House Maiken

After ending his cultivation, the first thing Mayton did was checking out his body. Trying out a few movements like punching and kicking, he realized he was physically much stronger than before. It was a pity that he didn't have any battle techniques to utilize his qi. If he had, his power would multiply once more.

Since he ascertained the increase of his physical strength, the next thing to check was the situation inside his body. He was really tired of hiding from the sunlight. So after the excitement he felt died down a little, he sat down cross legged again and started to meditate. Thanks to his recent practice he entered the trance like state much quicker this time.

Inside his body, he saw the familiar red particles again. But this time they seemed like coal that has already burned down. Some of them were even flickering in and out of existence. Cleansing his body obviously exhausted his qi reserves. He didn't feel like he was in a pinch because of that though. His qi absorption rate may not be fast enough to breakthrough once more before the fair of souls, but he was confident that it was enough to get him in top condition before the fair.

The biggest difference inside of him was not the spent qi though. It was the faint wall of fire at the borders where the qi leaked out before. The faint fire wall did not completely stop the qi from moving out, but it nonetheless slowed them down a little while not effecting the qi entering his body. It was like a one way valve.

''Hmm uncles are probably worried about me. I should go and tell them everything is alright.''

Mayton muttered to himself as he stood up. But before he could take a single step, a wave of exhaustion washed over him as his vision dimmed. In the blink of an eye, he was back on the ground, this time unconsciously lying down.

''Hey, Mayton. Are you alright? Mayton, say something. ''

Mayton heard someone worriedly call his name. He slightly opened his eyes and saw that he was still in the same room. After a moment of trying to remember what happened, he recalled that he fell down due to exhaustion. Then he remembered something else as he hurriedly got up and shouted;

'' How many days has it been since I started my closed door cultivation?''

Zgar, who was at the other side of the door calling out to Mayton, heard him and excitedly opened the door.

''Are you alright? Everyone is worried sick. It has been four days, and you didn't leave this room at all. Do you want something to eat? Or maybe some water? But I think you might want to wash up first.''

Zgar said as he looked at Mayton's wretched state. His long, loose hair was sticky with sweat. His gray clothes changed colors to almost pitch black due to filth. Even the smell of the room was horrible. If not for the tiny window near the ceiling of the room, it may have been impossible to take a breath in here.

Mayton didn't worry about these things though. He was afraid of missing the fair of souls, but it turned out he still had a day. But having only a single day meant that he must use every second of the day to stabilize his cultivation and try to get his peak state.

After a brief exchange of words with the hunters to relieve their anxiety, Mayton took a bath, ate a good meal made of ferocious beast meat and went out to cultivate under the sun. It was noon when he finally found a suitable place where he wouldn't be disturbed started to cultivate. Luckily he didn't miss the noon. According to the cultivation manual, even though it was possible to cultivate with fire qi from the sun every time of the day, it was the most effective when you cultivated directly under the sunlight.

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Meanwhile at another part of the city, in front of the governor's mansion, a squad of heavily armored guards was assembling. From their superior equipment and disciplined stances, it was easy to see that this squad consisted of elite guards. Their commander even had the personal symbol of the governor on his chest which indicated he was directly under command of the governor. There were only a few guards who were direct subordinates of the governor and all of them were without exception cultivators.

''Do you know what is going on? It has been years since the last time personal guards of sir governor assembled. Could it be sir governor wants to venture out of the city?''

''I don't think so. Everyone knows sir governor has many enemies. He would leave the city easily. I am afraid something big is about to happen.''

''Hey, aren't those the elite mercenaries under command of the Aras family?''

''Oh my god, even the House Maiken's troops are on the move.''

While the onlookers were speculating about the reason of the elite guards' mobilization, from two different sides of the governor's mansion, two other squads came marching.

One of the squads consisted of experienced mercenaries with a good track record to their names from various battles they participated in. They were marching under the banner of the Aras family. But it was easy to see they lacked the discipline proper soldiers should have. They joked and laughed between themselves while their commander just ignored their actions.

