Chapter 48: the sixth sense

Inside Smith’s villa, after everyone came inside, Smith as the host directly invited them into the main living room so they could discuss further. As they entered and sat down, Harold immediately ordered the servants to serve refreshments and drinks.

​Jacob and Caesar did not reject the hospitality and ordered a set of drinks. When the mood was right, Smith asked, "May you continue with the earlier topic?"

​Realizing the atmosphere was not as tense as he had imagined, Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that because of the relaxed atmosphere, Smith did not take his earlier action as an offense and that Smith did not hold grudges in his heart.

​Jacob smiled and said, "Okay, let me start with the introductions." He looked directly toward Caesar and introduced him. "This is Elder Caesar, one of the grand elders of the Frostmoon family."

​Because of his active personality, Caesar immediately stood up from his couch, walked over to Smith, and extended his hand for a handshake. Smith did not hesitate and shook Caesar’s hand.

​Caesar smiled and said, "I have heard a lot about you from those brats,and they didn’t exaggerated about your extraordinary temperament. We see a lot of potential in you, and I also believe in you. It is very nice to meet you in person."

​Smith replied, "It is also my honor to meet a man of such high status like you, Elder Caesar."

​After exchanging a few pleasantries with Smith, Caesar turned to Velvet and shook her hand as well. "And you must be Velvet. I heard that when you fight, you are like a fierce storm—whenever you pass, nothing is left standing. I also heard you have great commanding ability, and I really like that. You truly fit your persona, the Red Thorny Rose."

​After hearing Caesar’s flattery, Velvet just smiled. She had heard this kind of flattery for many years since she was a child because of her mother’s status, so it felt very normal. She replied, "I am also very honored to meet a person like you. For such a powerful figure to notice me is my honor."

​Caesar then turned to Brenda. "And Miss Brenda, I assume you are also a legendary titled Queen. From what those two young brats say, you are like an immovable mountain—whenever you stand, nothing can pass through. You even held your ground against a hundred-strong army."

​Brenda just smiled. She was in the same situation as Velvet, being mostly immune to flattery, but she politely thanked him. "Thank you, Elder Caesar. I am very honored to hear such praises."

​Finally, Caesar looked at Smith’s aunt. He stood there for three seconds, then extended his hand and introduced himself without any flattery. "Miss, may I have the honor of knowing your honorable name?" he asked with a warm smile.

​Everyone went silent because this was the second time he was openly hitting on a woman in front of everybody. She was blushing deeply; this was the second time she had been hit on by someone who looked several decades older than her, and she could not understand why he was doing this.

​She asked hesitantly, knowing the other party high status, "my name. For now, it is not very appropriate to tell you, but you can just call me Sarafina for now."

​Then, she hesitantly asked, "If I may not be rude, may you please tell me who you are? I am not very educated, and you are trying to progress things much faster than I can handle. I don’t even possess the status of a person as high as you."

​Hearing her explanation, Caesar chuckled and said, "You don’t have to worry, Miss Sarafina. Let me introduce myself. My name is Caesar Frostbourne. I am the second brother of the current patriarch of the Frostmoon family. As for my rank, I will tell you since it is not a secret anyway, and almost everybody knows it." Caesar said this while shrugging his shoulders.

​Because Smith did not know anything about higher-level players, he was curious to know what kind of old man this was. The pressure Caesar had emitted earlier was no joke, and Smith knew that if the other person had not controlled it, he could have been flattened to the ground without any resistance. Everyone, including Velvet and Brenda, perked up their ears to listen closer, as they came from another dimension and knew nothing about the power scaling of this world.

​Caesar continued, "I am a Transcendent-rank player, or in simple terms, a seventh-rank player. I know that you are curious about the effect earlier, and I can tell you that effect is called Aura Manifestation. I cannot say much about it, but I can simplify things by telling you that any Master-rank player and above can physically manifest their aura. However, flying can only be achieved when one officially enters the Transcendent rank, whereby a player and their queen can fly."

​After answering that question, he continued smoothly, "So, are my qualifications enough to pursue you, my lady?"

​Sarafina stammered, "You... you are just going too fast! Just give me a little bit of time, today is just..."

​Caesar did not push further. Like a gentleman, he retreated and went back to his seat.

​Even Jacob was very surprised. Although this grand elder usually did not act like one, today he was far more proactive than usual. While Caesar generally had an active personality and pursued things he liked, today it seemed like the old man had taken the wrong medicine. Still, Jacob did not want to intervene any further because he knew Caesar was one of the strangest Transcendent player he had ever seen. He wasn’t there to judge anyone.

​After the introductions concluded, Smith was still shocked, but he reasoned that perhaps high-level players were simply unique. After all, he had only ever interacted with Grandmaster-level players before, so he didn’t know the habits of higher ranks.

​They shifted away from the topic of romance, and Jacob returned to business, Jacob began recounting the events from the moment Smith had left the camp: everything that happened in the meeting room, how they discussed him, how he sent Alexander and Apollo to monitor him in the dungeon, and the reaction of the elders upon learning he had a second legendary queen. Jacob didn’t hide anything and was completely honest.

​"As you can see," Jacob explained, "after we finished discussing everything, we had planned to call you tomorrow morning to discuss how we could adjust the contract, reorganize our schedule, and talk about the change of plans. But as you can see, Caesar didn’t really follow the rules. He said he was just passing by and came to greet you, but... well, after that, you know what happened. At that time, I really wanted to call you, but it was already too late because this man’s speed is truly no joke."

​When Smith understood what was really going on, he mentally re-evaluated the old man in front of him. It seemed this old man was just uniquely eccentric, and not every Transcendent player was the same. Smith smiled and said, "Okay, I am not offended, so you don’t have to worry that much. I understand."

​Caesar, sitting to the side, suddenly interrupted, "Mr. Smith, it is not that I was impatient. It’s just that something was really calling me to come here. Who knew that a real treasure was hidden here? I think my sixth sense was right at that time, and I didn’t doubt my gut for a single second."

​As he said those words, he looked directly at Sarafina, who blushed and looked away in embarrassment. Smith felt speechless—this old man was really flirting with his aunt in front of everyone as if they didn’t even exist! But there was nothing he could do to interrupt.

​Finally, Smith turned to Jacob. "Is there anything else that needs to be added, or should we continue our discussion tomorrow morning as you originally planned?"

​Jacob replied, "Since I am already here, I will just tell you about the major details now; the minor details we can discuss tomorrow. But right now, I have something very important to tell you. We can go to a private area for the two of us to discuss it."

​Realizing it must be something confidential, Smith told Velvet and the others that he would be right back. With that, he and Jacob went directly into the study to continue their discussion.