************Back in the City of Una*****************

“That’s a tamed beast?” Jason murmured as he bashed another wolf with his shield.

Jason had already seen some of Alexis’s tamed beast, but something as strong as the three-headed vine snake was out of his expectations. Although he knew that there were certain beasts that were more powerful than others, the scene in front of him was still too overbearing.

“This guy should be Aeron’s uncle,” Jason murmured.

He, unlike other people, had a Grade-1 Affinity as well as a keen battle sense. But he lacked the resources needed for him to really rise above the masses, at some point, he even joined random parties to hunt in forests while risking his life in battle. It was hard for him to find decent parties that would actually help him in speeding up the hunt, and it was always him that led the hunt, but his companions could never keep up. It wasn’t until someone from Gerard’s group asked him that he decided to try and hunt with Gerard’s group, and the difference was like heaven and earth, his past groups were nowhere near the speed and efficiency that Gerard’s group boasted. It didn’t take long for him to follow Gerard when they finally met.

His dislike towards Aeron was birthed when he knew how much Gerard was helping a total stranger. It was at this time that he remembered his conversation with Sam.

*************Flashback to Sam and Jason’s Conversation****************

“Jason, do you know why Young Master Gerard only lets us call him Young Master instead of Lord as we should?” Sam asked.

Jason shook his head, he had never really thought about it until Sam asked him.

“Do you know about the Young Master’s parents?” Sam asked again.

“They both died defending Arkil City in the west,” Jason answered, this time he was confident as most of Gerard’s people knew of the story of Gerard’s parents' defeat which became one of the reasons why Gerard was not as respected within the family, dying in battle and losing a City made Gerard’s parents a disgrace to the family.

Sam nodded as he sighed.

“Yes, that is what others know, Jason, you are very talented, only one year had passed and you’ve already leveled up to 6, you are young and full of promise, and you would perhaps become one of the Young Master’s trusted people,” Sam said.

What Sam was saying was not meant to be flattery, it was true in all sense, Jason was able to kill the most in party explorations, his speed was already faster than many talented individuals, hence he was noticed by Gerard and brought in to the main group. Unlike in the games of the past, hunting in parties didn’t mean everyone would help someone, but it was so that the individual could concentrate on the kill, many tried to find loopholes, but sharing the mana from the kill was impossible, if one were to damage a single beast together, then the mana would disappear, but if someone were to injure the beast lightly before the beast fought another, then the mana would go to the main fighter, but fighting like this didn’t make any difference. Thus, the majority of the people just made a simple party system, they would explore forests and other areas where beasts thrived, they would pick targets then fight one on one, the remaining people would either be tasked to guard them or explore ahead.

“Many know of the story about the fall of Arkil City, where the Arves made a surprise attack, and Young Master’s parents failed to defend it, but they were still able to buy enough time to let the people escape,” Sam said.

“Somehow, Young Master believes that his parents did not die in battle, I do not know what the Young Master knows and why he believes that they survived,” Sam added.

“They survived? Where could they have gone then? Have they been captured by the Arves?” Jason was flabbergasted by what he heard that he couldn’t help asking further.

The Arves was one of the enemy races that humanity faced, they were simply put, beastmen, they were half lion to be specific, and their physique would put most warriors to shame.

“I do not know,” Sam said as he shook his head.

“But there is something I’m aware of, months before the battle, the Master’s wife became pregnant, the Young Master was always reminded to love and take care of his younger sibling, but the battle happened, with his parents' loss, the Young Master became despondent and cold, the schemes within the family made it even worse, but as the Young Master grew older, his personality changed drastically,” Sam said.

Jason listened intently, he knew this was an important conversation between someone Gerard truly trusted and him who was still a normal follower.

“Us followers can never truly treat the Young Master as just another person, a friend maybe, but never so casually,” Sam said blandly, he wasn’t sad because of it, every person had their chosen path, one could be a leader, or a follower, even a loner, but it was all the individual’s choice.

“But Aeron came, he met the Young Master when the Young Master worked as a taskmaster to meet people with potential, a level 1 tamer, with only a martial monkey, and an untamed horse with the family name of Ironbull piqued the Young Master’s interest,” Sam said.

It wasn’t rare for someone from a famous family to follow someone who was more talented than them. Some famous families were even known because they served a more powerful family as vassals, just like Rodrigo’s family, but this did not mean that they were weak.

“So the Young Master treated him well, even offered him lodging for a week, although Aeron was young, he answered the Young Master with politeness, even adhering to what Young Master said about addressing him as Brother Gerard. Although he did, he still did not act differently, he treated the Young Master with the same attitude as he did when they first met, and even at times casually,” Sam said, they had been observing everyone who met with the Young Master, so Aeron became someone known to them.

“But when we had him investigated, Aeron Ironbull was actually a Grade-4 affinity Tamer, a difficult Profession with the lowest affinity was never a recipe for success, even so, Aeron moved forward with confidence, going so far as assigning himself somewhere far from the city, one would even say he was suicidal,” Sam said as he remembered how they had dismissed the young man at first and only took notice with him because of the Young Master’s attentiveness.

“But then we found out that he was the child of the Silent Hunter and the Crimson Slaughterer, you might only know the Crimson Slaughterer, but both of them were lauded as one of the most talented Archers and Berserkers,” Sam explained.

“He’s her son!?” Jason exclaimed.

The Crimson Slaughterer wasn’t really that famous, but most knew her for her savagery, it was said that she would drink her enemies’ blood before killing them. As for the validity of this rumor, no one had yet to dispute this, thus many believed it to be true. As for the Silent Hunter, Jason didn’t really know about him.

