As King Slayer walked toward him, Adam noticed something strange. King Slayer was barely releasing any aura, and the people around him didn't seem to notice him, and yet they were unconsciously avoided him.
This really fit the mysterious expert vibe King Slayer was always giving out. The assassin sat next to Adam and said "Long time no see." Adam nodded wordlessly, and King Slayer ordered a glass of wine. Adam didn't miss the hint of disdain in the bartender's eyes, but seeing King Slayer was with Adam, he didn't say anything and served the glass.
After a moment, King Slayer initiated a trade with Adam, surprising him. Still, he accepted. As soon as he did, Adam saw 1000 Gold coins were added by King Slayer, who then said "This is your part, from the investment you took."
Adam silently accepted the deal, and an additional 1000 Gold were added to his inventory. Had it been in the past, he would have most probably been super excited, but now they didn't seem to be much actually.
He looked at the assassin and asked "Let's not waste time, you know of a way to enter that place?" King Slayer nodded and said "I do, and I have wanted to head there for some time now, but I was unable to until now."
Adam asked "How so?"
"I'm not strong enough. Without the strength of a Gold Rank, going there is impossible." Adam frowned and asked "Does one need the battle prowess of a Gold Rank, or needs to absolutely be Gold ranked?"
King Slayer smirked "Battle prowess, of course, or I wouldn't have called you." Adam nodded as he sent a glance at King Slayer's status. King Slayer was only Level 40, which was quite good, but that was indeed a little bit low to reach Gold Rank Strength.
Seeing his action, King Slayer smiled ruefully as he said "This is the reason why I want to head to the Vampire Territory, I am even weaker than you think."
Adam titled his head and King Slayer said "Let's talk somewhere more… private." Adam nodded and the two got up after finishing their drink and paying up. Well, King Slayer paid, the bartender didn't dare to make Adam pay.
The two headed toward the teleportation array, and went to Fjora. There, King Slayer asked to go to the capital of Blackheart Mountain, Urdreth. This was an unusual teleportation, and King Slayer had to reveal his identity to be allowed to actually go there. However, before they were teleported, the guard had warned Adam, making him smile wryly.
Adam had been chased multiple times by Blackheart in the past, and there might still be a bounty on his head, so going there could seem dangerous. But Adam was with King Slayer, and he didn't see any reason for King Slayer to send him into a trap.
As the two appeared in the capital of assassins, Urdreth, Adam was surprised to find out the city was much more prosperous and right than he thought it would be.
Urdreth, the unpronounceable city, was on a mountain. It was a gigantic one though, and was very well protected by the surrounding mountains, which formed a natural barrier against enemies.
Anyway, what surprised Adam was how bright and open the city was. You would expect an Assassins' Organization Headquarters to be dark and scary, but this was the exact opposite.
However, as Adam was looking around, King Slayer said "This is only the public area, the main base of operation is actually within the mountain, within where there are many caves."
Adam raised an eyebrow, so that was why the leader of Blackheart was called Cave Master?
The one in charge of the teleportation array, a rather young female Catkin, seemed to be familiar with King Slayer. Although she was normally bright and smiled to everyone, after King Slayer whispered something to her, she became unusually serious as she began adjusting the array.
King Slayer looked at Adam and said "It's going to be much easier this way, no one will know where we are going." Adam nodded as he said "You are being careful. How have you been doing recently?"
King Slayer smiled and said "Great, actually. Don't be mistaken, I'm not doing this because I'm afraid MY enemies will trace us, I'm scared of your enemies. Shit, the Dragon Clan, really?"
Adam smirked as he replied "Thinking back, it was actually rather exciting. Even on Earth dragons were always seen as beings of incredible power in fiction, and in this world they are revered as the strongest race in term of individual power. Slaying such powerful beings… really good for my ego."
King Slayer rolled his eyes and said "I don't claim to know you well, but not even the dumbest Northman would go kill dragons because of pride. Not openly at least."
Adam shrugged and said "While it wasn't the main reason as to why I went there, it really was great for my pride. But yes, I had a purpose to go there…"
King Slayer put up his hand and said "As I said, let's wait for us to be in a more secret place to speak about this, you wouldn't know the number of people listening to us right now."
As he said so, there didn't seem to be anything strange, but Adam indeed saw that there were some people that had remained quite close to them ever since they appeared, but he didn't know whether it was a coincidence or spies.
Soon, the girl came back and led the two to the middle of the teleportation array. Everyone else had been moved away, including a Hero Rank Dark Elf, but even he had no complaints. Only a mad man would say something to two Sovereigns, especially those two.
The array under their feet glowed up, and both young men disappeared from the spot.
A moment later, Adam saw that they hadn't appeared in the middle of a city, but instead under a big cliff. Adam looked down at his feet and saw an array was quickly disappearing.
King Slayer said "This is called a Beacon, an array that allows you to connect a place to a teleportation array."
Adam asked "Can I learn how to do this?" King Slayer shook his head though as he said "This can only be created by an Enchanter. And this is the best I can do, and yet it's only a low level array that disappears after being used once."
Adam felt this was a pity, but if he couldn't do it himself he only had to find someone who can, and take them under him. And worst case, King Slayer was technically his subordinate, so if he really had a need for a Beacon, he could ask him.
King Slayer pointed at the cliff and said "The entrance to the Land of Eternal Night is hidden in this cliff, but before we go in, let's make things clear. Let's state our objectives now."
Adam nodded and said "I am making an armor… well, someone is making it for me, but I'm gathering materials. One of those were the Reverse Scales of those dragons, and the last materials I need are Blood Metal Ores, ten of them."
When Adam said those words, King Slayer visibly sighed in relief and said "Good, very good." Adam asked "What about you?"
King Slayer replied "I talked about my strength earlier, my lacking strength… Although I am a Sovereign, I am one of the weakest to ever exist, even the Fake Sovereigns are stronger than me, because I too forced my way into the rank."
Adam asked "Why would you do that?" King Slayer replied "For today. I am not very skilled, and I know that even opening the Fourth Gate will need me years and ever going farther than that is just hopeless for me."
"That's why, being a human being isn't the right thing for me. Now, the answer to my problem is simple. If I want power, I just have to let go of my humanity."
Adam looked at him strangely, which made King Slayer laugh "Don't worry, I'm not mad. By now, you should know the true nature of this game, right?"
Adam frowned, and said "I do… It surprises me you do too." King Slayer waved his hand and said "It doesn't matter. What matters, is that we need all the power we can get, and me becoming a monster is one of those ways… And don't worry, I'm becoming a vampire, I won't be that different from a human being."