Chapter 31 - Ones Own Treasure

(Third person POV)

This goes back several years; Ren was only a Master-tier much like his current avatar body, the same with Reiji, Shuya, and Dominic.

By this time, he had already obtained the Sage Legacy and was currently trying to find out everything about it besides the two Unique Skills he got, [Sage Eyes] and [Divine Record].

After his solo adventure where he found the legacy, Ren set to find out where on the continent he was thrown out to from the space where the legacy was.

After some time, contemplating, Ren picked a direction and flew that way until he came across a small town. This town presently is no more than ashes, completely burnt to the ground after this incident.

Ren had not thought much at all when he landed and walked through the gate, he was in his thoughts about the new thing he had attained.

He walked at a leisurely pace, trying to find the local Adventurer's Guild but he couldn't even after half an hour.

Thus, Ren dropped the idea and just looked for an inn or somewhere to stay for the night. He found an old inn and walked through the door.

The moment he did, the atmosphere hit him like a hammer. He finally noticed the depressing and lifeless aura permeating throughout the inn, no, throughout the town.

Ren felt something wrong with this town and the next second he realized why. He quickly made his way out onto the street and went to find the lord's residence.

It didn't take long as it was the biggest building and was on an elevated ground with walls surrounding it.

Standing right in front of the mansion, he decided to test out his new [Sage Eyes] to see what he could find before stepping near the gate.

This was the first time he had tried using it so both the influx of information and the side effect of the skill intensified the headache he received.

Though it quickly went away within a mere second because of his [Divine Mind], the nature of the information he got made his stomach turn.

Questions ran through his mind and he was able to answer them very quickly as he sifted through them one by one through chronological order; he started piecing together a story and as it went on, it made him feel sick.

[Sage Eyes] has the ability to see the truth of everything, it is able to look through things and see the true nature of it in all its history. It can allow the user to see events or moments of both present and past by looking through the records of the world itself; though, how deep one can look into it depends on the user's power and ability.

Ren didn't even need to look further than 30 years back into the past the see the atrocities that have been committed in that mansion and still to that very day.

His blood boiled seeing the cruelty replaying in his mind though he stayed calm and collected, he couldn't make any hasty moves yet until he finds out where he was and made a plan with the others before finally moving to actually catch the mastermind backing this lord.

With a heavy heart, Ren decided to hasten his 'return home plan' and went up to the gate to ask the guard to meet with the lord of this town in order to gather information.

After a bit of display in power, Ren was led into the mansion and sat in the reception room to wait while the lord of the town came.

In this little moment of waiting, Ren started to formulate a plan for when he got back to Victal; though, it all depended on which country he was in right now.

Back then, cheap long distant teleportation wasn't a thing because Ren hadn't built the Continental Teleportation Gate as a core to support all the teleportation circles yet. Although there are space spells that can teleport long distances, it takes a lot of mana to transport a lot of people.

Plus, there is the issue of whether the country this town belongs to will either turn a blind eye as they impart judgment or retaliate against them. And, if the country is big and they would retaliate, there was nothing they could do about it but to just report this case to the Isvylle Theocracy.

Finally, the door to the reception room opened, pulling Ren out of his thoughts to a fat man dressed in noble clothes; a sight that is rarely seen on Mirkaz as most noblemen are not normal people and have some personal combat power.

The man had sweat running down his entire, this wasn't from him rushing here, no, judging from his annoyed expression, he just wanted to get this over with.

When he spoke to Ren, he didn't hide his displeasure or annoyance at having to meet him and even complained to his face. Ren just let it be as he had better plans for him later, so he waited for him to stop his complaining before asking where this town was and made up some lie so the fat man doesn't question him.

After brushing off some insults, and getting the info he needed, Ren was able to cease his worry as this town wasn't in a big country, but only a small one.

As such, he stood up immediately to leave, but before he was even out the door, the fat man with arrogance in his tone ordered Ren to serve under him because of his strength as a Master-tier Mage.

This was the last straw, before, Ren just ignored his insults and complaints as he was an ignorant, insignificant fool who doesn't know his place.

Now, however, it was a different story. A mere normal person, barely an Apprentice-tier knowingly ordering him, a Master-tier to serve him, it was something unforgivable.

So, he did what any rational Master-tier True Mage would do, he cursed him with every curse imaginable and said he'll come back for his head and his backer later.

After that, he didn't look back and flew out to Victal; he had already set up bait for the mastermind so when he came back next time with an army, everything can be put into place.

It took all but two weeks for him to rally up an army, get the support of the country the town was in, find out who the mastermind was for all the human sacrifice, and completely evacuate the town's people secretly, and silently move his army to surround the enemies.

