Chapter 148: Discussion

Foss soon left.

It was Akar who personally escorted him out of the city, and when Foss asked a few more questions along the way, Akar, who had already prepared in advance, answered them fluently without arousing any suspicion.

Upon returning to the lord’s manor, Akar immediately called Ion to the small study.

Yam happened to be putting the Demonic Sword back in place.

“How was it?” Ion asked urgently.

Yam sighed. “It’s no good. The Demonic Sword didn’t respond.”

Disappointment involuntarily surfaced on Ion’s face.

He had hoped that if the Demonic Sword resonated with Aches as well, then the third generation of the Soderbell Family would truly rise to prominence. But unfortunately, his wishful thinking remained just that—a beautiful hope. Harsh reality made him realize that dreams could only be made under the covers at night.

“What about aptitude?”

“Not much better than Akar’s or mine.” Yam looked at the faint hope on his father’s face and ultimately spoke helplessly to shatter the last illusion. “If it’s by the standard method of bloodline awakening, then Second-Tier is probably the limit. …His situation is similar to Liam’s.”

“Once I reach Third-Tier, I’ll try to have another child with Anna and see if there’s any improvement in aptitude.”

Akar, in contrast, viewed this matter more openly.

Although Liam was his eldest son, the Soderbell Family did not plan to enforce primogeniture. Therefore, if Liam truly lacked in strength, Akar actually felt relieved, because that meant they could elevate Aches to Third-Tier.

Moreover, aptitude evaluation was essentially just an assessment.

Once they matured and underwent real trials of blood and fire, their temperament would change, and aptitude could also improve to various degrees. So in terms of potential alone, Liam’s future might even surpass Aches’s—after all, Liam was still a baby, while Aches had already undergone countless hardships.

Ion sighed and said no more.

“Aches will turn fifteen in two years,” Akar said from the side. “I learned from Anna that bloodline nobles typically conduct aptitude assessments at that age and begin training. Even regular bloodline user families try to start the awakening process before the age of twenty, as it’s said to impact a whole series of subsequent aptitude developments.”

“I’ve heard the same from Lily.” Yam nodded. “The Bole Family also used to start testing their children around fifteen. Lily started when she was fifteen as well.”

“If the first Bloodline Potion fails to awaken the bloodline, then one must wait a month before taking the second dose. The body must fully digest and detoxify the first potion, or the second will certainly fail.”

“Lily took eight Bloodline Potions before she successfully awakened. Her aptitude was far superior to Giggs, who succeeded only after the tenth potion of the second round.”

After Yam explained the taboos around taking Bloodline Potions, Akar added, “So, we must carefully consider when Aches should awaken his bloodline, with what aptitude, and what bloodline he should awaken. …Based on his aptitude, if we use the Demonic Sword’s [Purification] ability, he must constantly appear as a genius.”

“No,” Ion immediately shook his head in rejection. “Our Soderbell Family is already attracting enough attention. We absolutely cannot let Aches appear overly talented. I’m not even planning to let him awaken the [Flame Demon Hound] bloodline, or it might lead to endless future troubles.”

Hearing Ion’s words, both Akar and Yam fell silent.

“In terms of bloodline type, that’s not really a problem for us,” Yam said after a moment of thought. “In fact, because we have the Demonic Sword, we can choose a bloodline more suited to Aches’s personality and combat style. …Let him train a bit and see what kind of weapons he prefers.”

Akar thought for a moment and agreed.

Currently, their family could name over ten Bloodline Knights. Categorized by weapon type, they had more than six or seven types.

For example, Yam’s swordsmanship, Akar’s archery, and even long blades, sabers, sword and shield combinations, spears—there were even options for daggers and short swords. So by starting with weapon preference and combat style, and then selecting a bloodline that best complemented that weapon, it would be a better outcome for Aches.

However, it was only because he was their eldest brother Arsen’s child that he received such special treatment.

If it had been someone else, even Cindy or Liam, they likely wouldn’t enjoy such consideration.

“Since Aches has been retrieved, then about Raven…”

“I’ll handle it,” Akar said calmly.

“Take the Demonic Sword,” Yam suddenly said. “Raven’s bloodline is [Hellhound]. We don’t yet know its specific abilities, but since it’s also from the Bourbon Family, it won’t hurt to collect it. If it turns out suitable for Aches in the future, it would be another option.”

“Indeed,” Ion nodded in agreement.

Now, the current external perception of the Bourbon Family was limited to the bloodline of the 【Raging Flame Lion】. There had been no news at all about the rumored bloodline of the 【Hell Three-Headed Demon Hound】. Therefore, it was naturally impossible for Ion and his family not to be curious about it. The only reason they hadn’t dealt with Raven earlier and extracted the bloodline power within him was to prevent any misinformation he might have given regarding Aches.

