Chapter 11: Trip with Lord Balvan
(A/n I had Forgotten to mention in previous chapters. Tallon had used the Elden Ring's power over Reality to resurrect Morgott, kill and reincarnate Godfrey, recreated Godwyn, seperated and replaced Serosh from and for Godfrey, Resurrected the two dead Crucible Knight that the Snail Spirit Caller boss could summon and reformed the other 14 Crucible Knights so all 16 were loyal to him.
Also he recreated the entire Shadowbound Beast process. Shadowbound Beasts are all Wolf like beings and are tailor made for each Empyreon candidate. Miquella's and Malenia's Empyreons are dead or missing in the game events, while Blaidd and Maliketh were Ranni's and Marika's Shadowbound Beast while we have no info on the Gloam-Eyed Queen's Shadowbound Beast.
Serosh the Beast Regant is also a Shadowbound Beast and is the "King of the Shadowbound Beasts" but is weaker to Maliketh. Serosh is the only exception to the rule of Shadowbound Beasts being made as a Wolf like being since he is a lion. He was specifically created to contain the rage and bloodlust of Horah Loux, thus Horah Loux then became known as Godfrey and King Consort to Marika at that time.)
Ps, I have asked for EveOfChaos for permission to copy and paste a chapter or two centered around character dialogue and he said no.
Thus, I will be editing the entire chapter however, I will rewrite each sentence and keep the speech the same naturally so it is original by me.
For example if a character says something or this and that in original novel by EveOfChaos, I'm obviously gonna keep what they said the same, u understand that.
As for everything else it will be completely changed.
That should be satisfactory to you all.
Any lines of text that is copy and paste except dialogue will have <* > at the end of it.
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Going back in time a little bit...
A rumor began to spread in the nation.<* >
Vance, the strongest student of the academy of his generation, was secretively a cultivator of the darkness element.<* >
The rumour spread that the Riyal Family had kept his identity a secret because of their joint cooperation, while the Udye Family had given drawings of his appearance.
They did this for a multitude of reasons buy primarily to force him to become a useless pawn to the Royals and attempt to gleam information on his true identity.
The rumour had spread to even Evan Balvan, the second son of the patriarch of the Balvan family of whom was Thomas Balvan.
He was in charge of the economic aspect of the family, it was in his duties to be informed of the changes inside the nation that could affect his investments so he was the first to obtain that information. <* >
Of course, he immediately suspected something and activated his network to gather more information. <* >
The rumors piled up, as more people spoke about Noah, his stories would be distorted and modified, making him appear like an unfathomable character. <* >
However, Evan couldn't care less about the rumors, his attention was completely focused on a large sheet with a male face drawn on it.<* >
This man was young, he had long black hair and icy-blue eyes.<* >
His facial features were delicate but they didn't exude any warmth, there was only coldness radiated from his expression.<* >
'It's him!'
Evan was surprised beyond reason.<* >
The investigation in the Shosti's inheritance ground had brought no results for almost five years, he was beginning to lose any hope in finding his daughter and son.<* >
'Noah Balvan is alive! He must know what has happened there!'
Those were his first thoughts as he hurriedly stood up from his desk and ran toward the lodgings of his big brother.<* >
Before long Evan went to Adrian and informed him of what he learned before going to Rhys, Noah's father.
Rhys seemed to regain a glimmer of hope in his eyes as the opportunity to learn of what happened to his son Fabion had appeared.
At the Shosti Inheritance ground many of the Balvan family descendents had died along with "Noah", however they were all unaware that Noah himself was the murderer and had escaped the Balvan family only to disguise himself as Vance.
The three arrived in the main hall of the inner circle and reached for a door at the end of that room. <* >
"Father, Noah has reappeared, the Elbas family had him."
"Let me see."
Thomas materialized himself right next to Evan and took Noah's picture from his hands.<* >
Evan seemed used to that behavior and wasn't surprised by Thomas' sudden appearance.<* >
"It is indeed him. Tell me everything you know."
