The corpses were being carried away one by one by his pets towards the place where Night was waiting.

Yeman left after he instructed Elder Priest of what to do. He felt something within him was trying to explode. He was sweating profusely and feeling pains all over his body.

Yeman decided to enter his domain.

In his domain. An estimated 1-kilometer radius land stretch beyond the boundary. Around it was surrounded by mist.

The place was unexplored. There were mountains, forest, and a river that connects to somewhere beyond the mist. Right now, the rats and his pets were living everywhere they found comfortable inside this domain.

Since his pets evolve to humans after they leveled up, they needed places to stay. Not only their figure becomes human, but also their way of thinking. Yet Yeman had no time for these matters.

He had no time to tend on his pets as of now, and he felt sorry for them. He must make himself a little bit stronger first. In this domain, many fruits and edible plants could be gathered to eat.

Although he's a failure tamer, he already did some preparations to cultivate this land. But the problem was he doesn't know where to start.

Regardless,

When he step-in at his domain, Yeman suddenly greeted by throbbing sensation. He groaned and writhing in pain. Then he fell on the ground and something like steam gushing out of his body.

Many ratmen that yet to be part of his pet were tottering around. But they were not hostile at him. After all, he was the lord of rats. When they saw him, most of them pause any of their activities then glances at him.

Seconds later, after he fell on the ground, his vision went directly blank... The next time he opened his eyes he found himself inside a white space. The space was very unnatural, but he knew that he was currently inside his small fountain of soul.

The small fountain of the soul was like a fountain coming from the land through heaven. It was a reverse stream of a real fountain.

For the moment, it only had a 1-meter radius wide.

In this space, the surrounding was pure white. But the surging soul that was streaming upward was colored in mixtures of red and orange.

These were the colors of his soul energies.

At the ground, there were seven narrow rivers that connected to the small fountain of soul in every direction. They seemed like irrigations from which the soul energies pass through.

Yeman was floating in the air while overlooking the place. He took a glance at something falling that looks like fragments of broken glasses, it were raining from what seemed like the sky of this space.

Nonetheless,

The throbbing pain that he felt a while ago had already gone after he came into this space.

But the falling fragment continued falling until... Until the white space turned black...little by little. Not only the fragments from above were falling, all around him started to fall like broken glasses.

Only the surging soul energy of the small fountain of souls was unaffected.

Seconds later,

<Ding! WARNING!>

<Ding! Small Fountain of Souls will undergo an evolution phase!!!>

"What..." an utter subconsciously escaped from his mouth. Then Yeman remembered the notification about the collected souls whenever he killed a person. Looks like that thing was the reason behind this evolution.

Seconds later, the whole space seemed like it pulsify. Then next second, the fallen fragments hovered in the sky and slowly rotating around the small fountain of soul. The rotation becomes faster and faster at every passing second. Until it seemed like space was rotating.

Even though the whole space seemingly rotating, he doesn't feel anything. He was unaffected by it.

Yeman noticed the small fountain of soul glowing brightly.

He used his hand to cover his eyes from the blinding glow it produces. Then, Yeman abruptly covered his ears because it was followed by deafening roars.

It wasn't a roar coming from a beast or a monster. But a roar coming from this whole space.

Yeman noticed that his vision trembled slightly and slowly darkening. He was being attacked by great dizziness.

He tried blinking his eyes to get rid of losing his consciousness. But his vision continued dimming until his mind failed to resist and traveled into nothingness.

...

In the Whitestone Empire...

The 13 great noble bloodline families were one of the major powers that protect the empire since it was rebuilt. And they held political power that was second only to the royal family.

The great families had forces that could rival the royal family of the empire. Each of them was the successor of ancient techniques. And in their veins have different bloodlines running through.

They possessed a power that could not be reckoned.

It was rumored that even the bronze rank member of these families could defeat a magician with a higher rank than them, that if the enemy was not from the 13 great families also.

Because of their bloodline power, each of them was a wielder of unique power and strength.

One of these families was the family of Gentlewind. Their turf located in the Northern part of the empire.

In the great chamber of Gentlewind family where the patriarch resides, five elderly people were sitting around the round table. Four of them were wearing a robe of the same clothing and the same in color.

While the last one was wearing grander than the others, she was the current patriarch of Gentlewind family... Davila III Gentlewind.

Based on Patriarch Davila III Gentlewind's appearance, she was around 60-70 years old. And the same for the elders beside her.

They were here to discuss some pressing issues that their family had. And also to plan whatever needed to be done.

Even though they were all elderly, but in this wide space room, their voices were like the voices of bickering youths.

Ahem! The patriarch coughed to grab everyone's attention. All the elders immediately shut their babbling mouths.

"Elder Grenn, that kid Jura did a good job for returning alive despite how hard the mission was for them." The patriarch's voice was as gentle as the wind embracing their skin.

Because of this success, their family would earn points. When these points surpassed the points of another great family, they would have a chance to advance their number or status.

