Chapter 168: More Than Lightning

Zac didn’t know if he could say the truth. His bloodline was one of the greatest secrets he possessed, and he has no intention of revealing it to anyone.

[Just tell him.]

"Tell him what?"

[Think of it like speaking to a doctor about your STD.]

"I don’t have an STD."

[It was an example.]

[Don’t you know the saying? You shouldn’t lie to your doctor or your attorney.]

[Think of this the same way. You don’t need to tell him everything about your bloodline. Just tell him you can have multiple elements.]

Siegfried waited patiently.

Finally, Zac spoke. "I have an affinity toward multiple elements."

Siegfried raised an eyebrow. "Well, that’s some important information you decided to mention now."

He gestured toward Zac. "Fine. Show me the others."

"That’s where there’s another problem."

"Just how many problems do you have?"

"Right now, I only possess lightning affinity. But in the future..."

"Kid, affinities don’t work like that." Siegfried immediately cut him off. Every variant’s elemental affinities are determined by their body and meridians."

"Some people are fortunate enough to possess more than one, but those affinities are normally revealed when they awaken."

"I’ve heard of people gaining new elemental affinities after awakening, but that only happens through extremely rare fortunate encounters."

"If you’re expecting something like that to happen to you repeatedly, your chances are...let’s just say non-existence."

"No, that’s not what I mean."

Siegfried sighed, walked over, and placed a hand against Zac’s chest. His mana immediately flowed into Zac’s body.

[How does it feel having an old man intruding into your body?]

"Please don’t make it weird by saying it like that."

A few seconds later, Siegfried withdrew his hand with a smug expression. "See? Didn’t I tell you? You don’t have any other elemental affinities, kid; your meridians are clearly only aligned with lightning."

"That’s because I haven’t awakened anything else yet."

Siegfried sighed.

"Boy!"

"No, no. Please listen first." Zac took a breath. "This is going to take some explanation."

"You see... I have a special bloodline."

Siegfried’s eyes narrowed slightly. "What kind?"

Zac masterfully ignored the question and continued. "The important part is that it allows my body to develop affinities toward different elements."

"Develop?"

"Yeah. I don’t know whether you’ll believe me, but first I have to expose myself to an element and absorb it."

"Absorb what?"

"For example... elemental essence."

Siegfried stared at him. "Are you insane, kid? Something is seriously wrong with your head."

Siegfried’s expression became severe. "Do you have any idea what happens when someone without the proper affinity forcefully absorbs concentrated elemental essence? They die. And it will be a horrible one."

"I know. But it’s not without proof; initially, my body didn’t have any elemental affinity at all. Even after awakening."

"But after awakening, I entered a portal and managed to get my hands on Lightning Essence. After absorbing it, my body gradually adapted to the element, and I gained an affinity for lightning."

"You make it sound very easy, kid."

"No. It really wasn’t." Zac shook his head. "When I absorb an essence belonging to an element I don’t already have an affinity for, my body reacts the same way anyone else’s would. The essence tries to kill me."

"But my bloodline intervened at a crucial moment and adapted my body to the element."

For several seconds, Siegfried said nothing. "I seriously don’t know whether I can believe what you’re telling me, kid."

The skepticism didn’t disappear from his face immediately. Instead, Zac could almost see the old smith working through the possibilities in his head.

"But if what you’re saying is true..." Siegfried’s eyes narrowed. "Then your bloodline doesn’t merely give you multiple affinities."

"It gives you the potential to acquire virtually any elemental affinity you’re exposed to."

"Well... in theory, yeah."

Siegfried’s expression suddenly changed and snapped his gaze back toward Zac. "Wait! You said this comes from your bloodline?"

"Yes."

"Then Eldric..."

Zac nodded. "My father should’ve possessed it too."

Siegfried’s face went through several emotions before finally settling into offended disbelief. "That bastard."

("...")

"That absolute bastard. All those years I knew him. All the equipment I made for him. All the strange things I watched that man do... and not once did he think to mention this to me?"

He rubbed his beard. "I knew there was something wrong with him from the beginning. Hmm. That explains quite a lot."

"If that bastard ever comes back, I’m beating the truth out of him myself."

The faint smile on Zac’s face faded slightly at the words ’comes back.’

Siegfried noticed it and changed the subject to "Anyway." He looked at Zac seriously.

"Listen to me carefully. Don’t tell anyone about this. Not a single soul."

"And I mean it." Siegfried’s voice hardened. "What you just described isn’t merely rare. It’s the kind of ability people would kill for."

"There are people in this world who wouldn’t hesitate to commit genocide if they believed it would let them get their hands on something like that."

"You’d either become someone’s puppet..."

