Ambevilius wanted to choose a successor, the method he chose to do it was this; from the millions of descendants he had all over the Sovereign Continent he chose one million. These candidates, or Mark Bearers, must be of the same generation and must have some sort of talent.

After the one million were selected, the true competition began. People were still being chosen but the competition was already approaching the end of phase 1. The chosen ones, or candidates as they were more well known, were the first people to slay or subdue a thousand Mark Bearers. These people would then move on to the next round. The rest who could achieve nothing during that time would end up being Custodians in waiting, waiting to be devoured by other Mark Bearers.

If a Mark Bearer chooses to become the servant of another Mark Bearer, then it is called a successful Subduction, One cannot force a Subduction, and this has to come from the Mark Bearer's heart.

Any attempt to subdue a fellow mark bearer through means such as blackmail or torture is unlikely to succeed because if even a hint of unwillingness remains in the victim, the Subduction is not complete. The success of a Subduction is graded on the willingness of the servant to become yours, the higher the success, the greater the reward.

Once a Mark Bearer becomes a servant to another Mark Bearer they are no longer a Mark Bearer, they become a Custodian.

All of the Custodians under a Mark Bearer must become part of a House, with the head of the house being the most trusted Custodian under the Mark Bearer in that particular House. This position is not something the Mark Bearer can change. The Mark will delve into the Mark Bearer's heart and will decide who the Mark Bearer trusts the most.

The higher the quality or quantity of Custodians, the more talent you have. The area, in which this talent is, depends on the Custodians one under their banner.

'Maybe I should make a Matrix for Vee too. Hhmm I need to see where her loyalties lie and what the Mark Bearer she follows is like first.'

Vee was an Inkume, so she was already a top-tier talent. But at her young age, she was already a Custodian. Who had made that feisty little assassin submit willingly?

'If they have talents like Vee, then whoever he or she is, they must have quite a few talents under their belt.'

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If Bastian's assumption was correct, and Vee did follow a Mark Bearer who possessed many talents at Vee's level, then that person would become a powerful adversary in the future.

'Despite knowing this, that girl works with me without batting an eye, truly frightening.'

Bastian was confident that if he had not shown her his intelligence by outsmarting her when they first met, he would have died in his sleep without even knowing how he had died during their travels together.

While Bastian was messing around with the idea of an Inkume with a Medici Matrix, Kenshin was branding his skin with his matrix. After he was done, a faint outline of the matrix appeared on his skin just beneath his knuckles.

The overlapping square, circle and triangle gave him an eerie feeling, but when he activated the spell, all worry faded. Kenshin had never felt anything like that in his life.

It was like he had entered a dreamscape. In that dream, countless fragments of knowledge entered his mind and he could modify them as he saw fit. He was no different from a deity in that state.

"It's quite addictive isn't it?" For Bastian, it was less of an intuitive experience and more direct. He had to adjust the Matrix in many ways for it to suit Kenshin. Bastian's soul force was strong enough for him to endure direct processing, but Kenshin's was not. Not to mention Kenshin still had those odd demon-like creatures at the soul site. The burden of the odd fear-like energy was shared among them both, but Bastian's Soul Force and bloodline gave him a lot of resistance. Kenshin was only slowly adapting over time.

Bloodlines, especially powerful bloodlines, have an effect affecting one's personality. Especially with beast-type bloodlines. Those with tiger-type personalities were usually violent and bloodthirsty, while those with the taotie bloodline were gluttonous and single-minded, while those with dragon bloodlines were usually overbearing and lustful for objects and the opposite gender. Those with turtle bloodlines were tolerant and patient while those with ant bloodlines were tenacious and united.

The Tyrian Double-Headed Storm Dragon was a creature that wasn't well known to the asses, but certain aspects were well known, such as its obsession with balance. If there was too much light it brought darkens, too much yin and it will bring forth yang, flames needed to be doused by water whilst waters had to be vaporized by flames. It was a creature that sought balance, hence its inheritors subconsciously looked for balance and were attracted to the unbalanced.

Bastian had long acknowledged this after looking at the people around him. From Kenshin, to Vee, to Ben to Shasha to the Falsified Daughters. These were people who were extreme in one manner or the other, and he felt the desire to 'balance' them in some way. But the one he wished to balance the most was himself. And the Medici Matrix was the way to do that.

The mind was completely intangible and was the central hub of existence. It exerted its will through an intangible force called Intent. It could perform man wondrous acts. Almost all metaphysical abilities stem from the mind. But it was the most ethereal and ephemeral of the states of existence. It was also the hardest to train and the most difficult to master.