He clearly knew that there is something up with this competition and they couldn't touch Sam, so he gave an idea to catch Watt and get the info out of him.
But Watt turned out to be a monster, he killed a person on the spot and almost killed other five. If not for the intervention of the Great mage they would have definitely failed to catch this guy.
He thought that the plan was a success but because he didn't know that Sam has a way to track them down just after a while of the kidnap.
Sam just stared at this guy silently, he didn't even blink and just looked on coldly. Behind Luther the Oldman who is restrained is also looking at Sam and wasn't able to see what is going on that fellow's mind.
After some silent waiting, foot steps can be heard from the stairs. Everyone in the room looked at the direction except for Sam and Watt.
Marquis and Jack came inside leaving Sky outside.
"Sam, what is happening here?" Marquis asked as soon as he entered the room but when he saw his son tied up to the chair, he didn't know what to think of it, his first thought was that Sam was pissed of by his son and the former is taking action.
But when he looked at the Old man, he immediately became solemn. The Old man is clearly a Nascent stage cultivator, but his energy is being leaking constantly and he is becoming weaker and weaker.
Sam didn't look at the Marquis and said. "You better ask your son, what is going on here."
Luther didn't even dare to look at his father much less talk.
Watt looked at the silent father-son duo as he sneered.
"Your son, an honourable member of Black water is presented right in front of you."
When Marquis heard these words, he became more dejected than angry. He liked his second son most because of his first and third son, doesn't know how to be humble at all, they are ambitious, in fact, too ambitious that their ambitions are beyond their intellect and ability.
His second son, was always content with what he has and always thought of the ways to maximise his own limited resources.
And those habits are the only ones that let him get caught now. He used his resources in Black water to perform in the test and that small action led to this situation.
Marquis looked at Sam, who stayed silent all the while and then looked at Watt clearly asking about what is the situation all about.
When Watt recounted everything, Sam stood up, looked at Marquis and said.
"What I am about to do, might make you hate me and make us both enemies, of course that depends on how you think about it.
If I do it in your absence and you find out later, and come at me to take revenge. I don't have enough patience to deal with all that." He paused and gestured Watt.
Watt took a step towards Luther, while Sam took out a large energy cell gesturing Jack to take a step back.
Watt took out two cards which are made of Silver meteorite sand and moved.
"Father Save me, Please father save me." Luther shouted on top of his lungs.
At first, he resigned to his fate and accepted his death, but when he looked at Watt's cold eyes, he remembered how much torture Watt went through and felt dread. He peed his pants as he asked for his father's help.
"You are too noisy." Before Marquis could say something, Watt cut the tongue of Luther halting his screams for help.
Watt started circling the chair as he started cutting and slashing all over his body. He didn't even have a way to scream his pain out due to tongue's state.
Marquis was about make a move, but he suddenly sensed an enormous killing intent. He looked at Sam who looked at him.
Even though, the other party didn't say a word, he could understand the message.
'You make a move and you die.'
Sam is actually planning to do so. All he has to do is, make the whole energy cell collapse by destabilizing it. With in the time period of explosion, he has to drag Watt and Jack into the divine dimension along with.
The remaining people will die for all he cares.
Marquis looked at Sam and then looked at the Old man, he didn't make a move and said.
"How about I execute him in public? I will kill him myself. Please ask him to stop, is it necessary to make him go through this much torture?" Marquis asked in grief.
His son, is being slashed right in front of him but he cannot do anything about it. Even if his son deserved this, he as a father rather not have him go through this.
"I don't care if you will kill him yourself nor for your public execution. All I believe in is the payback that I can give.
Because of your son, my subordinate suffered. He can only blame himself."
By the time, he was done with his words, the screams became louder, Watt is done with almost all the outer layer of Luther.
His metallic cards, were completely coated in blood, but he didn't stop, there is an unsettling rage in his eyes, he kept on moving and moving.
The flesh over the bones started to fall down layer by layer.
"Waaaawaaaaaaaa...…."
"Bwaaaaaa." Luther's incomprehensible screams of agony. Marquis closed his eyes and tears started streaming down.
Soon, Luther's screams died down as his soul left his body. His corpse stayed limp on the chair. Marquis looked at the skeleton which has some parts of flesh and even some internal organs are being visible.
Sam left Marquis crying and walked towards the Old man who is gulping in his nervousness. After all, he is the one who ordered the punishments on Watt.
The informer himself has suffered this fate, what about him?
Sam closed in and asked in a low voice almost in a whisper.
"Are you thinking about what you are going to face?"
The Oldman subconsciously nodded his head.
"You will see."
Sam took out his Blood collector and pierced the man near his heart as he started collecting the blood.
After almost half of the blood is drawn, Sam took a step back and let the queen out.
The queen bit him on the neck for a long time slowly absorbing the spiritual energy. The life force started to leak out. His robust body already became weak after all the suffering, now he almost became a bag of bones.
Just as he was on verge of dying, the queen left him and with a wave of hand, Queen termite is replaced with three Queen locusts.
They started gorging the flesh off of his body mainly the internal organs.
Finally the normal insects came out and started eating the residual flesh only leaving clean bones. Soon, the formation died down.
Sam kept the chains away.
He walked away with Watt and Jack leaving a crying yet terrified Marquis in the room.
Re-Birth of a Genius. Creator/Destroyer
Chapter 140: You are worth more than any reason
Sam didn't speak on his way back. Jack is even more nervous and he didn't even dare to breathe.
Now only did he understand what kind of freaks he is accompanying. He kind of know what Sam is like.
But he never thought that Watt is this dangerous. He didn't even flinch when his face is being flayed. Even though, Jack didn't see the process, he saw the injuries after he came out.
He is like some kind of psycho.
This Boss and subordinate are both one of a kind.
Day by day, he is feeling more and more glad that he didn't make Sam his enemy. But now that he knew a lot of his secrets, he is getting worried.
Even though, he knew that Sam trusts him, there is a small fear deep inside, if one day if he ever become suspicious and Sam decides to eliminate him, does he have a chance to escape?
Sam also guessed what he is thinking, but he didn't have time to care about what is going on his mind.
He is currently thinking about his past life, he did see a character similar to Watt, in fact he is the same person he remembered when he saw the two escaping siblings in the six months isolation competition.
He never thought, he would another person like this, he desperately needs to find a way to vent out his emotions otherwise, he wouldn't be normal anytime soon.
After entering his mansion, Sam entered the tower and holed up for some time, he forged, started fighting the simulated battle, he only came out after he was completely exhausted.
Watt is sitting still in his room since he came back. He might have put up a strong front but he did take a lot of damage, he is completely exhausted both mentally and physically.
A lot has happened within a day.
When Sam came out, he went to the backyard near the lake, he didn't wear his coat, his pants and even his vest.
He sat in his shorts while keeping as he placed his legs inside the lake.
His upper body is naked as he felt the cold breeze on his scar filled skin. The scars from the battle with Cougar family are all there, which he deliberately left.
He started at the starry sky as he tried to blank his thoughts.
Inside the mansion, all the people are thinking on what happened to Sam, they knew that Sam got a call from the Marquis while Jack and Watt went to do something he instructed.
They went on with their daily routine and when they were wondering what happened to them, three of them came together but they were surprised to see their condition.
Sam's expression is cold, Jack seemed to frightened completely as for Watt, he is completely exhausted, even the playful Philip didn't dare to fool around.
After a long while, they rounded up Jack with a barrage of question, which he wasn't able to answer at all, if their operation against black water is informed to them, he didn't even know how they would react and he didn't even want to tell them.
In actual fact, it is his revenge plan and now it almost became war between Sam and the Black Water.
At least he played a part in the Count cities, but now he didn't even know what to make of today's situation.
