"I will definitely stand at the peak of the Cadiyas Continent one day," Jason said to Kairinans, hoping to move him and make him accept him as a disciple.
"You have the ability to upgrade your Rage Level?" Kairinans frowned as he looked at Jason and asked.
Karadi immediately took over the conversation. "That's right! My young lord truly possesses this heaven-defying ability. I can personally vouch for it!"
Kairinans waved his hand at Jason and the others, his face full of disbelief. "Do you people think I'm senile? Did you come here to fool me? Rage Level is something one is born with—it's determined in the womb. I've lived more than eighty years, and I've never heard of such an ability."
Seeing that Kairinans clearly didn't believe him, Jason grew anxious and hurriedly said, "What I'm saying is all true—"
Before Jason could finish, Kairinans cut him off. "Alright, alright, don't bother explaining. If you really have that kind of ability, then upgrade yourself to B-rank and come find me again. My back is killing me right now, and I don't feel like chatting with you. Hurry up and leave!"
After saying that, Kairinans mounted his lion and rode off without looking back.
Since the man had already left, Jason could only give up. All of them were battered and bruised, and they naturally knew this was not a place to linger, so they quickly departed as well.
The four of them supported one another as they walked, looking especially miserable. Jason glanced at everyone's condition and couldn't help laughing. "Look at us—we're really pathetic. We came in all high-spirited, and now we're heading back in such a sorry state."
"You can't say it like that!" Mati said as he took out the remaining five or six D-rank Rage Crystals."We did gain something, after all."
Weilian also chimed in, "That's right! And I advanced to C-rank, my brother even reached B-rank. Those are no small gains!"
After hearing Weilian's words, Jason smiled and nodded. "Exactly. This time, we survived a great calamity, and good fortune is bound to follow. I believe things will only get better for us."
"Mm." Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Next, I need to find a way to upgrade myself to B-rank," Jason continued, already planning his short-term goals. "Then I'll make that guy called Cat Viper believe in my ability and take me as his disciple."
"With such a heaven-defying ability, if Young Lord can also take Cat Viper as his master, your strength will definitely soar. You might even become the next S-rank Rage Master," Karadi said to Jason.
Hearing Karadi's flattery, Jason felt a surge of excitement and burst out laughing. "What do you mean might? It's obviously a sure thing, alright?"
"You're right, Young Lord," Karadi replied. After everything they had been through, he had already decided to follow Jason wholeheartedly. From Jason, he saw a bright and boundless future.
Jason looked at everyone and spoke earnestly. "But rest assured, I'll make sure all of you grow stronger alongside me. From now on, we'll live and die together. No matter what happens in the future, as long as you're loyal to me, you'll always be my trusted confidants."
Jason's words deeply moved them. They spoke in unison, "We are willing to follow Young Lord to the death!"
Jason nodded in satisfaction. "Enough with the talk of death. I feel like our good days are about to begin."
Suddenly, Jason turned to Karadi and asked, "By the way, why is Kairinans nicknamed Cat Viper?"
"Oh, that nickname has quite a story," Karadi explained. "When Lord Kairinans was young, outside of battle he was extremely gentle—just like a kitten. But once he entered combat, he became as vicious and terrifying as a snake. So those who knew him well said he was a cat with a poisonous snake hidden in its belly, and that's how he got the nickname Cat Viper."
Jason laughed. "That actually makes a lot of sense."(In reality, the author shamelessly copied a certain famous anime character.)
Jason and his group walked on, chatting and laughing along the way.
At the same time, inside a secret chamber somewhere in Sagos Castle, the remaining members of the Thorn Star Mercenary Group—who had just fled back from Mount Zuo'en—were standing before Kelida. Every single one of them looked extremely nervous.
Kelida sat there gracefully, popping a grape into his mouth, and said to the Thorn Star mercenaries, "You actually failed? That's truly disappointing."
The leader of the mercenary group, trembling with fear, hurriedly explained, "My lord, we were already about to succeed. But out of nowhere, an old man appeared with a lion and ruined everything. Please forgive us, my lord."
The mercenary leader knew very well that he and his brothers might very well die here today, but he still wanted to do everything he could to grasp even the smallest chance of survival.
"Oh~!" Kelida said slowly. "So what you're saying is that you were already successful, and then a reclusive expert appeared, knocked down more than a dozen of you, tore off one of your arms, broke one of your legs, and turned you into this pitiful state?"
Kelida spoke as if he were full of sympathy.
The mercenary leader felt an overwhelming sense of humiliation and lowered his head in silence. "That's… that's correct."
Seeing how nervous they all were, Kelida chuckled softly. "Why are you all so tense? Relax a little."
As he spoke, Kelida waved his hand toward the attendant behind him.
The attendant immediately understood, turned around, and carried out a small chest of gold coins, opening it right in front of the mercenaries.
Staring at the box full of glittering gold, the mercenary leader asked cautiously, "My lord… this is?"
"Take it. Your reward," Kelida said.
He gestured for the attendant to place the chest of gold on the ground.
The mercenary leader, overwhelmed by the favor, asked in disbelief, "My lord, is this really true? We failed the mission, yet not only are we not punished, we're even rewarded. Why is that?"
Kelida looked at the mercenary leader with an innocent smile. "You're already in this state. It'll be hard for you to do much of anything in the future. This money should at least let you live comfortably."
Hearing this, the mercenary leader became extremely emotional and repeatedly thanked him. "Thank you, my lord! Your great kindness—I will never forget it as long as I live!"
With that, he gestured to one of his subordinates to step forward and take the chest of gold.
"Wait!" Kelida suddenly said, his tone turning displeased."Are you looking down on me? You actually let a lowly lackey take the reward I gave you?"
...
The fully completed English PDF of this fan-fic is now available on my Patreon shop.If you want to support my work and enjoy the entire story in one go, grab the PDF and binge-read it from start to finish without any breaks.
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)