"So, do we have any information about the masked man called Zephyr?" a reporter asked during an interview with the officials of the World Association, who were seated alongside James Rothschild and the head of the Williams family.
They had called a press conference to assure the public that the situation was under control.
"Not at this moment, but we will capture them soon," one official replied.
"How soon? They have awakened the calamities, doesn't that mean that these people are quite powerful?" another reporter queried.
"First of all, all the SSS Rank Hunters are handling the calamities, so you can rest assured about that," James intervened, stopping the World Association official from responding.
"A sneak attack doesn't necessarily indicate they are powerful," James argued, his dominating aura silencing the room.
"If they were as powerful as you assume, why not confront the elite families openly?" James's speech resonated not only with those in Desmar but across the globe.
This was the first statement issued by the World Association or the elite families.
"All this will be handled soon," James assured.
"But what about the explosion at the Gala?" a reporter asked.
The broadcast was interrupted just as the explosion happened, so they were aware of the attack on the Kalvas Gala.
"Just as you can see, none of the people there were hurt," James lied.
Many young people were injured, but they received quick treatment.
"It was a pathetic attempt by them to instill fear in others," James remarked.
"Can you explain the issue regarding the Whiteheart family and Zephyr?" another reporter asked.
This was a question many wanted to be addressed.
And after discovering that the elite families had withheld this information from the public, many people grew curious and began slandering the Whiteheart family to uncover the truth.
"The incident was minor, merely an attempt to steal from the vault. But as you know, the auction happened at the Kalvas Gala, so you can speculate on what might have happened." James offered, but this was another lie.
The world didn't need to know that two artifacts were stolen under the nose of the Whiteheart family. The only ones aware were the seat holders and a few others who were part of the upper echelon of society.
This information was not only detrimental to the Whiteheart family but would have harmed the reputation of other elite families.
Naturally, if James had spoken the truth here, Kamden wouldn't have let that slide, as he would have exposed that it was Louis Rothschild who had failed.
Williams noticed James's lie, but he didn't react to it.
After all, just like him, James was also looking to maintain a good relationship with the Whiteheart family, as it had been for years.
"And this is where we will end this conference," James announced, standing up along with the others.
"All disturbances around the world will be settled down soon," he said as he turned to leave.
The other officials followed suit as the reporters diligently captured their departure.
The head of the Williams family smiled, appreciating that James Rothschild was the perfect person to calm the public in such a scenario.
The Rothschilds have maintained their image so well that people always looked up to them, given the family's involvement in many sectors like entertainment and a few others in Desmar.
"What are you going to do now?" the Williams head asked.
"We will first deal with the Monster Tide," James replied.
However, he was aware of what was to come after handling all of this.
"I have sent my team to investigate Zephyr," the Williams head informed.
They stopped at the exit where two cars were waiting for them.
The Williams head left first, stepping into the car with his butler at the wheel.
"Sir, the Tarvian family mentioned a delay with the item you requested," the butler informed him.
"We can't do much now, huh," the Williams head murmured.
"Tell Reece to return to World Academy now. We can have his treatment done after he graduates," he instructed, to which the butler nodded.
'Now, who are these guys,' the Williams head wondered, looking at the information he had gathered from his sources.
A group had appeared out of thin air, and neither their actions nor their methods made sense to anyone.
'Sigh, I'm too far in to back down now,' the Williams head mused.
In Soran, all the elite families had sent their children back so that they could attend World Academy, one of the safest places for them, given the robust security there even without Farnus's presence.
"Can't you stop him?" Amelia asked Damian, worry evident on her face.
"It's a spar, and Lucas and Livia wanted it," Damian tried to reassure her, but he himself was uncertain whether the twins could handle sparring with Asher.
"Hey, don't hurt them too much," Damian called out, capturing Asher's attention.
Asher glanced back at Lucas, who was staring up at him, ready to attack, with Livia holding a greatsword.
'So, she has enough talent to learn that sword art,' Asher observed Livia's stance.
Although he had forgotten the essence of Nathan's sword art, he recognized it nonetheless.
