256 Outsider?

Ozul went back to the headquarters while various thoughts ran through his mind.

'With enough practice, I wouldn't need to worry about a Rank-10 Mage...' Ozul was confident in that aspect. However, defeating one such Mage would be a different matter altogether.

"Oh! I almost forgot about that..." he suddenly paused when he remembered something. Stopping on the seventh floor, he looked for Irvin, who he found was running here and there doing things that Haley asked him to do.

"Follow me to a room," Ozul said, making Irvin almost jump in surprise as he hadn't noticed him standing him all this time.

He quickly nodded his head and followed behind Ozul, who led them to Haley's office.

Haley quickly got up, noticing Irvin and Ozul entering her office. She was about to ask if there was any problem when Ozul put his hand inside his Spatial pouch and brought out three fancy-looking rings.

Dropping the rings on the table, Ozul took a seat. Haley curiously asked, "What are these, young master?"

"They are the Spatial Rings of Luthien," Ozul answered ever so casually, but the shock on expressions on Haley and Irvin's faces weren't so relaxed.

Haley picked up one of the rings and put it on. She sent a wisp of her Mana inside the ring and closed her eyes.

A moment when she opened her eyes again, shock and excitement were visible on her, "Young master! This..."

"Whatever there is inside these three rings, count them and make a list. After you have done that, inform me," Ozul already expected many valuable things inside the Spatial Rings, so he could understand Haley's shock.

However, he couldn't use the Spatial Ring, so he could only entrust Irvin and Haley to make a list of its contents. He would keep anything of interest, and the rest would be used for the organization.

"Absolutely, young master!" Haley said in a little loud voice. The more the organization had in their treasury, the less burden would drop on her, so she was more than happy to get those piles of treasures she had seen inside the ring.

Not to mention, it was only a single ring, and there were still two more on the table!

By now, she could already guess that her young master wouldn't use these treasures as well and just give them to the organization.

Unknown to her, Ozul didn't have any other choice. Besides using these things for his organization's growth, he could only sell them to earn money.

All of these 'treasures' were useless for him because they were all connected to Mana in one way or another.

'I really have to ask Raymond to find me a method for me to use artifacts without Mana...' Ozul thought to himself before leaving the room.

With nothing else to do now, he decided that it was time to meet Raymond or Alver to learn more about Old Gu.

Since Alver had called their ancestor 'grandfather', it meant that he was also Ozul's great grandfather. But even then, he did not want to associate himself with them.

It was better if he could just hear things from Alver or Raymond.

The chances of stumbling upon that ancestor with the weird name 'Kure' were higher in the Ashin family's estate, so Ozul decided to visit the Order of Dusk's headquarters, hoping that Raymond was there.

. . .

Sometime later, he reached the headquarters but was left disappointed because the secretary told him that Raymond was in the estates and was busy there. And she was also unsure when he would return here.

Ozul sighed since now he didn't have any other choice. He was sure that if Kure was anywhere near that estate, he would surely sense his presence.

'Well, whatever. It doesn't matter anyway...' Ozul steeled his heart before moving in the direction of the Ashin's estate.

He wasn't afraid of Kure, but he guessed that his encounter with that old ancestor might create unnecessary tension between them. That old man being a Rank-10, would definitely have a high ego and wouldn't like anyone not agreeing to everything they said.

And Ozul almost never agreed with others' thoughts, much less of a Rank-10 Mage.

Before he could even complete his thoughts, he was already flying above the estate. It wasn't surprising that he was also able to sense the presence of people inside that shield made up of Mana now.

And unfortunately for him, his worries proved to be true. Along with Raymond and Alver, Kure, the ancestor of the Ashin family, was also there.

He entered the dome of Mana that made an opening for him and landed on the ground.

What confused him was how he didn't sense the presence of those three inside some secluded area of the manor. Instead, all three of them were in the garden on the side of the manor!

