Mark,Lisa,Reiner and the rest released their auras and the city guards felt pale and dread. These guys were all above Tier 1!!!.
After so much training along with better techniques and resources mark and Lisa were already at the peak stage of Tier 2 almost at Tier 3 and Reiner was already an early stage Tier 3 grand knight!!.
Grand knight!! in the whole city they could be counted and were just barely in the double digits. Even Mitch who was a commander of the city guard was only a peak Tier 2.
And Reiner did not look old not even thirty years.Truth was he had always had the talent but was was held down by a good cultivation technique which he couldn't get access to.
But with the earth ranked technique added to the opportunities they obtained out in the wild his potential had been unleashed.
The others too were all Tier 1 and above, most were mid Tier 1 one to Tier 2.
There were about three advanced Tier 2 amongst them.
Whiles out training they had come across a Tier 4 crocodile guarding a cleansing pool. It took a fight with their lives on the line to win. Max had almost lost an arm in the jaws of the fierce beast. Luckily he had been going back to earth from time to time during the weeks of training and had managed to find an underground arms dealer. It was from them that he bought more weapons including the grenades with he had thrown into the crocodiles mouth to save his life otherwise he would have died there.
But it was worth it, the cleanse pool contains massive amounts of energy and also has the ability to improve the the body of a warrior but cleansing all impurities upgrading the talents of a warrior and making it easier to train and cultivate.
The crocodile too was over fifty meters and had lots of energy in it's meat.The gang had cultivated intensely that week and had grown since then.
When the city guard felt how much pressure the black dragon mercenaries were releasing no one even dared to resist.
Max looked at Mitch in the midst of the city guard and hesitated a bit, truthfully he didn't fear them and had the power to finish them off right here but that wouldn't help in the long run.
The duke's family had many ties with the kingdom and the rest of the noble families.Cutting ties with him now would do no good.
'But that doesn't mean I will let him go like that otherwise these guys will think am easy to bully' max thought to himself as he advanced on Mitch.
He utilized a movement technique and appeared before Mitch.Before the city guards could react they heard a painful cry and realized that commander Mitch was missing an arm.
"This is a warning to you all,the next time something like this happens you won't lose just an arm, I will make sure to take that dog life of yours" max stood there with a sword in hand,scarlet blood dripping of it and released his aura in it's fullness.
"Shit!! he's a Tier 3 warrior" a Tier 2 mercenary amongst the crowd was shocked and swore out.
"And not a simple one at that I've witnessed the aura of a Tier 3 early stage mercenary before and it wasn't as scary as this" another mercenary added whiles looking at max in awe.
"Hmm he should be mid Tier 3 warrior or maybe even an advanced Tier 3!!" a mercenary leader spoke whiles looking at max with a bit of awe and fear.
"The city guard really did it this time hehehe"
"Yeah in a city like ours you can't go around offending powerhouses"
"Yeah especially when they are two, don't forget that young swordsman there he's also a Tier 3 grandmaster"
Mitch really had a pale face now, he thought he was just attacking a mere newly advanced Tier 2 warrior he didn't think it would come to this
'Damn am finished !!, I just made enemies with a Tier 3 warrior damn Tiberius you really finished me this time' commander Mitch really felt a lot of resentment towards max and count Tiberius at this point.
"Now get out of here now and never show your ugly face here or else I'll make you regret it" max looked towards the pale faced Mitch not wanting them to halt his business further.
"Retreat, all troops retreat!! " being supported by some soldiers Mitch sealed the blood vessels in his cut off arm with his energy to prevent further bleeding and retreated with his troops.
At this point there was nothing he could do, he didn't even dare let out a fart. Any further provocation may lead to death.
Watching the retreating troops max turned his attention back to the spectating crowd
"Alright ladies and gentlemen we are back in business.If you are here to patronize our goods welcome" saying so max beamed a handsome smile towards the crowd which even led some ladies amongst them mesmerized.
"But if you are here to cause trouble, then don't blame me for being ruthless" the smile continued whiles an overwhelming aura gushed out from max causing the crowd to shiver.
"Mark leave some Tier 1 guards to take care of the entrance and security, Pedro follow me to my office and brief me of what happened during my absence" mark entered the store whiles giving out commands.
Back in his office Pedro briefed max of what happened including the war, the help from the Rose family and how he suspects the Tiberius family ostracized the rest of the noble families to make a move on the store whiles he was not around.
Max leaned backwards with his hands interlocking as he listened to Pedro's report.
"The war might be to our advantage I'll bring in a lot more goods including canned food, and new cheaper leather armor. I will also introduce some goods not available in the store" max thought war was the best time for business and was happy to sell more weapons and food stuff.
"How are the purchase of the neighboring buildings next to our store going?" max asked Pedro.
"It's going well boss,we have bought sixty percent of the building near us. There were some who refused to sell but with the power you demonstrated they should give them up now" Pedro humbly reported.
"Good!! when we have control over the buildings and stores near us we can continue to expand more and sell new products.It would also guarantee our safety" max nodded in satisfaction at how efficient Pedro was.
"As for the help from the Rose family they might have done it because they wanted a piece of the pie. I refuse to believe the did it out of the goodness of their heart regardless even though their help was limited I'll repay this debt for gratitude" max decided to repay the Rose family for the help they provided.
"As for the Tiberius family" just thinking about them made max angry.
Again and again this family had always tried to provoke max. At this point he really wanted to exterminate them but there was a war ongoing. Killing the count would only make the other noble families wary and ally together against him. But still max decided to punish them.
"Pedro what business does the Tiberius family excel in?" Asked max
"Boss they have a mid sized iron mine in their territory along with some farms, they also own a couple of shops in the city." Pedro who had done his assignment reported to max.
Hearing this max formulated a plan in his mind and soon an eerie smile found it's way on his lips.
Mark and the a few leaders or the black dragons shivered when they saw the smile on the face of max.
"Mark I want you to find a way to contact all the bandits near our dear count's territory tell them that any attacks on the counts territory and mine will be rewarded with leather and iron equipment, if they really manage to do real damage am willing to gift them some steel armors and swords." still with his eerie smile max gave the other.
"It shall be done boss don't worry" mark stood up and reassured max.
Max then turned to the assassin Lucas who was also an advanced Tier 2 master assassin
"Lucas organize attack squads tonight i want you to hit all the businesses the count has in the city and burn them all down kill anyone who stands in your way."
Lucas who was standing in a quit corner nodded in acknowledging.
"Lisa and Reiner you are in charge of security here.Soon we'll have all the buildings in this street under our command" max turned towards Reiner and Lisa and gave them their orders.
With Reiner a Tier 3 sword grandmaster in charge here he was not afraid of anything happening here even in his absence.