Surveilling over the war was a man standing atop the giant fortress consisting of a giant, stone wall.

The man, with red hair, was obviously, General Kenneth.

Watching over the various battles, naturally, he was attracted to the biggest fight of them all.

The fight between two Master Ranks.

Specifically, Isaac vs another Master.

He wanted to see how his new recruit fared against one of the same rankings.

The result, however, didn't disappoint, instead, it had the opposite effect on General Kenneth.

'Such a powerful attack at Master... he's not only a genius cultivator, superbly talented in augmenting, but his talent in the spear is anything but below that.'

Slowly, a feeling began to rise in his heart.

A feeling that he already knew from the moment he saw Isaac.

'I... must have him!'

Such a talent, although he wasn't a Saint, and a Grandmaster, he could be said to be in the upper echelons of such a rank.

Looking at the sweating jewel, the feeling of being able to advance to a Saint was evident in his eyes.

'With his talent, I have no doubt he'd reach at the very minimum, Grandmaster. Not only that, but he'd also be at the highest of power within Grandmaster.'

Kenneth knew that with that attack, he could be classified as a pseudo-Grandmaster.

A half-step, per say.

However, Kenneth knew his level of power with that attack was closer to Grandmaster than in the middle of the two, which was half step.

A true genius had willingly joined the army which he governed over.

For Kenneth, this was a golden opportunity!

----

With his stress after using his Energy Convergence technique, he was slowed by about 20%.

However, it didn't affect him much, after all, even Experts were easily halted by his Master Prowess.

Although, he used less aura for protection and augmentation.

Usually, throughout a fight, 30% of an augmenter's aura would be used on augmentation.

Keeping a stable, yet strong body throughout the entire fight was crucial.

Although, the real strength laid in the technique that they had either developed themselves or learned via a master or a mere book.

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Nonetheless, after seeing the progression of his aura, a separate energy than mana, he assumed that his mana heart was somewhat also absorbing aura, or even other energies.

Although these energies, not having a place to locate themselves, left his body.

He assumed this as he didn't feel another semblance of energy inside his body, although the prospect of this world not containing any other energies was also a factor.

As blood continued to spill on his mask, causing him to have an even more terrible vestige, he wondered if energies like demonic energy or holy energy existed.

Regardless of his transmigration into a much crueler world, he still remembered his days at the hospital.

Well, how couldn't he?

He had barely lived as a prodigy for a couple months.

Nonetheless, he also wondered about the variety of different races.

Dragons?

Elves?

Demons?

Angels?

Beastmen?

Dwarfs?

Perhaps all of them existed, perhaps none of them did.

Continuing to spill blood, the stench began to irritate even Isaac.

At the moment, however, that he was reminded that he was still figthing in a war, he noticed the scarcy of enemies.

They'd been wiped out.

However, he was thinking about something else at the same time.

'Fuck, I spaced out like that during a war? What am I doing?'

Noticing the fact that there were maybe two hundred enemies, he rubbed his forehead, not liking what he did earlier.

He knew that if he was ambushed by a Grandmaster, he'd be able to at the very minimum, try to retaliate, however, just now, he would've definitely been killed.

'I still have room for growth, huh?'

Realizing that he'd only been in this continent for less than half a year, he was reminded of the noble family that once held him in captivity.

Looking back now, he had no idea if it should've been that easy to escape a grandiose noble household like that one.

Heading back towards the gate, entering, he continued reminiscing about his past.

Besides the fact that it had only been a couple months and that he almost stood at the peak of the continent's power, he realized how easy the path had been for him so far.

For hours, he planned, thought, and reminisced about his past.

Eventually, he heard a strange name being passed around, which he knew was related to him.

Nonetheless, his thoughts came to a halt as he saw his general.

Bowing as a sort of respect, he noticed he didn't walk by him.

That only meant that he was here for him.

Standing straight, he asked, "General Kenneth, what pleasure do I have in your visit?"

With narrowed eyes, his words contradicted his actions.

"Before anything, come to my office. I don't want words to spill."

Without having time to have even a second to retort, Kenneth vanished.

'Hmm? words to spill?'

Deciphering his words quickly, while simultaneously walking towards the General's office, he realized the meaning of the words.

'I don't want the spies to leak our talk.'

Although he realized the code, he wasn't happy.

How important was it that he didn't want the spies to know?

He had talked about many things in front of many, although they couldn't be said to be important, most things were said out loud.

He assumed that it was to allow the spies a life in high spirits, thinking the General had no clue.

However, how could a Grandmaster not realize what was happening right under his nose?

He wasn't anything close to a strategist, something he wished to improve on.

Nonetheless, at the breaking point of this war, why wouldn't Kenneth just kill the spies?

Surely, the opposing General knows that Grandmasters such as themselves can't be tricked so simply?

Regardless, reaching the doors to Kenneth's office, he knocked, announcing his presence that was already known.

Mana Sense.

This was a technique that Masters had that set them apart from every other being.

From the master rank and above, a master was so interconnected with mana itself that they could 'see' through mana.

Obviously, Isaac had this technique.

Although, on activation, it solidified the mana in the atmosphere, alerting anyone that could sense mana.

Something he himself felt when he approached the door to his office.

Nonetheless, he still knocked.

"Enter."

Opening the double doors via mana, he looked straight into the eyes of Kenneth.

His bloodied mask only served to make it more intimadating.

Nonetheless, the next words that came from Kenneth's mouth shocked him to his core.

"I'll keep it short. Tainted Prince, become my disciple."

Hearing himself be termed that, his face cringed slightly, however, his thoughts were on something else.

'Again?!!'