Teresa

Teresa?

Andres's heart jolted.

In the original story, a Wind Elemental Grand Perfection Lower Main God was named Teresa, and Teresa had indeed come from a Material Plane.

Not necessarily. It could be someone with the same name. Andres quickly calmed himself. The Coiling Dragon World held countless lives; shared names were perfectly normal.

Ivan was excited too. "Come on, take me to him. Baron Mitchell, I'm sorry, but something urgent has come up. Robert, stay here and look after the baron."

Ivan and Arnold hurried out of the courtyard.

Andres called after him. "Mr. Ivan, may I meet this Teresa as well?"

Given Teresa's talent in the original story, the system was bound to react as soon as Andres saw him. Then he could confirm whether this was the same person.

If this Teresa merely shared the name, there was no need to pay him much attention.

Exceptional aptitude was rare, but it depended on what kind of exceptional aptitude it was.

The gap between one exceptional talent and another was greater than the gap between exceptional and poor aptitude.

In the original story, for instance, Linley had exceptional elemental affinity, but so did many students at Ernst Magical Academy.

Yet Linley's talent was at least Commander-level, perhaps even Paragon-level.

Most students at Ernst Magical Academy, on the other hand, needed decades just to become Level Six mages. Very few ever became Level Nine mages in their lifetimes.

The difference was night and day.

Andres had high-grade aptitude, yet becoming a Level Nine Warrior was all but impossible for him. Exceptional aptitude was better, but reaching the Ninth Rank would still be difficult.

If the Teresa Arnold spoke of was not the Sovereign from the original story, he might not even have the talent to become a Demigod. Andres would have little reason to focus on him.

But if he really was the Teresa from the original story, Andres had to complete his Binding Quest, no matter what.

"Meet him?" Ivan thought it over. Seeing no harm in it, he nodded. "If Baron Mitchell is interested, come along."

"Thank you!" Andres was secretly delighted.

Andres followed them out of the courtyard.

The Goblin Merchant Guild's estate was enormous. Following Robert, Andres arrived at a somewhat disorderly area.

Low, crude houses stood packed together in long rows, while numerous guards patrolled nearby.

The guards all had powerful auras. Andres guessed they were at least Level Five Warriors.

He was privately impressed by the Goblin Merchant Guild's strength.

Many of the doors stood open, allowing Andres to see men and women in ragged clothing living inside.

Body odor, sweat, stinking feet, and the smell of human waste mingled together. Even outside the houses, Andres could faintly smell it.

"Sorry you have to see this, Baron. These are slaves awaiting sale. It gets better once we pass through," Ivan explained, holding his nose.

There were differences even among slaves. The ones Robert had shown Andres earlier were young children with some aptitude for cultivation. Though they were slaves too, they fetched high prices, from several hundred to several thousand gold coins.

Most slaves were worth nowhere near that much. One or two gold coins would buy one.

Those housed here were slaves of the lowest grade.

Once they passed the houses, the scene changed abruptly. Andres felt as though he were looking at a commoner district in Oga City.

The houses here were much cleaner, and the people living in them were clearly better off.

Andres spotted some of the children he had seen in the parchment book earlier.

Most were orphans. Some had lost their parents to war, others to accidents. Their backgrounds were generally straightforward, and they had some talent for cultivation, so finding buyers would be no problem.

"Arnold, what do we know about the boy called Teresa?" Ivan asked as they walked.

"Father, according to our information, Teresa is from the Oga Kingdom. His father was a soldier, and his mother died when he was young. A year ago, his father was killed by Beastmen. Left with no one to rely on, Teresa was later caught by slavers and sold to our guild."

Andres listened quietly beside them, his expression unchanged. The three human kingdoms had fought the Beastmen for years. Teresa's experience was hardly unusual.

Many of the enslaved children in the parchment book had similar stories.

The original story had said nothing about Teresa's childhood, so Andres had no way to judge.

As they spoke, the group arrived at a house with its own walled courtyard. Two warriors guarded the entrance.

Andres sensed that each had the strength of a Level Six Warrior.

The two warriors clearly recognized Ivan and bowed their heads.

Ivan gave no response, his face expressionless.

The group entered the courtyard, where a maid was cleaning.

"Bring Teresa out, quickly," Arnold told her.

"Yes." The maid went inside and soon returned with a thin, silver-haired boy of about seven or eight.

The boy's hair was damp, and his body still gave off a little steam. He seemed to have just bathed.

"Father, this is Teresa." Arnold smiled at Ivan as he introduced the boy.

Standing behind them, Andres had stopped paying any attention to Ivan and Arnold's conversation. A string of system messages now filled his mind.

Target: Teresa.

Talent: Wind Elemental Grand Perfection.

Binding Quest (determined by the target's deepest desire): Heart of the Strong.

Completion conditions: 1. Help Teresa begin cultivating and become a Level One Warrior. 2. Help Teresa reach the Saint Domain. 3. Help Teresa avenge his father by killing "Mad Blade" Resior.

Rewards: Complete any one objective to gain Wind Lower God Talent. Complete any two objectives to gain ordinary Highgod talent. Complete all three objectives to gain Wind Elemental Grand Perfection Talent.

Andres stared at Teresa without blinking. According to the system, this boy was indeed Teresa, the Wind Elemental Grand Perfection Lower Main God from the original story.

Teresa's appearance confirmed several things for Andres.

First, this was not the Yulan Continent's plane. In the original story, Teresa came from the Dylan Material Plane.

Second, the Sovereign Sparks had not yet appeared.

In the original story, Teresa became a god on the Dylan Material Plane, then traveled to the Netherworld, one of the Four Supreme Planes. There, he grew into a Commander-level expert, just one step short of becoming a Paragon.

After the Sovereign Sparks appeared, Teresa seized a Wind Lower Godhead from among the many Highgods fighting for it and became a Sovereign. With the aid of vast amounts of Faith Power, he then achieved Wind Elemental Grand Perfection.