Shane and Jason emerged out of the spatial portal that manifested in the air above a small, yet familiar city.
Sighing deeply, Jason was fully aware that they already arrived in Artes city, when he pointed towards the largest mansion inside the noble district without saying anything else.
The spatial portal shifted its position and they stepped through it once again, after putting on a disguise.
Shane decided to wear a silver mask that looked similar to a fox while Jason received a pitch-black devilish-looking mask from Shane which he wore.
Taking out black robes, nobody would know who exactly they were, as they emerged in front of the large Cerus family mansion.
There were a few families that decided to live reclusive because they didn't want to compete with other families for authority positions.
In most cases, they were not confident to defeat them, even if some of those reclusive families had a few strong individuals.
The Cerus family was one of them and they were more peaceful than others, yet they were also said to have powerful offsprings with high mana sensitivity and control.
Nevertheless, this was something neither Jason nor Shane were interested in as they slowly descended towards the mansion.
In the beginning, both discussed how they should make their entrance, and instead of listening to Shane who wanted to amplify his voice and call the Cerus family out, Jason liked to start everything rather low-key before showing their might at once to overwhelm the other side.
Either way, both ways would work out and Shane decided that they would just knock on the Cerus family mansion door as Jason wanted.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Knocking on the door three times should have been more than enough and the strength Shane utilized should have been more than enough to wake up everyone in the house, if that was even necessary because there was still more than enough time left before it was midnight.
Through his mana eyes, Jason could perfectly perceive what turmoil his master caused with his knocking, and his faintly released mana fluctuations as he saw someone rushing towards the door in a hurried manner.
Slowly opening the wooden door an old man with white hair came into their view, wearing a servant uniform, telling Shane and Jason that he was the Cerus family's butler.
Seeing two masked presumed men standing in front of the door, the butler's hands couldn't help but tremble for a short moment, when Shane's mana fluctuations enveloped the old butler, whose mana core was barely at the master rank.
Reaching the master rank was nothing special, even less if it was an old man who could live several hundred years with such a mana core rank.
However, the butler would still be stronger than Jason, who could only smile slightly below his pitch-black mask when he noticed this.
"H-Hello... Sirs? How can the Cerus family help you?...."
The butler asked only hesitantly and it was not hard to perceive that he was scared which was not really astonishing because Shane's mana fluctuations were on a completely different level than everything he should have ever felt during his whole lifetime.
Looking at the silver fox masked men whose mana fluctuations were terrifying, the butler tried to calm down as he patiently waited for an answer, only for Jason to reveal their intention instead of Shane.
"We want to speak to the Cerus family head for a moment!"
He didn't request to talk to the family head but it sounded more like an order and the Old butler could only rake his head what was going on because the young voice behind the pitch-black mask seemed to belong to a youth who seemed to be from an influential family if he was accompanied by a powerful guardian.
At least that was what the old butler comprehended from the two masked mens' behavior and Jason's attitude.
Excusing himself while stuttering, the old butler rushed through the whole house as he entered a certain room, where a middle-aged man with short brown hair was seated inside a mana-gathering magic circle.
The middle-aged man already finished off his cultivation when he sensed that something was going on below.
At least the revealed terrifying mana fluctuations that almost ripped him out of his mana absorption state which could have ended up rather dangerously were nothing he could take lightly.
Thus he, Mirga Cerus, the Cerus' family head was already slightly annoyed but he knew that the other party that arrived was much stronger than him which forced him to act politely without rejecting their request as it was not possible.
If the two masked men wanted to meet him, they could also use force and Mirga was glad that they refrained from doing so, which substituted his anger as he ordered his butler to lead them inside his office.
Entering the mansion, Jason was not really surprised to see valuable furniture that was made out of relatively expensive woods and other materials.
However, considering that they were currently in a C-grade city, the Mansion with everything inside was probably worth more than the whole apartment district with several dozen skyscrapers' situated next to each other.
Shaking his head, Jason told himself that his reason to come over here was not to blame others or do something stupid.
'I will inquire about my mother's murderer and leave, that's it!' He repeated several times in his head as they finally entered the Cerus family head's office where they were already awaited.
