21 First Trouble

"You don't need to worry!" Master Rabbink consoled Trevon. "Look, the last user's first trouble was a group of angry Golden Horned Rhinoceros. He even got a free forced mission. He managed to survive them." [At last, he and his companion were only that badly injured.]

"You are in a city! What trouble could be bigger than Golden Horned Rhinoceros?" Master Rabbink consoled Trevon.

Trevon started to believe. [Yes, I am in a city and even in my family pavilion. What problem could happen?]

"Wait! You almost got blasted by some talismans. That was bad enough." The Rabbink added. "You have promised to donate, but you haven't! This must be karma. This must be karma."

"Glup..." Trevon was reminded of his promise during the last hostage situation. "What should I do, Master Rabbink?"

"Do not worry! I am also a God, you can donate to me." The Rabbink proudly declared. "How about 10 kowtows?"

"What?"

"5 kowtows?"

"No."

"Just 1 kowtow. That is my final price." Master Rabbink declared its bottom price. It really couldn't go any lower. That would be a loss if it gave less than 1 kowtow.

"Who wants to kowtow to you?" Trevon had enough. This Rabbink kept talking about this kowtow and that kowtow. [As if kowtow is the only currency it accepted.]

"Yes, I only accept kowtow. What is the use of material wealth to me? I can even borrow and rent things from Universe Store. I am the CEO, Vice CEO, VP of Marketing, VP of Operational, VP of Human Resource, and any other employees of the Store." Master Rabbink showed a multitude of name cards to Trevon.

"Just help me with this trouble, Ok?"

"Nope. As a Creator, I can't help the apprentice God in trouble. Every part of the troubles come as the tests to temper a God apprentice. Is there any teacher who helps his students cheat on the national exam?" The Rabbink then took the contract again. "Look! It even included in this section of the contract." It pointed out the part.

"Not this contract again!"

"I didn't even help the last user during his fight with the bandit." The Rabbink wanted to show that he was a fair Rabbink. "I still gave him some prays to help him in the afterlife anyway. What a kind Rabbink, I am. I even had suggested him to finish Lesson 1 before he returned to this planet."

"Young Master Trevon?" Somebody cut Master Rabbink's story.

"Who dares interrupt this Rabbink speech?" Master Rabbink complained.

"The elder assembly wants your presence." The person told Trevon.

[Sh*t! I am in a deep trouble.] Trevon found the trouble. It was a BIG one for him.

The last time he went into an elder assembly, he was confined in the library for 9 months. He didn't even touch the girl before. After this event, he had heard a rumor that he could impregnate a girl with a gaze.

Yet the biggest problem was the library. [Not the library again, please!] Trevon preferred to fight a demon beast than go to a library again. It was boring with those books without a story. He only read some history books but he finished them in the first month.

"Young Master Trevon?" This time Jerry asked.

"I am here. I will come to the assembly soon!" Trevon shouted.

"What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?" Trevon almost thought about pretending to be unconscious again. [Master Rabbink, quick hit me on my head.]

"Just go! This is far easier than the gold horned rhinoceros or bandits. You may get more difficult trouble if you don't go. This is why you should call the trouble earlier, so you get multiple small troubles, instead of a big one. At least, this wasn't a forced trouble with a forced mission."

[How do I call the trouble?] Trevon was confused. He knew how to look for trouble, but not how to call for trouble.

"Just press this button in your Troublemeter." Master Rabbink took another Troublemeter and showed Trevon the button.

[Why didn't you tell me before?] Trevon asked.

"Nobody asked me before." Master Rabbink easily answered.

"Master Trevon?" Jerry asked again.

"Coming!" Trevon got out of the room. [At least I could handle those elder. If the troublemeter send Raina for more difficult troubles, it would be a game over.]

Trevon guided by a guard came into the command room. It was used as the Elder Assembly Room. He came with Jack and Jerry but only Trevon entered the premise.

The first step he took into the room, Trevon felt multiple spiritual senses checked him. This was to prevent people bring hidden weapons to the room. Of course, this could only check weapon outside in the storage ring. It would take people some time to use storage ring. It was enough time for the experts inside to immobilize the assassin if the assassin took the weapon. Because of this, some warriors preferred to bring their weapons outside the storage ring.

Inside the room, there were multiple boards with information posted. Yet Trevon couldn't read them, there were special transparent fabrics which covered them. There were 20 people sitting inside. They were seated in a large and long U table. They were the elders of McArthur Family Redwood branch. Some of them looked old and some looked young, but Trevon knew all of them were old people with either high strength or certain capabilities. He saw some familiar faces, including Charles.

