A week and a half or so later, the lucky survivor, Thuck, arrived back to the fort that was the Wolfing gang"s hideout. After arriving, he quickly found his superior and blabbered out everything that had happened when he and his pals went to attack that little boy as ordered by the head of the Bilin family. Thuck had even exaggerated many points in his story, like how the boy had used a devious hidden weapon, the Bilin family turning traitor, and the hobo turning into a man-eating ogre...Contrary to Throm Bilin"s expectations, the Wolfing gang did not have as violent a reaction as he had expected when they received the news.
Inside the fort, a giant of a man was sitting on a throne-like chair. His body was bulging with muscles and was full of hair. If it weren"t for his face still being that of a human"s, and his lack of a tail, people could mistake him for a monster werewolf.
Ronold Wolf was listening to a report from one of his subordinates while watching a show going on down below. That subordinate was Thuck immediate superior, one of the 2nd stage cultivators of the Wolfing gang.
"At the same time that I received Thuck"s report, we also received a messenger from the Bilin family, so I think that Thuck had exaggerated a lot of things. I"ll have him beaten later..."
"AHHHHHH!!!"
"What did you say? I didn"t hear."
The terrifying scream of a man being tortured overlapped with the subordinate"s words. On the floor down below, a torturer was peeling off the skin of a man alive. The torturer followed up with cooking the flesh underneath with a torch. The man was pinned to a cross and couldn"t even resist.
This poor man had tried to get in the way when the grunts of the gang were abducting a woman from a village. Apparently, he was trying to save his lover, but the fool did not know that reckless bravado without power would only lead to death, or in this case, excruciating torture.
After being beaten and forced to watch his lover getting violated by countless men, the man was subjected to execution by skinning and burning.
In the end, all that man"s suffering became nothing more than an amusing entertainment to Ronold Wolf.
"What? A brat at the heroic bearings stage? A glove type treasure that is able to pierce through armor?"
Ronold Wolf did not remember anything else from his subordinate"s report. He only took notice of these two things.
Naturally, the glove type treasure is attractive to him. If in the hands of a low level heroic bearings stage brat, it could already pierce through armor, then in the hands of an escaping fatality stage martial artist like him, how strong would it be?
Ronold Wolf did not care about how likely it is that the treasure on that boy is too small for he himself to wear. After all, there are ways of reforging weapons and armors.
That brat is also of interest to him though.
Ronold Wolf had always had the ambition of starting his own immortal city. He wanted the immense power and business opportunities that came with being an owner of one of those Cities of Fire.
However, the qualifications imposed by the supreme cities to creating an immortal city are not easy to fulfill. They could even be considered harsh.
At least one cultivator at the escaping fatality stage or above, and at least ten cultivators in the late levels of the heroic bearings stage or above.
Having spent a long time, and much resources up till now, Ronold had managed to raise some and coerce others.
Currently, he has a total of 9 cultivators in the late levels of the heroic bearings stage under his command, including the head of the Bilin family.
He only needs one more before he can finally fulfill his ambition of creating an immortal city.
However, it was at this point that he had hit a roadblock.
There were simply no more qualified heroic bearings stage cultivators willing to fall under his command.
All the other late heroic bearing stage cultivators in the surrounding cities are either too attached to the powers that they are currently affiliated with, or are too prideful to submit to someone that they are still able to put up resistance against.
After all, although it would be unlikely for a peak heroic bearing stage martial artist to defeat an escaping fatality stage martial artist, as long as the level gap is not too large, they would still be able to escape.
As long as they are able to escape, why would they be willing to lower their heads? Of course, for those people, if they dared to get in his way, nothing will stop Ronold from trying to get rid of them and whatever they hold dear.
Although Seth has yet to reach the late levels of the heroic bearings stage, with the growth rate evident from reaching the heroic bearings stage at such a young age, Ronold Wolf saw in him enough potential.
Thus, Ronold Wolf made his decision.
"Give the boy a choice. He can either offer me his treasure and become my subordinate... I"ll even help him reach the peak of heroic bearings... or he can die." As for whether Seth would betray him after leveling up? Ronold Wolf didn"t care about that. After building his immortal city, experts would gather around him of their own free will. By then, it would not be too hard for him to replace Seth. Naturally, "replace" means kill.
Just then, Ronold Wolf recalled one thing. "And investigate that hobo. If he turns out to be merely at the early levels of heroic bearings, then just kill him."
...
The 3 weeks after Seth had killed those bandits at Blue Wind Cafe were relatively peaceful for him.
Playing with Nala, having lunch with Irene, messing with Gelard, spending some time practicing his cultivation technique...
Spying on the practice of his last remaining elder half-brother, Ross, chatting with his mother Lady Aki, ...playing catch ball with his father?
Even Seth was surprised when his usually taciturn father called him out for some father-son bonding. That had never happened before, neither to him, nor to any of his other half-brothers.
Little did Seth know that Merab Zefer had recently been reading a book t.i.tled "How to be a Good Father"...
...
After those 3 weeks of peace, a rough-looking man sneaked into the Zefer mansion, jumping over the gate, knocking out the guards, and going unnoticed by the soldiers.
Following directions that he was given beforehand, he went straight to Seth"s room on the 2nd floor.
The rough-looking man broke the lock of the door while Seth was... not inside.
Well, that"s how meetings always are. When you don"t set up an appointment with someone before you go meet them, there is a chance that they would not be at the place where you expect to find them. Then, you would have to wait somewhere until they come back, spending the entire time bored out of your mind.
The rough-looking man closed the door to Seth"s room, and then took a chair and waited inside.
The room was more barren than what one would expect from the room of a rich kid of a city. There was a bed, a table, 2 chairs, and a deck of playing cards, but nothing more than that.
Hours pa.s.sed as the man got more and more annoyed. Gradually, his feeling of impatience caused a menacing expression to appear on his face. He was already considering the option of forgoing the negotiation and going straight for the kill. All he would have to say to his chief afterwards, is that the boy refused, and thus he acted accordingly.
Luckily, Seth came back before the rough-looking man ran out of patience.
When the rough-looking man saw the door open, he stood up.
"My name is Jonn. I am a vice-chief of the Wolfing gang. My chief..."
However, Seth did not let Jonn finish.
Having found the lock to his room"s door broken after he came back home, Seth was already suspicious.
Now, when he opened the door, he found the menacing face of a rough-looking stranger glaring straight at him. Thus, Seth did what any normal child his age would do in this situation... He called for his parent.
"Fatherr!! Helpp!! A robber broke into the house!!" Seth yelled out as loud as he could, sending his voice penetrating through the walls and floors. Most likely, everyone in the mansion at this moment, was startled by him.
Jonn momentarily turned dumbfounded. His ears even hurt a little from that loud scream. He did not expect this to happen. The other party was someone who could easily kill peak unforgiving mortality stage martial artists with ease. Can he not act so cowardly? And who the h.e.l.l is this robber?
Unfortunately, Jonn didn"t have any time to explain.
Soon after Seth"s scream, the floor of Seth"s room cracked apart. Wooden debris scattered in the air, as a man with his face looking almost demonic jumped out of the newly created hole with his saber unsheathed.
Merab Zefer landed on his feet, took a step in, and slashed ruthlessly at Jonn. He didn"t care to hear the man out. If this stranger had sneaked into the mansion and went to Seth"s room instead of the treasury, then he is obviously not a burglar, and is instead an a.s.sa.s.sin!
Although, even if he was a mere burglar, Merab Zefer would still kill him. He just would not be as angry doing so.
Anyone that goes after his son must die!