175 Related to her?! (1/2)
Ozul looked at him confusedly as small sparks were suddenly produced in thin air illuminating the Rank 9 man's figure.
This small show made Ozul aware of his Element, but his focus was on his face instead. This man only looked to be around in his early thirties, unlike what anyone might have thought of a Rank-9 Mage. For some reason, when he looked at him, it seemed a little familiar.
He had a little messy black hair with bangs reaching his silver-colored eyes. There was a small smile on his face.
”I haven't introduced myself, have I?” the man said before adding, ”Well, I am Raymond Ashin.”
Raymond stood there with a small smile, waiting for Ozul's reaction. But contrary to what he expected, Ozul just stared at him before nodding his head uninterestedly.
*Sigh...*
”You don't know about the Ashin family either... Of course, you don't know!” Raymond said, a little annoyed.
Ozul stood there motionlessly waiting for his explanation. He just wanted to know how his being from the Ashin family made a difference to his earlier statement.
”As my partner, you should now know that even with so many powers competing for the Neutral Lands, there are only 3 main factions that are the most involved. There is the Church of Light, the Leonhard Dynasty, and last but not least the Ashin Family,” Raymond explained as his eyes drew a crescent.
”The Ashin Family, you can think is not a kingdom or any organization. It's just a family that has preserved their history for a very long time now,” Raymond briefly described.
”So how many Rank-9 individuals do you have on your side?” Ozul asked.
”My younger brother is also a Rank-9 Mage. He runs the family as the head, while there aren't many who are aware of me. There is him, me, and two Sects; each with a Rank-9 Sect master with us. So, a total of 4 as well.” Raymond replied.
Ozul was a little surprised now. Even this person's little brother was a Rank-9 Mage!
It was a wonder how only a single family could afford to cultivate individuals of such caliber. Though he did not doubt Raymond's words, it was just unexpected.
Raymond was also satisfied, finally being able to see a change in expressions on Ozul's face.
”Impressive,” Ozul praised.
”Heh, In front of others, the Ashin family only has three Rank-9 individuals on their side. As I said, there are not many who know about me, so only a few are aware that the Order of the Dusk is under the Ashin family.” Raymond stated with a cruel smile.
”But just like you, can't the Church hide their strength as well?” Ozul asked. If the Ashin family could do it, it was reasonable to assume that the Church of Light might be doing the same thing.
However, he did not question Raymond about it. He had become the '5th Rank-9 Mage' allied with the Ashin family, but it did not mean that he would actively partake in their power struggle.
He stood to gain nothing among their battles, so Ozul was uninterested in knowing what else the Ashin family had up their sleeves.
They only approximately measured both sides' strength; a battle between Rank-9 individuals would never break out as casually as they were talking about it.
”Anyways, I will send you the list of things that my organization would require in the future,” Ozul said, standing up from the chair and making his way towards the door.
”Very well,” Raymond uttered.
Ozul had just opened the door and was about to walk out when Raymond suddenly remembered something.
”I almost forgot to ask you about your name,” Raymond said.
Ozul did not halt his steps and said, ”Ozul Ashfall...”
He walked out of the room, unaware that Raymond had widened his eyes at the mention of his name.
Raymond's previously serious face was gone, and there were only stunned expressions. Just when he got out of the daze, it was too late to stop Ozul as he was long gone.
'Could it be that he is...? No... That can't be; he should be dead...'
”Cyril! Mark! Come in here!” Raymond got out of his thoughts and immediately shouted.
The duo both came running in as Mark immediately defended himself, ”Boss! We just complicated the mission. It is not our fault that he was a Rank-9 Mage! There was a mission to bring him alive, and we did so-”
”Shut up, and listen.” Raymond did not let him continue and said, ”Go and find out if there is anyone with any family even remotely related to the surname Ashfall.”
Although the duo was confused, they did not question his orders and sped out of the room with speed even greater than when they had come in.
They had previously thought that their Boss would severely punish them for bringing a person to their headquarters without permission, so they thought up many excuses, and the one where they would blame the mission was the most feasible.
However, their Boss was completely different, and they were now assigned this odd task. If anyone else asked them to look at this information, the duo would have asked any person lower than them, but it was the Boss himself. So they had no choice but to perform this mission personally.
Not like it hurt them. On the contrary, it was something that helped them escape their fate of punishment; the duo was more than happy to bolt out of the room for whatever reason.