Migra Cerus was slightly taller than Shane and Jason, but his aura was much weaker than Shane's which created the effect that Shane was taller and mightier even if that was not the case.
As such, Migra could only eye the silver fox masked man carefully and it was not difficult to spot that he was nervous.
Nobody wanted to waste any time and without bothering about an introduction, Jason asked straightforwardly.
"Mr. Cerus, I don't want to beat around the bush and waste each other's time. Today, we are here to inquire more about a certain accident that occurred roughly six and a half years ago! If my intel is not wrong, the Cerus family held a banquet with a few sparrings afterwards to demonstrate your son's combat prowess. What happened that one of the spars went out of control which lead to the death of several servants after the defeated side wreaked havoc. Who was the culprit?"
Without telling who they were or even showing the desire to reveal a single clue about their identity, Jason allowed the Cerus family head to imagine all kinds of things, which could help him to figure out more.
It was not really necessary to do something like this, but both Shane and Jason didn't bother to think about a new identity they could use to tell who they were because it was useless to do something like this in the first place.
Nevertheless, Jason's small scheme seemed to work because almost immediately after the family-head heard Jason's words, his eyes widened and he became more nervous than he already was a moment before.
"I-I don't know what Sir means….there did not happen anything over the last few years! You may even ask our butler or other servants! If something like this were to happen, we would be devastated because we treat our employees with love."
Saying these words, the old butler behind them immediately nodded his head in order to show that the family head's words were indeed the truth.
However, how should they know that Jason was fully aware of their lies, which caused him to feel disgusted when Shane released his water affinity for the first time.
A small water ball manifested in his hand which swirled around his hand before he shot it towards the family head without hesitation.
It was impossible for the Cerus family head to evade the water ball that had a shocking velocity.
Yet, instead of being flung away, the water ball enlarged when it crashed into his body, only to envelope him completely.
Sealed inside a water bubble, the Cerus family head couldn't breathe anymore and thanks to the water bubble's pressure which Shane adjusted however he wanted, Jason averted his attention towards the butler.
Both Shane and Jason expected the family head to lie about the incident that happened more than 6 years ago which was the reason for Shane demonstrating that they don't accept being lied to.
Shane was also using his water affinity for a certain reason because they wanted to prevent any possible connections between the incident on Cyro-city and what was about to happen in Artes-city as it might even help someone to comprehend that Jason was Old Drake murderer's disciple or something similar to that.
The old butler stared at his master in shock when Jason asked him coldly "What happened 6 and a half years ago?! Tell me the truth if you don't want your master to die or see yourself end in an even worse state!!"
Jason didn't even need to release his mana because his killing intent that was subconsciously released was already enough to show the old butler that their current situation was grave.
It was either tell the truth or die!
Kneeling down, the old butler began to beg for his life as he revealed
"There was such an incident! Yes, Yes!! Please don't kill me and my master !! I will tell everything I know"
Nodding his head, Jason was satisfied with this result and Shane severed his connection to the water affinity which caused the water bubble to burst open.
Taking a few deep breaths, the Cerus family head immediately changed his attitude because he figured out that someone should have told the two masked men in front of him that something happened, as he hastily said.
"Please forgive me my lies!! The other family forced us to never reveal anything about the accident!"
Sighing, Jason and Shane didn't want to remain at the Cerus family for too long, as they told the family head to explain everything without letting out a single detail.
**
Less than 20 minutes later, Shane and Jason left the Cerus mansion, and their minds were filled with confusion, frustration, and also shock.
The Cerus family head said that he didn't know the other clans' name, and only told them that a young red-haired and eyed youth suddenly appeared during their banquet, challenging the Cerus family heir's strongest descendant who broke into the Grandmagus stage at the age of 170 years, which was also the reason for the whole banquet to be held in the first place.
The family head's son barely defeated the other youth who was apparently in his 20s and already at the Magus rank, when he enveloped himself in a red hue that felt like a beast's bloodlust state, as he wreaked havoc by killing several servants before he disappeared with his accompaniment.
Hearing this shocked Jason but his frustration was visible as he couldn't even figure out his mother's murderer's name, as he heard Shane mumbling
"Was it the Blood sect?!"
