Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 416: The Perfect Thief

“Yes! Go, Frost Nugget! Fly through the ring!” the girl cheered, holding up an icy hoop.Thalion stood on the outstretched arm of the mother, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

They were inside a wide hall entirely carved from ice. The mother stood atop a tall pedestal, while the girl waited at the opposite end. The father sat on a block of ice, watching the procedure with narrowed eyes.

Hours passed as they taught Thalion every stupid command imaginable—and Thalion had to admit, those dogs really were intelligent to remember them all at once. Even worse were the bizarre code phrases for attacks and maneuvers that he also had to memorize. Still, he was doing an acceptable job so far. During the breaks, he observed the girl and her parents as they trained.

Most of the time, they meditated beside a white crystal, absorbing its cold energy. Under normal circumstances, this would not have helped Thalion in the slightest, but with the aid of his title, he could clearly perceive how the cold traveled through their skin and was absorbed directly by their cells. It took some time, but eventually he figured out how it worked.

That knowledge alone was worth an incredible amount. Thalion would have jumped around in joy if doing so wouldn’t have ruined the role of the stupid animal he was playing—quite convincingly, if he had to say so himself.

The real breakthrough was realizing that this cold tempering should also apply to his fire tempering. Combined with the fire crystal, this alone could catapult both his human form and the Sanguis Impera forward. Once he obtained the ice crystal—the grand treasure of this stage—he might even be able to push Eagly to entirely new heights.

He was already experimenting, but he couldn’t sink into deep meditation. From time to time, they made him perform another idiotic trick. Still, Thalion was very pleased with his progress. Before, when he had held his hand over lava, he had no idea how to integrate the heat. Now, with cold forcibly driven through his veins, the process felt far easier—almost natural.

He was lucky to possess his title. Normally, it might have taken weeks or even months to learn what he had just picked up through observation alone.

Eventually, they decided to leave Thalion sitting on an ice pillar to the side while they continued training. Their practice involved rapidly cycling skills, which looked to Thalion like they were pushing toward an upgrade. It reminded him of what he and Sylas had done with their fireball skill back in the tutorial—only on an entirely different level.

They formed weapons of ice midair while chaining attacks in swift, seamless combinations. Thalion had no doubt that fighting them would be difficult. They were fast, versatile, and clearly holding back a significant amount of power. Still, he was confident he could take them.

The real problem was the girl and her ability to lock his skills.

Fortunately, most of his other forms should be nearly immune to ice-based abilities. On top of that, his elemental forms and the Sanguis Impera could easily break the bloodline seal by destroying the ice spell itself. Thalion suspected that the skill lock required direct contact and that none of his passive abilities could be sealed this way.

The girl was truly a powerhouse. She excelled at constantly applying her bloodline through icy winds that circled her target, meaning she didn’t even need to land a direct hit. Against someone suddenly stripped of their skills, victory would be easy—especially against fighters or heavy warriors. Mages would fare even worse, unless they managed to destroy the icy winds before they reached them.

The training continued for hours, until a notification arrived.

“The royal family has invited everyone to a gathering,” the mother announced, reading from her status screen. “It appears we are already encountering trial takers.”

The mood in the room shifted instantly. Everyone stopped what they were doing and hurried off. In small side chambers connected to the training hall—each carved entirely from ice—they quickly changed clothes before moving on at a brisk pace.

Thalion saw his opportunity.

He landed lightly on the girl’s shoulder. He had done this before, and in the rush, neither she nor the others noticed.

Thalion’s greed stirred. Royal families always made a display of power, which meant there was a good chance the ice crystal would be present. If that was the case, he would simply take it. All he needed to do was touch the crystal, store it in his spatial amulet, and trigger an escape token.

Ideally, he would use one of the older tokens—so no one would even think to activate an item capable of blocking his escape.

All in all…

A very good plan.

Escape tokens and spatial amulets like the one Thalion possessed had to be incredibly rare across the multiverse. At the very least, he had never seen a single invader carrying even a basic spatial ring. That meant the royals were likely operating under the assumption that anyone attempting to steal the crystal would have to physically carry it out.

