Ch-1: The Family Meet

A/N: Super long chapter! It is 2/3 times a single chapter easily.

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With nothing major happening to him, the youth survived on that island for another year when, finally, someone from his family landed on the forsaken island unbeknownst to him.

All the beasts on the island cowered in fear just from the aura the newcomer exuded as he dashed into the distance.

The island turned calm as the man concealed his aura as if his presence were false.

It didn't take even a full hour for him to find the location of the black-haired and black-eyed boy, who was already 14 years old.

'Hmm, should I test him?' 

He contemplated for a few seconds, but even before he could decide, a projectile hurled at him as he moved, with another projectile targeting him at his current position.

The scene startled the man for a second, but he soon grinned from ear to ear and kept testing the boy for the next 5 minutes to ascertain the boy's limits.

To his astonishment, even after 5 minutes, he could see projectiles hurled, aiming at him.

'Heh. You sure are Milady's son, alright,' thought the man inwardly happy that his lady, whom he was loyal to, had given birth to this talented boy.

Suddenly, the man changed his passive approach and aimed at the boy, who felt a chill go down his spine. The boy, quick to react, swerved his head to the right. He dodged a fatal strike and only got a light scar on his face due to his quick reflexes.

"Alright, it's time to go home," stated the man as he disclosed himself in front of the young boy while dusting himself off imaginary dust.

"Uncle Roenn, Why are you here? Who's going to protect Lil' Aria if you're here?" The boy questioned in quick succession, concern etching his tone.

"Sigh. Young Miss Arialyn is perfectly fine and has entered seclusion to break through. That said, your test is over, and your father asked me to bring you home," revealed the man.

"Phew... That's good. That's good. With this, I'll be able to protect her at the academy. Alright, let's go home then." responded the boy with relief before his countenance turned chilly, "Shall we meet those people again?"

Unable to keep self-control, he unintentionally radiated bloodlust, a telltale sign of living in the wild for far too long.

"You should reel in your bloodlust for now, Young Master," advised Roenn, whose demeanor turned serious.

"Yeah, I guess. I have been here in this shithole for far too long," grumbled the young boy while sighing to cover the embarrassment he felt, as his emotions were all over the place after living in the wild for so long.

"That's fine. Shall we go now? Young Master Raon," asked Roenn as he guided Raon while pondering about the future, where Raon will have to re-enter human society and polish the skills he learned before being sent here, all the while dealing with cultivators.

'Well, whatever. He will have to do just fine and also catch up to his siblings. Quite a perilous path, Young Master,' mused Roenn, aware of the difficulties awaiting the young boy, Raon.

But in the next second, he forgot all the thoughts plaguing his mind as he grasped Raon, using his spiritual energy to fly away and reach the family estate.

With Roenn carrying Raon with his energy and flying from the island, it took them only 3 hours to land back at the estate.

Raon felt mixed feelings as he gazed at the estate, as it was the second time he was in front of the estate as he lived in a faraway land.

The first time he had been here was to test the cultivation talent and elemental affinity of the family's children. That was also the time Raon asked to go to the academy.

The cultivation talents were graded using colors and how bright the light shone when testing them using the talent orbs. The talent colors, from worst to best, are gray, brown, yellow, green, blue, red, and purple.

Raon had the worst talent among not only his siblings but also the children, who were not even from the direct line of his family.

It was no surprise that there were no purple-colored talents in his family.

The highest was of his younger sister being red and his younger half-brother closely falling behind having blue.

Usually, cultivation talents would have been tested already after at most a month, after a child was born into a family as prominent as his.

So, the results were of no surprise to anyone except Raon and Arialyn, whose talents had never been tested due to their mother's death.

Well, it was not like their talents were never tested. Just the fact that the results were hidden by their 'mothers' to prevent any support for Arialyn while they didn't care for Raon, who was a lost cause in anyone's eyes.

The affinity test was also, to no one's surprise, better compared to the previous multiple generations.

Raon had earth elemental affinity with just one small orb dully lit up, while his sister had water elemental affinity with seven small orbs brightly lit up.

Nerlo, his younger half-brother with blue talent, got a lightning elemental affinity with five small orbs lit up. It was something his mother was happy for, as he was her first child since she was the last wife of their father.

Just remembering that day for Raon—the day he was told he could not join the Arcane Academy entrance test—was enough to break his tender young heart, and it still made him feel nauseous along with all the flying.

He stabilized himself hurriedly, as Roenn had already started to walk towards the massive door to enter the estate, where he would probably meet his family.

