Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 376: Scholar

Chapter 376: Scholar

"Where?" Alex inquired carefully, ensuring not to be too forward to avoid putting Ana in a tight spot.

It was clear whatever she wanted to say was quite heavy, courtesy of the reaction she had to her nightmare and how tame she was now compared to her usual self.

He took the initiative to hold her palm causing her to finally respond, albeit slowly.

"... He was in the palace. George Augustus." She began, taking a moment to gather her thoughts at which point Alex was left with furrowed brows as the surname was quite familiar.

"It wasn’t until that time that I learned about the Augustus family and their allegiance to the Crown. They are hidden, unlike other noble houses and unless necessary, no one speaks of them and even then, they aren’t spoken of directly. Regardless, I was invited to the capital because that was where George was..."

Trailing off, Ana’s body involuntarily shivered as she recalled the distant memory.

"Tell me." Alex softly intoned while rubbing her palm, utilizing the uniqueness of Evernight to reduce the tremors.

Nodding in response, she continued. "I could immediately tell that something was wrong with that city. Time was stagnant and the people... they were too perfect. In any case... I met with him, Emperor Enoch the Sixth... There was something wrong with him... I don’t know what but something happened that day that made me run as fast as I could without turning back... without receiving the purification I needed."

"This memory... why are you telling me about it now?"

Ana stayed silent, her lips quivering as she found herself unable to respond immediately.

"Ana... tell me."

"Long before I passed out, I felt it, Alex, I felt Him. His gaze fell on me and I could do nothing but freeze to avoid getting noticed."

Taking a deep breath, she continued. "Alex, no matter what, we can’t afford to grab the attention of the Emperor, there’s something wrong with him and we should avoid the capital as well, please you have to understand."

"..." Alex went silent as he stared at Ana, unsure of how to respond.

"Please, say something!... Let’s just leave now that we know the location of Ashtyx."

"Uhmm, Ana, I need you to calm down." As he spoke, Alex continually made use of Evernight as he feared that she might go crazy with how high her emotions were.

"You aren’t listening to me!... Alex, we have to go, we can’t be here any longer. You are a Human Wheel Mystic, you should have sensed something too right?"

"Ana..."

"Alex, please let’s leave..."

"Ana, that’s enough!" Alex suddenly exclaimed, causing Ana to pause, wide-eyed at the unexpected reaction.

"I..."

"I understand your worries and indeed, they are warranted but... it’s already too late."

"What are you talking about?"

Taking a deep breath, Alex replied. "I’m saying, we can’t afford to not go to the capital... that’s where Ashtyx is and as for the Emperor, he might have already branded his gaze on me."

The silence was deafening, even more so when faced with the expression on Ana’s face.

It was clear that fear was consuming her from within so Alex tried to use Evernight but before he could make any headway, Ana pulled her palm away, her gaze still trained on him.

"Ana..."

"Please leave." She softly intoned as she turned her face away.

Alex let out a sigh before ultimately rising to his feet to leave, excusing himself as he did so.

Once the door to her room closed with the room falling silent, soft sobs could be heard coming from the lone dragon.

***

"Well, well, look who we have here," Adam remarked as he sat on his favorite boulder, this time, with no apple in sight.

"Lost your appetite?" Alex inquired, earning a shrug from Adam.

"Gets boring doing the same thing all the time."

"I see."

"Regardless, I saw your work. You are quite daring to attempt creating a cure to the Blight."

"I only did that as a case study. If anything, my goal is merely to widen the scope of how doctors view diseases." Alex intoned.

"I see." Adam muttered as his expression seemed troubled for some reason.

However, Alex didn’t dwell on that for long as he remarked. "So I’m guessing my pursuit of knowledge was a success?"

"A lackluster one if I were to be honest but no matter, I congratulate you all the same." Adam remarked before turning toward the arched gate.

All it took was a simple hand gesture and the fourth branch was revealed to be Scholar.

"Your pursuit of knowledge, though lacking, offers a new perspective on how one should view a disease while also documenting unique methods in which these perspectives can be seen from, ensuring progress in the field of Alchemy. For this, you are deemed worthy of taking the next step towards godhood.

"However, I should warn you that your findings are indeed lacking and any deviation from the results detailed in your research by future works on the field would cause you to suffer significant backlash, so I advise that you take some time to understand the veracity of your work before proceeding further. So what do you say?"

"I wish to take the next step." Alex firmly replied.

Adam raised a brow before ultimately nodding. "As you wish."

Perhaps for the first time since he began his mystical journey, Alex could detect changes in his Avatar and Soma as they grew even more robust.

Nodding in satisfaction, he inquired. "When is the next trial?"

"Not now, that’s for sure." Adam casually replied before adding. "Though I admire your speed, run too fast and you might end up hitting a brick wall. As it is, though your understanding is outstanding, it is still myopic. Try to widen that scope, see the world with a larger lens."

Unsure of what he meant, Alex nodded, intending to ponder more on that later as he broached up a different matter.

"What can you tell me about Emperor Enoch the Sixth?... I hear he might have been a Human Wheel Mystic."

"Emperor Enoch... quite an unfortunate fellow that one. I’d have betted on him if not for his insane obsession, hah, and he was such a great candidate."

"... I don’t quite follow."

"I’ll leave you with this. Though he cannot kill you as I have only you two left, that doesn’t mean he can’t do something worse so for your own good... try not to get too close."

Before Alex could ask further questions, he was spirited back to the mortal plain, leaving Adam to his soliloquy.