The qi that entered my body reinvigorated me, my muscles were still sore though. At this point, it felt like I had let someone beat every inch of my body black and blue, especially my calves which felt like I had sliced them open and stuffed several Iit sparklers deep into the muscle. But now I felt energetic like I could go another round, at least until I moved even a tiny bit and my muscles reminded me not to. I checked my stats. As expected, they hadn't increased even a little, but I knew my foundation was more stable now.
Still lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice a cantankerous-looking Fred and a spiteful-looking Andrew standing outside the front door to the villa. "There's the prodigal little missy!" Andrew exclaimed.
"Where have you been?" Fred's face turned to worry. Awe, Fred isn't a bad guy, I should treat him better going forward.
"Fred! Andrew! My favorite uncles! I've been looking all over for you. Do you know how worried I was? I thought you may have gotten lost in drink at a tavern in town, but here you are! I'm keeping an eye on both of you, you aren't leaving my sight ever again!" I chastised the guards.
The rapidly changing emotions on the guards' faces were a sight to behold. From the shock of having the script flipped on them, to the anger of being accused of alcoholism, to the chagrin of being chastised by the young girl. She was going to watch them? It was their job to watch her! Fred decided to let it be, the end result was the same. Andrew didn't seem to want to let it go, but looking at his fellow guard and seeing that he had lost his support, he quietly conceded.
For the remainder of the evening, I read in the villa's library. Trying to familiarize myself with the world. Fred and Andrew watched me like a pair of hawks except when the captain of the guard came by and summoned them out to the hall. I could hear her chewing them out and claiming she would dock their pay for the day. Whoops. I would have to talk to her later to get their pay reinstated.
Vivian arrived back home as the sun was setting. After cleaning up a little she began her usual struggle of calling mom and dad to the dinner table. Surprisingly, Phineas came into the dining room without his notepad or an experiment. His tweed suit was still clean. There was a new blue color in his hair. My nearly shaken world order stabilized; Phineas was still himself. Mom came in with a short pole that occasionally erupted electricity. It was just Dad behaving oddly tonight.
Dinner was served and it was much more delicious than the diner food from town and also much better than eating it cold as I had done yesterday. I made a mental note to only ever eat in the district near the North gate when in town in the future.
Vivian almost began speaking of her day but paused briefly when she realized she needed to cut a few events out to avoid getting me in trouble. This gave enough of an opening for Phineas to speak instead.
"I managed to make contact with the local sect. Elder Li Kai from the Dancing Sword Sect will be visiting on Trisol. He'll test your physique and root and, if they're to his liking, he'll take you as a disciple. You're too young to join the sect directly, so he'll be visiting on your self-study days to train and prepare you to join when you're older. Hopefully, you measure up, I had to agree to be a supplier of the sect at near rock-bottom prices to secure this favor."
"If I don't, they'll be the ones regretting it in the end," I said arrogantly. Yikes! I really needed to get these feelings under control. I realized I had been led by the nose all day by Zoey's pride and trickery. Was all of it really necessary to accomplish my goals? No, it wasn't. I felt I would smack this child if she wasn't me. Well ... I'd try until I was enchanted by Zoey's alarming charisma anyway. And that's how she's gotten away with it all these years and developed as she did.
Well if I couldn't get rid of these traits, I'd have to mold them instead. Instead of having unearned arrogance, I'd take pride in my efforts towards cultivation. And instead of tricking and pranking my family, friends, and innocent bystanders, I'd craft my trickery into my weapon. It would be a tool I use against my enemies, a part of my power.
Yes power, that's what this was all about, wasn't it? I wanted power. Power to vanquish my enemies. My heartbeat quickened. Power to protect my loved ones. I felt as if invisible shackles on my soul squirmed. Power to pursue my own destiny. My blood boiled. Power to stand at the top. The chains shackling my soul rattled and slithered.
*KACHA*
The sound of a chain snapping echoed through my mind and I felt a surge of energy from within my soul. Wait, I thought the chains were imaginary? As if to answer my doubts, a *ding* soon sounded from my system. Opening my status page, an entry had changed.
SEEKER FAMILY BLOODLINE - SEEKER OF POWER (CURSED-SUPREME GRADE): Every Seeker family member seeks after something, which is how they obtained the name. The family patriarch seeks wealth, Zoey's parents seek knowledge, and Zoey seeks power. This obsession brings both benefits and detriments to the user.
BENEFIT: The user enters a trance-like state when seeking power, Increasing talent and providence by one stage.
PENALTY: The user grows listless when not seeking power, decreasing talent and providence by one stage and applying a 50% debuff to all stats.
POWER-CRAZED STATE: While seeking power, user can choose to boil their blood and enter the power-crazed state. All stats are boosted by 100%. The user is unable to think of anything other than power while in this state.
DURATION: 5 MIN
COOLDOWN: 12 SOLS
Well, at least I knew how my bloodline worked now. The time bomb had blown up. It wasn't as bad as I thought though. Almost everything I would be doing would be seeking power. All the training, battles, schemes, all of it would be for power. I had trouble imagining a non-mundane moment where the debuff would apply, at least it wouldn't be in battle.
Seeing the obsessed look in my eyes that mirrored my father's, Vivian suddenly exclaimed, "You unlocked the bloodline!" She had been trying to unlock her own bloodline for years. Yeah, it was a curse, but it was also a blessing that made the Seeker family what they were today. It was the responsibility of the eldest child to carry that torch, but here she was being surpassed by her younger sister.
Phineas chimed in, "Just one day since acquiring your soul and you've already unlocked the family bloodline. That's got to be some sort of record. What were you thinking of I wonder?"
"I'm embarrassed to say." How could I tell him it was thoughts of suppressing his daughter's personality that eventually led to unlocking the bloodline? That would be awkward. However, I was now worried for Vivi. According to popular belief, one should unlock their bloodline, if they have one, by the age of 14, the same age a person could start cultivating if they were talented enough. Vivian may only be 1 year older at 15, and it wasn't unheard of to unlock a bloodline later, but I knew she felt pressured. The kind of pressure only the eldest child of an elite family can face after facing setback after setback. I could see her on the verge of a breakdown.
I rushed over to my sister and hugged her side. My debuff activated, but I didn't care. "Vivi you're amazing exactly as you are. You don't need to carry the family burden, let me carry it. Just keep being my awesome big sister."
Vivian's face crinkled just like mine did a day ago. She crouched and hugged me tight, so tight my ribs might crack if I was weaker. Oh wait, I was weaker right now, urk! Then she began to sob.
While being embraced, I heard another chain snap, but it wasn't my own. Vivian finally unlocked her bloodline. How couldn't she? From the time she was born into this crazy family and neglected by her obsessed parents to watching the family business dangerously threaten to collapse to the day her sister was born into the same crazy family and she took on the responsibility of mothering her, she was always seeking one thing: Control. Activating the bloodline required 2 things: Seeking a thing, and being without that thing. Today was the very first day in Vivian's 15 years that she had relinquished control.
A daughter of the legendary Seeker family being without talent, was such a thing possible? Of course, it wasn't. Seeking control may not sound flattering or powerful. But wielded by Vivian Seeker, the family business that was on the verge of bankruptcy, turned over a new leaf and soon dominated the market again. This was Vivian's superpower. The quiet power that made her seem normal in comparison to her crazy family.
I stared up into the sobbing eyes of my superhero. The silly girl hadn't even realized yet that she had unlocked her own bloodline. I felt empowered by my amazing sister and my debuff disappeared, sparing my ribs.
On this night the two Seeker family girls inherited the family's curse and power.