Chapter 79: [Chapter 79 ● Shadows of Varion!]

Aphryne and Auguszta—after having done with their baths, where they had their today’s fill of him—generously left for their little sister to have their husband all to herself for the whole night.

Dressing themselves up, they summoned themselves beside their big sister Clementine. It was easily done by the sub-ability, Eternal Convergence Corridor. As companions, they also had access to activate or use it anytime they wanted after all.

Clementine was walking the streets of the District: Gildemark Ward of the Eastern Region of the City of Varion with an expressionless face. She had already masked her presence and regressed her beauty to look somewhat ordinary.

Also, she already had a general idea about the overall power dynamics of the city through Anastasia, so it wasn’t hard to navigate it either.

In the northern region, there were the elves—one Imperial House, two Grand Houses, and six Subordinate Houses—it was a simple system with the Imperial House of Nizalea at the top. A family of Frost Elves! The two Grand Houses were the House of Gravemyr and the House of Rose.

The former was a family of Dark Elves—masters of the element: Darkspace, a gravity-based darkness—and the latter was a family of Blood Elves—masters of the element: Vitality Theft!

As its name suggested, it was an element that stole life force from other living beings, capable of draining their stamina, health, Energy, and even natural recovery, weakening the enemies while strengthening the users themselves simultaneously.

The longer the contact or exposure lasted, the more vitality was absorbed. Its power was feared because it turned the enemy’s own life into fuel for the elves’ strength.

In the southern region, there was the Human Coalition. It was led by three Major Houses with each having two subordinate families, mainly the House of Aetherson, the House of Blazeshade, and the House of Eythrox.

The former were humans with demonic blood with their main element being either Demonic Flame or Demonic Light. It was extremely rare for an Aetherson to have both the demonic elements, but there were still those few exceptional ones who had it regardless.

They were born with it and were thus dubbed as the talented prodigies of the House of Aetherson.

The second was the House of Blazeshade, who had the Information of a unique flame element running in their veins. It came from their ancestor who was a prodigy talent born with a unique ability, The Soul-Searing Cinder.

Their flame didn’t just burn the flesh; they fed on the target’s Energy. The more the victim struggled, the hotter the flame burned, turning their own power into fuel. It was a strong element, but after so many generations, the Information had thinned too much, and as a result, the element had also become much weaker in those who weren’t members of the main family line.

The last major human family was the Eythrox House, humans who had the distinctive Body Constitution: The Zephyr-Glass Physique. It made their bodies naturally lighter than even air, allowing for near-instant acceleration.

The Glass aspect referred to their ability of refracting the Light element through their Wind currents, creating invisible blades of pressurized air and light.

In the western region, there were the Beastmen—they had the two High Clans at the top with each having three subordinate clans. The two Clans were the Clan of Whiteprime and the Clan of Thalassa Echo.

The first one was lorded over by the Light Dragon Lucius Whiteprime, or better known as Highlord Whiteflame, since the dragon’s main element was Whiteflame.

The Latter beastman clan came from the line of Kraken. They had humanoid bodies with eight octopus-like tails coming out of their backs. Not only were they strong physically, but their main element was also a water-gravity-based one, called Hydravora.

They also had secondary illusory capabilities where they used illusions to lure enemies and gravity to crush them.

Afterwards, in the east where Clementine was, was the Adventurers Guild. Also, at the heart of Varion was the Academy City where the Resonant Trynium Academy was located.

Overall, the City of Varion was very big, spanning for more than thirteen hundred kilometers, or eight hundred and seven point seven eight two five miles, and had an approximate population of ten million. It had outsiders ranging from Ascension rank one, ordinary people, to Ascension rank six, the true powerhouses of the city. In fact, considering its size, it was an understatement calling it a city.

Clementine focused on her little sisters, her brow raised in a questioning manner.

"There is only one Aezaleon, and he most definitely can’t handle all three of us at the same time," Auguszta winked with a playful grin. "Even if two are on him, one would be left alone. With us not being particularly interested in each other, we let our new sister have him for the day."

"We didn’t want to torture ourselves; merely watching but not being able to participate and have him, so we came to you, big sis. You don’t mind, right?" Aphryne questioned in a cool tone, walking on the other side of her.

"Not really, but you are late. I’ve already gathered all the Information I could from this district," Clementine voiced, smiling gently. "So disrespectful," she pinched Aphryne’s cheeks softly.

"So soon? It’s been like only twenty minutes since you came, big sis," Auguszta spoke in surprise.

"What did you find? Do we know the general location of where we are in the Great Link now?" Aphryne inquired with gleaming eyes, her curiosity getting the best of her. Meanwhile, her hand massaged her cheeks, her lips forming a cute pout.

"Hm," Clementine contemplated quietly. "I looked into the memories of some of the people who came here directly from Eirion through the Adventurers Guild, maintaining most of their independence. This world, Eirion, is a weak world. It had not birthed even a single Divinity; the strongest there are, are only Transcendents. Their Ascension is unclear, as not many know of their existences in Eirion, so knowing of their ranks is also impossible. As for where we are in the Great Link, none of the people I investigated knew of this Information. I can only guess that we are somewhere in the northeastern part of this gargantuan realm."

"Ah, so what do we do now? It looks like from your words we can use this city for our development. As long as we lay low until we have sufficient strength, it should be possible, correct?"

"Indeed. Actually, I’m thinking of sending Aezaleon and Aphryne to the Resonant Trynium Academy. There, I want access to the Archives the Academy has, since most of the important Information is compiled there, and that place would also prove useful for him to progress more in his Weapon Mastery, Concepts, Abilities, as well as his core tier refinement."

"The academy, huh? Where the kids of all the major and minor powers go to hone themselves. That would certainly be a good place to start if our end goal is to eradicate the Whiteprime Clan and the Imperial House of Nizalea. Then I completely agree, otherwise I was thinking of becoming an adventurer and exploring this realm with husband," Aphryne said.

"Yeah, that too," Clementine chuckled softly. "For such a goal, a political move is needed. Even with me, going directly against them would be nothing but suicide, since even if the order of my Energy is higher than the leaders of these families, the tier is the same and the rank is lower. But I have an absolute, ultimate, unique, and elemental power, elements, five bloodlines, five cores, all are fused... in the end, even I don’t know the end of my own strength." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"It is dangerous," Auguszta said seriously.

"Indeed," Clementine nodded. The conversation continued as they moved through the city without any aim. In time, she spotted a building that piqued her curiosity. It was an auction house.

The building was massive, standing five stories tall with a rounded structure that made it look grand. Its outer walls were made of a polished grey stone that shone faintly under the magical lights of the street, giving it an expensive look.

Above the heavy double doors of the entrance, a large sign was carved into the stone, glowing with silver energy to display its name: The Gilded Shadows Auction House.

Thick glass windows lined the front, revealing a glimpse of the wide lobby inside, where soft velvet carpets and bright crystal chandeliers created an atmosphere of pure luxury. Rich merchants, well-dressed nobles, and powerful outsiders were constantly entering and leaving the premises, their faces filled with anticipation.

With her sensory abilities, it only took her a moment to grasp that there was an ongoing auction inside. With growing interest, she decided to take a look.