Abel lowered his gaze and stared at the glass of water in front of him. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Who’s the previous head of the Rivas family?”Galen was confused. “Frederick. Julius, the current head, will have to retire soon.”“Is there no fifth child with a different surname?”“Not really.”Abel pursed his lips and was silent for a few seconds. Suddenly, he said, “For now, keep an eye on Sean Lovehart and Denver Lovehart.”Galen was confused. Why did his target change so quickly? Why did he go from investigating the Rivas family to the Lovehart family?Ruth took the phone into the house, snuggled into the sofa, and swiped the answer button.Lily’s excited voice quickly came through the receiver. “How is it? Did you see the message I sent you?”Ruth was confused. “What message?”“Look at it! It’s my new room!” Lily squealed. “Take a look! Wow, Notus is quite efficient. He tidied up the room for me in the afternoon! It’s all decorated according to my tastes as wel
Lily thought for a moment. “There’s not much information about him. I only know that Sean dotes on him and uses his connections to help him excel in many areas! The most powerful position he holds is being an instructor at some big-name combat training place!”“The Rivas Family Training Grounds.”“Wow! You have a great information network! How did you learn about this? Why didn’t you tell me?”Ruth replied, “Have you forgotten that I once told you that there was a senior who was always inexplicably hostile toward me?”Lily was surprised. “Damn! It’s him? I heard from Dulcie later that because your teacher’s fifth apprentice is highly respected, his apprentices have very high statuses in the institution! But didn’t that man commit a crime later? Why is he still so highly regarded?”Ruth frowned and was about to ask something when she heard a clear voice behind her. “What did he do?”She had forgotten to turn off the loudspeaker when she was looking at the photos, so their conversa
Night fell.Julius and Frederick were still in the school building. It had been several years since they had stayed in the school building for so long.The new students were excited. They could feel the importance the family head placed on this assessment.The seniors realized that this was because of Ruth.Originally, they were quite nervous, worried that the apprentices they had painstakingly nurtured would be snatched up by Ruth.Unexpectedly, most of them received a secret notification that night. They had to do everything they could to stop Ruth from taking in apprentices!This was easy!Taking advantage of the fact that she had become very unpopular in the afternoon, the seniors rushed over to curry favor with their potential apprentices.At the same time, they began “talking” about Ruth. They talked about her lack of punctuality and how she had a much sharper tongue than what the newbies had seen. In addition, her partner was a very jealous man and would not accept her
The young man looked a little familiar. He seemed to be Piers, the stupid one!“That’s Finnian’s brat. I shouldn’t choose him, right?” Ruth’s expression was serious and hesitant.Abel asked, “What if he chooses you?”Ruth laughed. “He’s not a masochist. How could he choose me after being humiliated…”“Ms. Ruth, I would like to ask for your guidance again.”The entire venue was silent as they looked at the people on stage as if they had seen a ghost.Ruth was just as shocked.She subconsciously sat up straight and pointed at herself with a blank expression. “You want to choose me?”The young man on stage blushed and looked at her expectantly. “Can I?”Ruth was speechless.It was possible, but…She turned her head and subconsciously looked at Finnian.As expected, Finnian’s pupils trembled like hers. It was as if he did not expect this. Following Finnian’s direction, Julius and Frederick were stunned and in disbelief.Julius especially, was glaring at the stage. He wished he
Screams rose and fell, and whistles sounded. Many audience members were even more excited than those who had passed this stage.Piers silently heaved a sigh of relief.He fell to the ground, suddenly feeling weak.That was the counterattack he had been thinking about all night. He had calculated that he would have a solid 80% chance of winning if he used this strategy.However, he was still worried about it.Ruth was crazy! She could easily whip out a new move and defeat him!“Then, Piers has succeeded. Piers, you can choose—”“Hold on!” A deep and dignified voice sounded.Everyone looked over. It was Julius.His expression was serious, and his voice was cold. “Ruth went easy on you. This challenge is invalid.”The entire place was silent. Everyone looked at him blankly.Julius rarely taught the students in person, and his words were very dignified. Apart from Frederick, he was the most authoritative voice in the Rivas family.If he said that Ruth was going easy, then she w
Piers looked at Ruth with admiration. He was sure that Ruth was protecting him.He pursed his lips and remained silent for a few seconds before apologizing sincerely. “I’m sorry, Madam Ruth. Mr. Julius is right. I shouldn’t have played dirty—”“Why are you calling me Madam Ruth? Call me Ms. Ruth!” Ruth interrupted him, afraid that he would blurt out some nonsense. “If you don’t use any dirty tricks, you won’t be able to withstand a single move from me. Capturing your opponent’s psychological weakness is also a part of your strength.”Piers’s eyes lit up as he stared at her blankly. “Can I acknowledge you as my teacher now?”Ruth smiled. “Of course!”As she spoke, she did not look at Julius, who was red-faced, but instead looked at Frederick. “Right, Grandpa? Help us make a decision and tell Mr. Julius not to be too strict with the kid!“Besides, Piers really wants to be MY apprentice. If I reject him, the institute will lose a promising talent!”Frederick was clearly on the same
Accepting a teacher and taking in an apprentice had to be a mutual decision.However, it was the Rivas family after all, where the decision-making power was more in favor of the older seniors.There was also a rule in the apprentice initiation ceremony: After the apprentice is accepted by a teacher, if the promising talent decided to become another teacher’s apprentice, the first teacher could challenge the new teacher. The winner would take the apprentice, and that apprentice would no longer have the right to choose.Over the years, the internal affairs of the training institute had been very peaceful. There were almost no cases of apprentices being snatched. Everyone had even gradually forgotten this rule.When Ruth said that they were going to fight for the apprentice, she was exploiting this rule. But she never expected that someone would attempt to snatch her apprentice.Piers panicked even more. He never expected Denver to pull such a move. If he was taken away by Denver, he
Denver paused for a moment and then laughed. “Why would I have such an exclusively designed weapon? Everyone knows that Mr. Julius loves you and the Rivas family’s heir is on good terms with you!”Without another word, Ruth took a few steps forward and tried to check what he was holding. Denver’s expression changed slightly, and he stumbled back two steps.Seeing the situation turning unfavorable, the referee instinctively stepped forward to intercept her. “Ruth—”“He used a hidden weapon first. I was trying to protect myself!” Ruth tried to explain.The referee was a senior member of the Rivas family. Although he wanted to side with Ruth, he saw with his own eyes that it was indeed Ruth who had used her hidden weapon.He was silent for a moment and glanced at Julius. After getting a nod, he said, “The competition is suspended. Regarding the hidden weapons, we still need to investigate this carefully later.”“Investigate what? Isn’t it obvious?” Denver was very displeased with th