After leaving the weapon building, William walked slowly to Baldur's house.
He also wanted to move into such a house, but without being the silver level it was impossible.
The academy only gave a house to a bronze level. It was a small one-story house behind the dormitories. It also had a garden, but it couldn't be compared to the villa Baldur lived in.
He knocked on the door and Baldur opened it. He had taken off the leather armor he had been wearing and had changed into long, comfortable mage robes.
William always admired his tailor. The golden stripes of his blue robes, the patterns resembling an island in the middle of the ocean, gave Baldur an even more serious aura.
"I have been waiting for you." He said, motioning for William to sit down.
As William sat down, he began to speak. "I will make the potions in a week. After that, I will try to become both a bronze-level warrior and a second-level mage. Come to me in exactly one week and get your potions," he said.
Then he wrote something on a piece of paper on his desk, sealed it, and gave it to William.
"This is what's left after I take my share. For someone just starting in the academy, you're super rich." He smiled.
William took the paper with great pleasure. After all the money he had spent on the weapon, he definitely needed this mission reward.
If other people had that much money, they would definitely run out to buy potions. But he refused to use the potion that could cause any side effects after what his father told him.
If he wanted to break through the silver level, it would have to be a completely pure qi pool.
The only thing William wanted to get was Baldur's bloodline power.
The idea of having a bloodline fascinated him.
That's why he wanted to ask Baldur when he had the chance to clear all his doubts.
"Baldur, how sure are you about this blood business?"
Baldur was surprised by William's question. He had never expected such a question from him. He answered seriously.
"One hundred percent, if I can work with ten liters of blood from a platinum-level creature. Gold, fifty percent... It decreases exponentially like that. Right now, with this bronze-level blood, I can turn myself into a bronze-level warrior. But because of my age, I took the side effects. Worms are the best choice for me."
Shaking his head, William replied. "I understand, I wanted to use it too, but I can't handle the side effects." He said.
He promised himself that he wouldn't get involved in this blood business unless it was over fifty percent.
"Then I'll go. Take care of yourself. Don't rush into any potions or advancement. I'm sure you'll make it."
After leaving his words of encouragement, William left for the Mission Building.
He estimated that he would need to get at least eighty-five Soul Stones from the paper in his hand.
When he arrived at the mission building, it was packed to the brim. He had to wait in line for nearly half an hour to hand in his own mission.
As he handed over his mission, he looked at the young William who was in charge of handing out the missions, and was taken aback. He remembered that it was the boy who had taken the Earthworm mission the last time.
Since he had completed two missions in such a short time, he couldn't help but be surprised to see that one of them had the blood of a bronze-level creature.
He made a mental note to report this to the teacher in charge of the mission building. Nevertheless, he gave him the mission reward.
William was happy that he had risen to over a hundred soul stones again. After that, he just wanted to go to his room and get a good night's sleep.
He left the Mission Building and returned to his room. He met no one he knew on the way.
When he entered his room, he realized that he missed his bed. He took off his clothes and lay down on the bed. Then he began to think about what he would do tomorrow. The first thing he would do in the morning was to go to the cultivation building. Since money was not an issue at the moment, he wanted to reach the bronze level as soon as possible. The cultivation building was perfect for that.
His body was already filled with the metal element. All he needed to do was to increase and combine three drops of qi. He planned to stay in the cultivation building for tomorrow and the next two days.
Three days later he would receive his sword, and four days after that he would go to Baldur for potions.
He was also excited about the potions. These potions, which increased his soul power, might allow him to become a mage before he was sixteen. It might even be effective in repairing the system.
William fell asleep with beautiful dreams and happy thoughts.
...
William awoke to a beautiful day. As he opened his window, he saw the birds singing to him, the sun smiling on his face, and a clear, cloudless sky.
On such good days in his old world, he would always start the day by humming a song. It was the same today. His smiling lips turned into a whistling sound. He began to hum one of the few songs he could remember.
"When you laugh, look what happened... At the end of my heart, it caught fire... Look at the state of this world. x2"
He wanted to start the day early, but he was late. He quickly went to the dining hall and made himself a nice breakfast with tiger milk.
He met no one in the dining hall. He also wondered about the silence. He hadn't encountered clichés in these days. Normally today, a bully would come and try to beat up a weak kid. William would have come out like a hero and saved the boy. Then the boy would become a great hero and help William.
