Out of the hall and in the corridors where Hal projected noise-canceling runes to keep whatever he discussed with Fenrir between them and them alone, the older runemaster fell before him immediately and bowed deeply while taking measure to actually hit his head against the ground a few times.
Hal smiled slightly as he watched this display but said nothing.
Fenrir did not think to attempt to use his status as a Runemaster with a token from the Rune castle to intimidate him. It was why he had been so silent when they were in the hall.
He was smart and rational enough to know that someone of Hal's talents would most probably have more value with the Rune castle than him. And he was centuries younger than him.
He understood that even if they did decide to pursue responsibility and punish Hal for his death, it would not make a difference as he would be dead already.
And finally, he understood that there was something about Hal that was not just dangerous and dark, but also very authoritative. Proven by how he was able to make his body move by a single pseudo-order.
"What's with the over-the-top show of submission?" Hal asked with a smirk.
Fenrir looked up at him,
"Please don't kill me" he said and was actually surprised by the stability of his own voice.
Hal narrowed his eyes and there were quite a few things he thought to say to Fenrir, ranging from how treacherous he was to how he had a hand in the attempt on his life but he found it unnecessary to say any of those things.
His eyes turned nightmarish dark and he slammed his palm against Fenrir's shoulder and branded him with the Devil mark.
"Arrrrggghhhhh" Fenrir yelled all through the process but the sound was canceled out by Hal's rune.
Normally, branding with the Devil mark was a painless and mostly ensnaring process but Hal kicked things up a notch for Fenrir and made sure it was painful.
When it was complete, Fenrir was caught off guard by the sudden cessation of pain. Almost as though he had not felt it in the first place.
Like it was an illusion.
And then came the flooding of information about the mark and the abilities that came along with it which he had not been given permission to use, the implication of being marked by Hal as well as the potential benefits.
"You will stay by Wade's side and the two of you will hold down the fort here. I once acknowledged your wish to simply live the rest of your life comfortably, however, after what you have done, you have lost that right.
I will give you an Astral sense refining technique and you are to refine your Astral sense dedicatedly. You will also cultivate like your life depends on it.
You are not allowed to live the life of ease you wanted. That is your punishment."
With that, Hal deactivated the noise-canceling rune and walked away from the corridor, leaving Fenrir on his knees and his head bowed.
The runemaster took a deep breath and registered that it was impossible for him to even attempt to disobey Hal's orders and he would forever regret his choices.
It was a curious thing.
Hal just gave him an edict with which he would someday become great, an opportunity some really craved but never got, and yet he saw it as a great ordeal.
Something that filled him with regret.
And yet...
...it did not matter if he wanted it or not as that was the order of his life from that moment on.
...
Back in the Hall...
Almost immediately Hal left, Wade told Lucile he would be an investor.
Rather than be satisfied and excited, Lucile frowned instead,
"Why?" She asked skeptically.
Wade looked confused,
"Why what?" He asked.
"Why have you changed your mind?" She clarified.
There was no way in hell Lucile would simply accept Wade's sudden change of heart without an explosive and clear reason why.
For one thing, although she really wanted an investor, she was not yet so desperate that she could not take the time to find other capable men.
Besides, even if she was that desperate, she would simply make use of her superior strength to subdue Wade and make him do her bidding. A feat that would be even easier than normal on account of Wade's defense being more susceptible to attack now.
Wade took a deep breath and decided he might as well tell her, especially since Hal had not said he wished his involvement to remain anonymous,
"It was Hal, He convinced me." He told her.
Lucile's brow flew up in surprise,
"Hal? What did he do?" She asked with disbelief obvious in her tone.
Wade shrugged as best he could while holding back a tirade in his mind on how she was really underestimating Hal and had no idea what a Devil he was,
"He made mentions of some things that just made sense to me. We really solidified our friendship after you left the home grounds. In fact, I don't want to be named part of your business or receive the profits." He said.
"You don't?" Lucile said and Wade nodded,
"No, I don't. Hal will be the one to receive the profits. If there is ever a time your investor is to make an appearance, it should also be him."
Lucile did not believe it one bit that all this was a result of the solidifying of their friendship in her absence. She was an experienced and strong enough expert to know when actions are motivated by fear and a healthy dose of fear. The kind of fear that could double for respect.
This just reiterated to her that there was something more to Hal than meets the eye but she already knew that when he took care of two hundred mutated guards seemingly all on his own.
It was while she was pondering this that Hal walked back unto the hall with a bright smile on his beyond handsome face,
"Where's Fenrir?" Wade asked and there was an undertone to it that told Hal he was hoping to hear the runemaster was dead.
"He's in the corridor processing some things and accepting a new order of life" Hal said out loud before informing Wade of what would now be a sort of partnership between the two in the process of which Fenrir would still mostly defer to the Sheik.
The results of this information were the widening of Wade's eyes while Lucile walked over to Hal and grabbed his elbow,
"I need to speak to you" she said and released his arm to lead the way out of the hall.
Hal followed right behind her while she headed to the residence gardens.
Once they were there, Lucile was silent and merely gazed off into the distance.
Hal was in no hurry and simply waited for her to collect her thoughts.
Eventually, the feline eyed lady sighed and turned to face him with a light smile,
"Why did you do it?" She asked.
Hal shrugged and opted to be direct,
"I remember how you threw a fit when I got that fan for someone else other than you" he said with a slight smile.
Lucile shook her head,
"I didn't throw a fit and I remember telling you I did not need you getting me anything as I can carry my own weight." She said.
"Well, obviously I did not listen even though it might have looked like I did" Hal said.
There was a pause and then Lucile smiled,
"Thank you" she said in a clear voice.
Hal smiled back at her,
"You're welcome. It was nothing really. However, I will like to know what the whole investment is about.
I believe I've earned that" he said.
"I work for a powerful family in the Silva Duchy capital or more accurately I used to work for them. Although work is a loose term as I was mostly a caretaker for their business.
I was practically adopted into the family by the one I call master and had worked for the family for centuries. I enjoyed doing my job and I had actually been able to form connections through it. Connections that kept me well informed.
But that all stopped when a disagreement arose between my master and me and the family.
It was not so huge that they went to war against us, which was fortunate as we could not possibly win, but they did decide to pull out their support. They stopped sponsoring us. They said we were no longer needed.
They even gave us control of the business to prove they were serious. Control they knew was useless since we could not sponsor ourselves. What we have is far from enough.
But I did not want to let it go and to keep it active, I need an investor. Someone who would fork out a large number of blue gems to instill in the business which I now plan to build the way I choose."
"What's the name of the business?" Hal asked.
Lucile smiled fondly as she thought to it,
"Paladin Trade Union."
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