The past few days had been far from easy on Letty. Countless Lords and powerful users had come to meet the Solitary Sword Sovereign, yet he was missing; thus, Letty had to entertain the guests until Will arrived. The majority of the guests had little patience and quickly left in foul moods because Letty could not provide a reasonable explanation for Will's unavailability. It was as if Will had disappeared. Although he must still be alive because she had her Regent abilities, Letty was growing worried.

Within a large conference room, Letty entertained a large batch of guests dressed in black suits complemented by imposing demeanors. Two people led them: a middle-aged man who was clearly not a fan of shaving and a masked gentleman who never spoke despite the others constant respectful glances demonstrating his importance. Will had informed her that he was on his way, so she had gathered the most important guests in this conference room.

Letty only knew the identity of the bearded man, the Lord of The Silverton Alliance where Will's school was located. Ever since the Lord had arrived, he had refused to explain the reason for his visit, saying he would only do so when Will arrived.

The man did not have a pleasant reputation. He was known for being very lustful and violent. Whatever he wanted he got; if one resisted, their only fate was death.

Silverton was a man who did not shy from revealing his power. He exuded a majestic aura of wherever he went like a lone mountain towering above all other existences. Everywhere he went, he held the center of attention.

He had expected that Letty would treat him in a certain manner, but he was surprised. She was polite to him as he was a Nation Lord, but she was far from tip-toeing on eggshells in his presence. The same could not be said for the two entourages. Except for the masked man, everyone else dreaded him, and he loved it.

'As expected of the infamous untouchable guide. Just what did Solitary do to win her over?'

Silverton did little to hide his lustful gaze as he gazed at Letty's body, causing her to shiver in her heart. She was not afraid of him, but her innate disgust made her uncontrollably react.

With a creak of the wooden door, a new entry arrived. He wore a simple white robe with a snow white sheath encasing his sword. A glove adorned his left hand and had socks with his sandals. His striking white hair and his perfect brown skin made him look like a bronze war machine. Will had entered.

"Sorry for being late, guys. I had some serious business to take care of, but you now have my full attention."

Will sat at the head of the table and reclined his chair, resting his feet on the table. This was clearly a provocation, but Silverton merely laughed while the masked man did, as usual, nothing.

A woman wearing glasses stood up behind Silverton. "Lord Solitary, we are here to represent the Dragonheart Empire in welcoming you to our nation."

Letty and Will both raised a brow. They had not expected the empire to make contact in such a manner after Will had clarified his intentions on joining them.

"Lord Silverton is the head of the vassals of the empire within the immediate area. He, along with Lord Sicario, have come to welcome you and discuss certain terms with you."

"Terms of surrender, I suppose?" Will lazily spoke.

The lady nodded. "After you become a part of the Dragonheart Empire, Lord Silverton will become your immediate superior. As is custom in our organization, you must battle a representative from the capital of the empire for us to ascertain your true power. If you fail to meet the standard, you might be asked to relinquish control of the city for the sake of the empire. It is for this reason that Lord Sicario is present."

Letty and Will were prepared for such and not surprised. Letty had quite the information network, so she had already informed Will of what happened when a lord surrenders to the Dragonheart Empire. First, a curse would be placed on you that ensured your loyalty. Second, you would battle a representative from the capital. If you are weak, you would be stripped of your power. If you were strong, they might even present you with more power, but this was extremely rare.

The woman then brought out a pitch black pill with a dragon insignia that released a dreadful and ominous aura. "In order for us to begin, Lord Solitary has to ingest this." There was no explanation, no information, nothing. Just a command: eat this. In a world filled with strange things, who knew what damage something like this could cause.

Will sneered, "If I say no?"

The woman adjusted her glasses and looked toward Silverton who had been playing with the breasts of a woman sitting next to him. In response to Will's words, he touched the table. Within seconds, the entire table had frozen over. A dense killing intent wafted over to Will. This was not true intent, but instinct that told Will, 'If you resist, you die.'

