Chapter 4
Held in Sylvia's arms, Raon left the annex for the first time and headed toward the Zieghart main mansion.
'So that's the main mansion.'
The main mansion came into view from afar. Its height reached the sky, and its width was so vast that it couldn't be taken in at a single glance even from this distance.
It wasn't a house—it was a scale that wouldn't be strange to call a castle.
'Fitting for the ruler of the North.'
Despite being a single family, Zieghart possessed more territory and military power than a kingdom. It wasn't for nothing that they were one of the Six Kings.
'Everyone lives there, right?'
Helen had told him that all the other direct descendants except Sylvia and himself lived around the Lord's Hall in the main mansion.
There must be a reason why Sylvia alone lived separately in the annex, but she hadn't told him what it was.
'The Aptitude Test...'
Raon surveyed the Lord's Hall standing at the center of the main mansion while thinking about the aptitude test being held today.
'They really do all sorts of things.'
A child's skull, which opens toward the sky, begins to close at the age of four, and from that moment on, the child's mana talent never changes.
The aptitude test held today was an event where children whose skulls had closed were gathered to determine the extent of their mana talent.
'It doesn't matter what I get.'
Even if his current talent was meager, the 'Ring of Fire' would raise his physical body and mana responsiveness to their peak state. Innate talent was a story that had nothing to do with him.
"Raon."
While he was slowly rotating the Ring of Fire, Sylvia lifted him slightly. Looking to the side, he saw they had already arrived in front of the main mansion.
"It doesn't matter what you do, Raon. Just grow up healthy."
"Yeah. I understand."
He smiled brightly like a child who knew nothing.
"Our son really is the cutest!"
She started rubbing her face against his cheek again. When this happened, he wouldn't be able to move for five minutes.
"Ahem, Lady Sylvia."
"Ah, sorry!"
Sylvia came to her senses at Helen's cough. It was truly a relief that she had come along.
"Let's go in. We might be a little late."
"Yes."
Still holding him, she entered the Lord's Hall.
'Hmm.'
Raon narrowed his eyes at the people inside the Lord's Hall.
'Their level is high.'
Perhaps because it was the main mansion, and the Lord's Hall at that, there wasn't a single ordinary person inside the building. Not only the warriors, but even the attendants and maids had a clear light in their eyes.
"We'll arrive soon. Just bear with it a little."
"Yeah."
Raon walked with Sylvia through the central corridor on the first floor. At its end stood a massive iron door large enough for a giant to pass through. It was the entrance to the audience chamber where today's aptitude test would be held.
"Sylvia Zieghart, Raon Zieghart, Helen Karvin. Confirmed."
The warrior guarding the audience chamber crossed his legs and opened the door.
Screeeech!
With a heavy sound like twisting iron, another world opened up.
Brilliant five-colored light poured down from the ceiling, and invaluable ornaments lined the golden walls in abundance.
This place, which made one gasp just looking at it, was the audience chamber where one could meet Glen, the Lord of Zieghart.
Boom!
Along with the sound of the door closing, the gazes of the people in the room pierced toward Raon like arrows.
"Sylvia? Then is that child Sylvia's?"
"How can a child's face be so..."
"Blonde hair and red eyes."
"Small stature. I heard he was sick, is that true?"
"Well, he inherited the blood of a loser, so of course."
"Not a loser, you should say dropout."
People he was seeing for the first time showed interest in Raon. Of course, their gazes were not kind.
With a young body. No, precisely because he was young, Raon could feel the raw, bloody emotions they emanated.
"For a guy like that to enter the audience chamber."
"Is there even a need to conduct an aptitude test for a dropout's child?"
"Seriously. It lowers the standard."
He didn't know what made someone a loser or a dropout, but they were openly criticizing Sylvia and himself.
'Hmm...'
Raon clenched his fists. He didn't care when they called him small, but hearing Sylvia insulted made his chest feel tight.
"It's okay, Raon. Just look at Mom."
Even though she had been called a loser and a runaway, she smiled at him.
'As expected, this person is strong.'
Sylvia was a person with a strong heart. Her gentle voice calmed his churning chest.
'Are those the direct descendants?'
Having regained his composure, Raon's eyes swept across the interior of the audience chamber and stopped at the platform above.
Seven people sitting in red chairs.
They looked down from above, wrapped in an aura of a completely different caliber from the people below.
'They're on a different level.'
If the branch family members below were foxes and wolves, the direct descendants on the platform exuded an overwhelming presence like dragons that had already ascended to the sky.