He is even thinking of asking Sam to stop this, but he didn't know how to approach this topic.
After fending off all the members by evading their questions, but there is one concern, Sam is staying at the lake for long and he didn't know if he should approach him.
So, since he didn't dare to approach, there is one thing he can do and that is to inform Watt who is the centre of the situation.
Sam became like this after he saw how Watt suffered.
So, all he can do is let them solve this matter themselves.
When Watt heard that Sam is like this, he went towards the lake.
When Sam heard the footsteps, he didn't even turnaround to look at who it is, because, he knew that only Watt can dare to meet him when he is in this condition.
Watt stopped a few steps away from him, Sam laid down on his back as he gestured Watt to sit.
He sat down and didn't say anything, after a brief silence, Sam started speaking.
"Watt, have you ever wondered why I am like this?"
Watt didn't answer at all, though he was confused what is his boss talking.
"Have you ever wondered why a fifteen-year-old country bumpkin have these many abilities, who can forge, can fight, has these many trump cards? Didn't you even have a single doubt at all?"
"Those are irrelevant to me." This time Watt answered. Even if the answer is short, Sam got the point.
What is the point of wondering and doubting where his boss got his abilities? He is still his boss no matter what. There is no use pondering things that are irrelevant to him.
"I don't belong to this world." Sam suddenly said. He desperately wants to let this out, but he didn't find a person who is worthy of this trust.
Watt was stunned for a second but didn't know what to say. Sam continued.
"You may not believe me, but I am from a different world. There one's financial strength, cunning mind, excellent intelligence, wit all of these trumps one's physical strength, there is only one exception though, if your physical strength is the top of the world then only there would be a chance for that person.
Normal fighters are only for people's entertainment, the more stronger fighters are for rich people's beck and call.
In that world, a normal seventy year old man without any physical strength to walk on his own can accumulate the wealth with only his wit, a person like that rules over the commoners without them even knowing that he is playing with their lives and the most pitiful thing is, he can even order around a prideful soldier who can kill himself for sake of his country without batting an eye.
That world is a place where a normal person lives peacefully by trusting the laws.
And the ironic thing is that they don't know that people who make the laws for them don't even care about the very laws they make.
The world where a person is distinguished by a very fickle quality called wealth.
But in that same fickle world, there is no difference between the two extremes, the extreme point on the top with full of money and power and the lowest extreme point where people kill each other for a piece of bread."
Sam paused for a second and took a deep breath as he remembered his life on earth. Watt however, was stunned, because, he can never imagine that kind of place, how can there be a wealthy person without any physical strength.
In this world, he would be killed in a second for his wealth.
But Sam continued his story.
"In that world, I lived in all stages of society, I climbed my way through the ranks, I had many identities, when I am at my peak, in the world of light my single thought was worth fortunes and in the dark world my single word is law.
But in both worlds, I lost two most important people, the first one in the dark world, he died protecting me, and the second one in the light world, because I was unable to protect her.
After taking revenge for them, I lost all the reason for living, you know, when I was about to die, I really don't have any regrets, I am also quite happy that maybe just maybe if there was an afterlife, I could meet these two people.
But the reality slapped me in the face.
Just after I died, a bloke who I never saw, whose power is beyond my imagination, just placed me in this world without even giving me a reason.
At first, I just wanted to live this life just for the sake of living, but the thought that someone just put me here without even my consent almost killed me, that is the only reason that kept me moving forward.
To find out why I am here and if the reason is worth it or not, but today I found another reason to live."
He sat up and looked at horizons, before speaking.
"I don't know if I am a person worth dying for, but I would consider I am not, however, you are ready to do that, so I think even if whatever reason I am here for is worth it or not I think you are worth living and accompanying for.
A man like you, who knows how to repay a drop of water with a spring, is worth more than any reason."
Sam stood up and Watt followed suit.
He took out a red coloured metallic card and passed it to Watt, there is Watt's W symbol on one side and Sam's symbol on the other.
"I don't know how you see me as, boss, friend, relative, whatever it is, remember that for me from now on you are irreplaceable. You will always be my side no matter how far I reach, no matter what I face I will face it with you."
Chapter 141: Holing Up
The next day, the whole city was in turmoil.
Marquis summoned the whole city for an assembly in the stadium where Sam made his demonstration for his weapon shop opening.
Almost all the citizens gathered.
Marquis stood on the stage with a desolate look.
He took a look at all the audience and took a deep breath before saying.
"Yesterday, I found that there are many officials and my second son, working with an evil organisation who operate the illegal prostitution, drugs, assassinations and all kinds of evil deeds.
After looking into the matter and obtaining proper evidence, I personally raided the place and after confirming the truth I executed them immediately.
So, I want to say one thing, those who harm the society and the citizens of the empire, no matter who it is, they shall be executed and I hereby order all the remaining members of this organisation to surrender.
If you surrender, you will be given a chance after doing your time in the jail, if you don't then you better pray that we will not catch you or else, you will be executed on the spot."
After a big applause, he dismissed the assembly and went back to the Marquis mansion.
"How dare you kill my son? And you dare to label him as a part of some evil organisation. You, sick bastard. Did those bitches pillow talk you do this? He doesn't even compete for your position and he didn't even go against that Zeke's business. Why did you kill him?
Is it because, he doesn't benefit you anyway? You bastard."
As soon as he entered his personal room, he was hit by a barrage of words from his screaming second wife.
He didn't know what to say and just stayed silent. He has obtained enough evidence to convince her, but he was also afraid, that if she can bear that heart break. After all, all three kids are closer to their mothers than him and that is even more true in case of the second son.
"Why are you not talking?" *Pah* She slapped him in his face directly.
Only at this moment did he lift his head to look at her face. She is a beautiful woman and so are the two other sisters but of three of them, she is the gentlest one.
Of all three of his wives, the first one is a person who is too wilful and the third one is too scheming. Out of all three, the second wife is the only one who acts normally and now she is not like her usual self at all.
He finally opened his mouth.
"You know me better than that. I might not love you but that is also the case with your two sisters, if I have to be blunt, you three are my liabilities which I cannot get rid of. As for the children, I treat them equally and I take my responsibility as a father.
Don't even raise the question of me being biased or swayed by pillow talk, you should know better than anyone how many times you three have a chance to do pillow talk to even have a chance to sway me.
As for your son's death, I only have one thing to say, he only brought this upon himself. He mixed with wrong people and targeted the worst person he could possibly mess with. If I give you anymore details your heart won't be able to take it.
Just deny everything and live in peace."
He didn't even wait for her reaction after finishing his piece.
He has a lot of things to do and one of them is meeting Sam. So, he sent a messenger to arrange a meeting. It is not suitable for both of them to meet openly.
The announcement he made is not detailed and many officials are still having speculations on what really happened, if he meets a Rank 5 Artisan, then there might be someone who can draw some seemingly impossible, theories.
They decided to meet at a secret room under the Marquis mansion. It has an underground path connecting to the woods.
Sam and Watt went out of the city and went to spot where this underground entrance was. After walking for about an hour, they entered a dimly lit room where Marquis is sitting alone.
He gestured Sam to sit and after a brief silence, he finally spoke.
"After you left the place, I found something over there."
He took out three spatial rings. Sam could easily guess what they are. The three spatial rings of the Black water. One with the rewards, the second one with the spiritual stones which is also the income of the organisation, the third one is the resources.
Sam didn't take them immediately and just looked at Marquis who took out around thirty spatial rings and placed them on the table.
These are the spatial rings of the people you killed; it also includes the ring of the Old man.
But I took my son's ring. I hope you don't mind."
Sam didn't talk and gestured Watt to collect the rings.
"Where are the scrolls?" He asked.
Marquis placed another spatial ring on the table.
"I read the contents. I never heard of this organisation before."
