Ezax snorted as the smell of uncut grass and flowers entered his nostrils. He hated nature and found its stench nigh unbearable. Even so, he forced himself to continue walking through the garden; garden might be a wrong term, rather it was a large overgrown forest. If it was up to him the sanctum of greenery would have been burnt down long ago, but there were certain lines in the Blackburg family that even the head could not cross. Greenery was very rare here in the far north, but the Blackburg family spent a rather significant amount of resources to keep this place from turning into a frozen wasteland, much to the dismay of Ezax. His mood was also not helped by the artificial sun which shone 24 full hours every day in this place.

As he strode around the pathless treelines he wanted to curse everytime he nearly stepped into a literal pile of shit or got some sort of unidentifiable nature juice on his clothes. But after much struggle he eventually reached his destination, not daring to hurt a single tree or animal along the way.

It was a small circular clearing covered with mysterious roses. The roses had stalks of living flame which swayed as though they had wills of their own; the leaves were grown out of brilliant light, much purer than anything the local sunlight or magic could replicate; and the petals were darker than darkness itself, it was as though they ravenously devoured any light that touched them. Despite hating nature Ezax was always amazed by the unrivalled beauty created by the equilibrium of elements these flowers portrayed, however, he never dared to touch them; there were many ugly stories about those who did. Instead Ezax headed for the only other thing of interest in the surroundings, an old moss covered well which stood in the exact middle of the clearing.

A thin smile emerged on Ezax's face as he slowly made his way towards the well, very carefully avoiding all of the flowers. When he finally reached his destination he took out a single ornamental golden coin; the coin glittered in the fake sunlight as he skillfully tossed it into the well.

A second passed, then five, then a dozen, but there was no sound of the coin hitting the bottom. Ezax sat down next to the well, and as he closed his eyes his mind began to wander.

First his thoughts shifted to his youngest son, Irwyn. He contemplated about him. Thinking back he now confirmed to himself that Irwyn was always a little odd in the two short years since his birth. He seldom cried; he never refused a command, no matter how unreasonable; and he never sought any sort of attention. As a father of six Ezax knew that it was not normal for a child to act like this, he just never paid him enough thought to realise that sooner.

He didn't find himself at fault for that; it was difficult to pay attention to his scions after the great disappointment he experienced. His first son and heir was a prodigy with great talent, that led Ezax down the path of exceedingly high expectations for his later descendants as he personally raised his first son and witnessed his progress first hand. To his great dismay, his second son was a moron, inferior to his elder brother in every way Ezax could imagine. That left bitter distaste in his mouth; When his other children came among and showed a clear lack of talent Ezax left their education to various maids and tutors.

That lead him to his purpose today. The Blackburg family possessed a powerful enchanted item, the [gem of true sight]; an item that could forcefully show a person's status screen to anyone in a designated area. Usually the gem would only be used for the designated heir's tenth birthday in the presence of the entire family as an affirmation of his future rulership, but Ezax came to a conclusion that he had to estimate what Irwyn's potential was as soon as possible. The problem with that decision was that it was not the family head who had the authority or the power to use the gem.

The ancestor at the bottom of the well. Someone who stayed away from sight for aspects know how long. An old monster that founded the Blackburg family over a millennium ago and remained its guardian ever since, although he was not doing a particularly good job.

Only a direct member of Blackburg family would be allowed to even be aware of his existence, and only the family head himself had the right to attempt requesting his help. It was a long standing rumour that the ancestor might be in possession of a tier 5 class, making him a true awakened one, or that once upon a time he had slain a minor god. Ezax was personally conflicted on whether to believe those old rumours as he never personally saw the ancestor truly show that might.

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Eventually a change happened in the forest clearing. The light of the artificial sun was devoured, and the entire area was swallowed by complete darkness. When Ezax opened his eyes all he could see were the mysterious roses. It was as though their leafs didn't shine despite being built of pure light, and the black petals were somehow noticeably darker than the complete darkness which enveloped the clearing.

“The current head Ezax greets the ancestor.” Ezax clearly pronounced, speaking towards the well.

“It's you again, brat; what do you want this time?” An ancient voice that came from all directions sounded in Ezax's ears. Then the darkness dispersed; Ezax took a moment to look around, and he found the man he was looking for.

The ancestor looked like a shriveled corpse, his skin was completely mummified and covered in wrinkles; the remnants of his hair and beard were completely white, and his limbs were thin; even magic could not delay aging forever. There was only one thing that set his appearance aside from an ordinary of old man, his eyes. His irises and pupils were just as black as the light consuming pedals of the many surrounding roses.

“My matter today is something I believe ancestor might agree with.” Ezax humbly stated, he did not known the ancestor's name, in fact, no one did.

“Speak.” The old man raised one of his brittle looking eyebrows, his voice was still ancient and omnipresent, but his tone was more like that of an actual teasing grandfather than that of a secluded demigod.

“It concerns my sixth son, Irwyn…”

“Sixth?” the ancestor interrupted, his other eyebrow rising too “You had 3 the last time we spoke. You two are at it like rabbits.”

“I am sorry if ancestor disapproves, If I may defend myself, my fourth and fifth children were twins and my sixth, Irwyn, is barely 2 years old.”

“So you came here after all these years because of a 2 years old baby. I was wondering what would be the next time, but I did not see this coming. So what is it you want, is it a miraculous healing potion, or perhaps you seek knowledge of a cure for some sort of inborn disease?”

“I have matured a lot since we last spoke, and my heart grew a lot colder; I would not ask ancestor for such things again. It is the opposite of what ancestor suspects; there is nothing wrong with him, instead I suspect he might have been born with a potent soul, maybe even an unnaturally potent one.”

The ancestor was silent for few moments before crossing his hands in front of his chest, becoming much more serious “Then why did you seek me? I do not dabble in soul magic.”

“I came here in hope that ancestor would allow us to use the [gem of true sight] to confirm our suspicions and adapt his education.”

“You are aware that using the gem comes at a price for me, yet you still came here. You must be confident that your assumption is correct. What is it based on?”

“There are multiple things of course. Firstly is his abnormal childhood behaviour. Although a child that never cries and never asks questions is far from a proof, it is a hint. Then his abnormal learning speed from language to gross and soft motor skills. That would naturally not be enough to warrant visiting ancestor; today I brought a skilled mind mage under my employ to confirm my suspicions by reading his surface thoughts. Despite being familiarised with the situation beforehand he still described his thoughts as ‘abnormal’ after a pause.”

The ancestor closed his eyes; he was deep in contemplation. Eventually he opened them again and decreed.

“Fine then. In all those years since my own birth I have only ever met less than ten people who were born with unnaturally potent soul with the attribute above 10; all of them either died in battle or eventually became awakened. If you are correct and your sixth son was indeed born with such a soul he might finally allow me to retire as the guardian, that might let me spend my final centuries in the seclusion that I have been seeking. This one time I will do as you ask of me. In a week's time at noon bring him to the second floor of the eastern tower; you know which room I have in mind.” then the clearing was once again swallowed by darkness. Ezax immediately lost track of the ancestor, the mysterious roses once again became the only things he could observe. He only stood up when light eventually returned.

The meeting went well; really well in fact. He expected to be asked ridiculously high price; perhaps even a limb or even two. From his previous experience the ancestor demanded things that would cause him long term minor inconvenience or great short term suffering. Some of his demands could be considered ridiculous and unreasonable was he not an ancient powerhouse who did not seem to really desire anything material.

However, this time around Ezax got his request fulfilled without a price. As he reached the edge of the clearing he almost wanted to whistle. But then he remembered the harshness of reality.

He still had to walk back through the damn forest.