Chapter 258: Independent. (1/2)

Kure then suddenly turned towards Ozul, and with a glint in his eyes, he spoke, ”You... are you also a candidate this time?”

Ozul didn't try to hide it and simply nodded his head.

There was no point in hiding something like that anyway. Quite the opposite, he also wanted the Church to know that he was a candidate.

”Haha! Indeed, how could you not?! Good! Good,” Kure laughed in delight and asked, ”You will surely be the only Rank-9 there! Ah, I really want to look at that old witch's face when I tell her that you are my descendant.”

Though when he said those words, he noticed Ozul's stare and only then remembered that he wasn't in the family. So he couldn't boast in front of anyone that he was the descendant of the Ashin family.

His body drooped like a deflated balloon as he tried asking him once more, ”You sure don't want to-”

”No, I don't,” Ozul didn't need to think twice about it.

”Alright... at least I know it in my heart that you have the Ashen family's blood running through your veins,” Kure relented with a sigh.

Ozul didn't bother to correct Kure that he didn't have their blood either. He could guess that this old ancestor would start to bother him to join again.

”I wonder who the other candidates would be this time. And will they compete in the same thing?” Alver muttered to himself while feeling apprehensive of Old Gu's methods.

Ozul also had the same thought, but he could be sure of one thing; Raven and Blaze were also chosen.

He remembered that Old Gu had given him the 'advice' of training these two under him to the fullest of their ability, or things would get difficult later on. After listening to what had happened previously, Ozul was sure that Old Gu had chosen those two as the candidates as well.

”It all depends on that old man's mood, to be honest,” Kure replied after a little while.

Ozul, Alver, and Raymond turned to him with questioning faces.

”Don't look at me like that. That old man is really an oddball. He had answered some of our questions after the tournament. But he only answered the most trivial questions,” Kure said, making Ozul nod his head in agreement.

Alver and Raymond realized the severity of Old Gu's eccentric behavior, looking at how even their nephew and grandfather, a Rank-10 Mage, agreed on it.

Kure then went on to explain, ”He had told us that he could even select someone random on the road and let them proceed to the next stage without having them go through any test. He only does it for his own enjoyment, that sick bastard...”

Being a Rank-10 Mage, Kure had seen his fair share of blood and killed hundreds if not thousands. However, he never made anyone fight to the death for survival, only for some entertainment.

Unlike him, Ozul didn't care about it. Old Gu had the strength to make people do what he wanted, and that is all it mattered.

Cursing Old Gu wouldn't get them anywhere. If these people had such strength, he was sure that they would probably commit more atrocities than that.

”What about you, nephew? Didn't that old man come with you? How did you meet him?” Raymond asked as Alver had told him about how both of them had appeared together in the tournament.

Ozul didn't hide anything and told them about Luthien, his father, and the fight between them. He then told them how Old Gu had saved his life at the crucial moment.

Hearing his words made even Kure appear surprised and suspicious at the same time. He couldn't believe that this great-grandson of his was even able to kill a half-step Rank-10 Mage.

Even with help, it shouldn't be possible for a Rank-9 Mage!

If only he knew that Ozul was already close to reaching on par with him, Kure would have been coughing up blood.

”That old man saved his life? Heh...” Kure muttered to himself with a mocking smile. He would never believe that 'demon' would ever pity someone enough to save their life.

After all, he had seen it with his own eyes when tens of the previous candidates had begged him to get them out of there, and his only response was a cold glare that spoke volumes of how he didn't give a shit whether they died or lived.

After they discussed a couple of other things and Kure again trying to hint at Ozul that he should join the family, a silence reigned in the garden.

”Ha... there is one last thing I have yet to mention,” Kure said in a low volume just when Ozul was about to stand up and take his leave.