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Chapter 11: The Heritage of the Knora Royal Blood

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I’ve been learning the history of my Royal Heritage from my older brother master Ulvid.

Knora Royalty means being born into extraordinary privilege but it also means being saddled with extraordinary obligations.

From the start I knew that being born a Royal meant a substantial loss of freedom; thanks to the memories of my genetic father. The average Knora is relatively free; able to choose their own profession, spouse and how to raise their children. A Royal Knora on the other hand is expected to live their lives in service to the people. When I was younger I thought it would be possible to live my own life but a Royal Male is a precious commodity that can never be allowed to be outside the Royal Family.

From what I’ve been able to glean from master Ulvid Royal Males that tried to defy their Royal Heritage met an unfortunate end at the hands of assassins from any number of factions. Therefore the only viable way to survive is within the protection of the Royal Family. I’m not naïve enough to think that I’m some Overpowered character in a cliché Light Novel situation; I’m a flesh and blood normal Knora that can be killed just as easily as any other living creature native to this world.

The problems of being Royal go back to the first Queen Umvill.

Surprisingly the first Queen didn’t possess a Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill but was an Adept with higher levels of Strength and Regeneration on her Baseline 【Full Might】 skill. Apparently the Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill didn’t show up until the young Umvill was captured by Vern hunters during one of the raids on Knora villages during the age of King Vern. To the Knora King Vern is seen as a vile existence that is the personification of evil and the utterance of his first name is meant to be a curse.

The Vern Hunting of Knora forced the nomadic villages to coalesce into large tribes that would be better able to defend against the Vern. The Vern for their part had taken note of the 【Full Might】 skill and the disadvantage it posed to their combat mages; so they captured the Knora to use them as practice for combat mages. The situation degenerated to the point where Knora hunting became a popular sport for the Elite. Knora children made the most ideal experimental specimens as they were unlikely to escape.

The secret that is known only by the Royal Family is that the first Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill was brought on by the experiments done on Knora children.

It wasn’t Super-Strength, Super-Dexterity or Super-Regeneration but Super-Durability; the Protecting Heart born to those who suffer severe trauma.

About 80% of the Knora get the normal 【Full Might】 skill, 18.3% get an Adept 【Full Might】 skill, 1.2% get Super-Dexterity 【Full Might】 skill, 0.48% get the Super-Durability【Full Might】 skill, 0.017% get the Super-Strength【Full Might】 skill and less than 0.003% get the Super-Regeneration【Full Might】 skill. The blooming of the seed is largely determined by environmental factors but the body is a significant component.

The Royal Family has always known that it was the horrid experimentation on the Knora children that gave rise to the Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill. Before the discovery of the Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill there were no ranking contests at 5 years old; in fact the ranking was done at 15 years old. The ranking at 5 years of age is meant to be a safe traumatic event in the lives of children meant to produce a Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill.

When the 8 year old Umvill was rescued from Vern captivity after 2 years she had an acute closeness with a young Knora male of similar age who had survived horrific experimentation due to a Super-Durability【Full Might】 skill. That boy grew up to become the consort of the first Queen; it could be said that Umvill became queen because she had partnered with Ollo. The Royal Family doesn’t like it pointed out that the source of the Ollo line was a male, but it was his ability to endure great attacks that allowed Umvill to survive the campaigns in the north.

With the Vern on the warpath after the killing of the King’s nephew in a Knora rescue of Knora children the Knora had to flee north from Vern attempts to eradicate them. The Vern had clear superiority on the battlefield and even the armies of allied Knora tribesman couldn’t hold their advancement northwards. In the prolonged decades of war that followed several Knora tribes fell to the Vern advance; the Vern had better tactical applications of advanced magic than their Knora counterparts.

Unfortunately the prideful Knora would not give up without a fight and even Umvill’s mother and sisters were killed. Umvill became tribal Matriarch by default; until then she had been discarded as one of the defiled. The fact that a 6 year old Knora had the body size of a Vern adult allowed the rape and gruesome molestation of Knora female children; and Umvill was no exception. Having been defiled by the hated Vern Umvill was no longer desirable as a mate and the only appropriate partners for her were the other defiled.

In the end Umvill was pared with Ollo and 2 other defiled females from high ranking families. However the situation changed when Umvill became the tribal Matriarch by default and rather than be a puppet for her relatives the 45 year old Umvill decided that victory against the Vern was impossible and that the only way for the Knora to survive was to flee the Orrba continent for the northern continent. Umvill abandoned those who refused to leave and took in refugees from other tribes on a march across the frozen seas.

The few ships they managed to construct were filled with the best warriors and sent on ahead to establish the camps deep in the interior of the frozen northern continent. The monsters of the frozen northern continent are larger and more violent than those of the Orrba Continent and Umvill wanted to use their vast herds as a barrier between the Knora and the pursuing Vern. Umvill was one of the first leaders of the Knora to understand the true value of the Super-Durability【Full Might】 skill and she used it to defend the refugees from the monsters of the north.

Someone with a Super-Durability【Full Might】 skill could take a hit from powerful monsters and survive; making them instrumental in repulsing monster attacks. Armed with a large shield and giant hatchet those with the Super-Durability【Full Might】 skill became the ultimate protectors of the Knora refugees. With the Defenders at the front the spearmen could apply all their strength and concentration into bringing down the large magical beasts for food and leathery warmth.