Sam didn't say anything and just took all the spatial rings and stood up.
"Is there anything else?"
He asked as he looked at Marquis.
"Nothing, I will just add his name to the eliminated candidates and you won't have to worry about those guys targeting you. As for going to the dukedom, we need to start after fifteen days and after going there, please do take caution against General Spark.
He is the father of my wives and with your beef with Zeke, my first wife might have already given him a message and he might target you."
"Thanks" Sam said simply and left with Watt.
Marquis slumped in his chair. He wanted to see how Sam is doing, he wanted to see if he is at least a bit nervous to meet a stronger person, whose son was killed by him. He wanted to see if he is at least a bit afraid.
But from what he saw, he is not even a least bit afraid. He is as confident as he always was.
After the meeting, Sam and Watt left the place. He didn't check the things in the spatial ring immediately. He knew for sure that Marquis wouldn't do anything funny by pocketing some loot.
When he came out of the tunnel and went to the woods, he went back to his mansion and holed up inside the divine dimension. He has a new thought and this can be commercialised in the Dukedom city.
So, he immediately went inside the tower.
After last night, he pulled himself together and he is already thinking of new projects.
Apart from that, he is also thinking of doing some research on cultivation. Even though, the Marquis said that the phase was cancelled, there might be a reason for them to assign a whole six months just for studying.
So, he can be occupied for next fifteen days, till they started their journey or rather the 150 days in the tower.
He checked the spatial ring of the meteorite sands and he got a delightful surprise.
There are more than 100 cubes of meteorite sand and most of it is Grey meteorite sand which occupied more than 80 cubes, the remaining is the silver meteorite sand.
Even though, he can do a lot of things with the Silver meteorite sand, the Grey meteorite sand is not enough, he planned a lot of things for that, and the plan is a large one.
But he has one application for this Grey sand and that is to make an anvil and some hammers of different sizes.
After making that, he forged for more than fifteen days inside the tower and the rest of the days, he just stayed in the library and occasionally, he went to the simulation room to test some theories.
He carefully studied numerous cultivation arts, he studied the circulation of various meridians and the affects of the spiritual energy circulation on the autonomy.
Soon, he was hooked.
These cultivation techniques opened a new world for him and when he studied the cultivation specific battle techniques, he was even more amused.
His thirst for knowledge started acting up.
He started experimenting with the simulations on how these things work, because, if he can understand these things, he could open a new door for myriad of possibilities.
He has already planned on making use of his technology along with this cultivation. He almost forgot the rest of the world and got too involved with these theories.
But there is one thing he is unsatisfied with and that is there are too many racks of divine wills that has information with cultivation techniques, cultivation specific battle fields.
He was disappointed that he was unable to continue with his exploration.
Chapter 142: To the Dukedom Capital
Fourteen days later.
Sam came out of the tower; he is very reluctant to come out. But he has to move even if he doesn't want to do so.
When he came back, all of them looked at him with surprise.
Sam is not like his usual self. His eyes that are looking at the surroundings doesn't seem to be looking at them, he seemed to be thinking about something entirely different and he kept on muttering something like a madman.
His confidence was nowhere to be seen; he didn't even have a proper attention on his surroundings as he walked towards the lake with his lost senses.
Only after he jumped into the pool did he calm down a bit. This is Sam in a zone, it has been a long time since he was like this and it is extremely difficult to get out of this state of mind.
But he never hated this madman state, not only this, he never hated any part of him both physically mentally.
He accepted all his flaws and drawbacks along with his plus points and he would never change it for anyone.
Even thought, it might seem ironic that someone is not willing to change his flaws even after he identified them, he didn't want to do so, because from the past life's childhood till death of all those twenty five years more than half of his life was under someone's control.
His food, his health, his exercise, his attire and even his learning was under someone's control. Sam has found something new to learn and every time he did that he would have to show many reasons that it is useful to his 'controller', if he learnt this in one way or other before he got the approval.
So, when the major part of his life was in someone's control, he found out that his character was the only thing that is within his control.
Thus, he just wanted to keep it like that. He would never change it for social norms and conventions. Only if a person is worth it for him to change its character, he would do so.
Many people might think he is arrogant and he is behaving as if the world is revolving around him. But what Sam believed is, if you don't treat yourself special and don't have any confidence in you, then never ever expect someone to treat you that way.
And if anyone does that, there are only two conditions first one is the unconditional love and the second one is that person might have designs on you in one way or other and he might be boosting your ego to destroy you.
Sam swam in the lake for his heart's content and when he saw that no one is near the lake, he called out Mia.
The little hydra was already a level 1 and is growing faster and faster. When she came out, it immediately jumped at Sam and started snuggling.
Sam threw all the care for the world and started playing with Mia. They just played inside the water for hours.
After coming out of the water, Sam wasn't satisfied and took out the formation flags. He placed layers up on layers of concealing formations and even activated the formation discs.
He let out all the beasts, panthers, Yanwu, Sky, ape and Mia.
He doesn't know what is going to happen in the Dukedom capital, so he just wanted to enjoy some peace with his companions.
The two panthers pinned him to ground and started licking him in the face. It has been a long time since the little guys got his attention. Inside the dimension they only have themselves to play with and don't have much to do.
Yanwu or Sky would give food to them and they would run around, roll around, mess up some herbs that are planted, ruffle Yanwu's feathers and run away.
They are just like any other kids.
Sam called over Watt and asked him to bring over a large amount of food from the restaurant.
In an hour, Watt also joined them with a lot of food.
Sam didn't talk much all he did was play with the little beasts, panthers and Mia. He even let the Queen bugs out.
While relaxing Sam saw something interesting. Both the panthers are acting like superiors to Mia and are teaching her manners.
He couldn't help but chuckle. Even though, they became hybrid because of the fire poison, both the panthers don't have much potential as Mia for now, after all she is a mythical beast.
He imagined how Mia becoming a behemoth sized beast and looking down on the now superior Panthers and shook his head with a laugh.
But the problem is that Mia doesn't like to stay on the land for a lot of time and Panthers being the fire type is making it hard for her. Then only, he thought that it would be a good idea to capture a few water type beasts to have her company.
After the long relaxation, Sam and Watt packed up everything and stored away the beasts. Now that both of them are alone, Sam took out the gift he prepared for Watt.
When Watt saw this, he was dumbfounded. Because, it is also a hoverboard. But this is a bit different.
This is a little thinner and it is completely silver in colour.
Sam made this because, he has to walk if wants to go with Watt for some other places. So, if Watt also has same way of transport they can move faster.
But this board is different in a lot of ways. For, Harbinger Sam can directly circulate the wind elemental spiritual energy into the high-pressure air to get the required thrust.
Even though, Watt's manipulation and control over wind element are high, it is not high enough to provide same thrust.
So, Sam used a variety of inscriptions to make this. This thing also operates on the Wind energy cells, but, they are not visible for outside.
Instead they are covered with a plate. On the inner side of the plate there are a lot of complex inscription matrices Sam made.
These inscription matrices are actually made of a simple wind type inscription called air cannon. This is a normal wind elemental spell which produce a thrust of air for an instant and the scale of the effect will depend on the energy used by the mage.
Sam made an inscription matrix of these so that when injected they would provide a continuous thrust.
So, simply this thing runs on the continuous small-scale air cannons pushing the board upwards and even the forward thrust will be given the same way.
As for others finding out and copying it. They can try and see if they can continuously pour the energy from their body since Sam is sole supplier of the energy cells.
But before they could do this, they have to open up and examine, but Sam took measures. He stacked up the concealment formations inscribed with etching operation to conceal it from spiritual sense.
For, now there would be no copying.
Sam then showed the remaining functions of the board. There are some projectile shooting options on the front and even back of the board and there is one more function which he could use in the close combat too.