And now, since Aches had returned to the Soderbell Family, Raven was naturally no longer of any value.

“That Foss knight isn’t simple either.” Akar suddenly spoke. “He probably came from the Western Region. Previously, he tried asking me for my opinion on the chaos in the Western Region, but I avoided the question.”

“His demeanor is very refined, not like an ordinary Wandering Knight at all.” Yam recalled some of Foss’s past behavior and then spoke. “I think he’s likely a knight of the Siger Family, the Duke of the Western Region.”

“Duke of the Western Region?” Akar was a bit surprised. “If he’s with the Duke of the Western Region, why would he come to the Southern Region?”

“There could be many reasons.” Ion shook his head. “Maybe he’s here to find allies for the Duke of the Western Region, or maybe he’s seeking refuge... But whether or not he’s truly with the Duke of the Western Region, I can’t say for sure. What I am sure of is that his strength is formidable. Even though he’s been deliberately concealing it, well... how should I put this—ever since that operation against the Shadow Panther, I’ve gained a very special sense.”

“A sense for danger.”

“Foss made you feel danger?”

“Worse than that.” Ion slightly shook his head. “He made me smell death... When he was more than ten paces away, there was no such feeling, but when you brought him in front of me, I sensed it. So in the future, if you ever have to face him, you must not let him come within ten paces—about three meters.”

Hearing Ion say this, both Yam and Akar became serious.

“Right, I didn’t get the chance to ask you earlier... Are you sure there won’t be any clues left behind on Joshua’s side?”

“Anna had already led him through the small path instead of the main road, so the body shouldn’t be easily discovered. That path isn’t entirely deserted either, but most people, upon seeing so much cargo, definitely wouldn’t abandon it.” Yam said in a low voice. “So as long as someone gets greedy, takes the cargo, and tries to hide the body and tracks, then our plan is complete.”

“White Mountain Territory and Gem Territory were attacked successively, and traces of the Forest Witches have appeared. In addition, the matter even involves Count Shuvaric’s Eastern Mountain Territory.” Ion thought for a moment. “Each incident really did happen—we just rearranged the timeline a little. What we truly need to worry about now is if someone knows the actual number of Forest Witches.”

“I can provide five corpses of the Forest Witches, so the actual number is up to us to decide.” Yam said in a low voice. “Now that the matter involves Joshua, if someone tries to sell the goods he was transporting, and considering we’ve already sold the Shadow Panther materials, then all the clues will be completely muddled. Even the Kasein Family wouldn’t be able to continue the investigation.”

“Too bad Yorles will have to take on a new identity.”

During the White Mountain Territory defense battle, thirteen Veteran Soldiers survived.

Among them, five led by Sien were stationed at Westerburg, while the remaining seven followed Lane to the Gem Territory.

Besides these twelve, one more person was in charge of building the White Mountain Territory’s intelligence network alongside Roda.

That person was Yorles.

However, Yorles’s identity had always been hidden. So now, taking the opportunity to “die in battle” and vanish from public view was actually a good outcome for White Mountain Territory. After Yam killed Joshua, all the valuable materials he recovered were sold through underground black market channels by Yorles and Shunes—neither of whom knew each other’s identity.

This was because neither Yam nor Anna provided specific information; they merely instructed each to go to a location and complete a transaction.

So even if the Kasein Family did eventually trace the lead, they wouldn’t be able to identify the parties involved, let alone anything further. That’s because both Yam and Anna, after extracting this transaction route from Raven, intended it as a one-time disposable use and never planned to reuse it.

In fact, once the Kasein Family found this black market site, it was highly likely that even they would meet their end there.

“There’s some risk, but we can’t expect everything to go smoothly all the time.” Ion said in a deep voice. “Still, after this is resolved, we might have to deal with another problem.”

“I’m already prepared.” Yam said calmly. “If Knight Foss reports what we told him and Monica sends Eric over, it would prove that the Kasein Family is extremely concerned about my physical condition. They’ll likely impose stricter surveillance to prevent another unexpected injury... If that really happens, then I’ll probably no longer be able to easily leave the Lord’s Manor.”

Currently, Yam could still occasionally leave White Mountain Territory, even to take down Joshua.

That was because the Kasein Family didn’t think the war had truly ended, and thus didn’t expect Yam to face danger. But once Foss returned and reported that Yam had fought the Forest Witches and was injured, if the Kasein Family was indeed that concerned, they would never allow him to roam freely again. He’d fall under their surveillance, meaning he could no longer act if there were future situations involving the use of the Demonic Sword.

“Let’s not think too far ahead. For now, arrange to test Aches in the coming days.” Ion changed the subject again. “It’ll still take over a decade for Cindy and Liam to grow, so if Aches can mature quickly, the Soderbell Family will have another useful asset.”

“I’ll arrange it tomorrow.”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.