Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

Priam shifted his gaze to the status window.

[Name: Boey Ylisse]

[Race: Vanculari / Pyrix]

[Magic Title: Catalyst Mage Disciple, first level]

[Karmic Title: The Single-Minded]

[Bloodline: 40]

[Anima: 70]

[Wheel of Destiny: 85]

[Loyalty: Very High]

He was a man almost 1.90 meters tall, with remarkable beauty and refined features. His eyes were red and seemed to burn with fierce focus. His dark hair fell messily down to his shoulders, framing a serious and determined expression.

There were no pointed ears or anything besides his red eyes that made him different from a very striking human from Earth.

Priam had inherited almost none of that appearance, being the living image of his mother. But there was no doubt. This was definitely his father.

’His Bloodline is much lower, so no wonder I didn’t inherit anything. As for his Anima, it really fits a high-level Alchemist. His Wheel of Destiny is truly incredible... well, he married an incredible woman and was born in a clan that benefited him. In fact, he has some serious luck.’

Priam analyzed everything quickly, because he really felt antipathy toward the man standing in front of him.

Seien did not deserve to be abandoned like that, without receiving any news from him. He had even left a son behind, helpless.

If Priam had not awakened, and then shocked the clan during the coming-of-age ceremony, his mother would now be bedridden in that countryside city, in a terrible situation. This man would not even know anything about it.

How could he trust him?

Priam did not know what his mother had, and he even suspected this man might have something to do with it.

His mother’s race seemed capable of creating a terrible curse. But a curse worked both ways. Both the attacker and the one who received it were wounded together.

Maybe he had forced her to use it for his own benefit? Nothing was impossible.

”Priam...” the man murmured. His eyes trembled for a brief instant as he stared at the son he had not seen in so long.

Priam let out a dry snort, his face closed in a mask of coldness.

He ignored the man’s presence and walked straight toward the bed.

When he noticed his mother’s aura, Priam felt his stomach twist. She was weak. So weak that her life force seemed like the flame of a lonely candle in the middle of a storm, about to be extinguished forever at any second.

Priam slowly turned his neck. With his features twisted by anguish, he fixed his gaze on the man’s eyes.

The silence lasted for a few seconds.

”She looked perfectly fine before I left,” Priam broke the silence, his voice wavering between anger and despair. ”You know what she has, don’t you? Don’t you dare lie to me.”

The man sighed, a heavy sound that seemed to carry years of exhaustion.

”Son... I heard you spent a lot of time studying the clan’s ancient records. Then you must have discovered the Cursed Forest Elves, correct?”

Priam nodded stiffly.

”Seien is in this state... precisely because she used the true power of her race.” The man clenched his fists tightly. He fixed his gaze on Priam. ”Do you know the origin of all races?”

”I heard they came from strange mutations, created deliberately by an entity that is possibly above a Sage,” Priam answered coldly.

The man nodded. ”That is true. All races that exist today were born from some Ancient figure, who now lives in the Celestial Plane of our world. To reach that level, a Sage must condense all of his learning and power, forcing a rebirth into his own Bloodline. When he succeeds, a new mutant race is born.”

He paused, taking a deep breath.

”Each of these Ancestors focused on spreading their race before leaving the common Planes forever. Besides that, they created an Ancestral Art so their descendants could draw out the maximum power of their Bloodline. The level of power of a pure Bloodline like that is incomprehensible. The closer it is to the original, the more it can even distort reality, going against the laws of the world. Unfortunately, with every generation that passes, our races in the mortal plane become weaker. The Vanculari, for example, do not even have 1% of their original strength today.”

Priam listened in silence. He had received the race’s Ancestral Art. It was called *Celestial Soul Bond*.

He had read and memorized everything. It seemed exactly as the clan Leader had described before. It was very complex and directly used the power of the soul. The result was a type of contract, where the other side benefited more than the Vanculari.

If that was only 1% of its capacity... what would the full power be like?

The man snorted.

”I gave this long introduction so you would understand: the maximum power of a Bloodline is no joke. Unfortunately, the Vanculari Bloodline has been diluted too much. Today, it is only a remnant of what it once was. Throughout history, only one person from our clan ever reached any minimal relevance in the Divine Plane.”

”The only way for a Bloodline to remain powerful is for several people from it to become Sages, and thus awaken its full power. When they have children, those children are already born with that power restored. That was not the case with our race, but... the Bloodline of the Cursed Forest Elves is not in the same situation as ours. In the not-so-distant past, they had several elite Sages in the Divine Plane.”

Boey’s tone became darker. ”But, as you must have read, they were hunted and exterminated by the great humanoid sects after a colossal conflict. I researched it, Priam... our planet is possibly the only place where they still exist, hidden under another name in the depths of the forest.”

Boey took a deep breath. His tone changed, becoming more solemn. ”The Ancestral Art of Seien’s race is called Blessing of the Heaven’s Will.”

Priam widened his eyes.

His new innate technique was called ’Manifestation of Heaven’s Will’.

”Blessing? Then why is the race called ’cursed’?” Priam asked, confused.

”Because nothing in this world is free,” the man answered bitterly. ”This blessing can be used on oneself or on others. It grants a wish, no matter what it is, but it demands an equivalent exchange. Its power distorts reality and changes someone’s destiny. That goes completely against the laws of the world, so an immense price is charged. For the one who receives it, it is a blessing, but it also becomes the worst of curses.”

He looked at Priam with absolute seriousness.

”In the past, your mother’s race was worshiped by all humanoids. Powerful Sages who desperately desired something would seek them out, willing to sacrifice everything. But this power became a problem for the Sovereigns. Their heralds seem to be behind the attempt to exterminate this race. The reason... is a mystery. But such uncontrollable potential certainly could not be left to chance.”

Priam felt a chill. If even the Sovereigns had wanted to eliminate them, it meant his mother’s race’s power was absurd, and far too problematic.

The most logical thing would be to subjugate them and keep them under their control, but... knowing that the Sovereigns were not friends with each other, it was not hard to imagine that, to prevent this power from ending up being used by someone else, the safest decision was simply to eliminate them.

”Priam.” His father’s voice brought him back.

”Your mother...

She is like this because...

...she used that blessing.

She used it... used it on you.”

”WHAT?!” Priam exclaimed, stunned. ”Why would she do that? I was...”

He stopped in the middle of the sentence. A childhood memory emerged: in this life, he had also been an extremely sick child. Then, suddenly, one beautiful day, the illness disappeared.

He became a strong and healthy boy overnight.

The man saw the understanding in Priam’s eyes and sighed. His son was truly easy to talk to, since he was intelligent.

He soon clenched his fists, reliving very painful memories. ”She did that... in exchange for two-thirds of her life. I left home, planning to find something to make her live longer, certain that she would easily live another twenty or thirty years. I had many ideas for pills that could make her live twice that long... but while I was away...

...she used the blessing on you a second time.”

Priam’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. The air seemed to vanish from the room.

’Second time?’

At that moment, he discovered something he had never stopped to think about properly, but that had clearly always been a little strange.

’N-No... it can’t be...’