Chapter 10: Bloodline
With less than a year remaining of Rain’s trial, their father decided it was about time that he took her to gain some fighting experience. Decidedly, he had taken her to hunt a couple of times, but they were more like picnics than actual training experience.
Ember also had nothing else to do and decided to tag along. Well, it took a lot of whining for his father to agree, but not before setting various rules for him to follow once they were in the woods. Obviously, he was not a fool to wander off into an unknown place on his own. He was merely there to sightsee. For half a decade, he had never been outside of the clan's territory, save for the couple of times his parents took him around the capital. And they lived in the capital, but the city of Seynhold was so grand and majestic that two trips were hardly enough for it.
The hunting ground should be somewhere far, outside the city walls. Regrettably, it wasn’t far enough that they had to take a warp gate. Ember was dying to experience teleportation in any form they had available. Hell, he’d have been elated if they flew on a ferry.
Unfortunately, his father took them on horses. The stallions were swift as the wind, but he couldn’t say he very much liked the hours-long journey on the back of the saddle, despite having his father’s stalwart figure to lean on. An hour more, and perhaps he might have red patches on his arse.
The place they were travelling to was much more impoverished compared to the city or even the towns around Seynhold.
Ember felt it prickle on his senses. With his mastery of mana sense, it didn’t take much effort to figure out the drastic decrease in the density of ambient mana, and it was still going down as they travelled along the snaking paths and found themselves on the edge of a developing town.
“Finally!” Ember could not help but exclaim.
While he was with his father, Rain rode on her own, a white mare as tall as her, with stocky legs and wiry muscles. With the full body armour, along with the bow and sword she bore, Rain looked far more gallant riding the horse.
“Already tired?” Cliff smiled. "How are you going to hunt down a great demon with this bit of stamina?"
Ember merely snorted as their horse galloped slowly towards the town. Another horse trotted next to them, with a handsome-looking middle-aged woman riding it. Her name was Gemma, a member of House Blackstone, and also one of his father's most trusted attendants.
"Sir," she said, "if I am not mistaken, there seems to be a carriage of House Oberon waiting ahead."
"I have noticed," Cliff said.
Even Ember had noticed it, though he could not make out any detail until they crossed another couple of hundred metres.
“Oberon?” Rain perked up at the mention.
If they went by conventional titles, then House Oberon would be like a ducal house. Obviously, there were no imperial families or emperors to give such titles, at least not on the continent of the Perennial Verdance. But there was a Saint who presided over the capital of Seynhold, though the Saint didn’t have much political power compared to the named few bloodline houses like Oberon.
Ember didn’t understand the political nitty-gritty of things. He didn’t even want to understand it. The reason it was important right now was that House Blackstone was pledged to House Oberon since its founding. Although Blackstone had grown considerably in the last decade, it still could not compare to the unshakable foundation of House Oberon.
They were the bloodline of the godkiller. Ember didn’t know how much he could trust the story, but apparently, there used to be gods, literal fellows with golden statues and such, and people worshipped them, be it out of fear or necessity. Then one day, a few upstarts came along and felled the deity and its tyrannic forces. The battle had raged on for years over the northern folded plains.
Since there was no good in such a large continent, the few fellows decided to divide the territories among themselves.
Ember was pretty sure that the story had been blown out of proportion. It was probably just some tyrant who had reached such a high realm of strength that people of today began to see him as a god.
His reasoning might be skewed because he was agnostic. But he wasn’t going to change his thinking just because there was an old ruin out there and a group of people with strong bloodlines. Until a literal God with the capital G presented himself to force him to believe otherwise, Ember would remain reasonable.
Well, the System came closest to being omniscient, but its name itself didn't support it as some godly being.
As the horses galloped down, they finally stopped before the carriage, where a handsome man stood with an easy smile on his face. A young boy stood on his other side, leaning against the carriage next to him, their eyes lighting up upon noticing them.
Father and his guards quickly came down from the horses to kneel on one knee to greet the high nobles. Even Rain dismounted to imitate them.
Damn noble etiquette! Ember cursed internally before managing the same.
"At ease," the man said, waving his palm. "You are on no official duty now, so there is no need to kneel."
Ember barely managed to suppress his snort. The man could have said the same before they had shown the deference. Whatever thoughts his father had, he kept them to himself, barely displaying an impassive expression.
Whereas the boy next to the man regarded Rain, measuring her up and down with an imperturbable look. To her credit, his sister managed to imitate the knight and maintain a more aloof look as well. She might even have a skill for that.
I reckoned the copper evolution of Acting could do that, Ember thought.
"You have brought the children to help them gain experience?" The man didn’t wait for anyone to answer. "Looks like we came for the same reason. How about we join forces? We can make the trip less boring by having the kids compete against one another, no?"
Ember thought he had posed the question towards his father. Then the man knocked on the door of the carriage.
"What do you say, sister?"
