The World of Tactics

Chapter Twenty-Three V: Glimpse Of Truth

"What is the difference between a dead knight and a death knight? It was very simple because a dead knight has no dark mana while a death knight possesses dark mana. It was also quite easy to transform a dead knight into a death knight. A dead knight's amount of darkness mana has to reach the required limit first. Then the dead knight would automatically transform into a death knight and becomes a lot stronger." A passage was written by an arch necromancer that studies intensively dead knights.

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From the information that the murals were giving off, the man was the commander that had always fought at the forefront and he was the first to charge toward the huge gate that was slightly ajar. This was just a small episode, as he continues to observe. The thousand allies that came trickled down to a hundred fighting against what seemed like demons from the other side. Then there were only ten that seemed to be the strongest left to fight the final demon on the other side.

The size of the last demon was completely out of the league when compared to the demons that they had fought since the beginning. A demon size was generally at least two times bigger than a human, but this demon that the group of people fought against was at least three times bigger. To his shock, the final mural exhibits the head of the last demon being cut off with a glaring sword that emits light. None of the ten remaining were dead, but their conditions were all bad.

Some were barely surviving with one or two limbs being cut off. The worst one that was shown was a man with the biggest body that was comparable to a small-sized demon. The man was barely surviving with a hole that smashed through the chest and even a part of his heart was destroyed. The last mural only shows that the gate was sealed up while there was lingering smoke that was still coming through the gap between the huge gates. Throughout the visuals of the mural, there were lines of unknown text carved on the mural. Through time and history, the ancient language was already long lost.

Just as he was about to turn away, he suddenly got a flash of insight. He was suddenly able to see a strange scene, an intense scene of the huge gate in the yonder. Then his point of view was suddenly pulled away from the gate quickly. He was already up into the air looking down at the continent and he felt that his mind was slowly imprinting everything into his memory. When he woke up to his surroundings again, he just could not forget what he had just seen. It was like a dream except that he could perfectly recall the details within his insight. He believed that it had shown where the huge gate was sealed and told him where it was located. As if his duty was to completely seal up the gate again once it opened up.

He was confused about each and everything that had happened today, but he sobered up and exited the passage. It did not take long before he exited through the passage that he came from. His father was already there waiting in the same place. Once out, his father did not wait and said, "Come and I'll tell you slowly."

While making our way through the corridors, his father did not ask and said, "That man... Is our ancestor from the past."

He did not reply, but his father continued, "We are from a lineage of heroes."

Just the word 'hero' gives him the chills once he has realized mixing-matching information. Likewise, as the two of them continue. He learned of his heritage. Knows that the passage was the passage of a rite for the firstborn heir. Likewise, along the way. The true firstborn line of succession was already broken and they were from the second-born son. Then, as generations come and go. There were even times when the firstborn son could not win against the dark monster and the remaining son also perished. Hence, it had fallen to the second wife's firstborn. There were even times when there were no sons and the eldest daughter had to carry on the tradition.

When everything was said and done, the bloodline of succession had been broken since the day that the past generation failed to protect the first heir within each generation. A single mistake was made and their bloodlines gradually produced offspring that were surprisingly much weaker than the last. Somehow, their heritage was not destroyed because the hero's blood within them is still coursing strongly within their body and their growth potential was literally out of normal.

His father was also disappointed with his birth; his bloodline was very thin and had little potential. However, after he was sent to the barracks for a year, he exceeded his father's expectations. Compared to a year ago, his blood somehow seemed to become much more vigorous and strong. Much purer than his father's blood. At this point, he had completely remembered the unallocated points that he gained at each level. The reason might have been due to his bloodline growing purer.

He positively believes that as long as he continues to level up, his bloodline will only grow purer than before. This also means that the number of points he could allocate would increase naturally. Likewise, his father also said that due to the nature of their bloodline. If a defendant wants to become a swordsman, then the blood within their body would naturally commit to supporting that side and that makes them grow naturally stronger in it. It comes at a cost though, the reason being that the blood would naturally take away some other useless growth potential such as magic. In simpler terms, taking away the redundant and distributing what is necessary.

His father's greatest quote was, "A great swordsman does not cast magic. A talented mage does not use his strength. A true hero is an ordinary person who made miracles happen."

He was quite curious though and was about to ask what would have happened if it was a magic swordsman. But, he never got the chance to open his mouth to ask because his father continued talking. He felt that his father was slowly fading away and had no time for his questions. Otherwise, his father would not have stopped speaking the moment they came out of the office. Their walks continue.