Nathan's sword art was special as even Ivar and Arthur couldn't learn it because they failed to accept the Rune of Eirdin.
Yet, the weakest-looking person here had endured the Rune of Eirdin, as Nathan teaching her his techniques was proof that she had obtained that rune.
"I will go first," Livia announced, dashing towards Asher with all her strength.
Asher looked at Livia, sensing that Lucas was preparing a spell to cut off his escape route.
Asher lowered his body, adjusting his sword downward, and swung it, prompting Livia to block it.
However, the impact of Asher's strike sent Livia flying towards Lucas, who panicked and tried to catch her.
Asher disappeared from his spot and wrapped his sword around Lucas's neck.
"You lost," Asher declared as Lucas caught Livia.
"Ah, but I was..." Lucas started.
"Start again," Asher interrupted as Livia got up, her eyes even sharper.
"Let's do it again," Livia told Lucas, who nodded.
The same scene repeated itself, with Damian and Amelia watching the twins continuously losing to Asher. Still, they were learning from their mistakes and adjusted their approach rapidly.
"They're quite good," Damian commented, but Amelia remained focused, ensuring Asher wouldn't hurt them too severely.
'She's too serious,' Damian thought, shaking his head as he noticed Amelia.
But then he remembered how all of Asher's spars ended.
And it made Damian pay closer attention so he could stop the spar if it went too far.
"Why don't you train like them?" Damian asked Nate, who was reading a book next to them.
"Mind your own business," Nate retorted, ignoring Damian, who was annoyed by Nate's reply.
"How rude, I am your older brother," Damian retorted, grabbing Nate's head. Nate tried to remove it, but Damian was too powerful for him.
"Hey, don't bully him," Amelia scolded, smacking Damian's shoulder.
"I was just teaching him," Damian defended, removing his hand from Nate's head.
'I should just release that video online,' Nate contemplated.
But thinking about Damian's reaction, he felt that it might be pushing his luck too far.
'Sigh, I will forgive you this time,' Nate said as he shaked his head.
"Don't get distracted by her," Asher warned, sending a small fireball at Lucas who narrowly dodged it at the last second.
The issue with Lucas was that he was operating as Livia's support, and this was not what Asher had envisioned for him.
In Asher's memory, Lucas had already lost Livia, leading him to function as a solitary mage. This ultimately resulted in the creation of techniques that merged with his bloodline ability, making him one of the most potent mages, if not the most potent.
"Enough, you can rest now," Asher interjected, observing Livia whose hands were shaking from withstanding all of Asher's strikes.
"Okay," Livia agreed, heading towards Amelia.
She recalled Nathan's advice to avoid pushing herself too hard during spars. Nathan noticed that Livia had a fervor to grow stronger, but her proactive nature sometimes led her to overexert herself.
Asher turned his attention to Lucas as he stowed his sword back in his storage ring.
"Our next fight will be as mages," Asher declared.
He continued to prod Lucas while ensuring that he became aware of his Bloodline ability.
"He has an exceptional amount of mana for his rank," Damian noted, watching Lucas spar with Asher.
However, Damian's observation was incorrect. Lucas didn't possess an excessive amount of mana; rather, his bloodline ability allowed him to utilize surrounding mana to a greater extent for his spells.
Even if it seemed rudimentary, Asher noticed that Lucas was already somewhat employing the technique, at least in its core principle.
Their sparring session continued for another half an hour before Lucas became too fatigued to continue.
"Did I do well?" Lucas inquired, looking up at Asher.
Considering Asher his role model, he was curious about his performance.
"Yeah," Asher responded, but he had nothing more to add for Lucas.
He answered in a way that he thought would please Lucas's present self.
"Young Master, the documents are ready," Emmy reported, turning to Asher.
"Have you listed the names of those companies?" Asher asked.
"Yes, but I'm not confident they will agree to this sum," Emmy responded.
"Just send them this offer a week later," Asher instructed, to which Emmy nodded.
"If they reject the proposal, it doesn't matter," Asher added, glancing at the notification he received from Tom.
'So, they've started their fight,' Asher thought as he looked at the notification.
