Rivers of the Night-Chapter 417: Found

Theron’s head peeked out of the rushing currents. He looked from side to side for a moment before he pulled himself up, slipping onto the surface of the raging river as though it were solid ground.

The waters he touched seemed to chill and relax, but he still remained cautious. Right now, there was a Beast Core burning a hole in his chest, one that was radiating so much Mana that it was bound to attract any Water Mancy beast in the general vicinity.

Most of his power was directed toward stopping that power from leaking, but he found doing so actually brought some interesting changes. For one, forcing these waters to calm down was well within his ability—but it shouldn’t be so easy either.

Part of Theron wanted to see if it was possible to study these Runes further and maybe benefit from them. Maybe he could forge some of his own personal spells from them, but he just didn’t have the time to waste right now.

If the road allowed it, then he would take the chance.

He turned toward a certain direction and vanished into the rainforest around him, the thick humidity licking against his skin with what should have been a dense stickiness. Instead, however, it only made him feel comfortable.

He was much better at dealing with adjacent forms of Water Mana now than he had ever been in the past. It came smoothly to him, this invisible mist falling into the palms of his hands as though it were any other Water Mana.

Part of Theron’s senses were turned to the Beast Core, overturning it in his mind while he also paid attention to his surroundings. Who was to say he wouldn’t accidentally run into another Runebound Beast?

However, what actually happened was completely out of his expectations.

He came to a slow stop, the soft soil beneath him hardly shifting at all beneath the gentle stride of his feet. If he moved now, not even the slightest footprint would be left.

Theron’s head turned, confusion coloring his eyes, though the rest of his expression remained unmoved.

He had actually been found so quickly? How was that possible?

And why was it this person?

Ippe Harmon. Current 99th rank on the Mandate Leaderboard.

The young man stood high in the trees, his body relatively obscured. But his gaze was very clearly on Theron.

"Oh. You actually found him. Unexpected... I wanted to observe for longer and see what your plan was. This is kind of embarrassing."

Ippe rubbed the back of his head a bit sheepishly before leaping down.

Theron didn’t say a single word, observing this person. His impressions?

Weak.

He didn’t know who Ippe was, but he had paid attention to the dynamic back then. He was certainly stronger than those other two Tyre princes, but he was weaker than Raan by a margin that wasn’t small at all.

Theron had been able to defeat Raan even before his recent improvement—Ippe didn’t stand a chance. But that didn’t explain why the man was here... or how the man was here.

"There’s no need to look at me like that, we’re family, aren’t we?"

Theron’s gaze sharpened, and Ippe threw his hands up.

"Hey, hey, alright. No need to try and kill me with that gaze. I’m weak, aren’t I? Not even a threat to you."

"Your last name is Harmon?" Theron asked.

Ippe blinked. "So you do know." Ippe began to pout. "But you’re making things so hard on your brother anyway. How cruel of you."

Theron didn’t react to the words. He wasn’t related to this person at all. Any connection there was had been diluted across countless generations.

He made the guess purely on Sadie’s speculations.

The Harmon Clan and the Bell Clan—these were supposedly two Clans that had descended from the Galethunders.

Back then, she had mentioned not just two Clans, but four of them... the Gales, the Harmons, the Bells, and the Firewings.

Theron still had no idea how much of that was truth and how much of it was speculation. But now there was a Harmon here trying to call him brother—and who had managed to find him so easily?

"Alright, I can see that you don’t have much patience for this. Rather than playing games, I can just be straightforward, then." Ippe entered a rare moment of seriousness. Or, rather, what he probably thought was serious—but looked a lot like a child trying to hold back his laugh. "I think that you should come back with me. Wouldn’t it be better to be with family? We’ll protect you from the coming storm."

Theron looked at Ippe calmly for a long while, seemingly not put off by the extended awkward silence. Ippe, however, seemed to already be struggling after the third second.

"What is the highest rank of the Harmon Clan on the Mandate Leaderboard right now?" Theron asked.

Ippe’s lip twitched. "Now brother... why would you ask a question like that? Obviously we’re a very well-respected and reputed Clan..."

Theron didn’t reply, simply waiting for his answer in unobstructed silence.

Ippe cleared his throat. "That would be me..."

His voice was as soft as a whisper, almost as though he could barely squeeze it out.

"And what rank would that be?"

Theron could already tell by Ippe’s strength that it was pitifully low.

All things considered, 99th couldn’t be so embarrassing. There were so many geniuses on the continent, and he was among the hundred best in this generation. That had to mean something.

Unfortunately, it exposed something he would have probably preferred to keep silent—but to Theron, it had been obvious from the start.

The Gales? Destroyed.

The Firewings? Relegated to a backwater corner of the continent and forced to team up with mere subsidiaries of much larger powers.

What reason did he have to believe that the Harmons and Bells were in any better position?

The only reason he was still standing here was because he needed an answer to his real question.

How had he been found?

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