Endyr was woken up by Sia gently shaking his shoulders. He sat up and cleared the sleep from his eyes before speaking.
"What is it sister?"
"Mon told me to get you and join her in the living room. I think its something important to do with my Ascension"
Endyr instantly shook the last traces of grogginess from his system and got out of bed. In a minute, he was fully dressed and rearing to go. Sia was slightly shocked at seeing the speed her brother got read.
'Isn't he more eager than I am?' she couldn't help but question.
The two siblings walked out of the room and down multipole corridors, decorated plainly and unlike their mansion's, which was lavish and spectacular. They reached a door with a strange symbol engraved on it: a semi-closed eye with two black lines running diagonally through it. Endyr stopped and stared at it before gesturing to Sia.
"Whats this?"
"I don't know...I think its a crest but I don't recognise the House it belongs too. But they must be allies."
Endyr gave the crest one last glance before entering the room with Sia. Inside, their mother stood waiting with another man wrapped in black. Endyr scrutinized him, but his animalistic instincts were still, with only a slight buzz alerting him that the man was quite strong.
Sia ran to her mother and hugged her, while Endyr slowly walked instead. Upon reaching her, the two looked at each other. No words passed between them, and Endyr met the eyes of his mother fearlessly.
The relationship between Endyr and Raphaniel could be described best in one word: indifferent. She had rarely been at home since he was born, with Sia and some maids being more of a mother than her. Endyr also felt no obligation towards acting like a son for Raphaniel. In his eyes, the fact that he at least didn't make any trouble or stress was enough payment for his (accidently) possession of the original Altair's place. Because yes, Endyr felt a tiny bit guilty over stealing the life of a yet-to-be-born foetus and replacing him.
The silent staring match persisted for at least three minutes before the man in black coughed into his hand. "If you two are done, we need to get a move on. I am on quite the tight schedule."
A small glare was sent towards Raphaniel at the last bit, leaving no doubt his "tight schedule" was her fault. Hearing his words, Raphaniel looked away from Endyr and pulled out an orb from her pocket and showing it to them.
"This is a Status Measurement Tool, a device that shows your current Rank and Level. It can also show your Bloodlines and Affinities. Specific devices can reveal everything about your Status, such as Skills and Titles, but this isn't one such device."
Endyr looked at the orb-the Status Measurement Tool- with great interest after hearing this. He had long since guessed that it was possible to see someone else's Status, but he wasn't sure how. Now however, he had his answer.
Raphaniel held the orb out towards Sia and beckoned her closer. "Place your hand on this, and circulate your Mana."
Sia swallowed and did as she said, releasing light blue Mana from her body. The orb glowed brightly, before projecting words into the air for all too see. As Endyr read it, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at what he saw.
===============<<♉︎♉︎>>=====================
Name: Sia Atrazark
Age: 11 Years
Species: Human
Level: 20 (Mortal Tier)
Rank: E-
Titles: Premature Bloomer, Envoy of Nyx
Skills: Element Manipulation-Air (E), Shadow Movement (E), Bestowment of Nyx (S)
Bloodline: Hyppiliote-Nyx (Primary), Atrazark-Zephylte (Secondary)
==============<<♉︎♉︎>>===================
Endyr couldn't see her Stats, but Sia already had a few irregularities in her Status. For one, she was Level 20, and she somehow possessed an S Rank Skill. Her Bloodlines also had the denotations of [Primary] and [Secondary].
He looked at Raphaniel for confirmation, and was met with a face full of shock. This made Endyr more certain that Sia's was not a common occurrence. He read her Status again, drawing conclusions and pondering on several points. After careful consideration, Endyr furrowed his brows.
'Her Title about being an Envoy of Nyx is concerning...anything to do with Gods can never end well, especially for such a weak mortal. If this means what I think it does...'
"Mom, how does my Status look?" Sia asked hopefully, worried over the shocked silence from the man and Raphaniel. At her words, Raphaniel snapped back to reality and cleared her throat.
"Its very good Sia" she smiled. "Your Stats can be viewed separately, but we'll do that later. For now, you should learn how to start meditating and increase your Rank.. As for your current Level...I guess that's from the assassin."
Sia tilted her head in confusion at the last part of her sentence. "What do you mean?"
Raphaniel gave a glance to the man before answering. "When you kill someone, you gain a portion of their Existence Points, or EXP. This is what increases your Level. Your Level must have gone up by killing the assassin that attacked you and Altair."
