The destruction of Silent Death Organizations' branch in Wrihull City soon spread in the entire Kingdom.
Such information couldn't possibly be kept hidden for long.
The entire Kingdom was talking about how Marquis Jonas had suddenly destroyed the Silent Death Organization's branch as a show of power.
But the other Noble House knew that the situation was not as simple as it seemed. Whenever Jonas took action, there was a precise reason for it. He was never one to act impulsively on such a grand scale.
Each Noble House sent their spies to find the details regarding this incident. If possible, they wanted to reap some benefits along the way as well. But more importantly, it would allow them to gain deeper insight into what occurred between Jonas and the Silent Death Organization.
The King had also released a statement within his spies and other informants. They were to find an Elf at all costs. He further added that she had stolen something of great importance and it was absolutely necessary to capture her and bring her to the Palace. Whoever accomplished the task would be allowed to choose a treasure of their own choosing from the Treasure Palace.
The King had already rewarded Jonas with a Treasured Spear named Stormedge, Soul of Storms. Jonas had his eyes on this Spear for quite some time and was thankful to the King.
Using this Spear, his combat ability had increased greatly.
This spear possessed one ability that Jonas urgently required. The wielder of this spear would be immune to all illusions.
Jonas kept the knowledge about the Royal Elf hidden from the rest of the group. The info about the Royal Elf was known only to the King, Jonas, the Lightning King Alred, and a few of the King's loyal acquaintances.
Jonas and the King didn't want the other Noble Families to catch wind of this information. If they joined in as well, it would be difficult for the Royal Family to grab hold of the target.
Naturally, this meant that Jonas hid this information from his harem as well.
However, Azaroth still managed to deduce that Jonas had found out about Laura's true identity. Moreover, he had given up on trying to find her and had already informed the king in return for a reward.
These were his guesses from the information he received from Josephine. But soon, his guesses turned into facts as he heard the King's new orders to Sean and Gibson.
They had been tasked to find an Elf in the area and immediately report it.
Even after learning that the King had started looking for Laura, Azaroth remained composed.
'The King has no lead on Laura's location. Even if he finds a shaman, it won't lead him to this town. However, I still need to remain cautious. Maybe it's time to fix their residence to a little more in the outskirts of the town.'
~~
The training of Azaroth's retainers had ended soon enough. The one who had destroyed the most minions in the array was Noah.
The second-ranked person was Sargan.
Third-ranked was Laura.
The fourth-ranked was Ralph.
The fifth-ranked was Yrellea.
The last place was Tiana with just 3 kills.
A massive amount of energy was sent into their body according to the results gathered in the array and each one of them spent half an hour assimilating it.
This energy not only increased their cultivation but also healed their bodies back to full health.
Noah's body absorbed so much energy that he easily broke through the 2 Star Rank. Sargan had recovered his 3 Star Rank Cultivation because of the energy absorbed by him.
Ralph had reached a peak 2 Star Rank while there was not much change in Laura, Yrellea, and Tiana's cultivation.
Each one was feeling differently about this training array.
Noah wasn't happy even though he had done much better than his comrades. He looked largely unsatisfied as he felt that he could have done much better.
Sargan had a calm expression as he was analyzing the entire battle. He wondered where he had to improve next.
Laura was just delighted to know that she wasn't last this time. She felt confident in dealing with those Lava Plumes next time much quicker.
Ralph was confused as he thought back to his time in the array. He felt as if he had done his best yet it wasn't enough. He reached the conclusion that he needed to remain calm.
Yrellea and Tiana were somewhat dissatisfied but for different reasons. Yrellea was frustrated because those Lightning Snakes were hard to defeat with her water attribute.
While Tiana didn't know how to use her element so she couldn't fight back at all. She was frustrated about her lack of ability to fight.
Azaroth soon appeared before each of them and gathered them in his personal training ground.
He looked at their expressions, their emotions, and guessed their thoughts.
Meanwhile, his retainers observed him as well.
Yrellea wondered as she laid her eyes on Azaroth 'Did he get even more handsome?' She found out that she couldn't move her eyes away from his body.
Her heart was beating rapidly and when she looked at Laura, she noticed a similar blush on her face.
These were the effects of Absolute Beauty!
