Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 547: The Rule of Power (Part 6)

Among her family, Osana was called a rebel, and for good reason, coming out of her decisions and behavior at social events and with the other members of her big family.

However, thanks to Nirosh who fell in love with Osana and wanted to possess her, the Rouzet Family had a way to subdue Osana and finally get her to act like a high noble instead of a regular Phantom.

Sure, the reason for this was that Osana was only a K2-Phantom, and she reached that level recently, she had known about the wedding while she was still a K1-Phantom.

Apparently, such power wasn’t enough for Osana to act freely based on her will.

She was the youngest daughter of the Rouzet Family, well not of the whole family, but in her branch, she like Reinal was from the main branch, since their mother, Mariel, was the wife of the current head of the Rouzet Family.

In that case, if Osana was the youngest daughter, then who was the eldest child? Who was the first offspring of the current head of the Rouzet Family?

Even among the Twelve Branches, firstborns had special significance, well only if they became Phantoms, and were not a Hallow Noble.

Oddly enough, firstborns had a very good chance of becoming Phantoms, since all firstborns, most often heirs, of the Twelve Branches were Phantoms.

One might think that it was genetics, the powerful blood of the family head, or the long lineage that influenced the chances of Spark’s appearance, which caused many of the higher nobles to be Phantoms even though the chances were still far from 100%.

But, it was much simpler and darker than that...

When the firstborn was between 7 and 10 years old, they were thrown into the Dead Lands. This was the practice in almost all of the Twelve Branches.

What fate awaited the firstborn in such a case? Well, as everyone knows there were only two options - either die or kill the monster and become the Naturalborn Phantom.

The nobles resorted to some tricks to increase the chances of their firstborn, they did roughly what Aiden did with Glara. They chose the right time, monsters, places, and so on... but, it hardly did anything to increase the child’s chances of killing a monster.

It seemed that in such a case, the family head needed to wait for several hundred years until one of the firstborns could finally kill a monster under such harsh conditions. After all, it was necessary to wait 7 to 10 years before sending the firstborn into the Dead Lands.

Well, it was simple.

When the head of a great family decided it was time to have a firstborn, he slept with many women at once. If the head was a woman instead of a man, she did the same thing, enlisting the help of technology to make many ’firstborns’ appear in the same year.

Usually, it was between 5 and 10 children, but it all depended on the decision of the family head.

Sure, technically only one of these children was a firstborn, but no one cared because firstborn was not about a line but a status that had to be earned.

The existence of these children was kept secret, using all the resources of the great family and their influence to hide them.

Then, when the ’firstborns’ reached a certain age, by order of the family head, they were sent into the Dead Lands, one by one, to different parts so that they would not interfere with each other.

True, even if there were ten firstborns, the chances were still very slim.

In case of failure, the family heads no longer tried to make their firstborn a Natural Phantom. They made kids like any other ordinary people, with their wives or husbands.

When the child was born, all the other nobles and great families would immediately know about it. This was also confirmation that there was no so-called True Firstborn in the current generation.

True Firstborns were only those children of great families who were actual firstborns, the very children born in the same year who were hidden and then sent to the Dead Lands.

Thus, a True Firstborn was the firstborn that could, as a child, survive in the Dead Lands, kill a monster and become the Natural Phantom. Obviously, this was rare, no... it was awfully rare.

What would happen if the child, after the failure of the actual firstborns, didn’t become the Phantom? Well, the head of the family would wait until it happened to the second, third, or fourth child.

Given the powerful bloodline and what great chances the higher nobles had of having the Spark, it would happen sooner or later.

Then, the first Phantom in the family, the first a Light Noble, would receive firstborn status.

Well, technically, the firstborn became the first to become a Phantom, no matter what means.

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So, among the Twelve Families, it could be the following situation - all the actual firstborns died, the first two children were Hallow Nobles and only the third became a Light Noble, and it was that one who became the ’firstborn’ and presumed heir to the family.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Another rush of wind came from outside, through the open gate, sweeping across the banquet hall and close to Baren’s hair, rippling the tips in front of his deep multi-colored eyes.

”Baren Haltz...? Wait, you said he’s also Baren De Rouzet.” Adam muttered as he turned to Gladius, he was confused about how that was possible. Why does Baren, the first child, have a different last name?

Gladius smirked as he was about to answer, but he was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass behind him.

”Agh, because he left his family years ago.” Franz said in a deep voice, looking at the silent Baren, who hadn’t uttered a single word yet.

Franz sighed heavily, shaking his head.

”Well, let’s not get into details, it’s their family’s deal. But, I think you should know why his mere appearance could shock the entire noble community.”

”Hmm?” Adam raised an eyebrow.

Franz’s gaze rose darker before he said with a stern gaze:

”Baren De Rouzet, is a True Firstborn, meaning that he was sent into the Dead Lands when he was still a child. Just so you understand, I’ll be blunt - he killed his first monster when he was seven years old.”

Franz’s eyes grew deeper and his aura intensified.

”He is the greatest blessing to the Rouzet Family, which became an equally great curse to them.”