Volume 7 Chapter 13: Return of Evil Spirits

Outside the Eskin manor, a sneaky figure was silently observing the inside.

Since the boss had gone insane, people who do dirty work under them like him would naturally need to consider a way of retreat for themselves.

Now that everyone’s attention is drawn over there, it’s best that I take this chance to threaten the last remaining member of the Eskin family and flee with their fortune.

These were Ryan’s thoughts.

Observing the light that still hasn’t been turned off in the reading room, Ryan frowned.

He clearly remembers twisting Aureum’s neck and confirming that he had stopped breathing before he returned to report.

Unexpectedly, that guy somehow crawled back to life the very next day, causing him to be punished, so now he’s going to pay it all back in full.

After waiting for the other side to go into complete chaos, Ryan snuck into the manor.

There were only a total of 3 people in the entire Eskin manor right now, the few new employees that they managed to hire were unwilling to live in the Eskin manor.

Because of this, this infiltration could only be said to be exceptionally simple, Ryan had practically walked into the manor through the front door and swiftly began his search.

There wasn’t actually a lot of wealth remaining in the Eskin manor. No one was stupid, so they clearly see the Eskin family with only one member remaining as a soft fruit to be squeezed, not to mention that the new Baron Aureum seemed to have actually become stupid due to the severe shock.

Because of this, various ‘debtors’ proceeded to look for him, saying that the previous Eskin Baron had collaborated with them and owed them money, so now that such a thing had happened to the Eskin family, their collaboration could no longer continue and the Eskin family had to reimburse them.

None of their documents contained the Eskin family seal, so even if they were real, they were only the previous Eskin Baron’s personal debt, and Aureum could easily use this to argue against them.

However, Aureum at the time didn’t care about these matters, nor did he understand the market or tricks, so he very easily ‘repaid’ their debts.

Of course, even after doing that, the remaining wealth of the Eskin family was more than enough for Ryan to covet. After all, some of the aristocrats actually cared about their outer appearance and didn’t try to devour the Eskin family whole.

…

“Hm? Someone just came in” while discussing matters within a certain book with the two children, Aureum was surprised and suddenly said that.

Ever since Aureum learnt of [Bone Forge Art] through Parry, he had immediately begun to practice it. A lot of things that were exceptionally difficult for others were very easy for him.

In a mere few days’ worth of time, he had already activated his bone’s metallic characteristics. After all, the current Aureum was nothing but a living being with a mote of dust as its core. He found it much easier compared to humans to control his own body, and the dust under his control had filled every corner of his body, aiding him in controlling it better.

For the past few days, Aureum had continuously absorbed knowledge like a sponge, so his mental capacity was already at a similar level to other humans, perhaps even superior in certain parts.

His problem was that he didn’t have the corresponding comprehension of human relations, desires, and emotions.

That’s why he understood that he wasn’t safe and that those ‘debtors’ had actually harbored malice towards him. In truth, if he didn’t already have a certain level of common sense, he would have killed all of those people on the spot.

This was because the malice they gave off told him that they wished for him to just drop dead, which caused the sensitive mote of dust to want to react accordingly.

The human world wasn’t safe and Aureum, as smart as he was, quickly analyzed the reason why the other party didn’t try to kill him right away. During this period of time, the city enforcers had frequented his place, and the massacre had made such a huge impact that acting to kill him would easily cause issues. The aristocrat must keep their dignity.

Even though Aureum didn’t feel like dignity could actually do anything at all.

For that reason, Aureum had remained constantly ready to face danger.

He used his own superior control to practice [Bone Forge Art], then used some of what was left of his family’s resources to change out his blood. Recently, he had even begun to wonder what a Pugilist Heart was, as well as why comprehension and emotions would be able to help an individual manifest the most crucial aspect of their supernatural powers.

Thanks to all of these factors, Aureum was much stronger than others would think, not to mention he had the natural talent of controlling dust that was attracted by the core of his soul.

The Eskin family might seem like it was unguarded, but various motes of unsuspecting dust had scattered all around the manor, ensuring that anyone who came inside would be essentially walking into Aureum’s network of surveillance.

Right as Ryan entered the Eskin manor in preparation to rob them, Dolan was also fighting as hard as he could to run towards the Eskin manor.

…

The Ashius family wasn’t a particularly renowned or noble family. They didn’t have any bloodline inheritance, nor did they have [Bone Forge Art] that had formed its own School. The most they had were some of the assassination techniques passed on throughout the generation of the Sacred Valley’s assassins. They were essentially a family that was in the middle of the road.

