A Valuable Offer

"Wow, never thought they would say that much…"

While walking to the battleground, Julia continues to persuade Ark with an example of a bad thing his mother has to endure.

"Yes! Will you take revenge on their child for mistress now?"

Julia's eyes turn bright after seeing Ark's expression shift

But Ark always keeps his emotions in check.

He needed to, if he didn't, who would know how much damage he could cause by simply being angry.

"Nah, I still think it is not their child's fault, but remind me next time if they ever present themselves, I will do something about it, to them, of course. Oh, look. We here."

After walking for about 15 minutes, the young master and the maid arrive at the battleground zone.

There are a lot of small battlegrounds scattered around the big dome in the middle, each is now filled with a kid of various ages and adult or higher classmen as a spectator.

One of the nearest battlegrounds and crowded with a lot of people watching.

"Let's have a look."

Ark led the way and saw an interesting battle.

Inside a small battleground, two kids are fighting each other.

One came from upperclassmen but only 1 class above newcomer, but the interesting part is the opponent who battles upperclassmen is Rory Westrich.

"Firebolts!"

"Absorb Element!"

Rory claps his hand and sends 4 fire bolts at the upperclassmen while the upperclassmen activate his barrier and absorb all the flame.

"Sh*t!"

Rory swears from anger after he saw all of his arrows disappear.

"Language, young master…"

His butler exhales in disappointment.

"That's all you can do? Big talk but no skill!"

Upperclassmen start laughing after absorbing all of Rory's firebolt.

'4 fire bolts at once at age of 5? That kid is the real deal. but his opponent on the other hand… such a bully.'

After a glance, Ark already can predict the outcome of this battle.

Rory will win.

"SHUT UP! I WILL SHOW YOU THE POWER OF WESTRICH!!"

Rory pushes his hand forward in the shape of a box, containing upperclassmen in his palm and shouts!

"Continual Flame!!"

Suddenly, the flame erupts around the upperclassmen's body and from the fiery cage of flame!

"Ah!!!"

The upperclassmen scream while engulfed in flame, and the spectator quickly rushes in and ends the battle.

"Next time, stop trying to act though because you get in the school faster than us, pig."

Rory spits on the sizzling upperclassmen.

"Hey!! As expected of Rory Westrich, thank you for defeating them!"

One of Rory's lackeys didn't let the moment go to waste, he shouted to stir up the hype in his leader.

"Way to go, Mister Rory!"

"That Westrich kid is no joke, even if someone is teaching them in the house, but to be able to use it requires a lot of talent and practice …"

All of the newcomers watch and praise Rory because the upperclassmen are here to bully the new student.

'That kid was stupid…. Should have immediately attacked after absorbing Rory's attack. Try to be a bully and get owned, much has been a very embarrassing moment, but also an important lesson.'

Ark shook his head, looking like he can't expect much from an education system.

Or maybe it is just that this was a battle between 5 and 6 years old.

"Are you ok, young master?"

Rory's butler quickly gives Rory a bottle of water while checking if there is any injury.

"No, that guy was just weak. I want something stronger to prove myself!"

Rory drank all the water from the bottle because his body started to heat up.

Fire magic may have incredible destructive power, but the after effect is also severe.

When someone uses fire magic, their mana needs to light up to ignite the flame. The higher the levels the hotter the ignition process.

"Are you ok? Using level 2 magic must take a toll on your body."

Ark just casually walks in and presses his hand on Rory's back.

"WAH! YOU! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME!!"

Rory sprung up in surprise while feeling the cold snap pass through his body.

"Yes!! You got a death wish?!"

"Yeah!"

While both the lackeys start picking Ark, Rory's butler has a cold sweat.

'Where did this kid come from, and that girl too!'

He tries to examine both Ark and Julia.

He is not just a butler but also Rory's bodyguard, for letting two strangers get close to his young master is a total failure of a job.

"Still can scream, look like you ok. But I advise you to take some rest, your mana isn't looking good."

Ark completely ignores all the death threats and speaks calmly.

"…. Let go, this guy is weird…."

Hearing Ark's suggestion, Rory stopped his aggression and turned around.

"Also thank you for saving Adeline…"

Rory speaks quietly before quickly running out of the battleground.

"If we see you again, you're not gonna be so lucky!"

"Yeah!"

Not long after, both his lackeys and their servant follow Rory out of the battleground.

