Cursed blood, White sacrifice

The boys turned to look at who had such a command over the adventurers and what they saw did not disappoint their intuition. A man as tall as Singal had been was in front of them and his presence just commanded respect. He looked steady as a rock with well-toned muscles. He had dark grey hair which was a first for Sheyken. He had a well-maintained beard and was wearing what Sheyken called only call light knights armor with it being light brown and made out of some kind of beast skin. It looked to have some magical quality.

The part that was more noticeable about him that would make even the bravest of people not approach him were his eyes. They were also grey like a wolf's but unlike Lastria's they looked menacing like that of a alpha predator.

After seeing Seduralto embracing him they also bowed down as they were the only ones who had not at that point.

"Awe, is this the two boys my daughter cannot stop talking about."

The man asked, making Sheyken and Falgur look at him.

"What? That is because you could not stop sending me messages with questions about them."

"Says the one who was so worried about them a night ago."

With that one sentence, Seduralto had lost the fight and feeling embarrassed she said nothing.

"Hahahaha, I guess I win again."

The man said proudly. Seeing the two having a friendly back and forth did nothing to make the boys clams as the stature of the man was still towering above them, not allowing them to be at ease around him. The man turned to look at Lasore who was still in the barrel basking inside like he was in a hot spring.

"I am sorry boys, you can get up. No honorary guild member should bow down to anyone of the guild."

The man said as he kept on looking at Lasore. Sheyken and Falgur stood up.

"I will let you handle your affairs since it looks like I came in a bedtime. I too need to talk to my daughter. So, let us meet tomorrow morning as it seems you also have just arrived by the state you are in."

The boys looked at themselves and Falgur also smelled his armpits, an action he wished he never did.

"Daughter, you will find me in my chambers."

The man vanished like how Zararloch and the others would. That confirmed to Sheyken that he was not someone he wants to mess with.

"All of you, remember what I have said"

Seduralto said as she looked at the crowd of adventurers with a stern face. She and Salina walked out thereafter. The adventurers followed suit with some visibly sweating. They left the boys and Lasore who did not want to get out of the water. Sheyken felt sorry for the old guy as his skin looked to be of a perfect roasted pig's. He lifted the whole barrel with him inside.

As they walked to the Mystic and with a barrel floating beside them, the people of the town started noticing that it was the Finis boys and the news started floating about. They reached the Mystic and it was not that full with some of the adventurers already there. They went up to Lasore's room.

After forcing him out of the barrel and drying him up, Sheyken applied his oil on his skin with Lasore feeling a soothing sensation and his skin stopping to itch as his skin itching was the reason he did not want to get out of the barrel.

They left him and went to bathe then change clothes. Sheyken had felt naked when he was in the forest as he would always go in there wearing Shadow. The last fight they had was brutal and it was what allowed his healing ability to go another step. Falgur had a scar on his back that was healing nicely with Sheykens oil allowing it to heal without leaving a scar. At the end of that battle, they had both wished they had their armor with them as they had cuts and bruises all over their bodies.

They left their rooms to the dining hall as they had a promise to keep. They were not going to let Lasore's misfortunes get in the way of some nice expensive food. It was like they never heard Seduralto speech at all. They went to sleep on a full stomach with both of them too full to speak. Falgur was just relieved he never saw any devilish pan coming for his head for his earlier kiss on Sali's cheek.

In a basement at the guild after you have passed the laboratory and continued down the steps, where Sheyken had felt the energy that even his defensive field could not shield him against coming from, the man from earlier sat in a meditative pose around a blue glowing stone that was as big as a five-year-old child as it continuously emitted some form of invisible energy. Seduralto arrived with Salina moments after.

"Join me."

The man said with his eyes still closed. Salina and Seduralto also sat in a meditative pose and closed their eyes.

"Salina, how is your training going?"

The man asked.

"It is going very well, but I think this mana stone you so generously let me share with you is the reason I can advance so quickly. Without it, I would be just like the rest."

Salina answered with her also having her eyes closed.

"No, my child. We share it with you because we saw your potential. Do not undermine your talent."

Salina kept quiet, not knowing how to show him her gratitude.

"How is the preparation for your advancement going."

"With Sheykens help, I was able to get everything I needed to attempt a breakthrough. With the Arbo- rubru leaf he gave me, I was able to trade for high-value ingredients to help me reach up to the liquid stage of the second-tier when I successfully breakthrough.

"Awe, I see you have confidence in yourself for someone so young. You should make sure you thank the boy as even I still have never touched an Arbo-rubru leaf."

Seduralto took the leaf out of her storage ring and gave it to the man. He opened his eyes for the first time since he had closed them when he entered the room.

"Amazing, the texture...."

Seduralto smiled.

"So, daughter, are you sure this can make you reach the level many fail and most die during their attempt to reach?"

The man said as he gave it back to her.

"Nothing is as rare and can hold everything together. Your successful attempt was hard and you almost died, but with this, I can break through with ease. It will allow me to substitute the ingredients we can no longer find in the kingdom. I have already started making the potion."

"Awe, where did the women around me find all this confidence from. You making me feel old acting all grown up."

"Hahaha, I think after watching Sheyken say he would kill me in front of you and make you chase him so you can take revenge just made his confidence rub on us."

