Back at Dresh’s territory.

Emperal and Dresh landed exactly where they had left, looking around. Emperal noticed something strange.

"Lady Dresh, where are your subordinates?"

He asked, but there was not a single presence here. Not even the Verth Shapers.

"Oh, they? They had already gone on a mission before I left. Why? What happened?"

Dresh tilted her head curiously. Hearing her words, Emperal’s expression changed.

"Don’t tell me, you alone slaughtered every single Ironscale Dragonkin?"

He asked, feeling a chill down his spine. She...certainly was something else.

"Hehe~ Yess! I killed every, every single one of them! I had so much fun~!"

Dresh smiled and laughed like a little girl.

"What a...crazy bitch she is! Was she like this before, too?" Emperal couldn’t help but mutter inwardly, but strangely...he did not feel even slight derision when she spoke that.

His heart was calm, aside from the chill he had felt earlier. He...kind of enjoyed the expression on her face.

"!!!"

"What the fuck am I thinking! Snap out of it, Emperal."

"So? What about them?"

His internal conflict ended the moment he heard Dresh’s voice. Looking in her eyes, he shook his head.

"It’s nothing. Anyways, what about that dungeon?" He asked.

"Hmm, it is about...a day’s journey from here if we went at a moderate speed. And as for the requirements, let’s just say, we will get in."

She spoke with a chuckle. Emperal was speechless when he heard her words.

"Not everything needs to be planned and schemed, Emperal. This is the world of cultivation. Brute force and violence are the prime solutions for nearly every problem." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Dresh looked into Emperal’s dark eyes and spoke, her tone strong with conviction.

"This...I disagree with you, Lady Dresh. Your words are partially true, but not entirely." Emperal immediately disagreed.

After all, those words themselves were nonsense. If violence were the answer for everything...the world wouldn’t be as it is now.

The greatest weapon in the world is...consciousness.

From consciousness, intelligence is derived. From intelligence...everything began.

If it were just fists, the complex Verth pathways, the vast number of techniques, and many, many more...would cease to exist.

"Oh? You disagreed with me?"

Hearing that answer, Dresh was momentarily stunned. It seems this was the first time someone had said that she was wrong.

"As I said, you aren’t entirely wrong either."

"Enlighten me, where am I wrong then?"

Dresh questioned back, the burning intensity and curiosity in her eyes had made her view narrow down to just Emperal and Emperal only.

Emperal stared into her eyes without flinching.

"Consciousness built every technique you have ever used. Every thought you had, every move you made. Even those mana pathways and your mastery of that illustrious and lethal wind Element. Every strategy that kept you alive for god knows how many years—none of it came from a fist, Lady Dresh. It came from thinking before swinging."

He paused, letting his words settle in her mind.

Dresh’s lips parted slightly, and her eyes became unfocused the more she listened to Emperal. He nodded when he saw this.

"Violence is the best and...last language. You use it when every other option has failed or has been skipped. Lady Dresh...the strong use it as punctuation, and the weak? He uses it as vocabulary."

Dresh’s eyes widened the moment she heard those words; her heart started to beat faster and faster.

Those words...it suddenly reminded her of another person. The person whose thoughts eerily matched those of Emperal.

Even though the words weren’t the same...the meaning behind them was the exact same thing.

Still, she didn’t interrupt Emperal. Seeing that she was still listening, Emperal took a step forward, his face neared Dresh’s!

There were just a few inches between them as Emperal’s gaze dropped onto Dresh.

"I know it might sound ridiculous coming from a Verth Seeker, but those are my thoughts and views, Lady Dresh. You are strong; you are strong enough that you rarely need any other options. That’s not wisdom, Lady Dresh...that’s the blindness that comes from never being...weak."

Dresh suddenly felt her knees weaken when she saw the intensity of Emperal’s eyes. His last words rang in her mind...again and again like a broken tape.

"Blindness that comes from never being weak."

The meaning behind those words was so profound that, for a moment, she doubted that a twenty-seven-year-old boy was standing in front of her...it almost felt like she was standing in front of that existence.

"I...see."

Taking a deep breath, she nodded her head ever so slightly. Her milky jade neck flushed slightly when she felt his face so close.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly, as her mind was thrown into chaos.

"W-What is happening to me? Why is my body reacting like...this?"

It was an entirely new feeling for her, a new feeling...she certainly didn’t hate.

Seeing her state, Emperal calmly backed away.

"I apologise if my words came out rude."

Emperal smiled wryly; he didn’t think he would end up speaking so much. But, he did anyway.

Taking a few deep breaths, Dresh calmed herself down.

"N-No...worries. They were actually enlightening."

She said, looking at his face. Her hand unconsciously began twirling her long platinum-green hair.

Emperal nodded, "Now let’s go to that dungeon. We have already wasted enough time."

He said, making Dresh snap out of her state.

She sighed and nodded, waving her hand. The map once again materialized in her hands.

Looking at the pathway, she narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Hmm, so we have to go from that waterfall, huh?"

Dresh muttered as her eyes fell on a specific location. She looked at it for a few more seconds and nodded.

"Alright, let’s go!"

"Wait!"

Just as she was about to summon her wind, Emperal stopped her.

"Hm? What’s the matter?" She asked, confused.

"That dungeon...is it just the two of us going?"

"...Yeah? Didn’t I already say I have sent my subordinates on another mission?"

Dresh replied, wondering what the problem was with the young man.

Emperal sighed, "Soleine and Vraelyn will definitely kill me if they get wind of my situation. But oh well, I might as well be struck by lightning if I refused this offer."

Emperal spoke inwardly before stepping forward.

"It’s nothing, let’s go."