Three years

In a luxurious room decorated with gold and jade, a handsome young man with white hair sat calmly, she had a strong and authoritative aura, her expression was calm at all times.

On the other hand, the man in front of him had a seemingly permanently embedded smile on his face, he was a fat man with brown hair, he spoke constantly as if it were a crime to stop talking.

"Marquis Gracip, your actions are truly inspiring, your heroic actions resonate throughout the kingdom, your brilliant figure inspires the hearts of women and children, your holy figure ...!", The fat man spoke from his elbows, he spoke so much that a normal person would already be stressed just by hearing it, but Aureus resisted with all his might to avoid destroying the man.

This man is duke Arnus Elity, one of the 5 dukes of the kingdom of Reck, he may look like an overweight jerk, but he is a level 3, one of the main powers of the kingdom.

If, in this small realm, a level 3 person is considered a peak power, this is due to the abysmally low-energy levels in this small continent, in fact, if it weren't for the event that occurred once every 4 years, Aureus wouldn't even stay here.

Once every 4 years, an envoy from the main continent of humans would come to this continent to recruit talents and bring them to the main continent, it is a way they have to bring fresh blood to the mix.

It has been 3 years since he came out of the dark forest, during this time, he has made a name for himself and has become a celebrity in the kingdom of Reck.

In front of the public, he was a passionate teenager, a young adventurer who displayed overwhelming talent, quickly breaking through the ranks and rising to fame.

He was quickly recruited into the kingdom and became a baron, from that point on, was easy, he kept showing increasing strength, completing achievements and breaking records, quickly rose and slowly reached the rank of marquis.

The cultivation speed that he displayed shocked the entire realm, he has been revered as a hero in the making and all that stuff, but Aureus didn't care in the least.

He has dedicated himself to learning about his powers and discovering all that he could do with them, only doing the hero act from time to time at the request of Critus.

But then came the really annoying thing, the nobles.

Marriage requests began to come in from many nobles of middle and lower rank, nobles of high rank who tried to recruit him and there were even people who saw him as a threat and sent assassins after him.

Aureus couldn't be bothered with that, he kept doing his thing, killing those who tried to eliminate him and ignoring the rest.

But if he wanted to keep the disguise, he had to pay attention to the duke, he has too much power in the kingdom.

Aureus could clearly see what this man wanted, he wants to forge good ties with him, so that he can rise up when he is recruited in the central continent, although honestly, Aureus was paying more attention to how the man's fat trembled than to his endless speech. .

[Boy, the man is requesting that you marry his daughter, pay some attention]

"Oh ?!", Aureus was startled, he observed that Duke Arnus looked at him smiling, as if the marriage was assured, internally, he sighed, this has happened more than ten times, nobles who wanted to marry their daughters to him, each time, it ended the same way.

"Uhmm ... Duke Arnus, sorry to tell you that I am not interested in marital matters at the moment, I am totally focused on cultivation, I hope you understand", although Aureus already knew how it would end, he tried to gently decline.

"You, you dare to reject me, commoner !!" indeed, duke Arnus immediately changed his attitude after being rejected, like everyone else.

Duke Arnus inherited his position, like the vast majority of nobles, these nobles who inherit his position despise those who earned his position, see them as they see commoners and consider themselves superior to them, if not for the potential from Aureus, duke Arnus wouldn't even bother to come.

Aureus rolled his eyes, he was beginning to think that the nobles are equal copies, but with different bodies, most have the same attitude of superiority and condescension, they are like clichéd villains from the tales that he has been reading from time to time.

Aureus wasn't going to mess around with this idiot, a wisp of black energy shot out of his body and plunged into duke Arnus's head with lightning speed.

Duke Arnus's eyes darkened for a moment and then returned to their usual light, he seemed a bit surprised and confused, "Eh, what was he saying?"

"He was saying goodbye, Lord Arnus," Aureus continued.

"Ohhh ... right, Marquis Gracip, I'll be leaving then!", duke Arnus hurried away, as if it was inappropriate to stay here.

What just happened is that Aureus tweaked his mind a bit using the attribute of death, it is much more versatile than one would expect.

Once the idiot was gone, a beautiful blonde woman appeared in the room, right behind Aureus, "Again?"

Aureus nodded, looked Artemis in the eye and asked with a smile, "Well, how are you in the forest?"