Chapter 144: Ancestral Soul Imprint

Cultivating 〖Condition 3: Let the beast witness the birth of 100 species and the death of 100 species〗 was harder than 〖Condition 1: Let the beast witness 100 acts of kindness and 100 acts of cruelty〗.

Where was the difficulty?

In an apocalyptic world, you couldn’t just watch the birth of something on a whim.

Unless you could get into the kind of place for breeding.

If the Ox Guild hadn’t set up a stall at the carnival, Seraphina wouldn’t have even had the chance to try Condition 3.

"If we want to walk both paths at once, the only way is to get access into the Black Stone Corp, so she can keep watching their process," Luke thought.

But Luke muttered later, "But I’m not comfortable letting her in there. What if they figure out she’s a Summon? And besides... no matter how much I don’t want to admit it, I can’t hand over my full trust to Mr. Blackstone either. Not by gambling with my Empyreal Angel."

Over there, Seraphina wasn’t worried in the least.

She was certain there’d be a way.

She explained that if you established one Path first, then switched to cultivate the other, it would become difficult, because you’d have already locked in one Branch by then.

So, she wants to take on Branches of both Paths at the same time, and get accustomed to such workload.

"I’ve got an idea." Luke said, holding her shoulders. "Condition Three also needs you to witness a hundred deaths. So you must know we need bigger connections, and I have one."

"Master, what is this new way?" Seraphina asked.

"Don’t get ahead of yourself." Luke cut her off. "You haven’t even established your first Path yet."

"But Master—"

"No ’buts’. We’re dismissing you for now. You tell me— where exactly am I supposed to find you a hundred acts of Evil in a place like this?"

"Master, before I go, there’s one more thing." Seraphina sighed. "Do you have a clone? I saw two people with the same Ancestral Soul Imprint as you. I thought you’d split yourself in two."

"You’re sure?" Luke frowned, suspecting she just wanted an excuse to stall. "Take me to see."

They walked for a while, and Seraphina pointed them out.

Luke laughed and pinched her cheek.

"You little hamster, those are my sisters!"

"Huh? Really?" Seraphina exclaimed, no longer looking distraught. "No wonder. They’re so pretty, I was admiring them, and only afterward did I notice the duality..."

"Yes, yes, my sisters are pretty even with masks on. But I’m curious about something. This Ancestral Soul Imprint you mentioned, how does that work? How did you mistake them for me? Just because we’re triplets?" Luke asked.

"Precisely," Serpahina answers.

"The Ancestral Soul Imprint comes from twins and from triplets. Every sibling has it. But the Soul Imprint is more exclusive. Put together, that’s the Ancestral Soul Imprint— your case, and your sisters’.

As triplets, it looks like either your father or your mother left their Soul Imprint on all three of you. I’d guess your mother, because I can feel the Soul Imprint is flexible, and has a kind of Proclivity to it..."

Seraphina sounded convinced.

But Luke couldn’t tell which of her words he should count on, and which he shouldn’t.

Seraphina is like a coin flip. She’s either 100% right or 100% wrong.

*******

Elsewhere, Raven and Vivian were also mingling with the crowd, wearing animal-shaped masks too.

But that striking silver hair of theirs was hard to hide.

Today’s Trial hunt so far had nothing to show for it, and frustration was simmering within them both.

Whenever they got to monster zones assigned by their tutors, the monster zone would be cleared by someone else.

Monster Zones are open to the public to begin with, so anyone could detect them, anyone could clear them. Raven and Vivian managed enough points to cling to the top 15, and that was thanks to Hunters from the families under them — the Crosby family and the Prescott family — lending a hand.

But to break into the top ten, short of a miracle, there was no way.

Vivian clicked her tongue, tapping her foot, eyes fixed on the Leaderboard.

In the fifteenth spot hung a name that had no business being there: Adrian Kingsley.

"It’s not fair," Vivian complained. "We’ve been busting our tails, but he just gets his suspension lifted, and now he has caught up as if he’d never been punished at all. The fix is in, and it’s blatant!"

"Roselyn’s behind it," Raven said. "And the Vice Principal too."

"The Vice Principal?" Vivian echoed. "Isn’t he a victim too? In front of that tyrant of a stepmother, Roselyn, he doesn’t exactly have a choice."

