Chapter 36 & 37: Business Transaction |
It was a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. More significantly, everything went well. Both the babies and their mother were healthy. Rosanna's elation knew no bounds, learning the twins were both born at Tier 3.
Of course, the requirements for evolving their tiers would still be as astronomical as they came, but their base talent had already set them above 99% of the ascendants out there. Even among the whole Blackstone Clan, there had been only a handful of times someone was born above Tier 3.
At first, Ember had imagined being jealous of their potential. However, looking at the two wrinkly, ugly faces, he couldn't bring himself to feel even a tinge of envy.
The family had already thought of a number of names for them. Ember had contributed a great number of them. Among them, Rosanna settled on Gale for the boy, while Snow was chosen for the girl on Rain’s insistence.
Honestly, it all fit, the four siblings all having names after natural phenomena, though Ember feared it was only his name that sounded a little chuuni. But he was glad to be the youngest no more.
Ember was already imagining them growing up into little toddlers calling him big brother when his aunt Zephyr came to the house to congratulate them on the birth. She came bearing gifts, from pastries to baskets full of fresh fruits. Unfortunately, she was not just there to congratulate them.
After leaving the newborns and their mother in the other room, she sat down with the two siblings and asked, “So, have you come to a decision yet?”
“What's there to decide?” Rain said. “We aren’t giving up the skill stone.”
Zephyr exhaled deeply. “I understand your plight,” she said. “Nobody would want to give up something so precious. Not to mention it will be invaluable to Ember's growth.”
“I’m asking because you have no other choice. Pine Blackstone may keep up the pleasantries with you now, but he is cut from the same cloth as his father, and they are not used to hearing no.”
Ember exchanged a look with Rain. “Will they snatch it forcibly if we don't agree?”
Zephyr didn't answer that. “The best course of action now is to get some short-term benefits in exchange,” she said, “while having them look for another silver skill.”
“What kind of benefit?” he asked. “Would they give me something to help me awaken an attunement?”
Zephyr shot him a pointed look, as if saying a treasure like that was in no way inferior to a skill stone.
According to her, the clan had some good iron skill stones to offer, as well as some good artefacts, potions, and elixirs. However, none of them moved him.
Ember wasn't lacking in iron skills, while the other stuff was of little significance to him at the moment. He would say the only things he was lacking now were skill slots to gain the silver skill, and perhaps a higher-grade mana chamber.
As the benefits didn’t impress him, Zephyr went on to discuss the consequences they might face if they kept the skill stone. Unlike their slimy uncle Cloud, she laid it all bare without any pretence, but Ember didn’t like the talk with her any more than he did with Cloud.
“What’s Grandfather’s view on this?” Ember asked.
Zephyr kept silent for a while. “I’m not sure. He’s away from the clan for a while.” She stood up. “If he were in power, we wouldn’t have to worry about this whole debacle at all, would we? But he’s not, which leaves you with two choices: exchange the skill stone for some benefit, or deny the patriarch and await the consequences.”
She left, but the siblings remained seated on the couch, their expressions ugly.
“Screw the consequences,” Ember said, clenching his fist. “I won’t give up the skill stone.”
“I understand.”
“But what if they take it anyway?”
Rain bit her lower lip, bowing her head.
“Hey, Rain, how far are you from making it to Tier 7?”
His sister looked up.
“If you can manage the skill slots, I want you to have it, rather than one of them taking it away.”
Rain shook her head. “That’s impractical, and Dad brought the skill stone for you. If you miss your opportunity, then...”
She didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t have to. Ember understood the plight. It wasn’t that he feared he wouldn’t make it to Tier 7 without the silver skill. He had made the calculations and believed he had a fair shot at making it even without it.
For most ascendants, the difficult part was acquiring enough iron skills in the first place before getting to improving them. But Ember had no such fear. Not only was he already gaining proficiency in four iron skills, there were three others waiting in his status log for him to have more skill slots. Besides, he could get one or two of his copper skills to evolve within a year, unless they needed to be merged.
The crux of the matter was that Ember was receiving a booming number of evolution points from his skills, enough that he didn’t fear the hurdle of Tier 7.
With Split Focus, all his skills were growing remarkably, especially Breathing Art. The skill initially wasn't that difficult to learn. However, keeping it running at all times required a certain level of mental acumen and focus. It was arduous to keep it active while maintaining some other focus-intensive skills.
But with Split Focus, in the last few months, he had grown it from level 6 to level 8, with Meditative Muse growing another level to match it at level 8. Though the greater contributors to his racial progress were mostly Split Focus and Blitz Steps. The two iron skills had already pushed the progress beyond the halfway mark for Tier 5.
