CHAPTER 31: BLOODLINE

It was one thing to slam the curtains. Now that he’d done that, how was he to bathe? His body towel wasn’t in the tub, nor was it hanging in the usual spot.

He stretched his hands outward. "I need my towel"

"Uoo? I thought you didn’t need my help"

"Tsk... as if." He rose from the tub, night robes dripping, and yanked the curtains open.

"Oh." The King recoiled at the sheer force of the fling.

Contrary to the King’s expectation, Ajab wore a smile. The fact that it was forced made his face wrinkle—on such a tiny face it looked almost adorable, but so what?

"Could Father help this one and call his attendants?" His smile wavered, threatening to collapse.

"Hahaha!" The King broke into a booming laugh—he simply couldn’t restrain it.

Ajab only stared, blank-faced, eyes unimpressed. He genuinely saw nothing amusing.

His legs might have felt on fire, but he still had them—he was already standing on them, so what was stopping him from going himself? Raising his legs above the water, he felt the pain return. It was bearable, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to test it. Lowering his legs again, he glanced at his father, who seemed far too entertained by his torment.

"What would it take for His Majesty to grant this young one’s request?" His forced smile held, his head slightly bowed.

The King wore a smile as he turned to leave. Truly his son was a handful.

He had yet to get to the door before Ajab’s doors opened and his maids entered with an armful of items.

Another mystery, Ajab thought

After his bath, his outfit for the day was put on him. Looking at it, he wasn’t sure he wanted it. It was a white robe. Only then did it dawn on him—he’d been too distracted to notice the King wore white as well... and so did the maid dressing him.

His eyes narrowed. "Tsk..." If Grandfather truly was—

"Your Majesty" The greetings called back his thoughts, cutting them off. He turned to the figure that had caused the greetings— it was the King.

"Come" he said

Ajab inclined his head and... followed.

They walked through the halls in silence, just their steps in resonance with the halls. After the eleventh pillar, Ajab halted in his steps and turned back.

"Ehn?" The King was totally cut off guard "Where are you going?" The King asked quite surprised at Ajab’s sudden turn.

"To my room," Ajab replied, without stopping or turning back. From the moment they left his chamber, his legs had been troubling him—not burning this time, just needles stabbing bone with every step, worsening steadily.

He wasn’t going to make a fuss, but he could certainly stop walking.

And Father, naturally, knew...but he seemed intent on letting him lose his legs. No thank you.

"Should I carry you?"

"No." Like hell.

The King sighed. "The more you walk, the more the pain will lessen."

Ajab kept moving. "It’s doing the opposite. And if it must lessen, let it do so while I walk back."

"Aren’t you curious about the Thousand Fathers Step?"

"It’s another enemy. No thank you."

"Aren’t you supposed to know your enemies?"

"Not this one."

"What if you end up using it again?"

Ajab halted. "That can happen? But I didn’t even use it before."

"Are your legs not convincing enough?"

"This could just be a mystery. Or from too much tutoring."

"So you’ll refuse to learn the Thousand Fathers Step Technique?"

Still facing forward, Ajab clasped his hands behind him.

"With backlash like this? No thank you"

"Hmm." The King paused, thinking deeply, then sighed with theatrical regret. "We may need a walking aid crafted. And perhaps the High Eunuch should prepare the kingdom for a sit-in Prince."

"Huh?" Ajab turned. "Sit-in Prince? What do you mean?"

Smacking his lips as if deeply regretful, the King said, "Next time it happens, your legs might not survive." He turned to continue walking. "You might really lose them."

The Prince wasn’t scared or shaken—what was there to fear about losing a limb or two? He simply decided that learning something new might not be a bad idea. Yes.

"Ahem..."

The King glanced sideways; the Prince had already caught up and was now matching his stride.

"So you’ll listen now?"

Ajab kept his hands neatly clasped behind him. "Since Father has gone this far as to walk with me, I can only be a filial son."

The King regarded him with a trulywonderful sort of look and nodded. "Sure, why not? And your leg?"

Ajab smiled lightly. "Father need not worry; it doesn’t even itch."

The King nodded. "Definitely."

