Upon seeing the elderly man stepping forward, the young ones in the crowd whispered among themselves.

"It's the rank-seven mage Filibur!"

"I've heard he's here only because the court mage asked him to. Otherwise, he'd never host an event for us."

"Of course, he's one of those stuck-ups—"

When the last young man's elder heard that, he immediately clamped the man's mouth shut and gave him a death stare, only relaxing when Filibur seemed to not have heard and, instead, spoke up.

"Since everyone is here, we can begin this friendly competition between the highest nobles of the kingdom. The rules are simple: you have three days to use any method at your disposal to retrieve the legendary bone tempering liquid from the bloodstripe's lair in the middle of this forest, and you win. As for the tiger, if it proves too challenging for our young heroes, then us old bones will step in to subdue it, give it your all and don't worry about your safety, we're here to guarantee that. Whoever obtains the bone tempering liquid will keep a tenth of it, while the rest shall go to the royal family," Filibur said calmly, watching both the elders and the young ones get hyped at the thought of keeping just a tenth of the liquid.

Seeing this, Filibur internally slightly shook his head but continued and solemnly said, "Let the competition begin."

Shouts rang out as more than a dozen young men and women charged into the forest, as if competing over who could make the most noise, at least most of them. Maelor, who had been released by his elder, strolled into the forest as if sightseeing, his gaze wandering in all directions.

The elders, still able to clearly see him, mocked, "Who would've thought Maelor, the prized genius of the Areza family, would turn out to be such an airhead?"

"An airhead is too much of a compliment for someone who isn't aware of the situation. He's straight up dumb."

Unable to tolerate it any longer, the elder from the Areza family sternly said, "I've already apologized on his behalf. Don't take it too far."

Most of the elders went quiet, but a few snorted and whispered among themselves.

"It's the Areza family, alright."

"How dare he tell us to stop? Who does he think he is?"

"Shhh, we've already done enough. If we get too brazen without everyone's support, we're going to pay for it."

Hushed whispers continued among a small minority of the elders, who entirely forgot about the competition, while some of the more neutral elders distanced themselves.

'Areza family? Never heard of them. Should I bring them in first…' Nova thought. 'Since they are one of the strongest in the kingdom, it doesn't hurt to start with them. Anyway I'll have to chat with each of these nobles today.'

Nova walked up to the Areza family elder, who had returned to stand in a corner, and looking at the forest, he said, "I have good news and bad news. Which one do you prefer first?"

The elder frowned. "Who are you?"

"That's also fine. We do indeed have some time to chat before your nephew reaches the tiger," Nova muttered to himself. Turning his head to meet the elder's gaze, he said, "I'm Nova. Now that you know me, I'll repeat it once again."

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Before the elder could say anything, he felt a massive weight pinning him in place. Panicked, he looked around and saw Nova's hand on his shoulder. He tried to move away, but he couldn't even take a step.

"What's going on?!" With no other option the elder tried to shout, but his words came out as feeble as a whisper that only he and Nova could hear. A surge of anxiety rose within him, and his head snapped toward Nova, but that's when fear seeped in.

Nova was staring at him silently, yet all around him, his blood-red aura was now visible, encasing and pressing down on the elder like a mountain.

Slowly, Nova said, "I'll pick for you. The bad news is that your nephew is going to die."

"W-What?" the elder stuttered. "How?"

"The kitten you all speak of is stronger than any of you here. In fact, if I were you, I would've already run away from this place," Nova said, amusedly adding in his mind, 'I'm speaking from experience.'

The information was so outrageous that the elder stared dumbfoundedly at Nova for a long moment. Once he managed to collect himself enough to speak, he asked skeptically, "How do you know this when we don't? Even the royal family knows the tiger here is only alive due to nobody bothering with it or else it would've already been slain."

Sighing, Nova pushed the elder downward with his hand, causing a yelp to rang out and bending the latter's knees until they nearly touched the ground before stopping. "This should be enough of an answer. Now, ready to ask a better question?"

"Yes…" The elder gulped and straightened his back albeit his legs still trembled slightly. "S-So… what should I ask?"

Nova facepalmed and thought, 'I thought he had a strong character, but now… How this person reached middle age with such a mentality is a wonder in and of itself.' Looking at the elder, he enunciated each word clearly, "The good news is that I can save your nephew, but I want something in return."

Having experienced Nova's strength firsthand and knowing that a person with such power would never lie to someone like him, at least most of the times, the elder's eyes shone as he nodded. "Anything, sir. As long as you can save Maelor, we, the Areza family, can give you anything you want."

Without beating around the bush Nova said, "It's very simple. I want your family to follow my orders after I take down the emperor. Do you think you can make this decision?"

Another shock went through the elder, but this time it didn't last as long as before, as if he had already developed some sort of resistance to it.

"Sir…" the elder said softly, "If what your esteemed self says is true, I believe I can make the decision. You may not know, but my brother is the current head of the family. As long as the danger to Maelor is real and he comes out alive, I'll plead with him to follow your orders."

Nova stood silently and stared at the elder, weighing his options. 'This is probably the best I can get out of him, but it's good that he's of the main line. If his brother doesn't accept, I'll just make this elder the new head and have his family as my subordinates.'

With a nod he said, "Alright. There's no need to ask what will happen if you try to trick me, right?"

"Yes, yes, I wouldn't dare." The elder nodded hastily, his lips twitching. Then, thinking of the tiger, he asked, "Will you save the other participants too?"

"Of course, but only if they agree to the same condition."

"And if they don't…?" the elder asked reflexively.

Nova gave him a look. "If they don't, they'll die to the tiger."

With that he turned and walked toward the next victim, while the elder watched with a complicated expression and muttered, "He didn't even ask my name…"

Nova approached the elders one by one, sometimes having to speak to a few at once when they stood close together.

Overall, most of them shared the Areza elder's view, if the danger was real and Nova could bring their people out alive, they would agree to follow him. They didn't have much choice. The contestants inside were their best candidates to succeed as family heads, and, in most cases, the sons and daughters of the current heads.

If something happened to those youths and the family heads discovered there had been someone who claimed he could save them but had been refused, their heads would be the next to fall, and they certainly didn't want that. It was better to agree now and see later whether Nova could truly make them follow than to refuse and watch their people die.

But not all shared the same opinion. A few had too much pride in their young ones, believing they could handle everything and they also couldn't trust Nova, he was a stranger, and he was going against the royal family, an entity no one in the Lotra Kingdom dared defy because of its military might.

To those who refused, Nova asked for the names of their young prodigies; though the nobles didn't particularly like him, they announced them proudly. Once he had the names, Nova nodded and walked away without much fanfare.

'Four no's, and the rest agreed despite most of them not even believing me. Now that I have everyone's answer, it's time to do what I came here for,' he thought.

With light steps, he made his way into the forest.

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