Ch-11:Unknown Elixir
Going back to when the Entrance Test results of the Arcane Academy had ended.
Kroste was managing his facial expressions as he was really glad that his five children were selected for the Arcane Academy.
The rewards were given to the people responsible for bringing the participants to their respective Empires which reallocated it to the kingdoms.
Since they were rewards given by the Arcane Academy, no power would be stupid enough to steal from it as that would be a slap on the face for such a strong power.
That is why the rewards for Kroste's children were given to him and not the Tesra Royal Family much to their envy.
The jealousy was obvious since he was someone who was exiled from the family, so they couldn't take anything from those rewards.
It only added to their ire when the Ancestors asked them to bring him back and not try to dupe him of any rewards to reinstate him in the family.
The worst part was the comparison as they couldn't get their participants to pass with so many resources yet the exiled Kroste managed to pass five of his direct line.
Kroste didn't mind as he had been expecting something like that to happen since his breakthrough as he had already met the Elder from his father's faction before leaving.
It was just that the rewards as well as respect due to his children would warrant him a better status and resources aiding him even further.
His Father's generation were the next contenders for the throne since he was too young and weak to be the next Emperor.
There was also the fact that no one reached the current Emperor's realm in cultivation nor could they match his intellect so he let them play around till he found an appropriate successor.
As Kroste returned to their main Palace with his wives and other children, it took them a few months to settle in and continue life in a better way.
After Kroste received the rewards, he allocated a certain percentage of them to the mothers of Ziya, Elric, and Nerlo and decided to send Aria and Raon's part to them as their mother died.
His decision was quite controversial from the opposing faction but he had already given away more than half his rewards to his Father and wives, so it ended up helping him.
He wanted to send 100 Rank-3 stones but the cultivation of his children would be too low to be able to utilize them properly so he changed his mind.
He sent both of them 1000 Rank-2 stones, various pills like cultivation stabilizing pills, healing pills, detoxification pills, etc, and promised them a personalized weapon.
The only difference was that Raon received an unknown Elixir without any words about it and Aria got a 1000-year-old Aqua Pearl.
The Aqua Pearl was a treasure that could be used only by water affinity cultivators as it increased the ability to control and manifest water.
While Kroste sent a note to Aria regarding the usage of the Pearl to maximize its benefits, he sent nothing of the sort to Raon.
It wasn't like he was hiding it or something. It was simply the fact that he had no clue about the elixir as he signed a soul contract to never talk about it or show it to anyone.
Elena had asked him to give it to her child when he felt it was the right time and that he would know who to give it to when it was time.
It was not like he hadn't tried anything with the elixir, he had used a drop of blood from his entire family to see if anything would happen but nothing happened.
He noticed a reaction when he used a drop of Raelyn and Arialyn but that was a bit too feeble and he presumed it had to do something with Elena's blood.
In the end, he decided to use Raon's blood drop that bubbled uncontrollably as if it wanted the elixir but it was too weak to escape his control.
He decided it was right to give it to Raon as Elena's words made sense to him now. He felt like an idiot for trying other people's blood but he was forced as he couldn't open the elixir or let it be discovered at all, lest he die due to the contract.
He was unaware of the true nature of the elixir and that would be quite a curiosity of his for his entire life but due to his soul being bound he had no other option but to stay quiet.
...
Coming back to the present where Raon is.
It might seem like it was easy for Raon to get over this hurdle, but in reality, it wasn't that easy as he was too weak to resist the temptations.
It was the pendant worn by him that was given by his mother as a memento to Raon, Arialyn, and Raelyn but the two didn't know about Raelyn as they had never met her.
The actual reason Raon was so sure such things wouldn't work on him again was that he would have calmed down by the next time from the anger he felt by Lia's death.
It wasn't anger for his girl but anger for their daughter losing her mother as he never met his mother while his father didn't bother with him.
He didn't want such a fate to befall Altair but it did and it wouldn't be much different from his own as he has to be at the Academy most of the time.
The only redeeming feature was the fact that the time dilation and energy stones would keep Altair unconscious for quite some time.
It would help him to increase his strength to be able to protect her in the future as well as give her what he couldn't receive, a parents' love.
He had no idea how long it would truly take him to be with her without the time dilation effect and he'll have to keep her caged to keep her existence itself hidden.
He wasn't one for vengeance though, he would just wipe out the entire Empire and his vengeance would be satiated as long as he is strong enough.
He isn't crazy though. He knows he can't do it alone even if he is given thousands of years to enact revenge but that doesn't mean he would forget it.
His plans had always been there but now they'll be a bit violent and forceful without a care for repercussions as Raon wouldn't be the one doing anything.
Unfortunately, it was not something that would come true in a few months or even a few years. It would take a very long time, a few decades at the least to even start his plans.
For now, though, he quietly went into a seclusion chamber and sat in the center on the ground crossing his legs in a lotus position.
The first step in his complicated plan was taking the elixir sent to him by his father which was his mother's gift to him unbeknownst to Raon.
He took out the elixir from his bag as he seemed to be thinking about using it when he seemed to feel the same sensation in his body as the first time he saw it.
His blood seemed to be boiling in anticipation of the upcoming elixir being drunk by him but he wasn't sure if he should take it now or save it.
His body showed a little different reaction that was a lot calmer than the first time but he didn't know about it as he had put it away way too fast the first time.
Slowly, his blood returned to its natural state as he decided against using the elixir for now and went back to cultivating normally.
He might seem low-talented with trashy affinity but that was not the entire truth as his weapon techniques were next level.
Whenever he held a sword, he felt like it was a part of his body and used it as his third arm and practiced his technique.
As 1 year passed by while he practiced his weapon techniques as well as accumulating cultivation energy for breakthroughs, he went out to meet his daughter.
Time passed as a decade went by and he had long since come to a conclusion that his sword is better than any technique he can find here so he created his own.
It was a feat that no one at his cultivation level should have been able to do under his stringent conditions yet he did that but he didn't forget other things.
He also went out on missions to accumulate battle experience as well as gather resources. He also went to meet his daughter who seemed to have aged just a month in the entire decade while leaving more rank-1 stones to act as her substitute food to keep her alive.
After a decade of cultivation, battles, and taking care of Altair he had finally reached the cusp of breaking through to the next realm and decided to enter seclusion once again.
The only reason his speed was slow was because of his cultivation technique being neutral without any elemental affinity due to his low affinity as well as the fact that he could easily fight above his cultivation and even win them.
His cultivation technique was stopping him from reaching his full potential but it was not like he could use any other as his elemental affinity was truly shit.
It took him 30 minutes to break through the realm as his body started absorbing the energy while he used 10 rank-2 stones for a safe breakthrough.
As soon as he finished, he wanted to let his cultivation stabilize naturally without using any pills but his blood burned hot to the point he felt immense pain.
The only thing to elicit a similar reaction in him was the unknown elixir that he took out which made his blood go into a frenzied state.
In that state, he drank the elixir unaware of the fact it would change his life forever. His body seemed to want to absorb the elixir one second faster as he felt even more pain before he finally passed out.