Somewhere in a mansion in Fashia,
In a vast room filled with weapons, many people stood watching a duel between a young man with light brown hair and an old man defending against the young man's sword attacks.
Judging from the impact of their strikes, both of them were S Rank Hunters.
"Young Master is so powerful," one of the hunters watching the duel said,
The duel ended as a draw as the old man looked at the young man.
"You have grown even more powerful, Young Master," he said,
"Still, I can improve a lot," he stored his sword inside his spatial ring as he noticed his family's Butler waiting for him.
And noticing the expression on the Butler's face, he could sense that he wanted to report something.
"You guys, carry on with the practice," he ordered as he approached the Butler.
"What happened?" he asked as the Butler bowed before him.
"Young Master, we received news from World Academy," the Butler said, looking at the Young Man.
"Is it about Blake?" he asked.
"Yes, Young Master. Blake lost to Asher Greville in a spar, and the rumors about this are spreading throughout the World Academy," the Butler reported, but he could feel the killing intent coming from the young man standing before him.
It was apparent why the young man reacted like that.
After all, he was Blake Cranston's older brother, the heir of the Cranston Family, which was considered amongst the 3 most powerful Elite families, Cade Cranston.
"Wasn't the heir of the Greville family in the First Year?" Cade asked the Butler.
"Yes, Young Master, Asher Greville is the Rank 1 student in the First Year," he replied.
Listening to this, Cade's anger was increasing, and so was his killing intent, but he controlled it.
"Let's move to my office," Cade said, and the Butler followed him.
They entered the Mansion, and Cade entered his office and sat on his seat.
"Did Father or Grandfather hear this news yet?" he asked the Butler.
"Not yet. I informed you first, as both of them were busy," the Butler replied.
Cade put his hands on his head.
'How?' He couldn't think of a way Blake could lose to a First-year student in a spar.
'Does this mean my swordsmanship doesn't win against Nathaniel Greville,' he clenched his fist.
He had developed his family's sword art even further and taught the improved sword art to Blake because he was his younger brother.
But hearing that Blake lost, Cade was growing even angrier.
After a moment of silence, while the Butler kept waiting for Cade's answer, Cade looked up.
"Tell Blake that I will meet him during the Kalvas Gala," Cade said,
"And cancel all the Guild work related to me for the next two months," Cade said, and the Butler nodded at his request.
This was what Blake was afraid of happening.
He knew his older brother Cade wouldn't like it when he discovered he had lost to Asher in a spar.
"Tell Father and Grandfather that I will deal with this situation myself," Cade replied, but his facial expression made the Butler slightly nervous.
"Control the media and make sure that news doesn't spread in a way that harms our reputation," Cade looked at the Butler.
"As you wish, Young Master," the Butler replied and left soon after.
He knew that there were two things that Cade put above all: his swordsmanship and his pride as a member of the Cranston family.
Meanwhile, Arthur sat with Sylvie and the twins in the Greville Mansion, discussing the incoming Kalvas Gala.
"Did you inform both of them about your rank up?" Sylvie asked Arthur.
"Oh, I forgot about it," Arthur tried to smile his way out of it, but Sylvie's glare made it impossible.
But Sylvie softened her look as she knew that reaching SS Rank was different for Arthur.
And it was one reason Arthur was spending his time with Lucas and Livia for the past few days at the Greville estate instead of the Abyss Guild Headquarters.
"I will inform them now," Sylvie said as Arthur nodded at her.
"Well, you can do that later," Arthur said as he turned to Lucas.
"Do you guys want to go to the Gala?" Arthur asked Lucas and Livia.
"Gala?" Livia asked, as she wasn't informed about it.
Most of their time was spent training or learning about complicated stuff related to the Elite families.
"It's a gathering of all the Elite families and other people that have a very powerful status in the World," Arthur explained in simpler terms.
"Even though nobody would dare to disrespect you guys, there will be a lot of eyes on you," Arthur said while looking at the twins.
Before deciding for them, he wanted to know whether they wanted to participate.
"Umm, I don't know. I don't really mind," Livia looked at Lucas.
"I don't mind either," Lucas replied.
He had learned a lot about Elite families and, most importantly, the standing of the Greville family amongst other Elite families.
Nathan made sure that the twins knew that being a Greville, they needed to behave in a way that showed their authority so that no one could look down on them.
He didn't want them to avoid the Upper Society.
Sylvie looked at the two cute little kids behaving confidently, but she knew that the Kalvas Gala was not just a celebration or auction. It was a place where each family looked and gathered information about the others.
"Will Big Brother attend it as well?" Lucas asked, knowing that both Asher and Amelia were in World Academy.
"Yes, World Academy gives a leave to the Elite Family and students that have families that attend the Kalvas Gala," Arthur replied as Lucas's face brightened up.
"So Big Sister will be present as well?" Livia jumped up on the sofa, and Arthur smiled at her.
Their conversation continued, and sometime after that, Sylvie informed Asher and Amelia about Arthur reaching SS Rank.
"It happened a couple months later this time," Asher said, looking at the message.
He was waiting for this news as Arthur's Rank up would attract many people inside Somaria.
"They will be busy for a while," Asher said as he approached the Ranker's Dorm.
Arriving at his floor, he opened contacted Tom.
"Yes, Boss," Tom replied through a hologram.
"Did you finish finding out about the locations I sent you last month?" Asher asked as he looked at Tom.
"Umm, Not all of them, but it should be finished by the end of this month," Tom replied, but he was a bit scared about Asher's reaction.
He didn't know that the task Asher would give would be this difficult.
"Inform Dane and Kai about their next mission," Asher said, but Tom had a nervous look on his face.
"Boss, should we really do this?" Tom asked, but looking at Asher's indifferent eyes, he got his response.
"I will inform them," Tom said, and Asher disconnected the call.
"Sigh, How should I tell them about this," Tom looked at the screens in front of him.
Right now, Dane and Kai were just training to reach S Rank with the resources that Asher had provided for them.
And for quite some time, their moods have been quite happy.
"Well, nothing lasts forever," Tom prayed for both of them.
"I can't refute Boss's order, so don't blame me," Tom told himself as he stood up.
He tapped on his phone to inform Dane and Kai about an urgent meeting so they could meet him.