Though they didn't open their mouths like the branch families, they looked down at him and Sylvia with eyes that seemed to be looking at trash.
'Are they all enemies?'
When he thought of it as a dysfunctional family, Sylvia headed not to the platform above, but below. And to the very last seat at that.
'That's strange.'
Many questions arose.
Generally, there was an insurmountable wall between the direct and branch families of a household. Leaving aside the direct descendants, it was strange for branch families to openly pick fights.
Moreover, Sylvia lived alone in separation and couldn't even go up to the platform. Despite being a direct descendant, she was clearly being discriminated against for some reason.
'What's the reason?'
If they called her a runaway or a dropout, she might have lost in a sparring match or a battle.
Boom!
While he was thinking about the reason Sylvia was discriminated against, the warriors standing in front of the audience chamber door struck the floor with their spears.
"The rightful master who rules the North. Lord Glen Zieghart enters!"
With those words, the massive iron doors of the audience chamber swung wide open.
Grooooan!
Along with an oppressive energy wave that made the air tremble, Glen Zieghart revealed himself.
Just his entrance made the gravity heavier and his heart tighten. A tension that suffocated him ran down his spine.
"Greetings, my Lord!"
The dragons who had been looking down from the platform, and the wolves who had been baring their teeth below, all knelt simultaneously.
Thud.
Those footsteps.
Along with the stiff footsteps he had heard five years ago, Glen Zieghart entered. Exuding an absolute presence that crushed the entire audience chamber, he sat on the golden throne set at the center of the platform.
"Begin."
When he snapped his fingers, a sword rose from the center of the audience chamber. It was a massive stone sword that looked too heavy even for a giant to lift.
'Is that the Sword of Appraisal?'
That sword was an artifact from 1,000 years ago, said to be able to determine a person's mana talent when they placed their hand on it.
The true nature of today's aptitude test was to judge children's talents using the stone sword's ability.
"First, Burren Zieghart."
At the facilitator's words, a blue-haired boy who looked about six years old sitting in the second row of the platform stood up.
"Please place your hand on the sword."
When he came down from the platform, the moderator pointed to the stone sword. Burren nodded and placed his hand on the stone sword.
Vrooom!
The green light blooming from Burren's fingertips covered the entire stone sword, and a thick wind rose from near the end of the hilt.
"Oho!"
"It's wind! Wind!"
"Seeing the light emanate from the entire sword, the quality of mana is also top-grade!"
"As expected of Lord Karun's child's talent!"
"Congratulations!"
The branch family members standing below the platform sent applause and cheers to the middle-aged man sitting in front of Burren.
"It's a good attribute well-suited for a swordsman. From now on, focus on feeling the wind."
"I understand!"
When Glen nodded, Burren smiled broadly like a sunflower facing the sun and returned to his seat.
"Next, Runan Slion of the vassal family Slion."
"Yes."
A silver-haired girl sitting at the far right of the platform stood up quietly.
'The vassal family Slion.'
Like nobles following a king, vassal families were prestigious families of the North that followed Zieghart.
Since Slion was the representative of the vassal families, it seemed they were on the platform along with the direct descendants.
Vrooom.
The girl named Runan approached the stone sword with calm eyes and placed her hand on it.
Chiiiing!
As her hand touched the stone sword, a silver light like melted moonlight surged from the tip of the blunt blade.
The surging light filled the blade and, not stopping there, climbed up the hilt, creating a silver frost over the entire sword.
"Frost? And the entire sword too!"
"Is it the same level of talent as Lord Burren...?"
"It's not for nothing that they're Slion."
"Another genius has appeared in the Slion family."
However, unlike with Burren, the cheers and applause were not loud. It seemed there was a competitive relationship between the vassal families and the branch families.
"You have a good attribute. If you sharpen it like a blade, you'll be able to pierce through any energy."
Glen Zieghart also nodded to Runan.
"Thank you."
Runan bowed her head without much change in expression and hopped back to her seat like a cat.
After that, two more direct descendants and numerous branch family and vassal family children placed their hands on the stone sword, but no one had talent on the level of Burren or Runan.
'Now I understand.'
Raon snapped his fingers. After watching the other people's aptitude tests, he could figure out what was good and bad.
'The purity of mana depends on how far the light on the blade reaches, and the attribute of mana appears at the end of the hilt.'
In cases of outstanding mana quality like Runan or Burren, the entire sword flashed, and special attribute mana seemed to be identifiable through the hilt.