They all laughed with Salina taking off her mask. She was now thinking how ridiculous that threat was with him not knowing how powerful her family member was.

"That boy is something else. Since his defensive shield is too weak because he still does not have a core, I scanned him. He has fourth if not fifth tier cursed blood running through his veins."

The two ladies stopped laughing.

"It can't be. How can a kid be alive after that and who would use such a high-level curse on a child?"

Salina asked concerned.

"Daughter, you did say they have masters right. So, we should assume they are the ones who did this. It confirms that someone more powerful than me is or was in that village."

The two ladies did not speak.

"I think he will be the bane of all witches. By the way he killed the Initiates, we can summarize that he already hates them. Even I would never want to be a witch facing a grown-up him if he successfully becomes a Beast warrior with a suitable core."

Seduralto fell into deep thought after her father's words.

"His brother has the Loving sacrifice or what some call White sacrifice in his blood."

The man continued.

"But that would mean a talented White witch who knew the ritual sacrificed herself for him."

"Yes, and we know that some of the Flosalbums stayed in the village."

Seduralto became concerned.

"That love from that sacrifice has turned to his love for his brother. Whoever he sees as his brother's enemy, he will not stop until they are killed. That shall forever be the fuel that drives him to get stronger. Even pushing him to get stronger than him.'

The man said.

"Unfortunately, this is how a love sacrifice works. With the only other condition being that only a White witch can perform it."

Salina looked at the man.

"How did it become love for his bother?"

She asked.

"Sheyken must have done something for him which was kin to saving his life or he must be the only person Falgur at some point felt is his family, but that would mean all his family must have died because that love was supposed to be shared with family members thus lessening its effect on him."

The man stopped to think for a second.

"Depending on how skilled you are, you can also lessen its burden on the person you trying to protect by passing some of it on to the land or other people. For example, if there is a drought, the sacrifice would make it rain for a period of time or make the land fertile again. You can get rid of a disease plaguing the land or since some White witches have some form of way of knowing if something terrible will happen, pass some of the white sacrifice to the people so to prevent it from affecting them. I am sure they do not teach you that in the academy girls. "

Both the girls were listing like they were taking in everything the man was saying as what he was talking about was a first for them.

"The only saving grace for his situation is that the boy who is now without a doubt his brother for life for Falgur, he seems destined for great things and they seem.... no, they compliment each other very well. By just looking at them you can tell that in a short time they have become close."

"Well, maybe they were lucky to find one another."

Seduralto said.

"To me, he seems to be a normal kid.

"That is because Sheyken is sharing that love. The day he does not view him as his brother anymore, Falgur might just kill everyone around him. This is why this sacrifice is seen as a last resort. Something must have happened to push whoever performed it to do it. The last thing about this sacrifice is if it was intended for one person, they will have their aptitude raised by two points."

The women where shocked."

"Then if he already had an aptitude of 5?"

Salina asked.

"His mana affinity will raise. Looking at the boy, I would say his mana affinity is already high, with him being only seven. I am sure he can already do everything that his body can allow his Blessing to do since that is all he can apply his affinity to for now. There is no doubt he will be able to bring fierce storms like the Tempesta-aves in no time."

"Then who is more dangerous between the two?"

Seduralto asked.

"Depends on who you facing."

The man said jokingly.

"Salina, care to answer?"

"I would say Falgur. The armor crafted for him is just a small step behind to be considered legendary, but it being at the same hands of the same user of the core it belongs to, I would say it is legendary. Not to mention his aptitude surely being at 5 and his mana affinity being high.

If Sheyken heard that those words came from her, he would drop dead from feeling betrayed by his love crush.

"Good points. What about you daughter."

"Sheyken."

She just said one word.

"You are not going to give a reason."

"I think he could be able to kill me now even though he is still a child. I can kill him without even wasting any of my energy, but I am sure I would die in the process of me killing him or after I have killed him. I do not know how he would do it but as powerful as I am, I do not want to be his enemy. The thought of him surviving me trying to kill him is a thought I do not want to entertain. I think anyone who views him as nothing but a kid with a unique Blessing would be a fool."

Salina sulked, making the man laugh.

"I did not think I would see the day someone so powerful who can kill powerful beings afraid of a kid with no core."

Those were almost the exact words she told Salina when she told her she was scared of the boys.

'Well, your own power is not a measurement of your true strength. I would say Sheyken too. He already has someone with such potential who would die for him, even though I think he still does not know that for now. With what my daughter has said, he must have a spell or item that can kill even her or maybe a summoning item or spell that he can activate if something happens to him. Salina, I did just tell you he has strong cursed blood in him. Only a special kind of person can survive that, well, and having a hell of a lot amount of luck."

The room went quiet and the man closed his eyes.

"I have never seen kids with such potential come out from the same place. These two Finis kids are something else, but I had rumors of other such kids coming up around the kingdom and abroad who are as old as them. Who knows, maybe something big will take place in Uros soon."

The room stayed quiet for a while. Salina thought she was special by the rate she had advanced but after that conversation, she had renewed vigor.

"So, I guess no one is going to ask how I'm doing and how our trip went."

The man said with a somber tone, making the girls giggle.