10. Stick Poke

An old man wandering around the shadows stopped his movement as he looked at the bloody sight before him.

The three bodies before he even got there, the blood splatters mottled the walls. He looked from left and right and saw no one even taking note of this gory sight. He found himself admiring the beauty of their deaths.

"This kind of lingering Spear Intent should belong to a Level 3 Master. I did not think I would meet an actual [Integrated Spear Wielder] in this place."

He did not know who executed this masterful killing, but he was in awe, especially at the clean spiral on the young man's body. The chest was expertly carved out, and the heart was destroyed without mistake.

The heads of the two people who seemed to have escaped from the attacker also had their heads disintegrated from the shoulders up.

"Whoever did this is a master… I need to find who this Master is." The old man said as he left the area. He wanted nothing more than to see if this Master could spare him the time and enlighten him in the ways of the spear.

The Master may or may not still be in this Town, but he hoped for the best.

===

"Where'd you get the money for this, Kiel?" Ame asked as she looked at the expensive-looking red combat robe that Kiel gave her.

[Did you steal the money, perhaps?] She asked while sending Kiel a playful smile.

"I got it from betting with some weird old man. He said the Young Master would actually take you away, and I said otherwise. I must say, thank you." Kiel said with a taunting yet expressionless face… which somehow made it more irritating.

"Well, either way, I am thankful for this. I was afraid the bastards would recognize my clothing, but no one will be able to do so with this. Muhahaha, once I win this, I'll be able to get a Soul Beast of my own." Ame said as she raised her fist.

Many bystanders saw her do this cute action, and they laughed at the Young Lass's dreams of being adorable. Ame found herself blushing.

"Is it not better to ask Father for a Soul Beast? I think if you do, he'll give you a stronger one, and even something that's completely suitable to your constitution." Kiel argued but then remembered, "Oh right, do not want you doing this… well, I hope you the best of luck."

Kiel said as he turned his back to Ame. The little sister creased her brows as she called out in their Mental Link, [Where are you going? I thought mother told you to watch over me?]

[I am watching over you, but I'm going to do it somewhere you won't see me… I want to see if anyone's going to do some sneaky business so I can punish them for their deeds.] Kiel answered as he disappeared into the crowds.

[Well, do not go anywhere that's ten kilometers away, else our connection will be cut off.]

[I know, I'm not that unaware of my surroundings.] Kiel stopped responding at this point.

Ame looked in the direction where Kiel disappeared with a smile. She was happy because she could tell that Kiel was somehow livelier than before, 'He's enjoying the festivities of the Town, I supposed.'

Ame then left for the Central Area of the Town to wait for the competition to start. She would not fail to kick everyone's asses in this competition. She would take home the Astral Soul without fail.

'Let's murder everyone here. That should be enough of a proper goodbye.' She said with a somewhat saddened smile.

Kiel's steps were fast but not hurried, and little by little, his presence dissipated like the wind, and then, before long, he was no longer seeable by normal people. Kiel was walking amongst the crowd, but he was nowhere to be found.

'I should head out to the East Area of the Town, correct?' Before meeting up with Ame, Kiel had already done his research and searched for the Vollund Family location.

Standing atop a house, Kiel was overlooking a large mansion with a lot of servants and guards going about their ways. None had found out about the death of their Young Master.

'I don't know where their Patriarch is, and I do not have a Spirit Sense to locate him. I will have to do this the old fashion way.' Kiel's legs began to gather strength as he silently went over the walls of the Vollund Family.

He had already confirmed that there was no detection Formation set up in the area. He moved and maneuvered around the mansion while making sure no one sees him.

Kiel does not have a sliver of Spirit Sense, but he could very well sense the presence of others.

Then, a maid passing through a courtyard to sweep the area was pulled into the bushes with her mouth covered and a sharp nail on her neck.

"Move and try to make any sound and you shall die, tell me, where is the Patriarch residing right now?" A low voice echoed in her ears.

