“…Why am I not surprised?” Tivya said, and paused for a moment, before continuing. “How much do you know about Dependents?”

  “…Nothing.”

  “Huh?”

  “…I know nothing about Dependents.”

  “…Did I expect too much?” Tivya mumbled to herself. “No, you have just come to the inner city. It is only natural that you do not know anything about Dependents…”

  “…Tivya.”

  “…Right,” Tivya said, tearing herself away from her thoughts. “Dependents. Usually, False Wanderers like you, who have just entered the inner city, do not need to know about Dependents. Mostly because of their low privileges. Only those with a privilege level of two stars and above can be allowed to access the information about Dependents.

  “Though, even in cases where False Wanderers have a high enough privilege level, learning about Dependents would be meaningless. Unless their privilege level has reached three stars, granting them the same privileges as a Blood Lord. Because only Blood Lords are allowed to have Dependents.

  “Speaking of Dependents, you need to first understand what the word ‘Dependent’ means. When hearing that name for the first time, many people think that Dependents are like retainers, or subordinates. And they are not wrong in a sense. But they are not completely right either. Unlike retainers and subordinates, Dependents are not obliged to follow your orders blindly. Neither are they obliged to serve you.

  “Yet, just like retainers, Dependents must ensure your interests. And they also have to give you a part of the Contribution Points and Blood Coins they earn. In addition, while in the Lost City, they must ensure your safety. Though, usually, it is the other way around. After all, there are rarely any False Wanderer with the privileges of a Blood Lord. At least, I have never seen one.”

  “It is not that rare,” Nubia said from the side, glancing at Daes, before turning towards Alnea. “You can see one or two of them every couple of years. But those people rely on some help to gain the privileges of a Blood Lord. Earning it on your own… Now, that is something rarely seen in a hundred, or even a thousand years.”

  “…Help?” Alnea said, glancing at Nubia in confusion, but it was Tia who stepped up to answer his question.

  “How do people usually raise their privileges?”

  “…Through Contribution Points.”

  “There, you have your answer.”

  “…They borrow Contribution Points from other people?”

  “…You can say that.”

  “But that is ten thousand Contribution Points! How can anyone just give away so many Contribution Points? That too, to False Wanderers. Are they not afraid that they will not get their Contribution Points back?”

  “…That is a good question,” Tia said, raising the edge of her lips, as she glanced at Daes. “And I think there is someone amongst us, who is perfect to answer that question. Am I right, Thunderbird?”

  “…Do not be too smug, Bluestorm,” Daes said with a snort, before turning towards Alnea, taking out her Blood Card from her robe while she was at it. “Did you not ask what the preparations I made were?”

  “…It is Contribution Points?”

  “Fifteen thousand Contribution Points, to be exact,” Daes said. “Eleven thousand to help you raise your privilege level from two stars to three stars, and four thousand to redeem myself. Though it looks like I made some unnecessary preparations… As for the question you asked before, I never expected you to return the Contribution Points in the first place.”

  “…Why?”

  “Because this is the price I am willing to pay for my freedom.”

  “…I do not understand. If you have so many Contribution Points, why not raise your own privilege? Then you will be able to have your own Dependents.”

  “…I will let Tivya explain the rest.”

  “…You people always leave the most troublesome part for me,” Tivya said, with a hint of dissatisfaction leaking into her voice, but she continued with her explanation anyway. “As I was saying, only those with the privileges of a Blood Lord are allowed to have Dependents. But that does not mean that anyone with the privileges of a Blood Lord can have Dependents.

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  “At the very least, people like us, who have been punished by the city, are not qualified to have our own Dependents. And we certainly are not qualified to redeem ourselves. Neither can anyone from our immediate family. Or even from our clans. Only someone, who is not related to us by blood, and has never been punished by the city, can help us regain our freedom.”

  “…By making you, their Dependents?”

  “By redeeming us as their Dependents,” Tivya said, nodding solemnly. “Though, it can be said that the city saved our lives, it also punished us for our mistakes, binding us to live within its walls for the rest of our lives. Unless it is for a mission. Even then, we will never be able to leave the Black Desert. And if we try to run away… In short, for people like us, the Lost City is like a prison. And our only hope of escape is becoming a Dependent.”

