The Ancient Genes

Yule House, Ocien.

"What do you mean you couldn't retrieve the artifact?!! I want answers!!" Patriarch Yule roared in anger. The matter with the disappearance of the Artifact had really left a naked sword hanging on his neck. He had to answer Talia after all.

The person who was being scolded was none other than the first Elder who had returned from Trinity. He had already been to the Ocien but to make sure that it didn't look like he hadn't put any effort in pursuing the thief, he deliberately delayed his return to the House.

It was only Yesterday that he had returned, and now he was here standing in front of the Patriarch who was seething in anger.

Even though the old man was above the Supreme Tier, he still didn't feel anything being scolded by a person very younger than him. It was after all an act he had put up, and hence he was willing to live it. To him, this is nothing but a play. And, he was playing the role that he had given to himself.

The Patriarch didn't dare to go overboard with him as well. The first elder was at Supreme Tier, if he snapped, then there was no one in the entire Yule family who could probably stop him. He could literally wipe out the family and walk out without a scratch.

This was one of the main reasons that the Patriarch had been always wary of him. He didn't know why but the previous Patriarch deeply favored this guy as well. And, because of that, many people supported this person too.

It was entirely possible for this guy to snatch his position if he wanted. Hence, he was a thorn in the current Patriarch's eyes. This was the reason that he tried to isolate this guy as much as he could.

He even sent a Supreme Tier mage out to protect the Artifact in name, but his main motive was to push him away. So that he would have less interaction with the house. And, now that he had failed in doing his job, the Patriarch was willing to take advantage of this situation to undermine his authority.

Even though losing the Artifact brought him a lot of pain, it was a chance as well.

"Patriarch, the person was very strong. I didn't have the confidence of retrieving it without letting my identity out. I am sure that would have caused trouble," The Old man Sun replied.

"I don't want excuses! Get ready to leave! Until you bring the Artifact, you aren't allowed to return back to the family!" He passed the order without any discussion. This caused a lot of people to frown, but they didn't dare to speak up.

After all, even though most of these people had secretly tried to approach the First Elder asking him to step up and take control. He had always refused, and played passively. So, if the person himself wasn't willing to do it, what was the use of speaking for him? Wouldn't that only get them in trouble by being on the bad side of the Patriarch?

….

"This kid.." The old man shook his head with a smile as he headed back towards his room. He knew that the current Patriarch was insecure of him. But, it wasn't like he couldn't understand. Besides, it was one of the qualities that was needed by Leaders.

Anyway, he didn't mind it as long as that kid ran the family perfectly fine. Not to mention, he had decided to take the back seat and watch it play without interfering.

"First Elder.." A servant suddenly arrived in front of him.

"What's the matter?" He asked, looking at the person.

"There is someone asking to meet you." The servant informed me.

"Did he say his name?"

"He said that he met you on his way to Ocien on the Express car and is here on your invitation." The Servant informed. Usually the guards would have kicked the guy out if he had asked for a meeting, but when he said that he was invited, there was no way they would try to take the matter lightly.

After all, if they kicked him out thinking that he was lying, then it would be a disaster if it turned out to be true.

"Send him in.." The Old man nodded.

A few minutes later…

"Who are you?" the old man frowned when it didn't turn out to be the person who he was expecting.

The person looked at him, and smiled when his appearance began to change, and the Old man's eyes finally went wide.

"You! How did you do that?!" The Old man couldn't help, but ask in surprise when he saw the person change into Max.

"Well, I don't think that is important right now. What's more important is the fact that I fooled you." Max smiled at him.

"Hmph! I just wasn't prepared. Do you think you could have fooled me if I seriously paid attention to you." The old man began to complain, it didn't seem that he would be accepting his defeat any time soon.

"Well, it seems that you haven't paid attention to Ocien then. You still remember our bet, don't you?" Max asked as he looked at him.

The old man frowned, but still nodded. He had his pride as well, he couldn't possibly back down from it.

"Well, it seems that the time to prove it has come." Max smiled at him.

"Don't speak rubbish." The old man glared at him, but his confidence had indeed taken a hit when Max had pulled the trick earlier.

Even if he wasn't paying attention properly, there was no way that his eyes wouldn't have caught Max's disguise.

Could there really be people hiding under his eyes?

"Well, then let me prove it to you now.." Max smiled and then asked him, "Are you sure that there are no Demons nearby?"

"Yeah, there are none.." The Old man replied as his frown deepened.

"Then…" Max looked at him as his lips slowly curled up, and an eerily aura began to leak out of him, "What now?"