Clara's Father
Days went by...
Andrew became 5 months old. He still was an avid learner as he continued to absorb the knowledge of this world. He found out there were 4 continents in this world. Each one was more massive than all of Earth's landmasses combined.
But those continents were impossible to approach as gigantic oceans separated them. Those oceans were inhabited by countless Magical Beasts and other aquamarine races. Even the strongest members of Azraa Continent didn't dare to casually stroll around there.
Andrew finally found out what magic is!
Magic is a way of evolution!
Evolution which is powered by mana!
The world is made out of mana, the universe is made from mana!
There are 6 known major realms on Azraa Continent. All of them are considered Evolutionary Realms. Each realm has massive gaps. The higher the realm the wider and more unsurmountable the gap is!
Those realms come in order of ascension:
Apprentice Mage!
Lesser Mage!
Greater Mage!
Archmage!
Mana Lord!
Mana King!
The only person who is said to have become a Mana King on Azraa Continent was none other than Azraa the Continental Sovereign!
By becoming a Mana King he finally managed to unify the continent!
Each Evolutionary Realm was divided into 3 phases!
Initial, Intermediate and Advanced!
Andrew was greatly pleased that there was a way to increase power on an existential level.
He felt like if he became a mage, he would be able to satisfy the darkness within him!
Several days later.
Clara was touring around the city with Andrew. Her appearance as an old woman gave people the feeling that she was the grandmother of the kid.
Naturally, even mortals knew about shapeshifting, but Clara's state of existence was too high for them to discover it!
She was an Intermediate Greater Mage! Moreover, she was less than three hundred years old! She was considered a genius even in her family!
Evolutionary Realms provide a massive increase in lifespan...
Initial Apprentice Mage 150 years.
Initial Lesser Mage 500 years.
Initial Greater Mage 3000 years.
Initial Archmage 15000 years.
Initial Mana Lord 100000 years.
As for Mana King's lifespan, no one knows.
Naturally, it was unimaginably hard to reach each phase and realm. The amount of resources needed to progress is mind-blowing! Moreover, a living being needs to have a relevant comprehension of mana to progress as a mage!
Mana is categorized into 6 grades corresponding to 6 Evolutionary Realms! Moreover, grades are further divided into 3 levels!
One can comprehend the mysteries and intricacies of mana by resonating their soul with the surrounding mana! Plus, just trying to resonate the soul with mana is absurdly hard! The mortals have so many unnecessary thoughts in their heads, they won't be able to perceive mana in years, sometimes in decades!
Just breathing itself might disturb the concentration! Even silence can completely throw the person off the resonance!
One needs extreme concentration and a robust mentality to withstand all distractions! Of course, those are the problems that only mortals initially face when trying to get on the path of magic.
A while later, Clara and Andrew were at a tavern. Clara pointed at beautiful blue flowers that were planted outside the window in a small garden.
To Clara's surprise, Andrew already knew about those flowers. They whispered to each other so others won't hear them, and even if they heard them they will just think about it as a grandmother entertaining her grandson.
They talked about a variety of fun topics.
"Andrew, who do you want to become?" asked Clara.
"Mana King!" said Andrew enthusiastically while still maintaining his childish demeanor. He had to, otherwise, Clara might suspect him since possession of bodies wasn't uncommon.
Initially, when he revealed his astonishing mental talents, Clara was suspicious and doubtful. Only after he made himself look like an ignorant and extremely curious child did she finally let her motherly side take over and completely shower Andrew with love!
As for what Andrew thought about Clara?
She was nothing more than a person who birthed him. He held no love nor affection towards her.
Many would consider him hypocritical, but this was his nature. He was a power-seeker and he clearly understood human phycology. He didn't uphold any morals.
When there was an opportunity to backstab, he backstabed with passion! He was rather pragmatic and selfish as he only thought about himself.
His life in the slums made him extremely ruthless and kind of sadistic. He saw and did violence on daily basis. Each day was a hell in which he had to survive to see the next day's sunrise. He had to betray those that placed their trust and love in him.
He can simply be considered a hurt person who had problematic childhood which later resulted in his power-seeking nature.
Clara and Andrew kept talking until...
A person sat right in front of them.
Clara's eyes widened as she started shivering uncontrollably! She couldn't sense this person's presence at all! This only meant that he was higher than her on an evolutionary scale!
This person wore a black cloak, their features invisible as they simply sat there, looking at Clara and Andrew intently.
"So this is your bastard" the cloaked figure said indifferently.
"You have disappointed me, my daughter" said the cloaked figure as they removed the hood!
