Amani quickly arrived next to Zilan.
“This is my nephew Fujo. I have other things I need to attend to so I’ll leave you in his care.” As he said that he gave Zilan a meaningful smile before walking away.
Seeing this, Zilan couldn’t help but chuckle. There was no reason not to join and even if Amani had a hidden agenda, it probably wouldn’t affect him negatively. At least, that was what his instincts told him.
He then turned to eye the nephew who was half a head taller than him however, before he could introduce himself Fujo suddenly asked him a strange question,
“So, which one?”
“Eh?” Naturally, Zilan was clueless.
“Hehe, which one have you booked? There are so many beauties here and they all have great cultivation talent, it would be good if you marked a few beforehand, that way in the future you and I won’t have to compete. What do you think…great idea right?” Noticing Zilan’s puzzlement, Fujo carefully explained his meaning.
Zilan on the other hand was absolutely stunned.
“This is the so called young master of a great faction in the Gold sector?”
To be able to speak so confidently about a topic that is beneath him so easily was not the most shocking thing. What was crazy was the fact that he did so in a dignified manner and at the end even praised himself.
Zilan dryly coughed twice before stabilising his breathing.
“That’s fine…I don’t have such thoughts in my mind.” After stating that, a young man with rock-like scales all over his body suddenly came into Zilan’s view.
Without thinking, he pointed towards him and asked,
“Who is that?”
Never would he have expected that the reply would not come and instead, Fujo would grab him by the shoulders and say,
“This Brother will definitely not judge you on which doors you wish to walk through, but I won’t be able to forgive myself if I don’t at least tell you how good the warmth of a beautiful woman is. Let me introduce you to some first, then you’ll see that men cannot give you that good feeling……” Fujo continued to talk but the person he was earnestly trying to advice had his mouth wide open, completely flabbergasted.
“He’s an idiot. He’s absolutely, a hundred percent an idiot!”
For Fujo to actually misunderstand and assume that he was interested in men was something, Zilan could not have seen coming nor could he have predicted that the things in Fujo’s mind would be so lecherous.
“Enough.” Barked Zilan before quickly narrating what had happened in the giant cauldron building.
“Ah! So that was why.” Laughed Fujo as he patted Zilan’s shoulders. “Hmm, I didn’t know that goon Ndege had taken on a disciple. Although I don’t recognise him, I can tell he’s also from the Gold sector.”
“Oh. How?” Zilan couldn’t help but ask.
“The Gold badges allow one to sense the nature of others badges as long as we can see them. Father once said that it was designed like that so that people from higher sectors wouldn’t be fooled into associating with people of lower class. Pretty stupid reasoning but quite a handy ability.” Explained Fujo.
“So the gold badges had such abilities. What else can they do?” whispered Zilan.
Fujo, unfortunately heard him and suddenly he wrapped his arm around Zilan’s shoulders.
“Hehe, so what’s your name?”
“Zilan Malaika, fifteen.”
“Oh! I’m sixteen, that makes me your Big bro, hehe….Don’t worry let’s go to the camp quarters and I’ll tell you all about the gold badge.” It was only after speaking to this point that Fujo suddenly noticed Kifo’s presence.
“Eh…Has he been standing so close the whole time.” Fujo didn’t understand how he had not noticed Kifo’s presence despite him sticking close to Zilan.
He wasn’t an arrogant person who completely ignored others, it really was just Fujo not being able to detect Kifo.
“Who are you?” His tone was less friendly as he said those words.
“His name is Kifo, my half-brother.” said Zilan quickly.
Hearing this, Fujo instantly smiled and actually moved to grab Kifo by the shoulders.
“Little Brother Zilan’s brother is also my brother. Mm…to be able to conceal yourself so well, brother Kifo is really talented. Hehe…lets go eat.”
“What is wrong with this family? First, the unusually kind Amani and now this half-idiot, half-carefree young master appears.”
“Why do you and your Uncle take the initiative to approach me?” asked Zilan, this was beginning to look too strange and he needed an answer.