"You’re wrong." Raven looked at her sister, whose eyes so resembled her own. "Vice Principal Howard knows exactly what he’s doing. His role in this is plain as day. A lot of students don’t see it. But I’m not a lot of students. Howard wants to be principal, and teaming up with Roselyn helps pave the way for his promotion."

Vivian shuddered, lowering her voice. "So, is that why Principal Claris got suspended?"

Raven’s expression got dark. "Right now, all we can do is think about what this means for Luke. Whether he’s even safe at the Academy anymore."

Raven was clenching her jaw.

She’d always been the quiet and detached one. But everything happening lately had forced her to change. She’d started taking a side.

Unexpectedly, her sister, Vivian, peered into her face as if suspicious of something.

"What?!" Raven flinched.

"Just now... were you worried about Luke?" Vivian asked.

"Of course. He’s my brother. Why won’t I?"

"Oh? He’s your brother now?" Vivian rebuked. "When he first Awakened his Gauntlet, you cut ties with him, said he was never our brother to begin with. What changed your mind all of a sudden?"

"None of your business," Raven said.

After wandering the carnival a while longer, the sisters ran into two students from the Academy, from the rival faction: Ayn Nightjoy and Lucy’s close friend, Mizuki.

Raven and Vivian, masks and all, were still recognized on sight.

"Have you two seen Queen Lucretia?" Mizuki asked. "We saw her fighting a professional match with her Beast, but then she disappeared."

"Haven’t seen her," Vivian said. "We hope she’s alright, too. I saw she took a hit and lost a lot of points, though. Hopefully, she can bounce back."

"You say that as if you care," Ayn snorted.

"What’s that attitude for? Why would we know where your Queen is anyway?" Raven asked. "I’m already burning, don’t come add fuel. Let’s go, Vivian."

Ayn narrowed his eyes while Mizuki crossed her arms and huffed lightly.

Mizuki didn’t trust these Montclair students, the whole lot of them with their noses stuck up in the air. Not to mention the Kingsleys.

When it came down to it, none of them were any good. Maybe whatever had happened to Lucy had something to do with them.

Lucky or unlucky, not long after, Raven and Vivian spotted Lucy at a stall. She was trying out weapons, a few other students around with Beasts milling about nearby, everything looking your ordinary day in a summoner’s world.

"Queen Lucretia, your teammate’s looking for you." Vivian approached.

"Thanks for letting me know, I’ll go find them." Lucy answered hastily, her eyes not quite landing on Vivian’s face, so Vivian grabbed her hand.

"My Lady, you dropped nearly a hundred thousand points, are you alright?"

Lucy replied, "I’m fine."

It was the truth. In fact, she was better than fine—her beast got its breakthrough.

"Thanks for the concern. I’ll make it up at the Tournament."

"But if your Trial ranking’s high, the Tournament goes easier on you," Vivian said.

"The Tournament’s just a safety net, to keep from being eliminated. I don’t have a choice, Lady Vivian," Lucy said with a deep breath, and finally, she bowed to the identical Kingsleys.

But—

Of all moments, that was when Ayn and Mizuki arrived.

"Hey! Didn’t you just say you didn’t know where the Queen was?!" Ayn demanded.

"Are you picking a fight on purpose? We just found her, you idiot," Vivian shot back.

"Enough arguing." Lucy interrupted as she came in between the students. "Mizuki, Brother Ayn, thank you for looking for me. I am fine."

"Fine? You look like way more than fine!" Mizuki praised as she ran and embraced Lucy with a wholesome hug. "I saw you beating people up in the ring! But how’d you lose so many points? And Prince Derek too — tell me, what happened?"

When they heard that Prince Derek had lost points too, both Vivian and Raven perked up with interest

A wonder what could make an Ancient-grade summoner and an Elder-grade summoner drop in the leaderboard.

"It’s a long story," Lucy said. "But there’s something I need to tell you both."

Ayn and Mizuki listened.

They thought she’d say something of optimistic proportions, but it was the opposite.

"I’ve quit this team," Lucy said.

"I’ve parted ways with Derek. But if you’re willing to form a new team with me is your call to make."