The silence of the casino vanished as soon as the glasses were filled with wine, an expensive one.

The joyous cackles, regretting sighs, and sounds of raucous machines restarted to invade the ears.

The man in a blank mask looked upward. Two men were before his sight, right at the top of the stairs.

A man of moderate figure with a mask of a Huma Bird and a big, wide man who wore the mask of a Pixiu.

Mr. White looked at Hawk and said, "I would like to have a word or two with Sir Huma Bird."

"Sure, sir, let me assist you," answered Hawk, but he was stopped by Mr. White.

He gently shook his head. "No, no, you may stay here. I’ll go on my own." He stepped towards them.

Max and Thane, who were about to come down, stopped. "Let’s get back to the office, I’ll show you around later," Max said to Thane.

Thane, who was new to all of this, was more like a blind bull, going where the rope takes him. He found this environment confining; the countryside lad was not used to this at all.

The two teens reached the office, and soon a man came as well.

"Good evening, handsome," said Mr. White.

Thane’s eyes widened. He judged the intention of that man.

Max was indeed handsome beyond his peers. But how did that person know Max’s identity? Wasn’t he supposed to hide it? He pondered.

"Haha, good evening, Uncle Johny. That act down there was very filmy of you," Max chuckled.

"Hahaha, not yet, not yet. I haven’t reached your realm of stagecraft. I think your handsomeness played a part in it, doesn’t it?" said Mr. White.

Max waved his left hand and removed the mask with his right. "Come on, Uncle, who sees my face behind this full-face mask? I even heard a man calling me a vulture. I mean... how the fuck can someone mistake a Huma Bird for a goddamn vulture?" That memory threw Max’s good mood away.

"Every normal fucking man would make this mistake," replied Mr. White as he took off his mask.

He was a man with sharp features, middle-aged and light-skinned. One could not avoid glancing at his silky white hair, shining more than it should.

He was clean-shaven, with blue eyes that had a glow like gems.

The other feature that stood out was a cross on his cheek, two lines intersected each others. This man was a Two-Lined Blessed.

That man was no less handsome than Max at all. They would have been in competition if born at the same time. Their manner of speech and style were strikingly similar.

"Oh, Uncle Johny, let me introduce you to someone," said Max as he pointed to Thane and continued. "He is Thane Ironforge, my first-ever friend. He is also applying for the Aspirant Test."

"Hey, you stupid..." Thane became furious the moment his identity was revealed before his eyes. He was perplexed; he didn’t know who that man was.

"Don’t worry, big guy. He is my uncle. John Prada is his name. I call him Uncle Johnny," Max explained.

"Do you trust this strange guy?" asked Thane. He was direct and brutal.

Max looked at him with puzzled eyes. "Yeah, I do. Why do you ask such a question?"

"It was you, dumbass, who told me that your father does not show you his affection, so I guessed that it must be an inheritance issue, as he is no small man but a rich man with massive merchandise.

In other words, a family dispute," Thane spoke.

"Oh, you are not that dumb. That was some nice observation," said Max, his tone admiring.

Thane raised his hand. He was ready to hit him for calling him dumb despite being the one to say it first.

However, he was stopped by the question of John Prada. "Are you the son of Thomas Ironforge?"

"No shit, what do you think?" Thane retorted.

John chuckled. "Haha, you are his copy. The size, the carelessness, and the haughty manner. Just the things that run in Ironforge blood."

"You know my pops?" Thane asked.

John nodded. "Yeah, we are good friends. Say hi to him whenever you go home."

"Tell him yourself. I’m not going back there," said Thane.

"Oh god, why? Tell me the reason?" asked John playfully.

Thane didn’t reply. He looked at Max and spoke. "I don’t trust this guy. He gives off some negative vibes."

Max looked at John and then turned his gaze to Thane and spoke. "He is not my paternal uncle. He is the elder brother of my deceased mother.

He is the one who took care of me when my father couldn’t. Without him, I would’ve been dead long ago."

"Shush, don’t say such depressing things," John stopped him. He couldn’t hear such words about his only nephew.

Thane saw it all. He was not that smart, but there was something in Thane that rarely others have. Instincts. And now those instincts told him this man with white hair genuinely cared for Max.

He took off his Pixiu mask as well. "Well, I’ll trust you for Max, but you still give me negative vibes. Remember that."

John laughed. "I will remember it word for word."

Max stretched his back and interrupted them. "Uncle, what about the test?"

"Oh yeah, shit, I almost forgot. Ehm." He cleared his throat and continued. "This year’s test, like usual, is divided into two parts.

One is strat... but wait." He stopped in the middle and started to ponder for a moment before continuing.

"Why is the kingdom suddenly so concerned about the academies and armies, to the point where the King allowed peasants to be selected in the academy?

That means even lowborns can become army officers, bureaucrats, and eventually order the nobles around."

A quick but necessary question that John thought he must ask.

"Because nobles are weak, maybe," answered Thane. Simple and short, but not necessarily correct.

John smiled at him. "Very good, you should become a strategist."

He looked at Max after saying that. He expected a chuckle from his nephew, but he found him lost in thought.