Looking at the spectacular sight, Yuan couldn’t help but wonder if he would have ever gotten to experience all these grand things if he hadn’t met Mr. White.

If he had just remained the isolated, politically ignored guildmaster of a anall city, he would have spent the rest of his days filing mundane paperwork and staring at the same dull walls.

He never would have ridden a high grade mana beast, never would have witnessed the capture of a demon supervisor, and certainly would never have set foot inside the central sanctuary of his profession.

He knew the absolute answer to his own question was surely no.

There was no timeline where an ordinary man from Eidvale achieved this on his own merits.

Reflecting on his sudden, dizzying rise in circumstances, Yuan realized there were indeed some undeniable benefits to having a powerful, terrifyingly capable ally by your side.

Doors that were locked by generations of wealth, politics, and status could be blasted wide open in a single day when you walked in the shadow of a true powerhouse.

Yet, a lingering shade of doubt colored his awe. He thought to himself, ’well... that’s if he’s truly an ally...’

The word ’ally’ felt incredibly fragile given what he had witnessed over the past few days.

Mr. White was an enigma wrapped in an absolute, crushing authority. Yuan still wasn’t entirely sure where he stood with the mysterious entity, or if he was simply a convenient piece on a much larger chessboard.

His gaze briefly turned to Mr. White, who was simply standing there on the cobblestone floor, looking around the massive courtyard with total indifference.

Despite being surrounded by hundreds of elite, high-ranking warriors and standing in front of the most secure fortress on the continent, the masked man showed absolutely no signs of nerves or intimidation.

His posture remained perfectly relaxed beneath his traveling cloak, his hidden eyes merely scanning the architecture as if evaluating a common tavern rather than the holy land of adventurers.

Because of his strange appearance, there were already a few quiet murmurs breaking out here and there among the gathered crowd about who the man in the strange black cat mask actually was.

They didn’t know what a masked anomaly like him was doing walking alongside a powerful arch magus like Ayu.

What baffled them even more was why the notoriously proud magus had especially allowed this stranger to fly on the sacred back of Goldie Neckie.

To the knowledge of everyone in the headquarters, Ayu treated his high-grade wind beast with the utmost sanctity, rarely allowing even fellow high-ranking officials to touch her feathers, let alone ride her across the continent.

The fact that this masked man had traveled in absolute comfort on her back spoke volumes, sending a ripple of intense curiosity and suspicion through the onlookers.

Before the whispers could grow any louder, the heavy atmosphere was shattered by a booming sound.

The massive, reinforced double doors of the main guild building suddenly blasted open, swinging outward with an explosive force that echoed off the high stone ramparts.

The sudden, dramatic entrance instantly caught the attention of every single adventurer around, causing the entire courtyard to fall dead silent as all eyes snapped toward the dark, gaping threshold of the fortress.

From the dark, gaping threshold of the fortress, a tall man with long blonde hair came out of it. He carried an air of absolute, indisputable dominance that seemed to effortlessly warp the atmosphere around him.

He wasn’t walking through the entrance, though; he was flying, hovering a few feet off the stone ground as he drifted forward.

The sheer pressure of the localized wind mana surrounding him caused his long, golden hair to blow backward in sharp, elegant strands, exposing a stern and impeccably structured face.

The enigmatic figure was clad in a deep red robe, which flowed all the way down to his feet.

The fabric was intricately embroidered with glowing, gold runes that shimmered with a dangerous, latent heat, billowing softly against the artificial currents that lifted him.

As he cleared the doorway, his sharp blue eyes locked upon Noah.

The gaze was piercing—almost physical in its weight—and Noah couldn’t help but feel a slight chill run down his spine at the man’s sudden, overwhelming presence.

It was a rare sensation for Noah, whose own magic usually kept him insulated from external pressure, but the raw authority radiating from this newcomer was impossible to ignore.

Noah wasn’t the only one affected by this dramatic appearance, as every other adventurer watching this unfold were shocked to the core.

The relaxed, curious murmurs from moments before vanished entirely, replaced by a wave of tense, reverent awe that swept through the entire courtyard.

The gathered elites immediately started mumbling, their voices hushed and trembling with profound respect. "T-that’s... Moris... the grand guild master... the leader of the adventurer’s guild!"

Upon hearing their frantic words, Noah’s eyes widened in shock beneath his black cat mask.

The leader of the entire continent’s adventurer network was standing right in front of him.

’The grand guild master?’ he thought, Intrigued and instantly on guard. ’Eye of Truth.’

A translucent, blue holographic screen instantly manifested before his vision, detailing the status of the floating powerhouse:

[Name: Morris Edgar]

[Rank: Arch Magus (peak)]

[Elements: Fire, Wind]

[Mana: 9700/10500]

[Health: 2000/2000]

[Strength: 59]

[Agility: 72]

[Stamina: 67]

[Endurance: 46]

[Sense: 80]

[Emotions: Curiosity, Suspicion...]

Reading the floating text, his eyes widened in shock once again, and he thought, ’woah... his stats are really high!’

The sheer volume of Morris’s maximum mana pool alone was staggering, pushing well into the five-figure range, even if his current reserves were a little depleted.

His mental acuity and physical attributes were equally monstrous for a magic caster.

This was the very first magus Noah was seeing with such high stats since he had arrived in this world, and he couldn’t help but be thoroughly surprised by the sheer gap between a standard magus and a peak-tier Arch Magus.