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“I don’t know.” Astoria shook her head and said, “I only thought about a spatial lock after hearing Teacher Raphna’s words. Even I didn’t know the space ahead had been locked down.”

“How can you tell, Teacher Raphna? Do you have a close affinity with the spatial attribute?” Astoria inquired.

“You can say that,” Vaan nodded.

Although he could definitely sense the spatial lock in the upper regions, it was also true that the system didn’t record his spatial affinity.

Nevertheless, it was impossible not to have a spatial affinity.

After all, he had a spatial bloodline and the Heaven-Swallowing Physique, which was of the spatial attribute.

Thus, having a spatial physique and not a spatial affinity didn’t make sense.

Nevertheless, before Vaan could ponder further, Hester suddenly uttered, “Hold on. I thought Sir Vahn had an earth affinity?”

“That’s true,” Astoria nodded after the reminder and glanced at him. “Teacher Raphna’s earth affinity must be high to contract an Earth Spirit.”

“However, a person can have more than one affinity, Lady Hester,” Astoria mentioned.

“Then that means Sir Vahn has a dual affinity talent for earth and space… Sir Vahn’s natural talents are a little too overwhelming, don’t you all think so?” Hester said with a wry smile, feeling a little envious.

“Talent is relative. With the right resource and knowledge, one’s talents can be changed and improved, Lady Hester. I wasn’t born with earth affinity but later acquired it through a fortuitous encounter in the Blackmoon Region,” Vaan calmly stated.

“People may have different starting points, but the height of one’s achievement in life is what matters. Take yourself, for example. You were born with a humble background, but you reached Peak-stage Senior Witch with your efforts.”

“Once you form your third circle and become a High Witch, you would have achieved what many noble heirs born with silver spoons failed to achieve. Thus, you don’t need to feel envious. The world is cruel, but it has its beauty,” Vaan stated.

“I see.” Hester’s heart cleared up before she expressed her gratitude, “Thank you for your words of wisdom, Sir Vahn. I have been enlightened.”

“Of course, Lord Vahn’s talents shouldn’t be compared to others as well. It will only make others depressed,” Aeliana commented.

Moving forward, the group gradually shifted their attention back to the main topic.

“The Thousand Fog Mountains always had its secrets. But the more you learn, the more mysterious it becomes. It’s one secret on top of another,” Astoria mentioned.

“I feel the same way, Headmaster Astoria,” Hester agreed with her opinion and added, “It makes one wonder how mighty the dragons hiding in the Thousand Fog Mountains are.”

“The grand spell for the fog, the spatial lock, and even the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon. It’s hard to imagine a single being could have set them all up. I don’t want to discredit the Transcendent Witches, but if this is something any of them could have achieved,” Hester added.

“I’m more interested in the deal made between Her Majesty, Henrietta Rosegarden, and the dragons,” Vaan rubbed his chin with a curious look, surprising the others.

“Her Majesty… made a deal with the dragons, Lord Vahn?” Aeliana wondered.

“Think about it. The Thousand Fog Mountains occupy a vast amount of land and have beasts strong enough to threaten the stability of the Black Rose Kingdom,” Vaan mentioned.

“There’s no way Her Majesty would have ignored the dangers of the Thousand Fog Mountains, given her status and power. Thus, she must have made contact with the dragons hidden within. And despite that, all information has been kept secret from the public.”

“So, if we take everything into account, Her Majesty must have made a deal with the dragons,” Vaan concluded.

The astonishment couldn’t be hidden from everyone’s faces after they heard his bold claim. Even so, he had made valid reasons and sounded very convincing.

“But for what reason would she have chosen to keep silent about the dragons in the Thousand Fog Mountains, Sir Vahn?” Hester wondered.

“That’s hard to say,” Vaan peered into the distance thoughtfully.

“I don’t know what kind of person Her Majesty is. Perhaps, she reached a compromise with the dragons because she encountered a being even she could not handle, or she showed benevolence to the dragons and spared them in exchange for them not leaving the Thousand Fog Mountains.”

“It could be for any reason, really. Only the parties involved know the exact answer to that question,” Vaan stated.

“By the way, why didn’t we take the Magma Wyrm’s carcasses with us?” Aeliana mentioned before adding, “Even if we can’t take everything, we could still chop them up into parts that can be stored. After all, they are full of valuable parts.”

Astoria glanced at Vaan and smiled before explaining to Aeliana, “There’s a chance that the Fallen Witches might return to their camp, seeing how they have left the camping equipment behind.”

“If we took the Magma Wyrm’s carcasses, it would expose us to the Fallen Witches when they return. So while we still don’t know their exact strength, it’s better to remain unknown.”

“It’s as Headmaster Astoria said,” Vaan acknowledged with a nod.

More importantly, he had checked the wounds on the Magma Wyrms prior to leaving the Fallen Witches’ camp.

They had all suffered many wounds.

However, the most prominent wound was a single hole in their upper bodies. Each of their hearts had been dug out.

Thus, even if those Magma Wyrms had any drop of the Fire Dragon God’s blood essence, it would have already been taken.

Without the drop of the Fire Dragon God’s blood essence, Vaan lost most of his interest in the Magma Wyrms’ carcasses.

“We should have already entered the upper regions,” Vaan informed the group before adding, “Be on your guard, everyone.”

“Understood.”

Astoria and the other two ladies quickly agreed, preparing their weapons and magic to be used at a moment’s notice.

Nevertheless, it didn’t take long before they discovered more tracks from the Fallen Witches on the upper half of the ninth mountain.

“There are traces of battle here, but no corpses or beasts, except…”

Vaan inspected the area before fixing his gaze on a pile of large shadow fragments that seemed to form a True Dragon when pieced together.

Nevertheless, the shadow fragments weren’t fixed; they intermittently changed between shadow and normal white fog.

“Is this broken shadow what you call the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon?”

“Unbelievable… They even defeated the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon…”