The Old Saintess smirked.
Her calm, unreadable eyes now held sothing else entirely.
Sothing ancient. Sothing unfathomable.
"For the so-called number one genius of this continent, you sure are full of ignorance," she mused, voice laced with mockery.
"As expected from the young generations."
Max's jaw clenched.
But he said nothing.
He knew—
He was nothing before this woman.
She leaned back into her chair, her expression shifting into sothing almost bored.
Then she continued—
"The very top experts of this world, the true peak of the 'Acaris', can live up to 'ten thousand years.'"
A pause.
"And you, boy, are looking at one such individual."
Max stood frozen.
'Ten thousand years.'
The number alone sent a wave of realization crashing down on him.
He had always known—whispers of hidden monsters, of ancient beings that defied ti.
Like the blob but they were spirits. Their race was blessed by the nature themselves. They were simply eternal.
But hearing it from soone, a human, standing right in front of him?
That was sothing else entirely.
It made him feel—
Small.
For the first ti in a long ti, he was at a loss for words.
The so-called strongest experts of the world—
They weren't just stronger.
They were so far beyond him that he couldn't even comprehend their level of power.
And worst of all?
He wasn't even the strongest in the East Region.
Let alone the Lower Domain.
Max took a slow breath, forcing his mind back into focus.
If the Old Saintess had lived through that war, if she had fought in it—
Then she knew things.
Things no history book could ever tell.
Klaus cleared his throat, his tone shifting, turning heavier.
"Therefore, in every generation, we appoint a 'Saintess'—the only one who carries a strong enough bloodline to continue our legacy through the Inheritance Tower."
Max's eyes narrowed.
"What do you an by that?"
Klaus exhaled, his face losing its usual ease. Instead, there was sothing else there now.
Sothing solemn.
"Our bloodline has been lost to ti. Among us, only the Saintess of each generation possesses a strong enough bloodline to ensure our survival."
Then—
He t Max's gaze directly.
There was no more amusent in his expression. No more lightheartedness.
"That's why, when we discovered that 'you' possess the sa bloodline but more potent one… we were more than just intrigued."
A pause.
"We were excited—excited enough to invite you to our guild, to bring you here personally."
Max's body remained still, but sothing inside him shifted.
A bloodline so rare that only one per generation inherited it?
And now—he had it too?
But he recalled everyone in the guild possessed the bloodline.
'Maybe their bloodlines are too thin and diluted to be of any use.'
He thought.
A strange weight settled over him.
Then, the Old Saintess finally spoke again.
This ti, her voice carried an unmistakable sadness.
"Our bloodline is 'dying'," she said softly.
"At least in the Lower Domain. If a 'Progenitor Bloodline' does not appear soon, then the Black Lotus Guild here will cease to exist within the next hundred years."
Max's frown deepened.
His mind was already working—fast, sharp, cutting through the layers of their words.
A bloodline so rare that only one person inherited it per generation.
A legacy on the brink of extinction.
And now—sohow—he was part of it.
His fingers curled slightly, the weight of the revelation settling in.
His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it now—sothing colder.
"Is this… related to the 'inheritance' of this bloodline?"
Klaus nodded.
"You must have noticed that black tower on your way here."
Max's eyes flickered.
"I did."
Klaus's gaze shifted briefly, almost instinctively, toward the door—as if looking past it, toward the tower itself.
Then—
"That tower is the key," he said.
"It holds the final remnants of our bloodline's origin. The only way to unlock its secrets… is to awaken what lies dormant inside of you."
Max's expression remained unreadable.
Klaus let out a long sigh, his expression a mixture of regret and frustration.
"That tower is the 'Inheritance Tower'," he said, his voice carrying the weight of history.
"It was once the foundation of our power, the place where our ancestors awakened their true potential. But because our bloodline has declined over countless generations, we have lost most of its benefits. What was once a divine gift is now barely more than a mory."
Max absorbed the information, but even before Klaus finished speaking, he had already pieced together what they wanted from him.
They wanted him to restore their dying legacy.
Still, that didn't an he was about to accept everything blindly.
He had questions of his own that needed answers and the most important was the bloodline pressure.
Thinking of that—
Max activated his bloodline.
The change was instant.
Klaus and the Old Saintess stiffened.
Their entire bodies shuddered, a violent, uncontrollable reaction. Their eyes widened, pure, unfiltered shock overtaking them.
Then—
Their knees buckled.
They knelt.
Not by choice.
Not by submission.
But because their very bloodline 'forced' them to.
A presence greater than themselves surged through their veins—an ancient command, etched into their very existence, compelling them to bow before sothing absolute.
The room fell into silence.
Max stared at them.
Montarily taken aback.
This…
He hadn't expected.
Seeing two powerhouses—one an ancient existence, the other a high-ranking figure—kneeling before him felt… 'awkward.'
Unsettling.
Embarrassing, even.
So he withdrew the pressure, suppressing his bloodline once more.
The mont he did—
Gasping breaths.
Klaus and the Old Saintess collapsed slightly, their bodies trembling as the invisible weight lifted.
But their expressions didn't change.
The shock in their eyes remained.
Unshaken.
Unbroken.
As if they had just witnessed sothing beyond comprehension.
The Old Saintess—who had lived for ten thousand years, who had fought in wars that shaped history—
Looked at him with sothing she had likely not felt in centuries.
Pure.
Unquestionable.
Disbelief.
Her voice, usually steady and commanding, trembled.
"How is this possible?!"
Even Klaus, always composed, was shaken.
He opened his mouth to speak—
But no words ca out.
This wasn't just a strong bloodline.
This wasn't just a successor of their legacy.
This was sothing else entirely.
Sothing that shattered every assumption they had ever made.
Max's frown deepened as he took in their expressions.
The shock on their faces wasn't just surprise.
It was genuine disbelief.
Almost unnerving.
He had expected so reaction, but this?
This was beyond what he had anticipated.
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