The 13 family was rank through their numbers, from a lower number to higher. Which 'I' is the lowest status and 'XIII' was the highest.

The ranking was based on every family success in every mission, population, wealth, income, military strength and etc...

These points would be calculated every three months. And there ranking would change depending on which families have a higher ranking than the others.

Families in higher status than the others would be getting more resources and would be allowed to increase their military forces more than the others and also would be allowed to increase their border.

And if the family violated and increased their military forces beyond the agreement, they would be deemed traitors in the empire and their leaders would be punished heavily.

This rule was made to avoid the great families power surpassing the noble family and to maintain the power balance.

"T-Thank you, patriarch, the truth is...that kid...is a hard-working person... and always did his job well, whatever was tasked at him," Elder Grenn replied while puffing out his chest.

The other elders smiled after hearing Elder Grenn's statements. But deep inside they were not happy. They knew that this person was just trying to make his family branch sounds better than theirs.

The patriarch nodded.

"So, Elder Grenn, is that kid will be the successor of your branch?" One of the elders asked.

"Ohoho, what are you saying Elder Rue, Great kids with great potential needed to be polished first before they prolly shine, right?" Elder Green chuckled.

Elder Rue sheepishly laugh.

"So, Elder Grenn, did you mean that your boy Jura was a talented magician? Even more talented than our Jury? Who was already a silver grade magician at a young age?" Elder Rue asked with a smug.

Elder Grenn narrowed his eyes. 'This old hag, I only said that Jura had potential but here she was stating about talents, tsk!' Elder Green thought.

"Ohoho, talent huh, I would not claim that Jura was more talented than her. After all, that Jury was born with a unique magic seed. But even though Jura was not as talented as her in terms of magic, he is a smart boy. And his achievement in the last mission was better proof. Although Jury was talented, she did not have any achievements yet. She was busy training herself and doing nothing to increase our family fame and resources. Aside from that..." Elder Grenn paused his words and took something from the bag beside him.

Elder Rue knitted her brows from what Elder Grenn said.

The other elders and the patriarch watching him putting something on the table. It was covered with cloth.

Elder Grenn slowly uncovering the cloth. Their eyes widened when they saw what was inside the cloth. Inside it was a masked, a gauntlet and a necklace.

"W-What are these things Elder Grenn!" One of the elders asked.

"These are the artifacts Jura obtained from the mission, Elder Enn," Elder Grenn said while grinning.

"Woah, r-really?"

"Mhm!" Elder Grenn nodded.

"That Jura really did a good job to obtain three artifacts in that mission," Elder Enn exclaimed.

"Right. With these artifacts, our family will have a greater chance to advance into the fourth family, gufufu," Elder Enra stated.

Elder Rue remained silent. But she narrowed her eyes towards the artifacts. Two of them look weird.

"Hmm... Indeed! This is a great achievement for Jura. With these artifacts our chance of advancing to a higher number is greater," the patriarch said while eyeing the artifacts one by one.

"Gufufu, look at this one, is this some kind of mask artifact? Although I could not detect any oscillation of magic, in my vision some weird scribbles or patterns are in display," Said Elder Enra while wearing the mask of Ironman.

"Oohh, maybe it needed some kind of spell to trigger the magic it possesses?" Elder Enn voiced out.

"Gufufu, Elder Grenn, do you have any idea of how to activate this artifact?" Elder Enra asked.

"Sorry, Elder Enra, even our family branch has no idea on how to activate that artifact," Elder Grenn honestly replied. Elder Rue sneered after hearing him.

No one thought of it as a toy since the mask was well-made. And when someone wears it, in their vision appeared the weird patterns.

"Ouch!" Elder Enn tried to wear the gauntlet and felt something piercing his hand the moment he wore it. He subconsciously threw the gauntlet and it made clattering noises.

Then overbearing voices was heard by everyone. The voice was like the voice of God. But it only lasted for seconds before the voice stopped.

They were stunned.

"Tha-that artifact... I could feel irresistible magic within!" He cried out nervously.

The patriarch sighed. "You guys, stop playing with these artifacts. We still don't know how dangerous these artifacts are," she said. But deep inside she was as excited as them.

"""" Yes, patriarch!""""

The four elders shouted excitedly.

'Indeed, Jura has more achievements compare to Jury. But that is because Jury was tasked to train herself as their family's future power. In any case, both of them are capable youths. Looks like our family has a good future to come.' The patriarch grinned within.

With the addition of these artifacts, their family would become more powerful and richer. Their fame would increase and maybe their family would overtake the number IV family in this coming ranking month.

If that happened, they would be allowed to increase their military might. In order to do that. They would take all the other lower class noble within the northern part of the empire.

If they refuse? No, they could not refuse. After all, the 13 great families were free to do whatever they want inside their borders.

These 13 great families, in the uninvolved person's perspective, they were well-behaved, honest, valiant, heroic, etc...

But behind the scene, their competition was bloody. Many schemes were played. Trying to outdo the others. Stealthily assassinate the other family's gifted member. Trying to burn the other's supply. They don't care if the uninvolved people inside that family's border would be lost their lives.