These were good thoughts to pass the time. After all, there was no newspaper or social media to read while having breakfast in this world.
He quickly finished his breakfast and headed towards the Cultivation Building.
The cultivation building was the largest building in the academy after the large dormitory where they lived. It was three stories high, but enormously wide.
The first floor was for iron level and below. Only bronze levels could enter its second floor. There was no problem entering these two floors, one could easily enter after paying the fee, but things were a bit difficult for the third floor.
There was no fee for the third floor. The third floor required direct contact!
To enter this place, one had to be at the silver level and be a teacher of the academy.
William thought about this idea for a long time. Then he decided that since he wasn't even at a bronze level yet, he would have to think about it when the time came.
William walked up to the teacher, who was sitting at a table in the middle of the first floor. There was no line. Even those waiting in the seats at the entrance tried to speak extremely quietly.
The teacher was a woman. This was the first time William had met a female teacher.
The woman had short black hair, a perfectly formed body, white skin, and a face that shone like the moon.
She was definitely every student's dream teacher. William especially liked her short hair, but he couldn't show his greedy thoughts to the teacher. He remained calm and stepped forward. "I want a room," he said in a quiet voice. It was as if he was renting a hotel room.
The teacher opened her eyes and looked at him. She had a face as if she didn't like him interrupting her meditation.
"What element?" she asked. She had a bored look on her face even as she asked.
"Metal." He said, placing a spirit stone on the table.
The teacher rose from her chair and yawned. She put her hands up in the air and stretched far back.
Then she took a deep breath and said, "Follow me."
As she yawned, William fell in love with the teacher again. She was not very tall, but her physique was exactly what he wanted. Unfortunately, his age was too young for such a thing at the moment, and the teacher could return him to his god in one punch.
He stayed calm and followed her.
They arrived at the room in the far corner of the cultivation building. The room number was 33.
The Teacher took what looked like a seal from her dimensional bag and handed it to him.
"This is your key." She said and turned to leave.
As the Teacher was about to leave, William stopped her.
"Teacher, how is this used?" William saw for the first time that this seal-like thing could be used as a key. So it was normal that he didn't know.
"Is this your first time?" She asked.
"Yes." He shook his head.
"All right, see the circle in the middle of the door? Pass the seal there and direct your qi toward it. The door will open. If you do the same from the inside, the door will be locked," She said.
"Thank you Teacher!" said William, bowing slightly.
"No problem." The teacher started to yawn again and left.
William did as the teacher said and sent Qi into the seal, pointing it at the ring on the door.
The circle on the door seemed to move. With a "kacha" sound, the door is angled.
William found this very helpful. It was like a steel safe in the old world, but the locking function was done by magic.
He walked in and immediately closed the door. He did not want the spiritual energy inside to leak out.
In fact, both elements suited William. All he needed at the moment was spiritual energy. Not elements. But since his method of meditation belonged to the metal element, such a room might be a little more beneficial to his development.
The interior of the room was very simple, just like the dormitories.
There were no windows, as he could see from the outside. It was only lit by the moonstone at the top.
There was a single bed, a desk, and a cushion.
William had only rented the room for one day. So he would stay here until this time tomorrow. He wasn't worried about hunger. He could last a day.
He sat down on the cushion and immediately began to meditate.
It really was as they said. As soon as he started meditating, he felt the difference between his room and here.
There was at least five times more spiritual energy.
William estimated that if he meditated here every day, he could certainly cut the time in half.
So now he could reach the bronze level in a month and a half. Of course, it would take a little longer since he would go hunting with Baldur from time to time. He thought he would advance in two months as a final estimate.
He even set himself a goal. He would not go out hunting unnecessarily. Just hunting with Baldur was enough for him.
...
The next morning, William opened his eyes. He felt extremely satisfied.
Since he wasn't silver level yet, he needed to eat. So he got up and walked out of the room. At the entrance, he returned the seal to the meditating teacher.
After that, he had a nice breakfast in the dining hall. Thanks to his meditation, he was still not sleepy. So it was time to buy a dimensional bag. There was a building at the Academy that was reserved for this purpose. It was called 'Hundred Treasures'. Not to be confused with the Treasury building. One was for buying, the other for selling.
