Mike and Alice had just reached the resting point when a family agent came running toward them.
“Young master… Young Lady, A message from the family!” the agent said, giving them a sealed envelope.
Mike quickly opened it and looked inside with a frown.
“What?” Alice asked.
“They want us to head deep… The final test will be happening there tomorrow!” he said with a frown. The letter was legitimate with the patriarch seal and everything.
“Then let’s go… Is there anything wrong?” Alice asked.
“I just feel that this is too abrupt…” he said, “It had only been a day and a half since this competition started,,, And for this letter to reach this place, it must have been issued at least since this morning… Why are they changing things this fast…”
“You got a point but… This is our family you are talking about… '' Alice shrugged. She never liked how her family did things to begin with.
“True… Let’s head there after we get some sleep, we need to conserve our energy just in case!” Mike said.
…
It was slightly after noon that the private plane landed at the RingCloud International Airport.
RingCloud City was one of the biggest coastal cities in the world, famous for its skies that featured donut-shaped clouds that formed due to its terrain.
It was the capital of The Cloudy Republic. An industrial country known for its quality products all around the world.
In the past, this place was ruled by gangs of all shapes and kinds, only in the past 20 years have things changed here after a new government was elected and was able to enhance security allowing business to flourish.
The twins with their mother and sister slowly descended from the plane, then quickly headed toward customs where everything went extra smoothly after Mina flashed a purple card to the officers.
Although this country didn’t belong to the von Weise family, it was under the Players Counsel's direct supervision.
“Does Victor’s family power work even here?” Mona asked in shock as they walked out of the airport. They weren’t even asked to present their passports!
“Our husband’s family is one of the strongest in the world… It has an influence all over!” Mina said proudly.
Her mother, Vanessa, who was also shocked, frowned hearing her daughter. Just how powerful were those guys? This made her remember Theodore’s power in bed…. DAMN! She quickly shook her head.
“So… This is our hometown…” Mana said as they reached the streets outside and she began to look around at the tall buildings. Unlike Vein City which had a traditional aristocratic and gothic feel, this place was completely modernized. It seemed that it happened after the entire city caught fire 20 years ago or something. That's what she read in a booklet for tourists but she was not sure.
“Why don’t I take you for a tour?” Mona asked. She was not tired at all from the trip. This was the benefit of having a private jet. And she was feeling a little suppressed by Victor in Vein city, and couldn’t really show her true self to her sisters!
“Ahh… Let’s go then!” Mina, who was full of energy said.
“You girls go have fun… I need to check on the ‘company’... Be sure not to stay up late!” Vanessa told them as she stopped a taxi without looking back.
She had so many things in her mind that she didn’t want to take care of them!
…
Watching the twins leave with their sister, a group of girls walked out of the airport.
“Big sis… Are you ok?” Theta turned and asked Alpha who had been acting a little strange ever since the plane landed.
“Just some old memories…” she said as she looked at a glass tower in the distance. “Let’s go, we need to set up a base of operation before tomorrow morning!” she said, making the five girls who followed her nod and then hurry to find a car.
…
Yulian opened his eyes and then sat abruptly.
His head hurt as if it was going to explode… Did he drink too much last night?
No.. LILY…. He quickly began to remember the previous day as he turned to look around. He was alone in the secret room where the ritual took place. It was now empty, the pond was empty too…
What the hell happened?
The last thing he remembered was Lily putting her hand on his back right after they entered that black water pond. Then it was as if some liquid poured into him, cindering every part of his body. It hurt like hell... He must have passed out right after.
What the fuck was that? Was that supposed to help him?
He slowly moved his arm... His muscles felt stronger than ever. Strange, even his shoulder that had been injured in brawl years ago seemed to have healed! Damn, even his tooth that was lost have returned!
He frowned as he looked around and then he noticed it… As if waiting in the corner of his eye. The moment he focused on it, it came into View.
