After looking around for about an hour or so using Flash, Zareth failed to find any prey to use as bait to lure Pure Rank beasts, or any beasts for that matter.
However, Zareth no longer needed much more money, as he had just stumbled across the 50 gold ingots from the day before.
Still, he was hoping to test out his new sword on something that moved and breathed, and something that could at least challenge him to an extent.
Looking at his luck however, it seemed that tonight was going to be a no-kill day.
He searched for a couple more minutes before fully giving up on his plan of testing out his sword today.
Instead, he began his journey toward the inner-city once again to go to the black market as he still had unfinished business that he needed to take care of there.
As he neared the town square, Zareth noticed that the sound that came from the location was not of a ghost town at all. Instead, tonight it sounded lively and full of people.
Before entering, Zareth put on his hood and mask.
He hid behind a house as he peeked at what was going on.
By the looks of it, there were hundreds of people in the market streets, many of which looked to be setting up new stands and arranging merchandise to sell.
There were many unfamiliar carriages along with stabled horses that Zareth had not seen before which had also appeared tonight.
What Zareth did not know was that tomorrow was the decennial Summer Festival, and that the people present here were preparing the day before the festival day.
The Summer Festival was something that was celebrated by most of the Joutenheim kingdom as tradition, where many merchants would make long journeys to sell their goods, and where people would celebrate ten years of prosperous life within the kingdom.
Of course, Zareth's family had already made their plans to participate in the festival as well unbeknownst to Zareth.
The festival consisted of new products to buy, exotic meats and new fresh fruit of all kinds, and tons of booze.
Types of hard liquor and real food would come out as appetizers and main courses as the night fell, and would consist of different types of aged pure mead, whisky, rum, and the foods, tender and juicy meats, breads, slow cooked soups, and delicious pastries of many varieties.
As all village-owned shops closed down, there would be different styles of music played with the many instruments brought to the festival, along with songs which created a lively atmosphere where everyone could enjoy themselves.
The final part of the festival would be a grand auction where many of the rare items brought to the village by the merchants would be sold to everyone for variable prices.
Here, all higher class families with known names within Bolnuir would participate and try to show off their wealth as much as possible.
This was in order to keep their status within the city, and to also show others that they were growing as well.
Zareth observed all of this being set up for a while longer before heading back home. Even the Fried Fish Tavern was closed down and blocked by the new stalls of the merchants.
It seemed that he was not going to get into the black market today, not at least without being caught by hundreds of people. It was far too crowded to try and sneak in.
Instead, Zareth decided that he was going to spend the night cultivating his mana.
Arriving back at his cottage, Zareth laid down on his bed to not seem suspicious to his parents and began using Hale.
By now, he was extremely close to breaking through into the next sub-rank.
He knew that as your rank grew higher, so did the difficulty in gaining rank percentage, however, he did not expect for the difficulty of cultivating to become harder within the same rank.
As he cultivated, he noticed just how slowly his mana core filled up.
This was of course because of the increased size of his new mana core in the Foundation Creation sub-rank.
Zareth had fallen asleep while using Hale, as he had become quite accustomed to that now, and finally woke up to the loud sound of a glass-like object shattering.
This was the breaking of his core as it couldn't hold any more mana.
*Ding* [Congratulations! You have broken through into the Earth Formation sub-rank!]
*Ding* [There are two more sub-ranks you must break through in order to achieve the beginner rank: Mana Condensation.]
Once again, Zareth was hovering slightly in the air even in his sleeping as a brilliant light invigorated him, strengthening his entire body with newfound dexterity and strength.
Zareth finally slowly opened his eyes, noticing the morning sun just beginning to rise.
Tightening his fists, he could feel the new power surging inside of his body. He felt like he could destroy a boulder with a single punch, or create a fire just by rubbing his hands together.
As he felt his new growth in power, multiple visions appeared in his head.
These visions were like short flashbacks, those depicting him in his previous life in the Immortal Realm.
The flashbacks showed Zareth in a time where he was just a weakling compared to everyone else around him, yet, he saw and felt his past self's burning desire for power that allowed him to eventually become the Sovereign of Wrath in the future.
Seeing these images in his mind, most likely shown to him because of his new leap in power, reminded him of something he had not forgotten, in turn strengthening his resolve.
A stoic expression showed on his face as he dropped to the ground and began doing push ups for his daily workout.
'I must not forget the main reason why I must gain power.' He said to himself.
Zareth thought to himself why he became the Sovereign of Wrath in the first place, far before his goal of vengeance.
Of course, he would indefinitely bathe in the blood of his betrayers, however, even that was not as important as the biggest reason for him to gain power.
And that reason was... greed.
Zareth, ever since his birth into the world, had an insatiable greed for power. For victory.
He wanted to be victorious against everything that challenged him.
He wanted to soar above the heavens as the king-- no, as the God of the universe.
His goal from the beginning was to defeat everyone that could compare to him, and have a world where no one was born with a fate of overcoming him.
He couldn't stand to live in a world where there was someone more powerful than him. How could he?
How could anyone else?
Did they not feel like losers? Like insects compared to the kings and monarchs around the world?
Zareth refused to be constrained by these emotions.