According to the wizard legacy hypothesis regarding the city, the powerful wizard who created it spent his entire life researching a new and more perfect path to an eternal, indestructible state. This point surprised Tars; the text implied a pursuit of a strange existence that was near-immortal. Furthermore, the mention of researching a "new" path suggested that "old" paths to such states already existed. Ultimately, faced with an unsolvable dilemma, this wizard had turned his gaze toward the Knowledge World.

  The Knowledge World was a realm even more perilous than the Nightmare World; the more powerful an individual, the less they dared to approach it.

  Thus, the wizard designed this city with a unique architecture to beckon the long-awaited answer from his heart. In that wondrous realm, knowledge existed as an abstract, living thing; like pixies, these fragments would actively hunt down those capable of understanding them. The higher the level of knowledge one could grasp, the more dangerous entry into that world became—a flood of information would swarm the mind, bursting the skull and annihilating the soul.

  Tars's breathing grew heavy as he read. He wasn't frightened; instead, he felt a strange yearning for that world. He could hardly imagine a scene where knowledge itself chased after a person. He thought it might be beautiful—right up until the moment one's head exploded.

  He continued flipping through the pages. In his view, this thin volume of The Great Reveal: Truths of the Mystery City wasn't a "reveal" at all, but rather a crude summary of the rumors floating around the camp. It didn't even mention the city's true name, referring to it only vaguely as the "Mystery City."

  After finishing the book, he spent some time studying the Demonic Body spellbook, but the figure he expected still hadn't appeared. Left with no choice, he tucked his books away and headed back through the camp to join the elves.

  Passing through the camp, he saw groups of people hiring lizardman mercenaries in squads. He realized that the lizardmen accompanying Bahunt had likely been hired here; he wondered what the going rate was.

  As he walked, he reflected on the latter half of the book. To interface with the Knowledge World, the Mystery City was equipped with various arrangements. One was a miraculous spring—said to be a masterpiece of the powerful wizard—which the book crudely explained as a "super-enhanced version of an expensive Spirit-Mind Potion." There were also records of a powerful insectoid who had attempted to breach the city by force, only to be shattered into a thousand pieces upon impact.

  When he returned to the campfire, the Fire Guy was cooking again, but this time it was a stew. A variety of mushrooms and meat chunks bobbed in a bubbling pot, filling the air with a rich aroma. Tars felt a bit embarrassed; after all, they weren't close friends, and it felt wrong to keep mooching meals.

  "Two mana stones for a bowl of soup," the Fire Guy suddenly said.

  Tars blinked, then reached into his pocket and handed over two mana stones. Sure enough, he received a bowl of soup. Kanaya, sitting nearby, simply rolled her eyes.

  Poof! A burst of flames erupted nearby. The blast was so close that the soup pot was jolted, spilling two or three bowls' worth of liquid. Bahunt stepped out from the dying flames, though the lizardman mercenaries were nowhere to be seen.

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  "Six mana stones," the Fire Guy said, holding out his hand.

  Bahunt, who already looked to be in a foul mood, was taken aback by the gesture. Curiously, his expression softened slightly. Without a word, he fished out six mana stones and handed them over.

  As Bahunt sat down, he spared a glance for Tars but remained silent.

  "Kanaya, what do you know about that city?" Tars asked, handing her the small booklet he had bought. The elf set down her half-finished soup and curiously leafed through it.

  "Give it up. That city has been fluctuating frequently these past two days. You might miss its opening just because of a snake," the Fire Guy said, handing Bahunt a bowl. Bahunt took the soup and drank in silence, looking thoughtful.

  "The snake... I have already caught it," Bahunt said, glancing at the kobold sitting nearby.

  While Tars chatted with the elf, he kept his ears pricked. From the sound of it, the Fire Guy hadn't known Bahunt had caught the snake; it was clearly private business. Combined with what he had read in the book, Tars could see Bahunt's determination. Even if the book was only half-true, the value was immense. By running around, Bahunt risked missing the opportunity, just as the Fire Guy had warned. Furthermore, Tars realized that if he hadn't been there, Bahunt might not have admitted to catching the snake. He truly was becoming an eyesore of a kobold.

  "That snake... it belonged to Karyu, didn't it?" the Fire Guy asked, stirring the soup. The elf also looked up with curiosity.

  "Yes. I helped him find it many years ago," Bahunt said. He finished his soup and tossed over six more mana stones for another bowl. "I intend to bury him. In that academy, he was arguably my only friend."

  Kanaya looked blank; she apparently didn't know who Karyu was.

  "Karyu is dead?" the Fire Guy asked.

  "Yes. I cleaved him open myself. He should be dead; the reaction of his familiar confirmed it, though he was always full of tricks from a young age," Bahunt said, sipping his soup. "At the moment I cleaved him, I was trapped by his spell. His familiar took his corpse in its mouth and ran off right in front of me while I was immobilized..."

  Bahunt set down his empty bowl and scanned the group around the fire. His burly frame was still the tallest among them, and his face had turned somber.

  "As a friend, I am grieving. I didn't say anything because I judged that you wouldn't understand," he said with a dark expression. "I held no ill will toward him, but he stood in the way of my transcendent path. Therefore, he had to die. Even if he was my only friend, I had to take his head with my sword. The only thing I could do was ensure my blade was sharp enough not to leave him in pain."

  Tars shrunk back and glanced at the elf. She looked equally stunned.

  "In my loathsome homeland," Kanaya said with a sudden smile, "it is quite common to pierce the chest of a loved one even with the crudest, cheapest knife. I've hated seeing such things since I was a child, but I've never met someone like you—you give me a strange feeling, as if you are saying something incredibly stupid with the most dignified and serious demeanor."

  Bahunt pondered this for a moment and actually nodded in agreement.

  The Fire Guy continued stirring the pot, adding more ingredients. He seemed to genuinely love cooking, carrying exquisite tableware with him. He even tried to offer portions to passersby, though Tars noticed he only successfully gave away one bowl after quite a while.

  Just as Tars was about to drain the last of his soup, a ripple appeared on the surface of the liquid.

  He turned his head. Everyone nearby was doing the same, looking toward the distant, enigmatic city that seemed to float in another dimension.

  Is this the 'fluctuation' they mentioned? Or is it actually opening? Tars wondered. I wonder if that little crybaby bug made it inside.

  Suddenly, a question occurred to him: if this city was so magnificent, why were there only wizard apprentices here? Why hadn't the full wizards, or even more powerful beings, shown up—especially Master Nitely, who still had an outstanding commission for him?