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“What a weird fellow,” one of the elders said after Noah had closed the door.

“A powerful one you mean,” Jon shook his head while chuckling, “He’s managed to not let me know much about him. Though I can’t blame him, we haven’t met for even an hour yet.”

“And he let you give him a house,” the same elder spoke.

“Well with his power, i wouldn’t fear people in my level. I could barely touch him throughout the fight. And even when i threw a massive ball of fire at him, containing power at the peak of his stage, he managed to cut it,” Jon explained with a look of wonder.

“At least I managed to force him into using a weapon, but i didn’t get to see it,” Jon shrugged, turning and walking towards where his building was, the others following closely behind him.

The elders had thoughtful expressions on their faces, but the matter they desired to talk about was something they had agreed not to mention outside closed doors.

“Enik, Delius. I hope you learnt a few things from our fight,” Jon suddenly asked his trainees, who were at the back of the elders.

A complicated expression appeared on the duo’s face at those words, they had not been able to focus on the fight since they could barely follow it, and were busy protecting their lives.

“There was too much going on to actually learn anything,” Enik the earth mage stated with a nod.

“I see…No worries then. Though would you help me get something for our guest to eat. I’d feel bad as a host if I didn’t at least give him food for his trouble’s” Jon turned to gaze at the duo.

Seeing them nod in affirmation, he repositioned his head.

Enik and Derius halted their steps to bow at the elders, who waved their hands in dismissal. With that done, the duo dashed towards the village.

An air of seriousness instantly landed in the midst of the now group of six, their expressions also changing to suit the mood.

“Let’s get to my office before any discussion starts,” Jon announced before any words could escape the elders mouths.

A few minutes passed, one filled with pure silence, and they arrived at the village heads’ building.

Jon used his consciousness to create an area where no sounds could escape into the outside world, before settling down.

“So….did he accept the offer?,” One of the five spoke with a stern expression, the others shooting questioning gazes at Jon, who sat silently behind his table.

The five elders were the group of trustworthy men Jon had gathered a few years prior, when the political situation between their village and the others had started to get complicated and deadly.

“Fortunately he did,” Jon replied after a few seconds of silence, “And I’m happy he did.” 𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“Why exactly did you spar with him?,” Another of the five questioned.

“To test his strength of course. He requested for a relatively large amount of bundles, and I wanted to see if he was worth it,” Jon explained.

The elders nodded at that point a series of relaxed sighs escaping their mouths after they paired his current explanation to the ones he told them before arriving at the building.

“How much did he ask for,” One of the five suddenly questioned.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” Jon quickly replied startling the old men.

“Though he did point out a problem,” Jon stated, bringing out six cups and a jug of wine. His consciousness proceeding to fill the cups and pass it to the old men.

“Which is?,” The man that had spoken with Noah asked.

“That the traitor would figure out that I asked for his help, and Inform the villages,” Jon explained sipping wine.

“But you have a solution for that don’t you,” The last of the five spoke, shaking his head.

“Oh you know me too well,” Jon laughed before going serious, “Before I address that matter; has any of you received new intel from any of the spies we sent?,” Jon finished his cup of wine.

Dark expressions appeared on the five elders immediately he finished those words, their heads shaking with disappointment.

“We conversed about this before coming to meet you. It’s been a few days without any communication, so we’ve concluded that they’re all dead or have been captured,” The man that spoke with Noah explained, chugging down the remainder of his wine, before asking for more.

Jon could only sigh in disappointment. A few months ago he had asked the elders to assign three men each from their families, who would travel to the other villages to extract Information however they could.

There had been a steady flow of information which helped them stop alot of the hijacks that would happen when supplies were being delivered to them by the royals, who only sent low levelled cultivators for such jobs.

The flow of information had suddenly stopped after they received intel from all fifteen men that the villages were planning to raid their village.

Most would believe that the fifteen men had changed sides, but Jon made sure to bind the group of 15 with oaths, which he made by himself, and there had been no indication that the oaths had been broken.

“I plan to bait them into thinking that he’s going to leave,” Jon started, “I haven’t told Mr Will yet, but I’m going to send him out of the village tommorow, but he’ll then return the night of the raid. Covertly that is,” Jon shrugged.

“By doing so we’ll make them think we don’t have any reinforcement,” One of the five spoke as an excited smile cracked on his aged face.

“You never manage to let us down village head Jon,” Another elder laughed.

“It’s nothing much, I’ve actually had it on my mind for a while, peradventure someone did show up at our gate,” Jon drank more wine.

“But how do we trust that he won’t just run away. Seeing as he’s as strong as you and that oaths only work when you the oathmaker is stronger that the oath reciever…,” The elder phased out.

“I won’t pay him until I see him on that night,” Jon simply stated.

Multiple laughs suddenly burst out in the room. The minds of the five elders having been calmed by their leaders plans.

“You have everything under control why do we even bother,” One of the elders announced amidst his laughter.

The cultivators continued talking for a few tens of minutes before leaving one after the other. Their hearts cheerful, as a sense of safety filled their minds.

Jon eventually found himself alone inside his office, a smile apparent on his face since he could see the victory he was about to claim, as it could push his cultivation to the next stage.

Straightening his position, and seeing that it was past midday, he walked towards a picture-frame portraying a vast blue valley, then he placed his finger on its center, injecting mana into it.

Red coloured inscriptions immediately spread on the painting, as the wall moved right ways to reveal a heavily inscribed black door.

He proceeded to unlock this door which revealed a staircase that lead beneath the buildings ground level.

Walking down the well lit passageway built from stone bricks, Jon arrived at another door, but this one wasn’t inscribed, just a normal metal door.

Knocking on the door, he heard a series of loud sounds, then he moved the door’s knob, unlocking it.

Stepping into the room, Jon didn’t seem to mind its pitch black state. After a few seconds of silently walking he suddenly halted his steps.

A smile eventually appeared on his face when he sensed a powerful presence move behind him.

“You know I can feel you, yet you try to sneak up on me,” His voice rang out seemingly to no one. But a few seconds later a loud growl resounded right behind Jon’s figure, the rooms blackness twisting in multiple areas, while the silhouette of a large beast flickered above his head.