As for the other squad, it had a few veterans warriors while the most of it consisted of fresh recruit who lacked adequate training. There was a grim atmosphere around them as they marched on without speaking a word.

''Haha! Achard, Arlotto, what an honor it is to see both of you here!''

The guard captain with the governor's crest said with a booming voice.

Achard was a veteran knight with white hairs in his temples in the service of the House Maiken. Achard's family served the House Maiken for generations and went through thick and thin together. This was the reason Achard, a cultivator at the early phase of qi gathering as well as a true knight with a peerage, still served the House Maiken despite it being an almost ruined noble family.

As for Arlotto, he was also a well known warrior. There were rumors that said he was once a bandit but the Aras family paid a huge sum of money to the governor for Arlotto to get pardoned. The man had many questions about his ethics but no one could deny his capabilities as a warrior. He was especially famous for his cultivation of poison qi. They said even a scratch from his weapon could be deadly if not treated right away.

Both Achard and Arlotto were arrogant people who disdained those that are weaker than them. There were only a few people in the Flaming Heart City who earned their respect and this guard captain, Filbert, was one of them. Filbert was a middle aged man with a robust body and thick limbs. He looked like someone who can wrestle with a bear and win. But his physical strength was not the reason he earned the respect of others. It was his cultivation at the mid qi gathering phase that made the others respect him.

''Filbert, you know we don't have time to waste. We have an important mission to accomplish. If they escape you can't shoulder the responsibility.''

Achard said grimly. He was not proud of what he had to do, but his mission was crucial for the House Maiken. The existence of the House Maiken was hanging in the balance.

Filbert became serious when Achard mentioned their mission as he ordered the guards to move with haste followed by Achard's and Arlotto's orders to march for their troops. This caused another wave of murmurs to rise from the crowd gathered around the governor's mansion's front gate.

''A joint operation by those squads?''

''Their target is doomed.''

''Huh. That's what happens when you offend people you shouldn't.''

As the troops marched on, the crowd behind them got bigger and bigger. Now all of the city was aware of the troops' movement, and a continuous stream of people joined the crowd.

Arlotto had a sly smile on his lips while watching the crowd get bigger. While Achard's face became even grimmer. He realized that this was a trap set by the Aras family to ruin what was left of the House Maiken's reputation after the scandalous wedding of the eldest miss. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to foil their plot. All he could do was trying to accomplish his mission despite all odds.

When the onlookers see where the troops were going towards they were surprised. This strong line-up with three cultivators and elite troops of three strong forces were going to the slums!

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In the slums, inside the old house Mayton learned how to read, 'Charles' and the young woman were sitting face to face talking. Despair was evident on the young woman's face, while the old man looked as determined as ever. He always knew such a scenario was the most likely end to their situation.

''*Charbel this time is there really no way to escape from the encirclement? I- I'll kill myself instead of surrendering.''

''Miss Herdis you know the ambitions of the Aras family. Your life or death is just a matter of convenience for them. With governor's support and Young Master Renas' ...''

Charbel wanted to say treason, but couldn't finish the sentence. In his mind, Renas was still that adorable little boy who grew up by his side, and he couldn't bring himself to say bad things about him. But Herdis didn't think like that. Her face warped with anger as soon as she heard Charbel speak of her little brother Renas.

It was Renas who killed her father. It was Renas who ruined her wedding, killed the groom and even tried to kill her just for fulfilling his ambition. If not for Charbel's timely arrival and a one-use magical item he got from a senior in his youth, Renas would succeed without a doubt.

Then Charbel changed his facial structure a little with the help of his cultivation but since Herdis didn't have any way to change her face the applied a heavy make up on her face to disguise her. With that done, they escaped out of the city. But somehow they were encircled by the patrols of the governor in next to no time. They got out of the encirclement of the soldiers thanks to Charbel's prowess, but it didn't take too long for the soldiers to find them again.

