Vincent didn't rush back to Freewind town nor did he stay in the city after the sleep in the inn and instead stayed outside the city in the forest.
Currently, he was leaning at the big tree in a sitting position as the road to the city was visible in the distance.
Strangely enough, Vincent prefers being close to nature instead of being at living settlements with people.
'Is this the influence of elven blood or because I possess wood and water essence seeds?' he wondered before re-evaluate his action.
He came to the city to take the lives of two people that possessed direct threat to his and Alisia's safety, but in the end he took none, yet the problems were still settled despite that.
Vincent was satisfied with such an outcome.
The only minor concern was Madam and the Redstone clan.
If this Madam is a smart woman, she'll listen to his warning and forget that Alisia ever existed.
The Redstone clan was different though. Vincent doesn't have much information on them. He only heard some rumours that their higher ups are essence cultivators with primary fire elements.
'The Greywind clan, if judging by their name, should be similar in power, but with wind essence as their primary element.'
'None of those two elements are useful to me or Alisia so there is no reason to make them my enemies. Instead, it can be beneficial to get on their good side if the opportunity appears.'
'But if they harbor ill intent towards us…'
Vincent took a deep breath.
He wasn't deluded to think that in his current state, he can possess existential threat to those two clans with a rich heritage that he has no information on.
But he had a main advantage that made him quite confident about his survival.
They know nothing about him, while he can gather information on them at any time.
And once he progressed to the 3rd stage in body, essence and soul paths…
Vincent slowly opened his eyes and looked at the distant wall of the city through the forest as he wondered.
If his assumption was correct, he'll reach the Soul Expansion stage in around a month of time if he solely focuses on entering the spiritual world and will not face any external interferences.
Meanwhile, the 3rd stage in the Body Tempering path, the Tempered Blood, might take around half a year as he felt that after 3 years after he reached stage 2, he was finally ready to temper his blood.
But there was a big risk.
'I should not let Alisia or mother see me when I begin this process or they'll become very worried. After all, draining my body from the blood to a critical level is utter madness.'
And finally, there was the 3rd stage in Essence Cultivation, the Meridian Opening.
He had already created more than a third of the required meridians in his body.
Once they're completed, his body will no longer show the essence veins upon every activation and the flow of the essence through the body will become much more natural and fluid.
At the moment, he was unable to make any complex moves with the essence in the battle as they require time and concentration which is crucial and can easily determine the outcome between life and death if handled carelessly.
He had finally resolved the concerns regarding his feelings towards Alisia and he has no plans to die any time soon.
Vincent glanced at his hand as 3-coloured veins covered his body before his nails started slowly transforming into short, but sharp black wood.
He could maintain those nails only for a few minutes before they start to corrode his flesh.
Though he has a certain level of natural resistance towards the elements that his essence seed represents, it is not making him immune to them and never will.
His face slightly paled, but his expression was calm as always.
'In the end, I wasn't able to test them…' he felt a bit dejected, but that feeling didn't last long.
*Tap-tap-tap…*
Not far away from him, on the main road several horses were galloping tied to the carriage.
Vincent didn't pay them any attention as he was observing his black nails.
Suddenly, the carriage that passed him had stopped not far away.
A window at the carriage then opened when a red-haired head emerged, looking at him sitting beside a tree with a pale face, barely moving.
"Sir, do you need any help?" a red haired girl asked with concern.
"Sister, what are you always doing this? You don't need to stick your nose into other business," a young male voice rang out in displeasure within the carriage, but the girl ignored him.
Vincent slowly raised his head and observed the girl and the carriage and after a short moment he closed his eyes as if he neither saw nor heard her.
The girl saw his reaction and cutely snorted, and went back into a carriage, closing the window.
"See? Satisfied?" the young man in red-white robe spoke to her before turning to the rider, "Keep going."
The red haired girl was calm, yet very displeased inwardly.
'What an ungrateful rube. Can't you at least reply?'
She always tried to help people in need as she believed it would improve her karma that she believes in which will make her more successful and happy in the future.
The girl quickly forgot about that guy as the carriage gradually disappeared from Vincent's view.
Though Vincent wasn't bothered about the carriage, he suddenly recalled the other carriage from when he was first entering the city.
Specifically, that weird feeling he felt at that moment, because yesterday he felt it once again.
After he confirmed George's death and disguised himself as a drunk rich guy to leave the elite district, when he was walking near the trade guild his blood suddenly started to act a bit weird, but he could not find why.
Thinking about that weird sensation, Vincent had an uneasy feeling in his heart.
It felt as if someone or something was… calling for him.
'Once I'll advance my soul to the 3rd stage, I'll look into this matter more closely.'
…
In a Freewind town as sunset approaches, a young blond haired girl stood beside a window looking in the direction of the town entrance.
"Trust in him. He'll be fine," Vanessa placed her hand on Alisia's shoulder, reassuring her.
Alisia bit her lip.
"I don't like this… I don't want to be like this, this powerless when he's there, alone, killing for my sake, while all I can do is helplessly wait and pray that he'll come back to me," her eyes were filled with determination to stay by his side.
Alisia cast a glance at the old tome in her hand.
'Once he's back, I'll focus on reaching that goal.'
Vanessa was speechless as she looked at this still young, yet already mature girl.
'Does being near Vincent… had changed her demeanor slightly?'
*Knock-knock*
Suddenly, the door slowly opened and a young man with long black hair in a dark robe casually entered.
But before he could take a look at the room, a soft body immediately ran onto him, hugging him tightly.
Vincent barely moved from his spot as brows raised in surprise.
Seeing her son, Vanessa finally let go of her worries before giving a meaningful glance at Patricia who also looked at her and nodded and the two left the room.
As the door behind Vincent was closed, silence filled the dark room.
"I thought something had happened to you…" uttered Alisia quietly. Her arms were tightly holding him as he lay her face on his chest.
"You are overly concerned. The chances for me dying were extremely low. At first, I thought he'd be someone I should be wary of, but after seeing him in person, he was nothing special. He was far from enough to possess an actual threat to me."
"Just another idiot corrupted by power. No more no less."
Being so close, Vincent could smell her fragrance. Though he was calm, his heart skipped a beat for a moment.
Alisia raised her head and looked deeply into his eyes.
"I didn't want to say this, but I want you to know that if I… lose you, can you guess what I'll do?"
Vincent's expression slightly changed.
Seeing this, Alisia nodded and smiled, "Unless you want that to happen, you better never let me lose you," deep emotion could be seen in her eyes.
Vincent spoke after a pause, "I can't guarantee that, you know it. Moreover, you'll soon step onto the path of Essence Cultivation. If you keep progressing in it, you'll be able to live hundreds of years. Maybe even millennials, who can tell for sure?" he slowly spoke.
"If you outlive me one day, then it simply means that I just wasn't good enough to be by your side. If that happens, just continue progressing as far as possible and focus on yourself. Maybe, you'll find someone much be-"
*Slap!*
Alisia could no longer listen to this as sudden anger burst out from her in the form of a slap.
Vincent felt a slight burning sensation on his cheek that lasted briefly.
His expression didn't change though.
"I don't want to ever hear that again. Understood?" her voice was cold as she stared into his eyes viciously which somewhat shocked him.
"Is living a long life not appealing to you?" he asked calmly.
"It is, but only if the man I love will be by my side. If not, then I'm not interested. Essence Cultivation? To hell with it. Without you… nothing else matters to me," she spoke confidently with a cold voice.
"..." Vincent was a bit speechless, but his heart was warmed hearing it.