From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

The masses of fleeing people slowly returned to the town, those who survived felt fortunate, while those who lost loved ones mourned and wept.

This suicidal raid by the Rhea people even led to the destruction of a knight clan, with all the Extraordinary Exponents of their family dead, and only a few others surviving.

Grandma Narda’s sons miraculously all survived; the routes they fled nearly went in the opposite direction of the Rhea’s search paths.

Old Ramon’s illness grew even more severe, to the point where he even forgot his son’s name, and Hugh, left with no other choice, finally decided to hire a servant to care for him.

The members of the Fischer family eventually returned home, and upon seeing the familiar surroundings, they felt an odd sensation as if they were in a different world.

Lucius’s body was found by Duke Black Iron’s troops in the jungle and was quickly brought back to Nasir to be returned to them, and Byrne broke down in tears once again upon seeing his father’s body.

Irene purchased a piece of wasteland outside of Nasir Town and had it turned into a cemetery, where everyone watched the burial of the man in silence under the gloomy skies.

Byrne no longer cried, only silently watching the face of the father lying in his eternal sleep.

Why was there a smile on the man’s face?

He could not understand his father’s expression, nor did he know the man’s final thoughts, but he was very clear about one thing without needing to hear it directly from the man.

The Fischer family must push forward!

Byrne prayed to the Lord of the Lost, something he rarely did, having grown more devout in the depths of his heart after this experience of salvation.

Oh great Lord of the Lost,

Please shelter his soul, I know he will surely return to Your embrace.

One day, when my destiny is fulfilled, I too will go to where You are, to find peace.

May we all finally find rest.

Days later, as Byrne gradually regained composure, he received two pieces of terrible news.

The first bad news, the Meyer family who had violated the peace agreement, were not punished at all; they produced evidence that they had already severed ties with Bourette well before, claiming it was all individual action.

Even though such a ridiculous excuse could fool no one, the Salvation Church and the Cyart Royal Family in the end still recognized their “evidence,” the behind-the-scenes deals that were made remained unknown.

The second bad news, the people from the Taylor knight family never returned to Nasir Town, but instead, not long after, they sent a letter to Byrne.

He was astonished after reading the letter; Robert said that the head of the Taylor knight family had finally succeeded in reaching the “Transmutation” level of the 2nd Rank, preparing to officially become Cyart nobility.

The Taylor family, thus, received a house donation and an invitation from a certain guild in the capital, and in the end, the family head decided to move the entire family to the capital, completely leaving Nasir Town and the East Coast.

Regarding the outstanding debt of fifteen Gold Coins, he only left a quite playful sentence at the end of the letter.

“The dumbest moment for a person is when they ask ‘but you promised me’.”

Irene and Byrne held a family meeting in the basement, with only the two of them present, confirming three new goals for the entire Fischer family moving forward.

The first matter was of utmost importance; both were clear in their judgment that in eighteen years, war between the two nations was inevitable, and if the Fischer family remained as weak as they were, they might not have a chance to survive in the war.

In the next decade or more, they needed to seize every opportunity to enhance the overall strength of the family.

The second matter concerned the items obtained from the black iron box and from the Rhea people.

They were two smooth bronze components, which they took out and assembled together, eventually forming an unusually shaped vessel resembling a “boat.”

Byrne had to consult books to find out what it was, and it turned out to be an oil lamp from a foreign continent; the two components joined together just right to make up the body of the lamp, but still lacking the cover and base parts.

The incomplete ancient bronze lamp held no power, but no one knew what kind of extraordinary power a complete lamp could possess, or why the Meyer family had been so obsessed with it.

The Lord of the Lost was extremely interested in it, and should the Fischer family manage to collect all the components, they would inevitably receive His immense favor and blessing.

They had to find a way to search for all the remaining missing components of this mysterious rare artifact.

