Chapter 18 Target Marked

The entire place was dead silent. It was so silent that even ghosts would feel creeped out by the sudden change in atmosphere.

Everyone there stared with gaping mouths. He actually said that he was going to kill a peak bronze tier expert in 3 months. At that instant, the majority of the population there had incredulous expressions on their faces.

It was simply too outrageous.

One should know that anyone who had reached the Fifth level before sixteen was classified as a genius and being able to break through to bronze tier before eighteen was a rare genius.

However, it became much harder to advance in ranks the higher you went. Normally speaking, it could take as much as two years for a talented individual to proceed to advance from E rank to D rank of Bronze tier.

People with less talent and a lower level demon spirit would require at least five years or more to take such a leap.

Malcolm was a peak bronze tier elite, yet he was already thirty two years old, still, he was considered an above average genius in Maple leaf Town. Carmine however, was different.

She was about two years older than Malcolm meaning that even though they were in the same rank, she should be inferior to him in terms of potential.

A layman would naturally brush it off as her being stronger was due to being older than him. However, the mistake in that logic was that, Carmine had only started her cultivation five years ago.

Five years to advance from normal human to peak A rank bronze tier! If it were to be heard outside, it would surely cause a wave of exclamations from whoever heard it.

Judging by common sense, it wouldn't be long before she stepped into the ranks of silver tier elites and completely surpassed Malcolm with her heaven defying talents.

Even Axel, the silver wings leader was shocked speechless when he got to here of the news.

However, Lance was not his mother, and he certainly didn't obtain her heaven defying talents as shown by how he was still a publicly acknowledged weakling.....

(TL: Until today that is)

After the crowd recovered from their shock, they immediately dived into suppressed murmurs.

"He wants to kill an A rank bronze tier elite in three months! Has his brain been fried from the pressure?"

"I reckon so, how could someone say something so absurd. He is either spouting all this nonsense in a moment of rage and ignorance, or he is stupid beyond belief".

"Can someone really be that dumb? He is definitely just angry. Even an idiot knows how hard it is to transverse the levels. He would need to have at least the same level of strength if not more to be able to accomplish his thoughts".

"So he is practically saying that he will advance from trash to Silver tier in three months! Hahahaha! The day he does will be the day pigs fly!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Mutated pigs with eagle wings can already fly".

"Quiet down! Do you all want to offend his mother..."

The crowd whispered in suppressed murmurs. Even Carmine was astounded by her sons bold declaration. At this moment, carmine had a very strange feeling.

Almost like, she was looking at her son, but at he same time, she was looking at a complete stranger. Lance couldn't be bothered to explain. He just glared at Malcolm with undeniably coldness.

There was no emotion, no feelings, no rage, nothing. Almost like he was looking at a dead man that wasn't worth his time. Malcolm originally wanted to laugh at such a bold statement from some wet behind the ears kid who hadn't even finished growing his pubic hair.

However, under that stare, he felt extremely uncomfortable. It made him feel like the opponent was sizing up a goner, no more, no less.

[ You have met someone that you have Unbridled hatred for. Forced Marking has been placed as a target after your evolution ]

Mark? Lance looked at the message seemingly puzzled. What did it mean by Mark as next target? And what was with the crazy words like Evolution?

"Maybe it is something like a tracking feature. If it is, I will always know his position at all times". Lance thought as his heart felt joyful. He meant each and every single word he said about a minute ago.

He was definitely going to come back when he was stronger. To anyone else, this was an possible task, but to him who had the system, all he had to do was raise his strength and speed stat to match the level of an A rank bronze tier expert and he would be good to go.

He could probably even raise it to silver tier level. After that, what would a mere Malcolm be in the greater scape of things? Hell, he wouldn't even have to fear the Krill family if he got his strength that high, instead, they would treat him as a treasured object and try their best to hold on to him.

And Instantly, Lance felt a strange feeling within him and his eyes turned a hint of glowing blue.

His nose twitched slightly as he suddenly felt a new scent flow into his nostrils. Almost instinctively, Lance knew that this particular smell belonged to Malcolm.

(Marked individuals: 1 Mark assigned/ Hunt will begin after evolution)

(Until the Marked is removed, He cannot escape from you)

Huh? Hunt? Another unfamiliar term. Lance threw it to the back of his mind without a second thought. He was much too tired so he decided he would take a proper look at it later.

Besides, he still had to open the book of inscription and worry about raising his combat level. Malcolm was already considered dead meat, and with this new feature, he won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Thinking up to this point, lance directed his gaze back to his mother indicating to her with his light blue eyes. Seeing this, she didn't say anything and just took him to leave.

Watching the mother and son duo's backs, Axel had a cold expression on his face. His cold gaze directly directed at Lance who was wobbling a little unsteadily.

How could he not be angry? This kid had stolen something he had been working hard to get for years now. It wasn't just the other men of the silver wings, even their commander, Axel Cohen had a thing for Carmine.

Which bastard in their right mind wouldn't be interested in her? This lady was a godly beauty with high innate talent. Even if she was a widow and her background wasn't too impressive, so what?

If any of them could subdue a beauty with such elegant bearing and temperament, they probably wouldn't mind even if they lost half of their remaining lifespans.

In the past, he had lost to Lance's father, now however, there was no longer any competition that was serious enough and he should have been able to win her heart fair and square.

But after her husbands death, another problem quickly sprung up to life, and that was the fact that Carmine had no intentions of getting married or having a romantic affair again.

He had tried countless times and came up with lots of ideas on how to woo her. However, she wasn't moved in any way. It was only recently that Axel finally managed to guess the problem and now, seeing it only further confirmed it.

As long as Lance was alive, Carmine would definitely not think of any sort of romantic relationship. She would rather live her life with her son happily not bothered whether her son was trash or a genius.

"That kid needs to go!" Axel said deep within his heart, his palm clenched.

At least previously, he still had Carmine in his organization giving him an edge there over most competitors, but now, if she joined another organization after this, who knows what could happen.

..............

It wasn't long before Lance and Carmine finally arrived at the Krill mansion. Once they were inside, Carmine took lance to his room and immediately poured out a torrent of questions.

Lance who had been expecting it sooner or later was surprisingly calm in the face of answering those questions.

"What happened? How did you get into a fight with a bronze tier elite? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Carmine yelled with her voice highly pitched. Lance squinted slightly but he could hear the genuine concern behind her voice and his heart felt warm.

Lance explained how he and Gustav agreed to meet up and how they had nearly been robbed. Naturally he didn't tell her the part were he ripped a guys arm off as he wanted to keep that a secret.

Besides, its not like she would believe him even if he told her.

He made up an excuse that he managed to outrun the thug, however his clothes were ripped in the process of escaping so he had to go change for new clothes at a pawn shop leading to the incident with Malcolm.

After hearing his explanation, Carmine's eyes grew cold. She would definitely have a chat with the pavilion master of Crownwood restaurant concerning his 'Security Team'.

After talking for a while, Lance felt his stomach growl.

[ Your hunger has grown ]

"Damn that Malcolm. I guess I used up too much energy, am hungrier than usual" lance held his grumbling stomach. Carmine seeing this giggled slightly as she left to order a servant to bring food over.

Seeing that she was no longer around, Lance sighed a little then turned his attention to the system interface.