[Meditative Muse (Copper) +7 → 8]It didn't end there. Ember began pushing his body through Blitz Steps, putting on tungsten-gilded wear weighing over 30 to 40 kilograms.[Breathing Art (Copper) +6 → 8]
[Split Focus (Iron) +2 → 3]
[Blitz Steps (Iron) +2 → 3]
[+830 EPs.]
His physical might certainly wasn't high enough to keep him engaged in that heavy practice for long. But with mana, Ember persevered twice as long.
Even if he hadn't acquired the Mana Augmentation skill, Ember could still apply his mana to empower his body a little.
He gained another level in Split Focus and Keen Mind, pushing the progress over the 3000 mark. Even Archery grew by a level despite him not putting much time into it, but his Mind Wall remained unmoving at level 3.
Ember had certainly grown more skilled in utilising it. With a mere thought, he could pull up a barrier around his mind, helping him push through hazardous tasks with little to no mental fluctuations. There was no question about its practical use, but he feared that without some challenge like what he went through against the Iron Lizard, it would probably be impossible to improve it.
At the rate he was going, Ember believed Split Focus was likely to be the first skill to reach the silver-class threshold, beating Mana Shaping and Blitz Steps. Hopefully, with his Mind Attunement, there wouldn’t be any more constraints.
Of course, almost half of his waking hours were spent on his mana training, but Mana Shaping would require two more skills for its evolution.
Ember wondered if delaying those two fundamental skills would bite him in the back later. As far as he was concerned, it would all depend on how fast he could evolve his racial tiers.
Still, he couldn’t help but wonder: was it that difficult to evolve a skill to silver rank organically?
He posed the question to Rain.
“It is for me,” she said, “though I don't know about you. You are weirdly...”
She fumbled for the right words. Ember helped with a grin. “Outstanding? Extraordinary? Exceptional?”
“Mhm, I would say quirky,” Rain snorted. “You are weirdly quirky with all of your skills.”
Well, Ember believed in smarter hard work instead of just smart or hard work. Many of his skills were related to the mind, so whenever he was getting through boring, laborious practice, he would push his mind as well to get an extra benefit out of it.
It certainly left him more exhausted. Some days, he even slept like a log, passing out for over eight hours. Waking up later than usual certainly set a bad precedent for the whole day. But since he was still seeing improvements, Ember kept up the schedule.
If it really came down to the number of hours, perhaps he could use Mind Wall to restrict his need for sleep for some time. He would need some practice with that to know how effective it was in the long run.
However, as he progressed towards Tier 5 at a remarkable pace, the house hadn't stopped enquiring about his skill stone.
Now it wasn't just their Uncle Cloud who came to remind them of it every day. There were only a couple of weeks remaining until the class trial, and clansmen began to harass their family even more, no matter how weak their mother was from childbirth.
Even Zephyr came along every once in a while, putting all the cards on the table and explaining what the clan could offer in exchange. She was more pragmatic about the whole thing than her brother, but more difficult to deal with as well.
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Pine Blackstone made another trip to their home. He still kept that polite façade, though there was certainly a hard edge to his tone, repeatedly emphasising for Ember to think of the clan.
Ember thought of the clan the whole evening, lying on the roof of their house. The starry skies were usually breathtaking on any other day, but today heavy clouds shrouded the magnificent view, reflecting the jumble of thoughts inside his head.
Think of the clan.
Why do I only have to think of the clan?
Why did only his family have to pay?
Ember had no attachment to anyone in the clan outside his immediate family. Even though he had initially held a good opinion of Zephyr, that goodwill began to dwindle as she hurried him every single day to give up on the one chance his father fought for.
Her reasoning was as soulless as it could be. There were only two sides to this whole debacle: what benefit he could get out of giving them the skill stone, and what they would do to torment him and his family if he decided to keep it.
Zephyr seemed convinced that they would send Rain to a battlefield. Now that the Oberons had lost their main footholds on the northern plains, clans from other regions were already descending into strife over the benefits.
His sister could hold her own against someone around her level. Her swordsmanship and other skills were not sloppy, having been trained by their father. Yes, she wouldn’t need to fight on the frontline, but a battle healer’s vocation was far more arduous than a regular one. Rain had taken the healer class precisely so she wouldn't have to fight.
Then there were the twins. They were barely a couple of weeks old, but both of them had been born at Tier 3. Would the clan be impartial to them if he denied the clan head?
“What would Dad do?” Ember asked, peering at the gloomy overcast.
****
Twice a month, Pine Blackstone would enter the patriarch's chamber to relay everything that had been transpiring in the clan. Although he hadn't yet succeeded as the Patriarch, his father had already delegated most of the clan's business to him. Unless it was something huge, Pine decided almost everything regarding the day-to-day business of the clan.
"The Oberons are still unwilling to give us any more slots?”
“They are willing to give a couple," Pine said, "but only under the condition that Hope will be aligned with House Oberon after her class ascension."
