Arthur and Sylvie arrived together at the Greville estate after long days of work. "I'm fed up with all this paperwork. It's a waste of my talent," Arthur said while driving his car with Sylvie by his side. He liked driving his own car every once in a while to cure his boredom.
"What a battle freak..." Sylvie sighed.
"What do you mean, 'freak'?" Arthur gave Sylvie a questioning look.
"Whatever. By the way, we need to officially announce Asher as the heir to our family," Sylvie told him.
"Amelia will be a bit upset with this decision, but when she hears about his talent, I hope she'll understand," Arthur spoke.
"Don't worry, she's a smart girl, and I believe in my kids," Sylvie told him, trying to ease his concerns. Although they knew that Asher's cold nature affected Amelia greatly, they still gave both of their children equal love and could only hope that time would reconcile the two siblings.
A white sports car arrived at the Greville estate. Arthur and Sylvie got out and walked towards the common hall. They saw Asher sitting with two kids and were surprised to their core when they saw their eyes and hair.
"Who are these kids?" Arthur asked Asher.
"Oh, hello Dad. Come here and meet Lucas Greville and Livia Greville," Asher told them with a smirk on his face.
Emmy was panicking, seeing Asher and his mischievous words. He had carefully said those words to corner Arthur, who was confused about what was happening. Sylvie was also confused, but she never had any doubts about Arthur's loyalty.
"Asher, can you explain this properly?" Sylvie gave Asher a stern look, indicating that she would not tolerate such jokes.
"They're Uncle Ivar's kids. I found them while looking for something related to my new company," Asher casually lied, confident that Emmy would not reveal his secret.
Before the couple could react...
Boom!
"What happened?" Arthur shouted at the strange explosion that occurred outside.
Something crashed into the garden area of the estate, creating a small crater. A bulky man in his 50s could be seen in the middle of the crater. A voice came from the crater.
"DAMN BRAT! COME OUT AND GET READY FOR AN EMERGENCY TEACHING SESSION !!" Nathan shouted.
"What the hell is that old man doing?" Arthur shouted at the ruined sight of the beautiful garden.
"No! The flowers..." Livia screamed in her mind. She really liked the gardens around the mansion, but one of them had just been destroyed.
"Haahh.... Emmy, get the servants to fix this mess after this," Asher told Emmy while going outside to see the ruckus.
Nathan was wearing his battle suit and with his huge greatsword, he looked like a mighty commander leading a war. His presence alone exuded so much pressure that Asher told Emmy to shield the kids. They were unawakened and such mana pressure could harm them.
Nathan noticed the two kids and took in his pressure to not harm them. But when he saw their eyes, his anger started to emerge and he shouted,
"You cheating scoundrel!! Don't worry Sylvie, I will do my job and end his life," Nathan started walking towards Arthur.
"Who are you calling a scoundrel, you senile old man? They are Ivar's kids, according to Asher," Arthur spoke before Nathan could start his rampage.
Arthur and Sylvie were still shocked by Asher's words and Nathan's expression showed various emotions including shock, grief, and others. Hearing the name of his dead son reignited his memories of the past.
"Asher, will you explain?" Sylvie decided to stop the chaos from escalating further.
Asher told them about how his uncle and Arthur's younger brother Ivar Greville had a lover who got pregnant but didn't know how to convey the news to him. At that time, she received the news of Ivar's death and, in her moment of grief, took her unborn kids and sought refuge outside of Soran. He explained the story that Lucas had told him the day before.
Nathan was silent the whole time and Arthur and Sylvie had sad expressions. Ivar was the youngest person to become an SS Rank Hunter. His talent was even slightly greater than his father and older brother Arthur. The world thought that he would become the youngest to reach SSS Rank within the next 10 years.
But when Asher was around 3 years old, an SS Rank red-gate dungeon was formed in the city of Soran. It was a highly unstable dungeon that could have resulted in a dungeon break. At this time, Nathan and other SSS Rank hunters were clearing the SSS Rank dungeon that appeared in the lost lands. Most of the SS Rank hunters of Somaria, including Arthur, had followed them to clear it.
SSS Rank dungeons were one-time dungeons but if they were not cleared within a certain time, the resulting dungeon break could have caused a lot of destruction in Somaria. Ivar was one of the SS Rank hunters left behind in Soran.
The SS Rank red-gate dungeon had the unbelievable restriction of only allowing one person to enter. There were some other SS Rank hunters in Soran as well, but nobody wanted to undertake what seemed like a suicide mission. If nobody stepped up, the dungeon break would have destroyed a significant part of Soran.
Dungeon breaks were not just monsters getting out. The result of a gate breaking was a huge mana explosion, depending on the rank of the dungeon, and then monsters came out of the space cracks where the dungeon gate was located. In the history of SS Rank dungeons, it was the first time a red-gate dungeon with a restriction limit of "1" appeared. Red-Gate dungeons were also a one time clear dungeons which will dissapear in some hours after the dungeon boss was killed.
Ivar Greville took it upon himself to clear that dungeon and entered, but the boss of the dungeon was a 9-headed SS Rank Hydra. Although Ivar cleared the dungeon, the injuries and poison took his life soon after he exited the dungeon. His right hand was gone, with his skin having numerous purple veins and most of his back having its skin ripped off.
He was hailed as a hero by the Association, but when Nathan and Arthur heard this news, they were devastated. Losing Ivar was a huge blow to the Greville family and the whole world, as he was a talent never seen before. Even though he couldn't beat Nathan's awakening foundation, as he missed it by 5 minutes, his speed of ranking was the highest in the world.
The twins were anxious as no one was talking and the long silence increased their worry. They were worried if they would also be accepted as family, like Asher did. Nathan noticed the twins' anxiety and spoke up.
"Hello, you cute brats. I am your grandfather Nathaniel Von Greville, and also one of the strongest people in the world," he smiled as he introduced himself. Although he was very old, due to his high rank, his aging was much slower than others. He looked like a fit man in his 50s.
"Hello, I am Lucas, and this is my sister Livia," Lucas spoke while Livia just nodded from Emmy's arms.
"Both of you are so cute," Sylvie spoke as she looked at the twins.
Arthur and Nathan then talked further with the twins, telling them about Ivan and how he died heroically. They also noticed that Livia was quite weak and ill, but they thought they would just take her for a checkup tomorrow. Sylvie became attached to Livia and placed her on her lap, stroking her hair. Livia accepted Sylvie's embrace, as she felt quite comfortable with her.
"I need all of your attention!" Asher spoke, stopping the chatting group.
"We need to cure Livia, as she is suffering from mana poisoning, and from the looks of it, it's already in its last stage," Asher told them.
"WHAT?!" Arthur stood up from his seat, and the rest of them were shocked as well.
Mana poisoning meant that a person forcefully ingested a lot of mana in their body. The mana would not pass through the core and, instead, the unrefined mana corrupted the mana veins all over the body. This method usually did boost one's strength and power, but there was no cure for corrupted mana veins.
"Her condition is serious. No doctor can save her now," Asher continued.
"But how did an unawakened being get mana poisoning?" Sylvie asked while looking at Livia, who was sitting on her lap listening to the conversation going on. She was very scared when she heard that no doctor could cure her.
Seeing the panicking Livia, Asher explained the cure before explaining the cause of her disease.
"But we can use our family treasure, the [Rank-SSS Pure Healing Elixir], which was given to us for Uncle Ivar's contribution," Asher explained to them.