Chapter 164 - Family Mysteries
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In due time, Irauk as well as the others arrived back at the seated area. Initially, their section only housed the Great and Supreme Family members, however, with this odd situation, they made an exception. Irauk convinced them to allow Apollo's family members to come forth.
Specifically, they did so to ask a few simple questions—for one, who this person's parents were and secondly, what type of cultivation technique did he practice. Compared to the rest, he was the only anomaly there. Besides Irauk and his results from the potential assessment, they were unaware of who this person was.
Hence, they needed to collect information and fast. After all, Nivel had alerted them of the "prophetic words". The birth of such a Supreme Child with unnatural talent was sure to be an unpleasant omen. Perhaps, the prophecy was already in motion.
Nevertheless, both Kayn and Cynthia arrived in haste. But, when she saw the vacancy on Aaron's right side, she trembled and turned extremely pale. Painfully, she lifted her arm and touched her son. Like the rest, when they lost sight of the image, she was unaware of what was taking place.
Now she knew; terrible things happened. Not only did his body seem damaged, she felt a familiar aura from him, "D-...did they do this to you, dear? Was it them? Please, tell me it wasn't them," Cynthia muttered with a shaky voice.
Meanwhile, Aaron raised his head from looking at his own wound. "Mom, do you know someone named Aran? Also, why did he insist that I was from some clan known as the Dongguangs? Also, he used this type of strike that damaged me, but I could feel none of the strikes were truly fatal. Instead, it was as if he was seeking to verify my identity."
"Erm… that's because… Aran, I believe that's the name of your older half-brother," Cynthia replied, but her eyes remained stuck on his absent shoulder. This type of injury was known to present adversity in the pursuit of cultivation. After all, to cultivate, one needed to utilize all their meridians.
This was true for the ones in the arm as well. Without a complete structure of meridians, his potential would fall to a much lower level, unless he grasped some type of special method. Such as the harmony of Spiritual and Natural Essence, or the melding of Intent into Essence. Be that as it may, it was harder said than done.
Each of these routes created a new path of energy, however, the difficulty to master this ability was unfathomable. This can be seen by the fact no other person had achieved what Irauk save a few unmentioned existences.
"That ruthless individual is my brother? Why didn't I feel a deep familial connection with him then? Even the connection between me and Apollo is stronger than that. And, I don't understand why they use such methods," Aaron said, gritting his teeth. The golden light in his eyes flashed as a sharp aura danced across his fingertips.
Upon noticing this Irauk raised an eyebrow, "You have rudimentary control over Intent already? Interesting, how would you like to become my pupil alongside Apollo and a few others? However, I must warn you, the training is nothing short of perilous; everyone needs to be prepared."
His answer didn't come immediately, after all, he was focused on the information his mom disclosed. This meant his origins were split between a small noble family and a Supreme Family. But, if that was the case, why didn't anyone come to look for him? Numerous thoughts circulated in his mind as he looked around.
"I'll become your pupil, but I would like to know; are you able to get me an audience with this Dongguang Family? I think I need to meet my father, whoever he is," Aaron responded, turning towards Irauk.
For a moment, Irauk was silent before pondering this matter, "I'm afraid I can't. If Aran is your half-brother, then that means your father is Suren. And, he is someone that never leaves Catastrophe Line. If you'd like to meet him, it will have to wait until after graduation."
"I see, then I'll seek him out when the time comes," Aaron nodded.
In the meantime, Sirius and a few others approached this small circle. Most of their attention was focused on both Irauk and Apollo. Firstly, they were overly interested in the method Irauk used to attain harmony. Secondly, they wanted to understand whose progeny Apollo was.
Soon enough, Sirius carried an unusual reverent expression, "Sir Irauk, is it possible to disclose to the Crux how you were able to harmonize your inner Spiritual and Natural Essence. As you know, as stated in the tablets, that's the prerequisite to liberating the potential of achieving the Empyrean Realm."
"Hmm, you must understand yourself and come to terms with your true inner self. Once you abandon your desires and embrace your fears—you reach the serene state required to meld the intricacies of your essence. Of course, everyone's essence is different, therefore, I can't walk you down your own path. In my case, it was always clear to me what I wanted to achieve, and how to get there. You could say my ancestors left me a path," Irauk answered.
"I see, but who are your ancestors? This, we have never known," Sirius continued.
"I'm unable to say as even I am not privy to this information. It is a shame that I can be of no more assistance to you," Irauk answered while shaking his head. Since the answered were finished, Sirius switched over to the silent Apollo.
Although he seemed to be normal, there was an issue with him—the was an ever-present rage on his mind right now. Part of it stemmed from something stopping before he could achieve his vengeance and the other came from the overutilization of the Infernal Ira Stigmata. But, luckily it wasn't as bad as it looked.
Ouroboros continued to siphon the excess while also distributing his own energy to supplement it. Although it was just a temporary fix, it was enough for now. His current enemies weren't at the leave that welcomed his dread. Luckily, there was enmity between the Paragon, Scions, and him.
"Very well, young lad—tell me, who are your parents? I don't see them here. While these two carry similar bloodlines to you, it's not close enough to be your parents," Solomon questioned but then fell silent.
He narrowed his eyes and inspected Apollo closely. Then, he took a step closer, still questioning, "Is that Sapphyr and Xezym's aura on you? How are you related to my daughter and her spirit?"
"Dead and she was my administrator," Apollo succinctly replied.
"That isn't what I'm asking. Their aurae are embedded in you. In other words, you have had prolonged contact. Not to mention, you used a technique similar to Xezym's; how do you explain that?" Solomon inquired further, placing his hands behind his back.
For the first time in forever, he took interest in something once again.
"It's simple; I was trained by him for a day. Now, stop with your questions. If she is so dear to you, why do you allow her to be embarrassed by that...what was her name? Sarai? It's truly disgusting how you allow your family to function," Apollo scoffed before taking a leave.
His irritation, lack of power; being here reminded him of it all. Thus, he took a walk. At first, Solomon wanted to stop him, but Irauk intervened, "Leave the child, who knows what they all just went through."
"That may be true, but his parents, we still know nothing about them. Certainly, they should possess some background, or at the very least, one of them," Solomon insisted.
For this, Kayn stepped forth, "If that is what you'd like to know, I can tell you. His father was deemed Abaddon by the World Reclamation Task Force. However, his real name is Zarel Kaiser. As for his mother, she wasn't known too well I believe, but her name was Reili Sima; an abandoned daughter of the Sima Family."
"Wait, did you say Abaddon?" Sirius paused, affected by the name. It appeared he carried some history with it as he turned toward Kayn.
"I did, that was the title he was given," Kayn assented.
"I see, so it's him—the wolf in sheep's clothing who unleashed himself at unforeseen moments to reap death and destruction. That is why I gave him that name. So it appears I have some history with that boy. Sadly, it appears his father has perished according to that lad's words. Where did you all bury the body?" Sirius asked.
Surprisingly, Kayn was unable to answer this question. For a while, he remained silent. This was something they never told the family members. While they recovered the body Aiden, the older brother—the rest was amiss.
"Actually, after he fell against a Terror," Kayn paused for a moment, "We never recovered the body. The only thing we saw when we went back to where his body should've been was destruction," Kayn uttered.
Upon hearing this information, even Cynthia was shocked. This made her recall an event that her father had once told her.