“Welcome our dear guests… Welcome to this extraordinary Auction sponsored by our prestigious Ashflint family!” the old auctioneer said as Lily and Yulian found their seats in the VIP balcony Liam provided.
“Is Victor that emperor you kept mentioning to Liam?” Yulian asked, ignoring the auctioneer who began some stupid introduction.
“Yes, we need to secretly collect allies for the Reckoning, and he can’t do that as a Von Weise heir! So we invented some random personas,” she answered briefly. Wondering what kind of depraved persona he would be using in the other world… Lately, she was experiencing a strange weak feeling of ecstasy. She knew that this must be her soul connection to him, and this made her really wonder what the fuck was he doing. The only explanation for that feeling she could think of was Victor sneaking into some elf emperor’s harem.
Damn it… She quickly shook her head. She needed that sword!
“Oh… Then why did you give Liam a way out? giving him one entire year to pay. Couldn’t you have just demanded those 10 authority points straight away and made him a slave?” Yulian, who didn’t notice Lily’s mood swings, asked. His sister didn’t seem to be the forgiving type.
“Liam is a Scion… We can’t corner Scions…” she said.
“What does that mean?” Yulian frowned. “Scions?”
“You will understand when we return to the family… Now let’s focus on the auction…” she said dismissively as the auctioneer presented some ceramic ducks.
She was totally not interested… Even when the ducks began to vibrate.
“What are we here for anyway?” Yulian asked.
“Slaves… This auction happens once a year, and it is one of the biggest in the world,” she answered.
“Ahh... Is this legal?” Yulian asked nervously as he looked at the audience down below. All his experiences with the police were very miserable.
“In this country, YES!” she said. “I already told you that, so don’t worry!”
“Ok…” he seemed a little relaxed. “Didn’t you just get 40 … Whatever those things were… ”
“Don’t be rude! It is not their fault!” she scolded, interrupting him. “ And, I don’t mind grabbing a few more girls, especially a gem that should appear here!” she said as her eyes twinkled.
“Who?”
“You will see, she should be the last and best object tonight, we just…” she paused and frowned as two men stepped onto the opposing balcony. One was Liam who was almost groveling in front of the guest whom she could only get a glimpse of before a burly bodyguard closed the blinds.
“Shit….”
“What?” Yulian asked. His sister’s mouth was very foul, she kept hurling random curses for random reasons all the time.
“Someone who should not be here…This is going to be troublesome,” she bit her lip. The guest was none other than Titus, Victor’s cousin. That bastard didn’t even care to wear a mask. He feared no one!
“Will this affect our plans?” Yulian asked. He had no idea who this someone was.
“Yes, that guy will definitely be bidding for the ones we want, and Liam would probably side with him!” Lily cursed. She should have delayed the payment of the debt until after the auction… But she would have missed out on the money and the VIP seats. Damn it.
“Then?” Yulian asked. “Should we back down?”
“No… Don’t worry, I already have a backup plan as I expected someone would try to take our loot… It is just that this guy is too troublesome…” she said as her mind turned fast, she could still make things work.
Taking a strange-looking talisman, she pointed it at the balcony and activated it.
“SHIT!” she cursed again.
“What is it this time?” Yulian asked as he watched the look on her face change.
“Those blinds have a sound distortion effect…” she said as she stood up. Even S-ranked voice magnification talismans were useless if the only thing they could hear was noise.
“Bid casually on a few random things before I return… And try not to arouse suspicion!” she told Yulian, “I need to check on a few things!” she said as she left the balcony in a hurry, activating her Shadow cloak skill.
She quickly followed the corridor until she reached the balcony where Liam and Titus should be, making sure no one was nearby, she activated a talisman and pasted it on the door, then put her ear on it. Thankful it worked.
…
"Light had shone upon my lonely world... and my..."
“Stop with ass-kissing already…” Titus interrupted. “Where's Larry? I thought I asked for him!”
“Ah, Larry is no longer responsible for the auction house here…. If young Master Titus needs anything, I would be more than glad to provide it!” Liam said.
