155 A Mile
Dyon looked towards Zaltarish with a smile that wasn’t a smile.
“It seems I’m not the only one who doesn’t understand who they’re dealing with. It also seems that I’ve made quite vast contributions to your kingdom without even my knowing. I wonder how much I could do if I actually tried?”
Zaltarish’s teeth clenched. Dyon’s meaning was clear. The plate they had used to improve so much was already vastly surpassed by himself. In fact, he implied that even the first plate was created by him as well. Didn’t he say he had only been here a year!? So how did he create such a profound plate a year ago?! What level is he at now?!
Zaltarish wasn’t so stupid as to doubt Dyon’s creation. Although he wasn’t an expert, as a young master of a major family, he had knowledge in many areas. And, he knew enough about array theory to know that each array had its own unique finger print… in other words, it was impossible for Dyon to lie about who created the first plate in front of someone as knowledgeable as Jonas!
The eyes of the beauties sparkled. Before, they had thought Dyon was just a brute who didn’t think before he did things. But, it was clear from earlier on when he said that he hadn’t contributed to the Elvin Kingdom just yet, that he already had major plans to do so. They had no choice but to change their assessment of the man in front of them.
As for Dyon, this didn’t mean much to him. Since he knew Jonas had only initially acted abrasively with him since he assumed Dyon was breaking seniority by being in the air of a lecture without the power to do so, he didn’t mind his character too much since he knew next to nothing about it. But, judging by his willingness to be honest about the value of Dyon’s array plates, there was no need to hold a grudge.
“So, almighty member of the major families, is there anything else you’d like to test me on? Because if I’m going to be honest, it’s not that I was stupid in not checking your identities before offending you. It was more so that your identities don’t matter all that much to me at all.”
The eyes of the geniuses narrowed.
The crowd spoke in hushed whispers. The appearance of Dyon seemed to a thorn at the side of these young masters.
Zaltarish quickly recovered, a small smile appearing on his face. “Alright then. I hope you didn’t take offense to my question, as a member of the major families, I only want the best for our kingdom. Since you’ve contributed, I of course have no objections to your existence. We can proceed with the thought of this as just a friendly competition between candidates then.”
Dyon nodded, “of course, no problem…”
Zaltarish smiled, “Zaltarish Sigebryht.”
“Dyon Sacharro.”
“Mm, then Headmaster Acacia. How about we have a free for all intelligence competition? It won’t be school against school, but instead peers against peers, how about it?”
Uncle Acacia, being pleasantly surprised with Dyon’s performance, was in a good mood. As such, he didn’t think that such an innocent request could lead to any problems.
“And what did the Sigebryht young master have in mind?” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
Zaltarish nodded in acknowledgement. “How about you pick a topic of debate? This way, the women can participate too. The crowd can treat this as a cultivation session. It would be greatly beneficial to them, no?”
Uncle Acacia suddenly realized what Zaltarish wanted to do. Having learned that Dyon had only been in the martial world for a little over a year, how could his debating skills in topics of cultivation match up to the young geniuses who had been privy to specialized tutoring since birth? But, it was too late to back down now.
Uncle Acacia smiled, deciding that since the result might be the same regardless, that he’d choose an unbiased topic.
“Since we’re here today to celebrate the choosing of campaign leaders for the Elvin Kingdom, how about a topic that’s deeply ingrained within our culture? The debate topic will be on wills. Picking a winner in such a case is unnecessary, however, I’m sure it’ll be clear to everyone who listens.”
Dyon found this topic interesting. He had spent many days thinking about this topic. In fact, he had spent much of his six-month training period thinking about wills. But, what threw him off was the fact Uncle Acacia said that this was a deeply entrenched part of Elvin culture. Was this because of their belief that the soul was most important in understanding wills?
Zaltarish say leisurely, as though he couldn’t see the table Ri had broken in front of him. Dyon was just as relaxed. In fact, Dyon had wrapped his hands behind his head, looking up at the sky as though this had nothing to do with him.
Dyon knew more than anyone that there was a tacit understanding that only he and Zaltarish would be speaking, but he didn’t mind letting the atmosphere stew.
A calm smile rested on Zaltarish’s face as he took the initiative to start speaking.
“Wills are a perfect debate topic Headmaster Acacia. With it being such an integral part of the Elvin Kingdom, what could be a better topic for campaign leaders?”
Uncle Acacia smiled, reclining comfortably in his chair and patting Ri’s head lovingly.
Dyon smiled, still looking up at the sky. ‘It seems I’ll get a chance to embarrass this annoying guy… and here I thought I wouldn’t get a chance to put him in his place.’
Looking over, Dyon chuckled as he noticed the beauties looking at his exposed torso.
“I almost forgot that I ruined my shirt.”
Ri rolled her eyes as the beauties blushed, a bit ashamed that they had been caught.
Celine giggled. “Hasn’t anyone ever taught you to give beauties a mile even when you get none?”
A mysterious glint flashed in Dyon’s eyes, “I can give a mile anytime, but do you dare take it?”