They would kill whoever they don't like.

Elder Grenn asked the patriarch about Jura wanting to send an engagement notice to the daughter of the number VIII family. This family was, of course, the family of Hannah. The Goldenlotus family.

The patriarch thought for a while...

After all, the Goldenlotus family has a higher status than the Gentlewind family. And not just that, their families were old allies. It was normal for the higher status family in the great noble family to marry their members into a higher status one than them. To allied themselves and increase their power.

On the other hand, the Gentlewind family was the III family while the Goldenlotus was the VIII family in rank. And Jura was from the branch family only. Although he achieved such great feats in the last mission. But the family status gap was just too wide. If only he wanted to engage with a daughter of a family from IV to VI, the patriarch would not have a second thought to agree.

It was not good to anger such a strong ally. That's why the patriarch could not answer directly.

"Are these two...already in a relationship?" The patriarch asked Elder Grenn.

"...n-no patriarch...these two is a close friend but not in a romantic relationship yet...but we can—!" Elder Grenn's words were cut when he noticed the hand of Patriarch Davila III Gentlewind slightly lifted to signal him.

Elder Rue sneered. While the others nodded their heads.

"It is hard to just decide on this matter directly. Cause it may severe our ties to the Goldenlotus family which is our strongest ally..." the patriarch paused for a moment to clean her throat.

"But I don't want to be unfair to Jura who did a good job in our family...." she paused again.

After hearing it, the complexion of Elder Grenn brightened.

"I heard...that next month, the Academy will hold a competition to all the magician students in the Academy. If Jura managed to take a spot on top 5 strongest Academy magician. I will personally recommend an engagement to the Goldenlotus family," she said.

After all, being in the top 5 magicians of the Academy was a great feat. It also meant that he was capable of defeating the other talented magician from the other families.

Suddenly,

Katak-katak! Someone came rushing inside the chamber. "Elder Grenn! Elder Grenn!" A soldier wearing leather clothing and was gasping for breath went inside.

"""" Insolence!"""" Elder Grenn and the other elders yelled at the soldier.

"Stop..." the patriarch said. And point to the soldier to speak.

"S-Something happened...at the manor of Elder Grenn!" The soldier reported.

Although he could not identify this soldier, this news was making his blood surge. But he had to control himself since he was in the presence of the patriarch.

The meeting ended around 10 am in the morning. When Elder Grenn arrived at his manor. He saw many people in the gate area. These people were his men.

They wore grim faces and they were surrounding what seemed like a carriage without horses. Every people surrounding it were covering their mouths and spitting curses.

When Elder Grenn saw what was inside the carriage. He tried to fight back the urge to vomit. He needed to act calm and stout in front of his people.

Inside the carriage were piled of corpses. He knitted his brows and wondering who these corpses were. But suddenly, he noticed their tattoo located at their neck part. Now, he figured out if who these corpses. After all, he was the one who sent them to dispatch that person.

'But how come? How did this happen? These people were from the famed assassination group of the empire. Yet, they were delivered here as corpses?

Even though each one of them was just a bronze rank only, they were professional in this job.

Nonetheless, their target was a magic-less person. Don't tell me the uncle and aunt of that person did this? Impossible! Even if those two were veteran magicians, but surrounded by these many magicians it is impossible to kill them all. And besides, the two leaders of these assassination group were of the same rank with those two veterans,' Elder Grenn pondered.

He doesn't know if the two leaders were one of these corpses. Maybe they were at the bottom? But Elder Grenn guessed that these people encountered some people from the guardian group. Their rival group. And their main job was to guard someone who seeks protection from them. Of course, with the right payments.

Maybe that kid hired people from that group.

"Tsk!" Elder Grenn clicked his tongue.

In any case, he must send these corpses to the assassination group.

He doesn't know what really happened to these people but if that person was still alive, he should send a stronger one to kill that person.

And if that kid really hired people from the guardian group, he would unceasingly send assassins until that kid emptied his pouch.

On the other hand, his family was wealthy. Money was easy to earn. While that kid was struggling for money to feed himself.

Elder Grenn smiled evilly.

'That kid's struggle is just for naught, oh ho ho!'

But...

"Elder Grenn! We found something in one of the corpses above!" One of the soldiers shouted.

Then they took it and handed to the elder. It was a piece of paper. The Elder had second thought if to take it or not.

He asked one of his followers to take it.

The paper was folded, and when his followers unfolded it, they noticed some letters. The follower then read it for him.

"Hide if you can, but your death is for certain in the third night to come."

'Wha—t?!'

After hearing it, Elder Grenn furiously gritted his teeth.

He knew who sent this. 'That kid! And did he just threaten me? Me? Who is one of the elders of Gentlewind family? How laughable that kid can be! Ehehe throwing tantrum on me is a waste! Third night eh...I will kill you tonight Kiiiiiid!!!' Elder Grenn grumbled.