The Master of Uradan

The Advanced Warrior carefully knocked at the wooden door in front of him. There were no guards in this part of the castle as if the owner wasn't afraid of anything.

"Enter." A calm and soothing voice came through the door.

The man escorting Rohan quietly opened it and signaled the young man to follow him. Compared to before, he was much like a child ready to be judged by his parents.

The room wasn't an office like Rohan had expected it to be. A large refined sofa was in its center as it was turned oward the large window facing the door.

A small garden lightened by the bright sun was fully seen through this window. A large tree with luxuriant green leaves, surrounded by a field of flowers stood there, in a relaxing atmosphere.

In between the sofa and the window was a short table with an opened book and a beverage resting on it. The sole purpose of this room was to relax the mind, and even in this situation, Rohan secretly took note of this idea.

The moment Rohan passed through the doorstep, his eyes stared at the only person waiting for him. His back was facing the entrance, and he was lazily sitting on the sofa.

"Thank you General for bringing this young man, you have done a great job."

"I am not worthy of such praise, my lord!" Taking the hint, the Advanced Warrior bowed his head before quickly taking his leave.

After Rohan was left alone with the man, lord Hanshen asked him to come forward and stand in front of him.

The well-known Hanshen, a rank 15 Advanced Warrior, the highest level strength in this kingdom apart from the court wizard, was sitting in front of Rohan.

He was younger than what Rohan had thought, and had the appearance of a man in his thirties. It was simply an appearance though, and Rohan was sure this man shouldn't be far from the hundred years old.

He had black short hair and black eyes, as well as a thin beard. At first sight, he strangely felt to be an easygoing man, which wasn't something to be expected from the more powerful man of the kingdom.

"Rohan Sharkan. Starting the path to become a warrior four years ago, and in this small period had already become an Intermediate Warrior." Rohan felt uncomfortable as he was stared at by this man.

Those scrutinizing eyes were piercing through his soul and were digging every secret he had, he couldn't stand it, but Rohan refrained to speak. The more he was listening, the more he would learn about this lord.

"I was waiting for you in the Barren Lands, I really didn't expect you to bypass them all as if they were simply a bunch of children. You have truly surprised me." Hanshen declared with a thin smile.

Hearing this sentence, Rohan's eyes widened on their own, and a mocking smile stretched on his face.

"So it seems your fame wasn't mighty enough for their warriors to be willing to be ordered by you." Rohan immediately understood why the Advanced Warrior wasn't trying to capture him, it was now obvious that he didn't want to work like a pawn for this man.

In contrast to what Rohan was expecting, Hanshen burst into laughter when he heard his remark. "You can't be more right. If I wasn't this magnanimous, I would have already exterminated them. Discreetly obviously, otherwise, the other empires would take some freedom to kill me."

Rohan was a bit shocked by this reaction. This man was Lord Hanshen, the most powerful warrior of the kingdom. He was even said to be the closest of the whole empire to have the potential to reach the Supreme rank.

Seeing such a man laughing it off and being this relaxed, destroyed the image he had made in his mind from all those years when he had learned about him.

"I am sure that you are curious to know why I took so much care about your situation, right?" Rohan unconsciously nodded his head. "Well, it was a bet with myself."

This explanation gave Rohan the urge to punch this man in the face. Unfortunately, such action would sign his own death.

"Okay, let's talk about the important matters." His smile vanished as he straightened his back. "Your family will keep its nobility title. And everything will be done to nurture you. That means all secrets about how to become an Advanced Warrior will also be disclosed to you. Once you reach the rank 10 of course. In exchange, you will work for me and the king."

The abrupt change in the speech nearly made Rohan unable to keep his mind concentrated.

"You expect me to freely work under two persons I want to kill?"

Hanshen was stunned by those words. A grin appeared on his face as he looked at this fearless young man. He originally wanted to throw him to another warrior to be nurtured, but now he was quite interested to do it himself.

"Welcome to life, Rohan Sharkan, where only so few people can choose under whom they will work. And do not forget your family is under, let's say, protection."

Rohan frowned. The situation was too strange, and this man was taking this too easily. Before he could answer anything, Hanshen continued.

"In any case, you do not have the choice. You accept or you and your family will be executed in the next seconds." His voice was now solemn, without an ounce of the previous lightness. "A talent like you can't roam freely in the wilderness. Either you work for me, or you will work for no one. Your answer?"

Rohan squinted his eyes. As this man had beautifully said, he didn't have the choice in the end. "I accept."

Those words let a sour taste in his mouth as if he was disgusted by himself from saying them. But Hanshen didn't care about Rohan's feelings and took out a black stone from the side.

"Let's officialize it directly then. Put your finger on it so I can give your rank 6 Intermediate Warrior insignia."

It was an Essence Stone. Rohan was a bit apprehensive as he hesitated. He didn't know what would be shown by it, but the potential result made him a bit scared.

He took out a deep breath and activated the Essence Stone. A few red lines appeared.

Race: human

Age:17

Constitution: 26.57

Mana: 111/111

Spirit: 15

Hanshen's mouth hung there as he stared at those numbers. There was nothing that could make sense with this status and he felt his mind going blank.

He wasn't the only one though, as Rohan also had his eyes glued to the black stone. An adult rank 5 Beginner Warrior had on average a constitution of 6, while a rank 6 Beginner Warrior had a whopping value of 10.

In the Intermediate ranks, each rank up made on average the constitution of the warrior increased by 4 points. That meant that an average rank 10 Intermediate Warrior had a value of 26, which was extremely powerful.

And now, before their own eyes, it was shown that Rohan had already reached this value.

But the two men weren't stunned for the same reason. Hanshen was deeply shocked by this strength while the amount of mana didn't make sense. Each rank up in the Intermediate rank made the mana increase by 50 because of the vortexes, while the process of formation only brought a fifth of the total value.

That meant that if someone completed a tenth of the base of the vortex, the amount of mana inside the mana core would only increase by one point.

A mana value of 111 could only mean one thing: Rohan was a rank 6 Intermediate Warrior who had already formed a tenth of his second vortex, while he was also a rank 1 Beginner Wizard. And despite this, his strength was the same as a rank 10 Intermediate Warrior.

But Rohan wasn't looking at that. He already knew his strength was far above anyone else at the same ranks because of the cultivation method with the red threads. However, his spirit value made his mind spin, as it had somehow increased from 11 to 15.

"Monster," Hanshen muttered in the void.. That day was without a doubt the day he would have been the most deeply shaken.