Ren moved swiftly without delay, not leaving any room open for the mastermind to escape. However, the mastermind in question seemed to think he was the one luring them in. Though, he had the right to think so as a King-tier Swordsman.

Ren and the King-tier came face to face on the battlefield that is the town, and his opponent didn't even seem to put him in his eyes as he sent out his subordinate, young sons of nobles to fight him.

Every single one of them were Master-tier, which was impressive if they got that power naturally; however, from their arrogant bragging of killing insignificant commoners and sacrificing their soul to give them power as they crudely swung their weapons and shot spells at him, it made his disgust of them grow further and further, especially at the King-tier who stood behind them all high and mighty.

Ren kept his emotion from showing on his face, but he was barely able to contain them, he was trying to stall them and make them spill all the info. It didn't last long as rage got the better of him when they talked of r*aping Mel and Lily, who were helping support the soldiers, Reiji and the others.

He stopped holding back and bound all of them with scorching metal shackles before locking them in a pit of fire, ice, poison, darkness, and accelerated time. Make them experience an ungodly amount of pain for a prolonged period of time before death and he didn't let their soul go either as he confined them in a Soul Orb meant to capture heinous criminals.

All this while, the King-tier didn't move as he just watched on as Ren tortured his subordinates with an evil grin.

When Ren turned to him with his cold uncaring eyes, the King-tier started laughing and went on and on about how much Ren was a hypocrite for labeling him as evil but was doing the same thing.

Ren only stood there, uncaring about the insults thrown at him as he stared at the King-tier like he was a dead man walking. When the King-tier finished, he asked how he was any different from them.

"The difference between us is worlds apart, what I did and the atrocities your group committed may seem like two sides of the same coin but they are vastly different. The fact that you cannot even comprehend and differentiate between them is a testament to how twisted your mind really is. Now, enough talk. You shall pay for the suffering you've caused with your hail mary plan to reach Saint-tier and your complete disregard for human life"

Once he finished, an oppressive force tried to put pressure on him and take control of the mana around him but he countered with his newly obtained colorless mana. It wasn't even a fight as he completely shattered the Domain of the King-tier with his better control of mana.

The King-tier stood no chance in the fight as his every attack was countered and he was constantly barraged with several Master-tier and Advance-tier spells perfectly coordinated to bring out the most of each spell.

Though he was a King-tier, he gained that power through the sacrifice of human souls and the power was never truly his. Unlike him, Ren has diligently trained and constantly fight to improve his ability in magic every day, the power he has is his and his alone.

He knows his capability and his limits, he has a perfect grasp on what he can and cannot do so he can weigh his chances every time he faces an enemy. Even with the Sage Legacy he just got, he fully utilizes it and incorporated everything into his style.

Ren's fighting style, his spells, his magic; everything is uniquely his as no other could replicate what he can do without going through the exact same thing he did.

For the King-tier, his moves and attacks were rudimentary and standard, there was barely any originality in the way his sword and body moved. It was like the standard technique and footwork taught as the basics of swordsmanship.

Someone like him could never hope to even ascend to King-tier normally; he only managed to make his 'throne' by killing and sacrificing others.

With such a weak foundation, it's no wonder he couldn't bring the most potential out of his King-tier body and abilities.

Hence why, not even 5 minutes after the fight started, his pained wail started ringing out, echoing throughout the town. As the scream echoed, all fighting on both sides stopped as one side's leader had won over the other side.

*Crack* *Shatter*

After the screaming went on for minutes, it stopped as the sound of shattering glass was heard and yet no one in the town believed it to be glass that was shattered. Fear welled up in every soldier, every one of them were at least Basic-tier and felt their soul shaking just from that sound alone.

That was the sound of someone's Mana Pool shattering, meaning the person had lost all their power, all their tier ascension, everything. They were reset back to Apprentice-tier.

All the enemy soldiers quickly surrendered for fear of the same happening to them as their life would entirely be over if it did.

After the soldiers rounded every one of them up and took them to the capital to be judged along with the Ex-King-tier, Ren stayed behind and stared blankly at the town.

Everything about this town was nothing but unpleasant memories for him, ones he could not forget even if he tried. So, as one final service to those who have suffered ( and mostly to himself), Ren started casting his first-ever King-tier spell.

[Fire Storm]

Ren rained scorching flame upon the town and set everything on fire; he then created a wind barrier to keep the fire within the town and not spread to the nearby grassland and forest.

He just stayed, flying with wind magic in the air as he watched everything burn down and reduced to ashes, even materials other than wood.

This experience was the start and the root of his dislike of arrogant people, especially the ones that are titled as 'Young Master'.

This is the root of it all, the start of a long period of time in building up his hatred of them even more.

Throughout his adventures, he encountered many more of such kinds of people with their own uniqueness; most end up dead by the end of the encounter for irking him on too much while a select few got out with all their limbs attached.

