Chapter 119: Jhin, the Virtuoso

Chapter 119: Chapter 119: Jhin, the Virtuoso

He also learned from these secrets that Buck had indeed spent all his liquid funds to assassinate the Mage named Cindy.

All of this proved that his plan to exploit an information gap and incite a gang war had been a resounding success.

The only surprise was this Fire-Stealing Marvel.

Lance had thought he’d been clean enough, but he never expected to be stealthily tracked down by an item of this caliber.

’Looks like I’ll have to be much more careful in this world from now on.’

This continent was teeming with all sorts of bizarre Professions, wondrous Source Material, and those inescapable Fire-Stealing Marvels.

From now on, it would no longer be surprising to encounter all manner of strange and mysterious Powers.

Just as Lance was about to close the panel, he suddenly noticed a different piece of information in the very last line of text.

[Buck’s Secret #5: Some time ago, several nearby strongholds of the Dark River Organization suffered a devastating joint attack. As a result, their underground slave trade has been in dire straits, and they are now in urgent need of new Sub-human Species to fill the massive void in the market.]

[Buck heard that a shipment of goods originally being escorted by Dark River recently escaped and is currently at large in the towns around Gray Rock Town.]

[The Dark River liaison secretly told Buck that any runaway Sub-human Species captured in the wild could be sold directly to them as the original shipment.]

[If he can pull off this one deal, he’ll earn enough money to avoid doing dirty work for months. That’s why Buck is now convinced that Sub-human Species are a surefire, lucrative business. No matter how they’re acquired, as long as they’re delivered, they can be exchanged for piles of Gold Coins.]

’Dark River again.’

Lance frowned deeply.

He had seen the name of this underground organization before, in the secrets of the petty thief, Jeff, who had been tailing him.

Now, combined with the information from Buck, it was clear they were a vast network specializing in trafficking.

Moreover, they specialized in illegally capturing rare Sub-human Species.

’Escaped cargo?’

Several ideas flashed through Lance’s mind, but he was out of time to consider them in any more detail.

The three-minute countdown was over.

The shadow of death descended as expected.

Lance felt his eyelids grow as heavy as lead, and his vision rapidly faded to black.

His heart and breath stopped simultaneously.

Finally, his consciousness sank completely into an endless darkness.

[Life signs have vanished. Initiating death determination...]

[Talent: Ouroboros Ring activating...]

[Determination successful: Congratulations, you have once again resisted death.]

[Several compatible Heroic Profession information streams detected. Decrypting...]

[Decryption successful. One Heroic Profession path unlocked: Jhin, the Virtuoso...]

...

「East Coast Province, Azure Harbor」

The night air carried the faint, salty tang of the sea.

Within a sprawling private estate, High Tier Magic Crystal Lamps illuminated the entire complex as bright as day.

The estate consisted of a majestic main mansion and several auxiliary buildings.

In the vast, meticulously manicured gardens, a marble fountain spouted crystal-clear water.

Fully-armed elite guards patrolled through the shadows, while maids in black and white uniforms bustled through the corridors with trays in hand.

Everywhere, the air reeked of extravagant, aristocratic luxury.

In a spacious and comfortable study, a middle-aged man sat behind a large oak desk, holding an expensive quill and writing something in a thick parchment notebook.

If one were to get close enough, they would discover that the man’s facial contours bore a striking resemblance to Lance’s—about seventy percent similar.

However, his features were more mature, his demeanor more composed and reserved.

His every gesture bespoke the manner of a Great Noble from a centuries-old lineage.

He stared intently at the page, the nib of his quill making a soft scratching sound.

He had just written the six words: "Lance Lot has obtained the Compass."

Just as he was about to continue writing, something unexpected occurred.

The special ink absorbed by the quill’s nib suddenly poured out as if it had lost control, instantly soaking the entire sheet of parchment in a black blotch.

The middle-aged man paused, his brow furrowing slightly.

This was not the first time this had happened.

He had encountered a similar situation over ten days ago.

The man did not grow flustered. He slowly returned the quill to its silver holder, each movement maintaining an extreme elegance.

He reached out and began flipping back through the notebook’s pages.

Amidst the densely packed lines of text, a few crucial terms seemed to leap off the page.

"Rosenthal," "Witch," "Silent Demon Swordsman."

When he flipped to an earlier page, the writing recorded, "Lance Lot leaves Copper Creek Forest..."

Immediately following that was a large, jarring black ink stain that completely obscured what happened next.

The next sentence jumped directly to "...and returned to Gray Rock Town with the companions he had rescued."

This was the first time his Destiny Weaving Power had begun to fail on such a massive scale.

’No, that’s not right.’

He silently corrected himself.

The precise point of failure could be traced back even further.

More than six months ago, due to the covert interference of a troublesome old rival, his abilities had suffered a severe backlash. For a considerable time, he had completely lost the ability to perform Destiny Weaving.

By the time he finally sorted out the chaos and regained his Power, Lance had already become a Copyist.

In the days that followed, his interference in Lance’s trajectory of destiny became strangely inconsistent—sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

Most critically, he could no longer perform the kind of meticulous, detailed weaving he once had.

Now, he could only manage to set a general direction. He had no control over the specific twists and turns of fate, nor how perilous the process might be.

This was a world of difference from his initial state, where he could precisely control details as minute as what his target ate or did in a single day.

This made his slightly obsessive nature feel a bit uncomfortable.

He attributed this loss of control entirely to his old rival’s interference.

However, he quickly composed himself.

’At least the core objective has been achieved.’

He had successfully woven "Witch Elisya" and "Rosenthal" into Lance’s path of destiny.

To do so, he had interfered with the destinies of two Heroes from the Royal Capital, Necros and Gideon, and had already suffered a severe backlash from fate.

’For now, there’s no need to weave Lance’s destiny any further.’

’It’s time to harvest the prophecies I’ve sown and accumulate more [Destiny Element].’

The man closed the notebook, not attempting to force the writing any further.

He stood up and carried the thick volume over to a massive bookshelf on the side of the study.

This floor-to-ceiling bookshelf was densely packed with what looked to be a thousand identical notebooks.

He slid the volume in his hand into a vacant spot, his fingers lightly tracing the numbered spine.

"How I look forward to it, my son."

The man murmured from the shadows.

A light of undisguised anticipation danced in his eyes.

But it was not the gratification of a father watching his son come into his own.

It was more like a farmer who had toiled for years, watching the fruit on the branch finally ripen, quietly awaiting the final harvest.