Evan didn't hesitate and began to report all the rumors that he heard about him.<* >
Adrian's eyes widened as he listened to that while Rhys gritted his teeth with more strength every time another heroic deed was told.<* >
Noah had broken the record of the entrance test of the academy, he had been the strongest student of his generation, he had secretly worked with the Royal family, and these stories were only the official ones.<* >
"I understand, it seems that I have to make a trip to the Royal city. But fisrt i will get in contact with Lord Tallon. He still owes me a favour."
Thomas was well aware of the Black Knife Assasins that serve under the Frost Monarch personally as he had seen one of them personally.
They seemed to vary in Ranks but the sheer abilities and gear they Possessed had been enough to evade his detection.
If it hadn't of been for the fact that the room was filled with dozens of Cultivators and all of which were in the Heroic Ranks, we wouldn't have sensed the Human Rank Black Knife Assasin, which somehow had been able to kill a Rank 4 Solid Cultivator while evading capture and escaping.
I was aware of who sent them since Lord Tallon himself made it known to me and a few others who the Black Knife Assasins serve and belonged to.
It was an intimidation display he used to indirectly threaten us that if we tried revealing their existence or tried to go against him, those Assasins will come for us one day.
I had asked him for his services a few times and even hired a Black Kife Assasin upon his approval to deal with a few enimies of mine.
'Maybe I could ask him to use them once more to track down Noah and capture him.' Thomas thought to himself.
Thomas turned to face Evan before speaking once more when he saw that Evan had finished his explanation and had nothing more to say.
"Wait, father, let me come!"
Rhys begged Thomas, interrupting Thomas just as he was about to speak, but the latter answered with a cold gaze.
"This genius could have been part of our family if you could have handled your lust! Go back in your quarters until I return. Adrian, you are in charge while I'm gone."
Adrian bowed and Thomas disappeared right in front of their eyes
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Time skip to Thomas meeting Tallon (Present Time):
After Thomas explained thatvhe had learned of Noah being at the Royal Academy he then came here for my aid, thus it had led to the current situation of Thomas Balvan sitting across from me as we drank Indian tea which I had long since replicated from my memories of Earth.
'Why do i like tea so much?'
I had poured 7 spoonfuls of sugar into the tea, I could do this without harm since my body wouldn't be affected by such things, but if a Human had done the same thing they would die of a stroke in no time.
"What say you Lord Tallon, would you honour your debt to me?" Thomas said, though I could tell he was nervous, as I was far stronger than him as I am now.
"I suppose so. I was quite bored recently and this grandson of yours has piqued my interest. I will send my Black Kife Assasins to search for his whereabouts, but only after we have followed up on any leads."
"We?"
"You don't expect me to laze about while you have all the fun? I know your going to go see the Royals at some point to know why they had kept him hidden for so long. I'll be going with you."
Thomas sighed, knowing that he couldn't refuse my "request" which is more of a proclamation than anything else.
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"I am Thomas Balvan, patriarch of the Balvan family, I request an audience with the Royal dynasty."
Having arrived at the Royal City with great speed via riding upon the back of the Ancient Dragon Fortissax, we had already landed and Rhomas wasted no time in announcing himself at the gates.
However, nothing had happened even after some time, Thomas grew inpatient and focused Breath on his vocal cords to amplify them before he spoke again.
"Noah Balvan! I know that you are disguised as Vance of the academy! Come here and greet your patriarch!"
The inhabitants within the city heard Thomas' voice and began to gossip amongst themselves out of shop of the information they had just learned.
It didn't take long until Thaddeus' father showed up.
"Thomas, there was no need to create such a mess."
"Thomas Balvan greets his Majesty Cecil!"
Thomas performed a formal greeting and waited for a reaction from Cecil.<* >
"You can't-Lord Tallon? What a suprise to find you here as well." Cecil was about to berate Thomas for him lacking the authority and status to do such an action because of him being part of a medium sized noble family, but when he saw me he paused his words.
"Greetings your Majesty. I must apologise for my college, but we had come here as quickly as we could since this concerns the future of the Balvan family.
"Lord Tallon is right, surely you can forgive the Lord Balvan for such a thing, after all no harm was done?"