"Thank you, Lord Silverton." the woman said, fear evident in her eyes. Silverton grunted and made out with the woman he was molesting as if he did not have a single care in the world. Will's level was far too low for him to give a damn about his existence. All he wanted to do was get this over with, so he could go and have fun.

Will sighed and signaled for the woman to give him the pill. She approached and handed it to him as if it were a delicate explosive. Will marveled the pill for a second before throwing it into his mouth without hesitation.

It melted as soon as it entered his body, turning into a dark formless energy that headed straight for his heart. Will snickered in his mind because he was far too familiar with what this was. This was Intent!

'Trying to poison me with intent? Bitch, please.'

The energy went straight for his heart, but Will was long prepared. Another formless energy guarded his heart. As soon as the dark intent contacted this energy, it was engulfed. Will was prepared for the empire's methods due to knowledge from Letty warning him.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Lord Solitary. What you just swallowed was an enslavement pill. So long as you perform any act detrimental to the empire in any way, the poison will destroy your heart. The poison is made from a unique undetectable energy. His Majesty Dragonheart encourages those brave enough to attempt to remove the poison. If one succeeds, there will be much to be gained. But do be careful, accidents might occur along the line." The woman said.

'Dragonheart is looking for people who can use intent. An impressive method, but when it comes to intent, you still have much to learn.'

The woman was happy that nothing had gone wrong so far. Plenty of lords would refuse to take the pill, resulting in many blood baths occurring. This pill was one of the reasons why the empire had expanded so quickly.

"Now, Lord Sicario will test your battle prowess and other skills to determine your position in the empire. Please follow us outside."

The entourage left the room, baffling Will and Letty. Weren't they the hosts?

Once again Will marveled at how domineering the empire was. He was not a fan of taking orders, but circumstances had dictated otherwise. The group exited the skyscraper and walked to a desolate area. They arrived at what seemed to be a small, run-down stadium. The woman raised her hand for everyone to stop and bowed toward the masked man, "Lord Sicario if you please."

The masked man stepped forward while flexing his body. At that instant, a mad current of World Energy entered the masked man's body. The nearby area shook a little while the masked man's aura shot through the roof. Even Silverton stopped fooling around and had a serious expression on his face. A trace of fear appeared in his eyes. It was clear who of the two lords representing the empire was stronger.

"Ha!"

With a shout, the man slammed his palm into the pavement, spreading mana through the surroundings. Soil gathered at a speed visible to the naked eye, forming a mini-mountain. Within seconds, the mini-mountain transformed into a pyramid. Will whistled. The sheer density of the mana used to create this pyramid awed him. In that instant, Will realized an important fact. He had no chance against the masked man, especially if it was a long range battle.

"Destroy that," the masked man monotoned. Letty gulped at his words. If it was an ordinary earthen pyramid, Will would find it easy, but the energy packed within that pyramid made it harder than steel. She was not from Earth and was born within the system; thus she was all too familiar with what was required to complete the deed.

Will had just passed the level 50 threshold, yet he was now required to break a mass created by a mage who was at least level 100, not to mention it had taken the mage time to gather energy and create this mass: the more time someone had to prepare, the more powerful the outcome, especially for mages.

Will could not help but frown when he saw the pyramid. His aqua sense had informed him just how formidable that big block of soil was. Even Silverton was pondering how on earth he would destroy that. Silverton had also taken a similar test, but it was nowhere near this difficult.

'This kid is unlucky. The empire wants to use this city as an entry point into the country, so it is extremely valuable to them. The lord stationed here would have to be someone who would not lose the territory to anyone nearby, including myself.'

Silverton quietly mused. Will sighed and started walking toward the huge mass. Under Modus's guidance, Will had learned a thing or two about formless water intent, but he had yet to come up with a way to use it as an attack. Thus, he planned to use this pyramid to test some of his theories!