No one in the office had expected things to get this far out of hand. Shasha sighed in resignation while the usually calm Kenshin even raised a brow due to the surprise he was feeling. Never would he have expected such a thing to occur.

“Bitch, do you doubt me when I say that the next time a hand touches you within this office will be the day your pointless life ends?” said Bastian with a devilish smile. Tino barely had any time to process what had happened when Bastian’s words assailed her ears. She could barely believe what had happened.

As expected of him, I barely saw him coming. He has been hiding his true strength this whole time. He clearly planned this ahead of time. I have to tread carefully in his presence from now on.

“No, I do not doubt your words.” Tino's looked toward Bastian, and her eyes clearly showed that she saw him in a new light.

“Good, now leave the office. You have your mission.” Bastian waved his hand as if an annoying fly was in his way. Tino left the office swiftly, for she had no doubt in her mind, that Kai would slap her again.

Earlier on Bastian had told Kai to slap Tino at the former's signal. Kai had told Bastian that Tino had an ability to swap locations with any of her clone, and that she was constantly doing so every second, so there was no guarantee that they would hit the real Tino. Kenshin however gave his word that he would be able to discern whether or not she was a clone.

The only person in this room who was able to slap her was Kai, and so long as he moved without killing intent, Bastian was knew she would not be able to sense him. No one really knew her cultivation level, but Kai definitely knew it was far beneath his. He had tried to attack her before but Bastian had argued that she had been able to sense his attack coming due to the killing intent Kai released whenever he was about to move on her.

Kai did admit to intentionally letting this happen, but this was to insure that in the future if he did intend to strike her she would see it coming, Kai was not sure how much weaker she was than him so he was cautious. After what happened today however, he was confident that she was at least an entire realm below him, for when he slapped her his slap was laced with energy meant to burden her. A simple slap would not do much to her, but a slap from a super expert like Kai was a different story.

Shasha was curious as to why the slap was necessary and so was Kai, but after he slapped her he couldn’t care less, because to him it felt good.

“I was just testing something young master, just testing something.” said Bastian when he was asked why he wanted her slapped. From his tone Shasha could tell that Bastian would not dwell much on the topic so he let go.

“Alright gentlemen, lets discuss our plan of action for the next few months.” said Bastian with a clap, excitement brimming from his entire being.

There is no doubt about it. That bitch knows I'm the one who figured her out!

…

At night just before he was about to sleep on a desk within the library, Bastian once more found himself in front of Li.

“You know, a warning would be nice every once in a while.” said Bastian with a pout.

“My apologies young hero, it’s just that I have news for you.” said Li with a nearly non-existent smile.

“Go on then.”

“The woman who brought you here, to the eastern islands was a working for me.”

“I already know that old man”

“Really? How”

“If you tell me why you picked this particular island and when she will take me back then we can move on to answering that question of yours”

Li was surprised, sure there was a possibility that Bastian could have guessed, but what made him so confident that Owami had been operating under Li's orders? Bastian looked quite confident when he said these words, so Li doubted that he was putting up a front.

“Then I am afraid that we have come to an impasse. Just know that she will take you back once the situation that side has cleared. Your awakening caused quite the stir in the cultivation world of mortals, so you need to relax here for a while longer.”

Bastian could not help but frown. He had but the consequences of his awakening at the back of his mind, but now he had no choice but to think. He shuddered when he remembered the sheer size of the footprint, a footprint belonging to a creature that had supposedly come from inside him.

“Anyway, what news do you have?”

“Straight to the point I see. Very nice. Anyway that woman's name is Owami, and if you see her in the future do not fret. She will be there to make sure that no being from our enemies have any plans for you outside what is agreed upon for all Mark Bearers.”

“Our enemies? I don’t remember sharing enemies with a man who uses the word mortals.”

“Ehem. My mistake, my enemies are essentially now your enemies. Investors are not allowed to interfere with the successors of other investors, however some will not adhere to that rule. At the moment no investor knows your location so you are safe, but once you come of age a storm will come, so my advice is get stronger as quickly as possible, Owami has her own objective and cannot baby sit you forever.