豆豆小说阅读

The commotion outside attracted the attention of everyone inside and outside the mansion. Within moments, about a hundred people had assembled in the destroyed courtyard. All of them were carrying weapons assuming the worst but when the dust settled down all of them lowered their weapons except the mercenaries.

They saw Ashton flat on his back and couldn\'t believe what they were seeing. After all, no one had been able to take him down till now, at least, not that they know of. In their eyes, Ashton was being attacked by the dwarf, but none of them rushed to help Ashton.

Firstly, because they were wondering if interfering would even do anything good or not. And secondly, because they worried about upsetting their client anymore.

"What is going on here?" A loud feminine voice echoed through the courtyard.

Natalie, Eula\'s mother was the first to voice everyone\'s thoughts. Her voice was filled with authority and arrogance. However, as soon as she saw Thori, she immediately knelt down, followed by her family and servants. Her red hair flailed behind her as she bowed before Thori.

Just like Eula, Natalie was a beauty queen in her own right. It was hard to believe she was roughly a century old when she looked like someone who had just crossed her 30s.

"Elder Thori, my apologies for not noticing you before," Natalie mumbled, her eyes staring at Thori\'s feet, "Please tell me who is responsible for your anger and I\'ll deal with them myself!"

"Relax kiddo, this human had quite a unique weapon. So I asked him to have a short friendly spar with me. Nothing more." Thori smiled, "Also get up, it doesn\'t suit the matriarch of the family to kneel before a lowly servant like myself. As for you..."

​ Thori stepped off of Ashton\'s hand before offering him a hand to get up. Ashton barely touched the hand and was immediately pulled back to his feet. Thori had to have an enormous amount of strength to pull Ashton like a twig. It was a shame Ashton couldn\'t view Thori\'s stats either.

"Please, elder, do not refer to yourself as a servant." Natalie mumbled, her eyes still on the ground, "My family is protected, thanks to your blessings and creations. If anything, we should be the ones to serve you."

Thori shook his head accepting his defeat. Even though he had served the family for years, none of the matriarchs ever treated him like a servant. He was always treated with an unnecessary amount of respect. something he didn\'t like at all. The respect he was shown was more than someone like him deserved.

"Is something wrong? I can see an awful amount of useless people carrying weapons around."

Thori\'s comment made the guards grind their teeth. His words were harsh, but Ashton knew everyone single one of it was the truth. Their numbers might be sufficient to stop low-grade invaders, but in the eyes of an A or a B-grade being, they were nothing more than insects. Therefore, in the eyes of someone like Thori, they were more like unicellular organisms.

"My daughter... was threatened by some terrorists, elder." Natalie sounded as if she was ashamed to admit it, "To ensure her protection, we had to-"

"Someone threatened the family? That\'s the first time I have heard of something this absurd." Thori scoffed, "Instead of finding those bastards and killing them, you decided it was best to hide like rodents?"

"..."

Thori looked around and kept shaking his head. The disappointment on his face was as clear as the sky above. Unlike the last time he had been out of the forge, a lot of things had changed. The family he had been serving could not stand the test of time and had gotten considerably weaker.

Had it not been for the relics he bestowed upon them, the family would have lost its influence a long time ago. But even now, they were only hanging on to it by a thread. No one explained this to Thori, he was intelligent enough to deduce it by himself.

"These defences wouldn\'t hold off a threat." Thori mumbled while playing with his hammer, "It\'s a good thing I came out of the forge when I did or else the family would end up getting wiped out."

Once he finished looking around, Thori ordered everyone, "Gather all the materials you can and put them outside the forge. I\'ll show you lousy asses how to construct instruments of maximum defence."

All of the servants and guards bowed and rushed to do as they were told. In the meantime, Ashton realised that Thori couldn\'t possibly be the Phantom. There had to be another reason for his name to be hidden.

It was a harsh and hasty move to ask the man directly about it since the name was obviously hidden for a reason. But neither Ashton had the time or the patience to beat around the bush. In order to quell his suspicion, he had to take care of the elephant in the room as soon as possible.

However, before Ashton could say anything, Thori gestured for him to keep silent and follow him. A moment later, they were headed towards the forge. Natalie\'s and Eula\'s mouths were left hanging as they saw a stranger enter the forge.

Even the family members were not allowed to step a foot inside the thing because Thori did not like it. That was also the reason why Thori told them to put the materials outside the forge and not inside. Yet he allowed a complete stranger to accompany him inside? Something was off.

"Eula, you said there was something special about the man, didn\'t you?" Natalie quietly asked her daughter.

"Yes mother, he had \'her\' scent all over him. She has likely accepted him as her mate." Eula coldly responded.

"I see... if your senses are correct, then he is an important asset for us." Natalie smiled, "His connection with \'her\' might be the thing we have been waiting for. As soon as you are off the planet, get close to the man and locate the Clan-Diety. You must not fail this task no matter what."

"As you wish, mother..."