Chapter 245: The Ancestor

"Who’s There?!"

All three of them stood there, stunned as they watched golden particles of light come together before turning into a person.

Both Raiden and Theodore stepped forward, unconsciously shielding Aria behind them as they glanced at the person in front of them with vigilance.

"Who are you? What do you want??" Theodore shouted with a fierce expression on his face as he glared at the unknown entity. He couldn’t help it.

This guy looked almost way too similar to Aria’s scum of a father.

Raiden didn’t say anything, just stepped forward calmly as Rose slithered down from his arms onto the ground.

The unknown man, seeing these three kids act so vigilantly in front of him, couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

"Ha ha ha ha. It’s been so long since I’ve been out. It seems like the next generation has forgotten all about me. Let me take a closer look at you guys. Hmm...you two are definitely from my bloodline, but you, you are not my descendant, are you? What is this??? I can sense....Fenrir and White....and no, no, no, no, no!! Why do you have her smell on you?? Why do you have the smell of the protectors of The Ashen Ones?? You don’t carry the Bloodline! Who exactly are you??"

Here, in his questioning, the group fell silent. Especially Raiden; he felt stunned.

What had just happened? Judging from the way he was speaking, he could be some kind of ancestor of both siblings. He understood at least that much, but for the next few parts about Ashen One, Raiden felt like everything he said just went over his head.

"Hey old man, are you some kind of ancestor of ours, or are you just trying to scam a few kids? Is this a trap??" After a few minutes, seeing that no one was speaking, Theodore took the lead and questioned the person in front of them.

They seemed to have lessened the shock of the old man, but he still threw a glance at Raiden from time to time.

"You kids really don’t know me? Ahem, let me introduce myself. My name is Valcoric StormWind, the one and only first patriarch of the Stormwind family. If nothing else, you guys should have at least heard about me, right??"

Valcoric clasped his hands behind his back, tilted his head at a 45-degree angle and started to stare into the distance, waiting for the worship and awe of his juniors.

But even after holding this pose for a few seconds, he felt no shouts or awe or wonder in his name; this made him start feeling awkward.

But this wasn’t exactly their fault. Theodore was from the branch family, meaning He never got an in-depth description of his family ancestors. All he had to do was fight and get stronger.

Aria, on the other hand, was the golden child of the main family, but before she could learn about her ancestors and their great deeds, she was stripped of her bloodline and cast away. This left her with no knowledge about the ancestors as well.

As for Raiden, needless to say, he was just an outsider, here for a gig work.

This led to this awkward situation and the loss of face of their ancestors.

Unable to bear this awkward situation, Aria stepped forward from behind Theodore and called out.

"Ano... I think I might have heard about you. You are our mighty ancestor, the person who founded our clan, right??" Aria made a guess after hearing his words.

"That’s right, that’s right, that’s me. I’m glad you guys still remember me. Good girl~" A smile appeared on Valcoric’s face after he heard her words. He was an amazing person, patriarch of the Stormwind family, unmatched in 100,000 miles. Yet he never felt more embarrassed for his posturing as he did right now. So he was just happy that she knew him and didn’t dare to push for more recognition.

Hearing his words,, that tense expression on Aria’s face melted away somewhat. Despite looking at her scum father, this guy felt nothing like her scum father, but more like a gentle soul.

Looking the way he praised her so naturally, she was 100% sure this was not any kind of scheme from her father. He was just simply incredible at showing such a range of emotions.

Valcoric’s smile widened as he looked at Aria, his eyes filled with a kind of pride that made her feel both warm and deeply confused.

"You remind me of my daughter," he said softly. "She had the same fire in her eyes. The same stubborn refusal to back down, even when the odds were impossible."

Aria’s breath caught in her throat.

"Your...daughter??"

"Yes." Valcoric nodded, his gaze drifting toward the glowing vessel behind them. "Nobody never told you about the old days, did he? He never told you why the Stormwind family was founded in the first place?"²

Theodore stepped forward, his expression still cautious but his curiosity clearly winning over his suspicion.

