The Moon Thief

Erald brought him to the Cruxal's area to take him to his father. The Dark Energy around this land was as dense as ever. Cruxals were nowhere to be seen, only the moonlight and the swaying of rotten grass in the wind, as throughout the region.

"What is the source of this intense Dark Energy?" asked Heinald.

Dane and the others would have laughed a lot if they saw him in this state, because he was expertly playing the part that he really didn't know anything about.

Erald said, "It would be better if my father told you that."

Heinald and Erald stopped when they came to the large stone ruins at the back of the estate. When Erald came in front of the strangely carved oval stone, he placed his hand on the stone and sent out Magical Energy. Then the carvings glowed green and the ground began to shake slightly.

Part of the floor had split in two, giving the center the appearance of stairs leading down.

"This way." Erald started down the stairs.

As they descended, they entered a cold tunnel. After walking for a while, a large oval stone full of carvings appeared in front of them again. Like last time, Erald placed his hand on the stone and sent out his Magical Energy.

As the carvings glowed green, the side wall split in two, revealing a long corridor this time that looked very clean and elegant. There was a long red rug and elegant tables in the hallway. It was illuminated by candlesticks on the ceilings.

Heinald asked, "Is this the headquarters of the organization?" 

"No. This is just an underground building that we built to run our work temporarily." Erald replied.

"When did you build this place?" asked Heinald.

Erald said, "The construction of this place was completed last year."

"They must have built this place to be close to whatever the source of the Dark Energy was..." Heinald muttered inwardly, his curiosity was growing.

When they crossed the corridor, they came to a large door that was obviously made of very solid wood. There were various rune engravings on the door. When Heinald studied these runes, he guessed that they actually belonged to a defensive formation.

While Heinald and Erald were waiting in front of the door, the door suddenly opened by itself. As the door opened, a soothing scent of incense came from inside. Inside was a man with long jet black hair. The first thing that stood out about this man was that he had a large burn mark on the left side of his face. The energy waves emanating from him revealed that he was a Level 2 Ainsar.

The room was surrounded by bookcases and shelves. The flames in the fireplace on the left side of the room were the only thing illuminating the room, so there was a dim ambiance. There were some engraved symbols on the walls of the room that lay unlit.

"Father, I brought the potion master I was talking about yesterday." Erald said.

"You can leave, Erald." The man nodded slightly and stood up.

"Sir!" Heinald bowed his head and greeted the Ainsar in front of him.

"If I'm not mistaken, your name was Heinald, right?" When the man stood up, his imposing body was revealed. He was quite tall and his shoulders were very broad. It was obvious that he was putting in extra effort to improve his body.

"Yes.

"My name is Kroll Erin. Frankly, I am quite impressed with your skills. For your young age, you are both a good potion master and have more spiritual energy than most of Level 1 Ainsars."

"I just love to work, and my luck has helped me a lot." Heinald was humble.

"Since you're here, you must have found the offer I offered you sufficient." Kroll said.

"Yes, quite a generous offer." Heinald nodded.

"I saw on the list that was brought to me that you could brew some very useful potions. So I wanted to reciprocate." Kroll scratched his wound.

"Can I ask something I'm curious about?" Heinald paused for a moment, then looked directly at Kroll.

"Of course."

"Why does the Dark Energy around the region originate?"

"Oh! I can only inform you after you officially join us." said Kroll.

"I see, then we can make the Blood Agreement." said Heinald.

Kroll immediately began to prepare the deal. According to this agreement, Heinald could not show any hostility towards anyone in the organization and could not betray the organization in any way and could not disclose any information about the organization. Likewise, no one in the organization could show hostility to Heinald or betray him in any way. The responsibility for this would be directly on the leader of the organization. Moreover, Heinald would brew two potions for the organization every day, and at the end of the year he would receive a full payment of 300,000 Arkana Stones.

After the terms of the agreement were prepared, it was time for the last step, the blood signature.

Heinald swallowed the Blood Spoiling Pill that he had been holding in the corner of his mouth for a long time. This was the most important part of the job. He would only have two seconds after mixing with the blood, after which his blood would be back to normal.

"Now!" When Heinald felt the change inside him, his blood dripped.

The Blood Seal glowed red.

"Success!" Heinald grinned inside. His blood was back to normal, and the blood he had dripped was no longer his own. Thus, the obligations he accepted no longer belonged to him.

"Okay! Now that our deal is done, I can answer some of your questions." Kroll nodded in satisfaction.

"Why is the Dark Energy in the area so dense?" Heinald asked the question again.

Kroll said "Due to some of the Dark Energy related experiments we've been dealing."

Heinald simply nodded. He didn't want to attract attention by asking too many questions, he always got the same answer. However, despite being a member, he was not told why the Dark Energy density in the area was causing it. He wondered if he would be told in the future, but if not, he would have found out himself anyway.

"Now that you are a member, put your hand on this orb, it will recognize your presence. This way you will have permission to enter and exit the doors. But remember, your authority will be the potions department and the room that will be prepared for you. If you need help, you can ask Rolls for help. That too. he'll be seen often in the potions section." After Kroll had finished speaking, he pointed at the orb with his finger.

A black orb lay beside the table. There were various runes on the orb, these runes were actually the building blocks of the security formation that controlled the entrances and exits. When he touched the black orb, the runes on the orb flashed momentarily with a pale yellow light.

With Kroll's order, a room and a laboratory were prepared for Heinald. He was free to do whatever he wanted as long as he brewed the two potions ordered for him daily. Heinald planned to spend the rest of his time making potions. In the Risclaw Clan's library, he had obtained valuable, but incomplete, potion formulas. Work on them would try to fill the gaps in the formula.

Of course, as long as he was inside this building, he would not neglect to observe and investigate what the source of the Dark Energy was.

Since Heinald had supplies to buy, he left the organization's underground building and started riding towards Jusen City. But before he got there, he decided it would be better to visit Dane and the others.

"Welcome! What happened?" When Dane saw Heinald coming, he greeted him.

"I managed to join the organization." said Heinald.

"What!? It's that easy?" Morena was quite surprised.

"They didn't want to make a Blood Agreement because they're going to pay me for every potion they take from me, and I won't have any duties other than making potions. So I don't have the right to enter any part of the building other than my work area. They didn't take precautions with the Blood Agreement, but they took their precautions by limiting me."

Heinald immediately made up a lie. He had actually managed to evade the deal by using the Blood Spoiling Pill, but he didn't want to reveal it. Because this pill, which he created as a result of many experiments, would attract great attention if it was heard. Although he trusted Dane and the others, he had failed to trust Baunt. He especially didn't want her to know about the existence of the Blood Spoiling Pill.

"And how did they make sure you wouldn't expose their headquarters?" Mady asked.

"They probably think I wouldn't dare." Heinald shrugged.

"Apparently it will take you some time to get past the restrictions and learn useful information...Maybe you'll never learn." Dane nodded thoughtfully.