He tried, oh he tried so hard to put his hatred of these kinds of people aside when meeting them, but every single time, they just seem to know what to say to just piss him off and end up dead within an hour to several days of their meeting.

His bad experience with them just made it easier to label them all into one group and deal with them all the same way, but he resisted the urge to do so as it would lead to unnecessary deaths.

Every time, he compromised and try to see them in their true selves and not their arrogant attitude, his endeavor just seems fruitless.

Then, he theorize that all the people that act arrogantly in front of him were just stupid and dumb, plain fools who couldn't recognize the difference in power.

And that those who were smarter, acted differently around him, being more respectful and such. As they should be towards someone of power.

This also further his dislike of them, they treat people at the bottom far more differently than those at the top, too much so.

Maybe his expectation that those in power should still treat common folks like normal people is too much? No, that shouldn't be, treating another person poorly because they're of lower status is just classist.

Then again, that's mostly how nobility in other countries works. Once they rise in power, they look down on others weaker than them to boost their ego.

But, he can't just impose on how people should act like some self-righteous hero, he knows that, they have their own way of life and he has his.

Even so, it doesn't mean his dislike of such people is discrimination, it's his own personal value and no one can dictate that, if someone does try they'd be dead before they even notice.

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(Ren's POV)

That about covers why I dislike characters like him. I just always get irritated whenever I meet such people, always on their high horse and looking down on those they consider inferior to them.

Okay, I know I can't judge him by that horrible first impression two days ago, but it's kinda hard to think rationally around him since he's the very type of person I can't along with.

But, for the sake of peace, I'll do something I haven't ever done since getting this avatar body.

[Perfect Mind]

My mind started accelerating at inhuman speed and I had attained full complete clarity along with a full grasp on my emotion. I toned down the thought acceleration a bit and up the mental calmness I usually have with my main body.

My face followed along with my mental change as it displayed the definition of achieving enlightenment.

「Look, I'm willing to put the past behind and start over, alright? So why don't drop that façade of yours, Alex」 As clam as water, I spoke gently with complete sincerity.

Alex, and everyone for that matter, was surprised by my sudden shift in emotion, expression, tone, and even language.

「What's with the sudden change, huh? Didn't you like hate my guts or something?」 Alex snapped out and cautiously asked.

「Come on, we're all family here. No need to be cautious and put up a mask to test us. Also, I still very much dislike your attitude; I just want to keep the peace by tolerating you」 I corrected while taking a seat as standing when everyone is seated felt awkward.

「Oh, so that's your true feeling. Thanks in advance for tolerating me」 Alex spoke sarcastically with a half-hearted smirk.

「Don't test my patience, I can't keep this up forever(lie) so let's get this over with before I stop the clam nice guy act」 I gave the most sincere smile I can while pushing back the urge to start roasting his clothing style.

I mean, the dude was wearing a hoodie with an anime girl print on the back and jeans, no offense, but not the most appropriate attire to visit your distant relative.

「…」 Alex stared at me for a second with a twitching eyebrow for some reason before turning to his sister, Alice then looking around at everyone until his eyes land on me.

「Fine, I'm only doing this because you passed the test a long time ago」 Alex visibly relaxed and his face turn more neural and expressionless.

「Oh, so this is your resting bitch face」 I let my thought slip on purpose.

「Ren! Language!」 Mom reprimanded while covering Mitsuo's ears and glaring me down.

「Sorry, that was a slip-up, won't happen again」 I gave my best innocent smile.

「Haha, that's why I have to keep up my image as the next heir」 Alex's tone was dry yet his face showed a small awkward smile.

「Well, I'm not gonna pretend I understand how it's like, but you're still family so come to us whenever you feel overwhelmed; you don't have to shoulder everything all on your own」 I have a serious expression on to show I really meant it.

「....I'll…consider it」 Alex looked away, seeing I really meant what I said.

「Well, anyway, I'll get started on dinner. Dear, you still have to tell us about your past」 Mom went to prepare dinner with a huge smile on her face.

「Ah, I'll help Auntie」 Alice got up to help along with Hana.

「Alex, what Ren said is true, we're family so you can talk to us anytime about anything」 Dad had a gentle smile when addressing him.

「…I get it, consider your words recognized」 Alex started to show a little of his arrogant side again.

「I'm guessing this is a habit, you'll have to work on that if you want to live normally among your peers now」 I stood up and went to change before dinner.

「…Yeah」 I heard Alex's solemn tone, I smiled as I finally know his ins and outs and what drives him. We all have something precious to us that we want to protect at cost; mine being my family and friends and his being his sister.

We might get along better than I expected if he can drop his mask and show his true self more, not as the heir of an International Corporation but as Alex, but that's gonna be hard and it's something I can't help with.