Abel wasn’t going to think too much about it, but he had an idea of what the miracle spirit would do about what happened here. It knew his real identity, after all. It did detect his actual power level when he first came to Miracle City.

For the two red-cloaked wizards, he didn’t care, but Head Command Donald was really starting to get on his nerves. He did have some pity for him, though. It wouldn’t be long before that man died.

It was the middle of September now. If the mission didn’t start soon, Head Commander Donald would have no way to reach the Beastly God Utopia within a month. It wasn’t like he would help, but Donald wasn’t going to give up on finding a way to sneak up there.

At night, Abel decided to finally make a trip back to the dark world. He brought Johnson with him to clear off some hell creatures on the great plain near Lut Gholein. He chose that because the hell creatures were stronger there, but there wasn’t a lot of loot that he could pick up.

If anything, the only thing that he wanted to gather was the souls. He needed more to make his soul potions. There would be a few more months before he could boost up the levels of all his summoned creatures, but he had to be early if he wanted to collect the right amount.

Right now, Johnson’s body consisted of three types of multi-surfaced metal spheres. One was the normal one. The other two were hundred-skilled ones and ones made of fine iron, which were the rarest of them all. If Abel could change them all into fine iron, there would not be a single thing on the Holy Continent that could do any damage to Johnson.

The next morning, after returning from the dark world, Abel decided to have breakfast. When he was done, he immediately received a message from Wizard Cyril.

After considering what Head Commander Donald could do, Abel decided to meet Wizard Cyril at a restaurant inside the Wizard’s Encampment. He didn’t really trust anyone at the moment, so he preferred if the meeting was done somewhere public.

As they’ve arranged, all Wizard Cyril had to do was to bring the skeleton gemstones and the bone-made portal items to Abel. He didn’t even have to be there in person. He could just send them through with his short-ranged portal circle, but he decided to wait twenty days before Abel came back from the hunting quest.

Once breakfast time was already far past, Abel walked in to see Wizard Cyril sitting by himself.

Wizard Cyril stood up and greeted, “Welcome, welcome! Come here and have a seat, K3516!”

Abel tried to hide the feeling of discomfort, “Wizard Cyril! So good to see you again there!”

“First of all, I’ve got to thank you for giving me that corrupt blood poison. It really helped me with the experiment I’ve been preparing for the last several years. And did you know about it already? I’ve been promoted to become an intermediate alchemist!”

Abel decided to cut to business, “So why did you call me here today, Wizard Cyril?”

That was a bit offensive to Wizard Cyril. Intermediate alchemists were not very common amongst humans. He’d wished that Abel could give him a bit more praise for his efforts, but unbeknownst to him, Abel was already an honorary alchemy master. Actually, since Abel got his recognition from the elves, he was probably already on a whole other level than what the humans could be at.

Wizard Cyril said in a more serious tone, “Yes, K3516. I’ve come here to ask if I can borrow the orc war drum and the beast fang map to me.”

Abel shook his head, “Sorry, can’t do. I need them both.”

That wasn’t really a lie. Abel needed the war drum to kill the scouting birds once he sneaked into the Orc Empire. For the beast fang, since it was designed to not be replicated, the map would blur the part that he wasn’t focusing on. He could try to make a duplicate with his craftsmanship, but that would just take too much time than he could afford to.

Wizard Cyril said pridefully, “You should show more respect to me, K3516! I am an intermediate alchemist. If you lend me these two items, you will gain my friendship as a reward!”

Abel didn’t bother to talk back, “Wizard Cyril, our deal isn’t done yet. Can you please give me the stuff I’ve requested for first?”

“Sure, here’s your small skeletons and portal items.”

Wizard Cyril had a small bag of fifty-something small skeletons and five bone-made portal items. He threw it towards Abel, and Abel caught it with his hand. The two didn’t really agree on a specific amount, but with the war glory points as a common currency, they could come to a deal on even grounds.

There was a problem, though. The corrupt blood poison Abel gave out was clearly not of the same value as to what he’s been given.

Abel asked, “Is this everything, Wizard Cyril?”

Wizard Cyril said with a sneer, “You trying to take advantage of me, K3516? It’s a bottle of corrupt blood poison. What more do you want from me?”

Abel felt disgusted by Wizard Cyril’s attitude, “Good day to you then, Wizard Cyril.”

“I don’t think you’ve thought this through, K3516! Ask your family or teachers about what an intermediate alchemist is, and they will tell you, oh, they will! For now, I implore you, K3516, hand the two items I asked from you this instance! You don’t want to be branded as an unpopular figure in the Alchemist Union, don’t you?”

Abel just kept on walking, “I’ve got a mask on me, Wizard Cyril. I don’t know if an intermediate alchemist has the permission to do so, but if you want to know my true identity, you’ll have to ask the miracle spirit for it.”

“Hey! Stop! Hey!” Wizard Cyril cursed at him, “Hey, damn it! You’ll regret it, I tell you! You’ll regret it soon enough!”

After watching Abel leave without turning back, Wizard Cyril felt extremely frustrated with this scenario. He thought that Abel was insulting his identity as an alchemist. Worse yet, he thought that Abel was insulting the whole Alchemist Union. He was very quick to think about the many ways he could get back at Abel, but after thinking for a while, he realized that he didn’t know who K3516 really was.