Rhys was covering the wound on his eye and turned around to look at his father.
Thomas had a disappointed expression on his face as he looked at his son.
"Not only you disobeyed me, you even let a common woman hurt you. As a cultivator, you really are a failure."
Rhys began to complain.
"But Father, that whore attacked me f-"
He could not continue to speak as more pressure was applied by Thomas.
If he didn't want his son to speak, then Rhys could not speak.
"Tell me, what makes a family a noble one?"
Rhys had been educated for years so he knew what his father wanted to say.
He lowered his head and answered with a soft voice.
"Strength."
Thomas nodded.
"Correct. Your brothers understood that and worked hard to become strong. They even forced their children to train in order to maintain the power of the family. You instead..."
He shook his head and continued.
"You spoiled your descendants too much but that was fine, you weren't actually hurting the family. Now, however, you made us lose the only tie we had with a promising cultivator."
At his words, Rhys became angry again, he really could not bear seeing his bastard son being praised.
He had to hold his feelings back though, and he bowed slightly while asking a question.
"What do you want me to do?"
Thomas massaged his temples and sighed.
"I might be able to heal your eye, but I won't. The kid needs a proof that you were punished. As for the other arrangements, I will take care of them myself. Furthermore, no one is allowed to touch anything on this floor, let my grandson decide how to interpret the situation."
.
.
.
Noah didn't know anything about what happened in the mansion and continued to train and fight.
A week had passed since he went out and he finally felt accustomed to his new strength.
His dantian had enlarged a little but he felt that it was too soon for it to show its power.
There was one thing that bothered him though.
'I want to change my blood companion already!'
Now his body was on the same level as Assea, but that wasn't the limit of the technique.
If he could find a peak rank 3 magical beast of the darkness element, his battle capability will rise by a lot.
'Sadly I don't really know where to find one. It's not like rank 3 magical beasts are easy to find.'
He hid the space-ring in his clothes, he would always wear it whenever he went outside after the events in the valley.
'Time to go back.'
As he neared the mansion, he saw that the patrolling guards were avoiding his gaze.
An ominous feeling began to form inside Noah that reached its peak when he saw William waiting for him at the main gate.
Noah hurriedly went toward him and asked:
"What happened?"
William shook his head and answered.
"You can judge it by yourself. The Patriarch didn't allow anyone to modify the scene."
There were guards in red armor in front of the guests' building and they opened a way for Noah and his Master.
Noah sped up and reached the first floor in an instant.
When he saw the scene that was displayed, he felt completely void of any strength.
His mother's corpse was on the ground, her throat was sliced and a mirror-shard was in it.
He was about to rage and ask something when he saw the smile on her face.
He neared the corpse uncaring of the awful smell that it was exuding due to its decomposition and kneeled in front of it.
William began to talk at that moment.
"She met with your father one week ago. According to the report, she stabbed his eye and then sliced her throat. To show his condolences, the Patriarch had forbidden Lord Rhys from healing the wound that she caused."
Noah didn't pay much attention to his words and gently caressed his mother's face.
'You did it for me, didn't you?'
Noah wasn't a common thirteen years old kid.
After he saw her smile he immediately understood his mother's intentions.
'Why? You just had to wait a bit more and then I would have taken you out of this place. I was so close too.'
He placed his front on hers and closed his eyes to memorize every detail of her face with his mental energy.
'I understand, I will not do anything reckless for now.'
Noah stood up, his heart grew cold, his mind released a bit of pressure as he vowed to himself:
'Yet one day, I'll definitely kill my father.'
The more he stared at his mother's corpse the more his mind became sharp.
Some cracking sound came from the furniture around him as he was losing control of his state of mind.
William noted this and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Then he neared his mouth to his disciple's ear and whispered softly.
"You will have to control yourself from now on, remember to never fall for any provocation. They will suppress you but secretly you will always be ahead of them. Endure it, your time will definitely come."
He slipped a piece of paper in his clothes.
When Noah turned to look at his Master with a confused expression a guard in red armor arrived at their position.
William bowed lightly at his sight and gestured for Noah to do the same.
Noah was still confused but trusted his Master so he followed his example.
The guard nodded and put a stern expression before he spoke.
"Per order of the Patriarch of the Balvan family, Noah Balvan has to be immediately transferred to the inner circle to join the personal guards of the family. Please follow me to your new lodging."
William looked at Noah and smiled slightly.
He ruffled his hair a bit and spoke in a warm tone.
"Go, and remember to be careful."