Birth Of The Crafts-God
Chapter 350 - 350: Past

The Central Prefecture district of Baylands City was not just the city's capital, but the city-state's centre as well. All top factions and forces within the city had a base there. This was especially so for the top four families who had their estates located here.

In the Mertens family estate, Russell Mertens —the head of the Mertens family— had just been briefed by the family's representatives in the Cabinet. The Mertens family had five representative slots in the Cabinet, and all five were allotted to loyal members of the family.

Unlike the other families, Russell didn't hand out representative slots to his siblings; in the first place, he had no siblings. Instead, these slots were given to those who expressed sincere loyalty to him and had devoted themselves to the Mertens family. This was why the Mertens family were quickly able to rise from fourth place to third during his reign.

"So, the cabinet premier decided to reschedule the decision-making assembly until two days from now. That's not bad, but this won't do." Russell frowned as he rapped the table.

Just then, a knock sounded on his door following which a man's voice could be heard.

"Sir, you have a guest."

Russell was surprised by the report of his butler. The man knew better than to contact Russell during this time as the latter had informed him that he would be in a meeting. For the butler to ignore that notice and still notify him of the presence of another implied that the visitor was anything but an ordinary guest.

"Who is it?" Russell asked.

"It's Lord Ross." The butler responded.

There could only be one 'Lord Ross' and that was the head of the Ross family, the leader of a top four organisation who was practically on the same level as Russell.

"Let him in." Russell said while he waited.

Half a minute later, a man walked into the study. He appeared like a middle-aged man but gave off a younger air compared to Russell. The man had a fit body, almost like an athlete, but wasn't burly. He had jet-black hair and a goatee with a cold face.

The middle-aged man was Henrik Ross, an eighth level Apertures Opening stage stellar practitioner and the head of the Ross family.

"It's been a while, Ice man." Henrik broke out a smile.

'Ice man' was a nickname he made up for Russell.

It's said that at the tenth level, an Aperture opening stage stellar practitioner unlocks their superpower. For the Mertens, their bloodline concentration was immense, and as such, it was almost a given that they all had the same innate superpower, Ice manipulation.

Being a ninth level Apertures Opening stage stellar practitioner, Russell was very close to unlocking his innate ability. In fact, he could even display a hint of it due to his current level. Hence the nickname, 'Ice man'.

"Shut up and sit down." Russell said with a light voice.

Henrik wasn't offended by this as he knew the latter was just joking around. That was simply how the two communicated.

The Ross family was a recently promoted top four family, existing in the ranks for less than thirty years. They had gotten to this spot by displacing the Oder family, a former top four family, during the reign of Henrik's father.

Prior to the rise of the Ross family, the Mertens family was the 'youngest' on the rankings. Due to this, the two family heads ended up becoming quite close to each other.

Russell's butler came in and arranged a tea set for the two before leaving.

All this while, the two didn't say anything even after the butler left. Instead, they both took a sip from their respective cups and commended the taste of the tea.

"When were you going to tell me?"

Russell suddenly asked after two minutes had gone by.

"...as expected. Nothing can hide from you." Henrik smiled.

"That's what I came to do today."

Russell didn't say anything but maintained his gaze at Henrik.

"Noah has failed us." Henrik said.

"I know." Russell responded calmly.

"Do you still plan on standing by his side?"

Henrik stared at him inquisitively, hoping to gauge Russell's reaction and ascertain the truth before he spoke.

However, such an attempt was pointless as Russell's face remained blank. But at the same time, he didn't reply right away as if he was deep in thought.

While their words and actions seemed cryptic, Russell, as a side in this conversation, was aware of the context.

The man who had leaked the news about the city lord's injury, and also set the entire cabinet into a state of confusion was none other than Henrik Ross. This wasn't exactly difficult for Russell to figure out due to his position as well as his vast expertise and knowledge. But even that couldn't help him understand why Henrik did all of this. And this was what he intended on finding out today.

"It depends." Russell finally responded.

Henrik sighed.

"I know you see him as a son, but that young kid you took up isn't the same man today."

Many didn't know that Noah's strongest supporter was Russell Mertens except for the top factions in the city-state. However, even fewer knew that the two went way back.

Unlike Fredor, Noah wasn't a child of the direct line of the Bergs family, which was one of the reasons the Bergs family didn't support him. Instead, he was almost like a distant cousin to Fredor.

The two, Russell and Noah, had first met more than twenty years ago when the latter was still a kid, around 17 years of age. This happened outside Baylands City. Back then, Russell had saved Noah's life, and had his interest piqued in the young boy. During that outside trip which lasted a month, Russell even taught Noah some stellar refinement tricks and fighting techniques because he saw the kid's talent and determination to improve.

After that, Russell returned back to Baylands City, but didn't think much about the child he had partly raised outside. As the head of the top family, Russell was a busy man. He was so busy that he didn't even have kids until later on, so raising a random child he met out on a trip was out of discussion.

It was only a couple of years later that he found that child again, but unlike before, the teenager had grown to become a young man who intended to fight for the city lord's position.

"I am aware." Russell replied before taking a sip from the cup of tea.

The enchanting flavour of the White Ivy Pine tea lingered on his tongue as it calmed the emotions that had resurfaced in his heart.

"Henrik. What are your intentions?"