Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

Wishiros Country

Aurorhaven Kingdom

CASTLE OF MIGHT

Inside the magnificent hall of the ruler of the Aurorhaven kingdom, Venerable Mario could be seen sitting on his throne with an ugly frown on his face as he listened to the report of the mages standing in front of him.

They were six in number—age-stricken, each looking around the age of seventy. They wore brown magic robes that covered their entire figures, including their legs, and hoodies that covered their aged white hair. Each of them also held a long wooden magic staff.

These men were known and titled Seekers by Venerable Mario and his people—powerful mages who handled the affairs of communication and information acquisition in Aurorhaven and the numerous territories under the control of Venerable Mario.

They were the ancient representation of ministers of information of the 21st century.

"Yondu Town has been flattened to the ground. Everything in it, including the people and the properties, were destroyed beyond recognition, and not a single survivor was left," one of the Seekers reported.

"According to the forensic team sent to further research, the daughter of the Yondu Lord is missing," another added.

"Rumors reached me a few months ago that she had awakened her mana core with a specially strong magic talent and two rare affinities," another added.

Each of the Seekers kept adding to the main topic at hand, building it up until it became vivid to Venerable Mario, who absorbed all their words with a frown on his face.

Venerable Mario switched position and placed his chin on his hands as he fell into a brief, contemplative state.

"Yondo Town should be one of the peaceful towns with no enemies, right? I never heard or received a report about them getting in conflicts with other territories or organizations. Am I wrong?" Venerable Mario spoke.

The Seekers shook their heads at once, respectfully.

"You are not wrong. They have so many friends and zero enemies. The deceased Lord's wife was even from a faraway territory, which should prove just how much their friendship was. The sudden destruction and death were shocking to everyone," the head Seeker, who stood in the middle and at the front of the others, replied, while they nodded in agreement.

"In that case, we have no direct suspect?"

"Yes, my Lord, no direct suspect, but we have one core suspect in this situation according to the clues we found on the scene," the head Seeker replied once again.

"Spit it out."

The head Seeker nodded and clicked his fingers. Then a scroll appeared and unfolded itself midair. The head Seeker proceeded to read the text written on it.

The hall was silent except for the reading voice of the head Seeker.

Time went by and he concluded his diversion of information to Venerable Mario, whose expression grew uglier.

At this moment, he was sitting up straight, and his eyes were fixed on the face of the head Seeker, making the latter a little nervous from the intensity of his gaze.

"The cult of Ember Justice??" he repeated.

The head Seeker nodded his head in confirmation.

"Those bastards are still at it again? And they are hiding as usual, like the cowards they are!" Venerable Mario reacted pretty furiously, which was natural.

One of the most profiting territories under him had been flattened by some bastards, and this was not the first time the same cult had played with his people.

They had brought the end of certain other smaller territories under his control, slain some of his loyal lords, and committed all sorts of atrocities.

In fact, the slaughtering and destruction of Yondo Town is not the worst one so far—about three years ago, a big city was brought down diabolically by magic parasites that invaded their system and sucked out all their life forces, leaving only dried-up skins when the Seekers approached the scene.

Also, five years ago, everyone inhabiting a large territory suddenly disappeared out of nowhere, with not a single trace of how, why, or even where they all disappeared to.
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Different hypotheses were made about the above disaster, but not a single one was proven except the fact that it was the handiwork of the cult.

Also, this was not the first time a newly awakened mage with special talent and rare affinities had been abducted.

"Are there any traces of the whereabouts of these bastards? I want to get my hands on them as soon as I can and make sure I slaughter the living hell out of all their people as payback for what they have done," Venerable Mario asked after recalling certain dark events.

"My Lord, we have contacted other Seekers around the Southreach continent and seek information from certain underworld associations, but none of them have the whereabouts of this cult. They are so good at keeping their whereabouts a secret, and it's scary," one of the Seekers replied this time.

"But we have a suggestion, my Lord," the head Seeker spoke almost immediately.

Venerable Mario nodded his head and signaled for him to speak.

"In the last three months, a few other extremely talented mages have awakened, and they all seem to possess the same affinities as the ones targeted by the cult. If we can keep eyes on these people, we might be able to capture one of the cultists and drill them for information about their whereabouts."

Venerable Mario digested the suggestion and nodded his head in approval.

"That is a great suggestion, head Seeker."

"Thank you for the compliment, my Lord," the head Seeker bowed his head proudly.

Venerable Mario then discussed with the Seekers for a few minutes about the same matter.

"Did you just mention Winterseed village?" he asked.

"Yes, Winterseed is among the territory we should watch at this moment."

"But Winterseed has no sort of mana last time I checked. How could someone awaken a mana core in such a place?"

"That is more reason we should pay attention here, my Lord. For one to awaken in such a place naturally means they are very talented and blessed by heaven themselves. The cult would definitely not miss such a talent."

Venerable Mario nodded.

"It is settled then. I would send some of my Spy Knights to keep watch over those territories you mentioned," he declared.

The Seekers nodded and thanked him for listening to their suggestion.

They proceeded to deliver other information to him—but these didn't involve the cult and were mostly financial reports and other minor reports.

After the reports were over, they bowed and teleported out of the place, leaving only Venerable Mario.

Usually, his hall was crowded with knights and maids moving around.

But during hours of report by the Seekers, no one, not even Venerable Mario's trusted servants, were allowed around the vicinity to maintain the privacy of the information shared.

After the Seekers had left, Venerable Mario could not help but resurface some of the discussions in his head and ponder more about it.

'Isn't Winterseed the territory the Lord D'andre claimed is as rich as the Lord of a C-rank territory and also compared to our smartness?' he recalled his last conversation with D'andre where they discussed Rowan.

'I wonder how he is going to manage this situation.'