Kerrin

Kerrin sighed as he crossed the pass. The cold air had decided to harass him despite being clearly unwelcome. If it wasn’t for his blood shield, he would have been shivering. Now at least he was merely cold. The blood shields weren’t even there to protect him from the wind, their main purpose was to stop the avalanches.

And they were doing it well, they ought to. That new bloodline of his demanded it after all. [Blood of the Blood Armour], Kerrin could not say he was particularly fond of it. Even now the description haunted him.

[Blood of the Blood Armor]: A legendary armor forged from the blood of Spirit Trees, it grants the bearer an emergency reserve of power. The blood of your previous self flows within this armor, granting you a measure of its power. Beware, an experienced wielder may be able to track you through this connection.

Greater control of Qi. Qi reserve expanded, available Qi depends on Qi available within the armor. Blood Manipulation skill gained-

[Blood Sider]: The power of blood flows through you, empowering you, wield it carefully, for now you may call upon more of it. Allows the turning of Qi into blood. Allows for greater blood manipulation.

The bonuses were one thing, and Kerrin would not say that they were unwelcome, but the bloodline was a constant reminder of his ‘past life’. What was worse was that Kerrin did not consider it so, to him, it was merely the seed’s past life, not his. But the System disagreed.

But that was merely an emotional preference. There was little for Kerrin to complain about, the skill had granted him the ability to turn Qi into blood, effectively neutralizing one of his major weaknesses. No longer did he have to worry about finding Blood to manipulate. Qi would suffice. It was how he was crossing the pass after all.

Absent-mindedly, Kerrin summoned his stat sheet.

Name

Kerrin

Title

Blood mage

Element

Loyal Blood

Age

10 years

Seeds

Loyal Blood (Late Stage Sapling)

Stats

Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]

15

Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]

19

Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]

21

Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]

13

Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]

11

Intelligence[The ability to comprehend advanced concepts]

16

Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]

12

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

15

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

15

Skills

[Blood Sider]

Contracts

Archduchess Altura Selrin [Type:Retainer; Deadline: None]

Sometimes Kerrin wondered what would have happened if the Archduchess hadn’t taken him in. Would he have languished in that place forever? Perhaps it was just his pride, but he would like to think that he would have achieved at least some of what he had himself.

And it did seem that the Archduchess valued him also, why else would she send him to be her courtier? Kerrin had asked Aswelth about it last night, it was not a simple or easy position. It would involve butting heads with other duchies, picking and choosing allies and enemies and always keeping an eye out for both opportunities and threats.

According to Aswelth, a courtier was a position that was held to be only below the Noble themselves, at par with the Commander of the military. And that meant that the Archduchess had just given him a position a proper retainer would hold, a position he would do his best to fulfill.

And to do that, he would need to grow more powerful. A lot more powerful if Aswelth was right. The snowy winds began to die down as he stepped out of the pass. Remembering the instructions he had received, he took out the pebble and sent QI into the left side. Of course, the restriction of sending QI into the left side only made him wonder what would happen if he sent it into the right side. Perhaps it destroyed it? To prevent enemies from using it?

An image of the Archduchess appeared above the pebble.

“Archduchess.” Kerrin said, bowing his head, he was currently at a loss for words. How did one greet another over this…pebble?

“Kerrin. I take it that you arrived at the other side safely?” the Archduchess asked, she always seemed to be worrying about him. Was it truly the norm among nobles to ask each others' health as a greeting? Kerrin doubted it.

“Yes, your grace.” Kerrin replied.

“Good, then I can brief you about the plan. That map I gave you shows you a route that should take you through areas that may have opportunities for you. So remember to keep your eye out, I want you to be as powerful as you can be when you get to the Capital.”

“There is no saying what you will face there and while the King may have ensured that he will help you increase your cultivation, being completely dependent on him would be a bad idea. Besides, the stronger you are, the better impression we can make.”

“Now for the next point, when you enter the Capital send Qi into the right side of the pebble, it will immediately contact the King. I think this goes without saying, but do not contact the King before you are in the Capital unless it is an emergency. Even if it is an emergency, contact me and I will pass it on. I want you to fly under the radar and surprise the Duchies’ with your presence. I doubt any of them have much information about you right now.” the Archduchess finished.

Kerrin was suddenly very glad he hadn’t decided to send any Qi into the right side. It was best if contacting very powerful Kings was left to the Archduchess, Kerrin was sure he would mess something up and offend him. Uh oh. If he was going to the Capital didn’t it mean that he would have to talk to the King?

Kerrin had the sudden urge to turn back towards the valley. This courtier position had just become a lot more dangerous. But he couldn’t do that, the Archduchess would never trust him if he did. Now to see if there were any spots on the map where you could learn social etiquette.

Altura

I was happy. It had been a few hours since I talked to Kerrin, and Aswelth had just finished making a school. I knew that it was easy to make buildings with magic, but seeing a seven-story building be built in minutes was still something to see.

After some discussion, Aswelth and I had decided that education would be the first of the organizations to be established. Deciding teachers and staff hadn’t even been hard, teaching was considered an honorable retirement position in the Kingdom, making for ample possibilities.

What did disturb me a bit however, was that Aswelth had decided to make files about every single person in the duchy? Somehow, he’d managed to convince the guard to tell him everything they could about every person they could and find out more about those they didn’t know. These files were certainly helpful, and I was sure governments back on Earth had files like these too, it just felt like a horrible invasion of privacy.

I had told Aswelth to put any such things on hold, stating that I would establish a formal registration process through the Administrative Wing. Furniture began to be moved in once the building was built. I noted that it would be best if a process of testing the strength of such buildings should be established.

Aswelth might be very thorough in building things, but it was quite possible someone else wouldn’t. Classes wouldn’t start until next week, registration itself was being done from today. The process was actually completely paperless, every applicant would simply answer a few basic questions that one of the staff would note down using the System.

There was no chance of loss of data or inaccurate filing. The notes would then be compiled into a single note by the Headmaster, an older woman about ninety years of age that had been teaching trades for decades.

Frankly, I would have put her on the next foray into the forest and have her become a cultivator if not for her age stopping her. The forest was not peaceful enough that I could allow a ninety-year-old woman in. Perhaps when the forest was better understood it could be done.

But that was enough about the school, next up was the Administrative Wing. It would of course be set up in the Roalt mansion, the Treehouses had plenty of space and had symbolic meaning to boot. But it was the hiring process that would take a while.

I had chosen to heavily restrict who was allowed in and that would likely stop it from being functional for a while. I did however, feel that it was necessary. Government Officials needed to be people that could be trusted.