The next day, he had gone back to the estate. Cain and Freya were there alongside him, but for some reason, the atmosphere was much more tense and formal. He didn't even believe it was because of the two of them, either. It was more likely because the Duke was supposed to have arrived today.

Julius also found out the reason why the Duke had arrived today, of all days. It was because later tonight, there was a special dinner that many of the bigwigs were invited to. This included members of House Zenith and a number of people who had qualified for the tournament. That apparently included him.

He hadn't wanted to go, but Lily insisted that he did. According to her, this would help him solidify his position in the tournament. It was also meant to discreetly show others that he was a part of their faction and that he wasn't to be messed with.

They were greeted by Lily and Derek only. Edgar and Aubrey were off testing a new skill, so it was just the two of them.

Julius noticed right away that they treated Cain and Freya differently. Just a day before, they were laughing and having fun with them, but when they learned that both were Tier 6s, their attitude had changed drastically.

"You know, neither of them is going to rip you apart if you breathe funny," he said to them.

"I don't know about that. I have done it once or twice before. There was one time this person had some horrible breath, so I sent a pulse of kinetic energy through their body, blowing them apart," Cain said, sounding completely serious.

Julius sent a blast of kinetic energy at Cain for his ill-timed joke. "Not funny," he scolded.

Cain laughed at Lily and Derek's nervous expressions. "I mean, it's a little funny. Look at them, they are terrified," he said with more amusement than Julius believed was appropriate.

"Don't you hate when people are scared of you?" Julius asked.

Cain laughed even louder. "Hell no! I love it when people run away in fear. It gives me quite a lot of pleasure."

Freya slapped her husband hard enough that it sent him stumbling slightly.

Cain rubbed his shoulder before scratching his head. "Sorry, I'm just joking," he said to Lily and Derek.

They just nodded awkwardly.

"Why are you guys so nervous? You have been just fine for the past few days," Julius said to his friends.

Lily and Derek didn't say anything, but he could tell that Lily was trying to give him her best evil eye.

He sighed and put his head down as they went deeper into the estate. They were being taken to Derek's father and grandfather. Apparently, they had both wanted to meet Julius for some time, but they also wanted to see Cain and Freya. This made sense, considering they seemed to know the Duke from what they had told Julius previously.

The guards stationed around the property were noticeably more disciplined than usual. It made the normally comfortable air feel a little tense. He didn't like it.

When they finally arrived at a deeper part of the estate that Julius hadn't been to, Derek knocked on the door. Elliot opened the door shortly after, inviting them in.

Julius spotted Aliyah standing next to someone he assumed was Derek's father, Darius. The man resembled an older version of Derek, but he had a stern expression on his face. Where Derek usually had a smile, it was replaced with a frown. Darius was also very distracted by the mountain of papers he was reviewing; he barely noticed when the three of them entered.

Next to them, sitting in a nearby chair, was a slightly older man. He didn't look too old; he appeared as if he were Darius's older brother. He definitely didn't look like he was a grandfather. The only reason Julius was confident that this man was Duke Zenith was the intense pressure he felt emanating from the man.

The aura was unbelievably dense. It wasn't outright pressuring Julius or anyone in the room, but the man definitely wasn't hiding his strength behind a shroud like Cain or Freya. He displayed every ounce of power and depth that a man with his kind of reputation might have.

Julius didn't usually get anxious around powerful people, but he understood why he had heard so many things about Duke Zenith and didn't doubt that the man was one of the strongest in the Empire.

As he was taking all of this in, the older man stood up and walked over to them.

Julius didn't know if he was seeing things weirdly, but it felt like the entire room moved alongside the Duke as if reality was warping to accommodate the man. Not only that, but Julius could faintly sense a tingly feeling charging the air.

"Ahh, Cain! Freya! It is so wonderful to see you guys again," Duke Zenith said with a grin. Now that he was standing, Julius appreciated the Duke's size. He was almost as large as Cain.

"It's nice to see you as well, Daemon. I trust everything has been going well," Freya greeted the man with a smile of her own.

Duke Zenith grimaced. "Honestly, a lot of drama. Annoying little pests keep on trying to stir things up recently. It's exhausting."

"Don't act like you have been inconvenienced that much. You aren't even the one handling it," Darius retorted with a tired sigh from his seat, his eyes still on the documents in front of him.

"It's good practice for when you take over my title," Duke Zenith said to his son matter-of-factly.

"I've practically been doing most of your duties for a long time. I am basically the Duke at this point, just unofficially," Derek's father said with a quick glance at the three of them.

"It is an immense honor to meet you two. I have heard many stories of your prowess and skill," he said to Cain and Freya with a bow.

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Duke Zenith brushed his son's complaints aside. "Well, until you advance, I have no plans of giving it to you. At this rate, Kayden is going to advance before you do."

"I don't have time to work on my advancement. I'm sure you don't realize it, but there is a lot to be done when you are in charge of a Ducal House," Darius commented as he sat back down and continued to rifle through the papers.

Julius could only watch in silence as the father-and-son duo bickered back and forth. He didn't know what to think about them. But he could certainly see why Derek wasn't as pretentious as some of the other nobles.

"So, how is your school going? I heard from Marshall that you have trained some impressive people in the past few years," Duke Zenith shifted his attention back to Cain and Freya.

"A few of them still need some training, but we've gotten some good instructors to help out. More importantly, I want you to meet my new apprentice," Cain said proudly, gesturing at Julius.

Julius was letting them catch up, so he had taken out a small cookie to snack on, which also meant he had cookie crumbs all over his lips. He felt Derek bump him on the shoulder and quickly wiped his mouth before extending his hand out to the Duke.

