Black Phoenix Heir

Chapter 19: Chapter 19 — One Month Later

Chapter 19 — One Month Later

A month had passed since Victor arrived in the Tower.

During that time, a lot had changed.

The first few days had been a blur of confusion and danger. Now, however, Victor’s life had settled into a strict routine.

Twelve hours of work.

Four hours of cultivation.

Four hours in the Library.

Four hours of sleep.

Every day followed almost the same pattern.

It was exhausting, but Victor had already learned that there wasn’t much room for laziness in the Tower. If he wanted to survive, he needed strength. If he wanted to become an alchemist, he needed knowledge. And if he wanted either of those things, he needed to make use of every hour he had.

His time in the Library had already produced noticeable results.

The Knowledge Trial was still an enormous task, with tens of thousands of herbs and plants waiting for him to memorize, but Victor had reached forty-two percent proficiency in only a month.

It was far from the seventy-five percent required to unlock the Alchemy Training Grounds, but Victor was satisfied with his progress. At his current pace, he estimated that another two or three weeks should be enough to reach the required threshold.

Then he would finally have access to an actual place to practice alchemy.

His cultivation had progressed even faster.

Whenever Victor cultivated, the spiritual energy he gathered first flowed into the Black Flame. The flame refined it before sending strands of the purified energy toward his Core.

At first, the process had been slow.

Over time, however, the amount of energy flowing toward his Core had increased.

The difference was tremendous.

Without the Black Flame, Victor estimated that it would have taken him around three months to progress from Rank Five to Rank Six of the Body Tempering Realm.

Instead, he had broken through to Rank Six a couple days ago.

If anyone in the Tower knew how quickly he had progressed, they would probably consider him a genius among his generation.

Victor didn’t think much about it.

He simply knew that the Black Flame was changing the way he cultivated.

And he intended to take advantage of it.

There had been a few other changes during the month as well.

Zach had developed a habit of appearing whenever Victor had spent too long buried in his work.

Every now and then, the blond-haired boy would show up with some excuse to drag Victor away from his routine. Victor didn’t mind as much as he pretended to. He needed a break occasionally, and Zach was surprisingly good company.

But the person Victor had spent the most time with was Jacob.

The two of them worked together every day.

Twelve hours of working side by side had made their teamwork impeccable. They had learned each other’s movements and habits so well that they often barely needed to speak while working.

Outside of work, they shared the same room.

They had also fallen into a small routine.

After finishing their shift, they would usually eat dinner together. Sometimes they would simply return to their quarters, but every now and then they would head toward the market and grab something to eat.

Over the course of the month, Victor had learned quite a bit about Jacob.

Likewise, Jacob had slowly learned more about Victor.

Victor never told him much about Earth. He was careful with what he revealed, but occasionally something would remind him of home.

Whenever that happened, Victor might casually mention that it reminded him of something he used to eat where he came from.

He never explained exactly where that place was.

Jacob never pressed him.

In return, Jacob had shared pieces of his own past.

Before becoming a slave, he had been a guard in Vankal. He had spent years protecting people and working within the city. At one point, he had also had a wife and several children.

But Jacob never spoke about that part of his life for very long.

Whenever the subject came up, something would change in his expression.

His voice would become quieter.

His eyes would drift away.

Victor noticed.

So he never pushed.

Some things were better left alone until someone was ready to talk about them.

Today was no different from any other day.

Victor and Jacob had just finished work and were walking toward the market.

The sun had begun to sink behind the massive structure of the Tower, casting long shadows across the streets. The market ahead was already alive with activity. Merchants called out to passing customers, carts moved through the crowded streets, and the smell of cooked meat and spices drifted through the air.

Victor walked beside Jacob with his hands resting casually at his sides.

Victor glanced toward Jacob.

He thought about the number of credits the older man had accumulated over the past month.

Jacob was getting close.

Very close.

And surprisingly, Victor didn’t feel disappointed by the thought.

If anything, he was happy for him.

Jacob deserved his freedom.

He was a good person, and after everything he had endured, Victor couldn’t think of anyone who deserved the chance to leave the Tower more than him.

”You’re getting pretty close to a thousand credits now,” Victor said.

Jacob looked over at him.

A smile immediately spread across his face.

”That’s right.”

He raised his wrist slightly, displaying his bracelet.

”Nine hundred and thirty.”

He lowered his arm and shook his head.

”Honestly, a lot of that is thanks to you, Victor.” Jacob scratched his nose before continuing. ”Before you arrived, it took me twelve years just to get close to eight hundred credits.”

Jacob’s expression carried a hint of disbelief as he looked down at his bracelet.

”And in the last month, I’ve gained almost another hundred.”

He looked back at Victor with a small grin.

”I don’t know what it is about you, but fortune seems to favor you.”

Victor laughed and shrugged.

Jacob chuckled.

”Whatever it is, I’m not complaining.”

They continued walking.

The market was getting closer, and the crowd around them was becoming thicker. People passed them from every direction, some carrying baskets of food, others hurrying home after a long day of work.

Victor looked toward Jacob again.

”So what do you want to do once you hit a thousand credits?”

Jacob’s smile slowly faded.

The change was subtle.

But Victor noticed it.

Jacob looked ahead rather than answering immediately.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he finally spoke.

”I want to find my daughter.”

Victor turned his head.

His expression changed slightly.

”Your daughter?”

Jacob nodded.

”Yeah.”

Victor had known that Jacob had a family before becoming a slave. He had mentioned his wife and children before, but he had never gone into much detail.

Victor had always assumed there was a reason for that.

Jacob’s eyes remained fixed on the road ahead.

”She was four years old when I was taken.”

His voice was quieter now.

”I left her with my sister before they brought me here.”

Victor listened silently.

Jacob’s expression had become distant, as though he wasn’t looking at the market anymore.

He was looking somewhere much farther away.

”I haven’t seen her since.”

His fingers tightened slightly.

Victor didn’t interrupt.

Jacob took a slow breath.

For a moment, the noise of the market seemed to fade into the background.

The merchants were still shouting.

People were still walking past them.

The smell of food still drifted through the air.

But Jacob seemed completely lost in his own thoughts.

He had spent years in the Tower.

Years working.

Years earning credits.

Years watching other people come and go while he remained trapped inside.

And through all of it, there had always been someone waiting somewhere outside.

His daughter.

”The first thing I’d like to do when I get my freedom...” Jacob paused.

His expression softened, but there was sadness behind it.

”...is go find her.”

Victor looked at him.

Jacob smiled faintly.

”I just hope that when I finally find her, she’ll be able to forgive me for being gone for so long.”

Victor understood the pain behind those words.

There wasn’t much he could say.

So he didn’t.

He simply continued walking beside Jacob.

For several moments, neither of them spoke.

Their footsteps blended into the noise of the market as they moved closer to the crowded streets.

Then Victor finally broke the silence.

”I don’t think you’ll have any problems with her forgiving you.”

Jacob turned his head toward him.

Victor gave him a small, reassuring smile.

The two continued walking toward the market.