"The levels of this elemental training regimen were designed while keeping your cultivation and potential in mind. I am sure you must have noticed that after you defeat a batch of these minions, the next ones will be trickier to defeat."
"Yes. I felt as if I had to change my plan every time I encountered a new wave." Laura spoke unhappily. She had to trouble her mind to think of a new plan while dealing with a new wave.
Sargan added, "As we kill more waves, the minions begin to perform individually while also coordinating their attacks with each other. That is when it becomes really difficult to take out even one of them."
Azaroth then looked at Noah and found out he wasn't speaking.
"Don't you have anything to say, Noah?" Azaroth asked him with a smile.
"...I will beat them all the next time," Noah said as he raised his head and peered into Azaroth's eyes.
The smile on Azaroth's face widened slightly and he nodded in satisfaction, "Good. This is the confidence I needed to hear."
He then regained a solemn look and added, "You will train in this Elemental Array next week. In this time, master the skills you can and form more attack patterns. This elemental array training isn't just so you can increase your Ardor but more so that you can enhance your combat experience."
"Alright. Everyone but Yrellea and Tiana can disperse now."
Everyone except Yrellea and Tiana left the area.
Yrellea was nervous. She thought Azaroth was perhaps disappointed by her lack of ability and planned to reprimand her.
She looked at Tiana and noticed how she was still rather calm.
Azaroth first talked to Yrellea, "I understand the issue you faced in your training. Firstly, you aren't used to flying, and secondly, the lightning is the bane of your element. Isn't that right?"
Yrellea slowly nodded her head.
Azaroth smirked and replied, "The first point is merely your inexperience. As you fly more in the array, you will grow better at it. However, it's absolutely rubbish to think that Lightning is the bane of Water."
"Let me tell you a secret. Water is the bane of Lightning. Pure Water that is…" Before Yrellea could ask him what he meant, Azaroth ordered her, "Think about it deeply and you will have your answer. You can leave now."
Yrellea couldn't remain behind now that she had been dispersed.
Finally, it was Azaroth and Tiana who remained behind.
"I did ask you to defend yourself. It's good that you learned to use Ardor defensively." Azaroth spoke.
Tiana neutrally replied, "It wasn't as hard as I initially thought. Also, the gravity array training helped me in dodging the attacks."
"Remaining on defense isn't a bad idea. Especially when you have no way of attacking. Among everyone, perhaps you are the only one who understands this perfectly because of your lack of skill."
"However, what if you gain the ability to attack as well." Azaroth looked at Tiana with a smirk.
Tiana saw his smirk and somehow had the urge to ask him a question, "Why did you heal me and then get me here, training me with others?"
"Because you possess a rare talent and a subordinate with your talent is valuable," Azaroth replied without even batting an eye.
Azaroth noticed that Tiana didn't seem convinced with this explanation.
He decided to add more context, "In reality, my original plan was to heal you and hypnotize you into my slave. You were supposed to become my eyes in the Rhodes Manor. However, when I noticed that you possess the Three Yin Physique, I decided that it would be better for me to train you and get a subordinate with good talent."
Tiana's eyes widened at the revelation. She asked him anxiously, "Does that mean you will hypnotize me if I disobey your orders?"
Azaroth began to laugh, "You worry unnecessarily. If I wanted to hypnotize you, I would have done it already. But still, do remember that the price of disobeying me isn't falling under my hypnosis skill but death."
In actuality, Azaroth would have used the hypnosis talent on Tiana by now, but it had a significant disadvantage.
If he forced her spirit under his control, her cultivation talent would be greatly reduced. No matter how great her physique, it would turn average because of the submissive spirit.
Also, he wanted an individual as a subordinate, not a puppet. He wasn't against having puppets but they were clearly not ideal for battle. They had their own jobs they were good at.
Josephine was one such individual. Azaroth didn't require her combat ability at all. Her only job was to gather intel and act normally in the Rhodes Mansion.
Tiana's thoughts began to recall Azaroth's final statement. She was now much more terrified of Azaroth.
Azaroth noticed her emotions and spoke soon, "As I said earlier, you worry unnecessarily. Thinking about the consequences won't help you. Just remain focused on following the orders."
Once Azaroth was done speaking, he ordered her to return as well.
'I need to personally intervene and quicken their pace.. Perhaps it will be better to teach Tiana and Noah how to use their elements.'