THE NIGHT QUEEN.
The patriarch then called in all the patriarch candidates. There were sixteen candidates in total with half of them being the patriarch's children and the other half being members of the family whose talent has been recognized by the family council.
"Luminus, tell me why you cannot advance your cultivation to the next stage," the patriarch said as soon as Luminus entered the hall. Luminus was expecting the meeting to somehow be related to him and how he has brought disgrace upon the name of Vermillion but it still caught him off guard at the sudden request.
"uh hmm..... I... I'm not sure" Luminus answered slowly with his head bowed down in a shy manner. "What do you mean by that?" the patriarch asked while putting a little pressure on the young Luminus. The silhouette of the patriarch could be seen through the shadow on the throne with his crimson eyes.Luminus, unable to handle the pressure felt all the strength in his legs leave his body. He fell to the ground while desperately trying to gather enough strength to breathe. He spat a mouthful of blood on the ground while fighting desperately for air. Seeing the pathetic look on Luminus's face, the other patriarch candidates had satisfied grins on their faces. His mother could only watch as her son faced such a desperate situation alone.The patriarch removed the pressure on the kid and made a hand signal to a person standing close to the door. The person opened the door and a person in mage clothing entered the hall with a large tablet-like crystal in her hand. The crystal is infamous for being able to show information from advanced appraisal in the form of a written journal.When the person entered, the majority of the people in the hall gasped in surprise as the person who entered was a certified sage realm elementalist who specialized in information gathering, curse magic, and dark magic. She was called the 'Night Queen' Seina. She walked across the hall in a dignified and leisurely manner and glanced at the pathetic state Luminus was in before bowing down in front of the patriarch.Everyone in the hall was alerted by the strange turn of events. Looking at the woman's every move with high concentration. She walked over to the kid on the ground and as soon as she walked over, people could see mana flow from all over her body and into Luminus's Body. Slowly lifting up the almost unconscious boy into the air. His mother was also in a state of shock as she tried her best to restrain herself.After some time, the mana came out of Luminus's body and into the large tablet-like crystal in her left hand. She stared at the written journal on the crystal and with a smirk on her face, she turned around and handed the crystal to the guard to pass it to the patriarch. The patriarch looked at it without showing any reaction so people could not tell what was going on.The patriarch then passed it on to the next person behind him which started a domino effect of the tablet being passed around. Eventually, someone yelled a loud "What...? " in the hall which garnered so much attention from the onlookers.The person who yelled the loud "What...?" was none other than Luminus's mother. She looked at the information on the tablet with a horrified expression. She could not believe what she was seeing. "No...no...no...no..." she kept on mumbling the exact words repeatedly, seemingly as if she was going to go crazy. Some people looked at her with shocked expressions not knowing what was going on while others looked at her with smug looks on their faces. During the past five to ten minutes, while the tablet was being passed around, Luminus managed to get a hold of himself and then stood up.
The only thing he was concerned about was the look of terror on his mother's face. He could not imagine what could have possibly scared his mother, a Peak-awakened realm mage to such a degree. The patriarch signaled the guard to announce the news to the audience. The guard then bowed and went over to Sitara for the analysis stone. He then read out the shocking news to everyone present. " ....The subject has stage 3 of the incurable disease known as Miller's disease".
The entire hall turned into a loud mocking and cursing hall. Some looked at the woman sitting on the floor in disgust. While others seem to want her dead that very instant. Luminus seemed to be spacing out with a shocked expression on his face. Of course, he knew what the Miller's disease was. He had studied all forms of drugs and diseases to fill in the gap of his incapability. The disease could be considered the most dangerous thing to cultivators. It disrupts the dantian which a cultivator stores energy.
~"Did he say stage 3?..."
~ "Doesn't that mean he is basically a cripple?"
People could be heard gossiping about Luminus in a mocking tone. Miller's disease happens when a cultivator either gets cursed with a very powerful curse magic or a person is naturally born with a faulty dantian. But rarely can you find someone with the disease above stage 2. There are only three stages of Miller's disease just as there are only three dantians in the human body.
- Stage 1 of Miller's disease affects the lower dantian.
- Stage 2 of Miller's disease affects the middle dantian.
- Stage 3 of Miller's disease affects the upper dantian.
" Stage...3? no... no... my dream" Luminus thought about the information he had just heard while trying to comprehend what Miller's disease had just done to his dream of becoming the most powerful person in the family.
The hall went silent again when the right-hand man of the patriarch raised his hand. "...Now then, the elders will make their decision," he said in a respectful manner. The audience looked at the podium behind the patriarch. The view of 7 old-looking men could be seen. Some were past patriarchs who were too old to lead while some were powerful and influential people in the family.
They looked old but five of them were in the Legendary realm and the other two, being past patriarchs themselves were Mythical realm cultivators. The audience realized that while they talking, the elders seemed to be having a discussion themselves. No one saw them talk because they could hold a secret conversation with telepathy.
"... The prestigious family of mages does not accept failures in any way possible. By that rule, you are hereby stripped of your status as a patriarch candidate and also stripped of your status as a member of this family. " The patriarch announced in a menacing manner. As soon as this was announced, smug looks could be seen on the faces of the other wives and the patriarch candidates.