Altura-MC

Trying to console Kerrin had been a harrowing experience. I’d had to try and advise Kerrin as he had a mental breakdown while wondering why he was having one in the first place. It certainly hadn’t been there in the book. The plot had officially gone wild.

And then he attacked a tree. Out of nowhere and with next to no warning a poor tree was laid to waste. And my poor dome had a hole in it. Ok fine, I was joking. The tree was of no importance, it was the MC I was worried about. Was he going mad? Losing his sanity?

Congratulations!

Retainer Kerrin has passed a mental hurdle with your help!

Due to System restraints, you may not gain Qi for this act. Please wait 24 hours before you may gain Qi through anomalous sources. All gains have been put on hold.

Anomalous sources, huh? SO you’re telling me not to cheat you so much? Sadly I cannot agree to your request, I have an MC to stay ahead of. Besides, this is a Xianxia world, I’ll take every power up I can get my hands on, thank you.

“It is over, your grace.” Kerrin said as he sat up. I promptly began dismissing the dome that was somehow still there, it was a wonder we hadn’t been suffocated.

“I am grateful, your grace, for your guidance today. I know this matters little because I am already your retainer, but I swear to serve you, from this day forward, until my last breath.” Kerrin said, bowing and leaving me with no idea how to react.

Thankfully Villainess Altura could save me with her memories, “Rise, Kerrin, wielder of the element of blood. I accept you as my retainer and welcome you to my house. May our journey together be long and fruitful. Long live the King! “ I said, apparently this was an ancient retainers' ceremony that was held whenever a noble accepted a retainer.

Oops, the King wouldn’t kill me for being late on tradition right?

Formal Retainer Ceremony complete!

The ceremony means nothing, but tradition has its own value.

Ok System, I get the jist.

“So, what element did you get?” I asked Kerrin. I knew it was the element of Boiling Blood, but-

“I gained the element of Loyal Blood, your grace.” Kerrin replied, looking smug. And he has every right to, any other noble would have been very happy about a retainer getting loyal in their element. It meant that their retainers were very unlikely to betray them.

But I had a different worry. What had I done to the plot? Let's see, I had completely changed Altura’s elements, her image, her life path and everything else. In my defense, I had no choice in the matter.

Then I changed the MC’s situation, taking him and his first love interest out of their abusive home and into whatever the Roalt Mansion was. A stay home? Not only that, in the original book the MC had been emotionally dependent on Viona, which he still was, but Viona had been taken away from him.

That could easily be traumatic. Then there were the memories. In the book the MC had collapsed in a lake and woken up with them in his head. Not quite the same here, was it? No, the memories of the bloodthirsty Elder inside him being suppressed was more than likely a factor.

But perhaps not a bad one, I hadn’t been very affected despite getting most of the original Altura’s memories. Perhaps Kerrin wouldn’t turn into a hypocritical bloodthirsty cultivator.

“Um, your grace? Did I say something wrong?” Kerrin said, interrupting my thoughts.

“Oh no, nothing. I was simply a bit taken aback by the element. It is far from common.” I replied, trying to be nonchalant. I don’t think it worked because Kerrin seemed a lot more nervous than he was a few seconds ago.

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Aswelth

Aswelth sighed in relief when the dome of ice began falling. A streak of blood emerging from it suggested that a battle was in progress inside. The kind of battle that had somehow given blood enough power to fell trees. Aswelth had only heard of such things happening when Treelings fought.

Thankfully there did not seem to be any old monsters fighting in there. The mystery of the blood remained, but that could be solved, unlike said old monsters’ presence. And then Kerrin bowed as he completed the retainer ritual. The little brat seemed very changed now that he had germinated his seed.

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Wonder if it had anything to do with one Archduchess who was also very changed after germinating her seed. Or with that other girl, Viona, that somehow got the Fair Water element. A justice element. In a ten-year-old. Aswelth wondered how many of these monsters were hiding in each ‘village’ of the Kingdom.

If he was back in the duchy he’d be asking the Duke to take the girl in as an apprentice just as he had taken Aswelth in. Fair Judges that could actually do something were a rare breed. The poor sods tended to die young. Something about them protecting the weak did not sit well with people.

And it would seem that the Archduchess had some questions because she was walking towards Aswelth with a determined look on her face. The brat may not be as bratty anymore, but she sure was still bossy. Sigh

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(Altura-MC)

After sending Kerrin off to see if his friends needed anything, I approached Aswelth. There was a question burning in my mind that required an answer.

“Lord Aswelth, I just crossed most of the Seedling realm in little over 24 hours. How is it that people are so slow? Why are there not more people at higher levels of cultivation? How do the nobles still hold power so surely?” I asked.

Aswelth sighed and said, “There are several reasons, your grace. First, most of the populace is above the Seedling realm. It is only this valley and its inhabitants' unwillingness to work together and use their numbers to weaken beasts to kill them that has caused their bottleneck.”

“Second, you, your grace, are an anomaly, most people need to work together to kill beasts of a higher level. This limits things to bottlenecks that are hard to break when the only people with similar powers don’t trust each other.”

“Third, a lack of beasts. Just look at these woods, your grace, just look at them. There are a few dozen Sapling class beasts. The beasts cannot grow in number because we kill them too fast and only the very powerful like the royal family have the ability to make areas where they can allow beasts to grow. For while more beasts would make for more things to get Qi from, it is too unpredictable. Beasts evolve, your grace, and evolved beasts evolve the ones near them. Hundreds of powers have fallen to beasts randomly evolving. Every few months another noble family falls to this. Only a power with a Tree level expert can safely let beasts grow without culling them. And the King is the only Tree level expert in our Kingdom.” Aswelth looked at me with a strange expression- “For now.”

“And this, your grace, is why most people cannot reach higher levels. The areas where higher grade beasts appear naturally are all held by nobles and used to grow their own power.”

“But even that is risky. That is why the only allowed areas are ones held by the five Ducal families, not counting yours of course. The Selrin clan sadly does not have access to any of these areas. If you had used the Energy seed, your grace, you would have been completely dependent on the whims of the royal family for growth.” Aswelth continued.

And now we know why the original Altura wasn’t very powerful. Poor girl was being controlled.

“If nobles fall every few months then how is it that nobles still retain power? Sounds like only the Dukes and Royal family have any power at all.” I asked.

“And that is due to Nobility seeds, your grace, every generation every noble family except yours must submit a Nobility seed to the Royal family. IF said family or any other falls, the seed is given to a new Noble, usually a spare heir or bastard, and that person then reigns. Nobility and Royalty seeds are notorious for being slow to level, killing beasts is far faster than sitting around waiting for taxes and building cities. That can take months. Killing beasts takes minutes.”

That…was true. Good thing I didn’t plan to get involved in any big fights. No one should trouble me in this valley right?

“I do believe it is time we get going, your grace, it is getting late and there is a Clan Head back in the town that is waiting for you. I do hope you are ready to give judgement on Clan Head Welters actions.” Aswelth finished and promptly started walking towards the city.

‘Wait what. What judgement? I do not know of any judgement’ I thought as memories started pouring into my head. Oh no, I was totally done for, wasn’t I?

Name

Altura Selrin

Title

Archduchess (In name) (landed)

Element

Dragon Fire, Snowflake ice

Age

10 years

Seeds

Military (ungerminated), Royalty (Seedling-Late(270.95/300)), Energy (ungerminated)

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

9

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

13

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

11

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

13

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

9

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

12

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

13

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

14

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

13

Retainers

Kerrin

Mid-Seedling (260/300). Element of Blood, anomalous Seedling.