Chapter 399: The Peaks (1/2)

Who would have thought that it was actually Rasuliel Tsarun who coughed up a shocking 78 billion Nexus Coins to buy this thing? Zac had already learned that while the Eye was a precious item, it wasn’t worth nowhere such an obscene amount. Galau had explained that it would go for at most 20 billion Nexus Coins in the outside world.

There were many ways to upgrade one's specialty core, such as the pills Zethaya Pill House provided. Those pills cost less than a billion Nexus Coins, a far cry from the shocking amount the Eye ended up at. Most proper heritages with instructions on forming Specialty Cores also came with methods to evolving them, making Zac suspect that Rasuliel wanted the Eye for some other purpose than himself.

Did Rasuliel perhaps have some urgent need for the Eye, prompting him to pay through his nose? That might have been why he visited the Zethaya Clan as well. He might have been looking for help in turning the Eye into some specific pill with the help of Boja or some of his elders back home.

Of course, Rasuliel's reasons for overpaying for the item no longer mattered.

Getting his hands on the Eye meant that he had essentially acquired everything on his list before arriving at the Tower of Eternity. Now he only needed to get out in one piece, and he would have all the tools he needed to burst out with a huge amount of power after returning to Earth.

He finally retracted his mind from the Spatial Ring and refocused on recuperating. The [Serene Flesh Pill] did wonders to his body, but then it still took a few hours before he felt well enough to even walk any distance. His wound was still an open mess though, and one could see his body slowly growing new cells to restore the hole in his side.

Zac guessed that it would take a few days for his wounds to close completely, and a few days more for him to regain his full strength. It was an extremely long convalescence for someone like Zac with a huge pool of Endurance and Vitality, but it would have been even longer if it wasn't for the pill.

There was an unmistakable aura of a strong Dao in his wound that slowed down his efforts to heal up, but he wasn't as helpless as when Mhal infected him with the Draugr samples. He was slowly grinding down the foreign Dao with his fragments, and it wouldn't be long before all of it was expended.

His Spirit Tool Robes also had mended themselves by this point, which at least blocked the grisly sight of his wound. He got up to his feet with a grunt and returned to the campsite, only to find Ogras leisurely sipping wine from one of the dozens of vats he had bought during the past week. Galau still sat and stared despondently into the great beyond, and didn't even give Zac a glance when he returned.

“He’s still out of it?” Zac asked with confusion.

“Sheltered brat, all despondent after a little bit of mayhem,” Ogras snorted with some derision before he turned to Zac. “Now, can you explain what the hell happened? The plan was for you to buy some healing pills. How did that turn into you tearing down the Pill House of an ancient clan and ripping the head off this poor bastard?”

Even if the demon appeared unbothered on the surface it was obvious he was a bit frazzled by the events as well. He looked back and forth between the headless body of Rasuliel and Zac, clearly trying to get a grip on the situation.

Zac sighed as he recounted the whole encounter from the moment he entered, adding on his own speculation about Rasuliel being from one of the ousted families of Earth. He didn’t hide the fact that they came from a newly integrated planet since he felt Galau deserved to understand the situation after having been dragged into this level of trouble.

“What' you're progenitors? But what about…. Wait, he’s from the Tsarun Clan?” Galau cried when he heard about the identity of the corpse. “Oh, Mommy.”

“You know about them?” Zac asked curiously and a bit accusatory. “I still don’t know why he targeted me, do you have some sort of feud with them?”

“Ahem…” Ogras coughed. “It’s the Tsarun, remember? Calrin’s old friends?”

Only then did Zac remember why the name was so familiar. It was the old Clan that had worked on stealing Calrin’s Mercantile License for centuries. If that man knew who Zac was, then it would explain his hostility. Who knew how much time and effort clan had spent only for Zac to foil their plans inadvertently.

“I wonder how that Tsarun guy could know that I was the one who helped Calrin though,” Zac muttered. “It looked like he knew right away.”

“Who’s Calrin?” Galau finally asked.

“A merchant targeted by the Tsarun clan fled to my planet, I gave them a place to stay in exchange for a part of his business,” Zac shrugged.

“So you had already made that clan your enemy even before you came here?” Galau blankly asked, looking ready to barf. ”Those guys are extremely overbearing. Their patriarch is dead-set on elevating their clan to a peak force, and they don't shy away from any means. They're almost bordering on turning into an unorthodox force, but they stay just within the limits to not get targeted.”

“Yes, I didn’t expect them to be here, or that they’d find out about me,” Zac shrugged. “Do you know how that’s possible?”

Galau’s distraught eyes focused for a second, but a frown slowly crept onto his face.

“I don’t know either. The world is full of mysterious skills and arrays though. Do you wear anything bought through that store they were targeting?” he asked.

Zac considered for a few seconds before his eyes turned to the defensive ring given to him by Calrin. Ogras’ eyes lit up as well as he looked down at his hand.

“I’ll punt that little blue bastard over to the next island next time I see him. Did he do it on purpose to make us complicit?” the demon muttered with annoyance before he wryly smiled at Zac. “I think our plan of feigning ignorance and handing over Calrin in case we meet the Tsarun elders is ruined now.”

Zac could only snort in response. Ruined felt like an understatement after killing one of the young masters of the clan.

“The real issue is how you’ll deal with this. Remember, we’ll only be inside here for a day. By that point those guys might have amassed a small army outside to welcome our return,” the demon added.