Anthony was a little unhappy to have the sparring interrupted, but seeing that it was his brother, he didn't complain. "Hey, brother. Do you remember that I mentioned a friend came to visit us this week with his family and he had a strange son? Here's the guy hahaha." Anthony answered with a laugh.
Hearing that, August lowered his guard. He had just arrived from a meeting and was worried that someone had sent a cultivator to inspect their family. "Hey, kid, I'm August, Anthony's brother. Seeing the state that you left my younger brother, you probably have considerable strength for your age. May I ask who your master is?"
Aatrox listening to the question thought for a while. Apparently, this brother of Anthony is also a cultivator, and because he is older than him, consequently his strength must also be greater. Aatrox was not surprised that Anthony was a higher ranking than him and had still lost. Aatrox was cultivating using the God-Killer technique, he had no doubt that this technique was much better than some random technique of some mortals.
"Hello August, I'm Benjamin, and about my master, I can only say he was known as Decay." Aatrox responded by thinking of his sword. Even if Aatrox didn't like it, his sword was the one who trained him and made him stronger.
Hearing him say that his master "was" known as Decay, the two thought he was dead and did not insist on it anymore.
"Well, I'd be happy for both of us to have a friendly sparring, but unfortunately we don't have time now." August said with a heavy voice and turned to Anthony. "Brother, the council has decided that the Annual American Meeting this year will be tonight... I've got three vacancies, since I came alone this year, I don't have anyone in mind. Do you happen to have someone you can call to meet you this year? If not, we can ask the young fellow here." He said that last part looking at Aatrox.
Hearing that, Anthony's eyes glowed. He had been waiting for this meeting all year round, now that they had decided that it would be in Red River today, he can't help but get excited. "I have no one to call, brother. Do you have an appointment for tonight, Ben?"
Aatrox listening to what they were saying was curious and answered. "I don't have anything for today, but what's this annual American meeting about?"
August asked him incredulously. "Do you really not know about the Annual American Meeting? Did you happen to live under a rock? With your level of strength, it's impossible that you or your master have never been invited by anyone."
Aatrox was a bit clumsy but didn't say he had woken up from a coma just two weeks ago. "Well... let's say that my master was very reclusive and did not like interruption."
Listening to the explanation, August thought it made sense. "Well, for him to train a boy at your age to such a high level of power, he probably had considerable strength. I believe he didn't really like to be interrupted by worldly affairs." He said as he held his chin with his hand in a thoughtful way, "Anyway, basically the Annual American Meeting is the place were cultivators from the lower or middle of the ranking come together to exchange tips, scrolls, skills, and other things related to cultivation. Cultivators from all over the country come to some city decided by the council for the meeting."
Aatrox heard that and became interested. He knew that having this sparring with Anthony would be beneficial for him to know more about the world of cultivation. "And a lot of people go to that meeting?" He asked trying to get a sense of how many cultivators there were in the country.
"To the best of our knowledge, about 0.01% of the U.S. population are cultivators. Fewer still have the right to participate in the Annual Meeting, not to mention the powerful who normally do not appear in this event. I find it difficult to reach even a thousand participants this year." August answered. "Since you have no commitment for today and we have an extra ticket, how about you go with us?" August asked.
Aatrox readily agreed. "Sure. What time will it be?"
"The meeting will start at 8:00, but it will be good if we meet at 7:00." August answered.
"Then it's settled." Aatrox confirmed it.
"Great, I'll have to go out with my brother to solve some little problems before we go. Then we'll meet here at 7:00." August said as he was going out with Anthony.
Before leaving, Anthony told Aatrox: "Our sparring hasn't finished yet, kid, let's finish it another day, but this time using our full strength." He said confident. "In the meantime, don't let anything happen to my daughter."
Aatrox already intended to take care of Annie, since they were friends, but listening to Anthony's warning, he can't help but hear a voice deep in his mind saying that maybe this warning had another hidden meaning.
When Aatrox left the dojo, he met Amelia who had already spoken to Anthony and understood the situation. When she saw Aatrox, she quickly came up to him and whispered, "Ben, as you can see, we haven't told Annie about this world yet. We thought it would be better to tell her only when she turned 18. Please don't tell her anything, the less she knows, the less risk she will suffer."
"Well, I disagree. I think if she knew and could prepare for that, she'd be safer. But since you're her parents, I'll take your advice. You can count on me if something happens while you're not near her." He said.
For Aatrox, it was better for the person to have the knowledge and prepare, than for them to be left in the dark and not know what to do if something happens.
Take his sibling for example, who at the age of 4 are already stronger than some 5-year-olds only after training for a week. Once they have more time, Aatrox would be sorry if some deadly thief tries to do some harm to the children. Maybe he'll come out burned by some Bryan fireball or a powerful Bruna punch.
But hearing Amelia's warning reminded Aatrox to warn his family not to tell anyone outside about their cultivation, and to remind the children to act like children with normal strength when they aren't at home, now that they would return to school. He doesn't want other cultivators to find them and use them for something.
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