Everyone went still...

They had all forgotten about Brandon!

To be fair, they didn’t have much time to worry about others — after all, they were too busy struggling so hard to keep their heads on their necks.

Seth’s eyes flashed with contemplative lights. He didn’t know where Brandon could have spawned.

One thing was for sure though: the guy didn’t spawn in the Savage Oasis.

The quest event’s participation indicator amount said it all.

Previously, he wasn’t able to make this judgment until he met all six foreign members. From there, it was a matter of basic math.

This posed a problem. If Brandon wasn’t in the Savage Oasis, where could he be?

He was sure he anchored his will to the guy, so it was definitely possible he spawned in the GreenFold settlement.

But Seth didn’t feel this was the case. At least from the little clues he had gathered, first spawn shouldn’t be in a settlement.

Though this conjecture might again be wrong — after all, he had come to this conclusion with so little reference.

"We shouldn’t have to worry too much. After all, he can’t die in there for real even if he encounters mortal danger. And besides, in a few hours’ time, he’d have to exit the Origin."

Only the Lord knew where Uriel found the glasses he had already begun polishing as he spoke.

Seth’s eyes lit up. "That’s right."

Indeed, he had almost forgotten everyone else had a time limit of stay in the Origin Realm. He was the only one who could dwell there unlimitedly.

Seth thought. ’if that’s the case we just have to give it a few more hours. I’m curious to see how dad’s doing.’

The three excused themselves, leaving for their respective guest rooms... it was time to digest the events from the night.

The sun was already peeking over the horizon, and anytime soon dawn would break.

"Um? Seth?" Maya, who was sitting beside Seth, called, getting his attention.

Seth turned, his ears perked up. "Hm?"

Noticing her hesitant expression, he frowned, his eyes flashing dangerously. ’Could it be those guys hadn’t had enough?’

He was, of course, referring to the Duskreavers. At this point, any little attachment Seth had for the family was gone.

Not out of resentment, not out of hate — they weren’t worthy to invoke such emotions from him.

Aside from the disdain he felt for his extended family members, he held nothing else in his heart against them.

As for the issue from before, it had been handled. He didn’t see the need to push the matter any further, as long as the family didn’t push further.

Not because of anything, but because he felt dragging the matter would only waste his time.

And right now, time was one of the hot commodities he needed, and he needed to be efficient with every second spent.

Maya’s lips finally moved. "Lionel and Nora heard about what happened, and from what I hear they are on their way back."

Seth’s expression grew complicated. There was nothing he dreaded more than an encounter with his siblings.

There was a reason he still hadn’t gone to see his twin siblings even while they were possibly in the same residence.

The relationship Seth had with his siblings couldn’t be considered bad, but it couldn’t be considered good either.

It was just there. They made a conscious effort to reduce contact with him due to family pressure and orders from their mother, Liora Duskreaver.

And after all these years, everything had reached the point where their relationship was stiff and awkward.

So when hearing his eldest brother and sister were rushing back from wherever they were, abandoning whatever they were doing just for him...

He was half skeptical. They might be rushing back for his father also — the man had been severely harmed while being suppressed from trying to protect him.

So though hearing their names left ripples in his heart, Seth honestly didn’t want to see them.

The thought of the awkward interaction that would follow alone made his hair curl.

It couldn’t be helped. After being ostracized for so long, it wasn’t easy to suddenly just up and build bonds with them from nowhere.

Such things took time to form, and had to come naturally.

But as it was, Seth didn’t see this happening anytime soon...

"Sigh... I’ll be heading to my room." That was all Seth could say.

He didn’t comment on their matter anymore. Right now he just needed some sleep. After that, he needed to map out his next move.

Maya stared at him, concern brimming in her eyes. She wanted to bombard him with questions, speak more with him, but she could see it — he was tired.

Not physically, but mentally. And her bringing up his siblings seemed to drain on his psyche even more.

"Mhm, go ahead, I’ll be here."

Seth nodded gently to her before leaving.

Staring at his receding silhouette, Maya’s heart stung. How could she not feel the chasm between them that was beginning to grow?

She wasn’t the center of his attention anymore. She couldn’t even relate to his experiences so far.

She couldn’t even begin to comprehend the hardships he had gone through, or how many times he had danced with death.

She could feel it — though it wasn’t a conscious effort, Seth was slowly pulling away from her.

And all this was her fault, she felt.

All because she was so... "weak." She whispered beneath her breath, clutching the hem of her dress tightly.

She couldn’t let things remain like this. She could see it in Seth’s eyes, she could feel the change in his being.

And she knew Seth had abandoned all worries and had stopped suppressing himself for real.

She could see the shadow of the boy she once knew — the figure of a terrifying genius.

A genius that once flipped an entire generation of Duskreavers his age over. He defeated them so thoroughly they never dared rear their heads in his presence till this day.

So she knew her work was cut out for her. If she really wanted to catch up with him, if she wanted to move at his pace, it wouldn’t be an easy path.

But if she didn’t want this gap in strength to be the cause for estrangement between them, she had to try nonetheless.

Her eyes flickered as her pupils rested on a screen flickering in her view, one that had been there for quite a while.

[Your blood is pure, the Ironblood lineage sings strong in your veins...]

[You have been given the chance to enter the inheritance space of the Grand Weapon Maester.]

[Do you accept? Y/N]