Chapitre 16: A Deal
The lead guard looked at the wrapped-up Lin and turned to the woman. "Increase the number of vines around his arms and legs. We don't want him breaking free after he suddenly wakes up". She agreed and increased the vines on his limbs. After they were sure he was tied down well enough, they explored. After a few minutes of searching, they found nothing of use. The place was empty. With nothing to do, they decided to leave.
"Let's quickly get back before this guy wakes up. I feel he might cause us more trouble if he suddenly wakes up while we are still here." the second guard said.
Meanwhile, as the training progressed, Lin's vision suddenly went black. He couldn't see anything any longer. "Lin, wake up. It's time to go" A soft voice rang in his ears as he remained motionless. The voice was almost like a whisper. It was a voice that sounded familiar to Lin though he couldn't remember the owner of that voice. He felt strange, as though he couldn't remember who owned the voice, but he felt like he knew. "Lin, it's me. Wake up it's time to go."
"Mother!!"
As the three guards were about to exit the cave, they heard a shout that made them stop in track. "Mother?? Is he talking while unconscious? Who the hell is he talking to?" the woman thought. They all turned to look at the hanging cocoon they were moving along. Lin suddenly opened his eyes as black fire erupted from them. His entire being exploded with black flames, destroying all the vines that tied him down.
He dropped from the air and landed before the three. His red hair tossed around as fire covered his entire body. The fire emanating from his eyes made it look like he had grown black horns. He looked at the three and immediately identified them. "Why are these three here? Did they follow me here just because I stole that beast? No, I would have noticed if they were following me. Let's play cool for now, maybe scare them a little" He grinned.
The three already seemed terrified by the way he looked. They were unconsciously taking little steps backwards. Lin looked towards them and coldly demanded, "Who are you". The lead guard felt the question asked was bizarre as the Azeria family symbol was on their attire. He knew they were no match for him just by looking at his appearance. He was so intimidated he had a strong urge to run away, however, he knew running away would only bring him closer to death.
Instead of cowering, he gathered courage and boldly said, "Why should we tell you that?". Lin was not offended by this; instead, he found it amusing. "I don't know if you are too stupid to realize how close you are to your death. You were trying to kidnap me a moment ago. You standing in front of me at this very moment is mercy enough. Now keep up this behaviour and I will take your head. Who are you?"
As he spoke, the fire blazed around him even wilder. The lead guard knew Lin was not joking. He really could take his life if he wanted to. He had to make a choice or they meet their ends over there. Even if they managed to escape and went back, they would meet a fate worse than death. "There's no need to get all riled up. Please calm down we can talk about this"
Lin said nothing; instead, he released even more flames. The heat was becoming unbearable for them so the lead guard quickly said, "We are guards of the Azeria family". Lin reduced the power of the flames and pretended to be shocked. "The Azeria family? Weaklings like you? Who do you think you are kidding? Do you want to die?" he roared at them again.
"No no no no, we wouldn't dare lie to you" the lead guard quickly said to avoid infuriating Lin even more. He continued, "We are indeed guards of the Azeria family and have been tasked by the young miss of the family to retrieve the core of the lightning beast you killed."
"And why would I give it to you? After all, I hunted and killed it myself". The lead guard was infuriated by what he said but did not show it in the slightest. "Shameless!" he thought but did not dare say it out loud. Lin looked at him with a smirk and remarked, "Just now, did you call me shameless?" The lead guard was surprised but he did not show it. "Who the hell is this guy" he thought and said, "I wouldn't dare. If you can, sir, please sell the beast core to us. Any amount you want."
"Okay, a million gold" he said without a moment of thought. All three's faces immediately fell. They all looked as if they had just eaten a very bitter pill. Who would have thought he was that greedy? "No offence, sir, but aren't you asking for too much? After all, it's just a rank 2 beast core. How about a give you 5000?"
Lin contemplated the price for a while "Well then, I would reduce it to a million and a half" he said nonchalantly.
"Sir…"
"Two… you should realise you are in no position to bargain the price with me". The lead guard went quiet. He knew he had no choice but to accept the deal. "Okay sir deal" he said but deep down, he was cursing him in every single language he could think of.
Lin was bored quickly of this game as he did not expect them to give in this quickly. He had no intention of scamming them and only wanted to make things difficult for them a bit. But since he has started, he might as well just go on with it. "But sir, can I have the core now?" the guard asked.
"Pay up first" They swallowed hard and gathered their gold coins and presented them to Lin in a space storage cube. He took it and checked the amount "Good." The lead guard quickly said, "Sir the core."
Lin cackled loudly and said, "I forgot to tell you but I have already used it". The lead guard almost fainted when he heard that. He just lost all his money and would lose his life should he go back empty-handed. He swallowed hard and said to Lin "Sir must be joking. I was referring to the…"
"Didn't you hear me, I said I already used it. Now get out of my way before I change my mind and kill you where you stand" Before he could even move, Lin was already behind him. "Send my regards to the young miss" As he spoke to him, he hung the space storage cube containing the money behind the man but out of sight so no one noticed. With a few steps, he disappeared without a trace. How he managed that, they had no clue.
"That bastard" the lead guard fell to his knees. At this point, he knew his life had come to an end.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone