Despite many protesting doctors, Owen discharged himself within minutes.
Once outside, Owen stretched his arms above his head before taking in a deep breath.
’’Freedom at last,’’ he said with a satisfied grin. ’’I’ve missed the fresh air...’’
Jim couldn’t help but shake his head.
’’You’ve only been unconscious for a few days...’’
Owen’s head snapped towards him.
’’To you, maybe,’’ he mumbled quietly.
’’Huh?’’ Jim asked, glancing back at him. ’’What did you say?’’
Owen blinked for a brief moment before smiling.
’’I said it’s easy for you to say,’’ he replied loudly.
Jim shrugged, not thinking too much of it.
After walking in silence for a short while, Owen looked towards Theo, who was walking up front with Iris.
’’Alright,’’ he said. ’’Catch me up.’’
’’Where exactly are we now? What’s the plan? And what are we doing next?’’
Theo glanced back at him right away.
’’Oh, we’re in Cairo now,’’ he said calmly. ’’We’ll be taking a flight to Petra in a few days.’’
Without another thought, Theo continued patiently from there, explaining everything they knew about the situation around Petra.
By the time he finished, Owen was nodding slowly, his eyes narrowed.
’’That’s good,’’ he muttered. ’’We have plenty of time then.’’
A wide smile spread across his face.
’’Anything else I missed?’’
Theo and the others exchanged glances.
For a brief moment, nobody said a word.
’’I’ll show you once we’re back inside the hotel,’’ Theo finally said.
Owen’s brows furrowed as he glanced at everyone.
’’Why are we being mysterious for no reason?’’ he complained, kicking a rock off the road.
Theo simply smiled as he patted his friend on the back.
’’You’ll see,’’ he said. ’’Just be patient for once.’’
Seeing that Theo had no intention of explaining any further, Owen waved him off dismissively.
’’Fine, fine,’’ he grumbled. ’’I’ll wait.’’
The conversation gradually shifted to lighter topics as the group continued through the streets of Cairo.
Before long, the familiar hotel building finally came into view.
’’Let’s hurry,’’ Jim said, quickening his pace. ’’If we do this quick, we can have a celebratory dinner later.’’
Theo and the others couldn’t help but smile.
This only made Owen look at them even more strangely.
A few minutes later, the group stepped into Theo’s hotel room.
The moment the door clicked shut behind them, Owen folded his arms.
’’Alright,’’ he said. ’’I’m waiting.’’
Theo chuckled before walking over to the table.
With a wave of his hand, a single golden ticket appeared in his palm.
Owen frowned right away.
’’What’s this? Why are you showing me lottery tickets?’’
Before he could say another word, Lyra elbowed him in his side.
’’Just shut up and listen,’’ she whispered, shaking her head.
Theo let out a helpless sigh before holding the ticket out to him.
’’Hold on to this for a moment,’’ he said. ’’This ticket will allow you to get the summoning circle I was talking abou—’’
RIP!
Theo hadn’t even finished his sentence before Owen had already ripped the ticket apart.
A bright white light instantly lit up around him, completely swallowing his body.
’’Say no more,’’ Owen said proudly.
’’...’’
Theo stared at him with his mouth open.
Jim and Iris stared at Owen in disbelief.
Lyra immediately lowered her head into her hands.
Owen looked between all of them, his proud smile gradually fading.
’’What?’’ he asked. ’’Wasn’t I supposed to use it?’’
Theo slowly rubbed his forehead.
’’Yes,’’ he said with a sigh. ’’After I explained what it actually did.’’
Owen scratched the back of his head.
’’Oh...’’
The white light slowly seeped inside his body, gathering around his heart.
’’You should probably sit down,’’ Jim said, gesturing to the couch.
Owen shrugged but still listened.
Everyone kept staring intently at him, waiting to see his reaction.
Yet, as seconds ticked by... nothing happened.
’’Mhm,’’ Owen nodded, closing his eyes. ’’It feels like a nice hot massage.’’
He leaned back on the couch, completely relaxing.
Jim slowly turned to Theo, his eyes wide.
’’What kind of bullshit is this now?’’ he asked. ’’Did he get the ticket with no pain?’’
Theo frowned slightly.
’’There’s no such thing,’’ he said.
Just as the words left his mouth, Owen’s expression began changing.
The smile disappeared from his face as the actual engraving process started.
He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, but not a single sound escaped his mouth.
Seconds ticked by as sweat started dripping down his face.
Everyone could only stare at Owen in amazement.
’He’s actually enduring this quite well,’ Theo thought, surprised.
After two entire minutes had passed, Owen finally started to relax.
He opened his eyes before letting out a long breath.
’’That wasn’t very pleasant,’’ he said, cracking his neck.
Jim stared at Owen with wide, ridiculous eyes.
’’What the hell? How did you not scream or pass out?!’’
Owen shrugged lightly.
’’Beats me.’’
Before anyone could say anything else, Theo stepped in.
’’Do you feel the circle on your heart?’’ he asked, staring at Owen.