"Trevon greets Elders." He bowed to the elders. He stood in the center of the room where he was surrounded by those elders. He didn't like this feeling. He started to feel nervous from the gaze alone. He finally got the taste of deadly gazes.

"What a good youngster! How is your mother, nephew Trevon?" One of the elders asked Trevon.

"Ah, my mother is fine. Thank you for your concern Elder Josephine." Being part of a big family, Trevon had numerous uncle and aunt. This Elder Josephine was one of Trevon aunts, but coming from his grandmother side. While Charles was came from his grandfather side. She was one of Trevon's favorite aunts, yet it was an elder assembly. He couldn't call her Aunty like what he usually did.

Trevon had more aunts and uncles from his father than his mother. His father's family was cultivators with the long lifespan. Between his paternal grandfather and grandmother, Trevon even had more uncles and aunts from his grandfather's side.

This was normal since his grandmother gave birth to those aunts and uncles alone from different husbands and her concubines. While his grandfather had numerous wives and concubines.

Yes, Alvaro's father and mother each had their own family and harem. Their marriage was a temporary marriage by the family, each of them had their own branch of the family.

This planned marriage was to give birth to those super genius sons and daughters of the family. Those super geniuses would then further marry each other to give birth to the next generation of super genius.

For example, Alvaro's father, Douglas McArthur was born from the same planned marriage. The same with his mother, Issabella McArthur. She was also born from another planned marriage. This was common in a Great cultivation family like McArthur. This would ensure a child born with the best gene from several generations above. It wasn't that hard since the family had many super geniuses.

Both of Alvaro's parents were Rank 3. Douglas McArthur was a Peak Rank 3 warrior, while his mother Issabella McArthur was Top Rank 3 warrior when they started the marriage. Top Rank 3 was the minimum in McArthur family.

Being high ranked warriors, Douglas and Issabella, each had their own harem and reverse harem. This was normal for those powerful people in this world. As long as you had a bigger fist, you could anything you want.

While lots of common people stayed faithful in their lives, most cultivators couldn't. Cultivators had a long lifespan, especially if their spouses had far lower rank. A peak Rank 3 warrior could live until 2.100 years old. If his/her spouse was only a Peak Rank 1, who could only live till 250 years old, that peak Rank 3 warrior would live alone for over than 1.700 years. After that long loneliness alone, it would be easy for those powerful warriors to fall in love again.

Do not forget as high ranked cultivators, they all had good appearance! Issabella, when she gave birth to Alvaro, was already over 700 years old. But, she still considered one of the most beautiful ladies in Heavenly Phoenix.

Her suitor could reach from the end of Redwood to the other end. Of course, being an family child, her suitors must agree to leave their family and join her reverse harem or in other word joined the McArthur family. If not, perhaps the current King himself would try to be her suitor.

This was why Alvaro was called a family child. The McArthur family planned him and they raised him. They asked 2 of their powerful elders to be together to give birth to a genius kid. This almost guaranteed since both parents, every grandparent, and their ancestor were all powerful warriors. There was almost no chance their children would not be a genius. If they were lucky, perhaps a God's Blessing could allow him to reach Rank 4 and elevated their family 1 step higher.

This was why Alvaro was secluded in the family village since 5-year old. Unlike most kids who are allowed 18 years with their own family. He became one of the family children and obtained complete support in his cultivation. His master was a former Grand Elder of the family. Some legendary warriors of McArthur also gave him private lessons. His cultivation resources were unlimited. He got the best martial arts, the secret family cultivation techniques, the best weapons, and armors.

This marriage was forced yet those super geniuses could select their own partners. They could select from over a hundred other super geniuses that the family had. These super geniuses had a long lifespan so they could slowly do this. Most would only do this when they were retired and looking for the last partner in their lives. Others would do it earlier to get a big contributions reward from the family.

This service gave lots of benefits both to Douglas and Issabella themselves. Alvaro didn't lack the care of his father or mother. The family wouldn't treat these super geniuses poorly, this was included in the temporary marriage. During the first 18 years of his life, Douglas and Issabella still accompanied him like a normal cultivator family. He had a normal life with many brothers and sisters around him.

This aunt Josephine was one of the aunts who doted Trevon. She was 40 years younger than Alvaro. She was a Middle Rank 2 warrior the last time Trevon heard about her. Being a high ranked warrior, she was one of the beautiful ladies in the family. She even hadn't her own family since she was a cultivation maniac. It was a common trait of genius cultivators.

