William was pleasantly surprised to see the improved bonus effect of his Heat Resistance Talent. He wanted to try it out immediately, but increasing the power of his Fire Magic wouldn't increase his resistance any further so it was useless for the moment.
Not to mention he was still disguised as Serio, so neither the Fire or Earth Elements should be used here.
With his now incredibly high resistance to fire, William dove back into the white flames. His body swam forward at a normal pace, completely unbothered by the intense heat.
What used to feel like an uncomfortable 38 degrees Celsius now felt like a cool summer breeze, barely noticeable. Even as he dove deeper, the temperature hardly changed until he reached the very center of the flames, where the uncomfortable feeling returned.
It's still a bit too much to stay here for a long time, but I've made it to the center now. System, can I absorb this Greater Fire Vein now?
The System didn't respond, so William did what he had done previously with the other Veins, resting his hand on a ball of white flames that were extremely dense and felt like jelly when he pressed down.
-Discovered Fire Vein: +50 PP
The Lesser Life Vein only gave me three Potential Points when I first approached it, and the Earth Vein was the same, why is the value increased now? William asked the System.
-Because I said so. Would you rather I only give you three points?
The System's tone seemed a bit angry, but William didn't know why it would be upset over a simple question.
Uh...never mind. Continue with the absorption process.
———
-Absorbing Greater Fire Vein...
...
...
-Cannot absorb Fire Vein. System Level too low.
———
"Oh, he's got a new identity, so you won't find him easily. Just wait for him to come back and pick us up. We're all going together." Tia replied.
"All of us? How many people are going with him?"
"Hmm, I think it's just me, you, Gunther, and an Inner Core Disciple. Yuppy, I believe?" Tia looked upward as she tried to remember the Alchemist's name.
"Yuppy?" Gunther looked at Tia with a raised eyebrow. "His name is Yuming, even I remember that. And don't forget Carl."
"Ah, yes. Yuming." Tia nodded. "That was my second guess."
"No it wasn't."
Charlotte stepped in before the two could get into another fight. "Okay, so five of us? When is he coming?"
Gunther shook his head, "I don't know. He said he'd be around in maybe one or two weeks, so it could be any time now, but he also didn't sound very confident. Carl went with him, so I wouldn't be surprised if it took him three weeks or more."
"Are you saying that Carl is slow?" Tia asked.
"Not exactly, but it's not like he's fast either. You saw how fast William was during the Ranking match against Yu Ren and Hanzu, Carl is nowhere near that speed." Gunther explained.
"What do I do in the meantime? I can't wait here for him forever, I'm a healer." Charlotte asked.
A mage with the Life Affinity was almost mandatory on most missions, so she was sent out frequently to act as support for Outer and Inner Core Disciples alike. If William took too long to return, she might be on another mission by that time.
"I can ask Filipe to contact him. He has a communicator that should be able to reach him from almost anywhere. We can go on a mission together and set up a new place to meet." Gunther said.
He explained how William had given Filipe a communicator to talk back and forth, since he wouldn't be leaving the Sect with the rest of the group. He didn't forget to explain the part where William improved its Arrays in an instant.
Charlotte knew that William was good with Arrays, but having no knowledge of the process herself, she didn't know just how impressive the feat was. In her eyes, a Perfect and an Intermediate Array were basically the same thing, though one was stronger than the other.
She smiled and accepted the offer, following the group to Filipe's residence. Gunther offered to just pass along a message and tell her later, but she insisted on coming along, since it would be "easier that way".
In truth, Charlotte just wanted to hear William's voice again, but how could she admit something like this to a group of people she hardly ever interacted with?
It was already awkward enough hearing news about William second-hand. Now that she was back in the Sect, why would she sit back and wait?
What am I thinking, I don't need to be flustered over this. Charlotte shook her head and dismissed her thoughts while Gunther knocked on the door of Filipe's residence.