Clara's already intense shaking went up by a few notches as she couldn't believe what was happening.
The person right in front of her was none other than a Grand Elder of Westwood Noble Family and her...
Father!
Reinard Westwood!
An Advanced Archmage!
He had the same features as Clara, sapphire eyes and short blonde hair.
The next moment, Reinard said words that made Clara descend into absolute abyss!
"Clara, I thought you would rise as a talent and marry the Second Prince of Alwood Kingdom. I even delayed it as much as I could since you wanted to improve as a mage, so I had no objections. But to think you would have a child with an unknown person! You even signed a soul contract to not disclose his identity! Do you think I don't know about your loyal informant and maidservant Sylva? She is now probably pleasuring countless men in Royal Prison since Alwood Royal Family itself took upon the investigation!" said Reinard in displeasure.
"Enough of playing hunter and prey, if not for the fact that I'm using all of my connections to cover up your tracks you would have already been captured by Royal Protectors! I give you a last chance, abandon this child and reemerge as a person with a new identity so your talent will not be wasted!" said Reinard.
Reindard Westwood, a person whose longevity was already well over 15000 years had already lived a fifth of it. He wss the youngest Grand Elder in Westwood Noble Family's history! Even in histories of other Noble Families of Alwood Kingdom!
Now it's understandable where Clara's talent came from, but even then she completely overshadowed her father since he became an Intermediate Greater Mage when he was over 500 years old! Only after some kind of heavenly encounter did his existential state skyrocket!
This person had countless women in his life, Clara was just a consequence of carnal pleasures. She was considered as a trashy offspring and was completely disregarded.
But only after showing her talent did she finally see who her father was! He appeared out of nowhere when he heard about her achievements.
He treated her better than his other children which was a cause for Clara to be bullied by stronger siblings.
The more she unveiled her talent, the more assassination attempts she had to survive!
Only by becoming an Advanced Lesser Mage did she finally become the strongest among them!
Like any other mage, Reinard valued strength and talent. After showing her potential did he finally hear that he actually had such daughter!
One might ask how many children he had?
Thousands!
His genetic material of an Advanced Archmage was so potent on the biological scale that it even can impregnate an infertile woman!
Yes! His seed can cure infertility!
On top of that, he was an individual who wasn't bothered by contraception!
Like any other mage who wanted an offspring that had equal or greater potential than him. So it was rather taboo for women of powerful mages to use contraception.
Sometimes it was lethal for members of harems of powerful mages to do so since they can be directly executed! It would be considered as a traitorous action and sometimes implemented as deeming mage's seed unworthy! Crafty women of harems naturally used this tactic whenever they saw someone even mentioning contraception to remove their competition!
Reinard Westwood was equal in strength and status to Family Head of Westwood Noble Family! So it's rather a must for him to have a harem to procure a worthy descendant!
Clara was undoubtedly the worthiest among all of his children! Heck, she even surpassed him in terms of sheer talent and potential! He couldn't let her simply be wasted as one of many wives of a mere Second Prince!
Even Alwood Royal Family wasn't qualified to have her!
As for Clara's feelings? He gave zero fucks about it! He was a mage in the first place and he yearned to reach higher Evolutionary Realms. Even if he couldn't do it himself, he would make Clara at least an Initial Mana Lord!
He was intent on it!
Clara knew all of this as she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
By having a child with an unknown man and even signing a soul contract to not disclose his identity, she didn't just tarnish the reputations of Alwood Royal Family and Westwood Noble Family, she lowered her worth as a political piece and incurred the wrath of both powers!
The Second Prince of Alwood Kingdom had probably dispatched his own loyal subordinates to capture her and make her beg for sweet death!
This situation was the absolute worst for everyone!
"Clara, my patience is limited, I know how much you cherish this bastard and I order you to leave him in the orphanage. I'm not ordering you to kill him, just leave him on his own!" said Reinard with a steeling gaze.
If there was a place deeper than hell, Clara would have already gone deeper than it!
Reinard knew that she might just give up practicing magic or just outright suicide so he didn't say anything too extreme, in his view. But for Clara, it was as if the world was ending! Her world!
She couldn't bring herself to do so! She understood the situation perfectly, yet she didn't want to part with her precious baby! It was the only thing that was left from the love of her life!
But deep in her heart, she understood that this was the best outcome for her baby...
Every other choice resulted in death!
The only thing she could do was to abandon and forget about him! Her precious son...
With a heavy heart she decided to do so! Her determination reached new heights as she was determined in wielding supreme strength to do whatever she wished!
Today's determination will later result in flaming destination!