"Stand up,"
These were the words that Blake heard, but he didn't want to stand up again.
Whenever he would stand up, Cade would make him block his strike with his sword.
But the result was always the same, with Blake being defeated multiple times.
And it would remain this way because, no matter what Blake did, the difference between a C Rank and an S Rank Hunter was too big.
He had expected to be severely punished, but he didn't think Cade would do it at the Kalvas Gala.
"I will train harder, brother," Blake said as he crouched.
"I didn't ask you to make excuses, Blake. Stand up," Cade said as he looked down at Blake.
'I shouldn't have asked him to teach me,' Blake clenched his teeth as he regretted his choice.
Cade Cranston had spent all his years after graduating from World Academy honing his sword skills.
His only motivation was to create a sword art even more powerful than what the Sword God, Nathaniel Greville, used.
And hearing that his brother, who he had taught his sword art to, had lost to a First Year - and that person was Asher Greville - Cade was not at all happy.
He felt like it was him who had been defeated instead of Blake.
"Young Master," The Butler finally intervened as Cade turned his head.
"Young Master Blake will be attending the Dance Hall, so it wouldn't look good if he wasn't in his best condition," The Butler said.
The Dance Hall would be broadcasted to the whole world, and it was a way that elite families and other High Council Members showcased themselves.
If Blake was injured or not fully well, it would affect the reputation of the Cranston Family.
"We can give him all the healing potion he needs," Cade said as he looked at the Butler.
"But he might not be in the best mental condition," The Butler said as he bowed his head a bit.
Seeing the old butler who had served his family for years, Cade considered his suggestion as he looked back at Blake.
"Alright, but don't think your lesson is over. After the Gala is over, we will begin from where we stopped today," Cade said as he turned back and left with the Butler.
As soon as Cade departed, the Butler signaled the other servants to take care of Blake.
Each family was allowed to bring 10 Servants to the Gala, but those servants couldn't enter the White Castle.
Only the Seat Holders, like Nathan and Silvus, were allowed to bring two of their people inside the White Castle during the Night Party with them.
This was to ensure that all the servants in the White Castle serving the guests were from the Association that managed the Kalvas Gala.
At the Greville Mansion, Lucas was spending his time with Nate, who was getting along with Lucas quite well.
"I heard you reached F Rank," Nate said as he jumped on the bed.
"Yeah," Lucas replied as he looked at the book Nate had just given him.
"This is the General Theory behind spell construction. I have read it already so you can keep it," Nate said.
Because Lucas had a quiet nature, and he didn't bother Nate like other kids his age, Nate got along with him quite well.
Even though they only met once or twice a month, Nate would usually bring over things he wanted to give to Lucas.
But most of the time they would spend together with Nate telling him about how useless and annoying their family members were.
David had already told Nate to treat the twins as people who were not aware of the Upper Society and how its people behaved.
Knowing that his youngest son acted more responsibly than his oldest, David thought Nate would be a good friend for Lucas.
"I will read it later," Lucas said as he turned a few pages.
"Are you still reading that book?" Nate asked Lucas.
"I have completed it halfway," Lucas replied, and Nate was surprised.
"Really?" Nate spoke.
"But isn't it crazy how many families that were in the High Council disappeared over time," Nate said.
It had been hundreds of years since the High Council was first created, and it was not hard to see that many of the Original Families were still present today.
The reason was simple.
Not all families could have a genius or a capable Hunter as their Family Head every generation. And that made the power of those Elite Families decline as they eventually fell and were removed from the High Council. A new Family would then be chosen.
The only absolute seats in the High Council were reserved for the three associations, and the leaders of these associations were chosen by the members of those associations themselves.
The seat that was given to World Academy originally belonged to Farnus, as he was an SSS Rank Hunter. But he proposed to change it to World Academy itself, so that the next Principal of the World Academy could take that position.
And thus, the Fourth Absolute Seat was made in the High Council.
"I only read up to the part about the Cartiala Family, which was the First Head of the High Council," Lucas replied.
"Yeah, but after the fall of the Cartiala Family, all the seats became equal with no leader," Nate said.
"But these books really don't go into detail about why such a thing happened," Nate said as their conversation continued.
"Haah, I just want this Gala to be over," Nate said as he looked at the ceiling.
"You don't like these events?" Lucas asked.
He had heard from his tutors that the Kalvas Gala was the biggest and one of the most beautiful events that everyone wanted to attend. But hearing from Nate, it didn't sound like an event you would want to go to.
"Like? I would rather stay at home," Nate replied.
"Do you even know how many times my mom told me to make sure I greet all the people at the Gala," He said.
"And the number of times I was reminded to behave appropriately,"
"But even if I do so, it doesn't change the fact that more than half the people here would want others to mess up so that they would look good," Nate said as he tried to explain it to Lucas.
"And I heard Dad say that as the Auction goes on, it only gets worse and I should be careful around others as well," Nate said.
Although what Nate said was somewhat true, part of his dislike of going to social events made him exaggerate it a bit to Lucas.
The only people among the younger generation where all eyes were focused, were the heirs of the Elite Families or the potential ones.
It wasn't hard to say that the current heirs would one day sit in the High Council, so many people wanted to see what those kids were like.
Gaining information on the heirs of the Elite Families was incredibly hard due to the existence of World Academy, and the fact that the Elite Families always blocked most of this information from leaking.
"When will the Auction end?" Lucas asked Nate.
"I heard from my brother that it will end in three hours," Nate replied.
"Three hours, and the Party will begin at night, right?" Lucas asked and Nate nodded.
'So my brother would come at night,' Lucas thought in his head.
He wasn't too bothered about people going after him.
But he still listened to Nate, as he didn't want Livia to experience anything like this.
But Lucas right now was not aware of how things worked in situations when so many powerful figures gathered in one place.
Unlike his past where people openly showed their hatred, that was not the case here.
The Greville Family had protected them in such a way that not even a single word that condemned them was heard by the twins.
Although it was good for the twins, it made them vulnerable and naive to things that could and would happen in the future.
It was impossible to shield them from the world forever, and that was why Nathan wanted them to experience this themselves.
At the mansion in Soran,
Emmy was waiting outside the mansion as per Asher's orders but she didn't feel right bringing Alyssa with them as well.
After all, she knew that if Asher was seen close with Alyssa, it would spark rumors that could harm his reputation.
Right now, there were many people who were looking for a way to condemn the heir of the Greville family, as Asher's talent was threatening to many people.
"I should just follow his orders," Emmy told herself.
After all, she had decided to follow Asher, and Emmy believed that Asher knew what he was doing.
But if the situation arose where Emmy had to abandon Alyssa to save Asher, she would not think twice about doing so.
Inside the mansion,
Asher removed the mask from his face, as Tom lifted his hands from his setup.
"If nothing goes wrong on their end, the mission will be a success," Tom said as he looked at Asher.
"Make sure to hide your tracks, the eyes on us will increase to such an extent that you'll have a hard time covering things later," Asher said.
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