The air in the living room was thick with the scent of herbal tea and baked bread, a comfortable warmth that spoke of shared time.

When Sokram finally stepped inside, he saw Savannah, Lucy, and Astrid huddled together on the couch, their heads bent in deep conversation, their expressions animated and unguarded.

Amber, who had been living there for quite a while now, was reading one of the books Sokram had written from the compiled knowledge he got from the Arch Mage’s Tower.

Despite the late hours, the girls were in no rush to leave as Sokram's family now trusted them fully.

So much so that Savannah and Lucy had been sharing his bed lately, as he rarely used it.

“So, did you manage to get enough moonstones?” Sokram stepped into the room, interrupting their girl talk.

“Only because of your fame with the owner of the Magic Supply Shop, haha,” Savannah replied, handing back the ring with the moonstone already crafted into runestones.

Seeing his surprised expression, Savannah grinned proudly, “Are you proud of me, Master?”

Seeing her cheeks flush slightly and that mischievous glint in her eyes made Sokram’s heart skip a beat.

Lucy didn’t miss it, teasing him, “I guess his heart is more than just proud, hm?”

“I see the two of you joined my sister’s team when it comes to teasing me. But yes, I’m happy you mastered this level of runecraft, little Savy.” Sokram patted her head as he used to do with his closest female disciples.

Savannah didn't flinch.

Instead, she leaned into the familiar weight of his hand on her head, her body relaxing into the touch like a cat settling into a patch of sun.

When he withdrew his hand, the corners of her mouth tightened, a flicker of disappointment crossing her eyes before she could hide it.

He then asked her, “What do you mean by my fame with the shop owner?”

Savannah smirked, stifling a giggle.

“That woman in the magic supply shop raised the prices on the recording crystals and moonstones, but after I told her it was for you, the woman gave a big, huge discount after I promised to convince you to sell those imagery display runic spells and formations to her. The same ones you used for your trial and the traitors' trial.”

Sokram could see that Savannah was getting used to the fame Kazzah left behind and no longer showed any reactions when people mentioned the trials.

Even going so far as to only call Kazzah and Timothy traitors

.

“Well, since you already did all the work, I’ll head back to the tower…” As soon as the words left his mouth, a chorus of groans and a collective sigh of protest filled the air, cutting off the end of his sentence.

The good-natured atmosphere in the room, so warm just moments before, was now filled with cooling disappointment.

“Come on, you have barely spent any time with us lately.” Lucy pouted.

“Yes, I miss talking with you. And I also have many doubts about the new runes you introduced to me.” Savannah tugged at his sleeve.

“Me too! I need your help with some new spell formulas I’m trying. I caught a glimpse of something after seeing Amira casting her spells through sourcing Magi from that Chaos Core earlier today.” Amber, for the first time in the night, closed her book.

“And you promised me you would help me with elemental fusion.” Astrid mimicked Lucy’s pouting face.

“I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. But I am very close to learning what I need.” Sokram dismissed them with a heavy heart.

He was very close to getting what he needed to take another step forward and couldn't afford to stop now.

Before leaving, he went to look for Margiory, finding her in the backyard with Hilda and Brunhild, who were guiding the cultivation of the remaining guards from the Androny family that were stationed in Eversnow.

Once they saw him, they came to greet him.

It was clear his family missed having him around.

But once again, he reassured them that he was using this opportunity to expedite his plans, and soon they would see what he meant.

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On that note, he asked Margiory to transform one of the buildings they acquired recently into an alchemy lab.

He would also need cages made of Dark Steel, fifty big enough to imprison goblins and fifty small enough to imprison rats.

He asked her to have some of the guards capture the goblins for him. Margiory told him she would have it ready by the time he returned from his mission.

After handing Margiory the list of ingredients, Sokram departed without another word.

At the palace, Sokram aided Kasine, Kamus, and Lymus with their Core conversion, Lymus being just a step away from completion.

At the same time, the other two had barely begun.

After the guiding session, Sokram returned to the tower.

Sokram wasn’t in a rush, but in some ways, he considered himself more desperate than any of Mentyr’s fanatics; his hunger for recovering his lost knowledge and power consumed him more than the hunger that cursed them.

Beyond that, he was genuinely excited about the next steps of his plan.

Steps that would not only shock his family but also the rest of the world, maybe even the galaxy.

But as soon as he entered through the doors of the tower, he found Sahvus, Sienna, and Camile.

They seemed to be talking about something before he arrived, but this time, when he entered, they were all very polite toward him.