If the ice crystal was anywhere near as powerful as the fire crystal Thalion had fished out of the volcano, that would be a serious problem. Carrying it by hand would be completely out of the question. So perhaps—just perhaps—there were no proper defenses in place against someone simply stealing it.

Thalion had to restrain himself from flying ahead immediately in search of the crystal. For now, he had to continue playing the role of the stupid pet. But the moment an opportunity presented itself, he would snatch the crystal and escape without hesitation.

He only hoped the girl wouldn’t get caught in the fallout. Even if he wished her no harm, he couldn’t afford to hesitate when the grand treasure of the stage was within reach. He had a goal—and now that cold body tempering had been forced upon Eagly, a powerful ice crystal would be more than just useful.

In fact, Thalion could hardly wait for a massive cultivation session, alternating between the fire and ice crystals. If he managed to obtain this one, he would have a genuine chance to power up dramatically.

It was a shame his skyship was gone. Having something that could carry him while he meditated with the crystals would have been ideal, since cultivation during travel was far more efficient.

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The icy tunnel suddenly opened into a massive chamber.

It resembled a colossal cylinder stretching upward for hundreds of meters. The more Thalion observed, the clearer it became that the entire mountain had been hollowed out. It felt less like a natural rock formation and more like a vast beehive.

Holes riddled the walls, and through them, elves streamed into the chamber in ever-growing numbers—like floodwaters during monsoon season.

In hindsight, sitting on the girl’s shoulder may not have been the best idea. She was one of the smallest present. All the perception in the world didn’t help much without the high ground.

It quickly became clear that the girl’s parents were leaders of a clan. More and more elves arrived wearing similar uniforms, bowing respectfully as they passed. While most newcomers remained on the lower levels, the family continued upward without hesitation.

The higher they climbed, the fewer polite exchanges Thalion noticed—and the more common hostile glances became. When they finally reached the highest plateau, one thing became immediately obvious.

This family was the weakest present.

Not in individual strength, but in numbers.

Every other clan had brought at least six members to the upper level—some as many as twenty. By comparison, this family consisted of only three. Thalion didn’t count, of course. As a pet, he likely didn’t matter.

It was surprisingly common for clan leaders to bring their descendants—and many of them also had pets. That, more than anything else, caught Thalion off guard. Nearly every second child had some kind of strange abomination at their side.

The family hadn’t stood in peace for long before another clan approached.

An elven woman stepped forward, tall and painfully slim. Thalion wasn’t usually one for violence based on appearance alone, but that razor-sharp nose practically begged for a solid punch.

While Thalion was momentarily distracted by the woman’s extreme facial structure, he completely missed the child standing beside her—until the girl turned.

She appeared to be about the same age as the girl whose shoulder Thalion was currently perched on.

“That you and your house even dare to come up here after everything you’ve lost,” the woman sneered at the parents, a sadistic smile playing across her lips.

Thalion had always disliked elves in general—but apparently, elves disliked other elves just as much. Discovering that they shared this in common did not improve his mood.

He didn’t hear the mother’s response, because his attention snapped back to the child approaching him.

The girl also had a pet.

It was—without exaggeration—the ugliest cat Thalion had ever seen.

Its fur was white, but large patches were missing, giving it the appearance of some undead monstrosity. The aura it radiated was disturbingly strong—solidly E-grade. Thalion had always believed beasts grew larger with each grade, which made it especially unsettling to see a cat nearing mid E-grade sitting calmly before him.

The way the thing looked at him made Thalion deeply uncomfortable—especially with his skills still locked.

The cat wore a golden necklace.

Thalion silently prayed its skills were sealed as well.

“So… you have a pet too,” the other girl said, examining Thalion closely.

Thalion did his best to strike the most impressive pose he could manage. He puffed out his chest and nearly flexed, just to make sure it was clear he was superior to the ugly cat.

“Yes! Its name is Frost Nugget, and it’s super sweet, isn’t it?” the girl chirped happily. “Do you want to pet it?”

Thalion realized with growing unease that the other girl had come here to humiliate—or worse—and his ride hadn’t even noticed. Normally, such naivety would have annoyed him.

But she was just a child.

Instead of irritation, anger slowly burned in his chest. His mind began racing, checking whether he had any explosives or interesting items he could discreetly place near the girl—just in case things turned ugly.

