As they were finally sitting in a decent room, Eden couldn't help but stare at the nervous City Lord family in front of him. The boy didn't expect that this meeting would be full of twists and turns, with the old man who he had known since he was just a mere brat finally revealing his true identity as a veteran knight in the end to help him and his sister establishing their position in this casual meeting.
It was pretty funny here as before because before this meeting began, Eden had already envisioned how he and his sister would try their best to flatter the City Lord family to reap as much benefit as they could get. Who would know that their position would be reversed, with the Silvaris Family trying their best to flatter the old man – and him and his sister to some extent.
Well, he couldn't blame the City Lord family for their unusual behavior, though. After all, the old man really played his card so well, making it impossible for the City Lord family to maneuver.
First, when all of the Silvaris family was in doubt about his identity, the old man suddenly mentioned the name that – if Eden's guess was right – should be the sore spot for the City Lord family, and he did so casually without the respect that any ordinary people would usually have for a noble family. This alone made them all think unconsciously that the old man had an equal status with the Silvaris family.
He also mentioned the bad deeds that the taboo name did in the past so casually as if it was not a big deal, making him look like the benefactor of the family in the past. Then, for the last nail on top of the coffin, he also demonstrated his strength pretty well, disarming the eldest son so easily in the brief sparing that they had earlier, confirming his identity as the strong man from the past.
These subsequence moves were the textbook power play, and the old man executed everything so well to make the situation completely in their favor. Hell, no one even remembered that their original reason to be here was talking about the incident yesterday, as with the backing from the old man, Eden and Ilya were standing on equal ground here, and the Silvaris family would hesitate to act carelessly in this situation.
'It seems that the old man also has a good experience in the political field during his youth. I wonder if he could tell me one or two things about it later…' He muttered.
Yeah, by now, the image of a stinky old man in his head had already been replaced with the hidden master who decided to retreat from the higher-up circle. Of course, there was still a lot that Eden didn't know about the old man. However, having been living together for so many years, he still trusted the old man to not harm him or his sister.
Currently, they were all sitting in the dining room, with the servants sending more food there in an attempt to please the old man.
"Uncle Aki, this is the best wine from the neighborhood city. Please, try it!"
"Miss Ilya, you don't need to be so reserved! Just enjoy everything, okay?"
"Try this! Fresh vegetables that were harvested by our farmers a few days ago!"
"Come on! Bring more food!"
Once again, Eden chuckled lightly at the sight in front of him. The old man didn't have any reservations at all, devouring almost everything in front of him. As for Ilya, the girl was still a bit overwhelmed, not knowing what to do. This was the first time she had dinner with a noble family, and everything went way out of control that she didn't know how to react. Only Eden still showed his usual calm demeanor, eating the food with the grace that only someone from the noble family had. Even the three siblings from the Silvaris family couldn't help but hold back their flattering attitude, letting the boy eat at his own pace.
As he enjoyed the food, Eden also noticed someone trying to glance at him subtly. He then let out his usual charming smile, enough to make the person blush. "Can I help you with something, My Lady?" He asked with a hint of seduction in his tone.
"A-Ah! N-No! I_I just…" The words seemed to be stuck in her throat as the girl was unable to even stare directly at Eden's eyes. The two brothers of the girl were definitely unhappy when they looked at how easy it was for Eden to make their sister blush.
"So, you are the summoner that my brother is talking about, huh?" Nala, the youngest kid here, chimed in out of nowhere, trying to distract Eden's attention from his sister. "Before, I had a doubt about your ability. I mean, even though I trust my brother and sister, but a dragon? Not to mention a horde of the wolf moon? Those are pretty rare beasts in the world, and it is hard to believe that you can tame those things. I didn't expect that it would be true…" His voice trailed behind as he glanced at the old man subtly.
As a summoner, the most important thing to do was to tame a beast to become their partner. Their strength was closely related to their beast, so it was hard to believe a young man like Eden to be able to subdue a dragon or a moon wolf. However, after witnessing the legendary griffin that should've been extinct for a long time with his own eyes, Nala started to believe it, thinking that Eden could do that with the help of the old man Aki.
Hearing this, Old Man Aki couldn't help but burst a laughter. After all, he knew best what kind of magic Eden possessed. Then, he couldn't help but remember what Eden said the first time he saw the boy learned the illusion magic.
'For an illusionist, deception is the most important thing in the world. The more my enemy misunderstands my ability, the more the situation is in my favor. So, I need to know how all types of magicians fight so that I can imitate them!'
'Oh, who knows the brat's idea would work perfectly?' He shook his head in amusement. Then, at Nala's confused gaze, the old man couldn't help but want to make trouble. "Boy, I can see that you are also a magician. If you really want to test your ability, why don't you spar with him?"
The old man's proposal was enough to stun everyone in the dining table, as all eyes suddenly turned at him. Then, all of them reacted the same, slamming the table and screaming, "WHAT?!"
-0-
"Oh, I come here with the best clothes that I have, and here I am, having to sweat because of the old man's request… Poor me…" Eden sighed as he walked onto the training field dejectedly. Then, he snapped his head instantly, sending a stinky glare at the old man who was grinning mockingly at him. "Oh, wait until I have my revenge later… Maybe, I need to burn his proud mustache… No, that is still too tame. Can I just prank him so that all the hair in his body would grow uncontrollably? That should be possible, right?"
