Chapter 77: Old Marcus

"Already." Max was a bit surprised that he had just returned from the blood ritual and somebody was already waiting for him.

But he then nodded. "Alright, lead the way. Let’s meet the person."

He quickly followed Tessa and finally came to the guest room. And when he stepped inside, the one waiting for him was an old man in his fifties wearing casual clothes whom he had never seen before.

His aura was calm, and he couldn’t understand anything at all. He couldn’t even feel the blood energy within him. And he immediately understood he was a terrifying master.

He sat down calmly, and they both remained silent for a moment in the room; only then did the old man speak.

Finally, the old man broke the silence.

"Max Bloodfield, my name is Marcus. I’m an old friend of the City Lord."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"And from today onwards, I’ll be the one teaching you how to become stronger."

The old man said with a smile as he looked at Max, who felt everything about him had been seen through.

"Come, let’s see what you can do," Marcus said without wasting a moment.

Max didn’t even have time to understand anything, as the next moment he was in the training ground outside. And along with them were quite a few servants, who wanted to watch the show, wanting to know how good young Master Max is.

Max, on the other hand, was under pressure, as the old Marcus was definitely not an ordinary being. And it seemed he was the only one who felt that; the others didn’t seem to feel that.

All the servants just felt the old man Marcus was some ordinary instructor, but he, standing right in front of him on the training ground, felt the world around him was spinning. Like he wasn’t facing a person but the world itself.

"Come, kid, pick any weapon," Old Marcus said.

Max, knowing that it was an invulnerable pick, picked up a spear from the dozens of weapons in the training ground. And when he picked up the spear, he was immediately shocked, as it was way too heavy.

He then tried to pick another spear, but it was also the same but heavier. And immediately understood that they were all the same and very heavy.

According to his guess, the spear weighs about 100 kg, and this was the lightest one.

For an ordinary person, lifting such a weapon would be nearly impossible. For a Bloodline Awakener, however, carrying a hundred kilograms wasn’t particularly difficult.

The real challenge was using it.

Wielding such a heavy spear required far more than brute strength. He would have to execute precise attacks while maintaining control, balance, and proper technique. Even a slight mistake in his movements could throw off his entire attack.

He picked the 100 kg one, as this was the lightest spear here, and then calmly made his way to the training arena to face the old Marcus, who was just standing calmly with his hands behind his back.

"Come show me what you’ve got," Old Marcus said calmly.

Max remained standing as he watched the old Marcus carefully, trying to figure something out. Unfortunately, he couldn’t discern anything from the old man’s expression or aura.

Marcus remained as calm as ever, showing no obvious opening or sign of hostility.

Max considered several possible approaches, but each time he was about to take his first step, his instincts stopped him.

The instincts he had honed through countless battles during the beast tide were warning him that any rash action would end badly.

But in the end, he attacked; even if dangerous, he had to somehow make it work.

He stepped forward and attacked with the fastest speed he could. It was a simple thrust, but powerful and swift as he pushed his body to its peak and even used blood control to boost it further.

Max, at that moment, seemed to turn into a blur as his stride seemed to create afterimages. His speed and the massive momentum of the weight of a hundred-kg spear were terrifyingly powerful.

All the servants watching felt a bit shocked, as such speed was terrifying for someone who had just recently become a bloodline awakener. But in front of Marcus, this was nothing.

Boom!

Marcus casually raised one finger and stopped the spear dead in its tracks. The spearhead halted against his fingertip.

No matter how hard Max pushed, he couldn’t move it even an inch.

Max was shocked seeing this, as with his speed, strength, and momentum with the heavy spear, it was terrifying. Even the transformation realm expert wouldn’t take it lightly, and yet the old Marcus stopped it with his finger like it was nothing.

Marcus glanced at Max and spoke calmly.

"Your strength and speed are indeed good, and you seem to have found a way to use your blood control ability to further increase your strength and speed, which is not bad, but the approach is direct and simple. It might work against mindless beasts, but against a seasoned veteran, it would seem a bit stupid."

"Come again." He said as he casually flicked his finger.

Bang!

The force behind that seemingly insignificant flick travelled through the spear and nearly sent Max flying backwards.

Max desperately tightened his grip and struggled to maintain his balance, but he was still forced several meters back.

He looked at the Old Marcus with a grave expression, as he could not understand what kind of strength he had to push him like that with just a finger. Even at that moment, he didn’t feel any power of bloodline or anything else; it was clearly just pure raw physical strength and an unimaginable level of control.

He knew he had to show all his strength, and immediately his blood started to boil. His blood control ability seemed to have become a bit smoother after he ate the spirit fruit in the carriage.

And his control over blood also had improved, as during their travel he didn’t stop training silently on the back of the Wyvern.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

And with lightning speed, he fired blood bullets.