Kai’s choice of inn did not disappoint Rhys at all. In fact, he thoroughly enjoyed every single moment of his stay there.

The place was a beautiful, seaside luxury inn that looked out over the sparkling waters of the harbor, and the menu was packed with an incredible selection of fresh, tasty seafood.

Rhys had ordered plate after plate of grilled fish, buttered crab, and seasoned shrimp until he could barely move.

By the time he finally pushed his chair back from the table, his belly was bulging so much that it felt like it was about to break his belt.

Shamefully enough, Rhys did not actually have a single copper coin on him when the bill arrived.

Luckily for him, the three women did not seem to mind.

They treated him to the entire massive feast without asking for a single coin, and they even went ahead and booked a comfortable private room for him to sleep in for the night.

The next morning came quickly.

The engineering mages worked efficiently through the night, and the train’s damaged kinetic runes were completely fixed much earlier than anyone had expected.

Rhys gathered his few belongings and walked back to the station with the three women to board the morning transport.

Once they settled into their compartment, the atmosphere became surprisingly quiet. On the way back to the city, no one talked much.

The exhaustion from the previous day’s battle seemed to have caught up with Kai and Selena, who spent most of the trip resting with their eyes closed.

However, the most noticeable change was Yuki. Rhys quickly realized that the silver-haired girl was keeping a massive amount of physical distance from him.

She did not sit anywhere near his side of the carriage, and she practically glued herself to the far window.

Whenever his eyes drifted in her direction, she would instantly look away, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as if she were genuinely terrified to even sit next to him.

The extreme contrast from her playful behavior on the first day left Rhys completely baffled.

He leaned his head against the glass window, watching the rocky scenery of the Whispering Ravine roll past as he plunged into his own thoughts.

’Did I do something stupid to her last night when I was drunk on that fruit wine?’ he asked himself, his brow furrowing in confusion.

[No, host,] the system’s text flashed lazily inside his mind. [Your behavioral patterns last night were entirely within normal human parameters. You simply ate an embarrassing amount of crab and went straight to sleep.]

’Then why on earth is she acting this strange today?’ Rhys thought back, genuinely curious. ’She looks like she’s looking at a ghost whenever I clear my throat.’

[Perhaps she is just in her period,] the system offered flatly. [Human females often display erratic, distant, or hostile behavioral fluctuations during their monthly cycles. It is a biological mechanism beyond your control.]

’True,’ Rhys mused internally, nodding to himself. ’That actually makes a lot of sense. I shouldn’t overthink it.’

He let the matter drop and closed his eyes, focusing on the comforting rhythm of the train as it sped across the tracks.

By the time the iron transport finally pierced through the golden outer light shield of Azure City, the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon.

The heavy mechanical doors hissed open at the central station, and the four teammates stepped out onto the familiar, bustling stone platform.

This was the official end of their caravan contract.

"Well, we survived," Kai said, turning toward Rhys with a deep expression of respect on her scarred face. "Thank you again, Rhys. Your mind magic saved our lives out there. We will be heading straight to the inner sect handlers to submit our experience certificates now."

"You should look into upgrading your rank soon," Selena added, offering him a small, approving nod. "With your casting speed, staying as a fake Adept is just a waste of time."

Rhys smiled politely. "I’ll keep that in mind. Good luck with your inner sect trials."

Yuki stood a few steps behind the other two, still looking incredibly reserved. She gave Rhys a brief, hesitant glance before bowing slightly. "Goodbye, Rice. Until the next meet."

"Until the next meet," Rhys replied smoothly.

He stood perfectly still on the platform, watching the three women turn around and walk away toward the grand stone gates of the Azure Lotus Sect.

He stared at their retreating backs for a long moment, a knowing smirk playing on his lips.

He knew very well that they would be meeting again much faster than the girls anticipated, considering he was already fully planning to participate in the sect’s upcoming annual hunting day.

More importantly, Rhys did not forget the cryptic words of the Celestial Origin.

That Yuki possessed a vital connection with someone he would desperately need in his future.

Even though she was acting incredibly distant and strange right now, their paths were definitively intertwined.

’We will meet again,’ Rhys thought, turning away from the tracks and heading toward the station exit.

His feet practically moved on their own as he navigated the crowded streets, heading directly toward the grand headquarters of the MSFRM.

Pure excitement was bubbling intensely inside his chest. He had been waiting for this moment ever since system revealed the outstandingness of the Crown of Force.

He walked up the massive stone steps of the MSFRM building and approached the counter. He handed over his official identification card to the clerk, watching eagerly as the man processed the mission completion data.

"Everything is in order," the clerk stated, tapping the crystal matrix. "Your caravan defense credits have been officially converted and loaded onto your identity card."

"Thank you," Rhys said, snatching the card back with a grin.

He did not waste another second. He hurried through the grand hallways, bypassing the low-level apprentice archives and walking straight into the restricted Adept-grade library sector.

The air here felt much heavier, saturated with the faint, pulsing energy of high-grade spell structures.

He walked down the long, quiet aisles until his eyes landed on the specific glass display case he had been dreaming about.

Resting on a velvet cushion inside was a glowing silver jade slip etched with complex, geometric runes.

The Crown of Force.

Rhys used his authenticated card to unlock the display case, carefully lifting the cool jade slip into his palm.

A thrill ran down his spine as he felt the sheer weight of the data locked inside the stone.

He carried the spell structure back toward the front desk, where the old, eccentric librarian sat hunched over a heavy ledger.

The old librarian raised his eyes, squinting through his thick spectacles at the silver jade slip in Rhys’s hand.

"3000 credits for a single day," he spoke. Rhys was slightly confused about the tone of the old man. It was like a stranger.

Though he and the librarian weren’t considered friends, they were acquaintances who talked, and also the man had been the one who gave Rhys the Whispering Cavern mission.

Now he was acting like a stranger.....