As the meeting between the pillars of Sparta ended, a figure could be seen turning at full speed at the end of the corridor of the grand hall. The figure walked with hastened steps, seemingly trying to run away from something.
After walking for some seconds, the figure encountered another corner, and just before they took the turn, they turned to look at their back. But the moment they did that, the figure failed to notice a larger figure walking right in front of him.
Thud
"Shit."
The figure cursed, and with widened eyes, they looked at what they crashed into.
"Why are you here at such a time my dear brother?"
The smaller figure looked up, and he could not help but mumble.
"Nathaniel."
The larger figure grinned. "Silver."
Silver looked at his elder brother, Nathaniel, the son of Isabella Morningstar. The gears in his mind spun, and Silver thought about the best choice he could make which was… to ignore Nathaniel.
Without responding to Nathaniel's question, Silver attempted to walk past Nathaniel. But how could Nathaniel allow his younger brother to walk past him?
Not only was it a sign of disrespect from Silver, but Nathaniel was also intrigued by Silver's presence in a place he was definitely not meant to be.
Nathaniel stood directly in front of Silver with his arms crossed, he spoke once again. But this time, his voice was a tad colder.
"I asked you a question and you will answer it."
"Why are you coming from the direction of the Grand Hall?"
Silver paused, and he stared with a deep frown, the gears in his mind spinning at an intense speed.
"Why do you care if I'm here or not? How am I sure you didn't follow me to mock me about my talents just like how you've done in the past?"
The instant Nathaniel heard Silver's words, he could not help but burst into a peal of laughter.
"Hahahaha!"
"You… Do you seriously think I would waste my precious time stalking you? Do you actually think you're that important?"
Nathaniel grinned with his gaze filled with nothing but disdain and mockery.
"In case you've forgotten, you're just an average kid. Your talents are average. Your bloodline purity is average. Your physique is average. Your comprehension ability is average."
"Everything about you is average."
Nathaniel moved closer to Silver, and with his gaze towering over Silver, he seemed like a god looking down on an ant with nothing but utter indifference and disdain.
Silver did not look up nor did he look down. His eyes were looking straight ahead with an utterly emotionless gaze in them. But if one were to take a look at his hands and arms, they would notice that his fists were clenched so tight that his veins could be seen clearly on his arms.
"You know…" Nathaniel paused, and a wicked grin appeared on his lips. "... If father did not marry such a pathetic woman like your mother with no fighting capabilities and an inferior bloodline. Maybe you won't have such average talents."
At the mention of his mother, Silver felt something snap within him, and he looked up, staring directly into Nathaniel's eyes with so much hate that Silver produced a sliver of killing intent despite never taking a life before.
Perceiving Silver's killing intent, Nathaniel raised his brows and chuckled.
"Is that what you call killing intent?"
A malicious grin instantly appeared on his lips.
"This is what you call killing intent."
WHOOSH!
SHUA!
The instant Nathaniel spoke, Silver was engulfed by a pressure so immense and an aura so thick and vicious that it felt like death itself. His vision changed, and he saw Nathaniel holding a sword and then slashing it at his neck at a speed he could not respond to.
"Gahhh!"
Thud
Silver stumbled backward, and after taking a few steps, he fell.
"HAAAA! HAAAA! HAAA!"
Silver held his neck with a fearful expression. His entire body was drenched in sweat, and his breathing was so uneven and forceful that it seemed like he was struggling to take in enough oxygen.
"Pathetic."
Nathaniel spat as he looked at Silver's pathetic appearance. His expression was one of immense disgust and further indifference.
"You're so weak and you call yourself a Morningstar. You should be hung under a whithered tree where the light shall not shine for being so weak and pathetic."
Silver looked up, and if gazes could kill, Nathaniel would be dead a million times and more. The amount of hate in Silver's gaze was truly frightening.
Nathaniel scoffed, and without saying anything, he walked past Silver. But just as he was about to reach the end of the corridor, he stopped, and without looking back, he spoke.
"I heard Father wants you to undergo your rite of passage in a month's time."
Silver remained silent.
"As your brother, I would give you a very good and wise advice… Refuse to undergo your rite of passage."
"Not only are you young, you're not talented. You're not monstrously talented like me or Gabriel. Your comprehension ability is not as absurd as Alexander's, and neither is your physique monstrously powerful like Lucas."
"You're just average. So, for your own sake and to keep your pathetic and average life, tell Father you would like to undergo your rite of passage when you're old enough."
Nathaniel paused for a few seconds, seemingly waiting for a response from Silver. A few seconds later, he took a step and attempted to walk away. But just as he took that step, Silver spoke with a low voice.
"I'll kill and bring back a savage beast."
"Huh?"
Nathaniel frowned and turned back. He gazed at Silver who was still on the floor, and Silver gazed back at him.
"What did you just say?"
"You're not deaf," Silver replied indifferently.
Nathaniel's expression instantly became one of disbelief, and then this disbelief transformed into laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Despite the immense mockery and disdain that could be perceived from the laughter, Silver maintained a neutral and nonchalant expression. He calmly stood and dusted himself. But as he was doing this, his instincts screamed at him and he looked up.
"LEARN YOUR FUCKING PLACE WORM!"
PA!
To Silver's horror, Nathaniel disappeared from his vision and before he knew it, he found himself flying to the wall behind him with a broken face.
BANG!