Stormberg.

In the breakfast room in the countess' mansion, only the sounds of utensils could be heard as the aunt and nephew were having their first meal of the day.

Even though the ice had melted between them yesterday, so to speak, it was as if things had gone back to their first meeting.

Falmerion had already eaten his fill and slept by curling his body on the table. The dragon had always eaten a lot. His preference was meat, barbequed by his own fire.

"Umm, Aunt-"

"What do you know about the current political state of the Latias Kingdom?" The Countess who looked like she was in her late twenties asked.

Croix put down his knife and fork before answering.

"The throne is empty after the late king's demise. The crown prince was missing the next day. With no clear successor and a power vacuum, the Chancellor swiftly seized power. The nobles chose the wait-and-see approach. Some already put their support for my half-siblings but as we are still too young, nothing is certain."

"Latias is unstable. Whether a new monarch's rise would quell the unrest or aggravate it remains to be seen. The de facto leader of Latias is the Chancellor and he would prefer to remain that way. All of you are a threat to his position."

Grace's sharp gaze landed on Croix.

"Your father pumped out children one after another without care. Now all of you young lambs are targeted by wolves. The first to the tenth prince or princess are all missing or dead. The wiser or luckier of your older siblings either back out of the succession or are gathering strength. From the sixtieth prince and lower were too young to be considered claimants but even they were targeted. Kidnapped, killed, or manipulated… Never before in the history of Latias the royal blood has drenched the land in rivers. That swine of a king had really done it. The other monarchs before your father must be turning in their graves."

Croix could not say anything. He himself had gotten into quite a sticky situation many times. He especially pitied the other younger half-siblings who were only kids and were targeted before they knew any better.

"The princes are scattered throughout Latias, but the Chancellor kept their mothers confined in the Crimson Capital. When some upstart prince starts to threaten his authority, he would surely use the mother as leverage."

"Then Mother is in danger! We must save her!"

"Leave Giselle's matter to me. You have other matters to accomplish," Grace said with a calm but commanding voice.

"To the noble houses, those old fossils, you all are but pups. And whether you seize the throne by force or talks, you'll need their support, especially the Big Four. Mine is not enough."

Croix nodded. He remembered his conversation with Avel, who jokingly said the four houses should be only three.

"The four ducal houses. Valentine, Lucan, Crowe, and Mercea."

"Correct. The lesser nobilities roughly followed the leadership of these four. To get their support, it will not be easy. You'll need to prove yourself to them."

Grace pointed to Falmerion.

"You have hatched your dragon egg and forged your Intio at the Archion Volcano. These two major accomplishments bring you above most other claimants but make no mistake, you're not the most talented amongst your siblings nor the greatest. Take your Level 4 brother who is backed by Duke Lucan for example, even though he's been missing for some time."

"You'll need to grow both as a person and as a Pathseeker before having talks with them. The way you are now, your position is far too weak for these families to take you seriously."

"I understand, Aunt."

"I've arranged for your enrollment to the Sinclair Academy. Go there and learn. You won't find a better place of learning in the Human Dominion."

"E-eh? Sinclair Academy!?"

Naturally Croix had heard of it. That place nurtured many legendary figures. It was a place for the elite of the elites.

"There, you'll be taught by the best. You may bring up to three people in your retinue. While you'll be enrolled in the special course, your vassals will not, but it is still a great learning opportunity for them."

"I see…"

Croix knew his aunt must be paying quite a sum for giving him this opportunity. Getting into Sinclair Academy was famously difficult.

"You'll meet other nobles there. You could make allies or enemies. Building a good rapport with these younglings from other houses is good but remember that you go there to learn, not play a political game."

"I understand."

"It is also a safe haven. If you stay in the open, it is only a matter of time until you'll get assassinated. I won’t be able to protect you all the time. Headmaster Castellos is one of the most formidable Pathseekers in the whole Dominion. By enrolling, you'll be under his protection. I trust I need not tell you the consequences of causing the death of another student?"

"Yes. I'll be on my best behavior."

"Good. In three years' time, the Latias Grand Prix will begin. A series of brutal competitions that draw talents from the whole nation. It is also tacitly agreed amongst the nobles as a stage to measure the aptitude of the young princes and princesses that enter. If I deem your growth in three years satisfactory, you'll enter the Grand Prix."

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Croix was impressed by how his aunt had planned everything. Behind her cold words, he felt her familial affection.

"There's still two months until the new academic year. I will train you personally everyday until that time so you won't embarrass yourself in the academy. I shall not accept a single word of complaint. Is that clear, nephew?"

"Yes! Thank you very much, Aunt Grace!"

***

As CEO of the Viers Corp, Viers kept his head on the ground. He put great importance on the performance and quality of his employees. As he should; he paid them quite a lot, far above the average salary.

"Bleurgh! That's horrible… Can you do something about the taste?"

"That's weird. I was sure this batch would taste fruity-sweet. I wonder what went wrong…?"

Clarissa's pills were certainly effective but the taste was quite disgusting. The bitter taste lingered in the mouth for hours. Even rinsing it with water was no use.

The matter of taste aside, the lamia who learned the Eastern style alchemy was making effective medicines that bolstered cultivation. Viers and the others greatly benefited from this. The raw herbs in the Viridis Biome were actively processed for the greater benefit of its residents.