He remembered she had visited him several times when he was small, doting him a lot. Perhaps because she didn't have her own son. Redwood and Bluestar were not that far anyway. He had heard that she was assigned to a faraway place a few years back. He didn't know that she was in Redwood at this time.

"Aunt hasn't met you in a long time. I was in seclusion all this time. Tell me what you did in Bluestar! All this missing time!" Unlike Charles, Josephine was still young and she still pursued the cultivation path. The only reason she went from her seclusion was this elder assembly. This assembly required all available elders to meet and decide on important family matters.

"I..." [What should I say to her? Is this the problem?] Trevon thought. He knew this was the trick from these elders. They used this aunt of him to make him lose his guard.

"Ahem..." Charles coughed a little. While Charles and Trevon rarely meet, being an active elder and a close brother to Alvaro, it was sure that Charles knew all Trevon's bad things.

[A code! Perhaps uncle Charles wished me to save my father's face!] It's not like he would say all his deeds on Bluestar to her Aunt. Especially in front of so many elders. [I might get more than 9 months in the library if they heard all of them.]

"I was doing fine" Trevon looked into the elder on the left and right. He didn't realize he was being monitored.

"I usually went to the academy in the morning and returned early to study at home. I love studying so much. Hehehe." He looked into left and right again. [What should I talk?]

"The elders are watching you." Master Rabbink told him. It just wanted to remind him, this was allowed under the manual. However, this brought more pressures to Trevon.

"I swear I am a good kid, Aunt Josephine. I was only going out a bit. Really." He looked left and right again. He saw those elders were carefully watching him.

"I was only drinking tea like uncle Charles. Hahaha." Trevon forgot to address his aunt and uncle based on their titles.

"..." All elders were silent. What Raina told was correct.

"You haven't known Elder Josephine?" One of the elders suddenly spoke. Trevon knew this elder's name was Lorry. He was presented in his previous elder assembly in Bluestar. Trevon couldn't believe he met him again in another elder assembly. "Before I was assigned here, I was in Bluestar. The last time I meet with Trevon was during another elder assembly." He added some salts.

[Why do I meet him here? He wants to destroy my reputation in front of my aunt.] Trevon thought.

"Is that true Trevon? What is that assembly about?" Josephine asked. Elder Assembly was never about simple things.

"It is nothing." Trevon looked left and right.

All elders kept looking to Trevon. He knew he couldn't lie about this. Every result of an assembly would be documented.

"Ah... I was framed by a girl. But I was proved innocent 9 months later, Aunt. Do not believe the rumor! I really couldn't impregnate a girl with just a single gaze." He looked straight to Josephine.

"Of course, I will believe my lovely nephew. What is that assembly about Elder Lorry?" Josephine asked Elder Lorry.

[No!!!] Trevon screamed in his heart. Now he would lose his image. That assembly was a result of many of his deeds. It wasn't just about the girl.

After that, there would be multiple times one elder and another talked about Trevon's wrongdoings. There had been too many anyway. Trevon defended himself multiple times, some were real, but few were not true.

Even some elders who he didn't know before actually knew some of his past deeds. He had lost count how many times, Charles coughed. Yet Charles didn't help him. Perhaps he wanted to let Trevon faced the accusations to discipline him. If someone saw Charles they would not believe a cultivator could be this sick.

[This kid falls into their traps.] Master Rabbink was an old Rabbink, being a 3rd party it could clearly see the show.

"Cut yourself, Kid!" It reminded. "The elders put on a show."

"Eh?" Trevon looked into all elders in the assembly. He could see some tried to prevent some laughs.

Charles was also another old dog. He knew Trevon had realized something.

"This is enough. We forget the real reason for calling Trevon. Remember, he is still Elder Alvaro's son." He had checked what Raina's said. Sometimes the kid knew other kids better than their elders.

"Sorry Elder Charles, I want to catch up with my nephew's progress." Elder Josephine said. "What happened yesterday Trevon? You made your father worried so much."

"Father worried about me?" Trevon asked. [There is no way that cold man feels worried. He will just coolly assign some staffs to find me.] Trevon knew how cool headed his father was.

"Yes, he almost returned from an unfinished mission."

"Unfinished? Haven't you managed to get all 10 of them?" Trevon was afraid of those rhinoceros. He wouldn't feel safe until those either killed or captured. The beast taming division of McArthur was a top team in the country. They could easily tame any demon beasts. He couldn't believe they hadn't completely captured those rhinoceros. [They must be powerful to make the family couldn't finish the mission yet.] Trevon forgot that the team just went to the forest yesterday.

