"I was just wandering around, saw this strange structure, and decided to check it out. I didn't know all of you would be here," Adyr lied, eyes narrowing as he studied the ruin.

Up close, its mass surprised him once again.

This architecture… Romanesque, isn't it?

A circular plan; tier upon tier of shallow arcades; short columns marching in rings around the shell. The pale, banded stone had the sober rhythm of Earth's old campaniles—almost a miniature of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in his memory.

Even the slight, unintended tilt echoed that tower's famous tension, a lean born of uncertain footing rather than design.

It was the first time Adyr had found anything in this world that echoed Earth—aside from language—and it pushed his private theories to the front of his mind. A simple resemblance was possible, but this level of architectural similarity felt too precise; it was as if a human hand had built it outright.

"What do you think? It looks special, right? Could it be the Core?" Maruun asked, noticing the way Adyr studied the tower.

"I'm not sure." Adyr didn't think it was the Core; it felt more like a treasure—something akin to the Mother Tree.

He wanted to approach, to test it with his bloodline talents and see whether it answered the way the Mother Tree had to Genesis energy, but with so many eyes here, he held back.

"Velari, since you're here, I assume you're aiming for the tower as well?" Brakhtar Gorat finally broke his silence.

Adyr met his gaze with a thin smile. "It's interesting. At the very least, I want to know what it is." He gave no more than that, only a hint of intent.

Thalira Luna lifted her voice when it became clear everyone shared the same goal. "The tower looks big, but not big enough for all of us. What do we do?"

There were already more than 100 Practitioners in the vicinity. Even if the interior could hold them, flooding it with this many people would be reckless.

"What about using the old way to decide which group enters?" Thalira offered after a brief pause.

Given who she was, such a solution was to be expected, and no one was surprised.

"What are the specifics? I'm against an all-out fight, to be clear," Brakhtar answered, without rejecting her outright.

In a bloody melee where every group fought at once, everyone would walk away with losses; it would benefit no one.

Thalira's lips lifted slightly. "Each group will field 1 representative. After a single fight, the winner claims the rights to the tower and this islet, and the others withdraw. How is it?"

Brakhtar fell silent, his features still.

They really do have mind-reading skills, Adyr thought as he watched him hold that calm mask. Even so, tiny shifts in lips and brows were readable. Brakhtar seemed to be trading impressions with the aides at his side, weighing a decision.

Mind-reading Sparks belonged to the communication-support category and were rare, yet most were far less formidable than rumors suggested, especially at Rank 3 and below; they were typically used for quiet exchanges like this.

They had no real attack or defense, and they could not be used on a mind if the target refused to share thoughts willingly.

Of course, a Rank 4 Spark in this category could have changed the picture; thankfully, no one possessed one in the Outer Region. As far as anyone knew, even the Gorathim leader's Giant Eye had a primary skill limited to a telekinesis-type ability.

"What are you planning, Adyr?" Maruun tried not to look expectant, but the gills on both sides of his throat opened and closed in quick bursts, betraying his tension.

From the mixed-race group, it was obvious who would represent them. The only question was whether Adyr was willing to stake his life for them.

Adyr smiled. "Don't worry, brother. I will do my best."

His intent was clear. One way or another, he wanted to see what lay inside this structure, all the more because its lines echoed the architecture of his own world. If he had to fight to get in, he could at least make it look as if he fought for others rather than himself and gain extra benefits from the act.

"You are an honest man, Adyr. You have the courage of mountains and ridges." Rhadak set a stone palm to his dark stone chest with a deep thunk, voice resonant.

"We Houndkin will remember this moment, comrade." Loudbark lifted his tail, chest swelling with warmth.

Maruun looked moved, convinced he had chosen a good ally, but a breath later, Brakhtar Gorat's voice cut through, tightening the mixed group.

"Adyr of Velari. You are alone here, with no one trusty enough to watch your back. Join my team. We will share evenly anything we find inside."

The offer unsettled not only the mixed group but also Lunari. Thalira Luna narrowed her brows. "What are you planning, Brakhtar? I thought we agreed to reach a conclusion by fighting. Do not make cowardly decisions now."

Brakhtar showed no sign of being affected by the taunt. He ignored Thalira and fixed on Adyr. "There is no need to shed unnecessary blood here. What is your decision?"

This orc is quite smart, Adyr thought, face unchanged.

Brakhtar's aim was plain. If he pulled Adyr to his side, he would break the mixed group and send a warning the Lunari would not like.

Even Thalira Luna, as eager for battle as she was, would hesitate to face a team that held both Adyr and Brakhtar. Even if she wanted it, her advisers and teammates would refuse.

Yet that was not his real goal, and Adyr understood it well. Brakhtar intended to pull him completely out of the mixed-race group and turn his neutral standing with the Lunari into open enmity.

With a single offer, he aimed to weaken the Velari threat now and in the future.

There was one problem, though. His target was not an ordinary Practitioner. Adyr possessed sharp political and strategic intelligence, aimed to become an Emperor, and carried a past stamped with a world-renowned title: serial killer. That past kept his choices cold, calculated, and never impulsive.

"Sorry, but I will choose the first option. The fight." Adyr let his indifferent expression soften into a small smile. It was neither threatening nor friendly.

"I see." Dissatisfaction flickered in Brakhtar's eyes, though he did not let it take hold.

Hearing Adyr's reply, Thalira Luna looked at him with new favor, as if his choice to fight had shifted several of her earlier judgments.

The biggest shift came from the mixed-race group: they began to look at Adyr like one of their own, some even looking ready to hoist him onto their shoulders.

The plan Brakhtar had formed to isolate Adyr from the others backfired at once. Instead of pushing him out, it made him even more favored among them.

"Are you in or out, Brakhtar?" Luna asked, her satisfaction unmistakable. She might not match their cunning, yet her absolute confidence in her combat power was enough to make the Gorathim think twice.

''I…'' After long, careful thought, Brakhtar parted his big lips to answer, but before the words left his lips, the air shifted, a sudden ripple that turned every head and stilled the crowd.

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