The maid was terrified as she felt the pain on her neck… slowly, her mouth was uncovered, and she gave an answer, "O-on the highest floor, that's where the Patriarch is right now reading documents… please don't kill me… I have a younger sister to care for."

Tears rolled down her face as Kiel watched with a cold gaze… he put the maid to sleep and moved on.

Jura Vollund was the Seventh Generation Patriarch of the Vollund Family. He was at the 3rd stage of the Spirit Realm. He was looking through the many papers concerning the spending habits of his son.

"That little shit spent so much Gol in the Red District!?" he had a headache, but he let it slide nonetheless.

He was feeling a little headache when all of a sudden, Ice burst out of his body, and a Lynx that was the size of a pal circled around him and roared up, "Shiaaa!"

A wall of ice formed above Jura, but it was punctured without so much as a resistance.

"Who are you!?" Jura shouted as he jumped to the side and escaped the assassin.

Kiel slowly floated down from the hole he created on the ceiling. The young child held nothing but a cracked stick, and Jura had already pulled out a sword.

"Who are you, child? Who sent you?" Jura asked with a loud voice.

'He managed to dodge that… it appears my limit without cultivation is a Martial Master?' Kiel thought to himself, he assessed Jura and his strength, and he would die in any form of confrontation other than in skills.

His skills would win, but, in the end, he would be overpowered and die soon after, 'This is going to be rather tiring.' Not once did running appeared in Kiel's mind.

Kiel looked at him and the Ice Lynx. He looked back at Jura and asked, "I was sent here by the Lord Death. He told me your son was lonely in the underworld. He asked for your companionship."

Kiel's words reached Jura, and the veins on his forehead bulged. His anger surged, "Stop Bullshiting! Do you think I will fall to shall provocations!?"

Thud!

The remaining coins echoed as Jura saw his son's bag. He looked at the boy before him, wishing to get affirmation that this was not real, but Kiel's words were simply, "He barked like a dog when he died… what a coward that young one was."

"SHUT UP!"

Jura dashed forth, his anger already peaked, and his Cultivation being drawn out to its finest. Ice gathered around the tip of his sword, and as frost ran amok, Jura shouted, "Ice Piercing Dragon!"

Kiel watched as Jura aimed to pierce the body of this boy. Kiel's eyes widened as Jura was actually too fast for him to evade. When he moved his body to the right, Jura still managed to reach him with his sword — Kiel's left chest was pierced, and half his body was encased in ice.

"Die! You bastard! DIE!" Jura shouted as hatred fueled his strength.

Kiel exchanged gazes with Jura, "You're… not bad… but it is not enough…"

Jura found it weird that a dying person would say such words. He thought the boy was bluffing, then he saw Kiel's eyes began to change.

His black eyes revolved and began a Gray Serpent biting its tail revolved around Kiel's eyes. Jura then heard Kiel's last words, "Let's… try this again�� Chrono Rewind …"

With Kiel as the center, an invisible dome that had a diameter of five meters appeared. Though the Invisible Dome failed to pierce the ground and could only cover the surface he was in, Kiel did not mind.

The world stopped, and then the Universe in that dome reversed. Jura's ice and sword get smaller and smaller by the second, and then, the injury in Kiel's body reverted to normal.

The splashing blood returned in his body, and soon the sword was retracted from Kiel's body… Kiel lived. And though his breathing was ragged, he controlled his reaction to show signs of weakness as he tightly held onto the cracked stick.

"SHUT UP!" the same shout echoed.

Jura roared from anger as he went ahead and did what he did a few seconds earlier, and like earlier, he went ahead and attacked, "Ice Piercing Dragon!"

But unlike earlier, Kiel moved his body half a breath earlier as he already knew the sword's trajectory...

"What the?"

Jura failed to understand how someone like Kiel could dodge his attack, and then the last words he heard were, "Stick Poke…"

As Kiel's calm utterance of these words, Jura's head touched the end of the stick and was blown to a bloody mess.