The Ancient Genes

"You are Bahamut?" Max asked with difficulty.

"Yes, I am…" the boy said as he came and took a seat. "Don't go on my looks….Besides, why does it matter? When the time comes everyone will die or survive….will being a kid matter?"

The boy smiled and Max felt a bit surprised. He realised that the boy wasn't a kid mentally, but much more mature than he could possibly think. 

Max finally calmed down, it was a bit shocking but life has already given him a fair share of shocks. One more or one less wasn't going to do much.

"Aren't you a monster?" Max asked as he remembered that this boy might be as strong as him if not stronger. The fact that he used to be the strongest made Max even more surprised. What kind of monster was this boy?

"My father and brother say that as well…." The boy replied with a calm look.

"Oh! Yeah, let me introduce myself, I am Felix Zen…." Felix, aka Bahamut extended his hand.

Max grabbed his hand and shook it. It turned out he was from the Zen House, the same one Kevin was related to.

"Yeah, we haven't introduced ourselves yet….. I am Max…" Max paused a bit before continuing, "Max Arkansas."

Felix looked at Max and had even noticed the pause in between his words and yet he didn't ask any questions. He could sense that it might be a sensitive topic. It was clear to him what meaning Arkansas carried.

Max smiled, how could he not notice it. Felix had clearly held himself back and not questioned him. He really wasn't like a boy of his age. Max didn't know if it was right or not but sadly, this was what was needed of him right now...they didn't have the time to be playing around.

"What is the reaction of your parents and family to your strength?" Max suddenly asked.

"They think I am a variant, a strong one. I am hiding my strength to not create any unwanted situation. There aren't many people who know about my strength though…" Felix replied.

"I know….otherwise I would have known you. You will definitely be ranked among the top 3 of the generation." Max replied with a calm tone.

"How much influence do you have in your family?" Max further asked with a serious face, he couldn't imagine what could the little boy do.

"I can get pretty much everything if I act all nice in front of my gramps…" Felix said after giving it a thought and then spoke again, "Obviously, I can't get him to do anything serious like starting a war….. "

"How did you get help to Average Man last time? I can't imagine your grandfather just allowing you to use the family force without a care…" Max asked in curiosity.

"That's easy….i didn't move my family force. I just used some money and made use of the mercenary and other House forces…." Felix replied with ease. Money was just a number for his grandfather. He just needed to tell the number and his grandfather would take it out. Obviously, there has to be a limit....but ut was pretty large for sure.

Reason?

He would just say he needed to buy training resources.  How could his grandfather refuse?

"Aside from that, You know the Gentle Giant from the Zen House?" Felix asked with a curious gaze.

"Yes, One of the few Active Pillars of the Zen House right?" Max asked, every House had some people who were the pillar aside from the Lord and the elders.

"That man behind the door is him, and he is my follower as well." Felix said with a smile as he pointed at the door, "I can use him to control the family to a certain extent without anyone knowing."

Max was really dumbfounded. How did he do that? Behind that innocent, this boy was really a monster….both physically and mentally.

"How did you do it?" Max needed to know this art. How could he do it as well?

"He didn't take me seriously and ended up losing a bet...he said that I could ask anything if I could make him move…" Felix laughed as he remembered the event.

"What did you do?" Max asked.

"I pulled out the land beneath his feet and threw him aside. " Felix replied.

Max could only feel pity for the guy, how would he have known that behind this boy's innocent appearance was a monster hidden behind.

"Well, he has always treated me nicely and I could feel it too. He is like my own Uncle. That's the reason I chose him. When I asked him to be my follower, he must have accepted it as well if not, there was no way that the system would have added him in the follower's list.."  Felix said calmly as he licked the popsicle.

"Yeah, how did you get in the Academy? That was the area for the older section…" Max suddenly asked, as he remembered the event.

"Well it's simple…." Felix said as the next instant, his appearance altered to that of a Young Man. "What now?"

"That's quite useful…" Max said in appreciation.

"Well it doesn't last long and there is a chance of getting caught if performed in front of someone stronger, especially in fights…"

"Anyway, what have you thought about in regards to building a force?" Felix suddenly asked. "Have you got any followers? We can't believe just anyone here."

"I have one…" Max said, he only had Lear for a follower. "What about you? Did you find any trustworthy people?"

"I have 5, most of them are my Servant who have been serving me for long and I can assure you about them…Besides, I have been sneaking out into Orena with them...they have protected me through thick and thin..." Felix replied with a serious face.

Max didn't make any unnecessary comments. He still thought just how long had Bahamut lived to be saying such things…'serving me for long'

"The competition is nearing….its our greatest chance…." Felix suddenly said as he smiled and took out a document.

Max looked at the document and he realized it was a form for an official Mercenary Group.

"What are you planning?" Max asked as he looked at the boy seriously.

"That is the easiest way to get a start….no one can do anything and it's the fastest way of growing for us…" Felix replied and then began to explain further in detail. "We can keep our identities as a secret in there….no one will even think that there are tons of mage and even nobles involved in mercenary groups…"

"Besides, this even has something else of much more importance….you know that people will be afraid to join us because of things we might have to do….just imagine the fact if we have to go against the Oven House….who will do that…..taking on the Noble House…" Felix laughed, the idea was pretty absurd. "That's the reason that forming a mercenary group helps us...there is no need to give the identity out…"

"That can act as a double edged sword." Max who had been listening the entire time finally spoke, "We don't know who will join and who will not."

"We will have to take that much of risk and perform greater scrutiny before letting anyone in charge of anything or joining the upper level. For now, I will use one of my followers to start it…" Felix said but he suddenly paused, "But there is one more problem…"