The door of the carriage opened, and out came a tallish woman clad in an enchanted robe. A silver staff was strapped to her waist, while a metallic mask hid half of her face. She had bright cerulean eyes and long locks of brown hair, a shade darker than his. From what he could make out, she was most likely beautiful, though it was the mana she radiated that had him gulp in unrest.
His father clasped his shoulder, calming him down, as they waited.
After the woman, a girl and a boy jumped from the carriage. They were only a couple of years older than Ember, dressed in a similar fashion, though their expressions were more revealing and exuberant.
“Greetings, Lady Evelyn.”
Father and the others were ready to move into another round of greetings, but the woman waved her palm.
"At ease."
His father exchanged a nod, getting the barest acknowledgement from the woman. In the contest of being the most aloof, she had him beat by a rank or two.
What interested Ember more was all the equipment on her body. Each of them sparkled with a dense air of mana, be it the gown, staff, or jewellery. Even his father's knight armour didn’t radiate with such a rich aura.
He was also wearing a regular shirt and trousers today with a long overcoat. He looked fine and could equip his knightly mantle at any time by accessing his system inventory, but without it, he did lose a point or two against her.
Without any dissent from Cliff, their group joined with the Oberons as they entered the town. At the back of the group, Gemma reminded him and Rain to always address the two adults as Lord Jaime or Lady Evelyn, and with proper etiquette. Honestly, Ember would be fine avoiding them altogether, eliminating any chance where he’d have to show deference.
The first thing they did after entering the town was lodge at an inn before making plans to head out straight for hunting. Although the town was not as lively as the big city, Ember noted many hunters and adventurers swaggering along the path, all equipped with various kinds of attire and weapons. More than being an affluent town, the place seemed to be a hub for hunters, adventurers, and others who came here to gain experience on low-level beasts.
Cliff had planned to stay in the town for a couple of weeks, or however long it would take for Rain to gain the marginal amount of experience for her trial. Despite having time in hand, they didn’t waste it after letting the two attendants take care of the horses and their belongings.
After refreshing themselves, they waited in the main hall for the Oberons to make their way. His sister was still wearing her gallant adventurer's set, while Ember had gotten himself a bow and a quiver full of arrows. At five and a half, his stature had grown close to four feet, but the bow still felt large in his arms. Not to mention, the string was rigid and unmoving despite his 2 points in Might.
Thankfully, he didn’t really have to put it to use. With the peak Iron Knight by his side, he had nothing to fear. Well, maybe not nothing, if he added the two high nobles.
"Dad, are those two people stronger than you?"
Cliff peered down at him in interest, his impassive aloofness breaking a little. "Lord Jaime isn’t," he answered. "As for Lady Evelyn, I am afraid I am not her match right now."
Ember scrunched his nose, a little disappointed.
As if noticing his dismay, his father added, "Well, perhaps that will change once my class advances to Silver."
"What about the others?” Rain asked, tugging at her braid. Perhaps the heat was finally getting to her.
Cliff eyed her. "The oldest among them is about your age, and likely at tier 5, maybe even tier 6. Whereas the kids... the girl is at Tier 4, with the boy lagging behind, but I’d assume their mana foundation is well developed despite their age, since they were here with Lady Evelyn."
Ember would have whistled if he could, whereas his sister clasped a fist. Tier 6 at 13? Now that sounded impressive. Yes, he had heard that after reaching Tier 4, the hurdles for the next two tiers weren’t as insurmountable. It was something to do with the Iron evolution, which made the skill level gains easier. However, it definitely didn’t make it effortless or easy.
Moreover, doesn't that mean he also has a chance to reach Tier 7--the Silver rank before his class attainment?
A smile crept up their father's lips. "There’s no need for you to feel down," he said. "If I am not wrong, all of them come from the main house of Oberon. Probably nieces, nephews, or younger siblings to Lady Evelyn."
Ember looked at him quizzically, not understanding what that had to do with talent.
“Is it because of the Oberon bloodline?” Rain got to the answer first.
Cliff nodded. “Not to discount their talent, but a bloodline like theirs promotes certain types of skill. The Oberon bloodline is known for its high Wind affinity and talent in mana. They can master any mana or wind-attuned skill in a quarter of the time it takes others. Then there are also all the resources, facilities, and training regimens a Bloodline clan has access to.”
Rain made a disgusted face, and Ember couldn’t help but join her.
The knight rubbed his forehead, finding his words weren’t cheering them up.
“Regardless of what they have, don’t cut yourself short. The three of them are likely the forefront of their generation of talent in House Oberon. There are many more with tiers and skills lower than yours."
That did not seem to ease Rain much. Neither did it work for Ember.
What kind of resources are there that could train someone to tier 6 at thirteen? He wondered. Those potions were certainly off-limits since they burned away potential for early gain. Is having a bloodline that outrageous? Maybe they have accessed high-ranked skill crystals.
On paper, it sure seemed possible for him to get there through sheer grit and practice, though Ember was unsure what kind of hurdles he'd face for Iron skills.
As his mind wandered through the possibilities, the heirs of House Oberon came sauntering out from the inn, each draped in rich gowns and robes tailor-made for them.