Chapter 51. Know Your Place.

As soon as Eyron agreed to become his subordinate, Rand immediately gave his first order without giving his "former enemy" a second to ponder:

"Dismiss the Blood Beast and hand me the scepter."

"But..." Eyron did not like this order at all, especially the second part. His face twisted into a grimace, and he tried to object, but Rand interrupted him mid-sentence and did not allow him to say something against:

"No 'buts.' Since you've agreed to serve me, the first thing you need to learn is the basic rule: the master's will must be carried out immediately and without any objections. And since this state of affairs is new to you, I can add something else to make it easier for you to understand: if I needed to know your opinion on this order, I would have asked for it. Right now, I don't care about it at all. Is everything clear?"

"Yes, Obe...lord."

"Good. I hope you really understand, and I won't have to repeat these words again. Believe me, that won't end well for you because I really don't like repeating myself."

"Yes, lord. I truly understand. You have an excellent grasp of how a person of high status should behave. Honestly, I'm extremely surprised you were once just an ordinary person living in a small village," Eyron said with some suspicion.

"No one knows the rules of conduct better than those of low status, believe me, because their lives often depend on this knowledge. But enough stalling, carry out the order now or..." Rand replied, implying the dire consequences if he refused, and thus literally forced Eyron to agree:

"Fine. Blood Beast, I command you to return to the Scepter of Irbis."

Immediately after these words, the large pool of blood on which the youths were standing seemed to come alive and began moving toward the scepter, gradually forming into a seven-meter entity that vaguely resembled a large feline creature made entirely of blood. But in this "feline" form, the Blood Beast didn't last long, quickly compressing into a blood sphere about two meters in diameter, which was subsequently absorbed by the scepter. The entire process took about fifteen seconds.

As soon as the last drops of blood disappeared into the artifact, Eyron handed Rand the Scepter of Irbis, a one-meter-long black metal staff with a red stone at the top. Then Eyron took a human skull hanging on a string from his belt and also handed it to Rand. Taking the skull, Rand raised an eyebrow questioningly and looked at his interlocutor, implying that an explanation was needed, and Eyron understood the hint.

"This is the skull of Irbis, the founder of the village and creator of the artifact. Without it, the scepter cannot be used..." the young giant hastened to explain and, noticing the displeasure on Rand's face, realized that such a brief explanation would not suffice and reluctantly began a more comprehensive story:

"Perhaps I should explain everything in more detail. My family has been gathering all possible information about this little thing for a long time, and although it wasn't easy, we found out a lot. What the elder told us about it was mostly true, except for two key points that the elder either didn't know or, more likely, lied about to make us less eager to obtain it in the future.

First: the artifact is tied not to the remains or burial site, but only to the skull I just handed you. This allows the artifact to be transported and used anywhere.

Second: any blood can be used for its activation, not just the founder's descendants. The higher the Qi content in the blood, the less is needed for a successful summoning of the beast."

This response seemed to satisfy Rand, as the hint of displeasure disappeared from his face, and he said much more benevolently to Eyron:

"Good. Now everything is more or less clear about the artifact; we can move out. And while we're running back to the sect, you can entertain me by telling in detail everything you know about what happened here. And try not to withhold anything or lie to me. If I find out later that you deceived me in any way, I'll simply kill you."

"Lord Oberin, I will gladly tell you everything and hide nothing, as there's no point in doing so anymore. But can we first discuss the terms of my service to you? And if possible, I would like to speak to the senior who is guarding us. I need to ask about the fate of the people who controlled the wolves. After all, they are members of my family, and I want to know the circumstances of their deaths, whether they were the worthy sons of the Landolf family and fought bravely until the end or not."

"As for the conditions of your service... We will talk about that later. Before discussing anything specific with you, I need to inform my master of all the details and seek his advice on how best to handle you and your family. Only then will I state the 'conditions' you so desperately need.

Regarding the senior who is watching over us... Do you think he will break the order 'not to appear unless absolutely necessary' given by elder Byron just to satisfy your insignificant curiosity?"

"No, of course, I understand... But, lord, is it possible not to tell your esteemed master about what happened? I fear that..."

"Ah, you don't want my master to know everything so that you can still hope to get rid of me when the opportunity arises and bury what happened here along with me, right, Eyron?"

"Of course not, my lord. I just feared that if the venerable elder learned everything, he might decide to eliminate me and my family right away, and then we wouldn't be able to be of any use to you."

"You don't need to worry about that. I know my master, and that won't happen. But the fact that you're asking me such questions, considering your current position, shows that you still think too highly of yourself, Eyron. We are no longer equals, and to help you remember that, it seems I need to teach you a lesson." Saying this, Rand approached Eyron and punched him in the face with his gauntleted fist. The unexpected blow caused Eyron to lose his balance and fall. After a few seconds, shaking his head and wiping the blood from his cheek, he managed to get up.

"Forgive me, my lord, it won't happen again," Eyron said obsequiously, trying to hide the seething hatred inside him, but not doing it very successfully. Rand, noticing but ignoring the fire of rage in Eyron's eyes, calmly said:

"I hope you will know your place from now on. Now, carry out what was ordered and don't make me wait."

"Yes, of course. It all started several months ago when the villagers accidentally discovered an extremely rich vein of Dirty Iron about ten kilometers from here. Dirty Iron, if you don't know, is a valuable Qi-infused metal used to create magical artifacts and, with expensive additives, even low- and medium-quality spiritual artifacts.

The village elder tried to keep this discovery from spreading beyond the village, but he failed because his own son betrayed him and the village, selling the information about the vein to my family.