The most important of them all was the Nutra. Viers wanted Clarissa's alchemy skill to grow a bit more before giving her the green light to experiment with it. As it stood, every ounce of Nutra was very precious.

The Level 5 lamia who was only a soul might only possess a fraction of her strength when she was alive but that didn't mean she couldn't improve. Thanks to her learning alchemy, her flame control was improving in ways she didn't think of.

After Viers left, Paina whispered.

"Until when will you keep making especially bad-tasting pills for him?"

The ones she ate were actually delicious.

"Secret."

Viers checked on Boram. For the last twenty hours, he had been fighting non stop in The Grid. His simulated opponent was always a little bit stronger than him. He had to grow in the middle of the fight to defeat his foe. When he won, Viers conjured a different opponent. When he lost, he fought the same guy again until he won.

Fighting a bunch of guys from vastly different backgrounds and styles would give Boram a wealth of experience.

Viers made a sagely nod and then went to another place. He went to a place with a tornado.

"Futon, come here for a sec. Let's practice flying."

The tornado stopped, revealing a small, white cloud elemental. He gave Viers a snug before expanding his size near his feet. Viers stepped on him and the cloud started flying with him on top.

"Nice, raise up the speed a bit."

A not-Monkey King was flying in the sky of the Biome. One of the sleepy Pukupukus who was grazing the cows was startled and fell down when Viers went past it. The plant life form was not injured of course.

Viers had lost the magic carpet to fly but now he regained the capability of aerial travel once again. Viers likened it to unlocking the fast travel option in video games. Without it, things could be such a pain.

Dia and Faiya were not here so next he checked up on Her Majesty.

At the mushroom palace the size of a dog house, surrounded by her Pukupukus court, reigned the young queen of the Tyra Xerg, Zerri.

"Good day, how are you feeling today?" Viers asked.

The cute worm-thing roused from her slumber and Viers felt her thoughts.

"Papa."

"Not exactly wrong but don't call me that. Makes me feel old."

"Zerri… good girl…"

"That you are. That you are."

Viers gave the worm a tickle, which she liked very much.

In a few years, Viers would have a numberless army because of her.

Next, was the water maidens' turn, Paina and Farley.

The three were submerged in a pond. This place was not special enough to be categorized as a Power Spot yet, but in time, it could be. Still, the pond already provided help to those who practiced water techniques in it.

Viers sometimes joined them when doing water-related training. The three were fellow Water Pathseekers after all.

"The way of water has no beginning and no end," Viers said something that sounded very profound in Farley and Paina's ears.

The three had different specializations but training in the fundamentals was never useless.

After that Viers went to the newest employee who joined the company.

"I will teach you something really special. In the human body, there are seven main energy centers called chakras. They are Muladhara, Svadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha, Ajna, and Sahasrara."

Viers pointed to the different places in the picture of human anatomy as he said each name. Jessica sat and watched with great interest.

"Each chakra has different roles and significance but all are important. What I opened is this," Viers tapped the second from below chakra, Svadhisthana.

"From now on you have to open the rest one by one. But your second one must be the Muladhara. It is imperative you do this as soon as possible."

"Why?" Jessica asked.

"Because it will create an imbalance. Think of it as a building. If the base is weak, how can a building stand firm? The same case. I opened your Svadhisthana because it is the only chakra that I am equipped to open. The rest depends on you."

What Viers was teaching Jessica was a compilation of various cultivation techniques. Viers also drew from other inspirations such as the esoteric teaching of Earth's and Naruto's Eight Gates.

The root was naturally from the teaching of the loli girl that remains in Aravin's soul and that girl unlocked Arvin's dantian. Viers researched it and copied the technique to open Jessica's Muladhara chakra.

In the Naruto series, chakra was a type of energy but Viers chose the more traditional representation of chakra which existed far long before Naruto was even published.

Viers just called this technique with a simple name, Seven Chakras Arte, which he gave to Jessica who was a Body Pathseeker, a very fitting practitioner of this technique.

"Each time you open a chakra is a significant boost of power. Also, this doesn't clash with the normal cultivation. There will be no problem with the new Profound Codex you chose or your Level either. If anything, this complements it. After you open Muladhara, only then can you proceed to Manipura and make your way up one at a time. Do not try to open your chakra disorderly. It is stupid and dangerous. Also, just because it is open doesn't mean the end of development. This chakra thing is really really deep."

Just like Guy who became an absolute beast after he opened the Eight Gates, he hoped Jessica would be strong like that. He was confident it could be done.

Jessica was earnest, diligent, and responsible. She was a good student. She had no problem accepting the teaching of someone younger than her, even though in her mind she saw herself as the junior between her and Viers.

A few days after her arrival, Jessica was already adjusting to her life inside the closed Biome. The CEO was satisfied after reviewing the performance of his employees. He foresaw no complications and expected only growth for the company as a whole.

Croix has not come back yet? Must be a major development with his aunt.

"Kin, Kin, someone's outside," Dia's voice called him in his mind.

"Hm? Who is it?"

"Priest guy. Level 5. Stranger danger. Stranger danger."

Viers frowned.

What's a Level 5 priest from the Church doing at the Shore? He's not here for me, is he?