Bait?

Jody shook his head to stop himself from delving too deep into those painful memories despite having figured something out. He was mildly aware of the two brothers' antics and conversation but couldn't hear them without focusing.

Focus was a challenge for him right now.

Jody looked again at his mother and suddenly felt like she was a stranger. However, he also realized that this wasn't the first time he had seen her like this. Many nights, she would be in this state after his father visited. Anger filled Jody's heart, but before he could think any further, Grandpa Geb's boisterous laughter distracted his attention.

"Good, Good, Good! Haha," Geb once again said 'Good' thrice before laughing and continuing, "This old man is gratified. From this day forth, the two of you are bound together by the laws of fate and shadows. To betray each other is to sever your own flesh and betray your own destiny!"

"Stay focused, brat," Sylvester's emotionless voice drawled in Jody's mind.

'Hm?' Jody's focus intensified.

He noticed that the strange creature shaped like an odd boy had come next to him at some point. It was...looking at him? Or maybe Charlotte? Jody honestly wasn't sure. But no sooner than he noted the kid's presence, he forgot about him again.

Sek Si wore a solemn face, while Jody barely appeared to be listening, his face frowning heavily. He was still slightly irritated and confused.

"The auction will be starting soon, ancestor. We cannot delay any further," reminded Abercorn.

Osiris had told Abercorn and the others about this process in the past. Though Osiris' ceremony with Ke Si wasn't quite so embarrassing, as there was no tongue locking, it wasn't very far off. It could even be argued that it was worse since they were two little boys in an embarrassing position.

Jody may feel upset now, but he was only a youth.

In Abercorn's opinion, the boy would quickly get over it. The real problem was probably...

The elder shivered as he suddenly had a bad premonition.

"What shall we do about the children?" asked Elder Slaughter, frowning. She was actually a bit upset at how the previous scene played out. She felt concerned about her Josiah, this little guy. He was too young for such nonsense, and she didn't want him getting confused.

Charlotte had long since grown attached to the little Lord, "Sek Si has the shadow arts. We do not need to worry about her. However, I fear Lord Josiah's realm is simply far too low for that place. Shall we have Ke Si send him back?"

"No need. Since that is the case, let us depart now," said Geb without much thought. He turned to Jody again with a gratified smile, "Well met, my young descendant. There are great things ahead of you, truly great things. Little Josiah, I will leave the formations in this room active, but I will also transfer control over to you. It will likely be a long while before we can meet again. Although it is far from enough, this is the least of what I can do for you. Sek Si should be familiar with the facilities. She will arrange your meals. Stay in this place and train until your parents return to fetch you."

"Yes, Grandpa," Jody replied to Grandpa Geb.

'As if compliance and obedience aren't my only options. It's times like this I miss being an adult. Kids have no autonomy.' He thought.

Geb started to turn but stopped. Looking back, he decided to speak honestly to this young scholar of his. Seeing as he had already invested, he might as well go all the way.

"I regret the boy using such magic on your mother. You may not understand, but we have done her a disservice by doing so. I hope you do not learn to abuse such power. But it was either that or kill her."

As Grandpa Geb finished talking, he put his index finger to his glabella and extracted a silvery white string of light that became a tiny silver light sphere the size of a marble. He then flicked the marble-sized light sphere, and it shot right into Jody's glabella before the boy could react at all.

Jody didn't even have a chance to process his grandfather's words as his head buzzed intensely with all the information about the force platform's array formation flooding his mind. Xavier instantly sent out his intention and helped Jody stabilize the mental space. Jody calmly assessed the new knowledge and learned about this formation's uniqueness.

The magic formation on the force platform was called the Ascended Heaven Formation. The establishment had two essential functions. The first function drew the ambient mana into a platform made of high-grade origin stone. The second function used magic force in tandem with the natural properties of the origin stone to transform the energy into pure high-grade essence.

While Jody may not have been able to fully appreciate the uniqueness and efficiency of this function, due in large part to his grandfather's undervaluing of it, he still recognized that this was a supremely lavish piece of equipment for someone of his realm and competence. At any rate, he was eager to study the Bright Star: Battle Book.

Sylvester had been bugging him about connecting to his meridians and beginning his path to gaining an Origin Truth. This pestering went on every night and day. Apparently, that's what he referred to the hero race's Sage formula practice as, the Path of Origin or Original Truth.

According to Sylvester, the compelling cultivators of this universe were known as True Warriors or Truists. These experts all studied a variety of different truths to the acme. They aimed to perfect their own truth, which would then serve as the foundation of their endless immortal journey. The Path of the Sage and the Path of the Saint were merely two truths under the Mortal Truth among a myriad of others in the universe.

Above the Mortal Truth was the Immortal Truth, which Jody had little information about.

He found all of this easy enough to believe, though he was still a bit lost on what actually was a truth. The room again returned to normal as the shadows retreated into the silhouette of a large man, standing with his back turned, towering behind Geb.

Jody was shocked because he hadn't noticed this man until now.

Smack!

Suddenly, the temperature in the room plummeted, and a crisp resounding slap was heard.

Next, Jody saw his father crash into the wall opposite himself. The wall automatically mended itself as the lord climbed out of the hole his body had made upon impact.

"Icy, please relax..." Osiris raised his hands in an attempt to dissuade his wife from further violence.

"Allow me to make myself clear," Lady Isis spoke in a voice that was chilling to the core as her hair floated without the wind.

Jody felt like just listening to her speak slowed his bodily functions. Isis seemed to notice her son's condition as the cold force near him retreated back into her body rapidly.

Upon realizing her son was watching, she regained her elegant composure but still spoke coldly, "From this day forward, those who stand in my way will be eliminated. The next person who stands in between my son and I will be responsible for not only the failure of this plan but their own deaths."