"Your mother wasn’t the only one who saw you use the Thousand Steps."

Ajab narrowed his eyes. "Thousand Steps?"

"The Thousand Fathers Technique is broad. Every branch begins with ’Thousand.’"

Ajab nodded slowly. "So Mother wasn’t the only one who believed I used it?"

"Your Mother said Lady Eihpos was the first to notice."

Ajab’s brows knit together. "Aunt Eihpos was present?"

The King nodded. "She came to see your mother. Your mother said she missed her sister and wanted her to visit. She happened to be in the room."

Ajab’s expression didn’t shift. It seemed the silhouette he’d seen belonged to Lady Eihpos. He hadn’t thought much about it, so he hadn’t realized.

"I assumed you’d be glad to hear your aunt visited. When last did you see her?"

"When I was in the womb?" He’d never met the woman; how was he supposed to know?

The King’s lips twitched—in a this child... expression. "Ah. Yes, you’ve never met her. She was present at your birth though. How time flies... five years already?"

"So she recognized the Thousand Steps the moment she saw it?"

The King smacked his lips. "Can’t you allow this man some time to reminisce?"

"Is the Thousand Steps found in libraries?"

"Huh? Hahaha!" The King burst into laughter.

Ajab arched a brow."Is that amusing?"

The King laughed for a while before settling. "Eihpos recognized it because she’s seen it before. Not many can have that said about them. And why would the Royal Family’s technique be in a library? Who makes such jokes?"

"It wasn’t a joke."

The King sighed again—he probably had sighed more times today than in his entire life.

"Izz stands on its bloodlines: the Royal Bloodline, the Mages’ bloodline, the Warriors’ bloodline, the Lines of Priesthood, and the High Nobles. I am Head of the Royal Bloodline. Duke Ecnes heads the Mages. The Warriors are split among the five Generals—Znoh, Yoab, Roah, Linh, and Toah. Dorom lies under the High Priestess. And the High Nobles are the Eight Dukes presiding over the Duchies. All serve the Royal Bloodline."

"The Warriors’ Bloodline shares something rare with the Royal Bloodline—access to Aura. To awaken is simply to touch your Aura. It operates differently from the powers of the other bloodlines."

The King glanced at his son—hands still neatly folded behind him, legs forgotten entirely.

He continued, "Aura is a bloodline power—Moon-blessed. The Moon rises over Izz every night without fail, gifting energy to all, but true power only to the bloodlines. How much one draws varies per person.But no one has ever reached a full hundred percent."

"Even the Royal Bloodline?" Ajab asked.

"Even the Royal Bloodline. From the first brush with Aura, when an awakener can draw one to twenty percent, we call that Stage 1: The Feel. From twenty-one to forty, Stage 2: The Wear. From forty-one to eighty-nine, Stage 3: The Send."

"And beyond that?"

"Beyond that lies the myth—the Embodiment. No one has ever reached it, or seen it. Most stall in early Stage Two because every percent, every Layer becomes a boulder, and the boulder keeps growing until it outweighs mountains... and cities."

"I’m only brushing the surface here, but know this: each bloodline wields only one technique —how they refine it is up to them, but they cannot change it.

"And each Warrior bloodline wields only one weapon—Scythe, Sword, Spear, Bow, or Double Hammers. Use anything else, and their bloodline turns berserk, same with techniques"

"The Thousand Fathers is the sole technique that grants mastery over all weapons—and only the Royal Bloodline can bear it. Without awakening—even with your bloodline—your body wouldn’t keep up."

"But I can already handle every weapon—without backlash."

"Hahaha... You’ve never wielded an actual weapon. How does that count?"

"The Thousand Hands, the Thousand Eyes, the Thousand Steps—any one of them could make you a toppler. Do you even know how the Thousand Steps works?"

"How?"

"It’s a technique that makes you walk in reverse— so seamlessly it appears as if you’re leaping through space."

"In reverse?"

He smiled. "Yes. To be able to perceive the Thousand Steps in real time is a force to be reckoned with."

"And the other techniques? The other bloodlines? And what stage is Father at?"

The King laughed. "Who knows?—"