Shane and Jason emerged out of the spatial portal that manifested in the air above a small, yet familiar city.
Sighing deeply, Jason was fully aware that they already arrived in Artes city, when he pointed towards the largest mansion inside the noble district without saying anything else.
The spatial portal shifted its position and they stepped through it once again, after putting on a disguise.
Shane decided to wear a silver mask that looked similar to a fox while Jason received a pitch-black devilish-looking mask from Shane which he wore.
Taking out black robes, nobody would know who exactly they were, as they emerged in front of the large Cerus family mansion.
There were a few families that decided to live reclusive because they didn't want to compete with other families for authority positions.
In most cases, they were not confident to defeat them, even if some of those reclusive families had a few strong individuals.
The Cerus family was one of them and they were more peaceful than others, yet they were also said to have powerful offsprings with high mana sensitivity and control.
Nevertheless, this was something neither Jason nor Shane were interested in as they slowly descended towards the mansion.
In the beginning, both discussed how they should make their entrance, and instead of listening to Shane who wanted to amplify his voice and call the Cerus family out, Jason liked to start everything rather low-key before showing their might at once to overwhelm the other side.
Either way, both ways would work out and Shane decided that they would just knock on the Cerus family mansion door as Jason wanted.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Knocking on the door three times should have been more than enough and the strength Shane utilized should have been more than enough to wake up everyone in the house, if that was even necessary because there was still more than enough time left before it was midnight.
Through his mana eyes, Jason could perfectly perceive what turmoil his master caused with his knocking, and his faintly released mana fluctuations as he saw someone rushing towards the door in a hurried manner.
Slowly opening the wooden door an old man with white hair came into their view, wearing a servant uniform, telling Shane and Jason that he was the Cerus family's butler.
Seeing two masked presumed men standing in front of the door, the butler's hands couldn't help but tremble for a short moment, when Shane's mana fluctuations enveloped the old butler, whose mana core was barely at the master rank.
Reaching the master rank was nothing special, even less if it was an old man who could live several hundred years with such a mana core rank.
However, the butler would still be stronger than Jason, who could only smile slightly below his pitch-black mask when he noticed this.
"H-Hello... Sirs? How can the Cerus family help you?...."
The butler asked only hesitantly and it was not hard to perceive that he was scared which was not really astonishing because Shane's mana fluctuations were on a completely different level than everything he should have ever felt during his whole lifetime.
Looking at the silver fox masked men whose mana fluctuations were terrifying, the butler tried to calm down as he patiently waited for an answer, only for Jason to reveal their intention instead of Shane.
"We want to speak to the Cerus family head for a moment!"
He didn't request to talk to the family head but it sounded more like an order and the Old butler could only rake his head what was going on because the young voice behind the pitch-black mask seemed to belong to a youth who seemed to be from an influential family if he was accompanied by a powerful guardian.
At least that was what the old butler comprehended from the two masked mens' behavior and Jason's attitude.
Excusing himself while stuttering, the old butler rushed through the whole house as he entered a certain room, where a middle-aged man with short brown hair was seated inside a mana-gathering magic circle.
The middle-aged man already finished off his cultivation when he sensed that something was going on below.
At least the revealed terrifying mana fluctuations that almost ripped him out of his mana absorption state which could have ended up rather dangerously were nothing he could take lightly.
Thus he, Mirga Cerus, the Cerus' family head was already slightly annoyed but he knew that the other party that arrived was much stronger than him which forced him to act politely without rejecting their request as it was not possible.
If the two masked men wanted to meet him, they could also use force and Mirga was glad that they refrained from doing so, which substituted his anger as he ordered his butler to lead them inside his office.
Entering the mansion, Jason was not really surprised to see valuable furniture that was made out of relatively expensive woods and other materials.
However, considering that they were currently in a C-grade city, the Mansion with everything inside was probably worth more than the whole apartment district with several dozen skyscrapers' situated next to each other.
Shaking his head, Jason told himself that his reason to come over here was not to blame others or do something stupid.
'I will inquire about my mother's murderer and leave, that's it!' He repeated several times in his head as they finally entered the Cerus family head's office where they were already awaited.
