Inside the elevator, Jason was fuming in anger, as he thought about Old Drake's behavior, without knowing why exactly the old man acted like this.
'He would have really sold me as a slave, huh?'
Concluding the Intel Till told him and adding Old Drake's desperate tries to tie him to the Drake family, even if that meant he would be forced into signing a harsh soul contract, that would make him no different than a slave, Jason couldn't believe what happened.
'Fortunately, my soul-awakening star rating was so bad!!' Sighing in relief, he immediately thought about Shane and Dalia's situation and their trust in Old Drake….
'This is bad! If they tell Old Drake where they want to set up their new hideout, It might as well end devastating for all three of us…Is it even safe to remain on Astrix now that I know about Old Drake's scheming?!'
Figuring out the main problem, Jason felt extremely uncomfortable to continue staying on Astrix, at least as long as Old Drake was able to monitor his steps.
'This is so creepy!!' Thinking about the possibility of Old Drake kidnapping or doing something similar in order to have him inside his grasp, Jason couldn't help but feel disgusted, as the elevator arrived on the first floor.
Leaving the elevator, he was more than glad that Till seemed to be different because he warned him to stay lowkey and not to reveal too much about himself, while at the same time warning him about the Drake family's patriarchs greed and cautiousness against even the slightest suspicious prodigies.
Thinking about this, Jason was extremely thankful to Till, and entering the shuttle he ordered, Jason continued to think about what he should do, once he calmed down from his chaotic mix of emotions inside his.
'When I arrive at the Fler's I should immediately message Dalia and Shane! Even if I only have a few calls in total, this is too important to neglect!'
Making up his mind, Jason could only sigh, as he analyzed what exactly happened.
If he didn't understand everything completely wrong, Old Drake should have praised him a lot which caused the patriarch to become interested in Jason.
Even if this alone was not the problem. Jason doubted that Old Drake was not aware of his own descendant's behavior towards all kinds of prodigies…
He didn't even want to imagine what would have happened if the whole capabilities of his mana eyes and soul world had been exposed.
'I would be either dead or enslaved, huh?' Jason thought, with goosebumps covering his whole body, as he finally understood what kind of calamity he escaped from.
Arriving at the Fler's, it was already lunchtime and everyone sat down to eat, as they greeted him.
However, instead of eating together with the Fler's, Jason excused himself and went into his room, because telling Dalia and Shane what happened without further ado was much more important for now.
Taking out his spatial ring and the conservatory necklace, Jason wore everything in the designated position, before he took out the messenger crystal and his unique mana sphere bracelet from his spatial ring, which he also wore at his right wrist.
Looking at the messenger crystal, he injected mana into it, activating the extremely complex set of runes on it, with a faint, almost invisible thread shooting into the sky, through the rooftop.
Seeing this, he was sure that it was only thanks to his mana eyes, that he could even notice the thin thread.
Staring through the ceiling, Jason's mana eyes perceived a similar state to a radar, trying to sense the opposite messenger crystal, and he finally understood what exactly the runes were.
The runes on the messenger crystal were a combination of a sender and a receiver, but even if it seemed simple, in order to inscribe such fused runes with two usages at the same time, was extremely difficult.
Suddenly Jason heard a faint crackling, and after a few moments, he could finally hear a familiar voice, as Dalia, worriedly asked
"What's wrong Jason!? It hasn't even been that long and you already made a mess?"
It seemed as if Dalia wanted to ease her own tension with the last sentence when she heard Jason's calm, yet somewhat frustrated voice.
"Hello Master…I didn't do a mess, but it seemed as if Old Drake is not as trustworthy, as we imagined him to be!"
Explaining everything to her, Dalia was more shocked than Jason himself, and it was most likely because she knew him for two centuries.
She would have never thought that Old Drake might acknowledge the Drake family's patriarch's system to subdue promising youths in signing a soul contract.
But not only did it seem that Old Drake accepted that, but he passively tried to hint the Drake family patriarch into forcing Jason to sign such a contract, which would make him no less than a slave.
Shocked about the revelation, Dalia wasn't sure what to think about one of the only allies, she trusted almost completely, and she felt speechless.
Figuring out, that she was unable to speak for a moment, Jason used this time to ask her what he should do or if their plan had to be adjusted.
"Should I leave Astrix right now, or wait for some time?! I don't think we can trust Old Drake about your new hideout, or even which island the two of you want to retreat to…And to be honest, I feel uncomfortable with Old Drake around..."
After Jason said so, Dalia remained completely silent, and apparently, she needed some time to think of a solution, when she answered after half a minute.
"You shouldn't leave Astrix for now…It would be extremely suspicious and there is no way for you to flee with your current capabilities. Shane is also asleep and it will take at least a month until he recuperated most of his combat prowess...
How about you join the Big-Three tournament, and behave as if this morning with the patriarch and Old Drake never happened? I will also continue to stay in contact with him, and once he sends you to the island I name as our new hideout, Shane will come and take you.
At least, if he recuperated enough to use his spatial portals multiple times in succession, otherwise, you would have to wait until everything is prepared!
If you were to vanish from the other school, you were sent as an exchange student, it might cause a commotion, but Old Drake wouldn't know where exactly we would bring you!"
Thinking about this plan, Jason couldn't help but say frustrated.
"So, in conclusion, it's a "Stay put and behave tactic until I leave the Drake families territory as an exchange student?"
Somehow he could only frown as he could visualize Dalia nodding her head on the other side of the connection, as she said
"Yes, at least roughly. If Old Drake wants to send you somewhere else, just send another message, and Shane will wreck-havoc on Astrix and bring you over, even if he has to create a massacre.
But this is not likely if the Drake family patriarch left with his sovereign ranked subordinates.
Don't worry too much and behave like you always do… I doubt that Old Drake can do much after the patriarch rejected you.
The only thing you should be careful of is the Big-Three tournament! Maybe Old Drake wants to record it and send everything to the patriarch, in order to prove that you're worth his attention!"
Nodding his head, Dalia's word made sense, and even more so the last sentence… Without being able to understand what exactly Old Drake thought, he might as well try to record or even stream the tournament in order to show the patriarch his results.
Even if others may think that Jason had few chances to reach the later rounds of the tournament, with his current strength, he might already be able to fight the 'prodigies' from the Big-Three schools, at least if he were to expose every trick in his sleeves.
'I should remain rather low profile, huh?' Thinking about this, Jason nodded because it was the best he could do for now.
There was still slightly more than a month until the tournament started, and with three different tournaments for each year, it would take at least a month to finish or even enter the later rounds.
As such, Jason was sure that he would improve a lot when he noticed the messenger crystal's signal weakening.
Suddenly Dalia said
"Have you already found the two Blessed technique manuals in your spatial rings? They're the originals but unfortunately, the Shore and Blair clans could only translate it to a marginal degree. Shane can't use his deceased family's blessed technique and wanted to give it to you because he thought that it might be useful.
With your black origin flame, the translated part of the blessed technique Shane received from the Shore family might be beneficial for you! If not, it's also not a problem, we can look at it later.
Take care of yourself and don't make any trouble, at least until we can protect you, alright?"
Taken aback about what Dalia just told him, Jason couldn't even comprehend what happened, as he faintly uttered a "Bye", before the bright complex rune on the messenger crystal diminished.
Shaking his head, Jason was taken aback, as he began to wonder what exactly happened, as he scratched the back of his head.
'Why are my masters so weird...am I also like them?!'