NoGift

SIN ISLAND.

In between the Northern and Eastern seas, close to the Central sea lies an island. At one glance, it seemed to be just an ordinary uninhabited island. But on closer inspection, one could see that the vegetation of the island was bigger than the normal ones. And if you entered inside, you could see countless mutated bugs and animals which were much bigger and scarier than their normal counterparts.

This happened because the island was the closest island to Mythos Continent. In order to close the legendary continent, a powerful magical array was used. To support that magical array, a huge amount of Mana was needed. When that array was activated, that huge amount of Mana affected the nearby island. The plants and animals slowly mutated and as years went by the mutation just became more and more horrible until no human could enter inside without risking their lives.

Years and years later, the said island was known as Sin Island.

But if you went inside the island now, not a single one of those mutated plants and animals could be found. Inside the forest, on a clearing, a man was standing on a pile of dead beasts. Almost all parts of his body was covered in blood. Either his own or the blood of the beasts lying under his feet. The strands of his hair that wasn't splashed with blood was the palest platinum blond. It almost looked silvery white under the rays of the sun. But what people would notice first was not the blood covering him nor was it the color of his hair, but the pair of heterochromic eyes gazing at the sky. One forest green and one sky blue.

Viper laughed. The sound resounding throughout the forest. Finally! After seven years, he finally killed all the mutated things on this island. That meant he could leave. That's the agreement he had with his Master. As long as he managed to kill every mutated plants and animals in this place, then his punishment could end early. Then he could finally see his Argent again.

"I did it, Master! I killed all of them! You're going to let me leave, right? You promised!" he shouted to the sky. Because he knew his Master was listening.

His Master has a villa here. He usually stayed in this island so it was not hard for him to surveil Viper's movement. That's why Viper didn't dare to escape. Because his Master would just easily bring him back here. And besides, only a lunatic would dare go against someone like his Master. Viper could admit that he has some few screw loose but he was not that far gone off yet.

Viper heard the flapping of huge wings then something golden flew down. A huge golden dragon landed on the clearing. Its golden scales looked like golden jewels under the light of the sun. The Mana around it condensed and suddenly the dragon turned into a tall man with golden hair and golden eyes. He looked to be only in his mid-twenties but Viper knew he was way older than that. His clothes were enchanted. So even if he turned into a dragon, it wouldn't be destroyed into pieces and once he turned into his humanoid form, the clothes would return to how it were.

His Master has an innate arrogance in him. It probably came from the fact that he knew he belonged at the very top of the food chain. People in the world thought that the master of Dreich Gallere has a very powerful Gift. But the truth was the master of the most famous assassin organization in the world was not a Gift user but a dragon - probably the only one outside the Mythos Continent. He's not just a dragon but a golden dragon. They have the noblest bloodline among the dragon race, not to mention, the most powerful Mana.

It was a mystery, how he ended up outside the Mythos Continent. It was a sore subject for their Master, so they never asked. Lest they wanted to be punished. They guessed that the reason their Master chose this island as his personal territory was because it was close to the location of the Mythos Continent. It was probably the closest thing next to home for him.

Only the members of Dreich Gallere with code names knew about that truth. It's like a reward given to them. After working hard and gaining a code name for themselves. Right now, there's only nine members with a code name. Gecko was supposed to be a tenth addition. But Viper killed him before he could even make a mark in the world as an assassin. And Viper totally didn't regret it. That's what he deserved for hurting his Argent.

Viper jumped down from the pile of dead beasts and ran towards his Master. "Master, I want to go out this island now."

Sinclair stared at this stupid apprentice of his. He was covered with blood and filth from head to toe and he didn't seem to care about that. The only thing he cared about for the past seven years was getting out of this island. All for that one boy.

Sinclair glanced at the pile of beast behind Viper and then turned his gaze back on his apprentice. "You can go. But you're not allowed to meet with Argent Blackbourne."

Viper's face immediately scrunched up when he heard that. "Why?"

"I have a mission for you. Finish that first and you can do whatever you want."

Viper's face cleared up after that. "Okay. What's the mission? I'll do it right away."

