11. Bloodline

I was woken up by the sound of curtains opening and the warm sunlight hitting my face. Groggily waking up I find Layla opening the windows.

"Good Morning Shisui." She said with her usual angelic smile.

"Good morning Layla… When did you wake up?" I ask before slowly getting up from my bed.

"I woke up 2 hours ago." She said moving the rest of the curtains.

"Layla you... Never mind. Is breakfast ready" Sigh It's 5 AM right now and she said she woke up 2 hours ago which means she woke up at 3 in the morning. She won't listen to me anyway, I will have to talk to mother about Layla.

"It's almost done, Shisui. Lord Seere told me to make something light. Since you will be training your bloodline ability today."

"Ah yes, the bloodline training." I said nonchalantly.

"Are you not happy about training your bloodline ability?" She asked with a confused tilt of her head.

I did replay instantly and looked at her. Looking at her confused face I sighed and asked. "It's not that, I am happy about finally training my bloodline ability. But what happens if I am not able to use my bloodline ability?" 

Hearing my question her eyes widen before her face morphs into sadness. "You… are removed from the heir position. Treated as trash and made to live in the countryside… alone or worse they take away your pillar name and you become a no-name devil."

"I see." I replied and took out a new shirt from the dresser. "And how rare is it for a devil to not be able to unlock their bloodline?" I asked turning towards her.

"Extremely rare. Although it is not that uncommon for branch members to be unable to unlock their bloodline abilities, it is almost impossible for a direct heir to not be able to unlock it. Those cases are extremely rare… and extremely tragic." She said mumbling the last part.

'She sounds more concerned that she should be, why is that?' 

Considering it might be a sensitive topic I decided to drop it.

"Well Layla, forget about the depressing topic. Did you have breakfast?"

She shook her head and said. "No. I was waiting for you to have breakfast."

I frown hearing that. She sleeps at 11:30 PM or so and wakes up at 3 in the morning. She has been awake for 2 hours and didn't have breakfast. This is concerning.

"You should take care of your health Layla. Not eating properly and sleeping for such few hours is bad for your health." I said with a genuinely concerned tone.

"Don't worry about me, Shisui. I am fine but you should go now. Your parents are waiting for you at the dining hall." She said flashing her angelic smile.

'How can someone so kind and pure be a devil?' Shaking my head I said. "Very well, let's go."

[Dining Hall]

"Good Morning Father, Mother," I said greeting my parents.

"Good Morning Shisui," said mother while father gave me a nod. "Your father said to make something light so we got plain pasta."

"We will train to check whose bloodline you inherited Shisui. Mine or your mother's."

"Hn." I gave a slight nod.

"Alright then, eat your breakfast and after that, we will train."

[20 minutes later.]

"Mother. Are you free at the moment?" I ask getting a nod from her.

"I am. Is something wrong Shisui?" She asked.

"It's about Layla."

When I said Layla's name my mother furrowed her eyebrows and asked. "Is something wrong with her?" 

"Sigh She sleeps very late, wakes up before sunrise, doesn't eat before me and overall she overworks herself. I haven't seen any other maid work as hard as her. I am worried about her health and when I told her to rest she said that's it is her responsibility to look after me." I said which made my mother lose herself in her thoughts.

'Does she still think that she is indebted to us? Even after all these years?. Sigh looks like I will have to talk to her.' Sighing she replied. "I see. Thank you for telling me this, I will take care of this issue and make sure that she takes care of her health. Now go, your father is waiting for you." Her smile ensured that she was going to talk to Layla.

"Hn." I nodded and went towards the training hall. But before I exited the door I turned around and said. "Thank you, mother."

"Don't worry about it." She said with her motherly smile.

[Training Hall] 

[3rd person PoV]

Going inside the hall Shisui finds his father standing with his eyes closed, facing his back towards the door. The moment he entered the room Solas said. "So you are finally here, Shisui." 

"Yes father, forgive if I am late." Shisui said. 'How did he know I was here? I made no sound entering the hall and my chakra is cloaked as well.' Shisui was confused as his entry was detected by his father.

"Now, before we begin I want you to answer a question." Solas said turning towards his son.

"I will try my best to answer it." Shisui said with sincerity. 

"Tell me Shisui, how did the devils obtain their bloodline?" Solas asked without opening his eyes.

"Other than the original Maous, all other devils were born from Lilith. Since Lilith was the first woman her DNA was rather complex. And the children born from her obtained that DNA which later evolved into the abilities we know today." Shisui described in the simplest way he could.

Smiling at his son, Solas asked. "And do you know what the Seere bloodline provides?"

Shisui nodded before replying. "It gives perfect teleportation and treasure sense."

"Indeed, but every devil… No, every supernatural being can use transportation so what is so special about Seere teleportation?" Solas said looking up. "Many devils look down upon us because of this. So what is so special about it?"

"Unlike the limited teleportation provided by normal magic, our bloodline ability allows us to teleport to any place on the plane of existence within a fraction of a second. Our ability is not limited or restricted in anyway, so we can use teleport rapidly. Moving to any place we desire which helps to dodge attacks." Shisui explained what he knew about the Seere teleportation ability.

"And that is exactly why our pillar devils died, Shisui." Solas said looking straight into Shisui's eyes.

Shisui was surprised by his father's words. 'Died because of the teleportation ability? But how?' Shisui said after staying silent for a while. "I don't think I understand what you said, father."

Solas gave him a sad smile before answering. "Our teleportation was one of the most versatile abilities the devils ever had, yet our foolish ancestors became proud to it and it led to their demise." 

Shisui thought about what his father said and after a while, his eyes widened in realisation.

"Looking at your reaction I believe, you figured it out." Solas sighed. "But still let me explain. Our bloodline is one of the strongest sneak attack ability along with being one the best defensive types. But this led to our ancestors growing cocky and thinking that this ability made them invincible. Because how do you hit an enemy who can teleport even before the attack hits them? You can appear anywhere at any time. There is no need for teleportation circles or chants. So they believed that they were the strongest devils."

Solas went quiet for a while before continuing. "Your grandfather was one of them." He said closing his eyes. "He took part in the great war unaware of the powers of the enemies. Thinking his abilities were the mightiest, he jumped in the battlefield with members of our pillar. But unknown to him, the enemies were far stronger. He killed countless enemies but because of this he became cocky and his moves were predictable… his teleportation pattern was predictable. He went against multiple angels and fallen and because of his predictability one of the angels were able to cut off one of his legs with holy magic." 

He became quiet and this time didn't say anything. Wanting to know what happened after that, Shisui asked. "What happened after that."

Giving his son a pained smile, Solas answered. "He died. He was able to teleport away from the angels and the fallen. But this last teleportation was a mistake, a huge mistake. He didn't plan where to teleport and teleported to a random location."

"What was the location?" Shisui asked.

"It was the place where the two heavenly dragons were fighting." Solas sighed and continued. "He teleported right in between them. And to the heavenly dragons, a peak Ultimate Class was nothing more than an ant. And even before your grandfather knew it, he was gone." Solas finished and closed his eyes.

Both father and son remained quiet. Neither said anything for a long time before Solas finally decided to break the silence. "But that was all in the past. Now let us begin your training. But remember no ability is flawless. No matter how strong the said ability is. As you saw in your grandfather's case. Now let's begin."

"Hn."

[A/N: Thanks G-man]