*In the orphanage's medical room*
"Eladreas what's happening to Runaan, his eyes changed and he was bleeding from them too?" Carri asked Eladreas as to what was happening to him, her concern for her friend was greater than the fear she held moments ago.
"What do you mean his eyes changed? What exactly did they look like?" Eladreas questioned Carri, he didn't know what to think of the situation.
Carri's question piqued his interest as he remembered what the Emperor and the Head Priest discussed when he brought Runaan to the orphanage. Eladreas remembered that he was from an ancient clan, and supposedly from the dragon's kin clan.
Eladreas knew of bloodlines and their inner workings to some extent. Bloodlines weren't a mystery of this world, however, everyone had a bloodline according to their kindred beasts, all notable families and clans had connections to these beasts.
Many kindred beasts held great combat abilities, though they were rare in many human clans. Most human clans held kindred beasts that prevailed in the utility traits and assisted them in the development of various jobs.
Those who held power in the human clans were the rare few who were lucky enough to hold and obtain powerful bloodlines because of their kindred beasts and bloodlines. Alexandros the strongest human in the Crownsman Empire held the bloodlines of the giants.
Alexandros' kindred beast was known throughout his kingdom and neighboring kingdoms, he and his country were protected by Atlas, the Guardian. Atlas was a being of higher intelligence and was the progenitor of the giants' race as well as the strongest of their kind.
His destructive strength may pale in comparison to other kindred beasts of the world, but his defensive capabilities were second to none. The defensive capabilities that Atlas held put many other destructive beings' strength to shame.
To attack the Crownsman Empire was to attack Atlas, a foolhardy attempt as almost nothing could get past his defensive techniques and barriers he could create. Let alone attempt to penetrate those defenses while trying to deal with the other various powerhouses within the Empire.
Bloodlines stemmed from the kindred beasts' bonds that families held with their ancestors and with their new kindred bonds. Bloodlines in this world could change, but only depending on the kindred beast that one bonded to.
Every human of Alterra had the capability to bond to one kindred beast through a summoning. The summoning process could be simple and it could be done at any point in a person's life.
Summoning a beast earlier in life would cause a person's bloodline to change if it has yet to awaken. People's bloodlines would always awaken to the same as their parents' bloodline.
However, many people who had poor capabilities or abilities would often hope their children would choose to try and change their bloodlines for the better. Even though it was a gamble and that the change could become worse, the change could be for the better.
If the bloodline has already been awakened, the person summoning his kindred beast would receive a beast that shared his ancestral bloodline. However, this only works with beasts that don't have a consciousness and don't hold a higher level of intelligence.
Otherwise, the beasts with higher levels of intelligence could refuse the summoning of a human. This refusal would constrict the capabilities of the person performing the summoning by no longer being able to rely on a kindred beast in life.
Bloodlines humans held effectively functioned as a way to gain the abilities and some characteristics of their kindred beasts. The people of the dragon's-kin clan are unable to summon their bloodline's kindred beasts due to the dragons' banishment from Alterra by the gods.
Yet the abilities that have been transferred from the dragons into the bloodlines the dragon's-kin had were immense. Dragons held near impeccable control over mana in the natural world around them. Just a mere fraction of these capabilities transferring to a normal human could alter history.
Atlas was a fearsome creature in Alterra, however, he was but an ant compared to the dragons. Atlas was one of the very few kindred beasts that has lived long enough to know of the dragons and the cause of their banishment.
Atlas was a beast who held human immense intellect and wisdom that had since served Alexandros well. Atlas had merged his bloodline with that of the Crownsmans nearly 500 years ago now from sheer curiosity.
He merged the giant's bloodline with Alexandros' ancestor at the founding of the Crownsman empire and that had grown accustomed to life with them. He had sworn to himself then that he would protect them as his own.
Atlas has since been the kindred beast of the reigning emperor. He would only change his kinship to another Crownsman after the last had died. The last person Atlas bonded with was Alexandros' grandfather, and he will bond with Alexandros' kin when his time has come to an end.
Atlas could only ever be bonded to a Crownsman at the time of their summoning for a kindred beast. However, as the progenitor of the Giants' race, his kin has always stepped in to fill in the voids of the Crownsman's offspring who Atlas is unable to bond to.
As such, the Crownsman bloodline has been showered in the shared strengths of the giants for half a millennia. The defensive capabilities of the Crownsman empire have since never been broken.
******
Thinking on the capabilities that the empirical household's bloodline held, Eladreas wondered what the capabilities the blood of a dragon could hold. Though changing bloodlines was possible, being a direct descendant of a physical dragon, he shared the physical blood of one too.
Eladreas couldn't think straight as his mind raced of all the different outcomes of having such a bloodline could cause. He was only snapped out of his thoughts as he heard Carri tell him what she had seen.
"Runaan's eyes changed color! They looked really scary too! It was as though they had a really weird fire burning in them and they turned red and orange! But the scariest thing was his pupils changed to look like a snake's! His blood also burned the floor" Carri had hurridly explained what she'd seen to Eladreas.
'Could it be his bloodline awakened? But that shouldn't be possible yet. People's bloodlines don't awaken until they're at least teenagers. Geniuses even rarely awaken at the age of 10,' Eladreas thought to himself after hearing Carri's explanation.
"Carri, do you know where Borrian is? Can you tell him I need him to get Head Priest Gomo for me?" Eladreas asked Carri to go get Borrian to ask for the Head Priest. Children who have yet to have their souls awakened were not allowed into the cathedral, a barrier prevented unawakened's from entering it.
The barrier was only ever taken down by the Head Priest on special days of worship when unawakened's were allowed into the cathedral. Otherwise, the mana within the cathedral could be detrimental to unawakened children in most circumstances.
"Yes Mr. Eladreas, but what's going on, is Runaan gonna be okay!"
"Yes, he'll be okay, just do as I've asked."
"Why do you need Head Priest Gomo? What's going on with me?" Runaan hurriedly asked Eladreas as Carri was running out of the room.
Looking back at Runaan who was in the examination chair, Eladreas just quickly explained to him what he believed to have happened; "I think you awoke your bloodline extremely early and your body wasn't able to handle it well. The Head Priest has a better understanding of these things than I do and I need him to check on you."
"What do you mean my bloodline awoke? What're bloodlines anyways? Why couldn't my body handle it? What's going on!?" Eladreas' response only brought up more questions than answers for Runaan.