"It's kinda relaxing" Michael snuggled under the warm blanket, talking to Gaya through the earpiece. He felt like a teenager who talks to his girlfriend hiding under the blanket.

"What's relaxing?" asked Gaya,

"Everything snake. The storm outside, this cozy room, the warm blanket, everything,"

"Enjoy while it lasts. Who knows what would happen after you get to Sabrina?" Michael heaved a long breath of sigh, staring at the moth-covered ceiling,

"By the way, why aren't you going as the Dark Lord?" Gaya asked,

"I could, but if I did, Sabrina wouldn't open up to the Dark Lord. We need to know more information about the key. If the vampires are keeping her alive, it means they can't get to the key without her. Since I saved her and her mother, she has a soft spot for Ghost. I can use that to get to know more about the key,"

"Do you have everything you need? You said you broke your swords fighting the elder vampire,"

"I already told Corey to order her men to give me a pair of swords. I can make do with that until we go to the Aqua auction,"

"Don't be stupid. I'll put two swords in the space ring. Take them with you," Gaya raised her voice, yelling at him like a concerned mother,

"Oh"

Michael quickly sent a sliver of arch energy to the silver ring on his middle finger as the ring began to glow dimly. Then a pair of swords materialized above him and floated in the air.

Each of the two identical swords had a long, thick, warped blade made of iron held by a grip wrapped in shiny, red scaled leather.

With a single, sharp edge the sword would protect him from incoming blows while also giving him the ability to shred his enemies to pieces. The blade had a jagged, twisted cross-guard, offering plenty of protection to his hands and thus his life. Although the cross-guard had a decorative crow head on each side, the cost of forging the swords must have been high.

A massive pommel was decorated with gilded linings. No expense was spared for the gorgeous swords in front of him.

The blade itself was engraved as countless symbols have been delicately etched into the blade, which only added to the elegance of this weapon and its cost.

"Where did you get them?" Michael was surprised by the swords. Although he liked the black swords more because he liked black, the two silver swords weren't inferior to his previous two swords by any means.

"Where else? From Mazeroth armory. Do you know they have an entire hall filled with old used weapons the students could use for free?"

"Those fuckers are really rich and resourceful,"

He couldn't believe they threw these two beautiful swords into the waste room and let the students take them for free.

"If these two swords were to be used for free, imagine the things in their protected vault. It would be nice to rob them blind one day," Michael exhaled.

To others, earning twenty to twenty-five million a month was a huge deal. Not even many nobles would earn that much. However, compared to MAzeroth, the noble families in Awor, and some cultivators such as Hendrix, he was poor as a sewer rat.

Nonetheless, it would soon change when the scarcity of alchemists hit the two continents like a raging tsunami. The vampires did him a huge favor by killing 80% percent of the alchemists in Elon and Ozer. Besides, he ended Gabriel's life. Thus, his value just skyrocketed through the roof.

The exclusive clients of Gabriel would have to look for another Alchemist and Michael would be their only choice. He already decided to raise the prices since it was the logical thing to do.

"We are still way weaker than our enemies. Just get to the Soul Refining stage quicker snake,"

"Not all of them can get stronger by killing people my dear Michael," she hissed,

"What if we both traveled to the treacherous ocean one more time? The last time I went there with Lailah, I was so weak. If we both reached the Soul Refining stage and went there, we could dominate the place,"

Many young masters such as Noah wouldn't revisit a place that they went to while they were weak. They would struggle and depend on their luck to survive the place. But after surviving, they wouldn't return to the place.

However, Michael planned to visit the treacherous ocean. Now he had more tools and was stronger than he was when he last visited. He was confident that he could dominate the treacherous ocean and harvest all the resources there to get stronger.

"Why not? It'll be like a post-engagement honeymoon," Gaya chuckled,

"Oh shit, I have to go meet Gilrine" Suddenly Gaya remembered she had to accompany Gilrine to the black forest,

"Alright, be safe. I'll get some sleep and I'll update you after I reach the destination,"

"Don't die on me okay. Just get home safe with the key human. Ummua, I love you," Gaya kissed him,

"I love you too Gaya," Michael's softly said before cutting the connection between them,

After everything was said and done, Michael closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep.