“Doesn’t that mean that he inherited their talents?” Jason added.

“Yes, he should have inherited their talents, and he could have chosen to become a genius instead of a Grade-4 Affinity Tamer,” Sam answered.

Affinity was something that could be passed down through generations, if one had one parent who had a Grade-1 Affinity Profession, then chances were, the child would inherit that affinity, if one had two parents who had Grade-1 Affinity as Aeron did, then they would be able to choose between the two, once they chose one, the other would degrade into a Grade-2 affinity when passed down to their offspring. This analysis was also too simplistic as there were other factors when it came to affinity.

Everyone had an affinity innate to them, if one had an affinity of Grade-4 as a Warrior, and the parent had a Grade-1 affinity then chances were, the individual’s affinity would become either Grade-1 or Grade-4 or even the grades between.

Most often than not, the affinity of the individual would be a mix between the parent’s affinity, a big example of this was Aeron’s father, which was one of the rarer cases where an Ironbull married a non-Tamer Professional, although his father was a Grade-1 affinity Tamer, his mother had a Grade-4 affinity as a Tamer, and so Aeron’s father was able to inherit his mother’s talent in the Tamer Profession instead, which prompted Aeron’s father to choose his mother’s Grade-1 affinity, Archer Profession.

“We have been observing for the past year, but Aeron treated Young Master the same way he did in the past, and when we heard Young Master’s laughter, we had already accepted Aeron within, even if he became a baggage or a burden, he was the only one to make Young Master relax and comfortable, if I had to say, then Young Master’s past expectations of a younger sibling were the main reason why he treated Aeron differently, but Aeron’s attitude could also be attributed to this change,” Sam said.

“I have seen Aeron’s resolve when he decided to enter the Endless Forest, he had also traded more than enough fruits from the Endless Forest to return the favor he owed from the young master, even the young master wanted to say no, Aeron insisted,” Sam said as his gaze turned towards Jason with more seriousness.

“So it's much better for you not to antagonize Aeron, I’m not asking you to befriend him if you truly dislike him, just don’t let your negative opinions about him blind you all the time,” Sam said before he walked away.

Jason was surprised, he truly didn’t know the true reason why Gerard treated Aeron differently. But this conversation also meant another thing, and the secrets told to him was a sign of trust.

**************End of flashback**************

Jason gripped his spear as he plunged it towards a charging wolf.

‘I will grow strong! Much much stronger!’ Jason thought. It was at this moment that Jason felt a huge pressure approaching.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Gerard returned to the wall, this time he was clad with black plate armor, and a giant black axe, he was followed by 15 other people wearing the same set of armor with different weapons. Some held axes, maces, and greatswords, but all the same, they exuded a terrifying pressure equal to that of an Earth Stage Professional.

“The Black Lion Squad!” Jason exclaimed, he had always heard of an elite unit that followed Gerard, and he also aspired to be one of them.

“It looks like I underestimated the help they provided us,” Gerard said as he looked down the wall, the Earth Stage Wolves could barely move, and those that did were continuously harassed by giant vines popping off the ground.

Gerard knew that Roderick was an exceptional Tamer, but he didn’t know he had such a powerful mutated beast, even among the mutated beast that he knew popular Tamers had, it was the first time he saw an Earth Stage Mutated Beast display such power. His gaze transferred towards Roderick who nodded in return.

“Change of plans, disperse around the wall, wait until they get near the wall before striking, we don’t want to be swarmed by them,” Gerard had thought that they had to charge in and fight the wolves one by one.

Gerard had already taken into consideration the casualties of this war, he had even been willing to fight in front of his elites, but a sudden unexpected variable appeared, so a change in plan was in place. He also looked towards Roderick to see whether he had anything to say, but it seemed like it was safe to assume that Roderick’s tamed beast could keep it up longer, otherwise, Roderick would’ve instructed him to kill the wolves faster.

Gerard of course half expected the Ironbull Family to send someone who could deal with more enemies, he didn’t really know how the Ironbull Family viewed Aeron’s importance, but he was sure that Aeron’s parents wouldn’t let things be, and another thing he took notice of was the Governor of Isa’s daughter, surely the Ironbull Family would cooperate with the Governor, they couldn’t send a lot of people for help, but they could send someone they deemed worthy of trust which was enough for Gerard. Even then, he didn’t expect them to send someone this strong.

“This should at least ease the burden,” Gerard murmured as he watched the Earth Stage Wolves approaching slowly, now that he dispersed his Black Lion Squad, the front line would have an easier time handling the wolves.

An Earth Stage Feral Wolf, a demon beast that specialized in offense, the red patterns on its body started to glow red when it saw Gerard on the wall, it broke free from the vines and started charging up, its eyes also started glowing red as its fangs and claws grew larger.

Grrr!

Jason saw the Feral Wolf charge towards Gerard, but all he could see was a red blur. The difference in perception played its part, unlike Jason, Gerard could clearly see the Feral Wolf’s movement.

Bang!

Jason heard a loud sound, but when he looked at Gerard, the great axe was already embedded on the floor, and the Feral Wolf’s body, was sliced in half.

“Hoh,” Roderick said, to say that he was impressed was half true and half false, he already knew that Gerard was special, but he didn’t know how special.

Jason was dumbfounded by what he saw, there were rumors of Gerard’s strength, but he never showed them his power. Everyone who saw what happened, or so saw the aftermath were awed, their fighting spirits were lit further after they saw Gerard display of strength.