Tap. Tap. Tap. Daniel approached Lua slowly, taking his time. He chuckled at Lua's nervousness. "I'm not going to fall for some lame excuse like that."
Daniel shrugged and shook his head. "But frankly, if you don't want to tell me this bad, I have no right to keep poking my nose in your business."
Putting a hand on Lua's shoulder, Daniel smiled slightly. "As long as you promise me you won't go headfirst into danger recklessly."
Lua's expression softened, and he replied with a soft smile. "Promise."
Moving back to his desk, Daniel sat on his seat once more.
"Evolution is a delicate subject.. personally, I've never been at your level, so I cannot tell you how you can get higher. I presume I could help you from beyond that point though.."
Daniel opened his drawer, pulling out a stack of papers that were rather dusty. It looked like they hadn't been used in some time.
"I put these here years ago.. I never thought they would come into play again, but looks like I was wrong. Here, take these." Daniel spoke, giving the stack of papers to Lua.
Lua took the stack of papers and quickly glanced at them.
"CLASSIFIED - KINGDOM OF DERNF"
Lua's expression turned into one of surprise, as if not expecting something this valuable inside their house. Daniel laughed at his reaction.
"I used to work with the government. As such, I was given a few rewards like the Principle of Evolution. These papers detail the process, and explain their general purposes. It also has the corresponding recipes for every evolution up to Grade 7."
"Grade 7?" Lua looked slightly confused.
Daniel gave an awkward chuckle. "Ah yeah - that is the official name for levels. I'd say you are roughly at Grade 13."
Lua understood something. I see.. Grades are the same as Classifications. I assume that the Classification system is the old method of measurement.. it makes sense that the Lord of Secrets does not know about the new system.
"Father, what level are you at?" Lua couldn't help but ask. He already knew from the Lord of Secrets that his father was at least a Grade 9 - relatively powerful for humans.
"I couldn't go further than Grade 8." Daniel replied promptly. "I didn't dare go further."
"Why not?" Lua asked with curiosity.
Daniel sighed. It was likely a subject he didn't enjoy mentioning. "The higher you go, the less peace and quiet you get.. That's usually how it goes. I didn't want my desire for power to overshadow my family."
Lua understood, and nodded to indicate this. He had gained a new level of respect to his father for not being blinded by strength.
"What grade were you at birth?" Lua continued his questions.
Daniel pondered for a moment, as if trying to remember. "I believe I was Grade 11.. might have been 12."
"Then, why is my level so low compared to you? I thought it was a gradual decline.. going from 11 to 13 in a single generation is a bit absurd." Lua was slightly annoyed at his natural low level.
Daniel chuckled at his son's disappointment. "Your mother is both a lower level than me and of a different descendancy. It's no surprise you ended up a lower level."
So both the parents' descendancy and level matters while determining the child's power..
"In fact, we didn't even know what descendancy you were until we took you to a certified mage.." Daniel continued to reminisce.
"Father, can a child be born with two descendancies?" Lua asked with a little reservation.
Daniel thought about the question for a moment. "There have been a few cases, but the child died within a few hours of being born.. As for gaining the power of two descendancies after birth, it's possible. In fact, Sir Gerald, the strongest knight in the Kingdom, is of the Warrior and Mage descendancies."
From the fact that Daniel had avoided the subject of how you could gain the power of two descendancies, Lua assumed his father didn't know. Otherwise, he would have mentioned it by now. Thinking it couldn't hurt to try, Lua opened his mouth to speak. "Father, how can I-"
Daniel cut off Lua in the middle of his sentence. "Do not."
Surprised by his father's sudden aggressiveness, Lua was momentarily stunned. He waited for Daniel to speak again.
"It's dangerous, and blasphemous. Don't try it. You will lose your mind and die a gruesome death."
Gulping at his father's slightly explicit sentence, Lua decided to shut up about it. After talking a bit more about things he already knew, he left his father's room. Shutting the door behind him, he heard his mother call out for him downstairs. Going to the living room, he saw her reading a book as usual.
Shoot! I forgot to ask father for mother's descendancy.. No matter, I'll ask next time.
"Yes, mother?" Lua smiled brightly.
Elizabeth looked up from her book, and smiled back at Lua. "Can you go out and get some flour? I want to bake a cake."
"At this hour?" Lua looked surprised at his mother's wish to bake a cake in the middle of the night.
Elizabeth awkwardly chuckled. "I was going to do it earlier but I became to engrossed in my book.."
Lua facepalmed inwardly, and then nodded. "Sure. Is there any money by the counter?"
Elizabeth smiled and nodded. "Yeah, thank you."
Stepping out into the darkness in his regular clothing plus a golden trenchcoat that matched his hair and eyes well.
I sure hope the bakery is still open.. Although Lua lived in a small town where most businesses worked through the night, it was still a concern that his bakery might just decide to sleep for tonight.
Under the illumination of the street lanterns, he made his way across the quiet town. Most buildings had a Victorian style that resembled medium density architecture. Most had their lights on, letting a soft yellow shine to the street outside. Lua used this opportunity to look at the Lord of Secrets' marking on top of his hand. He had been able to use the season to his advantage and wear long, sleeved clothes to hide it from his family, but in a street that was empty, he had no reason to.
Glancing at the vertical pupil-less eye, he sighed silently. He covered his hand with his sleeve once more.
Arriving in front of the bakery, he sighed in relief after realising it was open. Gently pushing the door open, he welcomed the sun-colored lanterns across the room. Taking a seat by the window, he waited for the baker to return to submit his order.
Crash!
A loud noise made Lua jump from his seat. He was weak without Arc, and vulnerable to anything. He needed to keep his senses sharp, just in case.
He left the bakery and headed for the origin of the sound. They said curiosity killed the cat, but Lua had no plan of being a cat.