Just in case.

If only that stupid cat would stop staring at me…

The thing was completely fixated on Thalion. Every time he pretended not to notice it, the cat crept a little closer. It was probably just as stupid as it was ugly.

“I don’t want to pet it,” the girl said calmly, a smile spreading across her lips—one that mirrored her mother’s all too well. “But don’t worry, little bird. Once this clan is dealt with, I’ll come for you.”

Thalion swore silently. He had encountered people like this far too often in his life, and he despised them. In fact, he genuinely hated this kind of person. They deserved a proper beating—preferably with some hair pulling involved.

Before Thalion could figure out how to mess with the girl, the ceiling cracked open.

A wide disk descended from above. Upon it stood a group of elves in ornate uniforms—but what truly made Thalion’s eyes widen was the massive crystal placed at the center. It stood over three meters tall, shaped vaguely like a pyramid, and radiated an overwhelming cold.

The chill flooded the chamber, nearly making Thalion shiver—even after all the cold tempering he had undergone. The white crystal was still more than fifty meters away, yet the cold was already almost unbearable.

Two familiar figures stood near it.

It took Thalion a moment to recognize them. He didn’t dare use Identify—it would expose him—but he didn’t need it anyway. One of them was Kaelir, the fire elf who had nearly killed him earlier in the trial. Standing beside him was a silver-haired woman—beautiful, composed, and unmistakably another chosen.

For chosen ones, this stage was likely a treasure trove. Elves tended to cling together, and on New Earth this small sect would desperately need allies in the coming war. Having a chosen—and by extension, a god—on their side was the best possible outcome.

Not only would it greatly increase their chances of survival, but it would also ensure continued support from powerful entities in the future. A strong connection to a chosen was among the most valuable assets in the multiverse.

These elves had likely been living on the edge for a long time, unable to advance without taking massive risks. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be stuck in E-grade—or participating in this treasure hunt just to gain entry into the new universe.

The most ironic detail was the stage objective itself: assisting the cold.

The two chosen probably had no idea that the massive white crystal was actually the grand treasure of this stage.

Thalion had been so focused on the newcomers that he completely forgot about the ugly cat.

That was a mistake.

The cat seized its chance and crept closer. Thalion was only alerted when his danger sense flared—just as the creature sprang at him.

“Greetings, my faithful brothers and sisters,” the ice elf chieftain began, his mana-infused voice echoing through the chamber.

“I have called you all here to announce the most joyful news. These two newcomers are Kaelir, chosen of Pyrael, and Lyraeth, chosen of Lunareth. They are not only here to help us strengthen our most precious artifact, but have also offered us an alliance in the new world.”

The chieftain stretched out both arms as cheers erupted from the balconies lining the chamber.

“They have already added numerous auxiliary crystals to empower the formation that keeps this region cold—”

He paused.

“—Hey! What are those two doing down there? Please keep your pets under control.”

At that moment, Thalion was hopping, diving, and flying in erratic patterns, desperately evading the cat as it chased him relentlessly. The creature conjured floating platforms of ice beneath its paws, allowing it to pursue him through the air.

Thalion zigzagged wildly—deliberately steering toward the massive ice crystal, making it look as though he was panicking.

So far, it worked.

Until he landed on the crystal.

The moment his talons touched the surface, extreme cold surged into him, nearly freezing his feet solid.

Kaelir’s eyes went wide.

“Tha—Tha—Tha—Tha—” he stammered, pointing directly at Thalion, with an open mouth.

The entire chamber turned to stare at him as if he’d lost his mind.

Meanwhile, the cat launched itself straight at Thalion’s beak, jaws wide open.

“Thalion,” Kaelir finally managed to say, conjuring a fireball in his hand. “The bird is Thalion!”

The chieftain spun around—but before he could react, a deafening screech cut through the chamber.

Thalion shifted to the Crippled Eclipsari.

In a single violent motion, he tore the cat in half. Tendrils erupted from his body, lashing out at every crystal within reach into his spatial ring.

Without hesitation, he crushed his final good escape token.

The world warped.

In an instant, Thalion vanished—leaving behind two stunned chosen, a shattered clan, and a hollowed-out mountain that would never forget what had just escaped it.