XX Divine Blood

 After giving him a kiss on the cheek, Layla let go and quickly ran away with a red face like a tomato. Watching her run away, Elijah did not understand why she was so nervous, he knew that kiss on the cheek was a kind of greeting he had seen before and he and Chloe, his parents and sister had already kissed each others cheek several times so he did find a bit interesting a girl older than him being so embarrassed about it.

 Removing the distracting thoughts out of his head, Elijah returned to his dad's side. "Father can we go now?"

 Henry's face suddenly darkened as he remembered what they had discussed in the meeting. The Briles Kingdom has been gathering soldiers and rations for years and they can attack at any time and now that he knew his son was alive, how could he let him stay here in danger?

 "Son, come with me." Henry took Elijah's arm and walked back home.

 Although he was young, Elijah could feel by his tone, that his father had called him for something important.

 Reaching the garden, an ornate grass field is surrounded by scented hedges and shrubs could be seen. A greenhouse stands near the back of the garden, sheltering exotic herbs and butterflies. The rows of herbs are quite grown, being of several types and sizes. Henry made a hand gesture, that made the ground tremble as a passageway opened from the greenhouse floor.

 "Ell, come with me. Let's go to the treasury." Henry smiled before entering the passage.

 "The Treasury?" Elijah was astonished. Since his birth, Elijah has only stayed in the main castle or library. He never entered the other buildings in the back, hardly anyone went there and never heard of a treasure room in the garden.

 At the end of the passage was a closed door. Following his father, Elijah entered the door. Sensing his and Henry's presence in the room, all candles lit up lighting up the entire room immediately became very bright. Elijah could instantly see many scrolls, artifact placed around the hall and portraits of his family ancestors hanging on the wall with words Elijah could understand.

 Hendric Branches, Divine Cultivator at the Demigod Realm, and first of his name. Born in the year of 542 of the divine calendar and dead in the year of 811 fighting the Demigod Divine Beast, Sword-headed Hydra. 

 Guinea Finlock, descendent of Lilie Branches. At the age of 50, he headed to the devil continent by himself and killed the old ancestor of the Night Demon Temple. Born in the year of 760, year of death unknown.

 And so the many portraits followed showing the many ancestors of his family. While he didn't understand what the words demigod and meant, he knew most of the early portraits were incredible powerhouses just by reading their accomplishments. Yet, he noticed from the year of 6430 and forwards the accomplishments of his ancestors became smaller and smaller as the last person on that wall was from 10.000 years ago.

 On the other side of the room, Elijah saw his father taking a letter from the middle of the treasure room together with a marble box. Looking at his son, he sighed. "I never thought I would have to use this."

 Elijah was very nervous. In the entire room, aside from the sounds of the candles, no sound was heard. The quiet was terrifying, creating an oppressive feeling on him.

 Suddenly, Henry turned and focused his gaze on the letter then on Elijah. And with a heavy voice, he said. "Son, today, there are many things you must know. But first, let me tell you a bit about the Gods."

 Elijah could feel his heart thumping frantically.

 "Gods? What can it be?" In his heart, Elijah was feeling so curious, that he didn't dare to make a sound.

 A look of pride appearing on his face, Henry said in a clear voice, "Son, our family had received this letter for several generations. Even scanning the entire Kingdom, I don't believe we can find a second letter like ours." his voice contained an absolute pride.

 "Have you heard of the legendary Four Supreme Empires and three Divine Academies?" Turning his head, Henry looked at Elijah.

 With eyes brightening, he nodded. "I know. According to the books i read before, the Four Supreme Empires are the Blindrvegr Empire, the Behemoth Empire, the Arctic Empire, and the Leviathan Empire. And the three Divine Academies are the Scarab Academy, the Aegis Academy and the Valhalla Academy."

 Satisfied, Henry nodded. Smiling, he said, "Right! Now, I am going to tell you something. This letter was given to us by the headmaster of the Valhalla Academy. With this letter you can take the exam to enter the Valhalla Academy! And you know that a few times, a God come to our world and would leave behind a son or two."

 He continued.

 "Our Family is a descendant of a God and this letter was given to one of our ancestors. However, it is not like that is rare, as in the ancient past anyone would have a trace of divinity in their blood, but that changed as the time passed. The only reason our family did not use it after several generations was because, to enter one of the three Divine Academies, you must have been born with divine blood and from the recent generations our lineage has been thin to the point that no one had the slightest trace of divinity in their veins, not even your sister who gained the favor of one of the big gods had it."

 Henry opened the box.

 "But even after many years since the last mighty figure appeared within our family and we became weaker and weaker, we still have hope. Perhaps in the future, one of our descendants will have divine blood in their veins, and meet the requirements to become a use this letter. If they meet these requirements, after just a few decades of training, they would be able to become a true, full Demigod. And at that time, our family's glory would once more be restored to the past days, when we were known as a Demigod Family!" Henry's eyes shone.

 "Son, you are nearly ten years old now and i want to test if you has any trace of divine blood in you.

 Elijah was astonished. "Test me?"

 He fully understood the implications of his father performing this test. This test would show whether or not he could produce divine blood. What he did not know was that his father was doing all this to send him away not to participate in the war, so even if the worst happened, he would not suffer from the implications of the war. From the box he took a potion bottle and a needle.

 "I feel a bit strange..." Elijah drank the potion and let out a cry the potion taste was as if a dead body was turned into liquid and went down his throat. "Cough, cough... What now dad?"

 "Son, calm down and try to meditate, search within yourself the trace of divinity bestowed by our ancestors."

 Elijah nodded as he sat on the floor and began trying to meditate as if trying to sense any trace of divine blood he may have in his body. After several minutes the pain vanished.

 "Hold on."

 Holding the needle in his right hand, Henry, lightly pricked his son's finger with it, piercing the skin. Elijah felt a slight sting when the needle was expelled from his body very quickly, falling to the ground as a single drop of silvery blood, covered by sparks of lightning flowed from his finger, giving off an extremely powerful pressure.

 Seeing this drop of blood, all his worries disappeared as he placed the letter in Elijah's bosom and hugged him.

 "Yes! So this is the legendary divine blood, it looks just as the books described it. Son, go to your sister and tell her that you passed the test. In a few days, find some people to take you there."

 "Yes, father." Elijah turned and walked away feeling exultant to hear his father's voice.

 "And son, I'm proud of you."