A voice sounded behind Thomas as a cultivator with long silver hair and a loose white robe appeared in the air.<* >
The man bowed towards Cecil before he eyed me and Thomas with a glance.
"Ian Udye greets His Majesty."
That man was Daniel's father, the patriarch of the Udye family, one of the wealthiest men in the entire country.<* >
"What are you doing here Ian?"
Cecil was surprised by his presence, that event was too coincidental.<* >
"He is looking for answers, Your Majesty. All of us are."
A female cultivator appeared right next to Ian, her facial features resembled Phoebe's ones, she was clearly her mother.<* >
"I would like to know if my daughter met a criminal in her mission, a criminal that you disguised as a student."
"Meredith is right, I also would like to know if this so-called student had something to do with the events near Vonduhr."
A third cultivator appeared mid-hair, he had long golden hair and he very much resembled Samuel, he was Fred Muwlos<* >
Cecil eyed the new arrivals and Ian knowing the headache this would no doubt cause him.
He beckoned us to follow him inside the city.
"My son is in the Capital, follow me if you want to hear what he has to say."
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Cecil escorted the four nobles toward the Royal Mansion.
Thaddeus was waiting for them right in front of the main entrance and he bowed at the sight of so many powerful cultivators.<* >
"Thaddeus Elbas greets the nobles."
Thaddeus' position was lower than his father, he was only a professor in the academy on the surface after all.<* >
"Cecil, why did you bring us here?"
Ian spoke with a tinge of arrogance in his voice.<* >
"My son is the one in charge of the matter of the academy, he can explain the events linked to Vance better than me." Cecil said.
"His name is Noah Balvan, son of Rhys Balvan and a concubine." Thomas spoke.
The three nobles next to him were slightly surprised by that information but hid their reactions.<* >
"Vance, no, Noah has hidden his identity well, not even our network could discover such a thing. I believe he has fooled everyone."
Thaddeus spoke with sincerity, his acting abilities were surely incredible.<* >
"Do you really want us to believe that you didn't know his true identity? Would you rather pass as incompetent than speak the truth?" Fred spoke, his words were filled with a subtle killing intent.
"Fred, remember that you are speaking to the rulers of the nation and that you are next to our Mansion, I would watch my words if I was you."
Killing intent began to radiate from Cecil, he couldn't allow being openly offended by those nobles.<* >
"Cecil, we came here for the truth. Please, tell us where this Vance is." Meredith spoke, trying to pacify the situation.
Cecil's expression became ugly and he turned toward Thaddeus.<* >
The other cultivators did the same and they expectantly waited for him to speak.<* >
It was with hesitation that Thaddeus opened his mouth to say three words.<* >
"He has disappeared."
Those three words silenced the nobles, only Cecil was aware of the situation.<* >
"I'm certain that there are ways of locating him, you wouldn't let such an asset slip out of your grasp so easily now would you?" I said, participating in the conversation for the first time.
"Unfortunately, the token I had given him must have been either destroyed or he had placed it with a Space Ring. Thomas replied.
"Hmph, how would we know if you are telling the truth? Let's say that you really didn't know about his real identity, how can we be sure that you are not hiding him now that this information is widely known?" Ian said with his voice full of doubt.
"Our family division had a meeting about that. We have decided to let any willing noble join the investigation of the Royal dynasty." Cecil had been the one to reply and take control of the escalating situation.
The nobles were surprised by that statement.<* >
"If that's the case, I'm willing to follow the Royal dynasty in the search of my grandson." Thomas said after the others had came to a silent agreement to also join in.
"I am with him during this little venture of ours, I've been quite bored as of late. I hope you don't mind me tagging along would you?" I spoke to Cecil.
"No, of course not. Now then, how about we go have a word with his master and see what he has to say, shall we?"
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Cecil took out a token from his space-ring and he used it to open a certain flat.<* >
The flat was composed of a single large room where a shabby cultivator was sleeping.<* >
"I must warn you, this man has a cracked sea of consciousness, the only information he is able to store is that concerning his inscription method."
Cecil warned the nobles and entered the room, lightly tapping on Ivor's shoulder to wake him up.<* >
It took a while for Ivor's eyes to open and to gain clarity, it really seemed that his mind was reaching its limits.<* >
"You again?"