************************************

While Michael was sleeping peacefully, Sabrina curled into a ball on the floor, trying to fight the cold. Unfortunately, she was stammering in the cold and tried to cover her hands and legs with her long silver robes.

The vampires kept her in a cage below decks. As far as she could see, there was nothing but pitch blackness. The water leaked through the holes and gaps above her and drenched her dress.

"Rowena, Noah, where are you?" Sabrina sobbed, She may be strong but she was still young and innocent. So when Peyton recruited her to chase down Victor, she thought it would give her real-world experience.

Sabina didn't believe she could become a fearless warrior by studying books and fighting dummies in Holy Trident academy. Instead, she wanted to fight real enemies and get a real battle experience like her brother Noah.

However, everything changed when a monster of a man attacked their safe house in the Southern continent. Even in her current condition, where they caged her like an animal and fed her only once every two days, she thought about Peyton.

She slowly opened her palm as a dim golden light brightened her face. Her puffy eyes due to sobbing so much and paleness became visible in the light.

Until recently, Sabrina was oblivious to the golden rune on her right palm. However, the rune began to glow when she came across an ancient parchment in a dungeon that appeared in Kingdom Mohan.

The parchment contained words written in an ancient language. Unfortunately, she couldn't make out any words except the name 'Arrora', which was written in their language.

Sabrina wanted to take the parchment to her elders in Holy Trident but the parchment turned into a flash of light and entered her brain. Ever since then, Sabrina could recall the way to something called 'The Key'.

She only shared the information with her teacher at Holy Trident Academy. Little did she know that her teacher was an Elder Vampire disguised as a teacher in Holy Trident.

Because of him, Sabrina was captured by the vampires and forced to show them the way to the key. Otherwise, they threatened Sabrina by telling her they would massacre her family overnight.

Now she had no choice but to guide them through the maze to get to the key. Even if it cost her her life, she wouldn't let anything happen to her family. But deep down, she wished either Rowena or Noah would come and save her from the monsters above her.

"I want my big brother" she sobbed like a little girl in fear and despair.

Creak!

She shuddered when she heard the door creak open as she saw the light peeking through the door to her cage.

"Get up bitch. The island is nearby" a figure dressed in black robes rattled the cage with the wooden stick he used to beat Sabrina for fun,

Even in the pitch black darkness, she could see his ruby red eyes menacingly looking at her. He licked his lips as Sabrina shuddered. She had seen him bite a youngster's neck and drink all his blood until the youngster was mummified.

She could still feel the pain in her back due to the beating he had given her a few days ago.

"I'mup," she stuttered as she tried to pick herself up. But the shackles around her wrist made standing up a difficult task,

Meanwhile, the vampire took the key chain hanging on his waist and unlocked Sabrina's cage. As soon as he opened the cage door, he kicked Sabrina in the gut with enough force to make her throw up blood,

"Ah the smell of blood," the vampire licked his lips again,

"(Cough) (Cough)" Sabrina kept coughing up blood. Her vision went blue because of the pain in her stomach,

The next moment, he grabbed her hair and dragged her out of the cage.

Thud!

The vampire leaped through the opening and threw Sabrina onto the wooden rails when they reached under the open latch. Sabrina's eyes hurt as she saw the daylight after a long time.

As her vision cleared, she noticed several black-robed figures surrounding her.

"Remove her shackles. If she tried to escape, cut her arms" she jerked her head right to see a tall, lean, and mean-looking man walking towards her. Contrary to the rest, he didn't cover his head with a dark cloak. So she could clearly see his pale oval face, crimson red eyes, and the two fangs that protruded when he grinned like a devil.

Hearing the man's question, the one who dragged Sabrina to the upper deck stepped toward her.

"Please try to escape," he slowly ran his wooden stick across Sabrina's face,

Under the vampires' gazes, he grabbed the iron shackles around her wrist. When he touched the shackles, they just vanished into thin air.

"Elijah, look there" suddenly, the vampire stopped feeling her face with his wooden stick when they heard the vampire in the crow nest.

Sabrina saw the vampires looking behind her. Because of the beating she received, she was terrified even to move an inch. Still, she looked over her shoulder through the gap between the wooden rails to see a large man of war ship sailing in their direction.

Instead of anchoring the ship and jumping onto the tiny sandy island in front of them, they just stared at the man of war.