The rest of the day was gone with Sam teaching on how to balance and use the board effectively.
The next day early in the morning, Sam and the remaining members arrived at the Marquis mansion.
The twenty members were selected and the list was out. Sam's team didn't have any eliminations except for Jasmine.
So, that is nine seats gone. For the remaining eleven, the second team which mostly comprised of noble children got seven while the third team only got four places.
As for the eliminated candidates, they were given enrolment to the special elite class as the top priority students who will be invested in.
Sam looked at Zeke who is also looking him with some sort of fear in his eyes.
Zeke is particularly a bit overwhelmed and anxious as his father called him and his brother yesterday.
"If you want to live peacefully, don't mess with Sam anymore. Even if your grandfather can oppress him for now, you will be regret it in long run. So, if you guys have any plans to deal with him with the help of your grandfather, abandon the idea."
These are the exact words of Marquis yesterday night. Not only did Marquis warn them he didn't even give any further explanation.
"You will be representing the Blue flame territory and will be competing in the Dukedom capital. Now you guys don't have any way back and have to move forward even if you like it or not. So, I hope you guys concentrate on the future and grab the opportunities that are being presented for you."
After that, they were led to what seemed like a forest and when they entered all of them saw gigantic beasts.
These are Fire-winged eagle. These are one of the beast squads of the Marquis territory and they are Fire and Wind dual elemental beasts.
There is one more advantage for them. They are big and fast. So, they are also used for long distance travel.
At this morning, five Fire-winged eagles soared into the air with the candidates and the Marquis riding them toward the Dukedom capital.
Chapter 143: General Spark
After flying for thirteen days, the five Fire-winged eagles landed in the Dukedom capital.
The Dukedom capital is three time larger than the Marquis city and most of the nearby woods are completely cleared out of the beasts.
One can stay without a worry of the beasts in these outskirts. There is only one worry and that is other humans.
This time, Sam didn't plan to bring his restaurant business here. He doesn't know what he would be facing in the tests and he doesn't have anyone to take care of his businesses in his absence. At least in the Blue flame city, Chaya is there to take care of things.
After landing a person came and directed them to the quarters provided.
As they walked, Sam watched the estate. This place is isolated from the city and he could see various beasts which seemed to be the transportation of the other Marquis teams.
There are ten buildings in the estate and nine of the belongs to the nine Marquis cities and the remaining might belong to the Dukedom city.
After they entered the quarters and settled down, Marquis Blue flame gathered them and gave them the required briefing on the Dukedom.
This city is called Southern Star city and the Dukedom is called Southern star dukedom.
There are eight dukedoms in this empire and all of them are named after the direction they are in followed by star.
And apparently all of them share a border with the empire which they are sharing the western continent with.
The Blue flame Marquis' territory is the southern most of all and didn't share a border. That is why, they are also last to come.
Almost all the other participants are here.
The Dukedom city has three main experts and all three of them are Nascent stage cultivators.
The Duke himself is a Peak stage Nascent and the remaining two are Generals who are middle-stage Nascent experts.
One of them is the General Spark who the Marquis spoke of. He is in charge of all the troops of the Dukedom that includes all the army camps placed in various Marquis territories. And most importantly this guy is the father-in-law of the Blue flame Marquis.
Even though, there are native in-charges of their places, General Spark is the top of this pyramid and all of them are under his jurisdiction.
The second one is General Mercury. He is in charge of the internal safety. All the city guards come under his jurisdiction.
As for the rest. The Southern star academy is not only the best in the Dukedom, they also collaborate with the four major professions and have the students learn within the academy. These four tower heads send the necessary instructors to the academy.
Finally, there are a total of six noble families and all of them are of same level as a Marquis' family.
But their scope of authority is less and they don't have any territory under them except their estates.
By the time, the brief exchange was over, a visitor arrived.
"Blue Flame Marquis."
A man who seemed to be in early forties walked through the side as he called the Marquis who is facing all the candidates.
Marquis turned around and seemed a little stunned by that person's arrival. He came out of his shock and greeted that person.
"Greetings General Spark."
The candidates were surprised. Just now Marquis explained that this man is one of the three most powerful people in the Dukedom.
But two people are clearly delighted to see them and they are the Brothers Zeke and Blue fire.
"Grandfather." (x2)
Both of them greeted him in unison as they delightedly walked towards him.
The man who seemed to be in his forties actually nearly seventy years old.
But he looked only fifty because of the Nascent stage cultivation.
In the Cultivation stages until Grand realm, the only changes in the body are health, physique, size of the spiritual core and the amount of spiritual energy. Other than that, there are not many changes in aging and life span of the person.
In this world where the pollution is negligible and the environment is pure, the average life span of a healthy person is around 120 to 130 years and if a person is a Grand stage expert, his life span would be at most 150 years.
But the Nascent stage changes everything. One can even divide the whole cultivation into different phases as before Nascent and after Nascent. Of course, this applies only in these lower realms.
In the Nascent stage, the human body will be undergoing a physical reformation along with the spiritual core.
In this stage the cells of the person will undergo a sort of rebirth and the vitality increased at the same time the spiritual core will start to resemble an infinite space.
As name implied the Nascent stage is the start of realising one's full potential. The changes in this stage will not only decide their final point of cultivation, but also their stand amongst their peers.
There are basically three things that can decide these things.
The first and most important one is the infinite space of the spiritual core. This infinite space is not real but just something the cultivator has perceived in his core.
In this infinite space, along with the development and advancement in the substages of the Nascent realm cultivation, a spiritual sea will be formed from the centre and the extent of its development are the indications of the final point of their cultivation.
The second thing is the body honing or the spiritual sea density.
During this reformation, the cultivators try to take advantage of it and try to hone their body if they are warriors and increase the density of the spiritual energy in their spiritual sea which are proportionate to the battle prowess.
Okay we are way off topic, back to the room.
The General ignored everyone as he talked with his grandsons and then looked at the group. He seemed to be searching for someone and his gaze has lingered on Sam for a tad bit longer.
After that, he looked at Marquis and asked.
"Why is there an extra person?"
"He is not a candidate, but he is a subordinate of someone."
The General frowned immediately and looked to be in displeasure.
"Whose subordinate, is he?"
Marquis pointed at Sam.
General looked at Sam and said.
"This is not your home and you cannot bring the subordinates here. This place is for the participants who doesn't have living arrangements made in the city. This is a gesture from Duke to make it convenient for you, not to let you free load by bringing extra baggage."
Sam raised an eyebrow and looked at the General with a cold look. When he looked at Zeke's mixed emotional face and Blue fire's gloating face and finally Marquis' anxious face, he knew that this guy must be targeting him on purpose.
The message from the first wife surely arrived and this general is really taking it out on him. After all, if this is a rule, Marquis must not have missed such an obvious one.
"So, that means we can stay in the city if we have our own arrangements?" Sam asked without replying for the earlier statement.
"Do so if you can. But you cannot bring your subordinate here." He said those words and ignored him before turning towards Marquis.
"The tests and other related matters will be announced tomorrow; you can roam around the city as you wish but you have to gather in the estate by dawn."
He then looked at Sam and said.
"Send him out immediately or you can get out with him."
Sam didn't say anything and took out his harbinger, Watt followed suit as he took out his board. There is a string of letters etched on the side. Silver Wind.
Since, Sam is not got at naming he asked Watt to do it himself.
Sam didn't even look at the Marquis as he spoke.
"Contact me with communication token if anything comes up."
Then with the air whistling, Sam and Watt left the place in speed of wind.
"Damn it, he might be buying another house." Philip said under his breath, but everyone clearly heard it even the General.
"Humph, not any tom, dick and Harry can afford a place here." He snorted and gestured Marquis to talk in private.
