Chapter 726: Tom Calls

"Speaking of gates, did you hear that the Association’s planning to award the Sacred-Rank spirit art to whoever contributes the most? Not just gate clearing either. Research, critical intelligence, anything that meaningfully helps. Whoever racks up the most contribution points across the board takes the prize."

Selene nodded. "Yeah. My brother texted me about it a few hours ago. I was actually meaning to bring it up with you." She glanced at him. "You know you’re already in the lead, right? Clearing Rivergate alone put you way ahead of everyone else."

"So Tom mentioned." Moon’s mouth curved slightly. "It’s a smart system on their part. Keeps all the top talents chasing the same carrot, doing exactly the work the Association needs done. But I’m not complaining. That Sacred-Rank art is exactly what I need, and if clearing gates is the price, I’d be clearing them anyway."

"How is Alaric?" he added. "It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything directly."

"He’s good. Training harder than I’ve ever seen him, honestly." A note of pride crept into Selene’s voice. "It’s strange to watch. He was always talented, always ahead, and always worked hard, but never this much."

She shook her head. "The information you gave him, his own breakthrough into the River of Paths, and losing to Ace Morgan, all of it hit at once. He’s got a fire under him I’ve never seen before. He barely leaves the training grounds."

"Well, he didn’t really lose, they were on equal foot until Ace ascended."

"He counts that as a loss." Selene shook her head.

"I can understand that," Moon nodded, "Your brother spent his whole career without a real rival. When you’re that far above everyone around you, there’s no pressure to grow but your own. And then Ace Morgan appears out of nowhere and gives him real trouble, in front of everyone. That kind of thing either breaks a person or lights them on fire."

He glanced at her. "Sounds like it lit Alaric on fire."

"Definitely the second one," Selene agreed. "Emma said that he’s terrifying to spar with these days. His team members have started rotating out because none of them can keep up for more than a few minutes." She smiled faintly. "He asked about you, by the way. Wanted to know how you were doing after the gate. I think, in his own way, he’s started seeing you as one of the few people worth measuring himself against. Which, coming from my brother, is basically a declaration of respect."

Moon chuckled. "High praise from the genius of New Avalon? I’ll take it."

"Don’t let it go to your head," Selene teased, nudging him. "The moment you two decide to compete over who’s improved more, I’m going to be stuck in the middle listening to both of you brag. I already deal with enough of that from Emma."

"No promises." Moon grinned. "But if Alaric’s pushing himself that hard, it just means I need to keep pace. Otherwise, I will never catch up. That’s how people like us get stronger."

Selene looked at him for a moment, something soft in her expression, then leaned back on her hands and looked up at the night sky.

"You and my brother," she murmured. "Two monsters dragging each other higher. And here I am, trying not to get left behind by either of you."

"You won’t be," Moon said, and there was no teasing in it this time. "Not on my watch."

Selene didn’t respond right away, but the small smile that touched her lips said enough.

????

A few hours later, Moon’s phone rang and the caller was none other than Tom.

"My boy, the Association came back with their findings on that elf body you handed over. And it’s got them stirred up."

"Oh?" Moon sat up. "What did they find?"

"The lesser elf you brought back? Turns out it carried real true-elf bloodline."

"Isn’t that just what lesser elves are, though?" Moon asked. "Degraded descendants of true elves. Aren’t they supposed to carry the bloodline by definition?"

"That’s the thing," Tom said. "They do, but only a trace. Ten, maybe twenty percent at most, the diluted remnant of an ancestor generations back. That’s what makes them lesser. The one you brought back has around fifty percent. The Association thinks your elf was the direct offspring of a true elf and a lesser elf. One true-blood parent, one lesser. That’s the only thing that explains a purity that high."

Moon’s eyes widened.

Fifty percent. A true elf parent and a lesser elf parent. The true elf’s heart I pulled from the northern commander. If the northern commander was also fifty-percent purity, that heart... that could have been the true-elf parent’s, passed down or preserved somehow.

_There were two hearts and two commanders. What’s the probability of both lesser elves having such high bloodline purity, being in such close proximity and being from different families...very low. Those two might have been siblings...

But one question remained unsolved. If they were siblings, then only one of them should have inherited the heart. The fact that both did means there was two hearts.

_Maybe the second heart wasn’t a parent at all but a grandparent and it was passed down to the more favored or older child. This would also explain the fact that neither of them actually consumed the hearts...because they knew that once they did, they would likely kill each other... they were delaying in the inevitable.

He didn’t have enough to be certain, speculation was all he could do.

"That’s fascinating."

"Exactly. They’re going to be studying that corpse for years. Which, by the way, means you got a very good deal on it." Tom chuckled. "Anyway, second reason I called...Your next gate’s ready."

"Already? What rank is it?"

"C-Rank this time. Nothing like Rivergate, and it’s local, right here in New Avalon, about an hour from your place. What do you think?"

Moon considered it briefly.

He would have preferred a B-Rank. More Life gains, better loot, stronger fighters to copy classes from, more contribution toward the Sacred art. But a C-Rank wasn’t a waste. It was low-risk, close to home, and it offered something specific he wanted right now.