“Is he dead?”
“Who?”
“Larry? If he was not dead then why is not fucking here to welcome me?” Titus asked arrogantly.
“Oh, well… Larry left this city a week ago. I just got promoted, and he didn’t like to keep working under me… He works for my big brother...” Liam said he sounded troubled.
“Oh…” Titus frowned. So it is family drama... Not like he cared. “Then what happened to the goods?”
“The goods?” Liam asked.
“My fucking girls!” Titus flared. “The one I ordered Larry to secure!”
“Oh…” Liam seemed troubled again.
“Oh, what?”
“These belonged to young master Titus?” Liam asked.
“Yes…”
“I am very sorry, young master… The managers had no idea those were young master Titus’s goods… So… We included them in the auction!” Liam said. Lily somehow felt he was lying.
“WHAT!” Titus flared. “Pull them out!”
“Ah… I am very sorry… But there was nothing in the books, and the elders were the ones who made the decision. I have no authority to pull them out now the auction’s item list has been issued, it would really damage our credibility ....” Liam said. “If young Master Titus had already paid for them, we would reimburse you immediately!”
BANG
“Fuck… I didn’t pay shit!” Titus cursed. There was the sound of something breaking.
“Then, young master Titus, you only need to buy them now…” Liam said.
“I see… So that was your plan all along…” Titus said in a very cold voice.
“I don’t know what young master Titus is talking about…” Liam played dumb. Lily was liking this guy more and more!
“I will play your game…” Titus said. “Just tell Larry that the next time I see him I will break his legs… And I will break yours too if I ever see you in Vein City… Now get out!”
“Ah… “
Lily quickly jumped away and stuck to the ceiling as the door swung open and Liam was kicked out by a burly guard.
“Just you wait…” Liam cursed in a low voice, looking carefully at the door before smirking and then turning away.
“I see…” Lily said as she watched him leave. After that, she tried to eavesdrop more on Titus, but there was no voice from inside, so she quickly made her way back to her balcony.
Liam was definitely playing a game here to kill two birds with one stone.
First of all, he intended to get rid of the connection between that guy Larry and Titus, probably this was connected to some family feud.
Secondly, he wanted to make Titus pay more for the 'goods'! A lot more!
Well, in the other timeline, the same thing seemed to have happened, though she was not sure how. From the report Victor was doing while investigating Titus, she remembered that it was mentioned that he bought that girl from this place.
Now, it was clear why Liam seemed a little taken back when she said she wanted to participate in the auction.
The bastard was now planning to make her fight with Titus to take some of the heat off himself. And maybe he had some other plans!
…
Roy woke up… and looked up at the white neon ceiling.
What happened?
Yes… That little girl hit him.
“Ahh…” he quickly looked at his hand. It hurt a bit, but it seemed fine. Strange, he could swear he felt his bone crack when his fist touched hers. He was probably mistaken.
“Ahh…” he quickly tried to sit up. It was painful, but nothing seemed broken.
Looking around, he confirmed that he was in an infirmary bed, and to his right and left, were numerous similar beds with young men and women lying on them.
WTF!
Most were asleep, except a few who, like him, had started to wake up.
“So you are awake!” someone said. It was Roxy.
“What happened?”
“Everyone got their asses handed to them!” Roxy shrugged. “You are one of the few lucky ones who managed to get a point though…”
“Oh… What about you?”
“Me?” Roxy smirked. “The moment I saw that Iris was locking the door, I ran away using the ventilation duct!”
“Then How did you know what happened?”
“Ahh… I am a reporter you know! I have my ways!” she proudly said, making him sigh.
“Is it ok for you to tell me that? What if I ratted on you!” he asked.
“You are my brother!” she said, seemingly offended.
“That little girl was also our sister… And look what she did…” he said, looking at his poor siblings.
“He he he... That would be useless... I was caught!” she shrugged.
“Oh… Didn’t they drag you back?”
