Chapter 181 You’ll Never Know How Strong You Are Until Being Strong Is Your Only Choice While Vassago was making sure that Thirteen wasn't detected by the Tigerkins who had very strong detection abilities, Tiona was peacefully exploring inside the residence. Even though she couldn't detect any treasures on her own, she had something that was helping her resolve this problem. On her tail, Thirteen had put on a ring that had the passive ability, Detect Treasure. This ring belonged to Norris, and according to him, it could detect if there were any lumps of gems, gold, or any other precious metals within the ten-meter radius of the wearer. It could detect these treasures even if they were underground, underwater, or hidden on the walls of a cavern. If a precious mineral was near it, it would alert its wearer by turning warm. Once the ring was close enough to the treasure, it would let out a small white light that only its wearer could see. This light would point in the direction of the treasure, which was why even Tiona could use it without problems. After exploring the entire western side of the residence, Tiona didn't detect any treasures, so she slowly made her way to the east side, where the City Lord, Paven, was located. Of course, Tiona wouldn't go anywhere near the Champion and the Guards guarding him. She was only planning to go to the locations where it was safe for her to explore. Half an hour later, the ring on her tail started to feel warm, making Tiona excited. Wanting to help her Master as much as Vassago, she was taking this mission seriously. In order to prevent others from seeing her, she started crawling up to the ceiling. Once she was up above, she used her tail to pinpoint the exact location where it felt warmer. After double-checking that the ring was warmest in a certain direction, Tiona decided to retreat for the time being. The ring was pointing to the room where Paven was sleeping, and Tiona didn't want the Champion to discover her. Knowing where the treasure was located was enough to make her scouting mission a success. Fifteen minutes later, the Black Snake had left the residence and returned to where her Master was hiding. Due to her uncanny stealth ability that only Champions could detect, Tiona initially wanted to prank her Master by jumping behind his back. However, she had a feeling that Thirteen would react differently and might even attack her out of reflex. Since she didn't want that to happen, she decided to play it safe, deactivating her stealth ability, and slithered in front of her Master so that he would see him. "Welcome back, Tiona," Thirteen said softly as the Black Snake crawled up his body and nudged her head against his cheek. Tiona hissed softly, telling her Master that she had succeeded in her mission. "Good job," Thirteen lightly patted the snake's head with his finger before slowly backing away from his hiding spot. Since his Beast Companion had returned, it was time for him to return to the inn before the others woke up and discovered that he had left without informing any of them. Seeing his movements, Vassago spread his wings and took flight. Poca followed behind him and soared toward the sky. Vassago circled around the residence, and made a hooting sound, telling his Master that the coast was clear. With the Pocopoco guiding him from the sky, Thirteen managed to return to the inn within an hour, climbing back up the window with the help of his grappling hook. Vassago and Poca were last to enter the window and landed on top of the table. Thirteen closed the window behind them before taking three wooden bowls and filling them up with water. Tiona, Vassago, and Poca drank until their thirst was sated. A moment later, Thirteen also placed several nuts on the table, allowing the two Pocopocos to eat. Tiona, on the other hand, received a small Rank 1 Beast Core as a reward for her hard work. After the three were done eating, the Black Snake began her report and told her Master that the treasures were being kept inside Paven's quarters inside the residence. Thirteen didn't find this news surprising because it was indeed the safest place inside the residence. Of course, he also knew that the City Lord might be keeping his most important treasures inside his storage ring that he always carried on his person. There was nothing the boy could do about that, but there must still be treasures that the City Lord wasn't carrying, and he would not hesitate to get them. 'When I meet Laplace Demon again, I will ask for another Dimensional Storage as a reward,' Thirteen mused. 'I'll ask him to make it bigger so that I can use it to store some loot.' After thanking Tiona and Vassago for the second time, Thirteen and his sidekicks decided to rest for the remainder of the night. Tomorrow was another day, and there were still many things to see, and do, in the city. ———————————— Meanwhile, in Gronar City… Cristopher stood in the makeshift archery field in the warehouse and shot one arrow after the other. He was only using crude wooden arrows for practice because he didn't want to use their stock of iron arrows. The chubby boy had no talent in archery. But Thirteen told him that Archery was a skill that could be learned. Because of this, he asked Lady Adira to give him some advice on how to properly shoot some arrows. Perhaps wanting to score some brownie points with the seven- year-old, the Drow agreed to teach the chubby boy, whom Thirteen had declared to be his right-hand man, the proper ways of archery. It wasn't easy, but Cristopher persevered. He didn't want to always rely on the younger boy, who had promised to take him back home to Pangea safely. After his Young Master had been captured, Christopher almost fell into depression. That was when he realized that he had become too dependent on Zion, to the point that the latter's absence made him feel as if he had lost something important in his life. Cristopher's will wasn't that strong. He couldn't decide things on his own, and he was reliant on others pushing him in the right direction. He was fine with this setup since that was what he originally wanted. To be a retainer, who would just follow his Master's orders. He had long accepted that he was not smart, not cunning, and most of all, not really good at fighting. But everyone could change as long as they put effort into the thing they wanted to achieve. "If it's important to you, you will find a way," Cristopher muttered as he pulled back the string of the bow and aimed at his target. "If not, you will find an excuse." After saying those words, the chubby boy released the arrow. Instead of hitting his target, it hit the wall of the warehouse, making his arrow bounce off it. Cristopher took a deep breath before taking another wooden arrow from his quiver. He then took the proper archery stance that Lady Adira had taught him and blocked off everything in his surroundings. The only thing he could see was the target in front of him. Soon, a whistling sound hummed in the surroundings, as Cristopher's arrow took flight. This time, the arrow hit the very edge of his target. Instead of being disappointed, a faint smile appeared on the boy's lips as he remembered the words that Thirteen told him while they were traveling toward Gronar City for the first time. "I am not afraid of a person who knows 1,000 techniques," Thirteen said with a faint smile on his face. "But, I fear the person who has practiced the same technique a thousand times. "Cristopher, if you wish to become truly strong, don't be a jack of all trades like me because I am the only one who can pull it off. "Focus on one thing, and surpass everyone in that field. Someday, you will wake up and realize that the people whom you looked up to as geniuses, would look at you with the same gaze that you used to look at them." Cristopher had asked Thirteen if that day would truly come because he felt like his Young Master was only encouraging him to not make him look pitiful. The seven-year-old's answer was simple. "You'll never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice." Thirteen smirked. "I will not always be with you, and during those times, you need to fend for yourself. So, be strong Cristopher. For you have the potential to become a true Powerhouse in this world." ———————————— A/N: Copyright God nods his head before raising two Yellow Cards in his hands. ———————————— Deep inside, Cristopher wanted to believe Thirteen's words that he could become one of those people that he looked up to. Geniuses from the Prestigious Families. Prodigies from the Monarch Clans. As well as the Rising Stars of his generation. But more than anything else, he wanted to stand on the same stage as his Young Master, whom he believed would make his mark on both worlds. "Wait for me, Young Master," Cristopher said as he took another arrow from his quiver. "I'll catch up to you soon." The sound of whistling wind echoed in the surroundings, making the Drow, who was drinking some alcohol on top of the roof of the warehouse, smile faintly as she looked in the direction of the rising sun, signaling the start of another day, in the world of Solterra. ------------------------ A/N: Bonus chapters will be posted on the weekends. Thank you for everyone's support!