“We greet the Seeker Candidate.” They said in unison.

But Sokram never liked being treated with so much reverence by his elders, so he rushed to ask them, “Please, don’t act like that. Just treat me like you have been treating me before.”

Knowing a little about his personality by then, they all quickly agreed, and Sokram went back to reading without having any more awkward interactions.

But the hunger in their eyes, a raw, predatory glint that Sokram had only witnessed in Camile so far, was deeply unsettling.

As previously stated, every follower of the Nether shared the curse that consumed the Lord they followed.

Mentyr, before she found the light of Evolution in the Nether, was cursed by Nhiria with the eternal hunger for the same knowledge and secrets she used to torment those in the era she ruled over the world.

A world she shared with Harten and Belladona.

But even after Mentyr found her light of redemption and became the first Princess of the Nether, that hunger, although controlled, never disappeared.

That would be her eternal punishment for all the genocides and tragedies she caused.

When Sahvus and his family decided to give themselves to Mentyr, that curse also manifested in them.

Like Mentyr, they hungered for what they didn’t know or couldn’t explain.

And Sokram was a true mystery to all of them.

But the fact that he was a Seeker Candidate now made him untouchable, especially because Mentyr’s eyes were on him even before they met.

So, they left the young dragon alone, and Sokram remained inside the tower reading undisturbed for the rest of the day until the next one, when it was time to go back to the palace’s training grounds.

And after finishing another guiding session, he returned to the tower, staying there until it was time to leave for the mission.

Had it not been for Savannah coming to pick him up at the palace, he would have stayed there for even longer.

But he still managed to read for a little more than a day, or ten days inside the tower.

In those ten days of incessant reading, he read through the entire hallway on the second floor pertaining to alchemy.

He had read almost two thousand books and finally felt confident he had learned everything necessary for the next step.

Before leaving the city, Sokram took Savannah to the market despite her trying to rush him.

But seeing Sokram was after something specific, something he only found on a stall at the very end of the Main Market Street, she let him do what he needed.

The old lady who owned the stall was surprised to see Sokram picking the Purple Honeyed Berries by their smell, as most buyers would choose them by color.

She even tried advising him against the ones he picked, thinking he didn’t know what he was doing.

Yet, Sokram insisted on buying the overripe ones, some that were even close to rotting.

Savannah only observed from the sidelines; she understood he wouldn’t be doing that for no reason, but couldn’t figure out what the reason was this time.

After picking enough fruits to feed a few families, the guilty smile on the old lady’s face betrayed her happiness at not suffering losses over the overripe and rotten fruits, as Sokram insisted on paying her the same price the ripe and good quality ones would cost.

In the end, Sokram spent a total of 4 gold and 57 silver on almost 10 kilos of Purple Honeyed Berries.

After that, they finally left toward the South Gates.

Savannah informed him that she had picked Periklis for him and that Oliver had sent a message that he would be going on another expedition to find more eggs after getting a tip about the location of an Ice Phoenix’s nest.

A slow, genuine smile spread across Sokram's face as he watched them.

The scene was a symphony of motion and sound.

The quick, sharp clash of Kina and Kiana's swords as they excitedly reenacted some sword techniques.

The low hum of Amber and Amira's magic meshed well with the sound of their voices in a deep discussion about some spell.

And the quiet, focused rustle of maps and whispers from the Kan, Lucy, and the twins, who discussed their route with everyone’s mounts ready and packed beside them.

Only a few months had passed since he joined the team, and they had already grown so much both mentally and in strength.

Though in terms of power, he still couldn’t count on them when things got ugly, but he knew that soon this would change, and they would surpass him until he came of age.

The journey to the nest was a tranquil affair.

The only sounds were the soft thud of hooves on the dirt road, the rhythmic squeak of leather saddles, and the gentle whisper of the wind through the snowy grass.

The air was clean and crisp, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth, a welcome change from the city's close confines.

Sokram didn’t notice any unusual movements around, nor any strange behavior from his new teammates.

The only thing that caught his attention was Amira trying to get close to Amber, while Amber was trying not to get irritated with the Sorceress for continuously disrupting her reading.

It was clear to him that Amira was trying too hard, acting in a way that was uncharacteristic of the Armfrosts, who always acted aloof and standoffish.

But once Amber was nearing the end of her patience, Savannah interfered, calling Amira to ride beside her, which left Amber to read in peace.

Kina and Kiana seemed to get along very well, though. Kina, different from her late cousin, was easygoing and polite, something no one would expect from someone from the Silverfang family.