Yusof was quiet upon hearing those words while the cheers outside continued in their booming volume. Then Yusof waved his hand and instilled mana into the useful privacy magic formations on the walls of room which would dampen all sound from leaving the four corners of the room. Once on the magic formation was activated, everything fell silent all around them.

And his quiet thinking became all the more so deafening as Vignis fidgeted in her seat, waiting for her dad to speak his mind, hoping he would agree to her request.

After nearly a minute of silent contemplation, one in which at times he would frown, sigh, shake his head, shrug or purse his lips, finally Yusof Jamal spoke. He asked a simple question.

"Is it worth the danger just to win a little fight like this...?" His eyes glittered with concern and compa.s.sion as he gazed at his one and only daughter with the doting eyes of a father. He looked heavy-hearted and troubled as he spoke, but also had the look of one who sympathised and felt for his heir's frustration and situation.

After all, who among the descendants of the n.o.ble houses had never been compared to the others? Who of the Five - no, now it was the Four Great Families - who of the Four Great Families had never felt inadequate when placed side by side with the dazzling geniuses of their generation?

In his own year, Yusof had been overshadowed by Lina Sarouneh who was the closest among them to entering the Legendary realm - perhaps even this year before she even turned 40! Apart from her, even Sefir Roth Estreya and Gaius Trenel had been dazzling talents compared to himself who was forced to take on the family business while still in his late teens.

Due to that fact, Yusof had missed out on the prime years to perfect his foundations, cultivate his mana core and nourish his blood energy - instead he had been buried deep in problems, books, accounts, stock-keeping... Everything but focusing on the ambitions of youth, growing in strength and establis.h.i.+ng himself as a hero of the nation!

In his later years, once his uncle had taken over the family and he had the luxury of both time and resources, he HAD managed to claw his way up to at least be in the World-cla.s.s realm - nonetheless, he didn't need anyone to remind him that his level of strength and skills were way below his peers.

And Yusof also realised that, despite being the richest among the other 2nd generations of the Fiv-Four Great Families, he had lost the right to consider himself their peers and rivals ever since the day his father had died in the civil war to uproot the Charlemagnes...

Yusof's eyes were filled with pity and melancholy both as he thought about how Benhur Charlemagne had been the greatest of their generation of geniuses... But sadly, was dragged down to the grave along with his family due to their betrayal and greed...

He let out a deep breath as he saw Vignis bite her lip in uncertainty; as the decision was truly a big one to take - while on the other hand, the opportunity was equally big.

It was not just a "little fight", but one that would determine who could enter to the National compet.i.tion and contest a place in the Tower of G.o.d!

And it looked like she had made her decision as her troubled eyes turned determined and a certain grit filled her face.

"Father... I... I'm sure. Let me take the bloodline inheritance...!" Her eyes glittered in turn as her expression turned into one of pleading, her eyes growing slightly wet as she earnestly asked her father's grace and blessing.

Once more, Yusof looked at his daughter long and hard. He frowned even as his mouth still continued smiling gently, only the sounds of their breathing filling the room they were in.

Then he lifted his arms slowly to place them on Vignis' shoulders to pull her into a hug. She did not avoid his embrace as she began to tear up slightly, her troubled heart and desire to ascend to the apex evident in her determined gaze.

Yusof took in a deep breath before releasing Vignis from his embrace and patting her on the shoulders gently once more.

"Go to the 4th Lab... I'll contact the Sarouneh's and inform them... Even if it's still slightly early for you to receive what your grandfather, King Soron, has given as your inheritance... I trust you'll be able to handle it."

Then he chuckled and added, "After all, you ARE the daughter of that Phoenix, Elizabeth Adalle..."

He s.h.i.+vered slightly as he mentioned the name of his wife, the only other person in this world who he feared - apart from his incredibly biased father-in-law...

Vignis' serious face began to break into a wide, ear to ear smile as she beamed brightly at him. Her eyes were still moist and looked to be on the verge of tears as she suddenly leapt into his arms and hugged him tightly before das.h.i.+ng off, with a shout of, "Thanks daddy!!!" as she bolted off.

And as he watched her leaving back, Yusof looked worried as he added softly, "...I pray that you'll be fine..."

Then he picked up his top of the line new manbased telephone, of his very-own Jamsung brand and made the arrangements for his daughter's potentially life-threatening inheritance ritual.

* * * * *

"Bruv! Great that you've made it through! If I didn't know you, I'd have thought that was a super close shave there...! Though, knowing you, of course you were hiding your poweres all along huh..."

Charley was bubbly and excited to see Lars once he ascended the stairs up to the private viewing area a.s.signed to Seline. She and her repulsive "maid" Invigilator Sarin a.k.a. "Demon Maid Sharon" were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, there was a simple note placed on the elegantly carved round wooden table that said, "Some work to do. Be right back. Go ahead and spend what you need - don't worry about it. Seline."

Lars smiled gently as he read the note. At the end of the brief 4 line note was a slightly longer crossed out section. He ran his fingers over the paper and felt the shape that had been written in underneath the crossed out section and slowly made out the words - "If anything happens, I just want you to know that I don't expect anything from you... I'm sorry too..."

Lars' positive mood turned sour upon reading that. He dismissed the thoughts of romance from his mind as he felt confused about things, especially his own feelings recently and decided to put these aside. Perhaps once he had settled things back on Earth...

He ran his hands over his body in a routine check of health - making sure that the appropriate healing and restoration spells, balms and potions were applied for recovery before the next match. Satisfied that all was in place, he interrupted Charley who had still been talking non-stop (ignored completely by Lars, of course) and asked, "How much do we have to spend for the auction...?"

"And the taste is very--Oh, sorry, how much do we have...? Well, there's about 197.2 million platinum from what Susano and Byrus handed to us while Stars Boa provided us with 413.9 million platinum... Add to that the amount that Seline said she has secured... You have just over 800 million platinum coins to spend!"

Lars nodded slowly. Just a week before, his jaw would have dropped and hit the floor, then shattered the ground to leave a deep gorge on the ground just from hearing numbers in the millions - but today, he was almost a billionaire but didn't show any reaction.

Why...?

Firstly, because he had his sights on so so much more!

Secondly, because he somehow felt more in control of his urges of greed ever since the realisation dawned on him that all this money... What was it really for...?

Wasn't it to be spent to improve the lives of his loved ones and to protect them...? Wasn't it a waste to just h.o.a.rd it for no reason...?

Well... That didn't mean he didn't desire wealth though! Just... Maybe in a more usable form than just mountains of coins... Heh...

"Excluding the amount you need to establish our foundations in Gorun City long-term...?"

"Ah, if excluding that amount... Let's see... Then you have about 600 million platinum still..."

Lars nodded. "That should be enough..."

He smiled excitedly and pa.s.sionately as he packed up his things and prepared to leave for the auction area.

"Time to buy some toys!"