"They would want that, wouldn't they?" The Patriarch snorted. "I'm sure they already have a good few candidates to wed her. They might even give her the choice to pick the brightest among them."
Despite nearing 200 years of age, Garland Blackstone seemed only middle-aged, with only a few strands of grey hair. If not for his father telling him, Pine would have assumed his father had already achieved gold class. After all, a silver ranker's lifespan would only amount to around 200 years, whereas his father seemed like he could live for another century or more.
However, the many times he had asked his father about it, he had denied it. He even said that it wasn't that he had no hope of making it to gold rank, it was just that he feared it would be the end of him.
"Reject them," the Patriarch said, "if you haven't already."
Pine nodded. If it were anybody else in the clan, his father would send bouquets of flowers along with the candidate to make an alliance with the Oberons through matrimony. But Garland doted on his granddaughter Hope a great amount. Even Pine himself hadn't gotten such consideration, despite being relatively talented.
"What about the silver skill acquisition for Hope?"
"It's going. . . well," Pine said. "It will still take a few more days, it seems."
The Patriarch lifted his head from the notes. "What's the delay there when there‘s no Timber Blackstone obstructing you?"
He shook his head. The insinuation was clear. Well, he wasn’t against using force on their own clansmen if it came to that, but Pine was more flexible. There was still room for negotiation.
While tyranny would present results quickly, it was certainly not without consequences. If he were to act without caring about the consequences, the clan would have already been divided into who knew how many pieces.
His father was old. When he first took hold of the helm of the clan, Seynhold was much too uncivilised. Only those with power had any say in matters of importance. It was only through having an ironclad rule over the clan that he managed to keep his standing. After all, it was Garland’s brutality that made Timber Blackstone become such an eyesore to their reign.
However, times had changed. For the first time in three thousand years, someone outside the three bloodline clans had ascended as the Saint of Seynhold. The common folk thought Eisen Hightower was but a puppet of the three clans, but in truth, it was quite the opposite. Never in their thousands of years of reign had the Oberons, the Renins, or the Killjoys felt the suppression as they did now.
And Pine suspected the Saint wasn’t only stopping there. Under his helm, Seynhold had grown, become more civilised, and it had even given clans like Blackstone some room to breathe and grow.
With his acumen, Pine could already glimpse what other things Hightower was preparing for. And he’d adjust his hundred-year plan according to what the Saint decided on.
As for the silver skill stone itself, Pine was optimistic about obtaining it. It did help that the family of three, now five, had none but Zephyr to shoulder their pain. The woman was more of a tactician than her father, applying the exact amount of pressure on her nephew to get what she wanted.
Pine was fine with giving them some more benefits. It wouldn't be a bad deal in the long run. Hopefully, the little insinuation was enough to have them see reason.
He had heard that the family had already welcomed a pair of twins, both at Tier 3 at birth. Not to mention, the two other children were bountifully gifted as well.
Now that Timber Blackstone was out of the race, Pine believed he could build some goodwill with the family, and all it would take was some timely intervention. The siblings were very much their father’s blood. He just had to look after them while they were down. It was not so much about giving them more resources as it was about taking care of their emotional needs.
Timber Blackstone had failed there, while Zephyr had been apathetic since birth. And there were no others who could even talk with them on the same wavelength.
As for all the clansmen pressuring the family, Pine just need to be seen walking along with kids for a couple, and they'd change their tone. Add in a few words on their behalf, and they'd celebrate Ember as the new talent of the clan. It was all people without power were good for.
But Cliff's disappearance was truly a loss. The fellow had just shown the potential to perhaps grow beyond their clan. If it were anyone else, Pine might have been worried about his seat. However, Cliff was different.
The man seemed to have no ambition in life, the complete opposite of his father. It wasn’t because he didn't have the means. Pine believed it had more to do with his nature. The fellow embodied the exact characteristics of a knight, which was why Pine liked him so much.
Yes, he was not without making his own mistakes, like marrying that commoner girl against everyone's wishes. But among the last few generations of the clan, there was no one more dependable than Cliff.
It had been worrying how fast Timber Blackstone was developing his power, pushing Cliff around like a figurehead. But ultimately, it was all for nought. A pity, really.
As for the silver skill stone itself, it wasn't as if the clan had none to spare. They had two. Unfortunately, one of them was a poor match for his daughter, while the other was steeped in requirements.
Acquiring a skill related to farming would not only waste skill slots, it was highly unlikely that she would accomplish much with it.
The other one was as valuable as the defensive skill Pine was aiming for. Sadly, it required a darkness attunement. It would likely develop as a stealth skill, which wasn't really useful with Hope's build.
That silver-class defensive skill was the best bet for her.
****
Ember was going through the rigorous motions of Blitz Steps in the yard while wearing the tungsten-gilded gear when Zephyr arrived.