"...or end up dissected into a million pieces as part of some scientific experiment."

"And there will always be idiots who decide that something they can’t possess shouldn’t be allowed to exist."

"So keep your mouth shut."

Zac nodded. "I will."

After a moment, he looked at Siegfried again. "So what are you going to use instead of a lightning gem?"

"Well, I already have an idea." Siegfried rubbed his beard. "But I need to make a call first to confirm it."

Zac looked at him blankly.

"Oh, don’t give me that face. You’ll find out soon enough."

As they made their way back toward the mansion, Siegfried continued, "I’ve already told Mary to prepare a guest room for you. You can sleep there."

"A guest room?"

"Yes."

"What for?"

Siegfried looked at him. "To sleep."

"I know what a guest room is used for. Why do I need to sleep here?"

"Because we’re only starting the forging process tomorrow."

Zac stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Aren’t you here for that?"

"No, no, no. I can’t stay here." Siegfried frowned. "Why? Is my mansion not comfortable enough for you?"

"No, that’s not it. I only took one day of leave from the academy. I’m supposed to go back."

Siegfried stared at him. "Are you kidding me? How exactly do you expect me to forge a weapon for you in one day?"

"Well, I thought I’d commission it, go back to the academy, and return when it was finished."

"Yeah, that’s not gonna happen."

Zac frowned. "What do you mean, isn’t that how commissioning a weapon normally works?"

"It is." Siegfried pointed at him. "But this isn’t a normal commission, kid. Did you somehow forget everything I spent the last few hours explaining to you?"

"No, I didn’t."

"Then what’s the problem?"

"I still don’t understand why I need to be here."

"Because I need your help during the forging process."

Zac blinked. "What? For the entire forging process?"

"Isn’t that what I just said?"

Zac stared at him. "How long is that going to take?"

"At minimum?" Siegfried thought for a moment. "Seven days."

"No way." Zac immediately shook his head. "I can’t disappear from the academy for an entire week."

"Why not?"

"Because I have classes."

Siegfried scoffed. "Bah. Seriously?" He waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, don’t worry. If all you’re concerned about is missing classes, I’ll call Armani and inform her."

"No!" Zac answered immediately.

Siegfried raised an eyebrow.

"I mean..." Zac lowered his voice slightly. "I don’t want you to call her."

"Well, I wasn’t asking for your permission. And besides, I was already planning to call that woman anyway."

He waved Zac away. "So quit complaining and go to your room."

***

By the time Zac reached the mansion room, Mary was already waiting for him.

The moment he arrived, she gave him the same gentle smile as before. "Master Siegfried said you would be staying with us tonight."

"Well... apparently I’m staying longer than tonight."

Mary smiled faintly. "That sounds like him."

She led Zac through a quieter section of the mansion before stopping outside a spacious guest room. "This will be yours for the duration of your stay."

"If you need anything, just let me know."

"Thanks."

Mary nodded and turned to leave.

"Miss Mary?"

She stopped and looked back. "As I said before, Young Master Zac, you don’t need to address me so formally. Mary is perfectly fine."

"Then you have to stop calling me Young Master too."

Mary smiled. "I don’t think that would be appropriate..."

"Zac is fine."

She paused, then gave him a small smile. "As you wish, Zac."

Mary looked at him. "Was there something you wanted to ask?"

Zac hesitated briefly. "Do you know my father?"

Mary’s expression changed slightly, and Zac immediately noticed it. "You do know him, don’t you?"

"When I told you my real surname earlier, your expression changed." Zac looked at her carefully. "Do you know anything about him?"

"I know of him." Mary shook her head slightly. "But nothing more than Master Siegfried does. If you want answers, you should probably ask him."

"Fine."

Mary took a few steps toward the door before stopping. "Not many people remember your father anymore, Zac."

She turned back. "But the people who do... most of them have memories of him that aren’t easily erased."

"And you?" Mary was quiet for a moment. "I wouldn’t say I knew him particularly well."

"You see, I’ve served Master Siegfried for a very long time, and your father visited this house often enough that it was impossible not to know him at least a little."

"But there is one thing I do know about your father. He was a good man, Zac."

Mary’s expression remained calm.

"I don’t know what happened to him, why he disappeared, or whether the things people eventually said about him were true."

She looked directly at Zac. "But there is one thing I do know."

"Eldric Godson was a good man."

Zac said nothing, but a small smile appeared on his face.

Mary returned it with one of her own. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow may be a long day."

After she left, Zac remained still for a moment before sitting down on the bed.

"System?"

[Yes?]

"We need to talk."

[Conversations that begin with those words rarely end well.]

"Probably not."

[Wonderful. What do you want to talk about?]