Resolution.

A young man dressed in an expensive garb stood leaning on the door frame looking straight at Rune.

The guards still couldn't see the intruder but instinctively knew something was amiss. Some looked at the yiung sect cultivator at the door with envy and admiration while some looked at him with relief. With him around, there was nothing to intimidate them.

They were about to find out how wrong they were!

Rune continued his walk towards the entrance paying attention to everything around him. Lenthandra was as alert as ever.

He had never let Lenthandra loose since coming to Carvonia because he feared he may become a target of the higher ups.

But if things go south, he will have to unleash her and take the risks.

Suddenly

Rune jumped to the side avoiding being incinerated by a fire ball spit by the spirit beast behind him. He rolled on the ground and came up with his sword in hand, his eyes blazing red.

The sneak attack had nearly cost him his life, he had thought he was aware of everything. It seemed like there were others who could avoid his soul sense.

The young man smirked and waved his hand. A twenty meter water elemental python took form, it's green menacing eyes locked on Rune.

In the blink of an eye, before Rune could make a step, it was towering over him. Its head coming in fast, fangs as large as fingers dripping with poison.

If he got bit, he was done for!

Rune's survival instincts kicked in. He swung Severance as he jumped to the left. He followed up with a downward cut at the snake's head splitting its head into two.

Without losing much of the momentum, he rushed the young man who was now seriously looking at Rune. It seemed like he really now took Rune as a threat.

He summoned a saber from his storage device and stood in a fighting stance, as if ready to face Rune head-on.

Rune wasn't fooled in the least, he felt the presence of other water elemental beasts below the ground. The young man's stance was just a diversion. Plus that spirit beast was up in the sky, surely it wouldn't just stand there and let its owner fight alone!

Rune quietly spelt complex compound fire runes around him and anchored them on himself.

Basic or simple runes differed from complex runes in that complex had anchors, and can move at a maintained distance when the anchor moved while basic couldn't be anchored, they can only be spelt on solid objects.

The young man was flabbergasted at what he saw. Runes floating in the air around that young man! Those were anchored runes! Plus they were cast without any hand gesture or incarnation whatsoever! Who is this boy? Is he some other Sect Prodigy!?

Questions rang and clouded the young man's mind. Lost in his thoughts, he reacted too late at Rune's lunge.

Severance effortlessly pierced through the young man's shoulder and out the back.

"Ahhhhhh!!!"

A wrenched scream tore through the night. The young man forgot of his awe and instinctively jumped back, removing the sword from his shoulder.

Before Rune could follow up, a screach and a buffet of air was all he heard and felt before he was sent flying but the spirit beast's claws.

Luckily for him, his cloak and armour took out the blant of the attack.

The beast had disregarded his runes and attacked him directly. In its effort to save its master, it had sacrificed itself, its wings were tattered and its body was burnt all over, oozing a reddish thick liquicked. Its scales were sooty black.

Lenthandra merged her soul sense with Rune's. His mind cleared and everything around him became as clear as day. He even knew almost every movement that was about to happen before it happened.

A twitching, tensing or a soft shift of the body, all the things that he never took notice of were now as visible to the eye as the moon in the night sky. All these were clues on what was to happen.

Rune firmly held his sword and resolutely walked towards the duo who were looking at him with enough hatred to damn a lesser being.

His rune shield flickered out at his command. He didn't need this much power to deal with these people. Soul Realm Cultivator? So what? I will just kill them!

The spirit beast lunged forward first from the left while the young man came in from the right. Rune paid them no mind until they were in range of his sword arm.

He parried the young man's slash before cutting his saber arm off. The spirit beast opened its mouth wide intending to send another fire ball at Rune. Unfortunately, he was prepared. The moment it opened its mouth, rune thrust Severance into its maw.

Severance tore through the back of the beast and out the back, through the brain and all. It slumped dead on the ground.

Rune turned at the now broken young man. The death of his beast was a heavy blow to him he looked dejected and way much older than he was a few breaths ago.

Rune cut off his head without saying anything and moved on into the house.

The guards only saw the Sect cultivator engaging with someone they couldn't see. They had nothing to worry about....at first.

But things didn't go as they expected. By the time they saw the Sect Cultivator's head send flying, they had lost hope and the will to fight. Some had fled the scene altogether.

Sir Cain had heard the commotion outside and locked himself in the treasury after sending his wife and children down a secret passage with a few trusted servants and the house's steward.

Rune didn't bother using force to open the treasury, he simply lay his hand flat against the door and refined the metal into the system and then stored it in his storage space.

And just like that, Sir Cain came into view. He was holding his sword in resolution.

There were no words exchanged since only one man was going to walk out there alive.

The two charged at each other and swords clashed with tremendous force.

One was a veteran of duels while the other had only his system up his belt.

This was it. There was no going back for Rune once he killed this man. A man held up high in the eyes of those who ruled this kingdom.

This was the time to determine where he stood in this world.