Aito watched as these people quietly left the arena, a wide confident smile spread across his face. These people had come here to ridicule the pride of his kingdom; however, they had been the ones to suffer losses instead. As things had gotten to this level, he had no trace of sympathy for these people, and no matter what happened in the future they would always be considered his enemies.
Aito flew back into the Gandor stone tower, "Little brother we can leave now." He beckoned. After he was done speaking, Aito waved his sleeves and both he and Nero disappeared from the stone tower.
Aito and Nero arrived at a significantly larger villa. Nero could also estimate that they were many miles deeper into the State Master's villa. The doors of this villa were massive and heavy about 20 feet high and thick. They had strange markings on the surface, and coming closer, one could see that they slowly moved.
"A formation? Not bad." Nero said to himself as he saw the markings slightly twitch.
"Follow me," Aito called out to Nero. He slowly placed his palm on the doors and a weak light glowed from where his palm was placed. After a few seconds, the doors trembled and slowly opened. Behind the massive doors was a massive palace embellished with innumerable luxurious adornments with different charms placed on the walls. The pillars were thick and seemed to be made from a special type of ore that glowed with a weak green light. Nero carefully looked at this place with admiration; this might be a low-level world but the riches this palace displayed were quite impressive.
Looking ahead, Nero could see a golden throne on a high platform. Behind this golden throne was the image of a double-winged eagle. It stood majestically behind the throne spreading out its wings. This was an awe-inspiring sight that even left Nero speechless. This might be a statue but the aura surrounding it made one not able to directly look at it. Seeing that Nero wasn't affected by this statue, Aito nodded and smiled with satisfaction; this young man was indeed incredible.
As Nero stared at this statue, a loud clear voice suddenly thundered, echoing throughout the enclosed walls of the palace.
"Aito! Is he the one?"
Nero followed the voice and looked up at the golden statue behind the throne. On a blind spot where the light didn't properly illuminate on the statue of the double-winged eagle, a man who seemed a bit more than middle-aged leisurely sat down. This caused Nero to be a bit shocked. He hadn't noticed this man's presence up until now!
How was this possible?
One had to know that Nero's perception was higher than that of an average martial artist at his level. If one used a strange ability to hide, Nero would at least still be able to perceive their traces, and yet this man had perfectly hidden from his perception! Nero was moved by the power of the State Master. This was his first time meeting him but he could feel that the power of the State Master surpassed Aito.
"Yes my Lord, he is the one."
"Come forward."
As his words faded, the State Master floated down the statue and landed on the throne, sitting leisurely as before. With a snap of his finger, many luminescent crystals lit up around the throne revealing a dazzling view. The golden throne glistened with golden lights that seemed to blind the eye. On the throne, the State Master stared deeply at Nero like he could see even the tiniest bit of energy flowing through his body; this stare was meant to probe everything about Nero. Nero noticed the intentions behind this stare and quickly revolved his Qi to protect himself.
The State Master tilted his brows upwards like he had noticed something. When Nero started to revolve his Qi, he directly forced out and blocked the State Master's senses from reaching him. This made the State Master a bit surprised and more interested in Nero. Aito who was by the side noticed all that went down and nodded in satisfaction. To ease up the tense atmosphere, Nero spoke up.
"Nero greets State Master." Nero said as he cupped his hands, a respectful greeting.
"It is best to keep the titles aside. You can call me Alistaire." The State Master replied.
"I won't waste your time with little matters, I hear you're quite a diligent martial artist. I called you here to thank you for saving the face of my kingdom. You might think it was just a battle to prove how strong you are, but you just averted many years of conflict and helped me to establish my authority in the Western Earth kingdom. Secondly, I also want to thank you for truly rescuing my daughter from that barbarian…"
As Alistaire spoke to this point, his eyes flashed with cold killing intent, but he subdued it and continued to speak.
"For saving the face of my kingdom and rescuing my daughter, I bestow you these gifts."
As he spoke, he swiped the spatial ring on his finger and two bright lights shot out taking the form of two scrolls.
"These are my kingdom's high-grade profound martial skills. I noticed in your fight that your movements and attacks were crude. These martial techniques will help refine your martial arts more."
The scrolls flew and fell on Nero's hands. Opening one of them, Nero could see a life-like representation of the martial technique in his mind.
"Beast transformation techniques?" Nero echoed in his mind.
The State Master saw that Nero had a complicated look on his face and knew that he had already sunk his mind into it.
He lightly smiled and said, "Since Little brother wants to close up in training then it would also be a good opportunity to learn those techniques. I hope you learn and display their full potential."
Alistaire can be considered one who trained in martial arts with every fiber of his being, so seeing someone who was as diligent as he was, he would naturally help. Of course, all this was done to win Nero over to their side.
"As of this moment, you're now my kingdom's most esteemed guest. Feel free to use whatever resources you like."
Nero naturally knew what their intentions were. It was normal to grow one's forces, and the strength that Nero displayed today made him more than qualified for this treatment. As they planned to win him over, they would naturally spare no expense, and Nero still needed their help to get the resources he needed so he decided to go with their plan for now.
"Thank you for your kindness. I have to go back to training now." Nero said as he cupped his hands together.
"I'll take you back." Aito said and led Nero out from the State Master's palace.