[10?] Charles wondered.

"Get 10 of them?" Lorry was confused. "Do you know your father's mission Trevon?"

"No. I don't know." Trevon felt he spoke something wrong. He was just relieved from the pressure of the interrogation. [Sh*t! I felt to another trap.] He looked left and right looking for a way out. Not realizing, it brought him deep into more troubles.

"You have to tell the truth! This is the elder assembly. We can judge you using family law." Lorry continued to pressure Trevon.

"It is not like that Elder Lorry." Trevon was afraid. [Is this my trouble? Being judged by Family Law.] The punishment might be severe for lying in front of an elder assembly. The law could even make his cultivation destroyed.

"I just heard it from Uncle Charles, he ordered some beast tamers to assemble. I was in the carriage when he ordered the beast tamers." Trevon found a way out.

"Is that true Elder Charles?" Lorry asked.

"Yes, it was, Elder Lorry. Trevon and Raina were in my carriage when I ordered this." Charles answered after some thinking.

[Thank God! I love you uncle.] Trevon was relieved.

"But I don't remember talking to you about 10." Charles suddenly asked Trevon.

"Eh?" Trevon was shocked.

"What do you know Trevon?" Charles asked.

[SH*T! Saved from another hole and come into another hole.] Trevon had cold sweats all over his body.

All elders were watching him.

"You are dead, Kid. Dead. Do not tell about the Ring or you will have more problems!" Master Rabbink told Trevon. "Often family would kill each other in front of power temptation."

"Erm..." Trevon looked into Master Rabbink in hope of some help. But the Rabbink pretended to sleep.

[What should I say? Wait! Let's use that master story. There is even a real master here.] Trevon knew he would be asked about his disappearance yesterday. After the talk with Raina, he had tried to lie to himself. He turned the half-truth story into a real true store. It was not hard for him, he was the master escapist from responsibility. Especially since it was already a half-truth in the beginning.

"Are you preparing a lie in front of elder assembly?" The elders saw Trevon looked to his left and right.

"No... No. Yesterday, I was saved by a master. He told me about there are 10 golden horned rhinoceros in the forest." Trevon quickly answered. It was not a lie anyway.

"Saved by a master? What is this connection by 10 golden horned rhinoceros?" One of the elders asked.

[Have I talked about the golden horned rhinoceros? I didn't even know the name.] Charles on the side was wondering. [I haven't talked about gold or rhinoceros in front of Raina or Trevon.] As a cultivator, he had a good memory.

"Let me tell from the beginning! I was very afraid, yesterday. An attacker came when I was talking with a beautiful lady." Trevon started his half-truth story.

[A sexy lady. We all know what you think.] The elders thought.

"Suddenly I was moved into an unknown place." Trevon said. This was the truth. "I screamed but nobody answered me. After a long time, finally, the master appeared. He told me about 10 golden horned rhinoceros. After some talking, he returned me back to the place, but I found I was in the middle of an earth wall."

"What did he talk to you? Is there any other thing than those rhinoceros?"

"What kind of martial art did the master use?"

"How does the master look like?"

"Did he say his name?"

"Why did he return you back at that place again?"

Multiple questions were asked to Trevon.

"Please keep your questions! This is an elder assembly." Charles was the leader of this elder assembly. He had to moderate the assembly.

"One by one." He said, "We will go by seniority, Elder John." He invited an old elder to start the question.

"Let's us ask him from the beginning part." The old elder decided to ask carefully from the beginning.

"So, you were being teleported and not using a treasure?"

"I don't know whether I was teleported or it was a treasure. But suddenly I appeared in another place."

"What were you doing at that time?" Another elder asked. He was the second oldest.

"I was crouching, I was thinking on what treasures I could use, but I didn't have anything that is useful."

"You didn't use any treasure?"

"All of my treasure and money was disappeared the day before yesterday. Jack and Jerry can testify for me." Trevon still bitter about this.

[Do you listen to his answer Elder Lorry?] One of the elders talked behind Trevon. They could use their spiritual sense to secretly talked.

[Yes, if the person really could teleport him then it must be true. If he could teleport another person, the person must be at the peak of cultivation. Based on our family book, even our Ancestor couldn't teleport others.] Lorry ended their spiritual discussion. Other than these two elders, multiple elders were discussing the same.

