Chapter 142: Shocking (2)
"Your... your Bloodline isn’t humanoid!" one of the evaluators shouted, his voice trembling and his face pale.
"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?" Priam raised an eyebrow, genuinely stunned.
Upon hearing those words, the entire place plunged into absolute shock.
Before panic could spread, Uswyn frowned, remembering an ancient concept. She took a step forward and intervened with confidence:
"No, that’s not it. He has an Anomalous Mutant Bloodline. This is something natural. His blood structure simply broke through the common standards."
Her words echoed with the weight of thunder, bringing a deathly silence to the surroundings.
Uswyn sighed, crossing her arms. "It’s an extremely rare phenomenon, but it can appear anywhere in the universe. Sometimes, after countless generations of mixtures and crossings, Bloodlines gain peculiar mutations. In most cases, they’re subtle changes. But there are exceptions where the mutation is so drastic that it becomes a complete anomaly. That’s his case."
The crowd swallowed dryly, absorbing the technical explanation.
As for the Ylisse Clan’s group, they exchanged frightened looks.
Flaris, Shione, and Lumiere knew perfectly well that Priam already had a terrifying Mage class... and now, he also carried an anomalous mutant Bloodline? Did he have no limit?
"This isn’t possible... why do these things only happen on my shift? I can only be cursed!"
The person responsible for the test murmured, with a genuine desire to cry. Looking at the shattered fragments of the evaluation stone, tears almost welled up in his eyes.
The reason for his despair was purely financial: all the testing tools belonged to the sect. If something was damaged in the evaluator’s hands, the value was deducted directly from his salary. Since he was in charge of the table, the bill would go to him.
"It’s fine, don’t punish yourself," Uswyn sighed, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder. "I also share part of the blame; I should have sensed his Bloodline before. I’ll help you cover the costs of this plate. Don’t feel bad."
The evaluator’s face instantly lit up with divine gratitude.
Before they could collect the pieces, a spatial distortion occurred in the air. An Elder from the inner walls materialized while floating and threw a new object.
"The replacement piece has arrived. Be more careful this time."
The new testing stone floated softly, landing on the same pedestal as the previous one. However, this one had a shining golden tone and was entirely carved with incredible-looking runes. It looked a thousand times more resistant and powerful.
"Thank you very much, Elder." Uswyn bowed in gratitude.
Obviously, several of the sect’s higher-ups were watching the registration from afar, ensuring that nothing went wrong there.
Uswyn turned to Priam. "Everything is settled. Drip a drop of blood onto this new stone. It’s a special-class one."
Priam nodded and let a single scarlet drop fall onto the golden surface.
The testing stone reacted instantly, releasing a pulse of blinding light.
Everyone around stretched their necks, taken by feverish curiosity.
Runic grooves began lighting up on the stone, forming characters of an ancestral language that few there knew how to decipher.
"This..." Uswyn stammered, her eyes fixed on the runic verdict.
The main evaluator read the markings out loud, seriousness weighing on every syllable:
"Mutant Bloodline: Affinities... Nature Energy, Wind Element, and Soul Power... all at DIVINE LEVEL."
Divine Level.
It was an affinity category that had not appeared in any common candidate from that selected line. Certainly, only the monsters born inside the sect could scratch that level.
The real problem... was that Priam had THREE affinities of that level stacked at the same time.
And before anyone there could process the absurdity, the golden runes shone again, giving new evaluations:
"Mind Power: Divine"
"Soul Power: Divine"
"Vital Energy: Divine"
The three great essences of life. All calibrated at the peak. The entire courtyard fell silent.
’How... how is this possible?’ Uswyn thought, feeling her legs falter.
She was already almost certain of the impossible class Priam possessed. And now, seeing all these extra "bonuses" he had... even if she were beaten to death, she would never believe that such an existence could exist. Much less that he would be taking the test to enter her sect. He wasn’t a genius; he was a conceptual aberration.
