Marcus still stood at the gate with a furious glare on his face, even as Maney and his entourage had long left the area.
However, because Marcus could still sense their auras, he remained where he was, not willing to show the tiniest form of nervousness or laxity.
He wanted them to sense his wrath, even if he couldn't make them feel it.
Although the success rate of that couldn't be measured, he had at least made all of them wary.
At least, for the upcoming days, they would hesitate to make any unfavorable moves.
By the time they had gone far enough for him not to sense anything, Marcus still didn't relax.
At this point, Brown and the rest of his knights had already gotten up from the floor.
Traces of shame were etched on the corners of their eyes, ashamed by their own weakness and how they were unable to withstand the auras of their enemies.
It was one thing to die before your liege, and another to fall before him.
This encounter created a big issue within their hearts that they were all aware couldn't be resolved until either they died, or the ones who brought this upon them, died.
Tit for tat.
Seeing the straight back of their governor, and how his aura continued to flare out even after their opponents had left, this further increased the shame and guilt in their hearts.
Joshua and Brown, the strongest amongst their ranks, felt the most guilt.
None of them could utter a word to Marcus and they all stood behind him with their heads down.
Unfortunately for them, Marcus was unaware of their actions and feelings at the moment.
Although he was standing tall and strong, on the inside, he was exhausted.
Letting his aura flare this way was a waste of Mana and mental energy.
Moreover, his opened Pulses were starting to ache from the way he was utilizing them. And yet, he still didn't dare to falter.
Not until he saw what he had been waiting for.
[+25000 Achievement Points.]
[+1000 days.]
[New Title: Unprecedented Oddity.]
[Special Physical Path: Blood Bane Arts.]
[Bonus Achievement Points +1000.]
…
[Name: Marcus Sirdi.]
[Age: 24.]
[Level: 2 (Mage), (Sage).]
[Race: Human.]
[Mana: 3100.]
[Titles: Lord With A Will (Lv2). Unprecedented Oddity (Lv0)]
[Pathfinder: Will 50/52. Strength 100/100. Dexterity 120/120.]
[Achievement Points: 29435.]
[Arcane Knowledge Learned (Lv2). Advanced Technological Knowledge Learned (Lv2). Body Modification Knowledge Learned (Lv2). Futuristic technological Knowledge Locked.]
[Redo: 2.]
[Days Left: 50 months (1506 days)]
…
The moment Marcus saw this, he knew that his bluff had truly succeeded.
He exhaled heavily and quickly closed his Pulse points with difficulty.
Subsequently, his aura retreated and the tension around him vanished.
Marcus's vision darkened for a few seconds, during which he felt dizzy and nauseated, however, he forced himself to remain standing.
Your men are right behind you, don't show them such a weak sight.
He silently chided himself as he fought back the crippling urge to pass out and swallowed back the blood that choked his throat.
What he faced was beyond him, and how he faced it was even riskier.
The pressure that Maney unleashed on him had given him a good number of internal injuries. Even at this point, his organs were churning.
After almost a minute had passed, Marcus was finally able to completely hide the repercussions of his actions.
It was at this point that he focused on the details on his interface.
The first thing that amused Marcus was the bonus Achievement Points. This was the first of its kind.
His gaze traveled past his new title and little increase in his Will stats before focusing on the Blood Bane Arts.
With just a thought, more information about it appeared before him.
…
[Blood Bane Arts: When ancient humanity knew nothing of the mysteries of the world, the bottom of the food chain, paths of survival were sought and Blood Bane Arts was found.
Using the blood essence of beasts to stimulate the hidden powers within the blood of the human body, opening up the inner mind to the beastiality of the corpse, one can achieve a body that ocean waves would fail to break.
This Art has no known limits regarding level. The stronger the Beast, the stronger the blood essence, the better the progress would be seen.
The barrier to entry is low, anyone with the will can practice this Art.
Would you like to learn?]
…
Reading all of this made Marcus's mind feel a bit overstimulated.
