Reign's eyes widened at Aethion's revelation. 'You memorized his soul signature?"
"Why ... why the hell didn't you say so earlier?!" Reign shouted in shock, anger, and elation.
"You needed to have some time to process what happened, to calm yourself down, otherwise you would have wanted to leave and go around the regions looking for that man the instant I told you."
"You are prone to doing this because you get emotional, I couldn't let you do that now."
Reign listened to Aethion and sighed as he knew the latter was right. Had Aethion told him about the soul signature, then Reign truly would have tried to leave right away and go search for 'Richard'.
"But don't worry, as long as we come across him again, as long as he is in a radius of 200 meters from us, we will be able to sense a familiar signature, and then, we can focus and sense the souls that are over a mile around you, which will allow us to pinpoint exactly what signature is familiar and who it belongs to."
'That's... incredible,' Reign thought, the weight of relief lifting some of the tension in his shoulders.
"I did what was necessary, " Aethion replied. "We will find him, Reign, and when we do, he won't be able to hide."
'Are there any restrictions about the soul signatures, I mean, how many can be saved and memorized?'
"Of course, the stronger one is and the better control over soul power one has, the easier it is to memorize a soul signature and then sense it from that person."
"For the current me, I can memorize up to 20 soul signatures, you might be able to memorize 5 in the same way, any more would be difficult for you," Aethion replied, his voice calm, but a bit prideful.
Reign merely chuckled at Aethion's words. Even though Aethion's soul had healed to the point of being as strong as his own soul, reaching Tier VI, he was still nowhere close to being as powerful as he was at his peak.
Aethion was prideful, he had at one point in time been a Transcendent after all, compared to Reign, he had lived for far longer and had experienced much more. As a Necromancer, Aethion actually specialized in soul power, at least a part of it.
That was how he was able to create his fighting style, how he was able to create a small army of undead that would constantly be brought back to life and strengthened after being defeated.
Compared to Reign, Aethion was simply far too better at utilizing soul power, the two were not even comparable. Aethion's pride was of course present as he felt happy that the difference between them was still quite big.
Still, Reign felt a surge of gratitude towards Aethion. The old man had been a constant guide and support, offering wisdom and strength in their times of need. Of course, he was partly doing so because he was bound to Reign, if Reign was to die, Aethion's soul would perish as well.
Reign looked at each of them, appreciating their unwavering support. "We'll strengthen our defenses and continue building our alliances, but we also need to try and gather more information on Nicholas, anything that we can find."
"That's where our new contacts come in," Shadow added. "Some of the factions we connected with tonight might have intel on him or his activities."
"I'll start working on that immediately," Mia said, determination evident in her voice.
"Me too," Shadow agreed. "I'll reach out to our allies and see what they know."
The group fell into a rhythm, each member taking on their tasks with a renewed sense of urgency. As they dispersed, Reign couldn't help but feel a mix of gratitude and frustration. Gratitude for the unwavering support of his friends and allies, and frustration at the elusive nature of Nicholas, the man responsible for so much pain.
The Grand Auction House slowly emptied, the last of the guests making their way out into the night. Reign stood by the entrance, watching them leave, his mind a whirl of thoughts and plans. The revelations of the evening had given them a direction, but the path ahead was still fraught with uncertainty.
"Ready to head back?" Wolf's voice broke through his thoughts.
Reign turned to see his friend standing beside him, a knowing look in his eyes. "Yeah," Reign replied, nodding. "Let's go."
The journey back to Doncaster was quiet, each member lost in their thoughts. The weight of their mission hung heavy in the air, a constant reminder of the stakes they were dealing with.
They went through the portal that led to their auction house and then exited it.
When they arrived, they were greeted by the comforting familiarity of Doncaster, a place that had become their sanctuary in these turbulent times.
Reign gathered everyone in the main meeting room, the atmosphere tense with anticipation. "We need to plan our next steps carefully," he began, his voice steady. "Nicholas is out there, and he's watching us, we can't afford to make any mistakes."
"I doubt he has eyes here, but one can never be sure enough."
"It's already late, we will talk to the new contacts and allies tomorrow, for tonight, we should rest and allow our minds to ease off a bit," Shadow said as he placed a hand on Reign's shoulder.
"Do try to get some sleep, alright?"
"Yeah." Reign replied, his eyes showing just how exhausted he was after everything that happened today.