Fighting large magical beats gave clues on how to fight the Vern; those with a Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill were the key to survival. Umvill went about gathering those with the Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill and trained them for the fight ahead. The Knora found shelter deep inside the inland mountains of the far north and Umvill was firmly established as the Matriarch of all Knora; a Queen. The mountainous region was chosen because it would be inhospitable to Vern armies and they would be forced to fight in smaller groups that the Knora could easily overcome.

As expected the Vern arrived in the northern continent after a few decades; having been bogged down by the hunt for the surviving Knora on the Orrba Continent. The Vern scouts found the Knora hiding places in the inland mountains but the terrain and hostile climate favoured the Knora and the Vern armies suffered defeat after defeat. Unable to draw the Knora into open combat as they had done in the Orrba Continent the Vern eventually abandoned the campaign in the northern continent and Umvill was proclaimed the legend of Knora.

The rumours of the Matriarch of all Knora who defeated the armies of King Vern spread throughout the Orrba continent and all surviving Knora in hiding made their way to the northern continent.

The Knora became a Nation.

With time the Knora lands on the Orrba Continent were reclaimed.

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Put simply; Knora Royal Blood is the blood of those who have been enslaved, raped, molested and gruesomely experimented upon.

Knora Royal Blood is the blood of those who triumphed over evil.

Knora Royal Blood is the blood of those who protected the Knora People from annihilation.

Knora Royal Blood is the blood of those who accepted the responsibility to be the Guardians of Knora liberty, freedom and life.

The most important duty of those of Knora Royal Blood is the protection of the Knora.

It is therefore not surprising that the Royal Family opposes attempts of the merchants and wealthy to create class stratification. To those of Knora Royal Blood the life of every Knora is as valuable as the next, and any attempt to suggest that the wealthier are more important is repugnant. That is why the consort of the Matriarch is not determined by pedigree of your ancestry but by the power of your 【Full Might】 skill; often a childhood trauma induced Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill.

The children of the wealthier Knora face little if any strife in their early childhood and that means that few of them gain a Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill. By the time the contest for the position of consort to the Matriarch comes around some 90% of the participants are originally from poor households elevated by the state support given to those with a Super-Attribute 【Full Might】 skill. The consequence is that the consort to the Matriarch is almost always a commoner; connecting the future Matriarch to the poorest in Knora society.

That means the Matriarch is firmly on the side of the commoner Knora in all political situations. The Royal Family’s connection to the commoners means that they consistently block any attempts by the wealthy to oppress the commoners.

The commoners know that the Royal Family is their traditional ally and prevent any attempts to reduce the power of the Royal Family in Knora society.

Sure there have been many attempts by the wealthier class to get a consort to the Matriarch from the elites but the Royal Family has thousands of years of entrenched culture that allies them to the commoners in all state matters. Any elite who joins the Royal Family is forced to subject themselves to the traditions of the Royal Family; including periodic tests of honour that include living with the poorest for long periods of time. The periodic tests of honour often involve Psionic Tests of Character.

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As pointed out earlier the traditional weapons of the Knora are Shield, Hatchet and Spear.

I’m being trained to use a Shield and Hatchet and Ovis is doing the same.

As Royals we have access to the Royal armoury and are able to choose some of the most valuable weapons in the Knora Enclave.

The cutting edge of the Hatchets Ovis and I use have been covered with magic steel to prevent us from hurting each other during training. The Hatchets are at least 270cm long and extremely heavy; clearly meant for a Knora adult. However thanks to the enchantments on the Hatchets lifting them up is as easy as lifting up a feather provided you have the Mana to spare. Being a Royal means I get copious amounts of Mana Potions so I don’t have to worry about Mana expenditure during training.

When bringing down the Hatchet for a slash the tremendous weight of some 100 adult Knora creates such a force that I can cut through giant trees like they’re nothing.

But I’m not allowed to cut down any of the precious giant fruit trees planted all over the island.

I’m told that the average adult Knora weighs 7 times the average adult Norr so that would mean that the average adult Knora weighs about 500kg and the Hatchets weigh in at over 50,000kg; 50 tons.

For now simply learning to stop the downward swing is a challenge and the Mana consumption is ridiculous. But mother says learning to control the Royal weapons is crucial to our development and not even Kodis is spared from the horrors of this training. The fact that mother and the other Royal Adults can swing the Royal Weapons without using Mana proves the extreme gap we will have to close before we are able to take up the duties of members of the Royal Family.

I use a large Quadrilateral Kite Shield with edges that can be used to pierce and Ovis and Kodis chose circular Shields.

My large heavy shield that is at least 220cm tall and 150cm wide is enchanted with Shock Absorption Vibration Magic; basically Absorbing the energy of the impact and dissipating it in the form of Vibration Magic. Changing Shock Impact into Vibration is the only way to reduce the energy of the impact on the shield without using Mana. However the Vibration will be felt by the one holding the shield and those with low durability will take significant damage. The Shock Absorption Vibration Shield is the optimal weapon of someone with a Super-Durability【Full Might】 skill.

Ovis and Kodis use the normal Shock Reflection Shield but that requires the use of Mana to activate the enchanted Magic of the Shield.

Ovis says that I should learn to absorb the Vibration since Vibrations fall within the particle excitation under the purview of Fire Magic. Somehow that sounds very complicated; converting kinetic energy into Fire Magic.

I’ll probably need a specialized Magic Tool to harvest the vibrations into an element and the use the exited particles of the element to heat it up and store for future use.

Either way it’s a Mana efficient method to turn enemy attacks into fuel for your magic.

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