"M-mother?! When has something so ridiculous become a thing?!"

Alan gasped in disbelief, not only shocked about the instruction that he never heard about before but also embarrassed over the fact that it made him look as if he wanted Zoemi to mess up his fellow sect members.

"Your father and I decided upon it shortly after you left. Right after we were informed that you forced everyone in your group to treat you like a male."

"...you... you put someone to SPY on me into the group?! Even after you said that you will not send anyone with the talent in the law Pisces with me?!"

The woman revealed with a smug expression, causing the young man to gasp in disbelief.

"Even before the report I knew that you will try the same farce again – I only care about my daughter, not some Alan."

"...!"

Although from the bored tone of the woman it sounded like this wasn't the first time she said it, Alan still flinched as if he received an actual physical hit when his mother said something like that to him.

"I want to make one thing clear."

At that moment Zoemi raised his brow and motioned with his chin at the beautiful woman.

"I'm listening."

She responded and her expression became softer as she looked away from her child and at the black-haired man.

"You clearly knew who I was, you even addressed me by my surname... why in the world didn't you warn others what will happen if they will threaten me or my employer?

Zoemi asked, pointing his index finger in the direction that the wounded martial artist scuttled away.

"!!!"

His observation caused the young man by his side to straighten his back and look between him and his mother in shock.

"You were either underestimating me or don't care about the other members of the Great Ram sect plain and simple. Which honestly, is very bad for you either way."

"...?"

Zoemi pointed out with a devilish smirk heavily leaning into the mocking side – but for some reason, instead of getting offended, the beautiful woman blinked a few times in confusion, leaning forward as if she noticed something on the black-haired man's face.

"Have we met before...?"

The woman asked hesitantly, walking forward to have an even better look at the black-heart mn's face,

"Mrs. That is the laziest change of subject possible. No. We definitely did not meet. Unless you have been roaming the sea of trees past this year and a half."

Zoemi didn't back off even an inch and his expression didn't budge either.

Alan tried to walk in front of him and block his mother's approach but was stopped by Zoemi reaching out his hand to the side without even looking back.

"Is that so... Well then, my name is Viola Ramis, daughter of the leader of the Great Ram sect and the wife of the vice-leader of the Great Ram sect. Mister Banemor, henceforth you are released from your duties to my daughter."

The woman stopped in her track before the distance between her and the black-haired man would become a bit too inappropriate, and introduced herself, right before shrugging her shoulders and waving her hand dismissively, pointing at the gate behind Zoemi and Alan's backs.

"WHAT?! YOU CAN NOT DO THIS! HE IS M-PFGH...?!"

That of course made Alan gasp and shout in disbelief mixed with fear, but the next moment his jaw was pushed up and his lips were sealed with the decisive move of the same hand that was blocking his way.

"Of course, she cannot do it. She is provoking you."

"...mmmg...? Oh...Oooohhh...!"

The black-haired man looked at his employer and nodded at him with a stoic expression before putting down his hand to receive a gasp of realization from Alan.

"That statement is hardly true, mister Banemor. As Alice's mother, I have the full right to rectify her mistakes. Although your name and the extent of your power are already known to me, with no pedigree so to speak, you cannot be trusted with being her bodyguard. Especially after what happened to her previous one... not to mention the complete lack of empathy to how he ended up as."

Viola scoffed, changing her approach immediately after the initial attempt failed and directed her jabs at the completely unphased black-haired man.

"How old one needs to be to be considered an adult in this land?"

"Sixteen."

"As long as she wants to live under the Great Ram's roof, she will do as she is said."

Zoemi asked and got two quite different answers.

"Mother?! What does it suppose to mean?! You cannot act like this! Grandfather is the leader, not you or dad! You cannot just throw others out!"

Alan certainly didn't expect an answer like that to come out of his mother's mouth, but there it was anyway, leaving him shaken to the core.

"My father went into a closed-door cultivation training two weeks ago, and left the decision-making to my husband and me."

Viola announced, giving her child even more of a shock.

"With that in mind, whatever deal you have with Alice is off. Because you have already proven that you really wanted to protect her though, there will be no punishment for hurting our sect's member."

The beautiful woman then turned to the black-haired man and announced in a high-and-mighty voice.

"I cannot argue with that. I hereby break off any contract that I had with a girl called Alice Ramis. That said, I am interested in joining your guild."

"Huh?!"

"Hmm...?"

Zoemi stopped in a moment of consideration before glancing at the young man by his side and then back at his mother – his serious expression soon turned back into a devilish smirk that surprised both people he was talking to.historical

"What's the problem? You have a vacancy – I've witnessed you lose a member who was a gifted student. There is a vacancy, right?"

The black-haired man shrugged his shoulders and motioned at Viola with his chin rather provocatively.

"..."

While that was going on, Alan lowered his head and stepped back, away from Zoemi, doing his best to not let his expression show how devastated he was by the betrayal.

"There is no falsehood in your statement... but even so, that doesn't mean that you can just be taken in. First and foremost, you are already too old to be enlisted as the gifted student, new ones must be under the age of ten and already achieve a second star level of the law of Aries."

Viola squinted her eyes and looked at the black-haired man with suspicion.

"I don't want to become a new student, I want to take place of the deceased one. He was twenty-six, so more or less six years older than I am. And I am at the supernova level of the law of Aries, so I would say that it's a really good deal for you.'

Zoemi shook his head with that devilish smirk of his and lightly shrugged his shoulders as if his statement was the most obvious.

"There is no such thing as a supernova level, but you do seem to possess an exceptional talent in the law of Aries according to the reports I got... it seems like you are at least at the fifth star level though, and also a quite high level of the law of Taurus too..."

Just like everyone before her that heard Zoemi reveal his mastery of the law of Aries, Viola did not believe him at all. Even so, she did have her own take on his capabilities.

"I do not have an ounce of talent in the law of Taurus though?"

"...what...?"

The black-haired man corrected the beautiful woman immediately, which made her stare at him with wide eyes.

"You surely were already told that I only have talent in the law of Aries, the law of Capricorn, and the law of Libra. That's it. Supernova, sixth star, and no star as of yet – in that order."

Zoemi said in an indifferent tone, kind of already bored with people not believing him.

"If it will convince you that I am not joking, we can have a duel. Unless defeating someone like you isn't even worth a place in the Great Ram sect~"

He added with a soft, gentle smile that certainly didn't match up to the meaning of his words.

"...there is no need for a duel, no matter how deserving of a beating you are."

Viola frowned and her face scrunched up as if she smelled something disgusting.

"Here in the Great Ram sect, we have a star chart in our possession. One touch and the truth will be revealed. Follow me, if you are really interested."

She straightened her back and began to turn around on her heel, but not before scoffing and waving her hand at the black-haired man, beckoning him to follow her.

Zoemi stepped forward without the slightest hesitation, leaving the dispirited Alan behind.

"Who is your teacher?"

As the beautiful woman and the devilishly handsome man entered the main building and took the steps down instead of the pompous staircase leading to a higher floor, Viola asked without looking back at Zoemi.

"I already answered that question when your child asked me. I do not have a teacher."

Zoemi answered casually, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Alan was safe, but the young man already went off somewhere else, most likely in his room.

"In that case, where did you manage to get your hands on a star chart so that you could reach the star levels of the laws you claim to have achieved?"

While the stairs down were turning to the left as they were leading them deeper and deeper underneath the main building, Viola asked, sounding a bit off – as if she was holding back with her words.