Laylah Steelguard

[Laylah Steelguard]

Direct descendant of the patriarch, Laylah was born within the main family line. Unlike branch families like the one Greem came from, the main family line valued magic purity in the blood as a non-negotiable trait. Heirs were selected among those who had the highest talents, the others discarded. When they grew up, their husband or wife would be chosen accordingly, to complement their talent and magical affinity.

This very process of genetic selection on a macro-level allowed the Steelguard family to keep its strength over the centuries.

As the direct fruit of centuries of selection, Laylah had naturally awakened magical talent. It was evaluated at grade 3. Although it was not as high as the current patriarch, who possessed grade 4 talent and reached the magus realm a century ago, Laylah was still considered a worthy seed. Her older brother, though, was not so lucky and only inherited grade 2 talent. This made him less likely to become a magus one day.

Magical talent was just as frightening as it was random sometimes. However, it also depicted one's growth rate.

Despite being only in her early twenties, Laylah had already reached the intermediate acolyte realm. Compared to Albert, Greem's butler who had worked incredibly hard for decades, she was already miles ahead. In other words, she had achieved much more than him, in a much shorter timeframe.

Such were the discrepancies of talent.

With more talent, you would also get more resources from the family, and this virtuous circle would benefit the strong and talented ultimately.

Her presence in a far-away town like Marsaskala truly was a surprise. Granted, Greem had made some waves and the tales of him being an incredibly talented preparatory knight had spread in the city, but it should not have been enough to reach the Valeria, which was Boar Island's capital as well as the location where the main family castle resided.

Even if it reached the main family's ears, his feats were not very relevant when you considered the fact that he possessed no magical talent. Of course, this would have been much different if they knew that Greem reached the intermediate realm of proficiency for the breathing technique, which was something that only a handful of knights had managed to achieve, in History.

To Greem, manipulating the mana in his body was much easier since he used to be able to cast spells proficiently. Expertise-wise, he was much better than the most talented grand knights produced by the family. The only blocking factor was the amount of mana in his body, preventing him from having more than a fraction of the control he used to have. 

Thankfully, as he grew stronger and closer to awaken his life force, which was essentially the awakening of the dormant mana in his body, he expected his control to sky rocket and reach new heights in terms of breathing technique proficiency.

This, however, was something that not even Albert, his loyal butler, ignored.

"Wait for me here", Greem asked his three loyal knights who were standing up in front of the table filled with meals

Pointing at a servant, Greem ordered : "Janica, was it? Go and fetch a plate for my cousin. We shall have another guest tonight"

Turning his back to his guests, Greem moved towards the manor's hall. 

The massive doors made of steel were already opened, and under the light of the crescent moon, a lonely woman with a fiery expression stared at him. Just like him, she possessed silver hair, but her eyes were radiating a blue colour, vastly diferring from his blood-coloured iris.

"Laylah", Greem greeted in a formal way, bowing slightly while handling her hand in a delicate manner, following the etiquette of the nobility in the empire, "You must have come a long way. My servants troubled themselves to prepare delicious meals. Would you be so kind as to join me and my knights?"

Laylah looked at Greem, who had undoubtedly changed a lot. When she last saw him, she could remember him to be a worthless child with no future whatsoever. His magical talent was null, and his cowardly character made her evaluate him as someone who would never reach the preparatory knight realm, not to mention exude such an aura.

Greem had changed a lot since he came to this world. His small arms had turned incredibly dense and agile, while gaining size and robustness. His neck increased in size, and his whole body was ripped. His torso grew more resilient as well, showing the primal form of a hunter. Physical exercise had also boosted his growth, and despite being only 15, he was taller and bigger than most adults, not to mention Laylah, who barely exercised.

Pondering for a moment, Laylah finally accepted the invitation: "Thank you, please guide me"

Greem's lips twitched, as he inwardly hoped for her to refuse and go back. The less interactions he had with the Steelguards, the better it was.