Blood Assimilation

By using the combination of the [Ancestral Regression] skill and the Blood Assimilation ability, he would be able to transform into the Holy Knight Captain Zolat Grant.

Holy Knight Randy forgot to take a material sample from Zolat Grant's corpse before he left. As such, he wouldn't be able to use the [Myriad Species Transformation] skill he gained in Acruxia to transform into him.

That was why he decided to rely on the [Ancestral Regression] skill that he used to transform into Zolat Grant once in the Safe Room.

After assuming his identity, he would sneak out of the city and pretend that he had just arrived in order to establish the credibility of his identity. However, in order to achieve all of that, he needed to know the current time. It was necessary to know how much time had elapsed since Randy left for training, as that would allow him to determine when to show his face in Imperial City.

…

Present time.

Incarnation Randy had just arrived in the vicinity of the Coliseum. Then, he saw a person standing near the entrance of the Coliseum with a slight frown on his face.

That was without a doubt Gutz whom he came to meet up with.

Gutz seemed to have kept his promise to wait for Randy to return. Thus, after completing his attribute integration a few hours ago, he decided to wait near the entrance to the Coliseum. After all, he didn't want to risk missing him at the city gate if he had decided to watch out for him over there.

When Incarnation Randy saw Gutz, he smiled and called out to him while waving his hands.

"Gutz!"

Gutz heard the familiar voice and immediately turned his head. Then he saw a familiar yet unfamiliar person striding toward him. This person looked exactly the same as Randy who he hadn't seen for three days, and at the same time, he looked like a complete stranger.

The reason for his reaction was that Randy had never smiled at him or anyone ever since he met him. As a result of that, he had even come to assume that he was simply an impassive individual who couldn't show emotions. And yet, that very same person was now smiling and even waving at him? What was going on?

Despite his thoughts, he still reciprocated the gesture by smiling back at him and waving at him as he approached him.

"Randy! You're back! That's good! That's good! I thought that you were never coming back after waiting for you for so long!"

The two of them started approaching each other in long strides with smiles on their faces. Once Incarnation Randy reached Gutz, he immediately proceeded to give him a big, strong hug, taking Gutz by surprise.

"Randy?"

Gutz tentatively spoke, feeling the strong hands of Randy around his back. Just when he was about to say something else, Incarnation Randy spoke first.

"Gutz, it's nice to see you again! Oh, right! Gutz, you're a fistfighter, right? Do you know where I can get my hands on some durable gauntlets? Money is not a problem."

Gutz looked at Incarnation Randy whose expressions were more animated than usual as if he was looking at a mysterious animal whose background was unknown.

In his opinion, the current Randy was too strange. Not only was he acting quite friendly, but he was also even asking him where he could get his hands on gauntlets the moment they saw each other again? Wasn't he a sword user? Although he had solid fist-fighting skills, Randy had told him that he was a sword user. Therefore, he assumed that he was a sword user and not a close-quarters combatant.

While close-quarters combat was not mandatory, some people learned it to increase their survival chances when they run into unexpected situations during dungeon hunting or magical beast hunting. As such, he concluded that Randy was one of those people who learned the basics of hand-to-hand combat but didn't have any skill related to it as their main occupation wasn't related to their fists like him.

Despite his bewilderment, he still decided to ask: "Why do you need a gauntlet? Aren't you a sword user?"

"Huh? Oh, right."

Incarnation Randy was puzzled by his question before recalling that Randy did use sword skills thanks to his assimilation of the Holy Knight Captain's blood.

With that recollection, he pondered briefly and then said: "You're right. I do know how to use a sword but I also know some fist techniques, so I need the gauntlet just in case."

"Is that so?"

Gutz felt like something was not right with what he was saying, considering how long it took him to answer his simple question. Not to mention the way he reacted at first.

Regardless, he didn't want to come across as either noisy or nosy, so he decided to trust his words instead of doubting him. However, while he trusted him and wanted to help him in purchasing a decent gauntlet, he also felt that he had waited all this time for him for nothing.

After all, the reason why he waited for him near the Coliseum was partly that he wanted to challenge him once before they left for the Society in order for him to check-in. As 'Randy' expressed such enthusiasm for purchasing a gauntlet, he couldn't bring up the topic of his challenge.

He felt disappointed but he didn't want to let 'Randy' down just because of his selfish motives.

With that in mind, he let out a sigh and said: "Alright. Then, I will take you to the finest equipment shop in Imperial City where I purchase my custom gauntlets. You won't be disappointed."

Incarnation Randy nodded and said with a smile: "I hope that is the case."

With that decided, the two marched in the direction of Market Street where various shops were located.

…

At the same time.

On the road away from Entertainment Street.

Two men clad in golden and white armor were hurriedly walking in the direction of the city gate. They looked furtively to their left and right, as they engaged in a heated discussion with furious expressions. As they spoke, the reaction of one of them, in particular, was contorted with veins bulging in and out of existence every time he spoke.

"Damn it! I told you not to trust that bastard, but you refused to listen. Now, look what has happened! He lied to us about finding the whereabouts of the Captain and made us wait for nothing in the pub!"

"Don't blame it all on me. You also trusted him at the time and spilled the answers to the questions he asked us, remember? So, why are you making it sound like I am the one who made you believe in him when you trusted him on your own accord?"

Naturally, the identities of the two men clad in golden and white armor were the two Holy Knights known as Barian and Zante.

Because of their blind trust in Incarnation Randy, they waited until the afternoon at the pub where they met to contact him. Having no way of knowing when he would come or a way to contact him, they continued to patiently wait by rekindling their trust in the genuinely kind young man they met over the course of the day instead of leaving for Alpheotus City one day prior to search for their captain themselves.

However, they soon regretted their ill-founded decision based on misguided trust when the appointed time decided by the Cardinal was upon them. As they still hadn't found the location of their captain, they became restless.

Only then did they conclude that they were most likely played by the young man they met the other day. Having been left with no other choice, they decided to abscond from Imperial City right away. They wanted to leave in haste before being discovered by the Cardinal and getting charged for a crime they didn't commit.

At some point, they reached the city gate. Usually, when they pass by guards stationed at the city gate, they exchange casual pleasantries with them. However, this time, Barian and Zante couldn't afford to chit-chat with them. As such, they planned on ignoring them and walking away as fast as they could.

However, when they reached the vicinity of the city gate, they heard a commotion coming from outside the city gate. It appeared that the guards were apparently arguing with someone at the front of the city gate.

This commotion outside immediately captured the attention of both Barian and Zante. They thought that the sly Cardinal Juke was aware of their stay in Imperial City the entire time. As a result, he anticipated their escape when they couldn't deliver what he requested and sent people to arrest them on their way out of the city.

The two of them became anxious about the possibility, as they exchanged meaningful glances. However, they needed to confirm their doubts. If it was as they were thinking, then they wouldn't be able to escape anymore, even if they wanted to. That would also mean that their escape was futile from the beginning and that they were merely dancing in the palm of Cardinal Juke.

At this point, Barian and Zante wouldn't doubt it if the appearance of that mysterious young man had something to do with the Cardinal trying to mess with them. Regardless of their apprehensive thoughts, the moment of truth would only be reached after they had witnessed the commotion outside of the city.