When he arrived at the Hundred Treasures Building, he saw that it was not very crowded. It was still early morning. William really thought that the morning hours were the most effective to avoid clichés.
As he entered, there was a female student who greeted him again. She treated him with the utmost respect. There was nothing that William wanted too much. All he wanted was a dimensional bag.
He was amazed when he looked at the shelves. There were weapons, armor and even seals whose function he did not know.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing to something that looked like a seal.
The attendant answered his question respectfully.
"This is a communication seal. Sold in pairs, you give one to a friend. When you send your qi into it, it can transmit sound up to ten kilometers." He said.
William was incredibly surprised by the function of this device. It was a magic-powered radio!
But when he saw the price, he immediately lost what he wanted. He could run ten kilometers in a few minutes. There was no need to spend extra money on this tool.
Seeing that William was losing interest, the attendant asked.
"What would you like?" With a smile on her face.
William snapped out of his thoughts and answered.
"I want a dimensional bag."
"Have you decided on the size?"
"No. What do you have? And the price?" He said with a hand on his jaw.
The woman answered patiently.
"Sir, one cubic meter of ten soul stones, two cubic meters of twenty soul stones. Such a price is constantly increasing." She said.
William thought that made sense.
"Can I have a ten cubic meter dimensional bag?" he said.
The woman immediately grew a bigger smile on her face and went to get the dimensional bag.
When she came back after a while, she had a bag in her hand. It even had a price tag on it.
It was the same size as his. Since the man who made it and the leather materials used were the same, they all looked like copies of each other, but the spaces inside were different.
William took it and looked inside. He couldn't help but rejoice when he saw the huge space.
He immediately took out a hundred soul stones and gave them to the woman. Then he asked.
"What if I want to sell my old bag? Will you buy it?"
The woman replied after putting the soul stones into her own dimensional bag.
"Of course, sir. If it is not broken or cracked, we will take it. But we get two soul stone commissions." She said.
William thought that was appropriate. After all, they had to make a profit.
He immediately emptied his own dimensional bag and placed it in the larger one. Then he handed the smaller one to the woman.
After taking a good look inside, she saw no problem and handed the eighteen soul stones to William.
The only thing that interested him in this shop was the armors. But when he saw the price tag, he immediately gave up. Armor was definitely more expensive than weapons. At the beginning of the iron level, even armor strong enough to withstand a creature's full blow would start at a thousand soul stones. He wasn't that rich yet, so he threw it into the deepest corner of his mind.
Finally, an idea came to him, just as it had with the weapons, and he asked the woman before he left.
"If I provide the materials myself, will you make me armor? What's the price?"
Her eyes immediately began to shine. The young man in front of her could have been a greedy customer. After all, she received a commission from the sales she made in the meantime.
"Sir, it depends on the hide you bring. Each level of leather processing has a different price. It is five hundred soul stones for the iron level, one thousand soul stones for the bronze level, and five thousand soul stones for the silver level. Strengthenings are not included in these prices. It is the strengthenings that determines the actual price. An armor can get more strengthening than a weapon, and we're working with metals, not just leather. But the price will still change. If you provide all the materials yourself, we will only charge for the basic tailoring and blacksmithing."
William lost interest after the woman said, "Five hundred soul stones for iron level," but he listened anyway because he might need it in the future.
Defensive items always seemed to cost more than weapons. After he reached Bronze, he would have to hunt and save money for a long time.
For now, he relied on metal skin. If his element wasn't metal, he would definitely suffer a lot.
Now it was clear why there weren't so many students at the academy. Most likely, the death rate was higher than he had expected.
He didn't want to prolong the conversation because he didn't have the money. "Thank you." He said and left.
The attendant pursed her lips in disappointment as she stared at his back.
It didn't look like she was going to get a commission today either.
After leaving the Hundred Treasures Building, William returned to the Cultivation Building and began to meditate.
This time, he had paid for two soul stones. When he realized that he could handle hunger after his meditation yesterday, he decided to stay for two days. When he came out, he wanted to get his sword right away.
...
