Interrogation

The door led to a brightly lit hallway. The floor was covered by what looked like an expensive red carpet. There were doors on both sides of the hallway and people in the hunter association uniform could be seen moving in and out of them occasionally.

The attendant led Kane to an elevator which was located at the end of the hall. She called the elevator and after a few minutes, the doors slid open.

When the stepped into the elevator, she pressed a button and the elevator doors closed before ascending to the 10th floor. The elevator took less than a minute to get to their destination. The elevator opened up to reveal a hallway that had only one door at the end.

This door was flanked by two men who were standing on both sides of the door. From the pressure they exuded, Kane could guess that they were really stronger than him by a lot.

He was led by the attendant to the door as she pressed a button on it and said "Mr. Kane is here to see you, sir". There was a brief pause before the metal door slid open and the room was revealed. The room was quite simple. There was a large computer in the shape of a desk which was placed at the center of the room.

Leather swivel chairs were placed on both sides of the computer and the one meant for the castellan was currently facing the glass wall overlooking the streets of Edan city. The castellan, Juwayn Faisal was sitting on it.

"Come in" a deep voice from within the room was heard and Kane stepped into the office before the door slid shut. He timidly walked to the chair meant for visitors and stood beside it. "Good evening, sir," said Kane as he almost stammered. The pressure he felt now was almost the same as when the giant salamander was looking down at him near the entrance of Sharphorn ruin.

The chair facing the glass wall turned around and Kane could finally see the castellan for the first time. He looked more like the average man seen all over Edan city. He had tanned skin as a result of the heat and his hair was black. His bulging muscles were evident even though he was wearing loose robes. He was blind in one eye but did not bother to cover it up.

His savage look also mounted more pressure on Kane who was already shivering at the moment. "Sit," said Juwayn as he pointed to the chair beside Kane. He observed the boy as he hurriedly sat down. After waiting a few seconds for the boy to compose himself he asked "Where is Abdul?".

There was a long silence within the office but Juwayn was not bothered and waited for the boy to answer when he was ready. "He is dead," said Kane after taking a few breaths.

"What happened?" asked Juwayn calmly as if he had already guessed it. "He was killed by my master after they fought in Sharphorn forest" replied Kane.

"Where is your master now?" Juwayn sat up now and clasped his palms on his desk.

"He was seriously hurt after the fight. He asked me to leave him behind and to take our vehicle" said Kane.

*Sigh*

Juwayn could not help but let out a sigh. Abdul was arguably his most powerful servant. His one with the element mutation already set him apart from his peers. His study of the dao of concealment made him an extraordinary assassin. He had never failed a mission. For someone to be able to kill him meant that that person was a monster among monsters.

Such a person was living in the mortal part of Edan city. He could sense foul play in the air but he could not yet put his fingers on it at the moment so he quickly shelved that thought aside.

"What happened to you? The last time you were here, you looked like you were still being fed with breast milk but right now you look like a teenager and you are already a mutant. All this happened in a month". This question had truly bugged Juwayn since Kane stepped into his office.

"It's a long story. It has something to do with the adaptation part of my mutation. My master kept exposing me to danger to take advantage of my mutation. That was why they ended up fighting" replied Kane.

Juwayn was astonished. 'This mutation, didn't this mean that he would definitely grow stronger every time he suffers? No wonder that person asked me to take care of him'. He quickly composed himself and said "This is a very big lesson for you. You should be careful with who you trust Not everyone who smiles at you is a friend. Alright, you will have to join a sect and receive proper training. Let's go to the noble district".

"Wait!" shouted Kane as the castellan stood up. Juwayn slowly sat down and waited for Kane to continue.

"I have something to tell you," said Kane as he fidgeted on his sit while trying to collect his thoughts.

"We stumbled upon something in the forest. My master caught and interrogated a beast. It revealed that the residents of Sharphorn ruin are planning to attack Edan city using a beast tide".

Juwayn shot up from his seat immediately. His face was filled with shock. What did a beast tide mean? The city was going to be besieged by millions of beasts of different power levels. This rarely happens but when it does, the ensuing battle would be a very bitter one.

What happened to the once beautiful Sharphorn city? Because of the city's unpreparedness and lack of discipline exhibited by their defenders, the city was quickly overrun and turned into an abode for beasts.

There was an even graver consequence for him and other employees of the hunter association. They were direct constructs of the earth. If the city they were stationed at should ever fall into the hands of beasts, the hunter association employees would go through a change.

Their mind, will, and body would morph into that of a beast and the hunter association would become the varmint association. He would morph into a beast in all aspects. He quickly walked around the desk to Kane's side and sat on it before training his eyes on the nervous boy.

"Is what you say the truth? Did you get any other information from the beast? What of the number of beasts? How many have been amassed?" Juwayn spat out those questions at Kane in a hurry. He noticed that the boy was literally shaking in his boots so he forced himself to calm down and waited for the boy to calm down too.

After a long pause, Kane raised his head and said "They are still gathering beasts and according to their plan, would only set off after a month. The beasts already have two knight realm beasts as commanders. Their names are Gresht the salamander prince and knight Faknar the dread worm.

We did not get the number of beasts that had been gathered, sorry". Juwayn was dazed from all he heard. It took him some time to organize the huge load of information jumbled up in his head. It would take one month for the beasts to conclude preparations and move out.

It would also take more than a week for them to arrive at Edan city. That would give them more than enough time to make preparations for the city defense. The problem of the number of beasts assaulting them was not something they could control, so preparation for the worst had to be made.

The problem now lay with the knight realm beasts. He knew about Gresht and Faknar. Their abilities and absolute abilities were well known since beasts were known to be notorious for their abuse of power. He and Philimon were also Knight realm beings that could fight the two knight realm beasts on almost even ground.

The problem was that there might be another addition to the enemy's rank during the one-month preparation period. Since he could also not control that, he concluded that only extensive preparation was the only hope they had.

If they played their cards right and won this battle, they could even go ahead and attempt to take back Sharphorn city from the clutches of the beasts.

He stood up and patted Kane on the shoulder, there was a warm smile on his face. "You have done well boy. If we get through this, you will be rewarded handsomely for your very important contribution" he said while returning to his side of the desk.

"We have to get going. You need to register with a sect and I need to make preparations with Philimon for the defense of the city" said Juwayn as he touched his desk with his fingers.

The surface of the desk lit up and Kane could see all sorts of data sprawled across the entire surface of the desk. After Juwayn selected a few options, there was a flash of white light before Kane and the castellan disappeared from the office.