Retainer Qi Breakdown: Retainer Kerrin

30 Qi- Baby Lightning Snake Chimera

230 Qi- Hidden Soul Seed Qi outflow.

Hidden Soul Seed Qi Outflow. That totally didn’t refer to the MC regaining memories and power from the old life, right? Ha! As if. The MC, it would seem, was already activating his cheats.

Qi gained→ 13

Level up! Late Stage Seedling (257.95/300)→ Late Stage seedling (270.95/300)

And I was once again closer to the next level. With how the MC was gaining Qi, I would be leveling up gain in no time.

Retainer level up has been initiated

Early Seedling (260/150) → Mid-Seedling (260/300)

Due to anomalous seedling, the Qi requirements for each level up have been doubled.

And the MC has nearly caught up to me. 10.95 Qi more and he'd have as much Qi as me. Let's hope this was a once only thing,, or I would soon have a retainer that was a lot more powerful than me.

“Um… your grace. What happened? “ Kerrin suddenly said, confusion apparent on his face, “I… I have these memories in my head that weren't there before, your grace, is that normal?"

And the memories were here too. Getting all the power ups were coming at once.

'Ice, shield! Freeze the air! '

I said, causing a dome of ice to form around me. That should muffle any sound coming out. Better to keep these things private.

"Kerrin, take a deep breath, and let it pass, it will pass. Let it. " I said, trying to give advice based on what I experienced.

Kerrin took a deep breath, so deep that he ballooned his mouth a bit, too. Then he let it all out slowly, likely using it as a distraction from the headache I knew he was having. Another breath. Out again. Once more. Finally, after a few breaths, the influx of memories seemed to calm down.

“Is it over?” I asked, hesitantly.

“Yes, your grace,” Kerrin said. “What…was that?”- Kerrin’s eyes unfocused, concentrating on something unseen, likely a System message- “The System is telling me that I have activated something called a Hidden Soul Seed. And I…feel calm? I can’t explain it, your grace, it's like someone has put me in a cage and I can’t even see it.”

What? There was no cage when Altura…was this because the memories were suppressed? But it made no sense. What did repressed memories have to do with feeling like a cage?

“What does your stat sheet say? Any debuffs? Anything abnormal?” I asked.

“Debuffs, your grace? No, none of these things are there. The only thing out of place is that my seed is Blood,, but I don’t think it is that abnormal. Didn’t Lord Aswelth say that seeds were based on personality and could vary?” Kerrin said, clearly puzzled.

Wait. Blood. That was the seed of the original MC, but that MC had been angry and revengeful. Not meek and friendly like this one. And seeds were based on personality.

“Kerrin, think Blood really hard, the answer is likely in those memories that just passed. Now you need to access them again.” I suggested.

Kerrin’s eyes immediately widened, remembering the horrible experience from just minutes ago.

“Do not worry, this will not be painful. At least it isn't normally. It is also normal for it to happen and can be a great help.” I consoled him.

“Yes, your grace.” Kerrin said, looking very scared. Now it was time to see if it worked.

Kerrin

Kerrin took a deep breath as he followed the Archduchess’ words.

‘Blood’ he thought as ‘loudly’ as he could. At first nothing happened, and he thought that he had failed. But just as he was about to give up, a string of memories came in.

A person that was not him, smiling as he germinated a seed. Then being lectured on how to use it. Apparently it was some kind of legacy seed of the sect the person was a part of. Slowly, the person grew the seed. From a Seedling to a Sapling, then a plant, and then bigger and bigger into stages he was not aware of.

Kerrin knew instinctively that decades, if not centuries, had passed in the process. But the seed grew, and so did the person’s power. Until it did not. It was then vanquished, the majority of it stolen. Only a small part of it remained, hiding within a patch of soil until the wind picked it up.

Then it carried the fragment of the seed to a little village and into a baby. A baby Kerrin recognized to be him. And like that he knew, the seed was the ‘Ancient Blood’ seed. And was responsible for the blood element he now wielded.

And it was also the reason for his problem. Because the seed and its element weren’t his. If he had been angry, bloodthirsty or of any personality even close to the seed’s, then it would have been ok. But he was not. Kerrin, instead, was meek and cowardly.