THE SYSTEM SCREEN!
| BLOODLINE ACTIVATION................... WELCOME, PLAYER!
ANALYZING DATA…
Name : YULIAN VON KRONE LEVEL : 0 CLASS: Soul Paladin, SS AUTHORITY: 10 Strength: 30 Luck: 15 SKILLS : SOUL ENERGY MANIPULATION, SS SOUL POWER Setup Complete! |
The sound of someone entering the chamber startled him.
“So you are awake…” Lily, who was now dressed in a long black dress, slowly walked inside, took a chair from her storage ring, then set it next to Yulian and sat on it. For some strange reason, she seemed a little bit younger.
“What happened?” he asked. “Did I become a player? How?”
“Certain bloodlines allow their owner to directly become players…” she said. “I just enhanced your bloodline from a Crowned crow to a Soul-eating crow... A three levels upgrade!" she added.
"What?"
"You were very lucky, you should have immediately gained a suitable class… What did you get?” she asked.
“... A Soul Paladin,” he answered after a pause, deciding not to hide it.
“OH! That’s one of the best!” Lily nodded. “With this, it would be possible for you to fully utilize the bloodline skills once you awaken it!” she added.
“Didn’t you say earlier you wanted to awaken my bloodline?” he asked.
“That was the plan, but Awakening a bloodline is a really fickle thing… It may not always work…” She lied. The truth was that if she was not in the pond with him, he would have surely succeeded in awakening his bloodline. But she had to go and try a certain technique and try to refresh her bloodline, using most of the available energy.
Refreshing was an ancient secret method used in order to get more things out of an already awakened bloodline, as sometimes the energy would not be sufficient to complete the initial awakening or something might stop the activation.
“Oh…” Yulian nodded.
“Don’t worry, you will get another chance in the family… It is not a good thing to grow too strong too fast!” she told the truth this time.
“Probably…. Did you also get anything good?” Yulian asked. He could see that she was ultra happy.
“Just a random subclass to suit my bloodline…” she shrugged casually. The smile on her face clearly showed how glad she was with the result.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Ah… I forgot to tell you… You should never tell others about your Class! NEVER!” she scolded, refusing to tell him. “You should never ask either… It is rude!
“Eh…. Didn’t you ask me earlier?” he asked. Didn’t she make him tell her everything?
“You were just too gullible for someone to not take advantage of you!” She told the truth again while smiling as if this was completely natural!
…
After leaving the Village, Victor, who was hugging the love-stricken Kuu, leisurely strolled around the mines… He planned to find Zoe but that ungrateful girl was long gone, so he planned to take his time.
It was as if he was a tourist or something as no Golems appeared around him.
How could they, he took control of all of them the moment Rita marked the Edict Shard with his blood, allowing him to replace its former demon owner whose soul inside the shard was locked and was pointlessly trying hard to regain control at the moment… He just had to sit tight there and wait to be eaten like a good boy.
It was clear to him now that the Gate didn’t resurface at all as the family believed but it was all a misunderstanding! The Golems and the Gate were two separate things that just happened to occur together in the past!
This was something he should have expected. As the family agents must have combed the mines three times searching for the gate and found nothing before giving the heirs this mission.
The second branch must have found Edict Shard and hid it from the family who kept thinking that the Golems came from the gate!
They must have been brewing this scheme for a long time!
Now the question was, What should Victor do?
The first option was to inform Ann about the second branch’s scheme and get a ton of merit. From the info that Rita managed to get, It was clear that they were trying to kill all the main elite heirs in one fell swoop and make it look like an accident.
Now, the problem with this approach was that he would have to answer a lot of questions, as even Ann would not buy his usual bullshit. And he didn’t want to expose his cards yet!
His second option was to do nothing… Not exactly nothing, he would Let those idiots play, then use the Golems to kill off Bill and Mike's competitors while making sure Mike and Alice survive. After that, he would just find a way to expose the second branch and let them take all the blame.