There weren’t too many members in the Ashius family as a whole, which was why Dolan was able to use the family’s resources to bring himself to the very limit despite his inferior bone talents.

It wasn’t until his son was born that he was moved by the combined emotions of family glory, bloodline continuation, as well as witnessing a new life, which stimulated his Metal Soul and manifested his own Pugilist Heart.

For the same of his family’s glory, Dolan Ashius had made a lot of effort and paid many prices, but he knew perfectly well that this was the limit of his abilities and that he would only become an entry-level Pugilist at best. This was why he had placed his hopes in the Bone of God, hoping to conduct a Bone Swapping ritual to improve his son’s bone talents as well as his family’s bloodline as a whole.

Any aristocrat can invite some particularly talented servants and help them become Pugilists, who would then serve the family as their stewards in return, but those Pugilists were very unreliable, with the case in point being that all three of the Ashius family’s stewards had disappeared.

All great clans must hold power directly in their hands. The threat of a first-rate Pugilist didn’t pale in comparison to a small army, and only families who had produced a first-rate Pugilist would qualify to become a great clan.

Outsiders can’t be relied on or trusted, simply because of the difference in bloodline. Even if they accept stewardship, even if they truly pledge themselves to the family, they could only protect the family up until a certain point.

Numerous examples of stewards ending up taking over the family had led these aristocrats to believing that only those from bloodline could be trusted. Only a strong individual would have the privilege of leaving descendants, as weaker individuals would suddenly notice one day that their descendants actually had no relations to themselves.

People who had advanced and become Pugilists and normal people were already two very different species.

That was also why Dolan had hoped to find the Bone of God. The Ashius family originated as part of the Sacred Valley, the Bone of God was something that they had protected for generations and converting to this bloodline was actually a glorious matter.

Life is always unpredictable, and it wasn’t until after his family had been all but destroyed that Dolan could finally sense himself advancing further as a Pugilist.

Like a madman, he attacked everyone who stood in his way, his heart filled with urgency had once again stimulated his Metal Soul, his vitality was rapidly being burnt away, opening a newer path of Pugilist to him, as he had been able to grasp the internal life force of all things.

If he could remain in this state, then he could have a chance to advance and become a first-rate Pugilist.

This state of continuous burning vitality was called Burning Soul Steel Tempering, which was also the symptoms of advancing to become a first-rate Pugilist. This caused the pastors and aristocrats who stood in his way to all become startled.

“Don’t panic, his body couldn’t possibly support his advancement. In no longer than three minutes, he will have already burned himself to death”

It simply wasn’t simple to advance and become a first-rate Pugilist. Mind-Body-Skill, all three of these factors must reach a certain standard in order for it to be achieved.

For the Body obstacle, Dolan’s body was originally honed through resources, his bone was also naturally inferior. For the Skill obstacle, the Ashius family’s [Bone Forge Arts] were only a bit better compared to what was being taught on the streets. Furthermore, ever since Dolan became a Pugilist, by instinctively realizing that a higher level was impossible for him, he hadn’t trained himself at all.

Only the Mind obstacle, after experiencing the death of his son and the fall of his family, after everything he cared about had already been destroyed, his current mental state where a tiny bit of hope had pulled him out of the abyss was just barely enough for Dolan to qualify.

Under these circumstances, attempting Burning Soul Steel Tempering was basically suicide.

I can sense it, that is Parry, that is truly my little Parry!

Dolan didn’t care about what others think, he finally managed to sense his own son’s internal life force through their bloodline connection, confirming that he was indeed in the Eskin manor.

Facing the frenzied Dolan, everyone very firmly took a step backwards.

There was no reason for them to risk their lives against someone who would die in 3 minutes. As for whether or not he would cause senseless massacre after being released like this was of no concern to them, or rather, him doing that would only make it more convenient for them to place all the blame onto Dolan.

“Follow him closely” the bishop ordered, but suddenly realized that their surroundings were not quite right: “Since when did this fog?”

“Bishop sir, it’s no good, we’re…” a man with a panicked expression ran towards them, still calling out that it was no good, then told them in an eerie tone: “We’ve lost our way”

…

Watching as the bodies of 10 young children slowly stood back up, Negary chuckled.

〖 These aristocrats and pastors also need a bit of urging 〗

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