Two days passed so quickly. He felt stronger overall. He got up from the cushion he was sitting on and yawned terribly. It was as if he wanted to break his arms and back. After leaving the room, he quickly gave the seal to the teacher and left. Right now, he had an overwhelming desire to see his new sword, but being a bit of a masochist, he decided to eat breakfast first. He ate almost the size of a whole lamb for breakfast. He had paid two soul stones for it, but it was definitely worth it. After leaving the dining hall, he quickly made his way to the Weapon Building. When he entered, he saw that only two young attendants were there. There was no teacher. He approached them and asked. "Where is the teacher? My sword, is it ready?" The two looked at his excited face and wanted to make fun of him, but just then the Teacher came through the door. He was carrying a box on his back. He spoke as he walked. "Heheh, brat, your sword is ready." He said and went upstairs with a smile.
William entered his room in a flash. He locked his door and sat down on his bed. First, he calmed himself down and began to say motivational words to himself. 'Do not rush. You've lived without a system until today. No disappointments. Even if not, I'm already strong. And it might not be a good thing.' Then he thought of the novels he used to read. 'But it's always a good thing that these systems happen. Is it a mission system? Is it intelligent? I do not think so. If it was intelligent, it wouldn't talk like a robot. Ahhhhhh! All right. Beware!' He folded his hands in front of him and meditated for about an hour. When he opened his eyes, the excitement was gone. 'Alright, I am calm. Let's do it!' He took out the box of potions from his dimensional bag. He calmly took a potion out of the box. He examined the potion from the outside of the transparent container for a long time. He was disappointed because he didn't have any information. Finally, he opened the lid and drank in o
After confirming that the system was working with Evil Pig's blood, William began searching for a pig below the iron level to complete his quest. He managed to kill another pig in the middle of the iron level in a few hours, but all he needed were the calves of these pigs. In the few hours he spent in the forest, he realized that these areas were much weaker than he had expected. There were absolutely no creatures to threaten him. His dimensional bag had room for two more iron-level pigs. Maybe three if he squeezed it. That's why his mission was to find the piglets he wanted as soon as possible. As the sun slowly sank from the sky, he heard the sounds of fighting from about five hundred meters away. He didn't want to deal with anyone, but the ones they were fighting might be the evil pigs he wanted. He approached five hundred meters and jumped to the top of a tree. In front of him was a clearing fifty meters wide. He saw two pigs and people fighting the evil pig at the top of an
William hurried to the academy, but when he saw the walls of the academy, he decided to walk slowly, as if he were tired. He knew that he would certainly be questioned if there was an investigation because they could easily identify the people who were stationed in the prince's area. He just had to look calm. If they questioned him, it would be enough for him to answer calmly. He had never thought that such an organization as Crime Scene Investigation existed in this world. Besides, the Academy would probably prefer someone as powerful as him to an arrogant prince and his stooges. He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and went to give his mission. This time, he received the mission reward in the form of contribution points. Because he had something he wanted to test. The Evil Pig mission was only worth ten contribution points. Of course, he then went to the Treasure Building to sell the other pigs he had killed. This time, he didn't see the stupid attendant he met last
William spent his days at rest. It was somewhat peaceful. If there was something else he could do besides reading a book, he would like to do it. Right now, Baldur was trying to reach the Bronze level. William was aware that the spiritual energy in his room was too low for him to study. So even when he meditated at night, it was only for an hour or two. The rest of the night he spent sleeping. Meanwhile, a meeting was taking place in their barony that William was unaware of. In the study, the four men looked respectfully at Theo behind the desk. If William had seen the people inside, he would have known them all. Hurim and Humir sat across from each other at the table. Their old bodies looked especially strong today. Hurim sat as straight as a spear in his double seat. Humir wore a perfectly fitting set of armor. He did not only have head armor. Next to him were Pierce and George, whom he had met at the volcano. Both of them wore armor that emitted a silver glow. With their head ar
William had no idea what had happened. He was concentrating on recovering himself. Besides, even if he knew, there was nothing he could do from here. It took him seven days to recover. At that time he had finally finished the book. He couldn't remember a time in his life when it took him so long to read a book. When he started a job, he usually did not leave it unfinished. The day he felt recovered, he began to learn the more advanced technique. The new technique proved to be even more difficult than he had expected. This difficulty filled William's mind with various thoughts. 'I wonder if all these techniques are beginner's level? Because this technique looks like something even a real expert would have trouble with.' He brooded but still did not give up. It took him three days to master the technique. He never tried it because he was afraid it would damage his room. He just tried to apply his qi as quickly as possible by following the technique. He would have to go to the forest