He also had to make Rita grab the Shard in the midst of the chaos!
Although this would make all the work he did on Linda pointless, he didn’t care. He had many other ways to destroy her.
This was Victor’s preferred plan for now. That’s why he was at this time heading toward the meeting point where the Golems were guided to go… He had to be there in order to directly take control of the situation, those golems can only be given very generic commands from afar.
“YOUNG MASTER VICTOR!” someone suddenly called as soon as Victor reached one of the random resting and monitoring points scattered around the mines.
“Yes?” Victor asked as he turned to face the guard who ran to him.
“We have a message for all Elite heirs!” the guard said, giving Victor a sealed envelope while trying hard not to look at the maid who clung to Victor’s arm. Didn’t they say this was a test? Why was there a maid here? No, she was not just a maid. She was clearly a maid in heat!
“Thanks…” Victor said then opened the envelope as the guard bowed then returned to his station. Looking at Kuu was not good for his heart. He was a married man!
The message was what Victor expected.
A command to all the heirs to gather in one meeting point for a ‘Final Test’. It seemed like he was right, the mine's messaging system had been compromised!
He chuckled and was about to put the message in his ring when he paused.
He opened the message again and checked the map attached to it….
Why was it wrong?
Why was the gathering point specified in a totally different direction from the point the Golems were being guided to?
He had to check three times to make sure, ordering Rita to go check the map in the secret base she was stalking at the moment.
“Is there anything wrong, Young master?” Kuu, who noticed Victor’s frown, asked. Did she annoy him by sticking to him?
Hearing her he shook his head and rubbed her head. “No… “ he said. "Just something trivial."
“What?” she asked.
"We will have see..." he answered mysteriously as he hugged the girl.
He was not sure what was going on, it was either someone planning to isolate him, or the exact opposite... This entire scheme may have been happening right under the watchful eyes of his grandmother!
No matter what, he had to go and take a look for himself as his plan may have probably failed before it could even start!
Mike and Alice had just reached the resting point when a family agent came running toward them.
“Young master… Young Lady, A message from the family!” the agent said, giving them a sealed envelope.
Mike quickly opened it and looked inside with a frown.
“What?” Alice asked.
“They want us to head deep… The final test will be happening there tomorrow!” he said with a frown. The letter was legitimate with the patriarch seal and everything.
“Then let’s go… Is there anything wrong?” Alice asked.
“I just feel that this is too abrupt…” he said, “It had only been a day and a half since this competition started,,, And for this letter to reach this place, it must have been issued at least since this morning… Why are they changing things this fast…”
“You got a point but… This is our family you are talking about… '' Alice shrugged. She never liked how her family did things to begin with.
“True… Let’s head there after we get some sleep, we need to conserve our energy just in case!” Mike said.
…
It was slightly after noon that the private plane landed at the RingCloud International Airport.
RingCloud City was one of the biggest coastal cities in the world, famous for its skies that featured donut-shaped clouds that formed due to its terrain.
It was the capital of The Cloudy Republic. An industrial country known for its quality products all around the world.
In the past, this place was ruled by gangs of all shapes and kinds, only in the past 20 years have things changed here after a new government was elected and was able to enhance security allowing business to flourish.
The twins with their mother and sister slowly descended from the plane, then quickly headed toward customs where everything went extra smoothly after Mina flashed a purple card to the officers.
Although this country didn’t belong to the von Weise family, it was under the Players Counsel's direct supervision.
“Does Victor’s family power work even here?” Mona asked in shock as they walked out of the airport. They weren’t even asked to present their passports!
“Our husband’s family is one of the strongest in the world… It has an influence all over!” Mina said proudly.
Her mother, Vanessa, who was also shocked, frowned hearing her daughter. Just how powerful were those guys? This made her remember Theodore’s power in bed…. DAMN! She quickly shook her head.
