"What about the fine?" asked Tia. "The Arcane Circle hates losing even weak Sorceress, and you are a Four Star Shaper!"

Aaron laughed. "Money will never be a problem for me and my followers." He looked deeply into Alys's eyes. "A clan, for me, is much more than a simple organization. I demand absolute obedience. All members must put the clan above anything else, often even above themselves. Are you able to follow these guidelines?"

"I swear by the gods!" she said without thinking twice.

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[Holy Vow made!]

Alys Tyren has promised absolute obedience to you!

If she breaks her promise, Holy Judgment will befall her.

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‎

"Alys!" Tia repeated, and this time she did scream. It attracted the attention of the surrounding people.

"How dare you abuse her love like that?!" Logan roared and pulled the sword from its sheath.

Lana just watched with wide eyes, not believing what she was seeing.

Aaron ignored them. His smile was gone and a solemn expression was on his face.

"I told you before that I don't believe in Holy Vows. For me, gestures speak much louder than words. Prostrate yourself before me three times and call me Patriarch."

She didn't hesitate. Opportunities like this needed to be grabbed swiftly!

Under the incredulous looks of the Fire Wolves and several onlookers, Alys, a Four Star Sorceress, kneeled at the feet of the Two Star Qi Manipulator and touched her forehead to the ground three times. Then she exclaimed, "Patriarch!"

'Invite Alys,' he thought, and shortly afterward, he received a Heavenly Message.

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[Clan Update]

Alys Tyren has joined your clan!

Members: 2

Tier: E → C

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As Alys was at the Four Star level, the clan tier immediately increased.

Aaron nodded and said, "Rise." She obeyed. "From today onwards, you must call me Patriarch in all situations. You aren't yet used to the clan rules and the manners I have in mind, so for the time being, they won't be necessary. I'll teach you about these things over time."

Then he turned to Logan, and the coolness of Aaron's gaze made even the brave Paladin take a step back. "This is the second time you threaten me with a weapon," said Aaron. "If it happens a third time, I'll kill you."

Logan swallowed and opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly he was sure of death.

With every fiber of his being, with every cell of his body, in his every strand of hair, he knew that if he tried anything, he would die.

If he attacked, he would die.

If he tried to escape, he would die.

If he said anything, he would die.

The vivid memories of how the Rogue had forced a Five Star carnifex to flee repeated in his mind. He sweated cold, paled, and his legs and arms shook.

He had only felt something like this once before, and when he looked at Aaron, he became sure: Aaron was a monster.

His sword fell from his hand and he soon followed, sitting on the floor, too weak to stand.

Then the overwhelming feeling disappeared, and he breathed again, panting.

Aaron snorted. "Pathetic."

Every living thing developed a death aura by killing sentient beings, and Aaron was no exception. Such aura shaped and was shaped by the heart, where it resided.

The heart was one of the names given to the center of decision-making of an individual. Their personality, willpower, and feelings came from the heart. It was located in one's mind.

His mind had been the only thing he kept when entering this universe, thus his death aura had come with him.

Back in his home dimension, his death aura had been so vast and powerful, that if he released it, even weak-willed Immortals might die instantly. Nobody reached the top of the universe without bathing in the blood of their enemies, and Aaron had created veritable oceans of blood. Literally. He wasn't needlessly cruel — at least in his own opinion — but that should never be mistaken for weakness or unwillingness to do what was necessary.

Unfortunately, he couldn't use all the power of his death aura. He needed a powerful soul to withstand the stress of releasing its might too, yet he was back in a mortal soul.

Fortunately, each increase to his Qi level tempered his soul, allowing him to release a little more of it for a little longer. At the Two Star level, he could release up to ten percent of his aura for about ten minutes per day.

Since he couldn't use it all the time, he limited its usage to two situations.

First, in a life-and-death battle in which he had to give his all, where the slightest advantage would make a difference.

Second, when he was giving an ultimatum to someone he didn't want to kill, but his honor and rules demanded he did. Logan was one such case. While he couldn't care less about the Paladin, Alys did, and a wise Patriarch always considered the relationships of all members of his clan when giving warnings.

Logan had surprised Aaron though. In the beginning, Aaron released only five percent of his death aura and the Paladin resisted it easily. Then Aaron escalated the power of his aura, and Logan's strength only failed him when the aura reached all the ten percent that Aaron could release. His willpower was impressive.

Aaron estimated that a cultivator's willpower needed to be at least level four to withstand ten percent of his death aura concentrated directly against them. That meant Logan's willpower should be level three, but very close to leveling up. This might not seem like much, but Paladins received a penalty to their mind, which included their willpower.

Logan had some big secret. Perhaps his class wasn't even Paladin as he claimed.

"Alys," said Aaron.

"Yes?" she replied.

"You must answer: Yes, Patriarch?"

"Oh, sorry." A little moment of silence later, she opened her eyes wide, realizing what she should do. "Sorry, Patriarch!"