If it was just a simple greeting and then being led to the camp, it would still be acceptable. However, to become brothers with someone far beneath the standards of a Gold sector young master was beyond strange.
Fujo understood Zilan’s meaning and as if contemplating on a difficult matter, stared at him before sighing and saying,
“This is not the place to talk about this. I’ll give you an answer when we reach the camp grounds.”
“Ok.” was all Zilan replied.
…………………
It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the Purple Heart, Two Flames camp. After all, it was only a matter of using the void array set up across the Alchemy Association to teleport there.
Upon arrival, it would be a lie if Zilan didn’t say that he was stunned. The ‘camp’ Fujo spoke of was basically a Castle fortress situated near a mid-sized lake.
There were dozens of armed guards patrolling on the outside. A Fire emblem similar to that of the goat guide could be seen on their armour.
However, there was another symbol alongside it. A purple heart with a dark blue flame above and below it.
Inside, was surprisingly quiet with few people in sight but what managed to catch his eye were the rows of stone buildings all around him, spreading far into the distance.
With just a glance and a sniff, he could tell that the stone buildings had formations placed on them to gather the Universe’s energy.
Aside from the stone buildings, the occasional shop, restaurant and other interesting establishments came into view. They were scattered around the inner area of the Castle fortress.
After walking for some distance and taking in the ‘camp’ before him, four large three story mansions stood before Zilan. Their location was slightly odd, especially since in the middle of the four a Castle that could neither be called excessively large or small could be seen.
Its features were simple and standard, nothing overbearing like the cauldron building. However, at its front three large banners hung, gracefully fluttering in the wind.
The largest one was deep red and had the words, ‘Wazimu Association’ inscribed in beautiful yet imposing characters that most likely were imbued with energy.
The second largest was much more intricate in comparison but lacked the imposing air of the first one. There were a myriad of different creatures painted on the banner, all fighting amongst themselves. However, within the purple sun in the sky a figure of a normal Mountain Lion looking down on the war beneath, like it had nothing to do with it stood out.
Although the imposing air was lacking, the arrogance portrayed in the banner could not be concealed.
The final and smallest banner hanging in the castle was the Purple Heart, Two flames emblem. The same as the ones on the guards armour.
“Lets go inside and eat.” smiled Fujo.
Unsurprisingly, they were headed towards the Castle.
The scene upon entering was quite bustling with a number of unknown people shuffling about, carrying dozens of scrolls around.
It was an amusing sight however, when they noticed Fujo many of them stopped in their tracks and began offering greetings.
“Ah! So young master is back from the Opening Ceremony. Good.” Exclaimed a twenty-something year old practitioner while smiling.
“Young Master is sure to pass the tests easily.” Praised another.
“Hmph! Just passing is nothing for young master, he is definitely going to get first place. Who can compete with him?” shouted someone who really knew how to kiss ass.
Fujo coughed once before waving his hand for them to stop.
The group then proceeded up the stairs and into one of the rooms.
On the floor beneath them the various practitioners were discussing about Zilan.
“Why has the young Master come with a Half Breed?”
“Who knows? The young Master has always been eccentric since he was a boy, maybe he just got intrigued by the Half Breeds appearance and wished to learn more.” stated a middle aged man while stroking his thick beard.
Suddenly a booming voice sounded out from an unknown location, “Get back to work!”
………….
The inside of the room on the first floor was quite large. In fact it was easily the size of two of the stone houses that Zilan saw on the perimeter of the Castle fortress.
“Sit.” Urged Fujo who then turned to a maid standing obediently in the corner. “Fetch some food and drink for us brothers to enjoy.”
“Right away, young Master.” Responded the maid before walking out of the room.
“So?” Seriously eying Fujo, Zilan demanded an answer to his question.
“Sigh~ You might think it’s strange for me to treat you like this but where I am from although, I cannot say its common, it has happened a few times.”
“What do you mean?” wondered Zilan.
“Have you ever heard of the Rising Purple Sun family?”