Upon his words, it was made clear to everyone else that he had already been interrogated before them.
"Would you mind telling what you said to me a few days ago to these Lords?"
Cecil's manners were polite, he even took out a jar of wine and handed it to him.<* >
"What did we talk about a few days ago?"
Ivor took the jar and began to drink, expressing his confusion about the topic.<* >
"Your student, Vance. Tell us everything you know." Thaddeus said.
"Mh…"
Ivor took a long time to sort his thoughts.
"He is a talented kid, one of the most prominent in the Elemental forging method. Honestly, his life must have been tragic for him to have such a strong mental sphere."
Ivor's words made the cultivators in the room turn toward Thomas who could only sigh helplessly.<* >
It's hilarious though. Noah was reborn as the bastard child of a concubine, for that woman to be the only one to love him out of the whole Balvan family except for William who was his mentor and acted like a father-figure in place of Rhys.
Lily ended up commiting suicide knowing that she would be used to anchor her son down.
After that that the abuse he would receive from his cousins all the way until the Shosti Inheritance where he escaped and earned his freedom.
As for why Ivor hadn't recognised me yet, it was because I went to him under a disguise courtesy of a Mimic Tear making a false appearance for me over my skin.
It was him who I learned the Elemental Forging Method just like Noah did, I had also made a copy of the book he had given to Noah long ago to not fuck up the timeline too badly.
"Yes, his life wasn't easy. Do you know where he is now?" Thomas changed the focus of the conversation.
"No idea, he just comes and goes as he wishes, he never tells me where or why. Oh, now I understand. You have lost him."
Ivor was shaking his head when realization dawned upon him and he couldn't help but break in a sonorous laugh.<* >
"Hahaha! That kid is the most talented mage in the history of this country and you actually managed to lose him! What a joke!"
Ivor continued to laugh but was forced to stop due to the waves of pain that his mind sent to him.<* >
Thaddeus neared him to speak in a soft voice.<* >
"Your student has abandoned you here. Don't you want to find him and ask him why?"
However, Ivor only laughed more to those words.<* >
"Haha! Who cares about me! I'm just a wasted cultivator and I've already passed all my knowledge to him. It's actually comforting knowing that he is willing to abandon the people close to him, you will never find someone with that character! I can be ensured of the survival of my method now."
Ivor's words made the expressions of the cultivators in that room turn dark.<* >
"Can't we simply inspect his sea of consciousness?"
Fred asked to those around him but Cecil shook his head.<* >
"His mental sphere is almost completely cracked, we would just destroy it as soon as we try to examine it."
"Allow me to aid in this." I said as I took out one of the many Idrak's Ionic Fangs which I have in my possession.
I approached Ivor and stabbed him in his forearm that was holding the jar of wine, the jar dropped to the ground and shattered into pieces, spilling it's contents everywhere.
"Do you know anything of his current possible whereabouts or if he had contacted with anyone in particular that might be relevant in ascertaining his location?" I said as I directly stared into Ivor's eyes.
"None, he didn't trust me and I know he would abandon me without a seconds hesitation as I would only be a hindrance to him." I dully replied in a monotonous voice like that of a zombie.
"He speaks the truth. What I used on him would compel a person to speak with absolute truths. It's pointless to stay here."
"Was he your only lead?" Thomas asked to Cecil not wanting to waste anymore time with Ivor.
"No. We will go to the Shosti's inheritance ground next." Thaddeus answered Thomas and to the others present.
Cecil didn't waste anytime as he immediately focused his Mental waves on Ivor's Mind, causing his body to go limp as his head dropped backwards, Ivor was dead.
I personally didn't care about him but I do feel pity for the man. A shame.
And so we all began our departure from the Royal City towards the Shosti Family's Inheritance ground.
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How was the Chapter?
It was mostly conversational and everything They seemed to say was important so I couldn't change much in this chap since it is kinda like a fixed moment that needs to happen as it did. I tried to write in as much original stuff as I could to avoid it being more than 40% copy dialogue.
If u all feel that it's Plagiarised then I will redo the Chapter if necessary.