"Could you show us your treasure in your storage ring? Being a McArthur's son, there should be a certain minimum of treasure owned for your safety. We want to check what treasure is left with you so we could fill the gap that was missed."

Checking other people's storage rings was a taboo. On the other hand, one couldn't access other's storage ring without removing the previous owner's ownership. Only after an owner was changed, one could check other's storage ring. This was a method designed by the elders to check Trevon's treasure.

"Perhaps we could also change the storage ring! There might be some defect in the production." Another elder offered, this way they could get no rejection from Trevon.

"Yes, Elder Steven is correct. We could use it to research. Trevon, you should give us your storage ring for research. We will order a better replacement." Another elder acted like the scenario they prepared.

[Wow! I never knew an elder assembly can be this good. Where is the trouble? Hahaha.] Trevon would never reject a better storage ring. [After trouble, there would be hope. It is not like they would find anything. Hahaha.]

He quickly took all of his leftover treasures from the storage ring. He totally didn't have many things. He then gave the storage ring to the table after he removed his ownership. One of the elders picked the ring and found that there was nothing inside after creating an ownership. They had scanned Trevon using spiritual sense before. They even had sent another elder to check his empty room at that same time. This was a very serious matter if Trevon was saved by a master.

"I only have this thing." Trevon was embarrassed. Those were some beauty products, some fun toys, and 2 scrolls of paintings that made some male elders gave a knowing look.

"Is that your black sword?" Charles wondered. He thought Trevon didn't have anything.

[Sh*t! I forget about the sword.] Trevon was in deep trouble again. He was sure Jack and Jerry saw his sword disappeared into the sand.

"Erm..." Trevon started to think. He looked to his left and right again.

"Do not lie in the assembly!" It was very easy to find Trevon lying after the tips. The elder assembly continued to pressure Trevon.

"This was given by that master. My sword was destroyed the day before yesterday." Trevon thought before answering. [This wasn't totally wrong. Right? I got it from the Universe Store. While the store and Master Rabbink were the same.]

"Why did the master give the sword to you? Why did the sword similar to your previous sword?" Charles asked. The elders saw Trevon's habit and they want to press him further.

"Actually, he didn't give it to me. I purchased this sword from him, Uncle. He could create more copies of this sword. This sword is called 'Dark Demon Slayer'." He really purchased it.

"He could create? Is he a blacksmith? How much is it?" Charles asked again. Charles knew Alvaro valuation of the sword. Just from his seat, he could check the general quality of the sword using his spiritual sense. He needed to physically use the sword to assess the sword more. At last from the probing, he knew the sword was a brand new, unlike the old Trevon's sword.

"Yes, he created the sword. Maybe, I don't know if he is a blacksmith, but I paid 122.828 spirit stones for it!" Trevon remembered the number. Not because he was a cultivator with better memory, but because he was angry with that number.

"Can I see the sword?" One of the elders asked to look for the sword. Trevon brought the sword to him, this elder was the head of Blacksmith department in Redwood. The elder then carefully checked the sword made by the master.

"Where do you have the money?" All Trevon moneys, except a few in his wallet, were lost during the strange disappearance. Jack had testified.

"I get a loan."

"An unknown master gave you a loan?"

"He wanted me to do a lot of things for him so I asked for some down payment from him."

"What kind of thing?" Another elder asked.

"I was ordered to force an orange from any merchant."

"What?" All elders were surprised, Trevon didn't show his lie, he even answered quickly. But this was too absurd.

"I can't believe it myself. I even could not buy or steal the orange. I was ordered to force any merchant to give me an orange." This was what he really feeling. There was no way he would go that low. He would never force someone for just 1 orange, he would get at least a few dozen kilograms.

[Do you think a top master would ask for something like that?] The elder was talking with each other.

[We might not know what a people of that caliber thinking. Perhaps it is similar to killing intents. Perhaps this is part of his cultivation.] The other elder spoke.

Those elder kept talking before themselves via Spiritual Sense. Finally, after some debates, they finally reach the agreement. They couldn't do anything rash since the other party was strong and a possible top-level blacksmith. Yet it was better since they knew this master asked something from Trevon. People who didn't want anything was the most dangerous. They could probe the master in the future.

"Just follow what that master arrangement as soon as you can! The family will clean the mess after. This would be considered an SS level secret. You will never this to other people." The eldest elder, elder John ordered.

"I order you to kowtow to me! Gwahahaha!" Master Rabbink kept repeating this order.

[Do I have to kowtow?] Trevon thought.