  “That’s it? You can leave the city once you become a Dependent?”

  “Only if the person whose Dependents we have become also leaves the city,” Tivya said. “It is a little complicated, and will take too much time to explain, so I will let Daes and Tia fill in the details later. Just know that once they become your Dependents, they will be bound to you. Where you go, they will have to follow. And if something happens to you, they will have to return to the city.”

  “And if something happens to them?”

  “Then you can continue with your life. But you can forget about ever entering the core city. Even after you become a Mystic Wanderer.”

  “So, entering the core city is related to Dependents?”

  “…It is one of the ways. You can also just break through to the Mystic Rank. Without harming your Dependents, of course. Or you can just work to contribute to the city’s prosperity, and make your way up slowly. That is how most of the True Wanderers enter the core city. But it takes too much time. Decades, if you are blessed by Goddess Ilea. And if not, then it can even take as long as a century.”

  “And if I want to enter the core city through my Dependents?”

  “Then you must return to the Lost City within ten years. And the city will judge how much progress your Dependents have made under your command. If it satisfied, then you will be allowed to enter the core city. If not, then it will reclaim your Dependents, and might even revoke your qualification to have Dependents.”

  “Is the city testing us on our abilities to cultivate our Dependents?”

  “…That, and your other abilities… I will get to them in a moment. But yes, it tests you on your abilities to cultivate your Dependents.”

  “…Why? What exactly is there in the core city?”

  “…That is not something I can know. If you are still curious about it, then you will have to enter the core city, and find it yourself.”

  “…What about the other abilities you said? What other things will the city be testing us on?”

  “That is what I was about to get to, next. Like I said before, there are three ways to get to the core city. By breaking through to the Mystic Rank. By cultivating your Dependents. Or by slowly contributing to the city. In other words, by earning Contribution Points.”

  “…How many?”

  “…Fifty thousand. And all of them must be earned by you, not borrowed from others.”

  “…Is that even possible?”

  “If you spend decades. Though, given your talent, it should not take you more than twenty to thirty years.”

  “…The better the talent, the easier it is to earn Contribution Points?”

  “Not easier, but faster. And that too, not always. There are some tasks which do not look at talent. Like patrolling the Black Desert. Or acting as a guide. Still, most of the time, the better the talent, the faster you can earn Contribution Points. After all, things like creating and improving Arcanas, Glyph Arrays, and Martia Styles depend on individual talent and comprehension.”

  “…And your Rank and Stage.”

  “…Well, that too. But it should take you only a couple of years to become a True Wanderer. And another ten years or so to reach the Fourth, or even the Fifth Stage. By then, you should have the qualification to begin experimenting with Martial Styles. And creating new Martial Styles, even if they are of the Lowest Grade, is one of the fastest ways to earn Contribution Points.

  “Coincidentally, it just so happens that you are very proficient on the path of Warriors. Or at least, that is what the rumours say. That you can command over ten different types of Aspects at once, and have even grasped your own Concepts. Even if the rumours are a little exaggerated, it should take you only another ten to fifteen years to gather enough Contribution Points.”

  “…Twenty to thirty years,” Alnea said, and shook his head, before widening his lips into a smile. “It looks like I now have another reason to leave the city.”

  “…I never said that you should not leave the city,” Tivya said, glancing at Daes and Tia. “I just meant that you should not leave right away. At the very least, you should first enjoy the special resources the city has to offer. Because once you leave, it will be ten years before you come back. And by then, many of the city’s resources would lose their effect on you.”

  “…For me, the most important resource has always been time,” Alnea said, before glancing at Daes and Tia. “Besides, I am not so ill mannered as to dangle the hopes of freedom in front of a lady, only to keep her locked in a prison.”

  “…You do not have to worry about us, Alnea.”

  “We have waited for years. We can wait for a few more weeks.”

  “…You may be able to wait, but I cannot,” Alnea said, laughing awkwardly. “For some reasons that I cannot disclose, I must participate in the upcoming Rising Wanderer Trials. And more importantly, there is someone waiting for me—for us.”

  Alnea paused, and turned back towards Tivya.

  “Please, Wanderer Tivya, help me disband my team.”