Lady Isis was livid as she spoke to the crowd before turning to look at Osiris.

"And you, you spineless coward. I suddenly understand how you could take liberties from me so easily. If you ever do that to me again, then I will put my life on the line to kill you where you stand. No matter what the cost! Do. Not. Touch. Me."

Osiris was utterly speechless when his wife snapped at him like this. He had only glamoured her a few times while still learning to control it. Of course, seeing her fury, he felt profound guilt. He had messed up this time. Was he too obsessed with growing powerful? He hoped he could explain himself once she calmed down.

"Isis!" Shouted Abercorn.

"First lady!?"

"Lady Isis?"

"Sister Isis..."

All the elders were taken aback by Lady Isis' most recent, sudden, and domineering displays of might. The rage was involuntarily growing as she had assaulted her own husband. Their leader! They had never once seen Lady Isis act this way. It was downright unusual.

Charlotte, Mercer, Fontaine, and the other members of House Trillwolf were all frozen in place while the snake charmer was radiating an otherworldly charm. That was why the snake charmer was the most terrifying predator in the world. The snake charmer caused others to offer themselves up to be eaten willingly.

The current Master Ice was not an ice summoner. She was the snake charmer. Her target was the members of House Trillwolf.

On the other hand, Jody was giving his mother a thumbs up on the inside. He disagreed with his father's actions as well. His mother was a goddess visiting this mortal plane. How dare his father attempt to control her forcibly? This was complete blasphemy. Jody wouldn't feel surprised if heavenly lightning tore this place down.

Jody narrowed his eyes. It seemed he would have to liberate second aunt Lylian from this tyrant for the sake of justice.

Sylvester face-pawed himself as Xavier giggled uncontrollably.

"Hmph," Lady Isis snorted in disdain at the surrounding Five Elements Wolf Pack elders, "Leave us. I alone will stay with my son and this lewd little tool you have forced upon us."

After speaking, the Frozen Night Master sashayed her way slowly into one of the palace's transformation rooms.

Geb and Abercorn just looked at each other with wry smiles.

"Maybe we shouldn't..."

"Do not worry, father. Master." Osiris dusted himself off and gave a deep bow out of genuine respect. "This one knows what to do. I will speak to my wife later. Although her temperament is as cold as ice, her anger remains fiery. The plan will still proceed forward."

"It is your matter to handle, and I can not interfere," sighed Geb as he turned around. "Let us leave, Rex."

"Yes, Fort master," said the huge man behind Geb with his back to the crowd as they disappeared one by one into a portal made of shadows.

Osiris knelt in front of his son with a bright smile on his face, "You have done great today, my son. Absolutely amazing."

"Thank you, Father." Jody had a complicated expression on his face as he faced his father.

Lord Osiris was slightly taken aback when he heard the way this third oldest child of his had just spoken to him. It was not that Josiah had done anything rude, not at all. Rather, it was how very polite and formal the boy was being that had caught the House Lord off guard. He could count on one hand the number of times the boy used the word "father" in his presence.

Wise as Osiris was, he quickly reached a conclusion.

"There are a great many things...you do not understand, my boy," Lord Osiris sighed, then lowered his voice and spoke gently. "Things I pray you will never understand. I am sorry for the way I treated your mother earlier. We've had some...well, let us say that we do not currently see eye to eye about a great many things. I took a shortcut around the problem, but that was also taking advantage of her. I was wrong. Besides, her previous state was provoked out of nowhere. I didn't realize you had become such a trigger for her. It was definitely a mistake…ahem."

The House Lord realized he had said a bit too much and cleared his throat.

However, Jody's anger towards his old man faded away at this moment. There were indeed a great many things he didn't understand about his parents. This was something he would need to change. Something about this family…wasn't quite right. But he knew this old man cared about him deeply. Why else explain himself to a child?

"Forgive me. I am not usually one to be so emotional. One day, if you understand this father of yours, I will be fully willing to answer your questions. Until then, I'll just say this. I love both you and your mother dearly. If things were different...ah," Lord Osiris paused for a moment as if he was lost in thought, then he blinked twice and continued.

"At any rate, Josiah. I truly am proud of you. I have always been proud of you, and you continue to make me proud with every action. I will not ask what your Grandpa Geb has given you, nor will I explain his identity. You should already know this in your heart. Your foresight is more impressive than mine was at your age," Osiris lamented with a complicated look in his eyes. "Practice hard, my son. Your mother will one day need you far more than she needs me."

"I will practice hard, pops. I promise. I'll practice harder than anyone, and one day, I'll be stronger than you and even Gramps!" replied Jody with an indomitable spirit. His eyes were now clear and resolute. He looked his father deep in his eyes, seeing only a man with a troubled heart, "I'll work hard to take care of my mother! I'll become even stronger and care for you, too, pops."

Osiris laughed boisterously as he stood up straight.

"Excellent, Josiah. I believe in you, kid. Okay, honored pack, we're leaving. Ke Si, Slaughter, you two stay here," commanded Osiris as he disappeared into the portal of darkness with the rest of the elders.

"Practice hard, kid. We shall explore the palace a bit," said Charlotte.

She grabbed Ke Si by the hand and dragged him out of the room.

This action dumbfounded Jody momentarily, as Charlotte was his! Could these two be…?

'Ke Si, you bastard dog.' Little Jody gnashed his teeth in frustration.

Charlotte was supposed to wait for him, not hire the help. How dare Ke Si be so dedicated to providing service. Damn, the entire industry! Who needed butlers? Lazy people, that's who!

Why did it take so long to grow up, anyway?

Xavier snicked at Jody's thoughts. He was starting to like this kid.

Only Sylvester raised a brow as he watched the stalker butler and pervy bimbo sneak out.

'Hmm, bait, maybe? But for what?'