Aaron nodded. "Good. The next time someone threatens me, you must defend my honor and prepare to attack the offender. It doesn't matter who it is."

She gave Logan a quick look, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, but said, "Yes, Patriarch!"

"Great. How do we register for the Clans Arena?"

"I believe it's this way, Patriarch," she said submissively and guided him away.

They left the Fire Wolves behind, all three of them stunned by Alys' decision and actions, and by what they had felt from Aaron.

He had focused the pressure of his death aura on Logan, but traces of it also spilled on the others. However, they didn't know the concept of death aura, all they knew was that Aaron had released a horrible pressure that made them feel as if they were facing a voracious carnifex capable of killing them in the blink of an eye!

The onlookers, on the other hand, had felt nothing. They were just surprised that a Four Star Sorceress had prostrated herself before a Two Star Qi Manipulator. Even if she had been hired to join his clan, that level of submission was too much!

The news spread like wildfire throughout the Arena.

Meanwhile, Alys and Aaron had arrived at a small golden tent with the blue griffin drawn on it, the symbol of Illyria's royal family. Two guards in metallic armor were standing at the entrance but ignored the Ironblood clan members completely when they entered.

Inside the tent, a tall, thin man was sitting behind a small table. His robes were those of a noble scholar, and he looked utterly bored as he read a book. As soon as Alys and Aaron entered, he held up a finger for them to wait while he finished reading a passage.

Aaron raised an eyebrow and looked at Alys. She understood what he wanted her to do, but was confused for a moment. That was a man of the king! To offend him was to offend the king!

Then she remembered who Aaron was. Not only had he offended the king, but he had also ignored the effect of the Sovereign Scepter and threatened the king's life!

Taking a deep breath to gather some courage, she stepped forward and did something extremely rude; she slapped the table hard and spoke in a loud and good tone, "How dare you make Patriarch Ironblood wait?! Who do you think you are?!"

With the slap, the man immediately looked at the two in surprise. With Alys's cry, the surprise became anger.

He stood up furiously. "Who do I think I am? I am a Royal Scribe under the authority of the Third Royal Judge, the one responsible for this Clans Arena! And you, who do you think you are to talk to me like that?!"

Before she could answer, Aaron put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at the man.

"Forgive my subordinate," he said in a calm voice. "Since she became a Four Star Shaper, she believes everyone should be afraid of her. I told her she shouldn't grow arrogant just because she can use space itself to kill people where they stand without leaving a trace. That sending people's heads to an alternate dimension while the rest of the body remains here is positively barbaric. Or that swapping people's internal organs with pig feces is not a prank, it's murder. She just doesn't listen." He turned to her. "Alys, you need to learn to respect others." Aaron's voice had no trace of admonition.

Upon hearing the words "Four Star Shaper," the man opened his eyes wide and used the Check Level skill. When he saw it was true, he felt his heart beat faster. He had dared to speak to a Four Star Shaper like that?!

She was right! Who did he think he was? Even if she killed him, he was a mere scribe! Not even the Royal Judge could do anything against her, the case would have to be taken to the king himself, who at most would ask for some coins as restitution! Anyone at the Four Star level was incredibly important to the kingdom, and not someone he could afford to offend!

When Aaron talked about Space itself killing the scribe, he suddenly felt suffocated by the surrounding air. When Aaron talked about a portal cutting off the scribe's head, he practically felt his head disappearing from the world forever! When he talked about swapping his internal organs with shit, he felt like throwing up.

He didn't even care about the falsehood with which the Patriarch scolded the Shaper. Rather, he was happy Aaron's words gave him an excuse to get out of that situation!

"Patriarch Ironblood!" he said, using the name Alys had given. "A thousand pardons, I didn't recognize you before! I have a nasty habit of forgetting the world while I read, which the judge has already reprimanded me for several times..."

The scribe tried to use the authority of the Royal Judge to shield himself. He had never heard of this Patriarch Ironblood, but at least he seemed a little more reasonable than the angry Shaper.

And, most importantly, whoever this Patriarch was, he was a mere Two Star Qi Manipulator commanding a Four Star Shaper, which showed that he had come into his position by inheritance or politics. Which political mind didn't want to do favors to a Royal Judge?

Aaron, still smiling, waved his hand to show that it didn't matter. "Don't worry about something so trivial. We're here to register for tomorrow's battle."

The scribe opened his mouth to say that the registration was finished for that day, but saw that Alys' gaze had not changed at all. She was still furious at the previous lack of respect. He had no choice but to accept the registration of the Ironblood clan, even if it would make the judge angry.

But well, he just needed to make sure the judge didn't find it out. As loyal as the scribe had been to the judge throughout his career, he was even more loyal to his own life.

"But of course! You can count on me for anything you need, Patriarch!" the scribe said and sat down. He took parchment, ink, quill, and a crystal ball from a drawer and placed them on the table. "If it pleases you, please put your hand on the Clan Stone," he requested with all politeness in the world.