The two boys around him – Kasfi and Nala – were dumbfounded when they heard how Eden planned to retaliate against the old man. After knowing the not-so-simple identity of the old man, he still dared to pull such a cruel prank, which somehow made them admire the boy so much for his gut.
Ilya who was walking behind him just rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Stop thinking of making trouble to Master, and treat this seriously! Don't embarrass Master Aki, okay?"
"Ah, but it is you who is the old man's apprentice, not me. How could I embarrass him?" Eden, being the smartass he was, just smiled innocently, his eyes forming into a half-moon shape.
BONK!
"OUCH!" Eden covered his head instantly. "That hurts, Sister!"
"Then, don't mess around like that!" The sister huffed slightly, a bit infuriated by her brother. "Come on! Be serious and don't drag me down!"
Yeah, even though the old man proposed the fight to be Eden against Nala, in the end, Kasfi and Ilya didn't want to miss the fun, proposing it to be a 2v2 fight. Of course, everyone besides Eden agreed quickly, wanting to see the fight between two pairs of siblings. All of the members of the Silvaris family also wanted to see what kind of power Eden and Ilya possessed after training under the old man for so many years, wanting to see whether those two were worth the investment or not.
They went quickly to the private training area that was only reserved for family. It was not a big training field, but still enough to hold a small-scale fight like this. The only spectators here were the old man, Inoka, the City Lord, and Fiona, his daughter. It was natural for the old man to act as a referee here, having to make sure that no one went overboard.
"Okay, I want a good fight here. No large-scale attack that could destroy the entire castle, you get it?" The old man glanced sideways at Eden who was trying to ignore it and acting innocent. "Also, no decisive blow that could kill you all here. It is just a sparing fight, no need to risk your life. Do you all understand?"
"Yes, Sir!"
"I understand, Master!"
As the two teams were ready for a fight, the old man didn't want to delay the fight anymore. "Okay, the fight will start once the coin falls on the ground. Get ready! 1! 2! 3! Go!" The old man tossed the coin high in the sky before falling back to a safe space, not intending to get involved too much in the fight.
Right a second before the coin touched the ground, though, Kasfi, the knight who possessed strengthening magic, enhanced the muscles on his feet before dashing straight at Ilya, not giving her any time to breathe.
CLANK!
The violent wind created by the impact of the collision was enough to crack the wall behind the spot where the spectators watched the fight. To Kasfi's surprise, though, even though he had already enhanced his strength to four times the ordinary adult knights, Ilya wasn't even moved, using her wooden sword to hold his attack.
"Hoo… It seems that I am being underestimated here…" Ilya took a deep breath. "Do you think that just because the man you chopped his hand yesterday was able to injure my wrist, I would be easy to get knocked down? Then, you are in a rude awakening, Mister Kasfi!"
"HYAAAAH!"
BAM!
This time, it was Ilya's turn to strike. She swung her wooden sword with all of her strength, and even though Kasfi managed to block it with his own sword, he was still thrown several feet away from the impact, and if not for the wall behind him, the boy wasn't sure how far he would've been thrown away. His pupils dilated slightly in shock and disbelief at the strength possessed by Ilya, for a moment forgetting that they were in the middle of a fight.
"Do you possess the same magic as me?!" He couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, you think my strength coming from magic?" Ilya couldn't help but raise one of her eyebrows. "Well, unfortunately for you, I don't have any magic in my body, so this is just my pure strength."
"What?! Impossible!" Kasfi widened his eyes in disbelief. After all, he had already enhanced his strength to the same level as four ordinary adult knights, and he himself was a man slightly bigger than Ilya. There was no way a girl younger than him would have such a strength that could match his without receiving any support from magic. No, he decided to not believe it.
"Oh, well, whether it is impossible or not, it is not up to you." Ilya waved the wooden sword calmly. "I am sorry, but I cannot lose my first fight in front of my master. So, get ready!"
CLANK!
Meanwhile, looking at his sister who started going crazy, Eden couldn't help but let out a deep sigh. "Oh, my sister has already entered her gorilla state. It will be hard to stop her from flooring the castle to the ground."
Nala, who was also waiting for Eden to make a move, couldn't help but facepalm when he heard how Eden described his sister as a gorilla. The boy was sure if he tried to do the same for Kasfi, he would've been beaten to death by his brother.
"Well, don't worry about the castle. Don't underestimate my brother, he is a genius who is praised by the principal of the Knight Academy, you know?" Nala said. Eden just shrugged nonchalantly at the sudden information that his opponent gave voluntarily. He didn't really care about the praise from the higher-ups, because he knew himself that Ilya's strength was unmatchable.
"Oh, well… We cannot let them get all the limelight, right?" Eden suddenly said casually. Then, several ferocious wolves suddenly surged from the ground, growling hungrily at Nala. "Shall we take a step up here?"
Nala just raised one of his eyebrows slightly, then as if defying gravity, the boy suddenly rose to the sky. "Oh, yes. Let's elevate this fight to the next level!"