He did not even have time to look around the massive garden around the estate; the hills in the backyard were visible from the front.

It was a sight many would find beautiful, and surely Raon would too, if only he didn't know the people living here...

Raon slowly made his way to the open doors that had opened as soon as Roenn showed some token to the guards, presumably his father's token.

To his utter horror, he could not see the cultivation of even the guards, who had no change of expression after they saw him as if he were just air.

Well, the same wasn't the case for the people he met as soon as he entered the lobby nervously. But all his nervousness flew away as soon as he heard the others...

"Who is this beggar here?" questioned an elegant-looking boy of similar age to Raon with dark green hair who stood in the way of Raon and Roenn.

"Roenn, when has our prestigious estate allowed entry to beggars?" demanded the boy as he looked at Roenn.

"Hey, look, look, brother Nerlo is acting arrogantly again," a chirpy voice echoed as a cute little girl with similar features to Nerlo walked down the staircase.

"Lil' Ya, hold mommy's hand, or you might fall. You promised, no?" scolded the mother of the child with long brown hair.

"Lil' Ya, how many times have I said not to bother me?" groaned Nerlo as he glared at his sister, making her hide behind their mother.

"Shh. Nerlo, don't scare her... Oh, who do we have here? Roenn, right? What are you doing here?" asked the woman as she finally descended the stairs while holding her daughter's little hand.

"Greetings, Lady Tria," bowed Roenn to show respect, and continued while taking out the same token: "The Patriarch ordered me to bring Young Master Raon to him without delay. So, will you please excuse us?"

Hearing Raon's name, a look of shock flashed in her eyes as she looked to the side and mumbled inaudibly, "Raon, huh? He's still alive. Well, good for him..."

Seeing the still-bowing Roenn and the disheveled Raon, she returned to herself and coughed, "Ahem... Anyway, you should have said so earlier. Please." She gestured slightly as she turned around and left.

Seeing the scene, Nerlo was dumbfounded, but before he could say anything, his mother pulled him along by his wrist.

"Mother, what was that for?" Nerlo asked indignantly after arriving in one of the soundproof rooms.

"He was ordered by your father to bring Raon. Do you want to cause trouble for your mother?" admonished Tria with narrowed eyes.

"I...I, but mother, he was not presentable at all," retorted Nerlo as his head lowered and he gazed at the ground.

"And who decided that? My child, you're forgetting something. We are all cultivators, and for us, every scar and every battle is our pride. So, what if he looked like that? Your father couldn't care less about such meager details," explained Tria in a soothing voice to alleviate Nerlo.

While Nerlo's head hung low, his little sister sat on a sofa, eating sweets, disregarding her pitiful elder brother as if such scoldings were nothing new.

"By the way, how's your preparation going? I don't want to see you get hurt or worse..." asked Tria with a shaky voice.

"Mother, you don't need to worry! Before the entrance test starts, I'll have reached an entire realm above with the resources," assured Nerlo confidently, eliciting a warm smile from Tria.

"Good, good, but don't become overconfident and give up if your life's in danger. Also, do not bully those weaker than you, but challenge those with the same or more talent than you. You remember this, right?" asked Tria with a gentle, motherly smile.

"Yes, mother," answered Nerlo while nodding.

***

Meanwhile, Roenn had brought Raon to the underground seclusion chamber of his father, where he stayed most of the time ever since he reached the cusp of his breakthrough.

After patiently waiting for three hours, a dense wave of energy rushed out of the chamber, which should not have happened as they had formations to prevent such things.

Roenn hurriedly used his energy to shield Raon, as Raon was just too weak, but even then, Raon was sent flying and got some cracked bones.

"Argh.."

While Raon was grunting in pain, a shadow flew out of the chamber, raised his head, and forced a pill into his mouth.

By the time Roenn stabilized, all he saw was Raon lying on the ground with all his injuries healed. All the scars, new and old, internal injuries, cracked bones—everything was healed.

Noticing the man looking at Raon with astonishment visible on his face, Roenn went down on one knee while his right hand balled into a fist and rested on his heart. He bowed his head while his left fist touched the ground as he voiced:

"I greet the Patriarch! Congratulations on your breakthrough, Milord!"

"Whatever. Bring him to me after he wakes up. I have some matters to deal with," ordered the man before his figure vanished.

Roenn felt a cold sweat at the back of his neck as the realization dawned on him.

'He is too strong!'

Slowly, he gathered his bearings as he remembered the order and brought Raon to his designated room.

***

Raon only woke up the next morning, unaware that the entire city had undergone an uproar as his father broke through to the next realm.