'Damn it!' thought William. 'If I had known that this would happen, I would have definitely refused.' Wolf muttered something to him. It sounded like he was telling him to get down. William could now more or less understand what the wolf meant by his head movements. As the wolf walked slowly and carefully into the mist, he lowered his head and muttered to William again in a low voice. William understood what he meant at once. He lowered his head and began to creep around like the wolves. There were at least twenty wolves on their way here, but only five wolves and William got in. One of the wolves was bronze level, one was a little bastard, and the other three were mid-iron level wolves. William was the third to enter the mist. The other three wolves followed him. Inside the mist, it could be described as a completely different world. After a few tens of meters, the color of the ground changed, the red earth filled with lush green grass gave way to ash-gray withered grass. He c
After a few hours, William had replenished all of his qi. He stood up and looked at the little wolf. His lazy face made William want to punch him. Smiling, he said, "I'm going to explore the tower. Will you wait for me?" William was worried about the return journey. Without the wolves, he suspected he wouldn't even be able to find his way back. Since they had been aiming for the fruits of this tree from the beginning, they had a way of not getting lost. The little wolf pricked up his ears and looked lazily up at William. Then, muttering something, he pointed at the big wolf. The big wolf was still resting, far from healing. A blow from a creature in the middle of the bronze level might be difficult for it at the beginning of the bronze level. William was in no hurry to ask for its blood. Because it had lost enough blood already. He thought about taking it the next day when it felt better. What the little wolf meant was, “The big sister is already injured, you go, we are here.” "Th
William didn't notice, but even his posture began to change. Now his chest was further forward and, most importantly, his nose was a little higher in the air. With his height, he began to look down on people.Worst of all, William didn't even realize it. Arrogance was slowly seeping into his blood, taking over his body without him wanting it. Since William was not aware of it for the time being, he entered the main hall of the mansion, thinking that he would show his usual behavior.He was wrong, as he thought he would only meet the City Lord. There were more than ten people in the room, and they were all sitting quietly in their seats, discussing something passionately. As soon as William and Doravoli entered the hall, the woman sitting at the front raised her hand and everyone suddenly fell silent.Then the woman stood and smiled.William recognized the woman. She was one of the three people who had helped him survive the attack of the mysterious bandit mage and complete his mission
William was watching the bedroom of a house five hundred meters away from the roof of a two-story house. His eyes and face could not be seen in the darkness of the night. But a person standing next to him might have the impression that William was deep in thought.Strangely enough, William wasn't thinking about anything at that moment. It was as if there was a black hole in the bedroom of the house he was watching, and it was sweeping everything away, including William's gaze and thoughts.William felt lifeless right now, like a rock with no IQ.'How did this happen?' William had been on this roof for two hours and had asked himself the same question hundreds of times.Doravoli and Elasha for a few minutes, thinking they would leave after a farewell kiss, but he had listened to the lustful voices of the duo for two hours.'How did this happen?' At first, everything was normal. There was no conversation that contained any suggestive hints. These were normal everyday conversations and s
Elasha thought this was the most boring day of her life. Following his sister's agreement, she was forced to come to Valimar and open new trade routes to several surrounding cities and towns. Opening these trade routes was never easy, as Valimar and the surrounding cities were surrounded by incredibly dense forests. Cutting down these trees and establishing observation points and crossing points were time-consuming tasks. And the hardest part was finding apprentice mages to work at these points.Nevertheless, she succeeded as usual because she was surrounded by hardworking people. Everyone loved her and her sister, except for a few people who didn't care much about money. If they did their job right, money would automatically fill their pockets.Meeting Enid had been a bit eventful. At first, she wanted to refuse Elura's deal, but Enid and Elura's plans gave her enough reason to be convinced.Elura had started making plans as soon as Elasha had left the White City to start the purific
