Chapter 1305 Familiar Face

Groups of native Awakeners constantly moved between them carrying monster materials, herbs, ores, wood, and supplies recovered from the surrounding regions and dungeons.

Several Basic Wells had also been distributed throughout the residential sections, reducing the need for everyone to travel toward the nearby river for water.

The Archer Training Ground occupied a large open area away from the houses.

Several groups were currently training there, repeatedly firing at the moving targets generated by the building.

Wooden watchtowers had meanwhile begun appearing around the outskirts.

The defensive wall was still incomplete.

Even so, the difference compared to several days earlier was enormous.

What had originally been a black pillar standing alone within an endless grassland was rapidly becoming a proper town.

The settlement was still crude in many places, with large empty spaces, unfinished roads, temporary shelters, and construction materials piled throughout several areas.

Yet it was alive.

As Lily and the others continued toward the edge of the territory, the density of buildings gradually decreased.

Beyond them stretched the silver-green grasslands, until finally they saw the waiting visitor.

The moment Lily got a clear look at him, her cautious expression disappeared.

"Timi!"

Her excited scream drew the attention of several nearby Awakeners.

Lily practically jumped forward in happiness.

The person standing several dozen meters beyond the incomplete wall was indeed Timi.

He was a tall black youth with a lean build and long dreadlocks.

Compared to the last time Lily had seen him, his appearance had barely changed.

There was only one particularly striking difference.

His eyes.

Both were completely black.

There was no visible white, iris, or pupil.

From one corner to the other, his eyes resembled two pools of pure darkness.

Combined with his otherwise familiar appearance, the change was incredibly conspicuous.

Timi had maintained an almost emotionless expression while waiting outside the territory.

However, the moment he saw Lily running toward him, his expression finally changed.

A smile appeared on his face.

"Lily."

"Timi! It really is you!"

Lily hurried the remaining distance toward him, her earlier suspicion completely forgotten.

Behind her, Arianne, Ace, and Lia simultaneously relaxed slightly.

They had initially treated Timi as a foreign Awakener, and by every reasonable definition, he still appeared to be one.

Neither Ace nor Lia remembered anyone with completely black eyes among the thousands of people transferred from the Land of Origin, and Arianne had never seen him among Michael's people either.

Yet Lily's reaction was impossible to misunderstand.

She knew him.

The familiarity between the two was enough for the three to lower their guard somewhat, although none of them completely abandoned their caution.

Timi's strange eyes alone were enough to warrant some attention.

Lily stopped a short distance in front of him, still visibly happy at unexpectedly finding someone familiar.

"How did you even find me?"

"I didn't."

Lily blinked.

Timi's completely black eyes shifted past her toward Ace and Lia.

The two young men noticed his attention at once.

Although Timi did not appear hostile, the way he examined them was difficult to miss.

Timi was equally cautious.

He could not sense any obvious threat from either of them, but something about the two suggested they were strong.

More importantly, their appearances had been the entire reason he had come here in the first place.

After another moment of hesitation, he finally asked.

"Are they your brothers?"

"Huh?"

Lily glanced back at Ace and Lia before shaking her head.

"No. They're my brother's friends."

Timi slowly nodded, although some skepticism remained on his face.

He had never met Lily's cousin, whom she subconsciously regarded as a brother.

However, he had certainly heard about him.

Before they separated, Lily had mentioned her cousin more than enough times for Timi to remember him.

Combined with several other things he had noticed about Lily at the time, Timi had long since placed an invisible label across her forehead.

Daughter from a rich home.

Technically, sister from a rich home would have been more accurate, but the meaning was close enough.

Whoever Lily's mysterious older cousin was, he had left a surprisingly deep impression on Timi despite the two never meeting.

That was precisely why Timi had reacted so strongly after encountering Ace and Lia.

There was something strange about them.

It was difficult to explain.

Neither looked exactly like Lily.

Their facial structures were different, and there was certainly not enough resemblance to assume they were siblings.

Yet there was an almost invisible similarity between the three.

The black hair was ordinary enough.

The green eyes were less common.

Then there were Ace and Lia's slightly pointed ears, and several smaller features that Timi could not quite identify.

Individually, none of those things should have meant much.

Together, they had been enough to remind him of Lily at once.

Once he learned that the two belonged to a nearby territory, curiosity had gotten the better of him.

Unexpectedly, that instinct had actually led him to her.

Timi's gaze eventually moved away from the two boys and landed on the blonde girl standing slightly behind Lily.

His expression barely changed, but his body became subtly more tense.

Unlike Ace and Lia, there was nothing about Arianne's appearance that reminded him of Lily aside from her similarly green eyes.

There was also nothing openly threatening about her.

Yet for some reason, looking at her made his skin crawl slightly.

It was instinctive.

Timi therefore only examined her briefly before returning his attention to Lily.

He was just about to speak when he realized he had nothing to say.

Just as he was about to embarrass himself, a voice echoed.

"Your Highness, why don't you invite your friend to the territory for a temporary shade," Ace stated.

It was daytime, and though there was no sun in sight, the invisible heatwave, while it didn't affect them much, was still quite evident.

Lily was just about to speak when she noticed Timi's shocked look directed at her.

At once, she understood what he was thinking.

"You shameless liar! I thought you said you're not rich!"

"Hey! Someone else's money is not my money!"