"First, clean yourself up. Then I'll tell you the details."

Viper nodded and immediately ran towards the direction of where the lake was.

Sinclair stared at Viper's back before shaking his head. Then he suddenly remembered the interview he saw of that silver-haired youth. An unknown emotion rippled in his golden eyes. No one could think of what was currently going on in his mind.

----------

Xing Empire, the capital of Zou.

People lined up on the streets of the capital, eagerly watching the parade of soldiers entering the city. At the forefront of those soldiers was a young man riding a black stallion. His long black hair was simply tied behind his back. His pair of obsidian black eyes looked ahead, full of focus and determination. He looked majestic with his black armor. Seeing him, no one could doubt the power he possessed.

The people cheered when they saw the young man. They were there to welcome the young and courageous general who protected the Northern border against barbarians for three years. He managed to maintain peace there. Something that not many could have done in his age. Now that he's back, they were sure that his future was limitless. The Emperor would surely grant him many rewards.

The parade stopped at the front of the Zhang Household. Madame Lin was there together with other servants, waiting for their arrival. Zhang Lei Feng went down his horse and walked towards his mother.

"Mother, your son is back," he first greeted.

Madame Lin stared at her only child and she couldn't stop the tears that gathered in her eyes. She hasn't seen him in three years and he already turned into such a handsome man. He even brought infinite glory to their family. She smiled and tried to prevent herself from crying. "Yes. Come, come, let's go inside. I know you must be tired from the long journey."

Madame Lin clasped her son's arm and they entered the gate. She guided her towards her courtyard. Once inside the living room, the servants immediately brought in tea and snacks.

"How was your journey?" Madame Lin asked while pouring tea for her son.

"Uneventful," Lei Feng answered, thanking his mother for the tea and drinking it. "Where's Father?"

"At the palace. The Emperor called him, probably to talk about you." Her husband was now holding the military power of the whole empire. He stays in the capital much more often now compared to before. On the contrary, her son was now the one who was always away. "I think the Emperor is planning to bestow a marriage to you."

Lei Feng didn't have any reaction, as if he already expected something like that. "I won't marry the sixth princess."

Madame Lin raised her brow. There's been a rumor going around that the Emperor wanted to marry his most precious daughter to the outstanding young general of the Zhang family. She didn't expect her son to know about that since he was away from the capital.

"Why not? The sixth princess is the first beauty of Xing. She's also a very accomplished young lady. You couldn't find anyone who could have such beauty and talent," she said, trying to gauge her son's reaction. Of course, Madame Lin wouldn't force her son to marry anyone he didn't like. He was her only son, all she wanted was for him to be happy.

Lei Feng gazed down. "I already have someone in my heart."

Madame Lin's eyes brightened when she heard that. Her overly strict and serious son just said that he has someone in his heart. She almost thought that she just had an audatory hallucination. "Who is it? Is she a lady from the North? Where can Mother meet her?"

"She's not from the North. It will probably take time before I could convince her to be with me. So Mother may have to wait a while before you could meet her."

"How come you still have to convince her? My son is the most handsome and most powerful general of Xing. If she doesn't accept you, then she's thoroughly blind!"

Lei Feng's lips tilted upwards, forming a small smile. Making his already handsome face even more handsome. "She has that right. Because she's even better than me."

Madame Lin was confused by her son's answer. Did that mean that the girl was also a warrior? She just shook her head and decided not to think about that for now. "Then Mother is waiting for you to introduce me to your special lady."

"Yes, Mother."

After they talk for a while, Lei Feng bid farewell to his mother and walked towards his own courtyard. The moment he arrived there, An Yi appeared behind him.

"How?" he asked.

"It's confirmed, Master. The fourth prince is preparing for a diplomatic visit to Albion."

Lei Feng appeared thoughtful for a while then he turned to An Yi and ordered, "Prepare a meeting for me and the fourth prince."

"Yes, Master!" Then An Yi disappeared.

Lei Feng glanced at the lotus pond not faraway. And no one would probably think that they would see excitement on the young general's usualy stern face.