Oliver Eberhart

The manor was very big and quite nicely decorated with antiques and painting.

There were many maids going to and fro in the corridor. Numerous guards were standing along each corridor and turns.

Alex also found his spy puppets doing their work in disguise as servants. His puppets have successfully infiltrated most of the powerful forces on this Island.

Though they are not in any important position, they can still provide him with first-hand intelligence from what they see and hear.

There's also no risk of someone finding out because every puppet is connected to each other mentally and have no physical communication between them.

Anyway, they quickly came in front of a door having two guards on both sides. Through the use of spiritual sense, Alex saw through their strength.

Both of them were at eight grade of Body Tempering Realm. Elaina knocked on to the door and a voice came out.

"Come in"

As the door opened, two men standing by the window came into their view.

One looked very old while the other had the appearance of a middle-aged man but looked a little pale and sick. Alex knew that the later was the Lord of Yandell family, Willy Yandell. 

Patriarch Willy sat down and carefully examined Alex. Without the air of arrogance that a Noble Lord should have, he instead smiled and said "Welcome young man. You must be Alex. Let me first thank you for helping my daughter and Miss Melinda finding a safe place in the forest. Not only that, but I also heard that you are quite talented in the field of Alchemy and also a very brilliant fighter. Now that I see you, you are also quite handsome"

As he said that, Patriarch Willy asked everyone to sit down.

He had done a background check on Alex, and some interesting thing came out to his knowledge.

First, Alex was the same talented guy who had become the disciple of Master Clayton he had been hearing for some days.

The second interesting thing is about his history. It still not known to many people as to where have the villagers from the Pearl village escaped to.

 Another thing he came to know from Elaina was the cultivation and immense strength shown by the young man in front of him when he killed so many Demon Beasts in the forest that day. 

It was precisely because all of this that Patriarch Willy had decided to see him today. But the major reason was the old man beside him. He too had shown his interest to meet with Alex.

To tell the truth, Patriarch Willy didn't feel entirely at ease with Alex. His timing was too coincidental as if he was waiting for her daughter and Melinda there in the forest.

This made him skeptical of what his motives were though they were not valid till now.

Who knew if there was some kind of collusion between Alex and other forces?

 Alex also respectfully greeted them, with a somewhat bizarre gaze.

Patriarch Willy slightly nodded his head, looked at Alex, and asked with deep concern: "Alex how are your Uncle Jack and the villagers? Are they all safe? If you need any help then you can ask me."

Alex smiled slightly "They all are good and living peacefully, there's no problem at all. I thank you for your concerns"

Patriarch Willy was stumped for a bit. Then, a helpless smile flashed across his face as he asked "Alex, you don't have to hide anything form me. I am not like the Jordan Family if that's what your concerns are. I seriously want to help the villagers."

Alex knew that Patriarch Willy misunderstood so he said "I know that you are not like any other Nobles on this Island and that's why I came here. But seriously, my villagers and my family have settled safely. Everything they need, I can provide it myself. If there's a problem in the future, then I will definitely ask for your help"

Patriarch Willy was stumped again. He felt very strong confidence from Alex tone.

Following a wave of gentle laughter, the old man walked over while chuckling "Good, good. Being self-reliant and confident is good. I like your temperament kid"

Before Patriarch Willy could introduce him, the old man did it first.

"I am Oliver Eberhart"

"Nice to meet with you Mister Oliver" Melinda had mentioned this name one time. He must be the master Of Melinda and Elaina. Brenna Eberhart should be related to this old man as they have the same surname.

"I have only arrived at Dorbank City for only a month and the people I know may be plenty, but it could be said that there are none who truly know me. From all youngsters I have seen and known in this city, you are only one that I found talented and capable."

"It's my honor if you think like that but there's a lot of talented people like me"

"No need to be modest in front of me, kid. Let's cut to the chase, I want to know what your future plans are. My meaning is, do you want to become stronger and acquire more resources for your training" the old man was indeed very direct.

"Yes, those are my plans"

"Good. Do you want to go to Belmont Subcontinent to develop?"

"Yes, in the future"

"Alright then join me. I will be taking away my disciple Elaina and Melinda to my clan Eberhart in Belmont Subcontinent in some days. You can also come and train in my clan academy. Oh, you don't need to worry about your family and villagers. If you want then I can let them settle in my clan territory. They will be safe there"

'Old man, you are too straight-forward' thought Alex in his mind.

"Mister Oliver, you don't know me nor do I think that anyone recruits disciple for his Clan in this way. Normally, it is the other way around. There seems to be strict regulation for the outsiders to join any clan.

The Old man slightly curled his lips. He looked Alex in the eye and said: "To fully understand a person, one would normally need a few years, around a decade, or even a few decades. However, if one wanted to know a person's fundamental nature, only observing his eyes would be enough. Is this enough for you? Just tell me straight, do you want to join my clan or not. There's no future on this backward island, you have to understand that first"

Alex rejected without any hesitation "No, I am very sorry but I have to reject your offer. I have my own plans"