“So… This is our hometown…” Mana said as they reached the streets outside and she began to look around at the tall buildings. Unlike Vein City which had a traditional aristocratic and gothic feel, this place was completely modernized. It seemed that it happened after the entire city caught fire 20 years ago or something. That's what she read in a booklet for tourists but she was not sure.
“Why don’t I take you for a tour?” Mona asked. She was not tired at all from the trip. This was the benefit of having a private jet. And she was feeling a little suppressed by Victor in Vein city, and couldn’t really show her true self to her sisters!
“Ahh… Let’s go then!” Mina, who was full of energy said.
“You girls go have fun… I need to check on the ‘company’... Be sure not to stay up late!” Vanessa told them as she stopped a taxi without looking back.
She had so many things in her mind that she didn’t want to take care of them!
…
Watching the twins leave with their sister, a group of girls walked out of the airport.
“Big sis… Are you ok?” Theta turned and asked Alpha who had been acting a little strange ever since the plane landed.
“Just some old memories…” she said as she looked at a glass tower in the distance. “Let’s go, we need to set up a base of operation before tomorrow morning!” she said, making the five girls who followed her nod and then hurry to find a car.
…
Yulian opened his eyes and then sat abruptly.
His head hurt as if it was going to explode… Did he drink too much last night?
No.. LILY…. He quickly began to remember the previous day as he turned to look around. He was alone in the secret room where the ritual took place. It was now empty, the pond was empty too…
What the hell happened?
The last thing he remembered was Lily putting her hand on his back right after they entered that black water pond. Then it was as if some liquid poured into him, cindering every part of his body. It hurt like hell... He must have passed out right after.
What the fuck was that? Was that supposed to help him?
He slowly moved his arm... His muscles felt stronger than ever. Strange, even his shoulder that had been injured in brawl years ago seemed to have healed! Damn, even his tooth that was lost have returned!
He frowned as he looked around and then he noticed it… As if waiting in the corner of his eye. The moment he focused on it, it came into View.
THE SYSTEM SCREEN!
| BLOODLINE ACTIVATION................... WELCOME, PLAYER!
ANALYZING DATA…
Name : YULIAN VON KRONE LEVEL : 0 CLASS: Soul Paladin, SS AUTHORITY: 10 Strength: 30 Luck: 15 SKILLS : SOUL ENERGY MANIPULATION, SS SOUL POWER Setup Complete! |
The sound of someone entering the chamber startled him.
“So you are awake…” Lily, who was now dressed in a long black dress, slowly walked inside, took a chair from her storage ring, then set it next to Yulian and sat on it. For some strange reason, she seemed a little bit younger.
“What happened?” he asked. “Did I become a player? How?”
“Certain bloodlines allow their owner to directly become players…” she said. “I just enhanced your bloodline from a Crowned crow to a Soul-eating crow... A three levels upgrade!" she added.
"What?"
"You were very lucky, you should have immediately gained a suitable class… What did you get?” she asked.
“... A Soul Paladin,” he answered after a pause, deciding not to hide it.
“OH! That’s one of the best!” Lily nodded. “With this, it would be possible for you to fully utilize the bloodline skills once you awaken it!” she added.
“Didn’t you say earlier you wanted to awaken my bloodline?” he asked.
“That was the plan, but Awakening a bloodline is a really fickle thing… It may not always work…” She lied. The truth was that if she was not in the pond with him, he would have surely succeeded in awakening his bloodline. But she had to go and try a certain technique and try to refresh her bloodline, using most of the available energy.
Refreshing was an ancient secret method used in order to get more things out of an already awakened bloodline, as sometimes the energy would not be sufficient to complete the initial awakening or something might stop the activation.
“Oh…” Yulian nodded.
“Don’t worry, you will get another chance in the family… It is not a good thing to grow too strong too fast!” she told the truth this time.
“Probably…. Did you also get anything good?” Yulian asked. He could see that she was ultra happy.