The third, and final, long-term goal for the family, which no one knew when they could achieve, was this:

It was for the Fischer family to seek full revenge against the Meyer family, the top noble clan of Rhea, for Lucius’s death!

This was less a goal than it was the sad wish of the entire family.

The disparity between them was too vast, like a giant dragon in the sky and an ant crawling on the ground—if the Fischer family did not have the help of the Lord of the Lost, they wouldn’t even dare to harbor the obsession for revenge.

There were two matters deep in Byrne’s heart that belonged to him alone, not the entire family.

One was to get back the fifteen, or perhaps more, Gold Coins from Robert and, someday, to find that black giant dragon for that man and complete his obsession.

A few days later, the servants of the Romann family arrived, bringing Byrne’s proof of knighthood and thirty Gold Coins as a “gift” from Duke Black Iron according to tradition, bestowed upon the Fischer family.

Normally, the ceremony of knighthood would be quite complicated and grand, but the decline of the knight class over the past century had been such that there was no longer any land to be bestowed, and Duke Black Iron himself had no wish to come to the poor, remote Nasir Town.

Thus Byrne received only a sword forged from black iron, a certificate of his knightly identity, a common codex from the World Order Church, which was the faith of the Romann family, and those thirty Gold Coins.

Nevertheless, from then on, at least in name, the Fischer family had become one of the vassal powers under the Romann family, eligible to apply for their protection in the event of a clan-eradicating crisis.

Although there were already hundreds of knight clans sworn to the Romann family within the Cyart Kingdom, it was still a quite good choice for the Fischer family.

As tensions between countries escalated, they did not hesitate to purchase a piece of Class 2 Extraordinary Material, “Black Serpent Demon Skin,” before prices soared again. The sea merchant John also survived the escape, but the deaths of two relatives left him deeply sad and depressed.

A few days later, the Fischer family once again pleaded with the Lord of the Lost, offering up the Class 2 Extraordinary Material “Black Serpent Demon Skin” and receiving the great Lord of the Lost’s grace once more.

A new consecution of the Extraordinary law formed, Karl expanded the “Path of Divine Sacrifice” to its 2nd Rank “Listener,” bestowing the Spiritual Radiance upon Irene, who knelt on the ground in devout prayer.

The “Listener” consecution.

In the shadow of the Extraordinary law, there was a calm, middle-aged woman in blue light, listening attentively with her ear inclined.

After becoming a “Listener,” one could passively use the Extraordinary trait ‘Listening for Malice’ to hear the thoughts of those with hostility nearby, and automatically master two Spells: the “Silence Spell” to block casting and vocalization, and the “Secret Ear Technique” to eavesdrop on others.

Irene’s Spiritual Power had more than doubled, while her physical enhancements were minimal.

Clearly, the “Listener” was a more functional consecution; the overall consecutions of the “Path of Divine Sacrifice” lacked direct combat ability in the early stages.

“The Fischer family will forever be your servants, and will ultimately bring about your great revival.”

The young girl, having acquired new powers, was profoundly excited. Having gone through so much, the entire Fischer family now longed for extraordinary power even more.

Three weeks later.

Byrne, dressed in black finery, sat in a carriage, looking at those seeing him off and waved with a smile.

He and his guards were on their way to the city, to Fein City at the center of the East Coast, to the busiest place to sell that homemade effective antidote.

Meanwhile, Irene had just returned from curing wealthy patients in a nearby town, for no matter what, the Fischer family had to leave one core member behind.

As the carriage started moving slowly, Byrne put on a gentle smile and kept waving goodbye to everyone.

“No need for further send-offs! Goodbye, we will return soon!”

After a while, he withdrew his hand, took a deep breath of the brisk air, and with great serenity took out a piece of paper and a pen from his chest pocket. He placed the paper on his knee, pondered for a long time, and finally wrote the first sentence.

“Lucius Fischer, born in the year 1760 of the Blazing Sun Era, taught the entire Fischer family what wisdom, courage, and sacrifice mean…”