Death... and me

Calina, Malaka, and Qia were also there, watching the scene unfold. However, they soon stopped paying attention and continued their shopping. They knew Roan well enough to tell that he had some card under his sleeve. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stepped forward like that.

Frandin bitterly smiled after hearing that and was just about to apologize when Roan pointed at Valia's forehead and snorted, saying.

"How dare you, a nobody who received her Bloodline Soul Mark from her family, try to compare with our young master's earned Bloodline Soul Mark? Those who have received their Mark from their families have no right to stand on the same ground as those who passed the trial by themselves."

In an instant, Frandin and everyone's eyes widened. Not long after, they paid attention to Frandin's Mark and then Valia's Mark. Sure enough, there was a slight difference there. The difference was so minute that no one had noticed it until now. However, everyone was looking directly at it now.

Valia's expression froze at that moment. She also hadn't paid attention to Frandin's Rank Five Bloodline Soul Mark. However, she could now see that Roan was right. Frandin's Bloodline Soul Mark was truly an earned one, not given to him by his elders.

"This... How's this possible?!"

Roan then glanced at Frandin, his meaning obvious. Frandin then gritted his teeth and continued their play.

"Hmph! You had to wait for my human to point it out. Truly, your Portin Clan must be full of idiots for having someone like you. Do you know the difference between you and me? Do you have any idea about what will happen if I report you? You should know very well how the hierarchy of Bloodline Soul Marks works. Give me a good enough reason to not bring this issue to your elders."

Valia's complexion paled as she took several steps back. Well, in reality, Frandin was talking bullshit! He didn't know anything about the hierarchy of High-Level Bloodline Marks. Until yesterday, he thought that family-received and trial-earned Bloodline Soul Marks had the same level of importance. Simply put, he just said these words out of the blue, hoping that he was right about it. To his surprise, it worked several times better than he thought.

"I-I..."

The manager of the shop felt even worse. Valia might still use her clan to minimize things out for her and just receive a bit of punishment. However, the manager didn't have such an option. If Frandin decided to make things difficult for her, her shop and even the owner might get into deep trouble.

That's because everyone could see just how young Frandin was. For someone at his age to pass through the Rank Five Bloodline Trial on his own could only mean that he had a terrifying background. Perhaps... he was even related to the Imperial Family!

Frandin mentally sighed in relief as he looked at Roan before sending him a Spiritual Sense Message.

'How did you know?'

Roan, without any emotions on his face, answered right after.

'Know what? I just tried it out. Now, look at that. It worked. Hehe.'

Frandin almost vomited blood after hearing that.

'You almost bought a fight against a clan with Rank Five Bloodline Soul Mark Owners on a hunch?'

Roan nodded as he replied.

'We understood that Bloodline Marks had hierarchies. However, we didn't know just how far it went between earned marks and given marks. It was a good chance to test it out. If it went wrong, we could simply leave through the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm.'

Just as they were about to continue talking, Calina came running to Roan before asking.

"Look, Roan. Do you like this piece?"

Roan massaged his forehead as he heard this question. Obviously, he couldn't care less about what Calina wore.

"If you like it, just take it. Just make sure it wouldn't hamper you when battling."

Calina felt a bit disappointed that Roan showed no reaction. Qia and Malaka said that it really matched her, especially if her blond hair wasn't hidden.

Suddenly, Malaka appeared behind Roan and spoke while mimicking his voice.

"What I mean is that it doesn't matter what you wear. You're always beautiful, my Calina."

A vein popped out of Roan's head as he gave Malaka a death glare. Unfortunately for her, the girl retreated as fast as she came, quickly heading back to the shelves.

Calina, on the other hand, almost exploded in embarrassment.

However, Frandin's mouth also twitched at this moment.

'Could it be that you guys forgot what's currently going on? Can't you see that we're still in a precarious situation? I wonder if you even know what it means to be nervous...'

Nevertheless, he quickly recovered and then spoke to Valia.

"Ahem... As you can see, my humans are having a little bit of fun. However, our problem hasn't been solved yet. I think it's as obvious as the light of day, but I do like my humans. I've trained them for a long time after all. Still, you asked me to kill one of them. I wonder if a public punishment would be enough to quell the anger of my humans. Roan, girls, what do you think?"

Valia took even more steps back after that. Not only would she be punished, but it would be a public one and because of a few humans. She definitely couldn't accept that.

"You're going too far!"

Frandin snorted.

"How come? It's one life for one punishment. Isn't that good enough?"

Roan simply nodded as the girls complimented Frandin's decision.

"As expected of the young master, you're the best!"

Soon after, the three girls hugged him.

Frandin was already despairing inside. The problem wasn't that the girls hugged him, but that CALINA hugged him. He could totally feel the killing intent coming from Roan's eyes in his direction.

Just as it was about to reach a climax, a voice came from the shop's entrance.

"That won't be necessary, my friend. I shall take responsibility for my daughter's mistake."

Valia's eyes lit up as she looked at who arrived. She couldn't be happier.

"Father!"

However, Valia's father looked anything but happy.

"Shut up! Immediately apologize to him."

Roan's group looked in the voice's direction and noticed a middle-aged man entering. However, what really caught their attention was the Rank Five Bloodline Soul Mark on his forehead. Just like Frandin's, his Mark was also an earned Bloodline Soul Mark.