A while earlier…

Walker House, Capital.

The old man and his son were busy bickering when two guests suddenly arrived.

"Hmmm.." Lisa's grandfather suddenly stopped beating his son and looked above.

"What the hell are you two doing here in the middle of the night?"

Kenneth was immediately alerted but still failed to sense any presence.

"Do you think I am interested in seeing you discipline your son?" A voice followed with laughter and the next instant two people appeared.

The two were the Lord of Lorenz and Edwinson House.

"So, why are you two here?" He asked, looking at the two old men.

"You shouldn't scare your servants. Don't you think that young man standing there has something to tell you?" Max's grandfather spoke as he pointed at the man at the door who was terrified from looking at all the broken walls in the room and seeing the Mage King getting beaten right in front of his eyes.

"Are you a new guy?" Lisa's grandfather asked.

"Y-Y-Yes S-Sir!!"

"No wonder. Don't worry you will get used to it…" the old man said with a smile as he waved his hand.

"So, what is going on?" He asked again after turning around.

"Those guys have sent a summon calling us to the Association…"

Both Mage King and his father's expression changed.

"Did you know about it?" Lisa's grandfather looked at his son.

Mage King's face turned ugly. The Association was his territory and now these b*stards were holding a meeting there and he wasn't even aware of it.

They were really looking down on him.

"You stay behind...this is not your place to interfere…" Lisa's grandfather saw that he was getting angry, but they couldn't do anything.

Even if he wasn't afraid of the Lord of the Ancient Families, those old monsters were still living within their graves. Not to mention even a single Ancient Family had more powerhouse than the entire 12 Noble Houses combined.

After all, these Families had thousands of years of history behind them and only God knew just how much strength they were hiding within themselves.

The three soon left the place and similarly, all the other houses had been informed as well.

All the old monsters in the same generation as Max's grandfather appeared to attend the meeting , no one would let the younger guys handle the matter with Ancient Families.

….

Mage Association, Capital.

The three people arrived and as soon as they did, the Lord of Blackwood arrived behind them as well.

"Control yourself today…" Lorenz Lord warned the Blackwood Lord. He was after all a crazy guy and was very unrestrained.

"It depends on them. As long as they don't piss me off, I won't do anything…" He replied with a laugh.

At this moment, another figure arrived. He was the Old Lord of Ovens House.

"You are still alive? I thought you had long hit the coffin…" Blackwood Lord said with a mocking smile.

The old man just glanced at him but didn't reply and it seemed that other others were used to his indifference.

These people were the only ones who were present in the Capital at the moment and the rest were all in their own territory.

When they entered the place, they immediately saw two Supreme Tier Mage standing in front of the door as guards.

The two guards opened the door for them.

But asoon as they entered the room, an aura came down pressing on them like a mountain.

A ripple spread from the Edwinson Lord's body and collided with the aura pressing down on them.

"Boom!"

With a light explosion, the aura cancelled each other and the pressure dispersed.

"You have advanced to the Second Quarter of Ascension Realm.." A surprised voice came from the person who had released the pressure.

Max's Grandfather's looked calmly at the old guy with long green hairs and sharp eyes.

He was the Lord of the Storm Family, Ermir Storm.

Everyone looked at Edwinson Lord in surprise realising that he had advanced.

"You advanced before me?" Blackwood Lord looked at him as if he was jealous.

"You are still as humorous as before Blackwood Lord, aren't you about to advance as well.." The person who spoke was someone everyone was familiar with.

Rayford Kingsman, Orca's headmaster and the Lord of Kingsman Family.

"I will find you the day I advance. We have a score to settle…" Blackwood Lord said with a smile as he looked at him. This guy really was daring to openly threaten him.

"A bunch of brutes…." A sneer came from the beautiful middle aged lady with dark blue hair.

She was the Lord of the Leviathan Family, Aqua Leviathan.

"It's better than being sneaky, I guess..." The man with a tall and huge build spoke. He was the Lord of the Von Family, Jestin Von.

"If we are done intimidating each other, shall we get onto what we are here to do…" The middle aged man with his brown hair perfectly to the back of his head with a gentle smile on his face was the Lord of Zatch family, Walter Zatch.

Even though all these people gathered here look like middle aged people, it wasn't true. All of them were old monsters…

"You are the one to talk, Zatch Lord...Aren't you a bit too good at hiding things? How about you answer us first about him…" The Lord of Storm Family said as he switched on the Television in the room which was displaying the broadcast of the event.

Edwinson Lord's face turned serious when he saw Max appearing above the Commanding Beast and punching it with his flaming fist.

"I don't understand what I have to answer to you…" Zatch Lord said as he looked at him.

"You think you can hide it forever? Isn't he the wielder you are raising? I thought we all were in this together...Aren't you preventing us from discovering the method of controlling the Artifacts by hoarding it all to yourself?" He asked with a smirk.

"It has nothing to do with you. The Artifact belongs to my family and I have the authority to allow any person to use it. And remember that child is a part of my family…" Zatch Lord spoke as his aura which was like a sharp blade leaked out. He was warning everyone not to have any second thoughts here.

There was no way for him to hide Max any longer. The Ancient Families were sneaking around on him for a long time trying to find out the identity of the wielder and it somehow had leaked.

And even if it didn't, the competition itself was a trap to identify all the people with awakened genes. Even though they couldn't tell what kind of genes one had awakened, Max was already under suspicion and now it would definitely be confirmed.

But was he really foolish enough to not understand this?

Zatch Lord's lips slightly curled up into a smile. He wasn't here to take a loss....

"Why don't we discuss this later and first let our friends here know about the true situation and the reason for the changes to the competition this time?" The Lord of Von Family intervened. He had always been a straightforward and righteous guy.

When the Lord of Noble Houses heard him, they indeed had already realised that something was going on.

It was very odd for the Ancient Families to be so generous and nurture the young ones outside of their families.

There was definitely an undercurrent flowing below that they weren't aware of.