“Nope, on the contrary,” she began to whisper. “I was granted 10 points for sensing the danger and escaping! it was a part of the test!” she said triumphantly.
“Oh… Good for you…” he sighed again. “So… Do you need anything from me?” he asked. He noticed that she didn’t seem to care about the others.
“Yes… Iris is interested in you, and she wanted me to tell you a few things…” Roxy said, lowering her voice.
“Iris? That legitimate bitch? Didn’t she trick us?” he asked hatefully.
“It is a part of the test… Listen up, after this test, each of us will be getting a chance to choose one of the legitimate heirs as our Master, she wants you to choose her!”
“Oh. A Master?”
“Yes… Apparently, we still can’t enter the family without the right bloodline, so after the awakening ceremony, they are creating a new rank for us, Guardian Heirs. It is above that of Outer Heirs and just slightly below that of Inner heirs!”
“Oh…” Roy didn’t sound impressed.
“To guide us after that, we must each choose a master who is an inner or elite heir… Iris wants you to choose her!” Roxy said.
“Is she sure I will survive this test?” he asked.
“She read your file, and she likes you regardless… If you fail, she will make sure to hire you in her mall…” Roxy said.
“You are going to choose her?”
“I am not sure yet… But I like her a ton more than the others I met…” Roxy said. “And she had a really sad story… She was just like us until a few months ago…”
“Oh… Are our other supreme legitimate brothers here?” he asked rudely.
“Don’t let them hear you phrase it like that, and yes, some of them… they are called Rex and Max… “ she sighed.
“You don’t like them?”
“You will know when you meet them… Now focus on recovering…” Roxy said, patting Roy’s shoulder before she left.
He sighed and relaxed on his bed. Then he sat up again.
“Can I help you?” one pretty nurse asked.
“I need to go to the restroom…” he said as he prepared to stand up.
“Ah… Let me help you…” she said in a seductive voice.
“No thanks…” he said, hitting the feverous nurse’s hand away as he made his way to the restroom. He knew women like her, wanting to cling to the rich while scolding the poor!
Closing the restroom door, he quickly took a note that Roxy stuck under his collar.
BE CAREFUL.
THE REWARDS ARE BIG, BUT EVERYTHING HERE IS A TEST, FROM THE NURSES TO THE FOOD!
NEVER TRUST REX OR MAX... THEY ARE SNAKES!
I ALREADY TOOK CARE OF YOUR SISTER, SHE WAS TRANSFERRED TO A GOOD HOSPITAL AND WILL BE FINE… JUST FOCUS ON SUCCEEDING, THE WORLD IS BIGGER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!
IRIS!
“Is this letter a test too?” he wondered as he crumbled it and threw it in the toilet. Regardless, if she really took care of his little sister, he was in her debt!
…
In a lonely Auction balcony the poor door swung open.
“Did you finish snooping around?” Yulian asked when he noticed that Lily returned.
“Yup…”Lily said as she took her seat. “What is that?” she asked, noticing a vibrating porcelain duck that was in Yulian’s hand.
“I wanted to buy something not to draw attention to us, and this thing is nice…” he replied. “It is for relaxing purposes…”
“...” Lily sighed. All perverts think alike.
“A maid came and dropped this while you were away,” Yulian said, giving Lily a catalog. Opening it, she could see that it was full of photos of naked women and men. The goods for this auction.
“Is the one on the last page you wanted to get?” he asked, licking his lip.
Lily quickly flipped to it, squinting at the very pretty girl on the last page.
“Yes… But you can’t touch her!” she said.
“Oh… I never said I planned to…” Yulian said. He seemed a little upset.
“Don’t act like that, this one is more trouble than you can ever handle…” Lily, who could easily read his thoughts, said, “But if you managed to control her right, she would be a very efficient weapon!”
“What do you mean?”
“I will tell you when the time's right…” Lily sighed as she looked at the stage below.
The first phase of the auction ended and the old auctioneer was changed to an old Masked dignified lady, followed by two women who were dressed in black dominatrix leather suits and armed with two whips.