But Marquis, Jack, Philip even Kelly and Hawk are shaking their heads.
Its true not any Tom, Dick and Harry can buy a place, but is Sam any Tom Dick and Harry.
He is SAM, when has he ever failed in getting what he wants.
But the general didn't think much of their thoughts.
Even though, he was stunned by the hovering boards, he only thought that Sam and Watt would be finding an Inn.
He took a communication token and said.
"Mark two guys who are moving on some floating objects, follow them and let all the inns and restaurants know that he cannot be taken as a customer, if he was to dine or stay in any of these establishments, I will hold you responsible."
He didn't even wait for other party's answer and turned the token off. But Marquis was stunned.
General looked at him and said.
"Do you have something to say regarding my second grandson?" His voice was solemn.
"I have nothing to say. He is executed because he did something he shouldn't have."
"Why should I believe you?"
Marquis thought for a bit and said.
"Do you know Black water?" General was stunned when he heard these words.
"How do you know that name?" His voice was frantic and a bit anxious. If the neighbouring empire is an external enemy then the Black water is an internal enemy of the empire. Even though, he is not in charge of the internal safety, he knew who they are.
"Luther is working for them, here, these are the scrolls I found in his ring." He took out a bunch of scrolls which contained the duties of Luther in the organisation.
Marquis didn't ask for Luther's ring for no reason. He asked it for these scrolls, he can just take them away but he thought that there might be possibility that Sam might know about these scrolls based on his intelligence gathering scope. That is why he shot an arrow in the dark and it hit the target.
When the general looked through them, he was stunned. He didn't know that a Black water branch was eradicated and that happened in his son-in-law's city.
If he knew that, Sam was the one who did the work, one must wonder how he would think.
Re-Birth of a Genius. Creator/Destroyer
Chapter 144: Deal
General Spark clearly understood that Luther was indeed tied up with Black water and didn't probe any further. But he still has a lot to talk about Sam.
"Why did you let a brat walk over my grandson?" He asked seriously.
Marquis didn't know what to say to his father-in-law. Because, he didn't treat the latter like that.
Their relationship is more like a transaction. As for General Spark's relationship with his daughters and Grandsons, he spoiled them because of an immense the guilt he has to carry.
His daughters paid a huge price which cannot be compensated due to him, so all he could do is make it up by spoiling them.
A few days back, his first daughter contacted him through the Marquis and Duke communication system, which is also accessible to her due to his spoiling attitude and complained about how her son was being toyed around by a Rank 5 Scholar Artisan who is only sixteen years old.
He is angry at his Son-in-law about this, but he cannot do much about it.
Even though, he asked why he is letting him do that, he knew better than anyone what his answer is. After all, a scholar artisan that too Rank 5 at age sixteen is not an ordinary person and it is not easy to control him.
Marquis took a deep breath and said.
"General Spark, I don't know what your daughter told you, but there is one thing I have to say to you. I don't want to handle anymore unnecessary enemies. You know better than anyone what would happen if we push someone to their limits.
Your daughters are living examples. I just hope that you won't do the same foolish mistake again."
General Spark immediately got angry at Marquis' words. Even if it was true, he didn't want to hear it since it is one of the dirtiest pasts of his.
He snorted and said. "Are you saying, that I have to take your advice and cannot mess with a brat? Remember, even if we have a transaction it is not your time to advise me. As for that brat, I spent more time being a Nascent stage cultivator than his age. I don't have to care about that."
Marquis didn't say anything and just stayed silent. Of course, he understood that Nascent stage is powerful, but that old man of Black water is also a Nascent stage, even if he is early stage one, from the point of you a Novice stage cultivator, it doesn't matter.
Both the early stage Nascent and the Middle stage Nascent, both of them are same for a Novice, they both can kill him in a second.
But what happened to that Old man.
Marquis has only one thought in his mind.
'You are a Nascent, Great. But it is not like Sam hasn't killed one before.'
Even though, Marquis doesn't know if those chains would affect this Middle stage, his instinct is telling him that General would end up in same way, if Sam put sufficient effort in making preparations.
"I am leaving now; I would be coming back tomorrow morning. Make sure that all your candidates are here by that time."
General Spark left that place after that.
While General and Marquis are discussing something, somewhere in the city, which is also called the central region Sam and Watt are in the Artisan tower.
Sam came here because, with his Rank 5 Badge this place is the best for gathering the info he required very easily.
"Artisan Sam, I heard a lot about you from Chaya. It is an honour to finally meet you."
A middle-aged man who is also a Rank 5 Artisan received him personally after he spoke to the receptionist.
After exchanging some pleasantries, Sam spoke.
"Artisan Ford, I have something to ask you. Since, you are an Architecture Artisan, you should no about the Real-Estate in the City, right?"
"Of course."
"Since, I am new to City I don't have much knowledge on how it works in here. So, I have no choice but to trouble you. I want to buy a house in the city."
The middle-aged man was silent for a second and said.
"Artisan Sam, since you came to me, you should know the situation of the city. The city is divided into three parts. The Outer region, where commoners live, the inner region where some what rich people live and most of the business occurs and finally the Central region, where upper class of the society lives.
And we the architecture artisans mostly work in the Central region only and some special projects. You should understand that the influence I am at, the price is pretty high."
"We don't need to worry about the price at all, it is secondary. I want a house in the central zone and it would be better if it is near General Spark's house."
When Ford heard this, he was dumbfounded for two reasons. First one is about price being secondary and second one is the house being General Spark's place.
'Is it a coincidence that this guy appeared just now?' This is the only thought in his mind and as if he was afraid that Sam would change his mind, he stood up and said.
"I actually have a perfect place for your choice. Please follow me."
Sam was surprised at the response but he stood up. Watt and Sam followed Ford into his carriage and after travelling for a while they arrived at a building which has a logo Sam was completely familiar with.
"Golden-Horse trading company?" Sam said.
"Oh, since you are already familiar with this name, I don't have to explain much. This company deals with all kinds of trade within the Southern star city and they have almost all kinds of businesses, even the four main profession towers also cooperate with them.
The place I am about to show is also a collaboration project between them and us."
They went in and were led by an attendant to a meeting room, within five minutes, another middle-aged man came inside the room. He came in rather frantically and after greeting Ford, he asked Sam.
"Sir, are you sure those are your only requirements?"
Sam just nodded his head and the other guy seemed to be ecstatic.
"We will go right now."
Again, after another carriage journey.
Even though, the Central zone is the inner most part of the city, it is the largest of all three. It is twice the size of both inner and outer cities combined. But the population is not even one tenth of both inner and outer cities.
Because the whole place mostly has a lot of free land which are given to nobility and the other citizens as rewards for their contribution.
There is still more than half of the land in the zone which is empty and Duke will employ the Golden-horse trading to create the mansions now and then to gift the people with enough merits.
Sam and the rest arrived at a large estate. When Sam this he was surprised. It is actually an estate. He didn't think that they would show him an estate instead on mansion.
"Sir, that is the Estate of the General Spark." The middle-aged manager whose name is Cane said as he pointed at the estate opposite to them.
Then he continued with his explanations.
"Actually, our current estate also belongs to General Spark. He decided to see it because he has some urgent need for a large amount of money."
When Sam heard that the estate belongs to General spark, he was happy.
Since, this old man purposefully made things difficult to him and did not let Watt stay with them, he might have even made some arrangements to make sure that they won't get any accommodations.
If he can get normal accommodations in an inn what is the point of him making all the fuss and letting him go out.
But now, if he knew that Sam is buying his very estate, he is wondering how that Old general would react.
When they entered though, Sam was stunned.
It is not your every day estate.
There is a lot of greenery in it but it is not the type of greenery came with tree, rather a translucent green crystal-like stone was all over the estate, rather than saying that it is all over it, it is more appropriate to say that it is made of that stone.