Of course, after the son told us everything he could, we dealt with him to prevent him from telling anyone else...

Once we learned about the new deposit near our lands, we immediately sent people to assess its significance. This was crucial to determine, because if the vein contained only a few hundred kilograms of low-quality ore, it wouldn't be worth fighting for, and it would be easier to leave it to the villagers.

Upon their return, our assessors reported that their abilities were insufficient to fully measure a deposit of such size, as the vein goes too deep, thousands of meters into the ground. However, they added that it contains at least hundreds of tons of high-quality ore with over sixty percent metal content. Considering that one kilogram of Dirty Iron is worth at least a dozen and a half spirit stones... The potential amount of money from this deposit was simply immense. The opportunity to acquire such a treasure wouldn't be missed by not only cultivator families but even resource-rich clans.

So we decided to obtain the village deposit at any cost. Using all our influence and resources, we bribed the necessary people in the magistrates of nearby towns and even kept outsiders who somehow learned about the importance of this village away. We tried to take over the village of Irbis, but the bastard elder and his council refused to sell, even though we offered them mountains of spirit stones in exchange."

Apparently, even without knowing the true value of the vein, just seeing our reaction was enough for the elder and his minions. They were smart enough to understand its importance. But, however, they did not have enough brains to realize that such wealth was too great for them and their pathetic village.

When we failed to buy them out through legal means, we intended to force them to sell it to us. Unfortunately, under the empire's laws, Irbis village was considered free and belonged solely to its residents and the empire, with no small family owning it. This meant it was under the direct protection of the empire and the regional guardian, our Fire Dragon Sect.

The transition from a free category to a subordinate one could only be voluntary or through an imperial decree, as only the emperor had the right to strip someone of freedom or life. Attempting to unlawfully usurp this right would be akin to spitting in the emperor's soup at dinner...

Directly forcing a free village to "sell through strength" also would be incredibly difficult, as a high-ranking imperial official must be present during the sale, someone we couldn't bribe. Previously, such minor deals were handled in the city magistrate, but the last emperor, believing city officials were too easily bribed, decreed that high-ranking officials from the capital must oversee such transactions.

Since both these options were closed to us, the family council devised a plan using our secret wolf army. With its help, the village would either be destroyed, allowing us to buy the unclaimed land from the empire, or the village would seek our "protection" by selling to us voluntarily. Either way, we would come out on top.

That was our plan without delving too much into the details. The rest, I think you mostly know."

After Eyron finished speaking, the young men ran in silence for a while. But after about ten minutes, just when Eyron thought the topic was closed, Rand said:

"You're right, I already know most of this story, and I can guess the rest. But I still have a few clarifying questions for you:

First, what role did the fox, who terrorized the village before the wolves arrived, play in your plan? Since you were privy to this plan, you must have had a role. What was it?

Was the change in payment for the mission your doing? Does your family have a connection with a disciple in the Task Pavilion?

And most importantly, why did you want to get rid of me along with Weed? Was it just because you feared competition for resources in the sect? Was such a minor issue worth risking the wrath of the elder?"

Eyron didn't like any of Rand's questions, except for the first, but he really had no choice but to answer.

"Regarding the fox... My family has nothing to do with it. We don't know where this beast came from, to whom it belongs, or even what it wanted from the village. Uncles Paurus and Reigan, our trainers, tried to catch it with the wolves, but they failed. They found it a few times, but the fox was so fast that even the pack leader and his main female couldn't do anything. We suspect that the fox's cultivation is actually at the Foundation Establishment stage. That's all I know about it.

As for the payment adjustment for the task, it was indeed due to my family's influence. One of my distant relatives is a sect disciple working in the Task Pavilion.

My role in all this was quite minor; I was supposed to be in the village during the beast attack, witness its destruction, and then, as a sect novice, confirm to the city magistrate that the animals, not humans, were responsible. Additionally, I was to steal the scepter if possible, reducing potential losses among the wolves.

Regarding why I planned to kill you... The main reason is that an expedition to some secret place is planned in a few months. The sect will grant incredible wealth to all participants, but most of it will go to the expedition leader. They will select people from those who joined the sect this year, including us. Since you were one of the most dangerous competitors for the leader position, I thought getting rid of you using the wolves was a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. But I underestimated you and miscalculated."

From everything Eyron said, only one thing piqued Rand's interest, which he immediately tried to clarify:

"Can you tell me the details of this upcoming expedition?"

"Unfortunately, no. I know nothing about the expedition itself; my family found out about it almost by accident."

"Very interesting. Let's leave that question for later, then." said Rand, pondering to himself along the way:

"So even a small cultivator family knows about the expedition to the Minor World. This means all the major 'players' have known about it for a long time. This complicates things greatly."

As the young men continued running down the road and Rand kept thinking about the implications of the spread of knowledge about the existence of another Minor World, suddenly a warship appeared high in the sky above the young men — a treasure of titanic proportions. About half a kilometer long, it cast a giant shadow, making the youths notice it from afar. Rand, and then Eyron, abruptly stopped and stared at the ship, which moved so quickly that it disappeared over the horizon in just a few seconds. Watching the departing ship, Rand thought:

"An imperial battle ship of the Destroyer class, an Earth Treasure. Why is it heading towards the sect? Could it be?"

Author note:

Recently, I was informed that some of you have encountered difficulties with subscribing on Boosty. Yesterday, I explored various alternatives to Boosty, and SubscribeStar seems suitable for me. In the future, I plan to post bonus chapters there (of course I will continue posting chapters on Boosty as well). But right now, unfortunately, my SubscribeStar account has not been approved yet. I believe I will be able to resolve this issue in a few days.