Owen nodded right away.
’’Feels strange,’’ he said, raising his hand. ’’But it’s there, yeah.’’
Without another thought, Theo began explaining how everything worked and what they needed to do next.
After finishing his explanation, Owen’s eyes lit up as he jumped to his feet.
’’That’s all?’’ he asked loudly. ’’Let’s get those resources now and get this started.’’
Theo couldn’t help but smile.
’’We’ll go look around tomorrow,’’ he said, pointing to the window.
Outside, the sun had already started to set, painting the sky orange.
’’Besides,’’ he continued. ’’You still need to figure out what kind of pet you want too.’’
Owen crossed his arms right away.
’’I already know,’’ he said firmly. ’’I want a dragon.’’
’’Hadn’t expected anything else,’’ Theo replied. ’’You’ll still have to see what’s available first.’’
Owen opened his mouth to argue, but Lyra grabbed him by the collar.
’’Enough,’’ she said, dragging him toward the door. ’’We’re browsing the auction house tonight. Then we can make a decision tomorrow.’’
Without giving Owen a chance to protest, Lyra dragged him out of the room.
Theo chuckled before glancing at Iris and Jim.
’’You heard them,’’ he said. ’’We’ll go to the auction house tomorrow.’’
Worry flashed across Iris’s face right away.
’’People will figure out we’re alive if we pay with our money,’’ she said softly. ’’They could send people after us again...’’
Theo nodded without hesitation.
Despite that risk, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was too important to waste.
’’That’s why we’re heading for Petra soon. By the time anyone realizes we’re alive, we’ll already be inside the ruins.’’
With that settled, everyone returned to their rooms.
...
The next morning arrived quickly.
After a quick breakfast, the group gathered inside the living room.
Each of their expressions was incredibly tense, but traces of excitement were mixed in with them.
Before anyone could head outside, Theo suddenly spoke up.
’’One more thing,’’ he said.
Everyone turned towards him.
’’Don’t just buy the three items for your contracted beasts today. Buy the resources you’ll need for your next breakthrough too.’’
Jim blinked twice.
’’Our breakthrough?’’ he asked, confused.
Theo nodded immediately.
’’It’ll be just in case,’’ he said. ’’Because once we enter the ruins, there’s no way to go back when any of us reach the next core stage.’’
Silence fell over the group for a moment.
Each of them knew the time spent inside the ruins could very well be be over a month, depending on the sandstorms and whatever they found inside.
Iris slowly nodded.
’’That makes a lot of sense,’’ she said lightly. ’’It’s better to be prepared now than regret it later.’’
’’Exactly,’’ Theo replied with a smile.
With that settled, the group finally left the hotel.
...
It didn’t take long before they arrived at Cairo’s largest auction house.
Although it wasn’t nearly as grand as the one Theo, Jim, and Iris had attended before, it was still filled with treasures that most hunters could only dream of obtaining.
Rows upon rows of rare materials filled the displays.
S-rank beast cores and bones were numerous, with only the soul fragments being in low supply.
Even so, there were still more than enough to satisfy everyone.
’’Split up,’’ Theo said. ’’There’s no point in all of us following each other around. We’ll meet back at the entrance before the auction house closes.’’
Everyone nodded without hesitation.
’’Dragon,’’ Owen muttered to himself as he immediately walked off. ’’There has to be a dragon somewhere...’’
Lyra let out a helpless sigh before following after him.
Meanwhile, Jim’s eyes had already wandered towards a section filled with Light-attributed resources.
’’I’ll see you guys later!’’ he said excitedly before disappearing into the crowd.
Theo chuckled before turning towards Iris.
’’Should we?’’
Iris nodded once.
’’Let’s.’’
The two of them slowly made their way deeper into the auction house.
Time gradually slipped by as they wandered around.
Every now and then, Iris would stop in front of soul fragments, asking Theo for his opinion.
Rather than answering immediately, Theo would quietly consult Feng through their soul contract.
’’Its bloodline is decent,’’ Feng said after glancing at one fragment. ’’But its growth will stop rather early.’’
Theo nodded before shaking his head.
’’Pass,’’ he said.
Iris trusted Theo completely and continued walking.
Only a minute later, she suddenly stopped in front of another soul fragment.
Inside the crystal casing floated a crystal ball containing a gray creature that seemed to be a mix of a lion’s body and an eagle’s beak and wings.
Compared to the surrounding S-rank items, its mana was significantly weaker.
’An A-rank Metal Griffin,’ Theo read, raising an eyebrow. ’She’s interested in that?’
Just as he was about to say something, Feng’s voice rang out inside his mind.
’’Wait,’’ it said.
Theo closed his mouth right away.
’What is it?’ he asked internally.
’’This might be something,’’ Feng said, sounding surprised. ’’I can sense traces of the Argent Griffin bloodline inside that beast.’’
Theo slowly raised an eyebrow.
’What’s that?’ he asked.
’’An old acquaintance,’’ Feng said, almost incredulously.