Born In Ashes: The Enigma

Azrael returned to his room in the inn and closed the door behind him.

Sitting on the bed, he took out a small remote device from his inventory, his eyes fixed on the tiny dot floating inside the glass-like tube attached to the remote.

The device in his hand was actually a scouting tool given to him by Silas. The small dot he had left behind during the recruitment event was, in fact, a recorder.

This recording device was something used by the Federation Army to scout areas or monitor low level enemies without alerting them.

Very few people knew about this device, as it was kept a military secret and not made available outside the army.

The small recorder didn't emit any energy fluctuations and functioned purely through advanced technology. Even for a peak-class warrior, it was difficult to detect that it was spying on them.

Because this recorder was one of the rare devices that could function inside the Trial Grounds of Eonrift—a place where most tools and weapons from Genesis were rendered useless—it was strictly controlled by the military and never circulated outside their authority.

Azrael was certain that the reason he was able to obtain this device was due to the influence of the Blazeheart Family—his mother's side, which held considerable sway within the military.

'Since it was Dad who gave it to me, that means he was the one who got it from the Blazehearts instead of Mom.'

Aside from the fact that his mother didn't have a good relationship with her family, Azrael didn't know much about the details of that estrangement.

However, since Silas had taken the initiative to contact the Blazehearts to acquire this device, it suggested that the relationship between Ashara and the Blazehearts wasn't as terrible as he had previously thought.

Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind for now, Azrael shifted his focus back to the device in his hand.

During the recruitment event, when he was trying to sense the emotions of the Three Tower Masters in hopes of identifying the vessel of corruption among them, he had noticed something odd about Claudia—the Magic Tower Master; Rose—the wife of the Juri Tower Master; and Alex—the Knight Tower Master.

The emotions of those three individuals felt slightly off, especially Claudia's.

As he tried to decipher their emotions, he formed a hypothesis. To confirm it, he had used the scouting device to leave the recorder on Claudia.

Now that seven days had passed, he used the controller to recall the recorder and review what it had captured over the past week.

"I hope my guess was right and it recorded what I need right now," Azrael muttered under his breath and pressed a button on the small device.

As he did so, the mosquito sized recorder floating inside the glass tube emitted a faint glow, and a small holographic projection shot out, displaying the recorded footage in front of him.

The first thing he saw was, of course, the recruitment event.

He increased the playback speed, watching as the event quickly concluded.

All three Tower Masters left after selecting some of the candidates they found promising.

Claudia didn't act suspiciously and returned to the Magic Tower. Immediately upon arrival, she went to the top floor where she lived and entered a room that appeared to be a laboratory, then began conducting strange experiments.

Azrael observed every detail carefully.

He wasn't surprised by the nature of the experiments—he had expected her to be developing new skills, as the creation of skills generally involved experimenting with magical formulas.

The first day passed with Claudia remaining in her lab, continuing her experiments.

During this time, several individuals from the Magic Tower came to consult her, asking for guidance regarding their own magical problems.

Claudia briefly explained things to them before returning to her experiments.

The second day passed in much the same manner, and Azrael couldn't help but frown, hoping she wouldn't spend the entire week in that laboratory.

Fortunately, on the third day, she finally stopped. After packing up her tools, she went to the bathroom built into the laboratory.

When she removed the black robe that covered her from head to toe, Azrael finally saw her face for the first time.

Claudia had long blonde hair, a curvy figure, and a beautiful, innocent-looking face. However, if one looked into her eyes, instead of innocence, they would see greed and cunning hidden beneath the surface.

Despite seeing the beautiful naked woman before him, Azrael's expression did not change. He remained calm and observed everything with indifference.

After bathing, Claudia changed into a set of ordinary clothes, quite different from the black robe she usually wore.

She then left the lab and walked into a different room on the top floor of the Magic Tower—her personal living quarters.

Azrael noted that this room was completely different from the sterile, equipment-filled lab. It resembled a well-decorated bedroom filled with tasteful furnishings and ornaments.

Claudia sat down on the bed and began rifling through some documents, studying them carefully.

Around two hours passed, and she was still deeply engrossed in reading.

Azrael adjusted the focus of the recording to examine the documents she was reading and after a quick assessment, he realized they pertained to a form of magical theory—a subject far outside his area of expertise.

Even with the aid of Infinite Comprehension, he couldn't make sense of the content, as he had no foundational knowledge of magical theory to work from.

Still, Azrael didn't rush. He continued watching everything attentively.

In the recording, Claudia kept reading the documents for several more hours.

Just when Azrael began to wonder if the rest of the footage would be nothing but her studying those documents, a knocking sound echoed through the room.

Claudia set the papers aside and walked over to open the door.

As the door swung open, someone stood on the other side, a cheerful expression on their face.

"You are finally here," Claudia said with a smile as she stepped aside, allowing the person to enter.

As the individual walked into the room and Azrael saw who it was, he raised an eyebrow and the corners of his lips curled into a faint smile.

"It seems my guess was right."