"I am glad you are okay. I wanted to help you, but my teacher didn't let me go." Sulong said to Mizar as they were heading towards the residence of Mizar.
Mizar was about to say something when suddenly the ground began to shake. The stones embedded on the ground started to vibrate.
Swoosh!!!
Something flew really fast, above their head. All Mizar could see was an azure blur.
"What was that?!" Mizar exclaimed. He sensed it was a living being.
"I was about to tell you about this. He is the Order of Spite."
"The Order of Spite?"
"Yes. Every two years, a competition is held among the younger generations living in the residential district to see who is the best, and the winner is given the title of the Order of Spite."
After a short pause, he spoke again.
"Even though your level is low, your fighting prowess is way beyond that. So, I suggest you participate in this year's competition. Though you might not win the Competition, you could still get some hefty rewards if you prove your worth. Some elders from the main headquarters would be watching the competition this time."
Mizar said, while slowly nodding his head, "I'll think about it."
The rest of the way, Sulong filled in Mizar about what he should do, different influential people of the residential district, etc.
"Here we are. It's the Western Residential District. Give me your token."
As Mizar gave Sulong the token, he inspected his surroundings and the gate before them. Some people were walking in and out of the gate. Some of them seemed to be eyeing Sulong and Mizar, whispering something.
He listened in with his amplified hearing.
Sulong took a dry leaf out of his bag on his waist and crushed it. A drop of yellow liquid came from it and dropped onto the token. The token glowed for a few seconds. He then gave the token to Mizar and said,
"I have marked my residence. It's in the southern district. It has the mark of a dried leaf on the map. To see the map, you simply have to feed the token some mana. Your home is marked using the generic house symbol, you can change the symbol later. I have to go now. I can't enter the Western district; they banned me from entering. Don't forget what I said. I will go now."
"Yeah, I heard it from the people just now. What did you do?"
Sulong had already disappeared along with the wind, without answering Mizar.
Mizar only felt the wind on his face instead of an answer. He slowly exhaled as he made his way towards the Residential area.
On his way, he felt many eyes landing upon him. It looked like Sulong fucked him up. Among those eyes, he also felt some malicious eyes landing upon him.
He ambled, looking around, inspecting his surroundings, keeping an eye out. He noticed that the gate had some sort of design on it.
The Gate was open, so the design was split into two halves, but he quickly figured what it was.
It looked like a cloud that was blowing furiously in the wind.
"Is the design a reference to what Sulong was telling me about?"
Following the map in the token, Mizar made his way towards his residence. Due to the skill he got when he formed the Death body, he could sense some people following him.
He formed a plan as he casually walked like he didn't know anything. He altered his course away from his home and went somewhere else, reaching a dead end.
The people following Mizar revealed themselves feeling confident in this secluded area. There were three of them. One came forward laughing as he threatened Mizar.
"Hahaha...Today, you are gone, Kid. Anyone related to Sulong won't last long in the Western District."
One of them seemed to recognize Mizar as he told the first guy,
"Hey, isn't he the guy that defeated the Vine before? I don't think we should pick a fight with him."
"I always knew you were a coward, Shul. Look at this guy; he is just an intermediate level mage. How could he defeat it? He obviously got help from Sulong and his teacher. Sulong can't come here, and his teacher can't interfere with the Younger Generation's matters. Hehehe.."
"Yeah. Shul, you're just a coward. Com-"
Blood came spurting out of his neck. The next second, the first guy's head was also sent flying.
Shul's knees became weak, and he couldn't stand.
Joining his hands together, he began to beg Mizar, "Please forgive me. This wasn't my idea; they forced me to do it. Here take all my Mana Stones. Please spare me. I will become your follower."
Taking the Mana Stones and equipment, Mizar asked him in a cold voice,
"Now that you have no worth, what use will it be sparing you? You'll only inform someone stronger to hunt me down. I need a suitable reason for me to spare you."
He began mumbling something. Mizar began to get impatient and swung his dagger towards his neck. Just before the dagger touched his neck, Shul screamed,
"I can provide you intel. You are new here, right?"
Mizar retracted his dagger as he signaled him to speak.
"You will need information if you want to make an influence here. I can help you with that. I can help you possibly create your own faction in the Western District."
"How can I be sure that you won't backstab me? Tell someone powerful about me and make my life difficult. I don't think that's enough reason for me to spare your life."
"Oh, I know. How about a token contract. I will bind my token with you. You can set the rules of the contract."
Mizar didn't know much about this topic, so he didn't want to do what he didn't know. So he used the system search for a contract and found one. He sold the equipment he got from Shul and the dead bodies, finally getting enough coins to buy the contract.
The contract was simple. If Shul intentionally did something that harmed Mizar, he would have to forfeit his life, and in compensation for that, Mizar had to protect Shul if Mizar was capable of it. After the contract was complete, Mizar went home following the Map.
Mizar got to his home. It was a decent house. Compared to his place at the Rung Clan, it was a thousand times better. There was a thin half-spherical film covering his house. He touched the Film with his batch, and the film created a hole, letting him through.
His house was simple with a bed, a table and a chair inside. He took his daggers out, kept it on the table, and lay on the bed.
"Whew! What a rollercoaster this day was. But if what Shul said was true, then it looks like Sulong has a deeper history than I expected. And the Great Cleansing that both Shul and Sulong were talking about, I guess I have a lot to prepare myself for." Mizar said in his breath as he slowly fell asleep.