Sia bit her lip and looked down. "So...we become stronger by killing others?" she asked in a small voice. Raphaniel looked slightly pained, but answered honestly. "Yes. It may seem cruel, but that's simply how life works. To grow strong, you must take from others."
At the side, Endyr nodded in approval. 'The world always operates in this way. Kill or be killed, take or be taken from. The weak and helpless should just curl up and die if they are unwilling to fight.'
He then narrowed his eyes at Sia. 'You have too weak a mentality sister. I had hoped facing that assassin would harden you up, but it seems not'.
While Endyr may have come across as callous and uncaring, he did in fact worry about Sia. He honestly wanted her to throw aside her naivety so she could become stronger, and be able to live as she wished.
Endyr was snapped out of his monologue by Raphaniel grasping him by the shoulder. He looked up at her in confusion before she lowered the orb down to his level. His eyes opened as he guessed what she wanted him to do. "C'mon Altair, place your hand on this too."
Endyr swallowed the panic that bubbled up and eyed the orb cautiously. 'If I touch this...will it show my Status like it did Sia's? I sincerely doubt a 4 year old is capable of being D Rank, plus my Level will show I killed the assassin while Sia merely assisted at the start. Shit, shit, shit!'
In desperation, Endyr turned to his System for help in escaping this predicament. 'Hey System, can you do anything here?!'
[Affirmative Host, the System can partially hide your Status. It will only be able to conceal your Level however, as Host's Authority is not high enough to use the other functions.]
Endyr felt like swearing, but was forced to swallow his indignation back down. Concealing his Level was still good, as it stopped others from finding out his part in killing the assassin. 'If they know about that, they might find out about my actual strength. That cant end well for me'
All this happened in Endyr's mind within 20 seconds. Just as Raphaniel was about to urge Endyr once more, he put out his hand and clasped the orb. With a slight hum, dark Mana began to swirl around him.
At the back of the room, the man-Jace- looked on in interest. 'The fact that the kid managed to generate Mana at all means he's at least E Rank. I wonder what's up with him...' Jace's thoughts were interrupted by the projecting of Endyr's Status
==========================<<♉︎♉︎>>================
Name: Altair Atrazark
Species: Human
Age: 4.5 years
Level: 8 (Mortal Tier)
Rank: E-
Titles: None
Skills: Language Comprehension (E), Physical Boost (D)
Bloodlines: Atrazark-Zephylte, Hyppiliote-Nyx
=========================<<♉︎♉︎>>===================
If the reaction to Sia was shock, then Endyr was met with pure stupefaction. Raphaniel had to resist the urge to rub her eyes, while Jace didn't even bother and openly did so. After rubbing multiple times, he turned to face Endyr and stepped closer.
"What the hell is this, kid?" he spoke low and calmly, but was definitely trying to intimidate Endyr. The target of such intimidation however, simply snorted at Jace and turned innocently to Raphaniel. "Mama, is this bad?" he asked cutely. His words snapped Raphaniel out of her stupor and she responded half-heartedly. "No, not necessarily bad... just very surprising."
'I bet it bloody is' Endyr inwardly sneered. His mother was clearly in shock and could barely formulate a sentence. Meanwhile, her associate in black looked between Endyr and Sia repeatedly, before clasping his head and letting out a groan. "This cannot get out, do you hear me Raphaniel?" he stated. Raphaniel turned to him and the light came back to her eyes. "Yes, yes, this absolutely cannot reach anyone's words" she affirmed.
She let out a long sigh, holding her face in her hands and mumbling to herself. After a good minute of this, she brought down her hands and made a smile. "Sia, Altair, listen very closely to what I am about to say: never-and I mean NEVER-tell anybody your status okay? Especially you Sia, you must keep your Titles hidden at all costs. As for you Altair...well, you have less to hide. The mere fact you have Ascended is big-and bad-enough"
'Heh, if only you knew' Endyr gloated, being the proud owner of six Titles. On the other hand, Sia nodded firmly to her mother's words. Deep within her eyes was fear though, and she couldn't keep her body from shaking at the warning she received. While still a child, Sia was smart enough to know that her Status was rare or perhaps bad. And now that she knew Ascenders got stronger by killing others, she felt genuine fear for her life.
Putting away the orb, Raphaniel proceeded to dismiss her two children and led them out of the room. Once it was just her and Jace, she turned to him with a heavy expression and clouded eyes.
"When does the next term start at the Academy."