"I have already told them that I am leaving today and have packed all of my belongings," I said as I picked up my small bag. I had packed all the important items with me. I started walking towards the exit of the training chamber. As I crossed my way with the training hall, I saw the decimated place where all the walls were cracked. I walked past the training hall while looking at the destruction my power can cause.
I lifted my hand to open the door of the training chamber, then I heard that some guards were talking about me, which made me pause my movement. I wanted to hear what they were talking about.
"What do you think the ability of Third master will be?" one of the guards asked his fellow guard.
"I don't know, but there is a possibility that it will be a weak one," the fellow guard replied.
"Why?" the guard asked.
"Because everyone treats Third master as if they already know his ability," explained the fellow guard.
"Yeah, you are right. They treat him as if they already know his ability," admitted the guard while nodding his head.
"Well, whatever happens with him is none of our business," responded the fellow guard with an annoyed expression.
As I heard the conversation of the guards, I never thought that, but these guards were right. When I investigated the memory of Asher, I found that my father and other high-rank family members treated me as if they already knew my ability.
When I thought about the possibility of something amiss, I immediately started to investigate the novel inside of my memory. "Yeah, it's here," I whispered as I finally found how they knew about my ability.
'It's told in the novel part when MC faced the Blackthorn family. He tried to expose the wrongdoing of the Blackthorn family. He exposed many secrets, and one of the secrets is that the Blackthorn family contracted some prophets to get the knowledge of the future about their heir's power. It is a crime to know the future, and all the prophets are under supreme beings. Knowing the future can cause destruction if not handled carefully,' I thought as I got the idea of how they knew my ability.
'If they know my ability, I can't lie about my ability. They already know that my ability is defense type. Prophets can't tell the exact ability. They can only tell the level and ability type. So, at least I am safe. I don't need to explain them about my ability change,' I thought as I opened the door.
"Welcome back, Third Lord," said the same guard who started to talk about me.
I nodded and took a look at my maid who was standing near the door waiting for my arrival. Her name was Rose. She had brown short hair, her height was around 5'2, with brown eyes. I moved towards her and ordered "Schedule a meeting with my father as fast as you can"
"For How long?" she asked while lowering her head.
"Only five minutes," I said while showing my five fingers.
"Okay," she said and closed her eyes. "We can have a meeting now. He is free for five minutes," said Rose.
I was surprised at the speed of the task, but as I thought, they could just do all the work with telepathy. All the high-level maids and servants in the prominent family had telepathic abilities that made their work efficient.
"Okay, let's meet him right away," I said as I started moving towards my father's office.
***
I took a deep breath as I stood in front of my father's office. Though I had grown stronger, I knew I was nowhere near as powerful as him or anyone else in his circle. Memories of my near-death experience inside his office still haunted me.
"Come in," his cold voice called out. I didn't want to keep him waiting, so I immediately entered the room. As I looked at him, I saw a man around 40 years old with black hair and black eyes, just like mine. He had a muscular body, and his black suit made him look even more imposing. Seated in his throne-like chair, he stared at me with his dark, emotionless eyes.
My father then asked, "What is your ability?" commanding me to answer his question.
"Defence Ability," I replied, without flinching. I knew he already knew that.
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked, still not looking at me. It confirmed my prediction; He already knew about my ability. I had expected him to belittle me or call me pathetic, but instead, he accepted it as if he had known all along.
"I want to visit the border between our state and Silvermist." I told him as I thought 'I need to secure that artifact and that girl, Olivia.'
"Why?" he asked, still reading his reports.
"I want to understand my ability more," I lied. "I believe that place could provide me with the knowledge I need."
"Okay, you can leave whenever you want. I will assign some guards for you," he said, still focused on his reports.
"Thank you, Father. I will take my leave," I said, bowing respectfully before leaving the room. In our previous meeting, I left without saying a word or even bowing, but this time, I was in my right mind.
***
'I've already packed all the important things. Why not leave now? I don't know when they'll capture Olivia. Maybe she is already under the Black Legion,' I thought to myself as I moved towards my room.
'Olivia is a must. I should leave now!' I thought as I entered my room. I moved towards my shelf and took two sets of clothes and put them inside my small backpack. Then, I left my room and headed towards the palace exit.
"Rose, you don't have to follow me," I said to my maid who was trailing me. I didn't need her to accompany me on my journey.
...
I stood in front of the palace exit, where I had to state my business and show a pass before leaving. It was a security mechanism. I moved towards the cabinet.
"I want to leave for the Silvermist border," I said while standing in front of the cabin. The man looked at me and immediately stood up, saying, "Good day, Third Lord," while bowing.
I nodded and repeated, "I want to leave for the Silvermist border," which made the man turn towards a record book and say, "Yes, Third Lord. We have already been informed about your visit. I am sorry for the delay. I didn't expect you to arrive so soon." He then lowered his head and continued, "Two Level 7 guards have been assigned to you, Third Lord," as he called the guards.
'This is more than I expected. I didn't expect him to assign two Level 7 guards to me. They aren't that strong, but I don't believe that he would assign me two Level 7 guards,' I thought as I evaluated my father.
"Third Lord, they will be here in a minute or so. You can wait inside a cabin," said the man.
...
Two burly men, both around 30 years old, stood before me. One had silver hair and silver eyes, standing at a towering height of 6'2". His name was Atlas, and his ability was an iron body. The other man had blond hair and golden eyes, standing even taller at 6'5". His name was Aureus, and he possessed super strength. While waiting for them, I had already read a report about their abilities.
"Good day, Third Lord," Atlas said, lowering his head respectfully.
"I don't have time for pleasantries, Atlas. Let's begin our journey already," I replied sternly, looking at them. I couldn't afford to waste any more time, especially after already losing a year. My statement caused them to nod in understanding, though it might have hurt them. However, I didn't care about their feelings at the moment.
***
"I don't understand why they always treat me as if I am an idiot," Rassal muttered to himself as he made his way to the training chamber. Had Asher been present, he would have recognized Rassal as the same guard who talk about him. Upon entering the chamber, Rassal proceeded towards the training hall to inspect it and ensure that everything was in order.
However, his steps faltered when he was just about to enter the hall. What he saw made his legs tremble, even though he was a fourth-level guard himself. The hall was in shambles, with walls that were designed to withstand the power of a fifth-level ability user now cracked open. Even the equipment that was meant to endure the force of a sixth-level ability user had been reduced to broken toys.
"What in the world, The Third Lord did here?" Rassal exclaimed, taking a step back in order to report what he had discovered.
***
"The guard's statement has been confirmed by my sources," the shadow captain reported to his lord, bowing low.
"What is he doing in his chamber? He claimed to possess a defense-type ability," the lord inquired, scrutinizing the shadow captain. He mulled over what his son had revealed and what he did in his chamber.
"It is possible that there are defense abilities that are more potent than others," the shadow captain suggested, still hesitant to lift his head.
"Where is he now?" the lord asked.
"He has already left," the shadow captain responded.
"Tell him to come to my office when he returns," the lord instructed, still pondering over his son's destructive defensive ability.