Chapter 48 - 48. Introspection
In a basement inside Lansay mansion, a man in his fifties with curly blonde hair was watching a map with some pawns on it.
At some point, a soldier appeared behind him and kneeled on the floor.
"Lord Tobias, the spies in Basil's escort have sent the report. None of Kevin's men joined the battle, only a kid went to fight and killed all of the peasants. They now have resumed their trip toward our direction."
Tobias nodded not even turning back to look at the soldier and moved one of the pawns on the map.
"Did you find the carriage where Basil is staying?"
"Yes, the spies reported that he went out of his carriage to relieve himself from the harshness of the battle."
Tobias shook his head.
"That kid is too weak, the patriarch's bloodline has gotten too soft, no wonder we are in this situation."
He sighed and then pointed on the map.
"Send the mages to intercept them on Twilboia Cliff, put an end to my nephew's dream."
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.
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Meanwhile, on the caravan, Noah was lying on the roof of a carriage concentrating his mental energy to scan the surroundings.
They were nearing a place called Twilboia Cliff which in Kevin's opinion was the perfect place for an ambush, so he was wary of anything out of the ordinary that entered his perception.
Lansay mansion was in the opposite direction of Balvan mansion from the point of view of Mossgrove city, so Noah didn't know much about the environment of this region.
At some point, he felt someone getting close to his side.
He turned to look in that direction and saw Basil clumsily trying to climb to the top of the carriage where he was.
Noah waited patiently for the nobleman to succeed in his climbing and smiled a little when he saw him sitting next to him.
"Can I help you with something, mister heir?"
Basil nodded and answered.
"I want you to reply to some of my questions."
Noah became slightly interested.
"Go ahead, I don't have much to do anyway."
He had yet to receive the second Kesier rune so his training had momentarily halted.
"How did you kill those men?"
Noah was momentarily confused and pointed at the sabers on his back with a questioning look.
"No, I mean, how could you do that so naturally?"
Basil corrected himself and Noah finally understood the meaning of his words.
"Mh, I believe you won't feel bad about killing animals to feed yourself. It's the same with humans on my road toward power: they stood in my way so I killed them."
Basil was bewildered seeing a man younger than him speaking in such ways about human life.
"B-But you won't die if you don't have power, it's not the same! They were just hungry commoners fighting for food!"
Noah looked at him with scorn.
"Weren't you the one that wanted to show my corpse to the animals defending you?"
Basil became silent to Noah's reprimand and a bit of shame appeared on his face.
"I-I was just imitating the way the people in the Shosti family acted. I never saw a corpse before your fight."
Noah shook his head.
'He is still a kid after all, I'm the strange one since my appearance doesn't reflect my real age.'
He thought for a bit and then he answered with sincerity.
"If a dragon was to pass by right now and attacked us we would all be dead. Good, evil, and all the other human constructs would be reduced to ashes by a random event. You say you won't die if you don't have power but that is false: those villagers were weak so they got exploited until they chose to go against a group of cultivators, their end was decided the moment they accepted your uncle's deal; you are weak so your family is hunting you down due to the status you were born with and all you can do is hide in a carriage hoping that Kevin will be strong enough to protect you."
Basil lowered his head hearing these words but Noah's speech wasn't over yet.
"If you care about something, you should be strong enough to defend it. If you want something, you should be strong enough to aim for it. If you are weak, you should aim to become stronger. If you want to become stronger, you must have the resolution to climb mountains of corpses. You should have understood by now that the cultivation world is not a nice one."
Basil nodded and expressed the last question he had in his mind.
"Killing fifty innocent men to protect one only for some small increase in power, aren't you afraid that the world will consider you a demon?"
This question made Noah fell in deep thought.
He ran through all the experiences he had in this life.
The battles with the magical beasts, the sparring with his Master, his mother's smile, the various missions until only one image remained in his mind.
There was an elderly man floating in the air.
He had one hand raised to block a lance of flames launched by a dragon.
In the eyes of a baby, he looked like a god free from any restriction, untouchable by normal humans.
'I wonder how much will it take for me to reach that level.'
Noah had unconsciously raised his gaze to the sky, staring at a fixed point with vacant eyes.
A pure and boundless yearning for power made itself clear inside his mind and then, he answered.
"So what?"
Basil was about to ask more before a chilling sensation enveloped him.
Noah was still looking at the sky but his eyes were dark and cold, like a beast looking at its prey.
Seeing no changes in his attitude, Basil gave up on asking more questions and climbed down the carriage to go back to his original lodging.
Noah stared at the sky for a long time before he moved his gaze toward a small mountain next to a cliff in the distance.
'If the world will call me a demon, so be it. If it will give me the power to save my mother and to pursue the road of cultivation without restrictions, I will gladly forsake my humanity.'
The caravan continued on its road to Twilboia Cliff unaware of the spies in its group or of the battle that was waiting there for it.