Inheritence

From the museum, Red and Erica went to another majestic looking building. The building was towering over its surroundings and whoever passed by it would be astonished by its scale. On its entrance was a name enshrined in blazing glory - Viridian Bank. Viridian Bank was the most powerful banking organization in the world, with investment spanning all kinds of industries and clients stretching worldwide. It was a bank with powerful ability users as its backers and catered specifically in providing services for ability users. It was synonymous with safety and was also the most established public auctioneer of treasures.

Red led Erica inside. On meeting with a clerk, he asked for the manager to access a VIP account. Soon a manager came out, a serious but slightly fat person rushing towards the counter.

"Sir and Ma'am, what service would you like of me today?" He asked politely.

"We'd like to access locker #1 under account XXXX. I'd also like to transfer ownership of the account to Ms Erica Lint here according to the conditions mentioned in the account's contract. Here is my power of attorney to preside over the transfer." Red answered.

"Yes sir, please wait a moment." The manager replied, quickly creating the transfer protocol, noting down Erica's biometrics to tie in to the account. After finishing the process, he continued. " Please follow me this way to the locker."

The two went towards a secret room and entered. The manager stayed outside. Inside, they found a huge machine that seemed to be transferring their locker storage into the room. Soon, the locker had arrived. "Go ahead, let it scan your hand." Red whispered. Erica looked at Red, then nodded and did as told.

The locker opened without much fanfare, it was a huge space inside, but there wasn't a lot in there. Two letters, a small box made out of a white wood like material that gave of a fragrant smell, and a set of papers which were deeds to properties and possessions of Erica's parents that were transferred to her name. One of the letters was signed "for Erica" and on the other were clearly embossed the words "for Red's eyes only". Seeing that made Erica knit her brows, but she handed the letter to Red.

Red quietly looked at the letter, opened it and read the details. As soon as he did, the letter disintegrated on its own, not a wisp of which could be seen. Red simply kept the envelop which remained in his pocket. Erica who saw the scene was shocked and confused. Red urged her to open her letter, which she did.

"Dear Erica,

If you are reading this letter, then it is very much possible that we aren't with you anymore. If that is the case, I hope that you are doing well. We arranged for preparations for your nurturing just in case such a situation happened. Our jobs.. necessitate such precautions, I hope you would not fault us for this, though I wouldn't want to ever leave my baby alone like this.

My family, and thus your maternal line, are part of a royal ability bloodline that controls ice. To protect your identity, I have ensured that this information passes on to as few people as possible. When you were born, this ability manifested in you, to a degree that would have been life threatening and thus I have sealed your ability. Now that you have grown, I have laid down a path for you to slowly manifest your abilities. In the white wood box is a treasure that will help you gently manifest your abilities, allowing your body to adjust to it in a gradual manner without harming you.

However, you must be mindful of two things. Your bloodline is the strongest in the history of our family tree. You must not reveal this to anyone and always act like it is an ordinary elemental ability. Do not reveal this secret to anyone else. Secondly, do not reveal this treasure that I have passed down to you either. It has a bloody history and if anyone has a hint of it, it will lead to bloodshed.

When you have completely awakened your ability, I have ensured that you will be able to access the second locker to access some of our heritage. Take care of yourself.

Love,

Your Mom."

When Erica read this, tears started welling up in her eyes, but she held them back. The letter, just like Red's, disintegrated into particles. Erica then took the small box of white wood from the locker and opened it. There was a blue locket inside, with a sapphire like ice crystal tear droplet hanging off of it. She quietly wore it and could feel gentle waves washing over her from the locket. It was like a beating heart.

"Put a drop of blood on it to bind it." Red said. Erica looked at him for a long moment, before nodding and then bit her index finger to pour a drop of blood on the tear droplet. The moment she did that, it absorbed the blood and then the locket suddenly shined and disappeared into her body. IT was like the tear drop had merged with her heart, and with each beat of her heart, a wave of energy flooded her body, slowly increasing her strength.

Red nodded. "I will take those deeds and get them transferred in your name." He acted like nothing had happened. But Erica stopped him. "Why did the letter not mention anything about you?" She had felt a mixture of emotions, but one she felt overwhelmingly now was anger. Anger at her parents for ignoring Red completely. There was no mention of him, nothing left for him.

Red laughed. "Don't be angry. This was your inheritance. Everything here is meant for you. I have already received what I needed." He waved the envelop that was assigned to him. "Come on, let's leave. Treasure what you received from Mom and do your best to not let them down."

---

In school, a few days later.

"Hey, what have you decided? Are you going to join DAM?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I am. Haven't you read the website of the Border Foundation that went online? They will be monitoring the relics to ensure fair competition and entry will be fast tracked to users assigned by the government as representatives into the relic. Joining the DAM is not only a fast track for us to get the national inheritance to grow stronger, it is also a chance to get treasures in the relics!"

"The Border Foundation also had posts explaining what the relics were. Apparently they are inheritance grounds of extremely powerful ability users in the past. As well as treasures and trial grounds for transfer of martial arts, abilities, treasures and so on. There are rumors on the internet, that rare fruits grow in these relics that awaken powerful abilities. There's also mention of royal bloodlines, but few know what they really are. All we know is that these is bloodlines disappeared a long time ago."

When Erica heard this conversation, her heartbeat rose. She had been wondering as well, what her mother meant when she said that Erica had a royal bloodline.

"What exactly is royal bloodline?" She asked aloud.

A student who was known as a geek about abilities opened his mouth to explain. "It isn't very well known matter. But apparently some abilities manifested as powers of the gods and myths themselves. These ability users were said to be extremely powerful and could overturn the heavens itself. Eventually, out of fear of these Royal bloodlines, ability users got together to eliminate them. Apparently, the Border Foundation is an organization which is a historical descendant of the groups which banded together to eliminate the royal bloodlines!"

"But why would they eliminate the users of Royal Bloodlines?" Rika asked, shocked at the answer.

The geek continued "Apparently Royal bloodlines could exert dominance over other ability users. I am not sure about the specifics. But my dad is a historian and he said that a group of five Royal Bloodline users could easily take over a country! However, there are many other unique abilities which could be equally powerful or sometimes even more powerful, so it isn't clear why the ancient group of ability users targeted Royal Bloodlines in particular."

Hearing this Erica's heart chilled. No wonder her mother told her not to reveal anything about her abilities to anyone. She wondered if Red knew about her ability? Or was he in the dark too? Her mother didn't mention anything. She had to broach the matter with Red in some way. Despite being an ordinary civilian, Erica knew that Red knew an awful lot about Ability users and their history. Red was particularly interested in myths and he even knew about Relics long before the news of these things every came up. Perhaps he could tell her about Royal Bloodline users, relics and the Border Foundation.