It wouldn't have been surprising if it was only Alver and Raymond there, but Ozul didn't understand why that ancestor would also be there.

Were they doing something that couldn't be done indoors? Ozul made his way towards the garden to find out.

Unexpectedly, Kure was also having tea together with Alver and Raymond at the same table!

Ozul stopped at his spot and thought about what was going on. When he had entered the estate, it had certainly alerted them as well. So now, all of them turned towards him, with Alver and Raymond suddenly standing up to approach him.

"Nephew! You are finally here!" Raymond spoke with a joyous tone.

Ozul noticed something strange in his tone and emotions. When he looked up, he noticed that both Alver and Raymond had stiff expressions on their faces.

Raymond motioned towards Kure with his eyes discreetly. He was trying to tell Ozul something, but it was obviously not going so well.

Ozul tilted his head to the side and was just about to voice his question when Kure also stood up from his chair.

"These two dolts told me that you are my great-grandson? Hm! Good! Good! Not bad at all!" Kure laughed proudly as he examined Ozul's body.

"Haha!... That old witch would be dying of envy if she knew that I have such a genius descendant!..." Kure laughed loudly before muttering to himself.

While Kure indulged in his fantasies, Ozul stared at Alver and Raymond, his eyes asking them about what was going on. However, those two only smiled helplessly before offering Ozul a seat around the table.

After Kure returned to the real world, he also took a seat right next to Ozul and kept looking at him with his eyes sparkling as if he was looking at some treasure right now. Ozul particularly didn't like the feeling of being looked at like some useful tool.

Noticing his annoyed face, Raymond knew that he had to do something about it before something went wrong.

"H-haha! Nephew, how come you are here?" Raymond asked with a forced smile, his eyes pleading to him not to say anything that could worsen the situation.

Ozul didn't answer instantly. He first looked at the two brothers and noticed that they weren't afraid of Kure. Instead, they also seemed to be worrying about his interaction with the ancestor.

He took a deep breath before replying calmly, "I wanted to know about that old man. Who is he?"

Although he asked while facing Alver and Raymond, the question was mostly directed at Kure who he didn't even bother to say hello to.

"Oh! You still haven't been informed about that person yet," it was Kure who replied even before Alver or Raymond could.

"So, who is he? And how do you know him?" Ozul spoke. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. This 'great-grandfather' of his was another one of those strange annoying ones.

"Hmmm? Do you want to know?" Suddenly, Kure's attitude changed, and a serious expression took place on his face.

The air around the whole estate got heavier, and sparks began to form and dissipate occasionally in the garden!

Ozul squinted his eyes, but he didn't ready his Ball of Purity. Judging from Kure's emotions, he didn't show any negative emotions towards him, so there was no need for him to get ready for a battle.

Although Kure was surprised by how calm Ozul was in this situation, he kept the intimidating atmosphere going and spoke in a heavier tone, "Show me some respect, and I might just tell you, brat."

There was no reaction from Ozul as he continued to stare at Kure with a deadpan face.

On their side, Alver and Raymond started to sweat as they thought that if Ozul didn't show any respect to the ancestor, he might have to face his wrath.

Both of them were about to intervene and try to persuade Kure on Ozul's behalf when the dark atmosphere disappeared under the blink of an eye!

"Haha! As expected of my descendant! Good!" Kure again laughed with delight. If Ozul had actually been intimidated by his aura and started kowtowing, he would have been quite disappointed.

"These two incompetent grandsons of mine told me about everything that happened with you," Kure said with a serious face after a while.

When he noticed that Ozul didn't have any intentions to say anything, he continued, "Although I can respect your decision of not joining the family, I will still ask you to. After all, I wouldn't disclose any important information to an outsider."

His tone was solemn as he emphasized the word 'outsider'. Tension again rose in the air as Kure seemed to be serious about forcing him to join.

'Hm? That was unexpected...' Ozul thought as he stood up, about to leave the estate...