Hearing Greg's words, Malia wanted to reassure her brother that he only sorted out his things with his friend, Seron, and nothing else

However, after seeing sadness gleaming in Greg's eyes, she couldn't say so as she suddenly asked herself, if Jason would even return before they would separate.

"W-Will he come back?.... He only went out with his friend."

Mumbling this, Gabriella and Mark also felt that their paths already separated and that it was unlikely to meet Jason for a long time, even if they were unsure why exactly both felt like this.

Nobody said anything and the whole infirmary turned quiet when they heard a sudden announcement.

There has been a crime inside the Arena! Nobody is allowed to leave Cryo-City's arena for the time being. The guards are eligible to use violence against everyone misbehaving or violating the given orders!

This is not a drill...I repeat...This is not a drill!>

Hearing this, everyone was shocked, but thinking about the killing intent intertwined with mana, it was plausible that something out of ordinary happened.

It was illogical that someone released such terrifying mana fluctuations solely to drink coffee with someone else.

*A few minutes earlier*

Max Drake was surrounded by several high-ranked guards still pondering about his ancestor's words, how he acted when while talking to Jason, and he didn't know what to think about all of that.

'Wasn't that too much?!' He thought, thinking that it was fine to ask someone to sign a soul contract as long as the other side agreed to it.

However, forcing Jason into signing a soul contract that was similar to enslaving him, and threatening him to die if he were to reject their offer was not something he imagined to happen in their territory.

He only wanted to observe the Big-Three tournament and fight against Seron and Jason who he felt more comfortable around after they survived the three foreign envoys' arrival in Cyro-City.

Suddenly, the whole arena shock before it was completely enveloped in killing intent intertwined in mana, suppressing him completely.

Barely being able to look up, he noticed that not even his Grandmagus ranked guards were able to stand firmly on the ground.

Max's eyes widened and he wanted to fight against the pressure, only to notice that he was powerless against it, forcing him to bear with it like everyone else.

Unsure what exactly was going on, he thought that it might either be a sudden foreign race attack, or someone from a different big clan trying to scare Astrix citizens.

However, knowing that two sovereign ranks were on Astrix, Max was still able to remain calm, thinking that everything would end soon.

At least that was what he hoped for when he suddenly sensed a bad premonition emerging in his mind.

Max was unsure what exactly was going on but everything that happened during the last few days seemed to be too much of a coincidence.

Not only did Old Drake's behavior change but his father also send two of his closest subordinates with him to Astrix, which was also weird.

An uncomfortable feeling enveloped him and he could only hope that his premonition was wrong.

Several minutes passed until the pressure around everyone inside the Arena disappeared as if it never existed.

However, instead of sighing in relief, Max forced himself to stand up as he rushed towards the office, he was previously at with Old Drake, the sovereigns, Till, and the others.

A few guards followed him with heavy steps, unsure what their young master wanted to do right now and why exactly he acted so weird, as they sensed something weird from the room, Max was about to go in.

Instinctively unsheathing their weapons, the guards followed Max inside the room, only to notice a large hole in the ground before them when they noticed their young master's shocked expression, as he slumped to the ground, whimpering "No.NOOO!!!"

The guards immediately figured out that something was wrong and averted their gaze from Max and the large hole in the middle of the room, as they found Old Drake's dead body leaning against a cracked wall.

Their eyes widened and the guards immediately jumped above the hole to figure out what was going on, as they noticed a deep cut in his abdomen, made by a sharp weapon.

Blood was still spilling out of it, slowly forming a puddle below Old Drake's dead body.

Gulping, they didn't know what to do, and only shock was apparent in their mind as one of the guards subconsciously muttered

"He...is dead"

Turning around, they only noticed Max trying to stand up, with shivering legs as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Jumping above the hole, he slowly approached Old Drake, lifting his trembling hand to touch his ancestor's cold face.

Gritting his teeth, Max could hardly contain himself, and the stream of tears didn't cease for a long time, when he turned towards one guard, instructing him to immediately seal the arena.

"Why.WHY did this happen?" Max asked himself repeatedly, and he couldn't even think clearly as his question changed fundamentally.

His expression twisted, and he furiously growled out "WHO DID THIS??"

Old Drake was the only one in his family Max really liked except his mother because he was kind and caring towards him.

He never pressured him to become stronger and it was extremely shocking to see that he had been murdered.

Just like that, his life ended and Max was unable to comprehend why someone would do something like that to Old Drake.

Despair, wrath, and agony filled Max's entire being and he was unable to hold anything back as his blue eyes turned bloodshot, when he released all emotions that accumulated within him.

He promised himself to find his ancestor's murderer, even if he had to become one himself!

**

Meanwhile, Jason, Till, and Seron were already on their way towards the mana vein, not knowing what happened on the surface, as they Seron explained to Jason everything he had to know.

"I already told you that we have a pact with the Earth Dragons and that I can choose one of the three eggs to form my soulbond contract with, right?"

Nodding his head, Jason was already aware of this fact, even if he was still unable to fully understand if the Earth Dragons had a backbone or if their pride was worthless.

"Okay...what else should you know.Ah! Even if we formed a pact with the Earth Dragon's they don't really adore humans which is not something surprising.

Just don't bother them too much and everything should be fine.

Other than that, you should also know that only the big families are allowed to form a soulbond contract with the Earth Dragons.

This means that even if one of the earth dragon eggs wants to form a soulbond with you, you're not allowed to do so, otherwise, the other big families might start acting.

In that case, it's not unlikely that other big families would force you into submission, and as you should know that is not something anyone wants, or am I wrong?

In the end, there is not really much you have to do, and it would be great if you would just tell me, which one of the two earth dragon eggs with higher mana fluctuations I should choose."

Seron seemed to be extremely happy and he was impatiently waiting to finally arrive at the mana vein, which Jason's mana eyes clearly perceived.

His eyes still hurt when he looked directly into the mana vein, but it was less painful than several months ago when he and the Fler's arrived in Cyro-City.

Right now Jason could already look into the mana vein and his eyes didn't start bleeding as he started to absorb the mana around him slowly which became denser and purer with each meter they came closer to the mana vein.

His eyes began to gleam brightly, and instead of absorbing everything inside his mana core, Jason decided to let the passive mana gathering technique within his sub-area absorb mana inside his mana core, while he actively absorbed mana into his eyes that seemed to have unlimited storage space for mana.

If he had to estimate it, Jason was sure that he could break through multiple levels in a month and it wouldn't even be unlikely to assume that he might enter the Expert rank in only one month with the sheer mass of dense and pure mana he perceived around the outer parts of the mana vein.

Seron was still chatting as if he hadn't talked with anyone for several centuries and that he was now in dire need of someone to talk to, but neither Jason nor Till really listened to him.

While Jason was fully concentrated on his surrounding, and everything he could perceive with his mana eyes, Till's train of thoughts was completely different as he asked himself how he could help Jason to prevent Old Drake or someone else to enslave him with a harsh soul contract, if Shane wouldn't appear to rescue his disciple.

However, seeing Jason's calm expression, Till thought that the youth and Shane are probably capable enough to soul everything alone, without his help.

Thinking about this caused him to smile lightly, as it would truly be a waste to force Jason into submission, shackling down his potential.

Almost three hours passed when they arrived at the bottom of the shaft, and only now was Jason able to see how devastating the mana vein truly was, as his eyes longed for the astronomical mass of mana in front of him.