After all, he was the city lord, and the stronger he was, the stronger the city, but that was only if he continued to stay in the city.

Raon, who had just woken up, looked around him warily, despite his dizziness, as feeling the comfortable bed below him put him on guard.

After checking the entire room several times, he calmed down and recalled the previous events.

"You surprised me, child," whispered a chilly voice.

Just remembering his father's words yesterday was enough to give him goosebumps.

"Phew... Whatever, my body feels light. Was I given a healing pill? Anyway, let's take a proper bath after so long and think later," mumbled Raon as he took a long shower and changed clothes.

As soon as he left his room, Roenn caught him and forced him to eat with the family, which he despised.

Unfortunately, it just so happens that his father had ordered everyone to come for breakfast, and he was the last to enter the room before his father.

He just wanted to be ignored and sit quietly in a corner, but Roenn brought him and sat him directly opposite the Patriarch's seat.

Witnessing the scene, silence befell the room for a few seconds, and just as it was about to be broken, the sound of the Patriarch walking into the room echoed loudly.

*Tap! Tap! Tap!*

The Patriarch looked around on his left, where his wives and Suya, his youngest daughter, were settled. On his right, sat his children, from his first son to the last Nerlo, before he himself took a seat.

Just as he looked straight, he saw Raon looking down, but he ignored the sight and turned to look at his butler, who bowed and left.

After a few seconds of silence, the servants brought the food and presented it on the table.

For Raon, who had not had a proper meal in a long time, even this intimidating situation could be ignored, as his mouth watered looking at all such delicious dishes.

His father ordered everyone to be served, and they started eating only after he raised his cutlery.

Raon, who couldn't hold it in anymore, dived straight into the food, unbothered about the looks he was getting, but since his father had not spoken, the others kept quiet.

"Raon." His father's voice echoed as everyone stopped to look at the scene, yet he just continued eating, ignoring everything.

His father's lips couldn't help but twitch slightly, making him release his energy and put a teeny bit of pressure on Raon, who washed it off, seeing which his father raised his eyebrows.

Of course, his realm was too high for anyone else to notice anything, and their thoughts could easily be read from their faces:

'He's dead for sure...'

'How uncouth. Why is he even here?...'

'He dared to ignore father...'

'First, he sat opposite father, and now this...'

Meanwhile, his father was just amused as he read those faces while remembering that he had ordered Roenn to force Raon opposite him to be easily observable.

Usually, in such official settings, sitting opposite means that the two people are equal in status, but his father wasn't one to care for norms.

"Raon!" He said it a little louder, focusing the energy into his voice to assault Raon, which made him stop eating and gawk around.

He was confused, but noticing the judgmental looks he was getting, he understood that something wasn't right, but he didn't get a chance to understand anything.

"Elric, Raon, Nerlo, Aria. You have less than two years to improve and prepare for the entrance test. I expect no one to fail me. You must perform better than the branch family line and not embarrass yourself to my siblings and family."

His father, Kroste, said in a single breath before letting his words settle in as he confirmed, "Understood?"

"Yes, Father," echoed the three, while Raon just nodded.

"Good. Ziya isn't here, so one of you will tell her. And Tria, you're tasked with teaching Raon manners like you're teaching Suya. I want him to reach an acceptable level. For that, as long as his cultivation doesn't suffer, I give you the freedom to do what you must," ordered Kroste as he gazed at Tria with his unchanging expression.

"Yes, my lord," bowed Tria, while inwardly distraught as Raon's results could very well change her position in the house in the future, so she had no choice but to give her best.

"Alright," said Kroste as he started to discuss state affairs with his oldest children and wives.

Just like that, the breakfast ended, though not before Kroste stopped everyone from leaving and dropped a bomb.

"Just a reminder, Raon. Do your best to learn, or I might as well revoke your chance for the entrance test and give it to someone else. Also, your fiancé has the chance to be in the top 10, so if you don't even enter the academy, their family might annul the engagement, so truly give it your all," stated Kroste emotionlessly before he left.

Everyone in this room felt angry. If looks could kill, Raon would be dead a hundred times over. Simply put, it was jealousy.

His fiancé had excellent talent, looks, family, and everything else, yet she was his fiancé due to his mother's side of the family.

No one around his age even had a fiancé, and he has had it ever since he was a 5-year-old, garnering others' jealousy and envy for just that one matter.

Fortunately, they got no chance to say anything as Arkal, Kroste's butler, led Tria, Nerlo, Raon, and Suya away, giving them no choice other than to grit their teeth and swallow their words. He led the four to an isolated room to study.