"Elder, can you give me some time to think about it?" Mark replied. He wanted to speak with Jason before giving his response. He wanted to know why Jason was willing to give him this opportunity.
Elder Wilcon was taken aback. He thought that Mark would agree right away. "Alright, but I don't have much time to wait. I'll give you three days to think about it. Once you have thought it through, you can find me here. I'm usually in my office every morning until noon."
"Thank you, elder!" Mark stared at him gratefully.
Elder Wilcon smiled kindly at him as he pointed at the teacup on his table. "This tea is called Golden Chai. It's a special tea from Dipmore. Try it."
Mark couldn't decline his offer. He grabbed the teacup and inhaled its fragrant aroma. Out of habit, he displayed an unnatural grace when he was drinking his tea.
As the heir of a multi-million dollar company, he was taught how to properly drink tea without disregarding etiquette.
Elder Wilcon and his youngest daughter Amira stared at him in surprise when they saw his actions. They came from a renowned family in Dipmore and they had only seen this kind of etiquette in the members of the nobility.
Elder Wilcon could imitate his actions, but he could never be as graceful as Mark when it comes to proper etiquette.
'It seems like this man is not ordinary…' The old man thought to himself while observing Mark's actions.
'Oh shoot!' Seeing that he had exposed himself, Mark immediately reverted to his usual posture.
Elder Wilcon smiled when he saw Mark correcting his posture, but he didn't say anything.
"Elder, I'll take my leave first. I'll be back in three days to give you my response. And thank you for the tea. It's good." Mark stood up and bowed to the old man before he left in a hurry.
After he left, Elder Wilcon stared at his daughter and asked. "What do you think of him?"
Amira took a seat before she replied. "That man displayed noble grace when he was drinking his tea. It doesn't seem to be fake or forced. It felt like he had become a different person at that time. I think his background is extraordinary."
Elder Wilcon nodded in agreement. "Let's just wait and see."
***
Mark didn't go back to his room. He decided to visit Jason's home and have a chat with him. The only problem was that he didn't know where Jason's house was so he could only go back to Freddy's Weapon Shop and ask Max about it.
His arrival at the shop surprised Max. "Yo! Did you forget something?"
Mark shook his head. "I'd like to visit Sir Jason, but I don't know where he lives. Can you tell me where his house is?"
"You want to visit him now?"
Mark nodded. "Yeah. Something happened and I need to speak with him to verify some matters."
"I see… How about we go there together? The shop is not that busy today so I can go with you." Max took off his dirty apron while saying this.
"That would be great." Traveling with Max would save him the trouble of asking around so he didn't mind going with him.
"Wait for me here. I'll go talk to Pops first." Max said before he went to find his father.
Not long later, he came back, beaming at Mark. "Let's go."
The two went out of the weapon shop and headed to Jason's house. Along the way, Mark was on full alert in case they encountered someone from the Iron Fist Gang. Luckily, no accidents happened and they arrived safely at Jason's home.
It was a two-story house with a large land surrounding it.
Mark noticed some of their friends loitering outside the house. Jason was also there playing chess with Kevin.
"Wolf! Max! You two are here!" The hunters were quick to notice them.
Jason and Kevin were pleasantly surprised when they saw the two of them.
Jason stood up and invited them to his home. "How are you guys?" He asked with a smile.
"Yo, kid! I heard that you went to the Enchanted Woodlands alone. You've got guts! Hahaha!" Kevin slapped Mark's shoulder while laughing loudly.
The other hunters curiously stared at Mark. They have also heard about this.
Mark shook his head and smiled when he saw them acting like this. "Don't let me remember it. I almost died in the forest. I was only lucky enough to escape."
Hearing this, Kevin and the other hunters laughed. They also had this experience before, but they were definitely not as brave as Mark who went to the Enchanted Woodlands alone.
The group happily chatted about random matters.
A few minutes later, Mark turned his gaze to Jason. "Sir Jason, why do you want me to escort Elder Wilcon's daughter?" He asked with a serious voice.
Hearing this, everyone's faces turned serious. Jason stared at him calmly and sighed. "Wolf, I don't want you to be involved in our dispute with the Iron Fist Gang. You need to leave the village before things escalate into an open conflict. The Iron Fist Gang has become active recently and they even sent people to harass our friends. You are not even formally part of our brotherhood and I would feel bad if something happened to you, knowing that this is a feud between our two groups."
Mark furrowed his eyebrows when he heard this. "How can you say that? Although I'm not officially part of your brotherhood, you guys are my friends. I won't leave you guys behind just to save my own skin!"
Jason smiled at his words.
"I wasn't wrong about you, kid!" Kevin smiled widely while giving him a thumbs up.
"I know that you want to help us, but there is no need for you to risk your life. We can handle the Iron Fist Gang. Besides, Kevin is already a Body Strengthening Third Level cultivator. I'm confident that we can destroy that man." Jason muttered.
'The man he mentioned should be the guy named Keith, the leader of the Iron Fist Gang.' Mark thought in his mind.
"What if you had three cultivators at that level?" Mark suddenly smiled mysteriously.
"Huh? What do you mean, kid?" Kevin stared at him suspiciously. Even Jason sized him up with a stern gaze.
"Although I almost died in the Enchanted Woodlands, I also discovered something that increased my cultivation." Mark said, but he didn't elaborate on the situation. He treated these people as his friends, but some of them might treat him unkindly once they knew the specifics.
"You're saying that you're already a Body Strengthening Third Level?" Jason stared at him in surprise.
The others were dumbfounded when they heard this. Even Max was stunned. Mark visited their weapon shop recently, but he didn't mention anything about his breakthrough.
Mark merely smiled at them and didn't say anything, making the group anxious.
Kevin snorted. "Kid, let me test out your strength then. If I find out that you are bullshitting, you have to be prepared for a beating."
The others also found it hard to believe. When they first met him, Mark was only a Body Strengthening First Level cultivator. There was no one in the village who broke through two minor realms in less than a month.
"Sure." Mark agreed without hesitation. He stood up and stared at Kevin with a taunting smile.
"Kid, you've become more irritating now." Kevin's mouth twitched when he saw Mark's taunting smile.
"You two can spar, but you guys are not allowed to destroy anything in my place." Jason warned them with a stern gaze. This was also his way of saying not to go too far in their sparring.
"Let me see the results of your trip to the Enchanted Woodlands, kid!" Kevin squared up at him.