"Hello, my name is Julius. Officially, I am still not his apprentice. We haven't done the final procedure," he said with a bright smile of his own.

"Oh, you are the boy Derek befriended. He told me you were… intriguing," Duke Zenith said as he examined Julius more closely.

"I only said a good friend, I didn't say anything about 'intriguing', grandfather," Derek said defeatedly.

"Well, you implied it," the older man said dismissively before walking closer to Julius and looking over at Cain. "Do you mind?" Duke Zenith asked ominously.

"Not at all," Cain replied.

Before Julius could question what they meant, he felt Duke Zenith's aura suddenly wrap around him. It felt like he had just gotten all of the air sucked out of his lungs as the heavy weight of the man's aura pressed against him.

However, that wasn't the end of it. What was even more terrifying was that he almost felt like his soul was snatched out of his body and shoved into the most chaotic lightning storm he had ever experienced. His soul was practically stunned by the intense display of power.

It took everything he had to resist crumpling to this overwhelming strength.

Thankfully, it only lasted a mere several seconds, and Duke Zenith pulled away. "I see why you accepted him as your disciple," he said toward Cain. The previously light-hearted look on Duke Zenith's face was replaced by a more serious one, and suddenly, the man felt a lot more dangerous, as if the jovial and joking man had been a persona, hiding his true nature.

And all of this seriousness was directed at Julius, who started to feel pretty anxious, so much so that he accidentally started to eat the rest of his cookie without noticing. He only realized what he had done because he saw Lily slap her forehead in embarrassment.

Duke Zenith smirked at Julius and leaned closer to look into his eyes. Julius spotted little arcs of lighting dancing in the man's pupils and wiped the crumbs from his mouth nervously. A few more moments went by like this; nobody in the room made a move to interfere.

Eventually, Duke Zenith leaned back and smirked at Julius. "If you ever decide that Cain isn't a good suit for you, I will gladly take you on as a personal disciple," the man offered to Julius.

Julius was so surprised by the offer that he actually flinched a little bit. "Pardon?"

"Whoa! Hold up, don't try to poach my new apprentice," Cain shouted in panic.

"He said so himself. You haven't done the final ritual to complete it. So officially, he isn't your disciple yet," Duke Zenith said, his eyes not moving from Julius's. "So what do you say?" He asked Julius.

"Um, about what?"

"About becoming my disciple? You are already friends with my grandchild; it would be perfect," Duke Zenith explained, still looking very serious.

Julius took a few moments to collect himself as he didn't understand what was going on.

"Umm, I will think about it," he said, feeling a little confused by the situation. He was flattered, but from what he knew, Duke Zenith specialized in lightning magic. That wasn't exactly something that Julius had any skill in. With that being said, it was highly likely that Duke Zenith had some fantastic things to show him.

Julius's response got a chuckle out of the Duke. "Fair enough, take time to think about it. It's an open invitation."

After Duke Zenith said that, he left it alone. For the rest of the time, he began to explain what the event tonight meant and some things to keep in mind.

***

Daemon Zenith POV

He watched as Elliot closed the door and showed the others to one of the family's tailors.

"That was unexpected. Why were you so eager to have him as a disciple?" His son asked him that now, as they were all alone.

"Why not?" He said casually, leaning back in his chair.

"Because you don't accept disciples," Darius pointed out.

He had a point. He rarely ever taught people personally. If he did, it was because they were family or very close friends.

"He's already close friends with young Derek, not only that, but he saved his life. I don't see the problem."

"It's not so much a problem but more of a curiosity, especially since you just attempted to poach Lord Cain's apprentice in front of him," Darius grumbled.

Daemon shrugged uncaringly. While he knew that it was unlikely, there was always the chance that Cain would have taken offense to that.

The Lord of the Shattered Throne was absolutely brutal. Most people in the Empire might not know who Cain was, but Daemon had traveled around the continent enough to hear some rumors. His wife, despite her appearance, was apparently just as scary, if not more so.

"Is he that impressive?" Darius asked curiously. "From what I could sense, the boy was very strong, but nothing stood out to me. At least nothing that would make you propose to take him under his wing."

He scoffed at his son's lacking perception. He truly needed to start training again. Darius had become too comfortable managing House Zenith. A good mind was important, but strength was equally important in this world.

"It's not even his strength. It's his potential. He has already fulfilled several requirements needed to advance all the way to Tier 5. He won't have to deal with any bottlenecks like many do. I don't even know how he managed to do all of that. More importantly, he withstood my aura."

"Sure, it is admirable for someone his age and tier to withstand a powerful aura, but it's not like you used it at full strength," his son commented.

Daemon shrugged and didn't respond.

His son must have noticed his noncommittal answer and pressed a little harder. "You didn't, right?"

"Not full power, but I might have pushed a little harder than I normally would," he admitted with a rueful grin.

Darius stood up aggressively, displaying some of his aura, and Daemon hid a smile when he saw sparks of the old Darius rise to the surface. The one who had caused his entire generation to fear him.

"What if you had killed or hurt him? The tournament is already so near. You would have ruined his chances. Don't forget he saved my son; I won't have your curiosities or meddlesome tendencies endanger him."

Daemon flicked his fingers and used his aura to shove Darius back down in the seat. "I did it because he withstood my first attempt. I wanted to test him."

Darius quieted down and sat in the chair a little more reserved. "And if he failed?"

Daemon shrugged. "Then he would have gotten hurt or even died," he said flippantly.

That was the nature of this world. The strong thrived while the weak died out. He didn't really think that would happen, of course, but it had been a tiny risk. However, he had a feeling that Julius would be one of those who thrived. And he wanted to have front row seats when it happened.

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