The Ancient Genes

Barnes House, Ishtar City…

"Why are you not doing anything? Didn't I ask you to bring him back?!!" The lady of the House seemed really angry.

"Dear, it hasn't been that long….the kid has finally taken a step out from the nest. Let him do what he wants for a while…." The Lord, Ander Barnes, said to his wife with a caring tone, displaying himself as a loving father. The trick indeed seemed to have worked and pacified the lady's anger.

"Fine, a bit….I want him back after a bit…" the lady said with a difficult look before leaving the room with anger still over her face. 

"Sigh, she said the same thing yesterday and the day before…..I bet she will be at it tomorrow as well…." The Lord sighed thinking about it. Lear had after all, portrayed himself as a weak and powerless character deceiving her mother but it didn't seem that his father was entirely fooled.

"I wonder what that brat is up to…" He said thinking about Lear. He was indeed curious about just what could have brought such drastic changes in Lear.

At this moment, a servant entered the room.

"What is it?" Ander asked as he looked at his servant who had arrived with hurried steps.

"My Lord, it's a communication from Mansion in the Capital…." The servant replied.

"Hmmm? Who is it? Elder Olf?" Andre asked, Elder Olf was the one who was managing the Barnes estate in Capital. 

"No, it's the 3rd Young Master…." The servant replied…

Ander raised his head with a smile, "So, the brat has finally found time to contact….let's go then…"

…

On the other side….

Max sat alone in the cage, Edward was gone. 

A few minutes earlier….

"Grandpa!!!" Edwards's scream woke Max up from his state of meditation and he noticed the familiar old man.

"Grandmaster…" Max said with a smile as he walked toward the gate.

Edward scurried out of the place seeing Max approach.

"Sir, do you know him?" The guard asked as he looked at Max.

The old man looked at Max smiling and smiled as well, "No, I don't…."

Max's face turned sour and he couldn't help but mutter in inwardly, 'Tsk….this is the reason no one respects you….'

"Let's go Edward, " the old man said with a smirk on his face while looking at Max, clearly enjoying his facial expression.

"Gramps...I have a friend here, can I get him out…." Edward asked as he followed behind the old man.

"Make it quick…." The old man replied without paying much attention.

'Damn you old man….you are willing to help a stranger but not me… ' Max cursed inwardly.

….

And that is why he was all alone in the cell now.

"Hmmn?" Max's ears suddenly perked up as the sound of footsteps entered his ears.

"Is it the guard?" Max looked and saw a person walking towards the cell, but he didn't have the guards uniform.

'I thought the visiting hours were over…' Max's brows scrunched in confusion.

When the man finally arrived in front of Max's cage and stood there gazing at him, Max couldn't help but feel to have seen the man somewhere before.

"I am Kenneth Walker, the Head of the Walker House and the Mage Association….."

Max's eyes went wide as soon as he heard the name. He obviously knew, how could he not know…..its just he never imagined him coming here and hence was unable to relate him to his real identity…

'Holy sh*t!'

'Why is he here? It shouldn't be that serious to him right?'

Max didn't feel good meeting this man here.

"What did you do to my daughter?" The Mage King stared at Max as his aura began to leak out of his body.

'What in hell did you do Lisa?!!!' Max screamed inwardly, remembering Lisa's message from before.

He could feel the sweat rolling down his forehead as he stood there, clearly able to sense the destructive prowess that the man possessed. He wasn't the Mage King for no reason….. But, aura was the only thing which Max didn't need to fear. 

The Mage King frowned seeing Max still on his feet and with a burst, the aura he was leaking suddenly doubled.

Max realised that the man wanted him on the ground for some reason. Even though he would hate to bow down, he wasn't foolish to infuriate him anymore.

Acting was something that Max had mastered, he skillfully went down onto his knees after a great struggle and the expression on Mage King's face eased a bit. After all, it was a matter of pride, how could someone so insignificant in his eyes keep on standing when he didn't want him to…

"What did you do to my daughter?" The Mage King asked once again as he looked at Max.

Max knew that this man had daughter issues. A wrong answer might cause him further problems and in the worst situation, death. The Mage King might let him live for anything else, but if there was even a tinge of doubt in his mind that someone was trying to hurt his daughter, he wouldn't leave him alone.

'It is clear from his words that Lisa had talked about me with him….if I deny any relations with her, it would make me look like a suspicious and shady guy….in that case…'

"We..are good.. friends….I wouldn't do anything to harm...her.." Max replied with a faked struggle.

"Don't lie! I know it hasn't been long since you transferred of the Academy in the Capital and there doesn't seem to be much of interaction between you two...'' The Mage King seemed to have come prepared.

"Yes that's true….but I knew her from Arcane." Max replied, there was no way for him to know what had happened in Arcane. After all, the Academy followed its own rules and didn't allow any outside interference.

"In that case, why didn't you interact with the good friend of yours after meeting her back in the capital….'' the Mage King still firmly believed that Max had done something to Lisa.

"I didn't have the right….." Max said with a quivering voice.

"What do you mean?" The Mage King asked with a frown and the aura around him further eased.

"I am just an orphan grown out on the streets. I was lucky to have met my master one day who had discovered my talent in smithing…...but that was it….I only wanted to live a happy life and make tons of friends. The dream indeed came true but it was shattered by the Arcane disaster….I lost my friends and barely made it alive after traversing through hell.…. the life after that was not easy, it took me almost a year to reach the capital….fighting each day trying to prove that I am not a sign of misfortune...when I finally reached the capital, I found that only one of my friends, Lisa, made it alive."

Max slowly raised his head and looked at the Mage King, 'Is it working or not….'

"I was happy...but at the same I came to know of the truth...that she was your daughter. It made me realize that I didn't have the right to be with her….hence, I ignored her...we even had a small fight as I tried to distance myself from her….''

Max could feel the Mage King's gaze turning sharper when talked about the small fight. But he knew that the man could easily learn about the cafeteria incident on the first day. It was better to fabricate a story to cover it up and later ask Lisa to match it with him…

On the other hand, Mage King already knew about the cafeteria incident. It was one of the strong points which made him believe that something was wrong. But now….Max had hit him hard….he carefully brought out the Arcane incident and the sign of misfortune to bring out the guilt which the Mage King carried with him. After all, the border was the Association's responsibility and hence he was responsible for it as well…Not to mention, he had not taken much action for the Arcane people who were being discriminated against around the world….

This made Mage King's anger lower a bit, but still he couldn't just…it was his daughter…

Max could feel that Mage King still didn't seem to plan to let him go, it didn't seem to be enough…..

'In that case….I will deal a final blow...'