"Then we agreed. I'll get you the best flame I can find. But first I have to find it, you know they are very rare." William smiled and packed up the camp. They had spent enough time here.Just as they were about to start their journey deep into the forest after packing up the camp, William felt a vibration from his dimensional bag. He immediately took the vibrating device out of his dimensional bag.It was the seal of the Expedition Organization, and it contained a message from Fabian.[Go to Valimar. Find Enid, the City Lord. She will explain everything to you].William's face darkened. Valimar had not left him with good memories. Elura named woman had been a real nuisance to him, and while he had forgotten that story, taking on a mission like this spoiled his mood.Frankly, he wanted to relax in the White City for a few months. His journey had improved him enough, and he was ready to make another breakthrough at any moment. Of course, the most important problem on his mind was Dorav
"Have you finally woken up?" Doravoli looked at the weak William lying in the shadow of the rock. He had a sad, tearful expression on his face. He was sitting across from William, gnawing at the flesh of a small creature. It was a small lizard.He had a bandage on his cut foot.William felt more tired than ever, but when he discovered that he could move his hands with a snap of his fingers and a little bit of mana, he pulled hundreds of useful items from his ring. Most of these items were healing potions and blood crystals.He spoke with difficulty, as even the movement of his jaw was painful. "Blood crystals, put some in my mouth."Doravoli was also very tired. He even hunted down the small lizard he had gnawed, using his magic only because the lizard was too close. He waved his hand and, controlling his mana, took some of the blood crystals and brought them to William's mouth. Then he used some himself.Half an hour later, William regained some consciousness. He could move a little
"Absolute Cut!" William shouted at the top of his voice, attacking the real body between the two copies with the strongest ability he had.The wind blade that came out of the tip of William's sword flew unblocked toward its original target, too fast for the two clones to react. The moment William's sword emerged, it struck the man's body. William knelt in weakness, but he still had one eye on the man. He wanted to see him die with his own eyes.When the ability hit the man, his body split into two, just as William expected, and the two clones vanished instantly. The sword in the hand of one of the copies fell to the ground as if it were a real object and not a spell."Hğğğğğ..." (Blood-filled guttural sound.) A growl came from the body of the man who had been cut in half.William barely raised his head and looked at the man's body in surprise.Two separate body parts were resisting falling to the ground. He was still standing. The six-centimeter gap between them was covered by an invi
"No matter what happens, I will be with you and we will fight together." Doravoli heard everything that was said and realized that this man was after William. Even though names like 'Storm God', 'Nicolas', and 'Nak'kato' were unfamiliar to him, Doravoli would help in any way he could because he was his friend. -He knew who Nicolas was, but he didn't understand why the man in front of him cared about Nicolas.-William bowed his head. At the slightest movement of the man, he was ready to pull dozens of potions from his ring and cast his spells. He knew that this was a classic cliché and wasn't surprised that he found himself in it, but he only remained on the dark side as to why.While William was in deep thought, the man's voice filled his ears."I...You..." Suddenly the man froze. He made incomprehensible noises and his body bent slightly. William knew this was the perfect moment to attack, but he held back, for soon the man straightened his body and showed his old smile again.He rai
"Hey Doravoli, you can't carve that wood like that!" William grabbed the flat chisel and the piece of blue ironwood out of Doravoli's hand."You never listen to what I say! Look at it again and pay attention." William began to get angry. Today was two weeks after he started teaching Doravoli blacksmithing. The two of them had almost reached the middle of the rocks. They were a little slow, but it was an acceptable pace.William held the piece of blue ironwood in his left hand and tucked it between his knees. Then he supported it firmly with his left hand and began to "float" the flat chisel on the surface of the blue ironwood with his right hand."Look, if you hold the flat chisel like this, none of the lines you make will be crooked. You have a strong body like mine, so this shouldn't be a problem for you. But you stubbornly insist on holding the flat chisel sideways, and that causes you to make little notches in the wood. Doravoli, if you want to do something of quality and worthy o
The two guarded the area for a day and had fun until the next day. The townspeople never set foot in the area because Lennard had warned them. Occasionally, a few brave official mage-level adventurers would stop by, but thanks to William's ability to throw cups, the wounds they received from hundreds of meters away, and a few minor scoldings, escaping became their priority.The next day, Fabian appeared again like a meteor over Greyscar. The way he flew was so dominant, like an unstoppable rocket. It seemed as if he could crush anything that came his way. William realized that day that Fabian's speed was even slightly faster than the strengthened Lennard.Fabian came alone. There was no one behind him, and as soon as he arrived, he looked at William briefly and then quickly examined the surroundings. He didn't speak at all, and although that made William a little uncomfortable, he didn't care. He acted the same way in the first ruin he discovered. The second time he saw Fabian, he rea