“Just a random subclass to suit my bloodline…” she shrugged casually. The smile on her face clearly showed how glad she was with the result.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Ah… I forgot to tell you… You should never tell others about your Class! NEVER!” she scolded, refusing to tell him. “You should never ask either… It is rude!
“Eh…. Didn’t you ask me earlier?” he asked. Didn’t she make him tell her everything?
“You were just too gullible for someone to not take advantage of you!” She told the truth again while smiling as if this was completely natural!
…
After leaving the Village, Victor, who was hugging the love-stricken Kuu, leisurely strolled around the mines… He planned to find Zoe but that ungrateful girl was long gone, so he planned to take his time.
It was as if he was a tourist or something as no Golems appeared around him.
How could they, he took control of all of them the moment Rita marked the Edict Shard with his blood, allowing him to replace its former demon owner whose soul inside the shard was locked and was pointlessly trying hard to regain control at the moment… He just had to sit tight there and wait to be eaten like a good boy.
It was clear to him now that the Gate didn’t resurface at all as the family believed but it was all a misunderstanding! The Golems and the Gate were two separate things that just happened to occur together in the past!
This was something he should have expected. As the family agents must have combed the mines three times searching for the gate and found nothing before giving the heirs this mission.
The second branch must have found Edict Shard and hid it from the family who kept thinking that the Golems came from the gate!
They must have been brewing this scheme for a long time!
Now the question was, What should Victor do?
The first option was to inform Ann about the second branch’s scheme and get a ton of merit. From the info that Rita managed to get, It was clear that they were trying to kill all the main elite heirs in one fell swoop and make it look like an accident.
Now, the problem with this approach was that he would have to answer a lot of questions, as even Ann would not buy his usual bullshit. And he didn’t want to expose his cards yet!
His second option was to do nothing… Not exactly nothing, he would Let those idiots play, then use the Golems to kill off Bill and Mike's competitors while making sure Mike and Alice survive. After that, he would just find a way to expose the second branch and let them take all the blame.
He also had to make Rita grab the Shard in the midst of the chaos!
Although this would make all the work he did on Linda pointless, he didn’t care. He had many other ways to destroy her.
This was Victor’s preferred plan for now. That’s why he was at this time heading toward the meeting point where the Golems were guided to go… He had to be there in order to directly take control of the situation, those golems can only be given very generic commands from afar.
“YOUNG MASTER VICTOR!” someone suddenly called as soon as Victor reached one of the random resting and monitoring points scattered around the mines.
“Yes?” Victor asked as he turned to face the guard who ran to him.
“We have a message for all Elite heirs!” the guard said, giving Victor a sealed envelope while trying hard not to look at the maid who clung to Victor’s arm. Didn’t they say this was a test? Why was there a maid here? No, she was not just a maid. She was clearly a maid in heat!
“Thanks…” Victor said then opened the envelope as the guard bowed then returned to his station. Looking at Kuu was not good for his heart. He was a married man!
The message was what Victor expected.
A command to all the heirs to gather in one meeting point for a ‘Final Test’. It seemed like he was right, the mine's messaging system had been compromised!
He chuckled and was about to put the message in his ring when he paused.
He opened the message again and checked the map attached to it….
Why was it wrong?
Why was the gathering point specified in a totally different direction from the point the Golems were being guided to?
He had to check three times to make sure, ordering Rita to go check the map in the secret base she was stalking at the moment.
“Is there anything wrong, Young master?” Kuu, who noticed Victor’s frown, asked. Did she annoy him by sticking to him?
Hearing her he shook his head and rubbed her head. “No… “ he said. "Just something trivial."
“What?” she asked.
"We will have see..." he answered mysteriously as he hugged the girl.
He was not sure what was going on, it was either someone planning to isolate him, or the exact opposite... This entire scheme may have been happening right under the watchful eyes of his grandmother!
No matter what, he had to go and take a look for himself as his plan may have probably failed before it could even start!
