Ashbourne Lineage

Kelvin turned his gaze to the barren wooden table at the corner of the room. The grain patterns seemed to swirl into shapes of regret and duty. He remembered the nights he spent in the cellar, alone, contemplating the weight of his loyalty to Asher's father and what it meant now.

His hands trembled slightly—not from fear but the realization that this truth could either reignite Asher's spirit or crush it entirely.

And knowing Asher since his childhood he knew that this could very well do the latter. But… Asher was different now. Not just in small ways, but fundamentally. His gait, his voice, the way he posed important questions—questions that he had failed to ask just yesterday felt new.

Taking a deep breath, he turned back to Asher, who hadn't said a word but whose stare seemed to pierce right through him. He could feel the expectation, the unyielding demand for honesty, and in that moment, the words tumbled out of him like water spilling from a cracked dam.

"Peter, the chief knight to your father and your two brothers, is secretly ruling over the barony without the knowledge of the people. He plans to take control for himself, and with most of your military captains and their men fleeing to other baronies, the weaker few have already submitted to him."

Asher's face darkened, the muscles in his jaw tensing as the words settled into his mind.

His expression grew ugly. What was the reason for such pitiful transmigration?

"What rank is he? Peak bronze?"

Having transmigrated into Asher and inheriting his memories, along with his own knowledge from working on Boundless, he had a comprehensive understanding of this world; its ranks, its regions, and much more.

Kelvin shook his head. "Peter has drained the gold in the family's vault to obtain powerful Battle Force art. It propelled him to the silver rank in the last three months; it's best we think of a way for you to escape and find allies."

Asher lowered his head.

His mind spun as if the room were tilting. His hands clenched the fur blanket over his lap, knuckles whitening.

Asher glanced at his hands—the hands of a man who once held promise, now pale and trembling with weakness. Was his soul any different from the body he now inhabited? A prodigy-turned-invalid, just like this Asher, who died carrying a legacy of failure.

There was no way for fifty bronze-ranked swordsmen to bring down a skilled silver-ranked swordsman, and he only had Kelvin!

The owner of the body he possessed had once been a prodigy well known by nobles in the wasteland. He was so talented that even Count William Tigris betrothed his fifteen-year-old daughter, who awakened an S-grade talent that made her a mage to him.

Asher could still feel the lingering emotions of the dead Asher concerning his affection and fondness for Liya Tigris, the Elvin girl. She was no doubt the most ravishing beauty he had ever seen in his life. Her mother was an elf whom Count William found in the depths of the forests during one of his great expeditions.

After the racial war, other races were almost extinct, and this made Liya the centre of attention. She was both attractive and blessed with great talent!

After he awakened this illness, which killed his mother instead of a talent, Count Tigris swiftly withdrew his daughter. His father, losing all hope, became a womanizer, and his brothers revealed their envious attitudes by not tending to him until they died.

Liya lingered in his thoughts.

'Liya again!' Asher felt as if a sharp knife was lodged in his chest, and he couldn't pull it out. He had never thought the Liya in this world would do almost the same thing to this body; it seemed like in any life, he was destined to be the one being dumped and cast aside.

"My Lord…"

Kelvin placed his hand on Asher's back, concern flickering in his eyes.

[Soulbinding successfully completed. Host, you have awakened the Lord Upgrade System. With me present, all things can be upgraded—your subordinates, territory, magic beasts, treasures, and equipment—through methods of criteria fulfillment, quests, direct fusion, and much more.]

Asher's facial expression changed when he heard that female voice inside his head.

Ttrring!

[Upgrade Mission: Head Butler Kelvin had fulfilled the criteria to be upgraded to become a silver-ranked swordsman. Would you like to upgrade him? Yes or No.]

'Is this the said golden finger some protagonists have in novels? I never thought transmigration was possible, but even golden fingers are too?! Did those authors know about this and hide it from the world?'

Asher's expression brightened.

As he lifted his head and saw Kelvin, an attribute panel appeared in his retina.

[Name: Kelvin

Age: 60

Rank: Bronze

Talent: Perfect Memory (C)

Job: Swordsman

Loyalty: 97]

'I knew it,' Asher mused, a small smile tugging at his lips. 'Kelvin's loyalty was bound to be sky-high.'

With no lingering doubt, Asher clicked yes just by agreeing in his mind. In the next moment, a beam of light formed a cocoon around Kelvin. And in the same fashion of a caterpillar stepping out as a beautiful butterfly, Kelvin emerged from the cocoon with all the wrinkles of age gone, his back straighter, and his aura much more astounding.

A brand-new pair of gold-rimmed round glasses that had no handle could be found on Kelvin's nose, and his refined aura made him more like the head butler of a rich and powerful noble family.

Asher was amazed that not just Kelvin's rank was upgraded but also his physique, attire, and bearing. He was on a whole new level!

Kelvin was huge; muscles complemented his body now, taut against the stitched material of his shirt, the button at the top of it all almost not holding in.

He blinked, still astounded by the insane ability of his golden finger. If he could upgrade things, maybe there was a chance he would be able to salvage what remained of the barony. After all, that was the name of the system: Lord Upgrade System.

"M… My Lord!"

Kelvin half kneeled and bowed his head. "You awakened!" His tone was revelling in shock and amazement. He didn't know what sort of talent his Lord awakened, but it was certainly a high-grade one. For an unexplainable reason, he knew the sudden burst of essence around him happened because of his lord.

This was the system's way of making sure people knew it was Asher, which would directly increase their loyalty and respect.

Asher looked at Kelvin and smiled. Speaking about the system would simply be foolishness on his part, even if Kelvin's loyalty had reached its peak.

After the upgrade, he could see Kelvin's loyalty had reached 100! There was no way Kelvin could be made to betray him, meaning he was safe around him.

"Milord, how did you do that?" Kelvin asked humbly as he got to his feet.

"I think it's my awakening, I don't know. It just- happened."

Asher moved his fingers around with a soft smile on his pale face.

"Can you defeat Peter now?"

"There's a lot of information and experience that has remolded my muscle memory, so I should be as good as him, though I don't think I can handle both him and his army."

Having heard Kelvin Asher had a deep frown.

"Where's Sirius?!" Asher suddenly asked the moment his eyes crossed the mural.

He recalled that the Ashbournes always had guardian pet beasts, which were from the family of wolves. The mighty beast that lay beside the man sitting on the throne was his pet beast! That beast was Shura, a mighty creature that once shook the immortal empire before the collapse of the empire.

Then, the Ashbournes were of high esteem, but now their mighty pet beasts were just polar wolves.

Asher recalled that it had been two years since he had seen Sirius. Sirius was his pet beast, which was given to him by his father.

"Peter chained it, your father and your brothers' wolves are also in the dungeons. He has been trying to force them to submit to him."

Asher's eyes flashed with a cold gleam when he heard that.

"Take me there."