"All I know is that we’re supposed to be one of the great clans. That we control the northern frontier and that our bloodline is special. But nobody ever explained why."

Valcoric let out a long sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly as if the weight of centuries had suddenly settled onto them.

"The Stormwind family wasn’t founded for power or glory," he said quietly. "It was founded out of necessity. When I was young, this entire region was nothing but wilderness. Wild Terra Beasts roamed freely, destroying villages, killing farmers, and tearing apart anyone foolish enough to travel alone. There were no cities, no academies, no clans. Just chaos."

He paused, his eyes distant as if he could see those ancient battles playing out in front of him.

"I spent fifty years fighting. Fifty years of blood, sweat, and tears. I killed hundreds of Platinum-Tier beasts. I fought Diamond-Tier monsters that would make your current ’elite’ Battle Masters wet themselves in fear. And slowly, piece by piece, we carved out a safe place for people to live. We built walls. We trained soldiers. We established the first true frontier against the wild lands."

Raiden listened quietly, his expression unreadable.

There was something about the way Valcoric spoke that felt... genuine. This wasn’t the boastful arrogance of someone trying to impress others. This was the weary pride of someone who had actually lived through what he was describing.

"But power corrupts," Valcoric continued, his voice turning bitter. "As the family grew, so did its ambition. What started as a mission to protect people slowly became about control. About dominance. About proving that the Stormwind bloodline was superior to everyone else."

He looked directly at Aria.

"My bloodline was not immune to it. They started living the way of cowards who fear their own weakness."

Aria’s hands trembled at her sides.

For years, she had believed that her father’s actions were justified. That she was weak. That she deserved to be cast aside.

Hearing this ancient ancestor, the founder of the entire clan, call the clan a coward made something inside her chest loosen.

"Why are you telling us this?" Raiden asked suddenly.

Valcoric turned to look at him.

"Because you need to understand what you’re fighting against. The Stormwind family you know today is not the family I built. It is a shadow. A hollow shell that has forgotten its purpose."

He gestured toward the glowing vessel.

"And because of that, I have been sleeping for a very long time."

Theodore’s eyes widened.

"Sleeping?"

"Yes." Valcoric nodded. "My soul has been bound to this altar since the day I died. I created this place as a sanctuary, a place where the bloodline could be protected and passed down to worthy heirs. But over time, the ritual became corrupted. The elders started using it for their own gain, testing candidates, discarding failures, treating the bloodline like a tool instead of a legacy."

He looked at Aria with something that looked almost like apology.

"While I was able to see and feel everything , I could not wake up. The bloodline had become too weak, too diluted by greed and arrogance. But then... you came."

Aria blinked.

"Me?"

"Your bloodline, to be exact," Valcoric said, his voice filled with awe. "Even stripped of its power, even damaged and suppressed, it was still strong enough to wake me. Do you understand what that means? Your potential is greater than any Stormwind in the last three hundred years. Greater than your father. Greater than the current elders."

Aria felt her knees go weak.

All her life, she had been told she was worthless. A failure. A disappointment.

And now an ancient ancestor was telling her that she was stronger than all of them combined.

"That’s... that’s impossible," she whispered.

"It is not." Valcoric’s voice was firm. "I would not lie about this. The bloodline recognises its own. And the bloodline has chosen you."

Raiden, who had been quiet this entire time, finally spoke.

"So what happens now?"

Valcoric looked at him, then at the vessel, then back at Aria.

"Now," he said slowly, "she takes back what was stolen from her. The bloodline is hers by right. No elder, no patriarch, no council can change that."

Hearing this, Aria stepped forward. Her hands were still shaking, but her eyes were steady.

"How do I do it?"

Valcoric smiled. "Touch the vessel. The bloodline will recognise you. It will return to where it belongs."

Aria looked at the glowing vessel one more time.

Then she reached out.