Chapter 249 - 249. Vultures
A man shot through the sky of the Utra continent, dividing the clouds that he encountered.
That man was Thomas Balvan, Noah's grandfather, who was flying on top of a transparent circular platform made of air at high speed in the direction of the Capital.
That platform was a spell of the wind element, even though Thomas could naturally fly, he preferred to arrive at the Royal city as fast as he could.
The matter concerning the concealment of his grandson had great importance in his mind, it could be said that the future of his family depended on it.
After all, a noble family was founded on strong cultivators and resources and the Balvan family has lost both of them in the separate dimension.
They lost three heirs, twenty among the most promising soldiers of the new generation, and the resources that they carried.
Also, if they really were dead, all the resources invested in them would have been for naught, gravely endangering the future prospects of the family.
Yet, since Noah was alive, there was a chance that the other cultivators were alive too.
'That kid has the answers, I must find him!'
Those were Thomas' thoughts as he hurried toward the Capital.
He surpassed large forests and vast plains until he could finally see the shape of the huge defensive wall of the Capital.
That travel took him less than two weeks, crossing the country for a cultivator in the heroic ranks was not a big issue.
Thomas reached the top of the defensive walls and spoke in a soft voice, seemingly to no one.
"I am Thomas Balvan, patriarch of the Balvan family, I request an audience with the Royal dynasty."
His manners were polite and he even bowed as he spoke those words.
However, nothing happened no matter how much Thomas waited.
'Do they want to wait until the storm quiets down? Hmph!'
Thomas retreated slightly and focused his "Breath" on his vocal cords.
"Noah Balvan! I know that you are disguised as Vance of the academy! Come here and greet your patriarch!"
His voice reverberated from his position mid-air through all the Royal city.
The defensive walls trembled and a transparent membrane that enveloped the skies of the city did the same.
Apparently, the walls were only one of the defensive formations of the Capital, there was another one that covered the entire upper part of it.
However, Thomas' voice was not an attack, it wasn't blocked by the membrane, and his voice was able to spread throughout the city.
Gasps and surprised shouts could be heard among the citizen, many of them were cultivators after all, the news of a cultivator of the darkness element was known even there along with all the rumors that it carried.
"Vance is a noble? But I believed that he was a commoner!"
"Balvan family? I've never heard of it."
"It's a medium-size noble family. They were quite wealthy for their status until a tragedy hit them a few years ago. I don't know the specifics though."
"Wait! If Vance belongs to a noble family, does that mean that he escaped? The first cultivator of the darkness element to appear after such a long time is a criminal?"
Voices rang everywhere inside the streets of the city as the cultivators began to wonder how many secrets a twenty years old man could hold.
Another rumor was added to the pile: Vance, the student of the academy, was secretly Noah Balvan, a noble.
That realization inevitably led to a conclusion: The Royal family had helped his concealment!
It wasn't a secret that the Royals worked to bring promising heirs on their side but purposely hiding a possible criminal was a completely different matter!
Once the citizen understood that the Royals could use criminals for their means, their image of them was greatly affected.
As for the voice that spread through the city, they didn't bother thinking too much about it.
The patriarch of a medium-size noble family was generally a cultivator of the heroic ranks, they knew that his power had to be unfathomable.
Thomas waited with a complacent smile right over the defensive walls, he didn't dare to take a step inside the formation without the permission of the Elbas family.
Nevertheless, the transparent membrane soon opened, showing Thaddeus' father standing in the air behind it.
"Thomas, there was no need to create such a mess."
His expression was dark and his brows were furrowed, they stressed his displeasure toward Thomas' actions.
"Thomas Balvan greets His Majesty Cecil!"
Thomas performed a formal greeting and waited for a reaction from Cecil.
"You can't just come here and do whatever you want, your family has no special privileges, you must use the official ways to get in contact with us."
Cecil didn't give him permission to stand so Thomas remained in his bowing position.
"I beg to disagree Cecil. This matter involves the future of his family, you will surely forgive his lack of manners."
A voice sounded behind Thomas as a cultivator with long silver hair and a loose white robe appeared in the air.
The cultivator then slightly bowed, performing a simple greeting.
"Ian Udye greets His Majesty."
That man was Daniel's father, the patriarch of the Udye family, one of the wealthiest men in the entire country.
"What are you doing here Ian?"
Cecil was surprised by his presence, that event was too coincidental.
"He is looking for answers, Your Majesty. All of us are."
A female cultivator appeared right next to Ian, her facial features resembled Phoebe's ones, she was clearly her mother.
"I would like to know if my daughter met a criminal in her mission, a criminal that you disguised as a student."
"Meredith is right, I also would like to know if this so-called student had something to do with the events near Vonduhr."
A third cultivator appeared mid-hair, he had long golden hair and he very much resembled Samuel.
'Fred Muwlos is here too. I bet that these vultures have waited all this time nearby, they knew that someone like Thomas would appear.'
Cecil's eyes became cold at that thought but he still smiled on the surface, signaling to the four cultivators to follow him inside the city.
"My son is in the Capital, follow me if you want to hear what he has to say."