They continued until they had reached the garden in the back. The neatly cut lawn was replaced with overgrown weeds. His father had stopped talking from the moment they got into the back garden. His father took out the silver lance and he became cautious. He readied himself just in case. A swing and he was pleasantly surprised that all of the growing grass on the lawn was neatly trimmed with that one swing. He could feel the air pressure guiding the airflow. He felt that he could do the same if he had enough points in his skill stat and weapon mastery.

The smell of freshly cut grass and weeds approached his nose through the soft breeze. He felt the longing and despair coming from his father. His father was the first to move and walked to a part of the lawn patch that was cut and turned to him. His father's head slightly motioned for him to approach and said, "Son, it's time for you to succeed."

Just the moment he came forward, the dark aura within his father's body began to violently react and he pushed a bit. He did not feel that it was threatening nor the same dangerous feeling coming from Victor's spell cast. It was as if, no, it was that his father was controlling and getting rid of the dark mana from within. The moment he got close, he felt that all of the dark mana within his father was completely gone, and doing so made his father incomparably weaker than before. His father's current status screen reads:

[Name: Roylis Smith][Class: Dead Knight (Grade 3)][Level: 52/52][Rank: 5][HP: 41/41-36/36] -5

[STR: 15(25) / [...] ] -5

[MAG: 0(15) / [1][2][3][4][5][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] ] -5

[SKL: 16(23) / [...] ] -5

[SPD: 7(22) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][][][][][][][][][][] ] -5

[LCK: 15(30) / [...] ] -5

[DEF: 19(30) / [...] ] +4 -5

[RES: 5(20) / [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][][][][][][][][][][] ] -5

[Hidden: [CON: 14][MOV: 6][SKILL: [Brave Lancer][Great Shield][Honorable Spar]][EXP:--/100][WEA: Lance A+]]

[Equip: Silver Lance (40/40)]

[Brave Lancer - Might +4 when wielding a lance weapon.]

[Great Shield - Defense +4]

[Honorable Spar - When in a bout, no double attack. It affects both sides. Passive]

The [Undead Turning] skill and [Darkness Gift] skill were eradicated and it results in a major loss of stats all across the status screen. He is confident to take on his father with almost no problem at all because he has got healing pills and his own health point regeneration skills. As a result, his father was furthermore changed back to human. But, doing so, his father was now losing one health point every minute. He could tell that it was due to their bloodlines being very powerful, along with the fact that his father was quite high in levels that his father could do such a thing as completely expelling the darkness mana.

His father is currently dying but still signaled that he should come closer. Once he was right before his father, he was feeling complex and a burst of sadness was gnawing his heart. His father's hand touched his head before he felt a slight tingle of weird energy coming straight through his head. Even after his father had given him the weird energy, he was still engrossed in the feeling of the strange growth. He was startled and awoke after he saw a system notification:

[Bloodline succession initiates...]

[Absorption begins...]

[Removing corruption... Half remaining...]

[Removing incompatibles... One-third of half remaining...]

[Bloodline succession complete!]

[Learn [Bloodline Succession] skill!]

[Bloodline Succession - Gathers all potential within the body, merges the potential to succeed. All growth rates became zero. Successor learns [Bloodline Succession]. ]

His father's current figure paused and the unsmiling grim face was still there like it was way back then. He had never seen his father's proud smirk ever since he was growing up, except for the few moments with his mother and his birth. He felt no information was coming from his father, like a husk that could easily fall into nothing. However, his immersion came to a stop as he was startled because his father's figure was turning greyish white.

First, he felt the ashes landing on top of his head. Then the ashes of the arm fell and extended back to his father's figure. By then, the cracks rapidly opened up and broke apart his father's figure. Then it crumbled down into a pile of ashes and his tears willingly dropped. It was then that he realized that the moment his father had cut down the growing weeds was the moment his father had determined that it was time.

It was time for him to leave as well since his mother and siblings were also waiting for his rescue. He knew exactly where to go and it was the small prison cellar in the basement. The quickest way to get there was through the garden, since going down to the basement is slightly complicated when entering the mansion. He shoved all of the unkempt growing weeds and spiky bushes until he made his way to a wall. Close to the wall is a door trap that leads down to the basement prison.

[Roylis Smith - Famously known as the corpse of the main character's father. Sir Roylis Smith had died and no longer existed the moment 'Roylis Smith' was born. Due to the influence of the suffering part of Sir Roylis Smith's soul, the lingering death knight 'Roylis Smith' actions are also influenced. It was incomplete, but the parts and pieces of memories from within still greatly had a major influence. The moment 'Roylis Smith' was released from the contract held by Victor, 'Roylis Smith's actions were bold and courageous. It was almost like a newborn who had their life passed by within a blink of an eye and just knows that 'he' became a father and knows what important matter needs to be done before passing away in peace. 'Roylis Smith' had a short, but unfeeling year of life until the final moment 'Roylis Smith' passed away.]