Migra Cerus was slightly taller than Shane and Jason, but his aura was much weaker than Shane's which created the effect that Shane was taller and mightier even if that was not the case.
As such, Migra could only eye the silver fox masked man carefully and it was not difficult to spot that he was nervous.
Nobody wanted to waste any time and without bothering about an introduction, Jason asked straightforwardly.
"Mr. Cerus, I don't want to beat around the bush and waste each other's time. Today, we are here to inquire more about a certain accident that occurred roughly six and a half years ago! If my intel is not wrong, the Cerus family held a banquet with a few sparrings afterwards to demonstrate your son's combat prowess. What happened that one of the spars went out of control which lead to the death of several servants after the defeated side wreaked havoc. Who was the culprit?"
Without telling who they were or even showing the desire to reveal a single clue about their identity, Jason allowed the Cerus family head to imagine all kinds of things, which could help him to figure out more.
It was not really necessary to do something like this, but both Shane and Jason didn't bother to think about a new identity they could use to tell who they were because it was useless to do something like this in the first place.
Nevertheless, Jason's small scheme seemed to work because almost immediately after the family-head heard Jason's words, his eyes widened and he became more nervous than he already was a moment before.
"I-I don't know what Sir means….there did not happen anything over the last few years! You may even ask our butler or other servants! If something like this were to happen, we would be devastated because we treat our employees with love."
Saying these words, the old butler behind them immediately nodded his head in order to show that the family head's words were indeed the truth.
However, how should they know that Jason was fully aware of their lies, which caused him to feel disgusted when Shane released his water affinity for the first time.
A small water ball manifested in his hand which swirled around his hand before he shot it towards the family head without hesitation.
It was impossible for the Cerus family head to evade the water ball that had a shocking velocity.
Yet, instead of being flung away, the water ball enlarged when it crashed into his body, only to envelope him completely.
Sealed inside a water bubble, the Cerus family head couldn't breathe anymore and thanks to the water bubble's pressure which Shane adjusted however he wanted, Jason averted his attention towards the butler.
Both Shane and Jason expected the family head to lie about the incident that happened more than 6 years ago which was the reason for Shane demonstrating that they don't accept being lied to.
Shane was also using his water affinity for a certain reason because they wanted to prevent any possible connections between the incident on Cyro-city and what was about to happen in Artes-city as it might even help someone to comprehend that Jason was Old Drake murderer's disciple or something similar to that.
The old butler stared at his master in shock when Jason asked him coldly "What happened 6 and a half years ago?! Tell me the truth if you don't want your master to die or see yourself end in an even worse state!!"
Jason didn't even need to release his mana because his killing intent that was subconsciously released was already enough to show the old butler that their current situation was grave.
It was either tell the truth or die!
Kneeling down, the old butler began to beg for his life as he revealed
"There was such an incident! Yes, Yes!! Please don't kill me and my master !! I will tell everything I know"
Nodding his head, Jason was satisfied with this result and Shane severed his connection to the water affinity which caused the water bubble to burst open.
Taking a few deep breaths, the Cerus family head immediately changed his attitude because he figured out that someone should have told the two masked men in front of him that something happened, as he hastily said.
"Please forgive me my lies!! The other family forced us to never reveal anything about the accident!"
Sighing, Jason and Shane didn't want to remain at the Cerus family for too long, as they told the family head to explain everything without letting out a single detail.
**
Less than 20 minutes later, Shane and Jason left the Cerus mansion, and their minds were filled with confusion, frustration, and also shock.
The Cerus family head said that he didn't know the other clans' name, and only told them that a young red-haired and eyed youth suddenly appeared during their banquet, challenging the Cerus family heir's strongest descendant who broke into the Grandmagus stage at the age of 170 years, which was also the reason for the whole banquet to be held in the first place.
The family head's son barely defeated the other youth who was apparently in his 20s and already at the Magus rank, when he enveloped himself in a red hue that felt like a beast's bloodlust state, as he wreaked havoc by killing several servants before he disappeared with his accompaniment.
Hearing this shocked Jason but his frustration was visible as he couldn't even figure out his mother's murderer's name, as he heard Shane mumbling
"Was it the Blood sect?!"