Sam didn't say anything, he just waited for these middle-aged men to speak. After they walked deep inside the crystalline land, they saw a large mansion.
The place around the mansion does have required scenery and the plants and tree along with a garden. But it is only for that space, the rest of the land is full of crystals.
Both middle-aged men, exchanged a glance and Ford explained.
"Artisan Sam, I would be blunt with you. The thing is General Spark got this land as a reward and but the main problem is, he didn't care about it when it was given and some nobles and officials set up a trap to get rid of this land.
But now that he needs some money, he suddenly remembered this land which doesn't have any value.
You might not no, these green crystals are called impact crystals. These react under any physical force and starts absorbing the surrounding energy, but if the energy crosses the limit, the crystal explodes.
So, it is hard to clear the land and there are not many uses with these crystals to mine them carefully.
But General started acting stubbornly and we don't have a choice to oppose him. We made a lot of effort to make this one mansion here.
Don't worry though, we won't let you suffer a loss.
Generally, a mansion of this size will cost 30 million in Southern star central zone and this estate even though a waste is almost as big as the size of estate of the Duke Family's. It is the second biggest estate with more than 1000 acres of land.
If you want to buy an estate of this size you would have to pay at least 1 billion.
But the land is barren and complete waste, so the General didn't ask much. All he needs is the 30 million for the mansion and another 120 million for the whole land."
At this point, Sam only had one thing to say.
"Deal."
Re-Birth of a Genius. Creator/Destroyer
Chapter 145: Teams
Sam's eyes are literally sparkling as he looked at the yards and yards of the green crystal in the estate.
It is indeed called impact crystal, and even in the material catalogue he read in the Divine dimension, not many uses regarding this item are mentioned. At most, these can be used for some surprise attack.
But Sam wouldn't agree to that point.
As far as he was concerned, there is no material which is useless just the right person didn't get to use it for the right purpose.
And Sam happened to see many possibilities with these crystals.
For him, one hundred fifty million is not a lot. He earned quite a huge sum from his businesses as well as looting the Black water Count city branches which was more than 120 million altogether.
And the Marquis city branch even earned him over 300 million in spirit stones alone.
What is the point of him earning all this money if he didn't get to spend it? And seeing that there is such a profitable mineral which could multiply his profits coming over, he didn't even need to worry about this spending.
So, Sam immediately finished the deal and all the procedures are finished. So, they went to roam around the city.
In the evening, they went directly to the newly bought estate and stayed inside the only mansion that is present.
That evening, the General has two people reporting in his mansion. His estate has many houses and all of them belong to his special squad who he specially trained and can be called his disciples.
The first report is that the estate which he has a lot of trouble selling was finally sold. He needed his money really badly.
He planned to give his special squad which consisted of twenty Great stage and thirty Novice stages a new set of weapons.
All these people are commoner with high talent which he handpicked. All of them are in the age group of 20 to 35.
Due to their recent break throughs, he felt that it is his obligation to reward them and need a lot of money for that
Even though, he as a Nascent expert and the General does have enough salary or more likely called as resources allocated to him for his cultivation, he was still short on cash. After all, he planned to gift them with a lot of pills, weapons and new set of armours, specially designed for one's own requirements. Everything tailor made for them.
And there are not many ways for him to get a quick cash and he couldn't wait for the next quota of his resources and with his pride as general he certainly cannot
So, he planned to sell his long-forgotten estate and now only he recognised the problem with the estate. But he cannot back down and he immediately went to look for Golden Horse company.
He used his authority a little and acted stubborn for the sake of his students and thus made them accept this job.
There are no results for a long time.
Thus, when he heard that someone bought the land, he was happy. But the second report instantly soured his mood.
The subordinate reported that Sam and Watt didn't stay in any inn, but bought a house.
"Who sold a house to him? Didn't you make it clear to the seller?" He asked rather furiously.
But the subordinate was also at a loss.
"Sir, the person who sold the house is a Nascent stage cultivator and also a Rank 5 Architecture Artisan from the tower and the house he sold is your estate."
General, immediately shut his mouth and his forehead was filled with black lines.
He is the one who is supposed to be making things difficult to Sam, not offering him a house to buy.
He didn't even know how to react to the situation. Dismissing the subordinates, he was completely immersed in his thoughts and after a long and hard thought, he finally muttered.
"Anyway, I milked 150 million away from him, that land is worthless and the living environment is not any good. It is an absolute waste."
Only now, did he feel better, but this very thought will slap his face so hard in the future that he would rather not get a memory loss than remember such situation.
The next day, Sam left Watt in the Estate and gave him a large amount to spirit stones to enjoy himself.
When he went to their assigned building, all of them are looking at him weirdly.
Philip and Jack and came to him and greeted him.
When he asked them about what is happening, the answer really gave him some new understanding of the General's pettiness.
Yesterday night, Blue fire went to all of them and clearly warned that the competition would be something related to forming teams and that is also voluntary. So, they are given a warning that no one should join Sam's team or they would suffer.
Sam shook his head with a chuckle.
Blue fire and Zeke are looking at him but were surprised by the unexpected smile.
After some time, they were summoned to the grounds of the estate and a total of two hundred candidates assembled.
Sam saw Nicholas and both of them waved at each other.
General Spark is standing on a big stage with some middle-aged men standing behind him. His back is straight and his burly physique while that aura of a commanding presence as if he was forcing everyone to follow absolute obedience.
He is a General indeed. Sam felt impressed and he could feel some respect for him
"Welcome everyone.
You all are the candidates who are selected to the next phase of tests to get a life changing opportunity.
In this stage of the competitions, the duration is for 18 months.
The first 16 months will be divided into two stages.
And those two stages are Military and Business. The last two months will be announced after the first two stages are over and required eliminations are over.
Now before I explain anything more, for into teams, I don't care how many members are in a team, but it should be even numbered. You have ten minutes. You can be a team member with people from your own territory or even from the other territories."
All this time, General Spark looked at Sam. He wants to see if he would have any teammates and guess what he was surprised.
Because, there are a not one, but five teammates who came to him.
And the first one is Philip and he has a mischievous smile on his face followed by Jack, Hawk, Kelly and Drew.
Ray silently separated from them.
Sam didn't think that five of them would come. He only thought, Jack and Philip would surely come as for Kelly, he didn't know if she would.
Jack and him have been through a lot so he would come as for Philip, honestly Sam felt that Philip is more of a friend to him than Jack, it is just that they are not close enough. Both of them are not at a stage to share everything with each other.
Maybe the day Philip finally decides on what to learn in the Artisanship, they could talk.
As for Kelly, maybe there is still some stupid infatuation left and for Hawk and Drew he couldn't think of many possibilities except that they are here because Sam helped them a lot in the previous stages.
Sam didn't think much and he wouldn't be surprised if everyone didn't come to him except Philip and Jack.
After ten minutes, the teams were formed.
All the teams formed are the teams of ten, every territory has twenty candidates which made two teams from each territory. The only odd team is Sam's because there are only six and the remaining four were added to the Southern Star city's team.
And the four people that are added to southern star city team are Zeke and Blue fire and two of their noble lackeys from Blue flame city.
General seemed to have pulled strings in a lot of places just to get back for his Grandson.
Sam last all the respect he had for him in an instant.
General Spark checked that everyone was done, then he spoke.
"Now that everyone is set. Every team will be divided into two. Half of you will go to military in the first stage and stay there for eight months, the second one will start a business, and you have to earn money in a legal way.
After eight months, you will change the positions, the first half will take over the business or conduct new businesses and earn money while the second half will be entering the military.
The team points will be given cumulatively and the team members themselves will be distributing themselves among them.