"Lastly, Raon Zieghart. Please come forward."
"Let's go, Raon."
"Yeah."
When he nodded, Sylvia smiled brightly and lifted him up.
"You saw how the other kids did it, right? Just do the same."
After Sylvia set him down in front of the stone sword, she reached out her hand as if demonstrating.
"Yeah."
After a short reply, he looked at the stone sword.
'It probably won't turn out well.'
The Ring of Fire had reached the 2nd stage, but there was still a daunting amount of cold energy remaining in his mana circuits.
Considering his current physical condition, he wouldn't be able to produce brilliant light like the other children.
"Haa."
He slowly exhaled and reached his hand toward the stone sword.
Thump.
As his hand touched the stone sword, a pulse arose in his heart like a pebble dropping into a pond. The small heartbeat crossed his chest and resonated throughout his entire body.
'What is this?'
Just as he was about to pull his hand away from the bizarre sensation, his vision flashed brightly.
A blonde man wearing silver armor came into view.
Before him, countless monsters surged forward like a wave.
What is this...
Even though it was clearly an illusion, the sensation was so vivid that cold sweat ran down his forehead.
While he was trembling, unable to even breathe properly, the man raised his sword.
A golden flame blazed up over the chillingly beautiful blade.
He swung the flame-wreathed sword down like lightning.
That moment.
Golden flames soaring from the ground covered the world.
Closing his eyes to avoid the golden flames filling his entire vision, when he opened them again, the world had changed and a message floated before his eyes.
[Acquiring Ring of Fire (2nd Stage).]
[Failed to acquire ???.]
[Achievement insufficient.]
When he tilted his head at the unknown message, light began to surge from the stone sword.
Vrooom.
The fiercely rising light lost its power and stopped at the middle of the blade.
There was no special ability or high purity like the others. It was a talent far inferior not only to the direct descendants but even to the branch families.
"Already done?"
"Didn't even reach the middle?"
"Hahaha! I've never seen one that small before."
"The quality of mana is poor, and it's white with no ability at all."
"There's nothing to see except his appearance."
"Sure enough, the god of war doesn't seem to look after a runaway's child."
The direct descendants who had watched the aptitude test frowned as if it was pathetic, and the branch families openly burst into laughter.
"……"
Glen, who had been giving brief advice to the direct and branch descendants, didn't open his mouth either.
"It's okay, Raon. You did well."
Sylvia smiled the smile she always showed and hugged him, and Helen, who had approached at some point, bit her lip and covered his ears.
"Haa..."
Raon let out a low breath.
Being ignored was familiar. He had been raised as a dog, not a human, and even brainwashed, so he had discarded emotions long ago. He could accept criticism and insults as much as they came.
He was going to take what he needed and leave anyway. He tried not to care about what happened here.
Even though Sylvia and the maids treated him like real family, that feeling hadn't changed.
But right now, for some strange reason, his mood sank.
Seeing the bastards mocking not only him but also Sylvia and Helen, his chest stung as if electrocuted.
'Fine.'
Raon clenched his teeth tightly. Sylvia and the maids were the first people to treat him as a human being.
He resolved to show the direct and branch descendants who mocked them just how insignificant innate talent truly was.
"I've participated in aptitude tests every time, but I've never seen that level before."
"Is he really a Zieghart?"
"All the talent Sylvia had is completely gone. Except for the blonde hair and red eyes like the Lord's, there's nothing to see."
He memorized the faces of all the bastards who ran their mouths as they pleased.
"Enough."
With Glen's cold single word, the entire audience chamber froze.
"The aptitude test is over. Everyone leave."
"My Lord?"
"Must I say it again?"
"Everyone, disperse."
When Glen's second son, Karun Zieghart, stood up, the others glanced at each other and left the audience chamber. Of course, muttering insults about Raon and Sylvia where they thought they couldn't be heard.
Before five minutes had passed, the only people left in the audience chamber were Glen Zieghart, the owner of the room, and his chief butler, Roen.
"It can't be helped."
Glen looked at the Sword of Appraisal standing in the center and nodded calmly.
"My Lord..."
Just as Roen was about to approach him.
Crackle!
The light surging from the lower part of the Sword of Appraisal crossed the blade and filled up to the end of the hilt.
Blaze!
The light was a deep golden color like the sun, and a blazing flame rose from the end of the hilt.
"Golden flames?"
For the first time, a storm raged in Glen's eyes.