With this Art, wouldn't it be even easier for me to increase the number of capable Knights under my command?
He wanted to be happy, but the weight of the events that led up to this didn't let that happen freely.
Nonetheless, his rational side remained untouched.
Blood essence of Beasts… getting the blood isn't an issue, but such an Art, shouldn't there be a downside to practicing it?
The place where many Beasts lay, Dawn, was just less than an hour away.
All they had to do was hunt them down and retrieve their blood essence. So this was no problem for Marcus.
However, the latter part…
A painful pang of headache assaulted his mind as he was thinking, forcing him out of his thoughts
Marcus hissed lightly and rubbed his temples.
"Milord?" That was when Joshua spoke up, calling the young lord's attention to their presence.
Marcus turned around and looked at his knights. The dust on their armor and faces alongside the fact that none of them could meet his gaze.
All of this quickly helped him to understand what was going through their minds.
Marcus didn't know whether he should be grateful or embarrassed him self.
"Why have you all hung your heads?" He asked.
But none of them could answer. This smear on their pride didn't let them.
"Why do you all look as though there was something that you could have done? Do you realize what we have just done?"
"Do you understand that we just stood against two Tier 1 Beings?" He added with a proud tone.
Although, he too didn't understand the gravity of what he had just accomplished. Neither did he truly know what a Tier 1 Being meant.
However, this was a ruse to boost the confidence of his men, so Marcus wasn't going to skimp on compliments or exaggerations.
And indeed, it worked a bit.
His knights exchanged looks and a few of them whispered.
"What's a Tier 1 Being?"
Marcus chuckled.
"The pressure you felt from Maney, that's a Tier Being. A level of power above that of conventional levels of knights that we generally know." He explained.
The ignorant preaching to the even more ignorants.
Marcus mocked himself lightly.
"In other words, even if you were at the peak of Knighthood, a Void-level Knight, you would still have been forced to succumb to his pressure."
"But, if the difference is that much, how were we able to survive?" Brown asked, confused by Marcus's explanation.
"Yes," the other knights said.
"And you were able to withstand the pressure, Milord, have you secretly reached the level of a Tier 1 Being or are you close enough?" Gerald asked.
Marcus' headache increased after receiving these questions. He sighed internally.
"No, I'm not that strong. The only reason we were able to survive is because of the Sirdi name. Maney and Cassir were scared of harming us because they were unaware of which of my father's loyal followers had been tasked with watching over me."
He lied.
Or at least, partially.
Marcus had long understood, from his previous encounter with Cassir, that his father had done something that scared a lot of people.
Even Tier 1 Beings weren't spared.
Upon saying this, the weight on the shoulders of his knights lessened a bit.
But they still felt some shame.
"What has made you my knights?" Seeing that his words had little effect on their emotions, he asked this.
And almost instinctively, they all fell to one knee and replied; "Our wish to serve the lord viscount! We will remain loyal to the lord viscount until death breaks the oath! Such is our way!"
"And that loyalty you have shown today!" Marcus said. "In the face of overwhelming power, you stood by your liege, even when you had no strength to. None of you gave in to fear, and for that I am proud of you! For that, I am grateful to have such knights under me!"
"While your strength means a lot to me, your actions and your loyalty matter even more. So rise to your feet my knights, rise with honor and rid yourself of that undeserved shame!"
In sync, they all rose to their feet before saluting Marcus by hitting their chest plates, right above their hearts, two times.
Marcus nodded his head lightly and smiled.
"While the battle has been postponed, we shall spend the rest of our time growing our strength and numbers. My knights, you have not failed me, and will not fail you."
"Return to your posts and remain alert. Organize our people and make sure that nothing goes wrong. When I'm done, I'll be out with more orders."
With that being said, Marcus left for his mansion. He walked with calm steps and an adequate pace.
But by the time he gently closed the door of his bedroom, he collapsed on the floor, vomiting the blood he had been suppressing.