Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

Dragun and Vishirk strolled around the well-organized dark market for another five hours. They visited the spell section and purchased all the necessary spells, as well as the Soul and Spirit magic spells that Rowan had requested.

Both of them knew the chances of Rowan awakening any of those affinities were really low. However, given Rowan's seriousness about obtaining them, they had to go ahead and get them.

They also bought a lot of mana stones.

Dragun decided to buy a magic staff for Riela to make her spellcasting even easier.

After they finished obtaining everything they wanted, they realized they had already spent seven hours in the market.

As they strolled around, searching for what they wanted, they came to understand just how massive the place really was.

It was almost as big, if not bigger, than Yellow River City.

This made both of them wonder who really had such power to build such a mighty place.

They even tried asking some of the sellers, but they received negative answers, as none of them knew about the founder's identity.

Dragun and Vishirk didn't dwell on their curiosity, though. After getting what they wanted, they left the black market and appeared at the river once again.

Surprisingly, it was still nighttime. It was almost as though time had never passed outside the black market.

Dragun frowned upon discovering this but didn't ponder it too much. Right now, he wanted to visit the guy who had information about the cult as soon as he could before they left for Winterseed.

Vishirk wasn't aware of this plan, and Dragun wasn't planning on letting him in on it, so he sent him back to the inn alone and left for the place the inn manager had told him about.

He arrived at a big open bar.

It was pretty lively; a lot of men and a few women were seated, eating skewered meat and drinking wines while discussing happily amongst themselves.

The bar was so big that it even had its own waiters who went around attending to the customers, as the owner wouldn't be able to take care of so many people at the same time.

"Good-looking sir, what would you like to drink? We have all types of wines, and our meats are fresh and well-prepared," a beautiful waitress approached Dragun.

"Nice, but I would love to speak with Yizen Cole, your boss," Dragun responded with a smile.

"My boss is currently busy; you'll have to come back later," she replied.

Dragun was already made aware by the inn manager that Yizen Cole didn't appreciate visitors, so he wasn't shaken by her answer.

Thankfully, the inn manager had handed him a visitation card.

He showed the card to the beautiful waitress.

"I'll take you to him immediately," she said and started walking him toward the back of the open bar, where a small building was located.

They arrived, and she knocked at the door in a strange manner before a hoarse voice inside answered and asked her to send the visitor in.

Dragun gave her a nod of appreciation before strolling into the room.

Entering the room, he was greeted with the strong stench of alcohol and the sound of bottles rolling on the ground.

The sight in the room wasn't pleasant at all; there was only a big bed and a small table, while the remaining space was consumed with bottles of beer. There was even a barrel of beer at the back.

Atop the bed sat a potbellied middle-aged man holding a big mug of wine that spilled on the bed from time to time due to his weak, unsteady grip on it.

Dragun had a frown on his face.

'Would someone this drunk be able to provide useful information about the cult?' he pondered.

"You, I have never seen you before. How did you get my visitation card?" was the first thing Yizen Cole asked Dragun after obtaining the strength to speak.

Dragun forced a smile and replied, "I got your card from Blessed Inn's manager. He meant no harm."

"Oh, that bastard is still alive and kicking? Well, good for him. So, what brought you to me? What information do you seek?" Yizen asked.

Dragun quickly asked about the cult of Ember Justice.

The moment he mentioned the name, Yizen tossed the mug of beer in his hands to the ground and sobered up in a matter of seconds.

His previous unsteady and drunk behavior disappeared and was replaced with a serious demeanor.

"Why do you want to know about the cult of Ember Justice? How did you even know about them? Identify yourself."

Dragun remained unfazed by his sudden seriousness and the questions he threw at him.

He lied about his identity and also made up stories about how he knew about them.

"I had a cousin who was part of the cult, but he was killed recently. I'm investigating the matter myself and would like to know more about the cult he was in, their activities in the past, and especially their movement in Yellow River City at the moment," Dragun lied.

Yizen looked at Dragun with a frown on his face, trying his hardest to believe his made-up stories.

"Your cousin had a death wish?" he suddenly asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because if your cousin didn't have a death wish, he wouldn't have joined the cult in the first place. Those who know about the danger of the cult never dream or even think of associating with them."

Yizen's response was cold, and he didn't hold back from insulting Dragun's 'deceased cousin.'

Dragun didn't mind the insults, considering the cousin was non-existent. However, he felt a little insulted himself, considering he was one who actually joined the cult.

Yizen spent two extra minutes insulting the so-called cousin before relaxing.

"To obtain the information you want about the cult, you must pay a sum of one hundred gold coins," Yizen requested.

Dragun didn't mind and handed him the amount he requested.

"Tell me everything you know, especially about the Dark Brothers," he said as he handed him the gold.

Yizen counted the coins and kept them in his spatial pouch.

He sat upright and began pouring out everything he knew.

Dragun discovered he was hiding some bits of the information and decided to double his pay.

After doubling it, Yizen's response became more fluid, with little to no part of it hidden.

---

Dragun left Yizen's place after obtaining all the information he wanted from him.

At this moment, it was almost dawn, and the streets were becoming busy once again.

Dragun rushed to the inn.

He didn't bother to cultivate as his mana reserves were already filled up. He had purchased some high-quality, purified demonic beast meat from Yizen's bar before returning. The mana stored up in the meat's fibers quickly nourished his mana reserves.

After returning, Vishirk became extra curious, inquiring about his business, but Dragun didn't share the information.

Although he trusted Vishirk to some extent, he didn't dare share information about the cult with him, as that would only put him in danger.

---

Winterseed II

The people of the village had been well-coordinated after Rowan's visit, and the productivity of the village was also boosted by a lot.

Michael, the new leader, had actually taken his position pretty seriously.

Since he was a military person, his new position as the acting village head made his captain position in the army higher than it usually was.

With his newfound position, he made the soldiers go through rigorous exercises they would usually not want to go through.

Early in the morning, he gathered the soldiers and made them undergo his personal daily routine.

They started with jumping jacks, which went on for minutes before switching to push-ups, sit-ups, and jogging around the village. Afterwards, they practiced their various weapon techniques for another two hours before beginning their usual tasks for the day.

For the first two days, most of the soldiers complained and cussed him for using his position recklessly.

However, after about three days, they realized their bodies were getting stronger and their endurance was building up gradually thanks to the rigorous exercise he made them go through, and then they stopped complaining.

Michael wasn't good at the other sections of territory management, but he tried his best.

Aside from Michael's new leadership, the people of the village were still worried about the health state of their beloved Ren, his family especially.

Day after day, they woke up worrying about the condition of Ren.

Some of the villagers who've seen him before he left the village even lost hope that he would actually survive.