Paragon of Death

Chapter 4: Chapter 3: Damon... Just Damon

Damon and the strange man from the Ross family walked down the hallway in silence for a while. The man was not bothered but Damon felt uneasy about the offer made to him by the man.

According to the man, if he joins the Ross family, they will help him find the killers of his parents and they will help him exert revenge. But what he failed to understand is why they would desperately want a nobody like him to join a noble family like theirs.

He wanted the man to explain more but since the man didn’t show any willingness to speak on the matter he could only remain calm and wait till they got to their destination.

“Down here” The white-haired man said as they walked down the seemly endless staircase before they reached the mighty grand Hall on the ground floor.

Damon was stunned to see a very spacious room decorated with banquets of flowers and all sorts of ornaments. At the edge was a banner showing a blue ax and shield crossed over each other. This is what he considered the noble family banner.

‘Lame’ Damon commented in his mind.

<> A voice in his head agreed with him.

.....

“Father, mother, I have brought him” The white-haired man said as he bowed respectfully to a man laying on a blue sofa with a plate of sliced fruits and vegetables placed on a stool beside him. He had brown hair and the lady sitting beside him had long white hair just like the strange man.

Damon turned his attention to the lady and noticed her facial features may not really be too exceptional but she wasn’t too bad either. She should be somewhere in her mid to late fifties do she heavily relied on makeup to maintain her youthful looks.

Meanwhile, the man had a gray goatee and wrinkles under his eyes. His body seemed aged but strong altogether. From his physique, Damn deduced the man must have been a capable fighter during his youthful days.

“Not bad, not bad... brush him up a bit and he can fool the world to believe he is a noble” The Ross patriarch said with an amused look on his face.

“Hmph! A pig will always be a pig... You can brush him up all you want he will never become a noble” The lady snorted loudly.

Hearing this Damon frowned and was going to speak but then the Ross family patriarch spoke up first.

“Last time I checked, when I married you, your father only owned a small pig farm... I brushed you up and clothed you... if we go by your words, you are still a pig right?” The Ross family patriarch asked with a disdainful look on his face.

“My lord...” the lady gasped in shock at the comment made by her husband.

“Remain silent until you are asked to speak!” The man said disdainfully. Cutting her off even before she could defend herself.

<> The voice in Damon’s head said confidently while Damon nodded in response.

He watched as the lady walked out with reddened eyes while glaring at Damon madly. Damon had a feeling that she was harboring bad thoughts for him but he wants flustered at all. He just shrugged his shoulders and looked away.

“I apologize for that... I am Daniel Ross... Head of the Ross family and a humble Baron of this great kingdom... what may I call you by?” Daniel Ross said in a much calmer tone.

Meanwhile, the white-haired man stood unmoved by what just happened. He seemed to be used to these kinds of scenes.

“Damon... Just Damon” Damon replied.

In this world, only nobles are granted a last name. So commoners like him can only bear their first name till death with no definite lineage or anything.

“Damon... good name.... How about you join the Ross family?” Daniel Ross asked while he stood up and walked towards Damon.

“May I ask why you all are so eager to allow a commoner into your home?” Damon asked coldly. He didn’t believe in the good heart of man, or any form of kindness. He knew every act of kindness done by strangers is done with expectations for something in return.

“Hahaha! Straightforward! Just how I like them” Daniel Ross laughed.

“I was informed about your family’s... Tragedy... I offer my condolences and offer to help you attain justice but to do that you need to join my family... Why? You may ask... well... My eldest son here noticed you and believes you have well-developed magic circuits within your veins. He believes you can be a great magician... Should my family have a great magician by their side, it will boost our reputation and status... lifting my dying family from the trenches and into the skies” Daniel said calmly.

He too was straightforward and Damon appreciated that. Most people will lie their way into making you think they care before exploiting you but Daniel had no intentions of hiding his true goal and Damon had no reason to reject either.

Meanwhile, he understood why the man wanted him. Baron is the lowest noble title in the kingdom so it wasn’t too strange that the man wanted to use him as a means of reaching greater heights. What came as a greater shock to Damon was the news of him having the potential to be a mage.

Almost everyone in the world born displays a sign if they have an affinity to the elements from birth but he has never such once throughout his life. So he wasn’t too sure of himself.

“Let me get things straight... If I do have the potential to be a mage, you will take me in and help me avenge the death of my people but if I don’t have the talent you seek what will happen?” Damon asked calmly. He showed no fear or anxiety and Daniel Ross respected that quality in a man.

He was beginning to like Damon more and more.

“Your sister’s death was as a result of starvation... The case has been dropped... If you do not show any talent for magic I will send you off to a well-funded orphanage home and never bother you again” Daniel said calmly. He had no reason to hide his intentions.

Sending Damon to an orphanage home now where no one wants him is the greatest level of kindness he can show a stranger.