“Ladies and gentlemen… Now, we will start the ‘real’ auction…” she said as from the backstage, a line of naked chained men entered the stage. All of them had one thing in common, they were damn hot!
“The first batch… Let’s start!” the old woman said as one of the dominatrices cracked her whip, making all the men start to demonstrate their bodies in exotic poses.
Yulian couldn't help but swallow… Those guys were big!
“Tsk…” Lily clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Pathetic… They should be ashamed of themselves instead of showing off like this!” she said as she relaxed in her seat. Compared to Victor, those guys were nothing.
Yulian didn’t really get what she meant. He just kept his silence, being a little thankful that his sister was not reacting like some ladies in the audience who began to fight over the men while drooling.
Soon enough, the amount of money that was thrown around became mind-numbing. Yulian who lived most of his life in poverty could only sigh. Maybe he should have really sold his body to some rich lady instead of suffering in the back of the allies…
“Next…” the old woman said as the first batch was sold.
A line of pretty girls in some very revealing clothes and chains entered the stage.
The whip cracked again, and the reluctant girls began to do as the men, exposing themselves in various poses.
“This is disgusting…” Yulinan said, righteously, though his eyes that were about to pop out betrayed him.
“Why even bother trying?” Lily sighed.
“A man has to always stand on the side of justice!” he said.
“Whatever…” she sighed. This was the main difference between her brother and Victor. The former has a sense of justice, the latter would sleep with Lady Justice and then cheat on her the next morning... No, that's wrong... Victor never really cheats! it is not cheeting if everyone knew he was collecting a harem... DAMN IT!
“Let’s start with number 11…A fair 19-year-old maiden from the southern marches was sold to repay her father’s debt…” the old lady began explaining. “The minimum will be 1,000,000,”
“2,000,000!”
“3,000,000!”
“4,000,000!”
“7,000,000…”
“8,000,000!”
“15,000,000…” Lily quickly doubled it.
“20,000,000!”
“21,000,000!” Lily bid again.
“22,000,000!”
“25,000,000!” Lily increased the price.
“30,000,000!” Titus entered the bidding at last.
“35,000,000,” Lily increased.
“50,000,000…” Titus increased again.
“80,000,000…” Lily increased it as the audience gasped, was that girl really worth all that money?
“Sis… We only got 112,000,000 for Liam… ” Yulian commented.
“Then we should have 32,000,000! Left… They are plenty enough!” she said.
“Ahh… make those 30,000,000…” he corrected her.
“What?”
“The duck…”
“Fuck you!” she cursed.
“Regardless… Two million will not make much difference! Will we be alright?” he asked nervously, ignoring her foul mouth.
“We will…” she said, taking a bag of untraceable cash from her ring and setting it to the side. She borrowed this from Margret. “We probably wouldn’t need to use those…” she said mysteriously as she glanced at Titus’s balcony. She was right, he didn’t bid anymore. Why? Simple, that bastard had already decided that Lily and Yulian would not leave this city alive.
“Are there no more bids? 3… 2… 1… Number eleven goes to the occupier of Balcony 4! “ the old woman said. “Next is number 12…A girl from the city caught scamming old men out of their savings…”
Lily didn’t bid on this one.
“Why not bid?” Yulian asked. The girl looked hot.
“She doesn’t have a bloodline… “ she said.
“You can tell?” Yulian asked.
“Once your bloodline is high enough, you begin to feel such things…” she said. Although she couldn’t be sure what bloodline each had, she could feel it if someone had something special.
“Oh… So we only need people with good bloodlines?” he asked. His sister already explained some things about bloodlines.
“No… But Titus only wants those, and I plan to only bid against Titus, to confirm his stupid suspicion!” she said.
“Ahhh… Titus is that guy on the other balcony?” Yulian asked.
“Yes, he is a very nasty and powerful piece of sh*t… Now he thinks we are working with Liam to rip him off, those girls were supposed to be his at a discount!” Lily said, “And I am going to play along as he will no longer bid…”
“Oh… Then we are now his target?” Yulian squinted his eyes, realizing that Liam was using them. “Will he be waiting outside?”
