After ’planting’ the demon seed, Alaricet up with Eva and the elders to discuss their plans for the future, only to be left alone on the mountain. Tian and Oliveira just disappeared along with the cabin, leaving Alaric and Eva to fend for themselves.

Before leaving, Old Town brought a gift and handed it to both of them. When he offered them the gift, one could tell it was a very important piece from the subtle expression on his face.

It was a pair of earrings, Crystal purple with tiny micro runes, that didn’t obscure their translucent nature. He and Eva were given one each from the pair. Alaric is taking the right pair while Eva chooses the left pair.

The effect was immediate for Eva, as her snow-white hair turned beautifully pitch-black. This effect doesn’t change the natural color of her hair; instead, it adds a very profound and powerful illusion that is almost deceptive of reality.

Nothing obvious seems to have changed for him, but he was told to have it on at all times. He tried to examine the composition and functions of the earrings, as Tian refused to be forthcoming about them. Still, he was greatly disappointed by a hindrance that prevented him from scanning its structure.

’That old man can be quite annoying when he wants to be.’

He trusted the man enough not to question everything he did, so he just went with it.

Now, there was no reason to stay here anymore. Everything was gone, and the elders made sure we wouldn’t want to stay here for much longer after they left, but getting off this mountain wasn’t going to be easy.

The difficulty has nothing to do with the mountain itself, but has everything to do with Eva.

The first night he spent here, he had nothing better to do, so he stepped out to review the first duel he had with her, but on stepping out of the cabin, he was met with a sight that wasn’t present before he was knocked out.

He saw a circular, whitish powder surrounding the cabin, with a radius of 1 kilometer, the cabin at its center. After a brief analysis of its composition, he found it was just an exorbitant amount of salt, mountain ash, and other mundane materials, but he remained cautious; he didn’t believe cultivators as powerful as Oliveria would do something without a good reason.

This might be something way above his level to perceive. He was right. Now officially a cultivator, he could perceive a potent aura that was very different from the Origin system, surrounding them.

The only information he managed to get from Tian was that he could handle everything now.

.

.

.

The evening breeze blew cold air against his face, ruffling his long crimson hair. His swirling purple eyes looked at the invisible barrier that had been impossible to detect before now. What did that barrier protect against? He had no clue. ’Those elderly people sure love being mysterious.’

Eva was beside him, her face downcast. She felt guilty. ’Our journey just started, and the first issue we face is something I caused. I am supposed t help him reduce his burden, but now it seems I am causing him troubles.’

Before she could continue that line of thought, she felt a hand intertwine with hers, like snow to flames; it evaporated whatever thoughts had struggled to come.

"Don’t think too much about it. According to Oliveria, we are powerful enough to deal with whatever is out there, so this is not much of a problem. Just think of this as practice to test your strength, ok?"

She clenched her free hand before saying with determination, "Ok, but I promise to do better from now on, I don’t want to cause any problem for you."

Alaric smiled, "Let’s go."

With that, they moved together, crossing the boundary they had stayed within for years. Alaric, in particular, ignored the snake that was looking at him with a peculiar expression after taking her hand. It was like seeing a brand-new side of someone you thought you knew.

Immediately after passing that boundary, they were greeted by an ordinary sight. Just the snowy peak of the mountain, a beautiful sight to behold. But they weren’t deceived by the lack of enemies; they were on full alert.

Their perception was on overdrive, filtering out any mundane sights, but try as they might, they found nothing out of place.

Two hours passed by, and they still walked cautiously without any signs of the enemy. The environment was cold, but they were very resistant to ordinary cold as cultivators.

"What do you think? Did the enemy leave after not seeing me for that many years?" Eva thought out loud.

Alaric didn’t reply. Fighting an unknown enemy was always the worst, and he didn’t think this enemy would just leave without accomplishing its goal. According to what Tian had said before, they will have to fight their way out of this mountain no matter what.

From what little he understood about this situation, whatever was here was after Eva. If he had come outside without Eva, there was a high probability he wouldn’t have encountered what was here, but since she was with him, that probability had decreased to zero. There was a 100% chance he would have to fight tonight.

"You know, Al, I have always hated that red color you always put on, it always brings back bad memories." Eva’s low voice came from beside him. She said it as if she was afraid to admit it in front of him.

’Huh?’

"This is a weird time to bring that up. Why haven’t you told me for the past few years? I always wear them when we go out to train." Alaric said, genuinely confused. He never imagined that the clothing he had never really thought much of when he picked it was such a bother to his partner.

"Ehn, I never wanted to be a bother to you. You seem to like wearing it, but now that we are going to be together from now on, I thought it was good to let you know." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Ok, I never really liked red color anyway, it just matches with my hair, that’s why I wear it. I am not particularly picky with clothing, as long as it doesn’t look bad or demeaning." Alaric paused, cranking his caution up a notch. "But I must ask, why do you feel this is the right time to bring that up. We are currently in enemy territory."

’This is not like her.’

Eva’s face held a perplexed look before stopping. She might not be as gifted as Alaric in certain areas, but she was no slouch either. She was a dark elf, with the very concept of war and battle written within her veins. On an instinctual level, dark elves always know what is right and what is wrong on a battlefield. They were great strategist, great warriors, and great assassins. They don’t converse about unnecessary things in battle.

This strange circumstance heightened her alertness, and she suppressed the urge to say anything else that was unnecessary or disadvantageous to their current situation. "I just had the sudden urge to say that. It is true, but I never intended to say it that way or in these circumstances; it just came out of nowhere. What’s worse, I have the urge to say more things." Her expression darkened.

"Hmm," He put on a thoughtful look. "It would seem our enemy has spotted us, but we haven’t spotted it yet. Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to fight fair, but its tricks don’t work on me, and you are resistant to it. I have no doubt that if others were put in our situation, they would rip each other apart by themselves, without the enemy showing itself."

’This resistance must be due to my vast mental world, and hers is the boost she got when we became life partners. The benefits of that ritual are starting to show.’

He could clearly imagine what would have happened if that ritual hadn’t happened. He might have to fight and subdue her if it managed to influence her.

Finally noticing that its tricks weren’t working as effectively, the enemy made its move.

Alaric saw the space between them twist and stretch like a rubber band. The once meter distance between them stretched to 30 meters, then 100 meters, 200... 1km of distance appeared between them in almost no time.

From his point of view, he felt multiple realities overlapped with his field of vision. He felt a normal reality, a reality where distance was distorted, where his very framework was stretched thin, and more. He looked at his palm. It looked normal, then distorted, before stretching loosely like rubber close to flame. ’What’s going on?’

He looked at Eva’s position and felt both close and far away at once. If reality were a painting, the artist who drew a depiction of the distance between them would have stretched the paintbrush between them instead of putting in fine details.

A voice came to him at that very moment. The black snake that has kept its mouth shut since finally decided to share its thoughts. "Be careful, kid. I finally know what you are dealing with. It’s tricky, but I have no doubt you will come off victorious. I almost feel sorry for it, you are the worst enemy it could face."

"Just tell me already." He said with a serious voice.

"Patience, kiddo. That, boy, is called a Lying Spirit. They are quite dangerous at full power. That little friend of yours has made an interesting enemy."