After repeating this for a few times, Charbel thought of a possibility. One of them was marked by a cultivator. There were techniques available to cultivators for marking someone and then use the mark to find that person's general location. As soon as he thought of this possibility, he checked his and Herdis' body and found out Herdis was marked. Charbel could erase the mark, but he needed time, something they lacked.

Fortunately, the mark could only find the general location. In the wilderness, it was easy to search for someone in an area but in a city with high population density knowing the general location didn't help as much. Thus they decided to return to the city. In the end, Charbel had no idea how but they still got found.

''Do not speak of that traitor in front of me. I already made my decision. I refuse to surrender to those upstarts from the Aras family. I would rather die than be the wife of someone who conspired to kill my fa...''

Before Herdis could finish her sentence, she lost consciousness as she looked at Charbel with widened eyes. Charbel, before Herdis could finish her sentence knocked her out with a tap to her forehead.

''I am sorry Miss. I just can't let the House Maiken come to an end. Please understand me.''

Charbel said in a barely audible voice. He knew that his action damned Herdis to live a life full of humiliation and hardships, but she was the last hope for reviving the House Maiken someday. He was sure that as soon as the Aras family got a hold of Herdis, dead or alive, they would declare her married into the Aras family. And when that happened, the only obstacle between them and the title would be Renas, whom they will dispose of shortly after.

Charbel placed the unconscious Herdis on his shoulders and slowly walked out of the house. What greeted him was rows upon rows of soldiers encircling the house. After seeing the situation, Charbel sighed as he resigned himself to his fate.

''Charbel just return Miss Herdis, and I will guarantee your safety.''

said Filbert with his booming voice. But before Charbel could answer two men darted out of the House Maiken's ranks. Their target, Herdis. One of them was Achard while the other one was a seasoned veteran who served House Maiken for years. They both have cultivation at the initial qi gathering phase and thus were quite fast.

''Haha, it's futile! ''

Laughed Arlotto and threw two darts gleaming with green poison qi towards them. This slowed them down just enough for Filbert to react.

Filbert lunged towards Achard with a shout and brandished his ax at him. As the ax neared Achard, it became bigger and bigger until it was the size of a grown up man. This ax was obviously a magic treasure! Seeing the huge ax approaching, Achard tried to parry it with his sword. Unfortunately for him, the ax was too heavy after it enlarged, so Achard got showed backward after the collision. From his pale face and the blood at the corner of his mouth, it was easy to see Achard was wounded rather seriously just after one move.

As for Achard's companion, he was locked in combat with Charbel. They could only trade a few blows before Filbert intervened.

''What is the meaning of this? Are you two trying to rebel?''

Filbert bellowed angrily and swung his huge ax again, this time towards Charbel's opponent. Unlike the last time the ax was big from the start thus Charbel's opponent was ready for it. He dodged the ax successfully with a side step, but because he was focused on dodging the ax, he couldn't dodge Charbel's sword, and it plunged deep into his shoulder. After that before Achard and his companion could make another move, guards swarmed around them. Seeing that there was no chance left to complete their mission Achard's duo let the guards apprehend them.

Despite being strong, Filbert was a simple man who didn't know how to scheme at all. So he was genuinely surprised and didn't know what to do now. Arlotto, on the other hand, was obviously ready for such a situation to occur.

''How dare the traitorous dogs of the House Maiken try to kill Miss Herdis?''

Arlotto shouted in a voice so loud even the citizens who had gathered to watch the show heard him clearly.

The onlookers gasped, and countless people started to gossip immediately. In a short moment, the House Maiken's disgrace became the talk of the city.

Charbel's face darkened after seeing this. ' Renas is really too… incapable' he thought to himself as tears streamed down his face. To actually order the assassination of his sister! Now the Aras family had a perfect excuse to get rid of him.

Charbel knew that after this incident House Maiken had truly fallen into the hands of the Aras family.