After a long period of trance, the evaluators finally recovered their senses and focused on Priam again.
They began dictating the formal registration questions, writing down each answer with the utmost care.
Priam kept his voice calm, dictating exactly what his allies from the Ylisse Clan already knew.
He wasn’t there to play politics or seek approval from arrogant young masters. He had crossed the borders to climb to the top of the Ironweald Sect, and eventually, raise his entire clan from the Mortal Plane straight to the Divine Plane.
...
Inside an imposing hall, deep within the sect’s Outer Branch, the atmosphere was heavy.
The Leader Elder was watching Priam’s entire evaluation through a floating projection screen. Around her, the oldest and most powerful figures of this branch observed the images, unable to utter a single word.
The silence lasted for long minutes.
Until, in an isolated corner of the hall, an extremely old and fragile-looking elder finally took a deep breath.
His eyes, which had been closed since the start of the test, opened abruptly.
Two slits of intense white light burst from his pupils, illuminating the stone walls of the room before disappearing.
The other Elders turned to him, filled with immense curiosity.
The old elder cleared his throat, focusing his gaze on the center of the room. "I looked at his last forty-eight hours... Leader Elder, that boy’s origins are genuinely humble. But besides a terrifying innate talent, he clearly stumbled into a colossal opportunity in the past, ascending like a falling star. In simple terms: his Wheel of Destiny is incomparable."
Restrained whispers echoed through the hall. That figure was the oldest and most respected existence of the Outer Branch. One of the powers of his Bloodline was precisely the ability to glimpse the recent past of anyone much weaker than him.
Even though he had only seen two days, this figure had already seen everything in the world, carrying several thousand years on his back. Based on his experience, his judgment of Priam could only be very close to reality.
The elder made a brief pause before continuing:
"Everything indicates that part of his current strength is connected to the Thunderhead Sect. He traveled there first, but fled after sensing some hidden danger. The boy is astute. However, what draws my attention most is his ruthless coldness when dealing with threats. On the way from the Mortal Plane, his vessel was targeted by other youths. He reacted without a millisecond of hesitation, killing dozens of attackers with great indifference."
The old man softened his expression, a glimpse of genuine respect crossing his wrinkled face.
"He treats the death of enemies with detachment... but treats his own people with extreme gentleness and absolute sincerity. Just look at the youths accompanying him; they don’t merely follow him, they adore him and trust him completely. The boy possesses the innate magnetism of a true leader."
Once again, silence settled in the hall.
The Leader Elder drummed her fingers on the arm of her stone chair, pondering the report. Finally, she nodded solemnly, and her voice flowed with cutting clarity, easily echoing in everyone’s ears:
"Geniuses destined for absolute greatness always carry a Wheel of Destiny of this caliber. However, the rules of our sect and the directives I received from the higher-ups are clear: Priam will not receive any kind of special treatment."
She stood up, exuding a silent, imposing presence.
"And honestly? That is the best we can do for him. Priam came from the Mortal Plane and conquered every drop of his power by walking the hardest path. Make no mistake, luck without the ability to grasp it only results in disaster."
"He knows the price of effort. Making his path easier now would be an insult to his potential. If we hand everything to him on a silver platter, we’ll rip the fangs out of a predator."
She walked to the edge of the platform, staring fixedly at the projection showing Priam.
"That boy is like a monstrous hunter who learned to track in scarcity. Our role is not to feed him by hand, nor to try to smother his steps. Our role is to provide the ideal hunting ground and let the sect itself force him to evolve. The drive to grow will only endure if he keeps fighting."
She turned back to the elders, her eyes shining with severity.
"In other words: do not intentionally make things easier for Priam, but also do not create artificial difficulties. Let the natural order take its course. This matter dies within the walls of this hall and must not be disclosed to absolutely anyone."
"Understood, Leader Elder!" the elders replied in unison, bowing before the decision.