Rain intercepted her while he remained in practice for a few more minutes, the sounds of their argument echoing into his ears, unobstructed. He heaved a breath, readjusted his hold on the Mind Wall, and waited for his aunt to come to him.
Within a couple of minutes, she sauntered over to him, with an angry Rain chasing after her.
"Give me the skill stone," Zephyr demanded without any pleasantries.
Ember had already gone through all his thoughts rationally, so he said, "I will."
"No!" Rain shouted. "Dad bought it for you. You cannot—"
"Rain, please give me a moment with Aunt Zephyr."
Perhaps she noticed something in his tone, because his elder sister became tense.
"I have a few demands," he said, turning to Zephyr, who gestured for him to continue. "I want to enter the higher levels of the archive."
"That's possible," Zephyr agreed. "Anything more?"
"I want a sizable allocation in the silver-grade mana chamber."
"That's. . ." Zephyr’s eyes changed. "Do you even know what it costs the clan to keep the silver-grade chamber running?"
"Is it more valuable than exchanging a silver skill stone for just a mere promise of another one in the foreseeable future?"
Honestly, Ember had little hope of them allotting him even an hour in the silver-grade chamber a week. Only the higher rankers who had contributed to the clan were allowed inside, and that too after spending good credits.
But if it were all in negotiation, Ember would have to aim high to get something a notch or two lower. His next aim would be to gain unrestricted entry to the iron-grade mana chamber if they didn't allow the silver one.
But to his surprise, Zephyr didn’t immediately reject him.
"I'll see about that, but make no mistake that it won’t be any more than a hundred hours of allocation."
If not for the Mind Wall suppressing his emotions, Ember's lips would have already curled up in delight. The silver-grade mana chamber was easily nine times denser compared to its copper-grade counterparts, let alone the richness and purity of the mana. He believed it would only take him a couple of hours in the chamber to gain a Breath of Mana.
Still, he decided to become greedier. “A hundred hours is too low,” he said. “I want at least three hours of daily allocation until I receive a silver skill to my liking.”
Zephyr shot him a glare. “That’s out of the question. Even if you give up the skill stone completely, they wouldn’t allocate you thousands of hours of unrestricted use of the chamber. We only have one at the silver grade, and it is where all the elders practise.”
Ember frowned while repeating himself, “A hundred hours is too low.”
His aunt snorted. “As you are right now, half of those hundred hours would be a waste. Why not get a couple of intermediate mana elixirs instead?”
Ember thought for a while. “How about a hundred hours and an intermediate mana elixir?”
“A silver skill stone is valuable, but it's not that infallible,” Zephyr said and shook her head. “I’ll see if they agree to that. Even if they don’t, I’ll spend my credits to bring you one.”
“That’s oddly kind of you, Aunt.”
If Zephyr felt any guilt over the whole debacle, she didn’t show it. "Well, now that that's out of the way, give me the stone," Zephyr said. "The older folks of the clan were already becoming impatient with me."
"Hold on for a minute. This wasn't the end of my demands."
"What more do you want?"
Well, a hundred hours in the silver-grade mana chamber would only amount to about five thousand contribution points. Ember believed he could get more out of this exchange.
He held up two fingers. "I want two iron-rank skill stones of my choosing," he said, "as soon as the twins have access to their status."
Zephyr frowned. "Are you aware that you are not selling the silver skill stone?"
"Of course," he said. "If I had to sell it, even a dozen iron skills wouldn't be enough. Besides, if the patriarch can spare a silver skill stone for someone born at Tier 4, I’m sure the clan can offer two mere iron ones for my siblings. But if they like to play favourites, we can pay for it. I’m sure Dad had accumulated a substantial amount of contribution points in the clan.”
His aunt shot him a perceptive glance, perhaps unable to believe the words coming out of the mouth of a nine-year-old. “You have become quite eloquent.”
“Thank you,” he said flatly. “It had been a pain to master Language Acquisition."
"Is there anything more?"
"Of course. I want to keep Rain out of danger," Ember said. "And if they could add one or two of those evolution potions for Mum, that would be for the best."
Before they could agree on the deal, Rain piped up, "Em, are you sure about this?"
Ember was not, but he nodded anyway.
What other choice did he have?
It was his fault for thinking with his heart. With Mind Wall suppressing his emotions, it was all nothing but a business transaction to him. And he should likely treat the clan the same way from now on.
A few nights ago on the rooftop, Ember had questioned what his father would do in his situation.
The answer to the question was as simple as it could be. Cliff would decide to sacrifice himself for the family without a second thought.
Ember had all the tools and skills he would need to get to Tier 7 before his class ascension, even without a skill stone. The only reason he had been so indecisive and furious about it the whole time was because the silver skill stone was something his father had bought for him.
His father had delved into rift after rift to finally secure it for him. More than the potential the skill could bring, Ember valued its emotional significance more.
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