Chapter 253: A Gathering of Masters (1/2)

In the middle of one of the five continents, a young man walked inside a forest. He was of average height but seemed underweight. His blond hair danced up and down as he skipped around. He wore simple leather clothes, but still seemed noble as he walked. His blue eyes shined along with the sun rays that managed to escape the clutches of the trees.

He hastened his steps as he noticed that he was at the edge of the forest. In a heartbeat, he was out. The sun's rays attacked him all over his body, which made his blue eyes stand out even more. Yet, even with his glamorous appearance, he would fail to leave an impression on anyone in that particular spot. Why? In front of him was a castle that was erected in the middle of a mountain.

The mountain split into four parts, with each part pointing at one direction, north, south, east, and west. In the middle of all the parts, a castle, bigger than any, stood tall. The castle was made of a single building, which was separated into wings. Same as the mountain parts, the four wings pointed at a certain direction, with the fifth one standing in the middle. Each of the wings had a red roof, made of carefully selected tiles. The castle was hundreds of years old, yet seemed as if it was built just the day before.

The young man smiled and said, ”I'm finally back,” as he breathed in the air around him. He started to walk towards the castle and flew in order to reach its gate. Unlike all other castles, the gate had no guards. The man, simply, walked inside. No one was around to watch him, yet he felt the gaze of someone on him. Still smiling, the man walked in straight to the middle wing.

Room after room, he traversed them until he stood in front of a golden double door room. He didn't bother to knock as he walked inside, where a group of people was talking. No one stopped to pay him any attention as if they already knew of his coming.

”I'm back, father, grandfather,” the man said as he bowed. To who? No one could really tell as the room was full.

Yet, one man specifically answered him, and said, ”Welcome back, impostor.”

The man's voice was calm and smooth as if the man's throat had never known the word 'disease'. Yet, even then, the walls around the room shook, while the bolts holding the doors together squeaked. They feared him. Yes, inanimate objects feared the man who spoke. Not only them, even those that were talking from before shushed themselves in order to allow the man to talk.

It was no surprise, as the man was the master of their sect. the strongest one in their sect, and the one who could kill them all at a whim.

”Eh? How did you know? I made sure to act like the young master from hundreds of kilometers away since I knew you would be watching. So, what was it? My acting? Or my disguise?” the words of the man moved rhythmically along with the melting of his face. The melted parts of his face dropped on the ground in chunks, producing disgusting sounds. The shape of his body started to change as well, as his skin bubbled from underneath.

”How many times do I have to warn you? Never transform in front of me!” one of the men sitting inside the room said as he threw something at the man. It seemed like he threw a purple liquid towards him, but didn't manage to hit him. However, the door behind him, which was hit, started to fume, as the purple liquid burned right through it.