Rohan came out of the registration office again with disappointment. At this point, he just had to believe Mia might have chosen another Region. With a sigh, he went to the room to relay the same news to Eric.

As he walked, he overheard an instructor announcing to the Hunters to keep their doors locked.

"Stay safe. Not everyone here is friendly. And not every Frontier Beast is visible. Stay alert and lock your room doors at night. Thank you!" he announced before moving to another part of the pavilion to repeat the same message.

Rohan frowned.

On getting to the room, he saw Eric was nowhere to be found. With a sigh, he summoned two inventories. One was a dark leather armor that covered his whole body and face, making him look like a shinobi. The other was a slender sword with a white hilt.

Grinning behind the mask, he jumped out of the window and started scaling the pavilion, heading towards the fogged mountains like a seasoned ninja.

The First Pavilion was far larger than most Hunters realized. What newcomers saw was only the outer section... a massive collection of buildings, training grounds, dormitories, markets, storage houses, and administration halls built for ordinary Hunters.

It was practically a city.

Thousands of awakened lived within its walls. Every day, new Hunters arrived while older ones left for expeditions, hunting missions, or transfers to other regions. Yet that was only the beginning.

Beyond the main district, the land rose steadily into towering mountains wrapped in thick fog. Large bridges connected cliff faces while enormous structures sat among the peaks like hidden fortresses.

Those buildings belonged to the higher ranks and those connected to the higher ranks.

The whole pavilion was extremely large, and it took Rohan about an hour to reach the mountains. By the time he arrived, the sun was already setting.

He landed quietly on one of the wide stone ledges that connected two cliffside buildings, letting his weight settle without sound before moving again. The wind up here was colder, cutting through the fog that rolled between the peaks in slow waves, hiding and revealing parts of the structures.

He kept moving across the shadows, making sure he wasn’t seen by any of the guards. This place was heavily prohibited to common Hunters and, if caught, only the dead civilization of the First Jianghu knew what they would do to him.

After some time, he reached a section far from the main center of the upper buildings where there were at least fifteen guards.

He stepped into the open, standing in front of the first two guards.

"Hey, who are you? On whose accord are you here?"

Rohan didn’t reply and only tilted his head.

"Leave immediately, young man. Be grateful I don’t want to drag you to the feet of Crimson Mage."

Rohan shifted slightly and immediately blurred, appearing behind the man. Blood sprayed out of his neck as a thin crimson line slowly formed across it. His head fell from his body, rolling to the feet of the other guard.

"Hey! What did you do that for?!" the guard yelled, alerting the other guards.

Soon, Rohan was surrounded by fourteen Hunters.

"Drop your weapon!"

Rohan didn’t reply as system messages appeared.

[Stored Class available: Shadow Emperor]

[Rank: Common]

[Ability: Shadow Linger]

At Level 1, the user’s presence desynchronizes slightly from perception during movement with the use of shadows or darkness. This causes a short delay in enemy recognition, leading to misjudged positioning and late reaction timing.

[Characteristics of Class]

"Carried along from a suspected Soul Travel. Just fully manifested a week ago."

The grin reappeared on Rohan’s face behind the mask, wider now.

’It’s good to be back. Now, let these fuckers pay for killing me.’

The guards closed in, weapons drawn, their levels ranging from two to three. Rohan tapped into his Shadow Emperor class, activating Shadow Linger. As he moved, his form blurred, throwing off the guards’ timing.

The first two rushed him, one wielding a fire-enhanced blade and the other throwing kinetic force bolts. Rohan slipped past the flames, his false presence causing the force bolts to strike empty air. With a swift sweep of his white-hilted sword, he disarmed the fire-wielder and sent him crashing into the wall.

Three more guards stepped up, using earth manipulation to raise stone spikes from the ledge. Rohan leapt high, scaling the cliff face for a brief moment before dropping behind them. Their reactions came too late. He struck with the pommel of his sword, neutralizing two more.

The remaining ten formed a defensive line. One activated a light-binding spell to pin his shadow, while others pushed forward with coordinated spear strikes. Rohan anticipated the trap, breaking their line by slipping through the blind spots created by their delayed perception.

He dodged the spears, countered with fast, precise strikes, and systematically disabled their defenses one by one until the path ahead was clear.

The battle lasted only a few minutes before the last guard, a fire user, finally fell to the ground lifeless.

[You’ve slain Level Two Hunter, Petty Fireman]

He hissed and walked toward a large arc door, not caring about the death of the guards.

[White Sword Characteristics activated]

[God’s Rage Activated]

Activating one of the sword’s abilities, he slashed through the door in multiple arcs. The door cracked, then burst into splinters and wood, sending dust into the air and thickening the fog around him.

Rohan stepped through the opening, disappearing into the dim hall beyond where two spiraling staircases rose into the dark.

Distant voices echoed above.

He moved immediately, scaling the staircase and following the sound.

He finally stopped in front of a room and didn’t waste time slamming the door open.

Inside, he saw a well-arranged room inspired by the eastern medieval era.

The room was wider than it looked from outside. Wooden beams crossed the ceiling in clean lines. A long table sat at the center, covered with maps and small crystal markers that looked like tracking tools. Shelves lined the walls, filled with sealed vials, spare weapons, and folded armor pieces.

Three women and one man were inside.

They were on a large bed at the far end of the room. The three women were dressed in revealing clothes, and the man was half-naked, wearing only short brown pants.

All four snapped upright immediately.

Rohan stood in front of them with ease and coldness, the White Sword dripping onto the floor.

They immediately summoned armor and weapons, forgetting what they had been doing moments before.

The man, now in golden armor and holding a long odachi, stepped forward.

"Who are you?! And how did you enter?!"

Rohan scratched his head and groaned. "Argh, I knew you were the one here since your guards were asking the same stupid questions. The Hunters of this generation are truly stupid. But I guess they inherited that stupidity from you."

"Cut the crap, bastard! You killed all my guards?!" the man yelled and immediately attacked.

Rohan stood still. "I wouldn’t have killed them if you were there, obviously. But who would think someone as experienced as you would use magic seals just for a few moments of lust?" he scoffed coldly and met the odachi with the White Sword.

He twisted and pushed his strength forward, forcing the man to retreat.

"Ah, still weak. No wonder they gave you the lowest Region handled by the government, Tom Tom."

The man froze at the words, eyes widening with fear and recognition behind his rage.

The three women lunged forward seeing their master stagger.

"No one has called me that name in years... it can’t be—" the Crimson Mage muttered.

Rohan grinned behind the mask, cold confidence rising.

"—you’re... Scion of Infinity."