As for how you get the points, you won't be knowing until the final evaluation.
But do remember, in the Military the instructors and the superiors have right to deduct your points for your misconduct and in the Business Phase, there would be a tight surveillance on you and any underhanded means used will be charged by deduction of your points.
You divide into two teams and I would decide on who would participate in military and who would participate in the business first."
Re-Birth of a Genius. Creator/Destroyer
Chapter 146: Military structure
Sam just left the matter of division to the remaining members but before that he had a few words to say.
"I won't ask why you would pick me in this kind of situation, but I thank you for that. But one point I want to make is that you might have made a biggest mistake in your life, because you would be having a hard time because of your decision and that may even affect your advancement.
If that really happens, I would do you a favour in show of my gratitude after this whole fiasco is over. But until then, I am sorry to say that you have to face the consequences of the decision you made and live with it."
The group didn't reply to his words and they decided to make the teams in a few minutes. Sam, Hawk and Drew are in one team while Jack, Philip and Kelly are in another team.
There are no particular reasons except that among the group only Philip and Sam knew how to conduct a business and Kelly is the other Artisan who can make some products for their shop.
Jack is mostly a person who can follow orders and is familiar with Philip which makes it easier for them.
As for Sam's team, Hawk might be amiable but taking orders from Philp might be a bit too much for him as he lived all his life in superiority and Drew might feel the same.
Even though, it might make them look like being unreasonable, it is a fact that they might listen to orders of Sam because he can overwhelm them completely, but Philip although capable cannot do that for reasons unknown.
Anyway, Philip and Jack thought that this arrangement was better for them and it is being done like that.
They stood in two teams of three members.
After every other team sorted their things out, General gestured someone and that person came and started distributing some small tokens.
The tokens have numbers written on them. And for Sam's two groups the numbers 20-1 and 20-2.
They are considered as the tenth team and in that twentieth team, Sam's group of three has tokens with 20-1 and Philip's group of three has 20-2.
After the distribution is completed General spoke once again.
"All teams' first halves will serve in the military for the first 8 months and second halves will do the business.
Let me explain how this goes.
There will be two wars with our neighbouring empire in the whole test time. And first war will occur at the eighth month while the second one will be on the sixteenth month.
These two wars are only for your testing and the neighbouring empire is also undergoing the same test as you, so you would be going head on against them.
The same test is going all over the empire in every dukedom at the same time, so you better be prepared and put your heart into it, if you want to stand out.
For military batch rules, you will be sent to the military training camp which is being held in the military base of the Dukedom capital. You will be trained there and will be sent to the war in the eighth month, so your training will be there for seven months and for every fifteen days of these seven months, you will be allowed to leave the camp.
But you are only allowed to move with in the city and nearby woods that are under the Southern star city control.
The remaining rules on how your training goes will be explained in the base.
For the business part, you are allowed to move as much as you like and you can conduct business in all of the Dukedom's territory.
Even though, it is called business at the end of the day all you have to do it earn money, but you have to provide the means you obtained and make sure that you didn't do it in an illegal way.
Any businesses and assets you have previously don't count. However, you can use them as investments.
For example, if you have a land asset and you sell it, that won't count as your earnings, but you can use that money as an investment.
At the end evaluation, your returns and the investments will be compared and one with the points will be awarded based on the percentage of your profits.
Now, the batch that is going to military, you have five minutes to talk to your team and get ready."
After the speech, Sam didn't say much he only talked to Philip for a few seconds and that is.
"Watt will be outside of the estate, you guys follow him, I bought a property you guys stay there with him.
As for business thing, try to start something, I think Watt has enough money. Just test the waters for the time being in the capital for the first fifteen days, but from what I can see things won't be easy at all.
Try your best and take care, I will see you guys after fifteen days."
After the five minutes passed, all the candidates in the military batch are taken away. Sam looked around and didn't find Nicholas, he seemed to be in the business batch.
Sam didn't think much of it, so fifty students were taken in the carriages to the Military base of the Southern star city.
Even though, it is called the military base of the city, it is a not present in the city and is in the nearby woods.
When all fifty students were boarded down and entered the camp, they saw many squads and battalions training.
Sam noticed one thing, there is not much order in the camp or even in the squads.
Each squad has different types of cultivators, mages, warriors, warrior mages etc.
Even though, they see pretty united most of them are mainly focused on their individual strength training and very few are practicing team attacks.
On the way he saw a deserted zone with no people at all, that place had a small building made of stone and there is a small stage. He didn't know its purpose but it has some weird atmosphere attached to it.
Soon, they were led to some barracks. There a middle-aged man is standing with his back straight as he looked at the candidates. Behind him, there are five men who are also standing straight.
When they arrived at the place, the middle-aged man in the lead called out.
"Stand in twenty files with each file having five people." When all the candidates stood in order, the middle-aged man continued.
"From today until the eight-month time is over, I am your chief instructor. The five men standing behind me are also the instructors who have absolute authority over your tasks, training and even punishment.
Generally, according to our empire's military structure a squad will be consisting of seven members and a company consists of seven such squads led by a company commander who has to be flexible and capable enough to lead the whole company as well as merge with any squad in a battle.[The military structure is purely fictional and something that yours truly made up. So, don't complain about me not having much military knowledge]
So, you all will form two companies and there would be two company commanders selected through procedures.
To further explanation, a battalion has at least ten companies in it and six battalions combine to become a Regiment.
In this base there are a total of five such regiments and another five regiments are stationed at various borders of the Dukedom. For every six months their duties will be exchanged.
These things don't apply to you guys as your main task is to train for the war after eight months.
But it is essential to know these details.
As for this military structure, there are some exceptions which they are not valid for and one of them are the special squad our General Spark is training which is called the Thunder Wolf squad which has a total fifty members.
And as for the rules, you have a fixed resting time, eating time, training time which will be noted in the schedule you will be given for you by the instructors.
There is one common rule in the Military that is valid to all the regiments and that includes the Thunder Wolf squad as well as you guys. That is, anyone can challenge you for a duel and you cannot decline if the other person's cultivation is not more than two levels higher than you. [Levels here means Novice Level 3 cannot reject a person at Novice Level 5]
In the duel anything other than killing and crippling the cultivation is allowed.
Some of you might think it is unfair to get beat up by the higher level, but this is the army and, in the war, there is no telling whether you will face the enemy at same level. So, suck it up and deal with it.
If you have any questions, ask me now."
One of the candidates who is the part of the 1-1 raised his hand and asked.
"Sir, May I know your name?"
"Why do you want to know my name?" The middle-aged man asked.
The candidate was taken aback for a second and said meekly.
"Curiosity?" He was uncertain himself; he just asked the name casually.
��I don't want to tell my name just because you are curious. My name isn't that cheap.
If you just want to know about me, I will give you guys some details. I am the Deputy general of the Southern star military, you can call me Deputy general or instructor.
I am an Early stage Nascent realm Warrior.
But if you really want to know my name so much, there are two choices.
First one, you can gain enough merits so that you would be worthy of knowing my name, or you the second one, climb the ranks to get access to the records of the Military department so that you can read my name yourself.
Until then you can forget about knowing it.
In the whole Dukedom, there are less than ten people who know my name." He spoke and walked away.
Re-Birth of a Genius. Creator/Destroyer
Chapter 147: No deals
After that the Deputy general left and four out of five remaining instructors also gone, they also don't seem to have any intention to introduce themselves to them right now.
The remaining instructor took the place of Deputy general and spoke.
"My name is Jian
I am a Regiment commander and so are the remaining four instructors. We train our own regiments individually and each has our own ways.
Your training will be conducted along with all five regiments and you will be tested in all types of qualities required by our Southern star military.
For every three days, different instructor will take charge of the class. So, for the next three days I will be your instructor.
