In a grand building covered in runes of all kinds, situated in the center of a very prosperous city, a celebration was taking place.
“Merling, congratulations on having your great granddaughter successfully enrolled in the Overlord Sect. May the Strand family continue its rise for the rest of time! Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
The countless people attending all voiced at the same time, creating a terrifying sound that resounded throughout the entire city.
“Cheers, old man. You seem to be doing awfully well for yourself, don’t you?”
A sudden, not quite rude but not polite, voice sounded through the venue.
“Who are you and how dare you speak so casually at this event, you nameless nobody!?”
An old man, covered in a fabulous gold and gem adorned robe, erupted with anger at the disruption of the celebration. His daughter got into the Overlord Sect for Christ’s sake. He was also allowed to be in the presence of many of the most powerful people in the realm. How could he stand someone interrupting the greatest day of his life?
“Did it sound like I was speaking to you, you old bag of bones. What? Are you afraid my voice will cause you to turn to dust or something? Go prepare your casket and let the people with sense left talk. Go. Go on, you can do it! I believe in you!”
Everyone in attendance was shocked speechless at this newcomer’s antics. This was the second man of honor of the event! Yet this young man treated him like some random corpse. This was not something they expected to happen when they arrived today.
“Kid, isn’t it a little rude of you to talk to my grandson like this on our big day? Also, who are you? You are not amongst the welcomed guests.”
“Maybe you aren’t doing as well as I thought. Have you grown senile? You can’t remember the person who turned you into everything you are today, hmm? Being groomed by the Runemaster Guild because of ‘your’ revolutionary technique of engraving runes on the human body has a way of messing with your memory I guess.”
“How dare you speak to the headmaster like this? I will have your tongue!”
“Is this the 1300? Why is this random geezer demanding my tongue? Do you perhaps not wish to exist anymore? Also where is that bitch? Merling, you know the one. The daughter of the headmaster of your guild from back when we last saw each other. She was here when I last checked, which was a few minutes ago, yet now, she is not. Is she in the bathroom or something?”
“No. I don’t believe you are who you say you are. Your hair is gold, your mask menacing and your temperament is far from being the same as the young man you are pretending to be. SPEAK! WHO ARE YOU?”
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“I am Samuel. Do you think 17,000 years won’t change people? I will let you know my hair was golden back then and my temperament was suppressed to allow me to achieve my revenge. But, you are right that my mask is more menacing now. Do you like it? You yourself don’t look the same as back then, yet I don’t stand here preaching about how you are an impostor.”
“Samuel, is it really you? I thought you died in that region destroying explosion that happened not long after we parted. How can you be fine now, and why didn’t you reach out? I was worried!”
“How can I possibly die from my own attack? Do you really think so little of me? Plus, I have been in seclusion for a long time already, and we didn’t part on the best of terms, so naturally I wouldn’t reach out to you. I don’t care about what happened back then between you and me, it’s all in the past. As such, I came here to congratulate you. Is this your descendant who enrolled in the Overlord Sect?”
Samuel directed his ‘gaze’ towards a very beautiful yet arrogant young lady sitting at the head of the table together with the rest of the Strand family present. Her hair was silver and brows were sharp with a regal posture. She carried herself as if she was an overlord. He couldn’t help but admit she was stunningly beautiful, but he found her to be revolting, nonetheless. ‘How can anyone be so arrogant, especially at such a weak power level?’
“She is the crown jewel of our family indeed. Sara, greet Samuel immediately!”
In an utterly cold and detached voice, seemingly uncaring about everything that did not concern herself, she greeted him.
“Greetings, Samuel.”
Stunned into searching for his words for a bit, Samuel finally collected himself and voiced his opinion unhindered by social norms or standards.
“How do you teach your descendants, Merling? This is a travesty! Why is she so arrogant and self-centered? Especially with the tiny amount of power she possesses. Did you want to raise an ungrateful and unfeeling little spoiled brat? Because if so, you succeeded.”
“How dare you speak about my daughter this way!”
“Silence, Jorno! Know your place and watch your mouth. This person could easily annihilate the entire Black Lotus organization, which had a peak enlightenment formation protecting them, 17,000 years ago. What do you think he is capable of now?”
The silence that had long settled over the venue became even heavier. No one dared to speak. Most of them remembered that terrifying event. Fearing they would offend this dangerous individual, they had no choice but to stay quiet.
“Indeed, old friends remember each other’s greatness. My talent is naturally something even gods would prostrate themselves for, much less all these mortals. But enough about my greatness, and back to this descendant of yours. The Merling I knew would never allow her to become like this. So, what happened?”
“I still wouldn’t let it happen if I had a say in it, but I didn’t. When she returned after a competition that lasted for a few years in a secret realm she was already like this. It was out of my hands, so I have been trying to rectify her errors, but nothing is working. The fact that she got accepted by the greatest sect in the entire realm just made everything worse. Worst of all…”
Sara’s face had long changed from being detached to being filled with wrath. Her face was being destroyed publicly by her ancestor and this random individual who just started insulting her. How dare some common troll desecrate her sacred image? She was going to have her revenge! If she couldn’t do anything by herself, she would ask some of her seniors or her teacher to teach them a lesson for her. She was so angry!
“Little girl, I can read your thoughts like a book. You want revenge and are thinking that even if you aren’t strong enough to exact it, surely you can find someone who is. Let me just kill these thoughts in their cradle. Nothing or no one you will ever encounter will be capable of dealing with me. This is not arrogance; it is a simple fact. There is a reason why your teacher, who is watching this display, hasn’t acted yet. And no, it’s not to shape your character. She. Is. Afraid. She knows that a mere flick of my fingers is all that is needed for me to send her to the afterlife. She simply doesn’t dare offend me. My power has long reached the Transcendent stage, yet you think yourself superior to me. It’s quite laughable.”
“Have you really reached such a stage, Samuel? I can’t believe it! How long is it until you are going to ascend?”
This hit Samuel’s sore spot. It hurt him thinking about the amount of time it would take him to cultivate two more levels before being able to ascend.
“Not for many, many, many years to come. My power has reached the level, yet my realm is greatly lacking. It’s the curse of being too talented.”
Merling: “…”
Everyone else: “…”
Well, everyone but Sara’s teacher, who was trembling like twigs in the wind. Samuel flashed his eyes at her before he entered because she was about to stop him. As such she had the feeling of death instilled deep into her soul. It was unknown if she would ever be able to fully recover from this encounter. How unfortunate!