“Yup… But, if he decided to do anything funny, I might as well make him regret coming out of that little cell he was in!” she said coldly, sending a message to Kai using a routed phone. Telling him to intercept any communications about family troops deployed in her vicinity... And to say 'Hi' to Rita who was assisting him.
Akaichi got one thing wrong though Victor wouldn't just sleep with lady Justice he would scam the sh*t out of her first.
Lady justice would drink his blood and like it.
Castrate Titus.
Bttle of the Bards. With the exception of his S ranked skill Titus is incredibly weak for a level 37, and this is before Ann had his essence blood drained.
NAME : Titus Von Weise
LEVEL : 37
ABNORMAL STATUS : Heavily injured (UNABLE TO UTILIZE SKILLS)
CLASS : Corrupt Bard
AUTHORITY : 4
Strength : 25
Intelligence : 33
Agility: 50
Luck : 15
Charm : 25
Order: 13
SKILLS :
Memories Fabricator, S
Discouraging speech, C
Quick Charm, C
Lower Sword Arts, F
NAME: Liam Ashflint
LEVEL : 0
CLASS: LASCIVIOUS BARD, S
AUTHORITY: 2
Strength: 21
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 24
Luck: 11
Charm: 12
Order: 10
SKILLS :
Charm, S
Enchanting Scent, S
Corrupt Memories, A
Ultra Thick Skin, S
Unlimited Manhood, S
Enchanting voice, E
Kekw right. He was a bard.
Well like Theodore, Titus might have gotten to that level with a army of body guards. And don't forget Liam as a scion will always have the upper hand.
@Kavinka
His attributes are still trash, ultimately he still leveled up 37 times. Standing behind forces will slow your level up because how much you contribute dictates EXP and level up. He still got 37 levels but has attributes on par with level zero players we've met. He hasn't done much to develop his skills either.
I am aware Liam is a Scion and would probably win, more likely he'd definitely survive. My point was just to directly compare bards one at level 37 and one at level zero to demonstrate just how weak Titus is. Through inthe fact that he may actually be weaker after his punishment, and you have an annoying character that just needs to be disappeared.
So semi-player Rex will still be above them?
Elite heir = Alice, Mike, and Victor
Inner heir = Max and Iris
Guardian heir will = these full player non-bloodline holding heirs
Outer heir = ? I would assume these bloodline holding semi-player heirs, but it comes across that Rex would still be above them?
Nick was a non-blooline holding semi-player. Was he still an outer heir?
Honestly, bringing Rex in on this only shows just how dumb Ted really is. He is already under suspicion of sabotaging Lara, and he let's him in on the building of secret forces with his illegitimate kids? Dafuq, he really is Ann's kid.
hey remmember all of the almost players in the dungeons, them are just meat weak shields
He loves his son, and rex was proven by the family inquisition that he is innocent.
Ted didn't ask Victor for the evidence that he supposedly has (that he heard about through Lara), so yes he is an idiot.
@Melkord
No, I don't remember any almost player in the dungeons? What dungeons had almost players? Was it the mines? Are you talking about servants?
@Blueneck666
Proven? I think it is was still way up in the air. At the absolute best he was still under suspension of being controlled by someone, and should be kept away from the secret forces until they figure out what the hell happened.
To be honest, his older full brother should be suspected too, but that could be given a pass, but the guy you know taught Lara a family art modified to destroy her?
In all honesty, Ted got contacted by Ann and told what is going on on the island, that should bring more suspension on the whole "Proven innocent" thing.
@KONASBUD
remember, Lara said that Rex was teaching a modified version of the art that was killing her.
Rex said he only taught her the base art. And the inquisitors with "detect lie" confirmed his lie as true.
The inquisitors are supposed to be neutral to family politics... They are however full of enemy family spies and traitors so they are no longer neutral in family politics to cause more chaos.
He never checked with Victor to get his testimony-like an idiot.