As for the rules.
Everyone should assemble in the same place by dawn and you should be here no matter if you had enough rest or not. It doesn't matter to me, if you have slept the night, cultivated or just roamed around.
I would be expecting you to be here and if anyone fails to comply, you would be facing the punishment.
You will be receiving the same benefits of an ordinary soldier based on your cultivation levels. Every Novice would get 100 elemental stone every week and there would be three meals a day which will provide just enough spiritual energy for you to finish your training.
Everyone will be dismissed after the supper is over.
But, in some cases surprise drills will be conducted which expects you to assemble no matter what time it is.
As for duels, any one who has a rank equal to Battalion commander or above has to supervise a duel, and if a person wants to reject it, he has to give a reason valid enough to convince the battalion commander.
If you have any conditions or wagers for duels, the supervisor can act as a middle-man.
Okay, that's it for today and you can relax for today. Your uniforms will be delivered to your assigned barracks tonight, and tomorrow morning you have to report to the place in your uniform.
By the way there is one more important thing I forgot to tell you, no communication tokens are allowed to use. If you try to use it, the formation will find out and you would be held responsible for your actions.
Disperse."
After that the instructor left and all of them went to their respective tents.
Each team has a tent of their own. Sam's group of three also has a tent of their own.
Actually, the tents are made for five people but since they are only three, they have big enough space for them.
Judging from this, Sam almost confirmed that General Spark just bent so many rules to isolate him and his friends.
But at this same exact moment, another tent is not as comfortable. The Southern star city's team who joined with the remaining four members, now consists of the seven people in the team and out of seven people, two are Zeke and Blue fire.
The people inside the tent who originally belonged to the Southern star team are quite frustrated.
Out of twenty people of the southern star city, ten people are from commoners and ten are from Nobility.
But Nicholas picked his team of ten separately based on their abilities and left the remaining ten in which the Blue fire, Zeke and others were added.
The original members are already quite upset that Nicholas didn't select them and now they are even more upset because they had to follow General's orders and accept his grandsons.
They are cursing the old general in their hearts. If he was so capable why didn't he push his two grandsons into the Nicholas' team? Because, Nicholas is Duke's last son and he don't give a flying fuck about what the General wants.
'This Old General is such a hypocrite.' This is the only thought in everyone's mind.
Sam is also curious about this issue, why is the General so adamant about helping his grandsons so much that he was willing to ruin his own reputation? That is the question that he has in his mind since their first encounter.
As for the present situation, the original team members could only grit their teeth and allow these two Grandsons to have a comfortable place and they have to adjust in the remaining space.
At this moment, the business side of the teams are all moving along the city. Most of the teams are already moving all over the city and trying to buy over a best place, some teams who doesn't have any business experience only have one thought.
Explore the forests
They decided on going hunts, gathering herbs etc.
But none of them are thinking about moving to their Marquis territory, because it took a lot of time to travel from one place to another, and the fares are not low either, all of these transportation costs will be added to their investments which would lessen their profit margin.
The economy of the Southern Star city is bigger than all the nine Marquis territories combined.
The people who has are on business side of the first stage, has a lot of pressure on them, because if they don't make a proper business now, they won't have proper results in the later half of the competition when their team exchanged the places
Now, all the teams are looking for place to conduct business and most of them are targeting the already established business places.
Some of them are trying to buy out the whole business, some of them are trying to lease the place for the next sixteen months. All kinds of deals are being discussed.
But one team is having an extremely hard time.
Philip, Jack and Kelly ran around the whole city along with Watt, but they were unable to cut a single deal.
Even the newly established buildings in the inner city and the shops in the worst spot are not willing to sell them.
In fact, nobody is even willing to talk business with them. Some of them just blocked them at the entrance and some of them sent them out after learning their team number.
They are having a complete hard time. They understood that the situation is not good for them, but they still kept on trying.
Actually, all of this is within Sam's expectations, he knew that they wouldn't be able to do anything easily, so he didn't give them any ideas to test the waters.
He only gave them some recipes and asked them to start a restaurant or look for a restaurant for a possible cooperation, but they didn't even have a chance to negotiate.
By evening, they are left with complete frustration.
On their way back to Sam's estate, they encountered Nicholas. When the latter saw Watt, he greeted him with a smile.
"Hey, Watt. How are you doing? Are you helping your boss with the mission?"
"Well, I wanted to, but there seemed to be no chance." Watt replied. Actually, Watt doesn't talk much but when he saw Nicholas, he has an idea on how to turn around the situation a bit. If Nicholas can give them a recommendation, they would at least find a place to start.
After explaining the situation, Nicholas also has some complicated expressions.
"The situation is a bit messy. It is not that I don't want to help you, but if I use my identity as Duke's son, I would be abusing my authority and I would have to put those people in a spot as they would have a hard time between me and General.
The second reason is that it wouldn't be fair for my teammates if I help you in a competition." He paused for a bit and after some deep thinking he said.
"How about this, I have a small land in the outskirts of the inner zone which I bought from a friend. The area is a bit remote and I bought that land to help a friend, I don't have any plans on using it and it is not an ideal location for doing business either.
So, if you guys don't have any other options, you can find me again and I would sell that land to you guys, even though it is a bit bad, I guess it is better than nothing.
Please forgive me for not helping you, even though I want to help you my teammates might not feel it is fair for them and this is a competition, I don't think helping you would be an honourable deed,"
"Thanks for offering. We would meet you if we don't have any choice, as for apology, don't mention it. You are not the reason for our situation so you don't have any obligation to help us either."
Watt answered and both of them went their separate ways after they exchanged their contact with the communication tokens.
After that brief encounter, Watt led all of them to the new estate, when Philip looked at the land full of impact crystal, he couldn't help but ask.
"Why did Sam buy a place full of impact crystals? They are not easy to get rid of and they are not that useful."
"I don't know, but Boss said that they are actually quite useful and they can be a treasure if used properly."
Philip didn't answer as they slowly moved towards the Mansion. They called it a day and went to rest immediately after reaching the place.
Chapter 148: Oppression -1.... 15 days of military
The Next day,
There was a loud bell ringing all over the camp before dawn. This is the call for assembly.
All the candidates came out of their tents as fast as they can and assembled just like the day before.
Instructor Jian, is standing at the same place as yesterday.
After the people assembled, he spoke with a smile.
"Everyone, todays, training will be along with a company from my regiment. You will follow their way for the whole day.
But before that, divide yourself into squads. Each squad should have seven members and there would be a total of fourteen squads along with two company commanders. These positions will be only valid for these three days.
After three days, the new instructor will come and you will divide yourselves into new squads and new companies.
But this situation is only for first fifteen days.
After the first fifteen days, the instructors will finalise your squads and commanders. Till, then try to prove yourselves and get the approval of the instructors to get the position you deserve."
As soon as he said these words, many people became excited.
Many of them raised their hands to speak and all of them are too eager as they wanted to get the chance to talk first and become the company commander as soon as possible.
"Discuss yourselves and decide. I will give you five minutes. If there are only two people left after that, I would just let them be, but if there are still more people, I will select the two from them."
At this moment, a young man started walking over to them.
He is wearing an Electric blue uniform and there is a thunder symbol on his chest. Everyone just looked at him in awe, particularly the people from the Southern Star city.
Because they knew what that electric blue uniform signifies.
But among the whole group, only more than ten people are looking at the legs of the young man, more precisely at his feet.
Because, the young man's footsteps didn't have any sound or any foot prints. His feet seemed to be light and as if he is floating without any traces which showed the control of his legs.
This guy, must be good at movement techniques or good at his kicking techniques, most probably both of them.
The young man looked rather proud and his eyes are full of confidence. He walked over to the team members and looked around as if he was scanning them without even greeting the Instructor.