Rebecca walked behind Thea as they climbed up the secret passageway that led to the peak of the Savadeen Mountains.
This place was a forbidden ground, and no unauthorized members of the Misty Sect were allowed to trek these stairs.
After several high-level meetings over the past few weeks, Thea and the Elders had decided to seek the aid of their Guardian and have it form a temporary contract with Rebecca. This would greatly increase her magical powers, which might allow her to break through the 8th Circle instantly.
With so much pressure hanging over their shoulders, they felt that this was the only way for them to gain an advantage over William. All of them had no idea of how strong the Half-Elf was. The only thing they knew was that he was the new owner of the 51st Floor, and they couldn't take him lightly.
Soon, Thea and Rebecca arrived at a clearing.
The young genius of the Hellan Kingdom unconsciously shuddered when she saw the magnificent creature that was looking at her with great interest.
"Your Excellency, Meredith, I have brought Rebecca here to seek your aid," Thea said. She had talked to their Guardian a week ago, and the latter had decided to approve their request.
Meredith's only concern was whether Rebecca's vessel was strong enough to accommodate her powers. However, with the help of the Heart of the Crystal Phoenix, this was no longer an issue.
"Good," Meredith replied as her gaze never left the young lady that it had set its eyes on. "Your name is Rebecca, yes?"
"Yes, Your Excellency," Rebecca answered.
"Do you wish to attain my power?"
"I do."
Meredith narrowed its eyes and a powerful gust of icy wind descended upon Rebecca. A powerful pressure pushed down on the young girl that almost made her kneel.
Channeling all of the magic powers inside her body, Rebecca gritted her teeth as she held her ground. She knew that this was the Guardian's test, and she had every intention of passing it.
Several minutes passed, and Rebecca felt her body warming up. This was pretty unusual, especially for someone who lived in a cold place like the Savadeen Mountains. A flash of surprise flashed past Rebecca's eyes because she never expected to encounter the signs of a second stage frostbite.
The young genius had thought that she was already immune to the cold, due to the special body refinement that she had practiced since she entered the Sect.
Breathing deeply, she once again circulated her magic powers inside her body. A few seconds later, her heart turned into an ice crystal. It pulsed with power and washed away the cold that had seeped deep inside her body.
This was the power of the Heart of the Crystal Phoenix that she had absorbed a day ago. It would allow her to strengthen her resistance not only against the element of ice, but the other elements as well.
'I thought it was just my imagination, but it seems that this girl had a really fruitful encounter,' Meredith thought.
Soon, the powerful pressure decreased, before vanishing completely. Meredith's test was over, and Rebecca was able to gain its approval.
"You are qualified to form a temporary contract with me," Meredith stated. "However, I will only allow you to use a quarter of my powers. More than that and your body might really turn into an ice statue. Is this arrangement fine with you?"
Rebecca nodded. "Yes, Your Excellency."
Meredith spread her wings wide before glancing at Thea.
"Leave, and make sure that no one disturbs us," Meredith ordered. "Come pick her up in the morning. I will need to impart my knowledge to her, so that she knows how best to wield my powers."
Thea respectfully bowed before leaving the clearing. As the Sect Master of the Misty Sect trekked down the mountains, she could feel her heart beating wildly inside her chest. She was feeling excited, and even looking forward to the celebration that was soon to happen.
Thea had complete confidence that no matter how strong William was, Rebecca had the home court advantage. With the Savadeen Mountains serving as an inexhaustible source of Ice Magic, Rebecca would have no problem burying William in a heap of snow.
—–
Chiffon was humming as she looked at her fishing line with great expectations.
William had taken them to the frozen lake that was a mile away from the city in order to spend some quality time with his lovers.
The Half-Elf had created a few holes in the ice that covered the lake's surface, and encouraged the two girls to try ice fishing.
Fishing had become Chiffon's favorite hobby after climbing the Tower of Babylon. As a mermaid, Ian was also good at fishing. But, she wasn't that good at traditional fishing. She preferred to go into the water and capture her prey in their natural habitats.
Of course, right now, all three of them weren't allowed to use any cheats in order to catch fish.
The smell of barbecued fish reached their noses, and the golden piglet that was seated beside Chiffon's left foot salivated.
Elliot and Conan were in charge of the barbecue, and the two of them diligently cooked the fish that William, Ian, and Chiffon had caught.
So far, all three of them had caught several fish, which proved that the lake held bountiful resources under its frozen surface.
Just as William was about to grab a skewered fish, he felt several presences that were observing him from afar. He ignored them and bit on the barbecued fish in his hand.
'The watchers from the Misty Sect are like the paparazzi in my previous world,' William thought as he pretended that he didn't notice them. 'Well, it doesn't matter. As long as they don't do something stupid, I won't do anything to them.'
He had already expected the Misty Sect to keep an eye out for anyone that matched his features. There were very few people that had the same hair color and good looks as him, so he wasn't too surprised that they had started monitoring him right after he arrived in the city.
They had been given strict orders by the Sect Master to just observe William and not make contact with him. Some of them were even using artifacts to secretly measure his strength and magical powers in the distance. However, the results made them think that their measuring devices were broken.
Optimus had ways of shielding William from these prying artifacts. Everytime that someone tried to gauge the Half-Elf's powers, the result that they would get was that of a normal human.
"Leader, are our artifacts broken?" one of the inner disciples, who was tasked to monitor William, whispered.
"No." the leader replied. "Notify the elders and tell them that we can't gauge his current power level. Also, tell them that the target has already discovered us."
"What?" the inner disciple's eyes widened in shock. "Impossible. How can he discover us from this distance? We are also using the stealth technique of our sect. Leader, I think you're just being paranoid."
The leader glanced at his subordinate with a calm expression on his face. He couldn't be bothered to explain, and just ordered everyone to return to the city.
The leader of the Inner Disciples glanced at William one last time before running away. He had a highly developed sixth sense, and this had saved his life countless times in the past.
Although the Half-Elf wasn't doing anything peculiar, his small angelic familiar had been looking in their direction, while barbecuing. The latter had even winked at him when he was observing William's group through the lens of a telescope.
Although the familiar had a dazzling smile on his face, the leader felt that if he didn't leave soon, he would definitely regret it.
Elliot watched the disciples of the Misty Sect back away as he handed Bacon a fish skewer. His eyes glowed briefly, and a peal of thunder echoed in the distance, followed by a lightning strike that landed a few meters away from the retreating disciples.
If the disciples had thought that their captain was only being paranoid earlier, they realized their folly as all of them ran away in earnest.
"Good job, Elliot," William said as he gave his Angelic Familiar a thumbs up.
"Hahaha, this is but a small thing," Elliot replied as he gave William a mischievous smile. 'This is the least that I can do to compensate for the hardship you will encounter in two days' time.'
Elliot chuckled internally as he gave Bacon another fish skewer.. He was looking forward to actually watching the entertaining scene that he had seen in his vision several weeks ago.