And now his seed was rejecting him. Even now he could feel the revulsion in there. The seed had deemed him unworthy. And its decision was final. It would seem that he had been crippled. Before he could even begin his journey on cultivation.

“Stop it” the Archduchess suddenly said, breaking Kerrin out of his thought process.

“Stop what Archduchess? I am doing nothing.” Kerrin said, wondering how long it would be before the Archduchess realized that her retainer was a cripple.

“Yes you are. The System just gave me a message about how you were going through Qi deviation. Crippling is imminent apparently.”the Archduchess replied, staring at Kerrin with those scary green eyes of hers.

“It is already done, your grace. I am already a cripple. My seed has taken on an element that does not match with my personality. I am done for.” Kerrin said.

“No. Kerrin, my own element was undesirable. Elements are a part of you. Neither you or the element have any choice, you match bynature. I do not know what that memory of yours told you but let me tell you one thing. It is possible, and you can do it. I know it.” the Archduchess said.

Kerrin wondered where she got her confidence from. Kerrin could never conjure the confidence to do anything. But the Archduchess had enough confidence to say things like that. Things she could not possibly know enough to comment on.

“The element is from a fragment of another more powerful seed. I do not think it is possible ,your grace.” Kerrin said, breaking down as he felt the claustrophobic feeling intensify. The seed was crushing his heart simply by existing. “Elements do not change. “

“But they do, Kerrin. I had a very different element yesterday. Now I have two different ones and have germinated my seed using them. I do not know what causes the elemental change, but it is posible. Try triggering the memories some more. That should give you some insight into the seed at least. And if its as powerful as you say then perhaps there is a solution in there.” the Archduchess said.

And one thing stuck with him. ‘I had a very different element yesterday and ‘ Now I have two different ones and have germinated my seed using them’ suggested that the Archduchess had used only a few hours to reach the level of the Clan leaders. A few hours. Maybe she did know something.

Kerrin sighed as he once again shouted in his head. ‘Seeds’ That should get some information.

And it did. This time it was not in the form of some epic journey like before. Instead it was simply a rush of information that filled his brain. And now he knew. The Archduchess was right. Seeds did not reject their hosts. Seeds were their hosts.

It was in their very nature. When the fragment had joined his seed, Kerrin hadn’t just gained the element, he;d gained the personality that came with it. That was where the memories came from.

That was where he came from, for there was no way that a centuries old man’s thoughts wouldn’t affect a baby’s development. Kerrin might have grown up without access to the memories, but they were always there. Germinating the seed had merely unlocked them.

Apparently the seeds, and trees served as a sort of backup brain. In lesser levels they were weak and couldn't survive on their own. But at higher levels, many cultivators used them as reasonable methods of escape. Like the one that had melded with Kerrin.

Except the seed was just a fragment and had been too easily taken up by the bird and been absorbed by Kerrin. But Kerrin still did not know why he was in this state. What exactly was it that was causing this problem? And then another rush of memories, apparently the flood gates had opened.

The phenomenon Kerrin was experiencing was what happened when the person tried to delude themselves into something that wasn’t true and went against the seeds’ nature, their nature. Now what was it that Kerrin was deluding himself into? Kerrin certainly didn’t feel delusional.

And then his seed pulsed, letting out a rush of Qi. Kerrin did not understand what was happening, had his seed gained its own life now? The rush of Qi formed a single thread and went out of Kerrin’s body, completely ignoring his attempts at controlling it. And then it cut a nearby tree in two.

A thick, sturdy tree, just like that. Kerrin suddenly understood. The seed was trying to tell him one thing only: I am not weak and neither are you, not anymore.

Name

Altura Selrin

Title

Archduchess (In name) (landed)

Element

Dragon Fire, Snowflake ice

Age

10 years

Seeds

Military (ungerminated), Royalty (Seedling-Late(270.95/300)), Energy (ungerminated)

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

9

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

13

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

11

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

13

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

9

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]

12

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

13

Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]

14

Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]

13

Retainers

Kerrin

Mid-Seedling (260/300). Element of Blood, anomalous Seedling.