to our hunt?" Paul asked.

The three men knew that if they couldn't count on other humans, the only allies they could make were beasts. But it was one thing to fight alongside a beast without the purpose of hunting pentagrams, and quite another to do so with such a purpose.

"Not all beasts of the Light Path are in the same boat. We can target historical enemies of our allies, or even beasts that collaborate with the vampires.

The important thing is to unite a group that absolutely hates vampires. Our group's only goal will be to destabilize the vampire forces, so our companions must be able to do everything possible to achieve that goal. That includes beasts that can help humans hunt other beasts." Vicente finished his thoughts.

"Hmm, that could work." Jakob thought about it and felt that they could indeed find traitorous beasts, just as there were Dark Path magicians allied with the vampires.

As they talked about their plans, which were about to be put into action, they felt the auras of the group of sixty people who had started absorbing vampire blood days ago were finally improving.

The four of them got up from where they were and headed toward the royal hall.

When they arrived, they saw the new Low-level and Mid-level Paragons of the state.

"Looks like our wait is over." Vicente muttered as Ayden smiled with great happiness next to Paul.

Out of the 60 individuals, 13 new Low-level Paragons emerged this past week, while 4 men advanced to Mid-level Paragons.

The other Mid-level Paragons who had consumed vampire blood had not improved enough to ascend to High-level, but they were all closer to ascending now. This was also the case with the king's advisor, who was already at the High-level of the 5th stage.

Looking at this man, Ayden couldn't help but feel confident about his departure, imagining that even if he fell, his kingdom would have a chance to raise a new Beginner Archmage in the years to come.

He hadn't planned on dying, but it was comforting to know that his legacy could be carried on by the people he would leave behind!

"My friends, congratulations on your progress and improvement. We're having a great feast tonight." Ayden announced with a big smile on his face.

Vicente said to the natives who would be left behind. "I have spent the last few days making armor and weapons for your forces and strengthening the defenses of the capital. That should be enough for you to hold your own starting tomorrow."

Hearing this, everyone there understood Vicente's message. Tomorrow his group would leave for the north!