Chapter 9 - Vokasimas resonant

The higher classes are all powerhouses. In Wisteria, survival of the fittest rules. Even if the leaders, patriarchs, etcetera were weak themselves, they would at the very least possess something that differentiates them from the common folk. It could be extreme intelligence, business prowess or access to certain mines. They would then be able to use these to strengthen themselves so they could further their goals and, more importantly, protect themselves and their assets.

Those that failed would be swallowed up whole. Everything, including their existence, would be swallowed up and absorbed by their subjugator. This was a natural law embedded into the inhabitants of Wisteria. To reach the top you would have to be extraordinary.

The Heartcrest clan has a tradition where if children produce results that allow merits them special attention from the Novaium whether they are admitted to the special class or anything then the clan will reward them with choosing one item from the clan's treasury, throughout the family entire history the number of these children is sub twenty excluding Jibril, Isaiah and Penelope.

The clan pays attention to all its members and treats them all with respect even the protos members. Now, bear in mind that this is a very small group within the family and the high-class sphere they maybe account for 10% of the total proton population. The Heartcrest family-oriented beliefs prevents them from treating their kin with disrespect and with how rich they are they can give them other chances to contribute to the clan.

Yes, they won't be as valuable but that is to be expected, with the value that rankers provide it is already unique that they care enough about them. It is not as though, protos do not have aptitudes, or they cannot use soul power. It is simply just that they're handicapped by being unable to rank up. They can see past that handicap and focus on what other values they can provide, with its myriad

Other Clans are more hostile to their protos members going as far as to disown them, in the past there have been stories of using them in unsavoury acts in the name of providing usefulness to their family that has invested tens or hundreds of thousands of SP credits on them but a stern warning from the command centres diminished them instantly. That didn't stop the negative views from propagating throughout the generations. It is this belief that grants the higher class a sense of superiority over the common folk.

The command centres have a neutral alignment, they see usage in all people and so they aim to make everyone as useful as possible by providing standard education, there are primary schools, high schools and academies. When children are rejected from the academies they are sent to high school where they receive academic focussed education as they will be more likely to produce exemplary results in that path rather than the aptitude path.

This does not mean that they treat everyone the same. Extensive research over their 2-and-a-half millennium region has afforded them enough data to understand how to make use of people. They for example do not care about the slums in the world. There aren't slums in all parts of the world, but larger countries are more likely to have them. The Swamp unit is regarded as a lost cause filled with misfits, criminals, and protos. The ones that either did not make enough use of the high schools or they gave up after realising that they wouldn't amount to much anyway.

They could remove them but that isn't their problem, but the leaders of the country's problem to deal with. Also, it wasn't as though they didn't have any merits and they did house an entire ecosystem, so it would be immoral to remove them

The patriarch moved to turn the giant steel-like wheel that was the only security that prevented trespassers from gaining access to the Heartcrests treasury. It was simple but effective. Its mass was great enough that a random person would not be able to turn it unless they had enough strength.

DOOOOOOOORRRRRM.

The giant round metal door opened slowly, the patriarch had a still face devoid of any strain. As it opened wider and wider, the contents hidden behind began to show themselves. Rows of glistening weapons, armour and other items showed themselves.

The trio could not believe what they were seeing. Their home was large, however, this space looked large enough to encompass at least a quarter of the land their family-owned. How was it possible for this place to stay hidden while being so large? Jibril felt the need to ask, "Patriarch, how is this possible, this place is far too large to remain hidden, it is as though there are some extraordinary means used to make it", the other two agreed, This was simply outside of the knowledge they have to receive and so something this inconceivable was shocking.

"Hahaha, the answer isn't as complex as you would think, it is just really expensive. It is important to keep your mind open to many different possibilities and scenarios so you will not be as shocked in the future, make sure to remember this, no, you will be forced to because from now on your lives will change very drastically.". This was an important piece of advice to these children. It is easy to forget that they are 13, young, naive, sensitive to their surroundings and most of all inexperienced. There is only so much so can experience within that period. Some will be more fortunate or perhaps unfortunate so as not to have been subjected to the horrors of the outside world and how far humans can go, but also the beauty of the world and all the wonders it holds. Others are not so lucky, or lucky it is all a matter of perspective.

The three took this advice very seriously. They had been taught that any piece of advice from strong friendly elders would be beneficial to them and so they must make sure to not waste the opportunity to follow them, they intended to do the same with Grandmaster Ottar's advice.

The patriarch continued, "There is a resonant know as Vokasimas. This black crystal is not common knowledge due to its rarity and also its potent effect. It is so potent that all mines that contain it must pay a tribute of half to the Command Centres and there is no point in trying to hide it as they will find out and instead of asking you to pay half they will just annex it instead. To not go into detail as it will take too long to explain all its functions, it can warp space surrounding it and therefore expand it"

"Patriarch, the way you explain it suggests to me that it is really difficult to get a hold of them, if the vokasimas is one of the resonants the common centres demand to have a percentage of then it must be extremely expensive," Penelope commented.

"Well my dear, as one of the ancient clans in the Forkland kingdom, it is easy for us to know where to find them, information is king and our spymasters do a very good job of getting critical information that will be useful for us. The difficult part is negotiating deals with the corporations or families that own these vokasimas reserves. We are lucky that we are one of the more open and inviting families and so many have no reason to reject us unless they are collaborating with those hateful…" The patriarch almost had his mouth slip introducing information that they shouldn't have learnt until later on. He mentally rebuked himself for forgetting and smiled at the trio to try and mask his mistake and continued seeing how they seemed to not care, at least that was what he hoped- all of this occurring within nanoseconds

"Thorough negations from that point on will ensue, this was taken care of by our lawyers who would then try to make sure we get the best deals possible and that there were no plotholes in the contracts that we and the other party will draw up. Make sure that sure always read through any contracts that you will receive, the family has provided you have enough education that hopefully you will utilise. won't always be there to help you. Now that the questions are over let's get to choosing. You have two hours, choose wisely"

The trio smiled 'Finally' they thought, and entered the treasury, they had not heard not learnt of this benefit until they were told of it by the patriarch when they arrived at the estate, they hadn't even seen their parents and had spent their time at the estate with the patriarch.

Their parents must have received news about their absence already, so they wouldn't be confused when they haven't returned to them immediately. This gave them peace of mind and allowed them to focus on making the most out of this opportunity. The patriarch did mention that they were only allowed to view and pick items from the first floor because they hadn't contributed enough to the family, implying that in the future so long as they made enough contributions to the clan they would receive a chance to look at the other floors.

That didn't mean that they would blindly waste this opportunity they were smarter than that and they also didn't know what the prerequisites to unlocking the other floors were so it was better safe than sorry.