"Haha! They sure love each other huh."

Ark laughed with amusement after watching the gang run away.

*Clap* *Clap*

But before Ark can go and spectate other battlefields, the crowd suddenly stops.

"You, yes the brown hair with a black maid."

Most of the people around start bowing down to the owner of this word.

Vincent Watersor, The royal bloodline.

'Oh… what a surprise.'

Ark raises his eyebrow, watching the royal blood descendent walking in closer to him.

Following Vincent is a tall white maid with black hair and an expressionless face like a doll but a very beautifully crafted doll.

"My name is Vincent of house Watersor, nice to meet you."

Vincent politely introduces himself.

"My name is Ark Anderson, and here my maid. Her name is Julia."

She also wears a maid uniform but the quality is far superior to what Julia is wearing.

"Have we met?"

Julia suddenly asks Vincent's maid, the moment Vincent's maid steps into her "zone", she feels something familiar.

The maid looked up with a cold glance and answered with silence.

"Maybe I remember the wrong person, sorry…."

"The maid that talks over her master's head, what a disgrace…"

Vincent talked with disgust on his face.

"For someone of your caliber, you should have a better and proper maid."

"Oh, why do you think that?" Ark asked with curiosity to check if the kid knew his word.

"I saw you help the son of Westrich, using a cold snap to extinguish the afterburn. My teacher said it was a high-level move. Should be at least an apprentice level before trying or else the sudden shift without proper control could harm the receiver."

Vincent explains the reason while feeling pity that Ark has such a low-quality maid accompany him.

"You must have a good teacher."

For teaching their students how to deal with fire magic after effect, that teacher must be very good.

"Yes, I do have a good teacher indeed, and I also have a lot of good maids too, wouldn't mind giving the house Anderson some of them."

"To replace the incompetent…"

Julia lowered her head in embarrassment.

"That was not very nice…"

Ark tries to give Vincent a hint that what he was saying is not very good.

"It's not about being nice, it's about being pragmatic. Look, I'm giving you an offer, I will talk to my mother for a maid, and you can help me climb this school hierarchy."

HUH

The crowd erupted in surprise.

Royal house giving someone an offer?!

Their point of interest is now on Ark's answer.

Julia is indeed incompetent as a maid.

Lack of proper manners, control, and posture.

She looks more like a wild animal than a maid.

The disapproval sight came from all directions, pointing at Julia.

'There it is….'

The reason for my Vincent coming to him finally appeared.

"Sorry, but I have to decline your offer."

Ark answered back without a second thought.

"Huh?"

Vincent and the crowd are in shock.

This maid's offer is not shallow as it seems because this is also the invitation to join Vincent's group to rise on the school hierarchy ladder.

And who knows how much benefit can come from outside and after the school, the connection with the royal house, albeit a minor one, is still very valuable.

Just for one maid, why decline?

"I don't intend to serve someone weaker than me, sorry."

Ark politely apologizes to Vincent.

"Y-You! What did you just say?"

Vincent can't believe his ear.

Did ark say that? Did he hear it correctly?

"Oh? I didn't make myself clear? I said I don't intend to serve someone weaker than me, SORRY."

Ark speaks again and focuses word by word.

"Young master, please don't get angry because of me…."

Julia tucks his shirt and whispers silently.

'Why didn't he get angry like this for his mother….'

Julia can't understand her young master at all.

"You will regret this, I promise."

Vincent politely threatened Ark.

"Please, I don't intend to disrespect you, but for you see, she IS my maid. Insulting her also means insulting me, and if you want me to help you, at least show me you are worthy of my service because I don't care about your family one bit."

Ark standing in front of Julia and staring into Vincent's eye with coldness.

The reason he is being so protective of her is, that Julia is his subordinate.

And that is enough reason for him to protect her, because what kind of hero he was in the past if he wasn't willing to protect those behind him?

His mother's case is a different story. That one she needs to solve on her own.

"But I have to warn you, it's not gonna be easy with that kind of attitude."

If it was another kid, he would have ignored them.

But Vincent's talent is very rare. He will try to redeem him first.

"Challenge accepted."

Vincent seems to be very angry, but also seems to be weirdly satisfied in the end.

"I hope you don't break easily, Anderson. Shall we start?"

Vincent walks inside the battleground and starts beckoning.

Ark smiles back and answers with pure anticipation.

"Oh! With pressure." Ark said calmly.