@Blueneck666
No it was confirmed he taught her the wrong art but thinks it is the correct art. At best they think that someone messed with his mind. If you think someone messed with his brain, would you place him near your secret forces without knowing how or who messed with his brain?
Also, if Ann called to send you on a secret mission to set up a barrier because there was a big coup, would you not think, "well I shouldn't trust the results of the investigation of the people trying to kill my line."
It should be a no brainer, an absolute no brainer, to keep Rex away from critical or secret info until you know what happened. Even if you don't think he is an enemy, you have to think he is compromised in some way. It's just too dumb to think otherwise.
@Blueneck666
"Rex frowned for a second, looking at the two men who were from the inquisition hall before he replied. "I did!"
"YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU…" Theodore flared up immediately." (Ch 342)
See Rex admitted to teaching Lara the modified art, it's just they think he doesn't recognize it as the wrong art.
Ted knows, not thinks knows something is off with Rex. He is just not sure if he is under someone's control and is innocent, or if he is a suspect. Either way he should be kept away from anything secret or critical until they find out.
@KONASBUD but You can't really deny that Thedore is a foolish man when it comes to his family. For some one who argues with Victor for many reasons ( like in the wedding) he is too stupid for falling into a lie. If he had any brain he should double check with his own agents about this. I mean he did feel something wrong there right.
@KONASBUD isn't a smoke out manouver? so they can confirm:
1. are the inquisitors corrupt?
2. is rex corrupt?
from the info they have, they are not before the mine incident. now after they just need to reel in the net.
the confidens of dragons and a oligarchy showing again, "no one will leave the island when we take action"
the whole downfall of Anns regime has hinged on this. then we also know that theodor gives more chanses to his children as a form of love, even when they do despicable shit.
@Kavinka
I think it is important to remember just how much of a failure Ted was in the last timeline at "protecting his family", and frankly he is no better in this one. Any and all actual success in protecting his family goes to Victor, he has a zero percent success rate. You would think, having multiple instances thrown in your face where you could have lost a child would make you at least notice 1 scheme pointed at your family.
As far as it being a smoke out. No gmfor a smoke out you'd take him to a place and show him a plan that is made up. In this case he had actually placed Rex with the secret force, his children, that Ann sent him to build. That is dumb, that is Theodore Von Weise level incompetence.
As far as Ted giving chances to his children. Am I the only one who sees a disconnect with the way Victor was treated in his last timeline? If Victor was a semi-player would he be in charge of teaching a heirs, and if he was and he taught them wrong to the point it would have killed 1, he only taught 1 wrong, would he have been given all of this slack? Before the whole thing with Gary Victor wasn't even allowed to call himself a Von Weise. Rex and Nick seem to be allowed all the benefits of the family. There was the argueme that Ted was protecting him from his enemies. How'd that work out? Ot was more like he was left out to dry.
Even if Ann beats Marcos, it will just create a power vacume, there are still multiple factions within the family that want to oust her. It's just now they will have a legitimate reason. It's even worse that he is letting an obvious risk in on the building of this force.
@KONASBUD yeah ted really should get someone to teach him some sense in to him. And didn't you find it strange that Theodore quickly tried to free Luke from his punishment before it was even a year while totally ignoring Victor for i don't know maybe 3 years.
@KONASBUD ok, don't know if you all have talked about this, what should they concretely (thinking of it as a sugestion list towards the action the "theodore branch" of the family should take) i feel that i need to reread the story before i do mine.
@KONASBUD yeah and only Lara was taught the wrong method, John and Luke should be under suspension as well, like why Rex trained them right but not Lara. Luke could have the right moves because he's older than Lara, but John is around the same age as Lara so if one is taught wrong so should the other
@Danni_Chaos
I kind of agree but I think John and Luke are the same age, Ted mentions their ceremony like it takes place at the same time.
It is mentioned that it would take "a master" to alter the art to do what it does. Even if you don't believe Luke and John were involved which I can understand, you have to wonder why Lara was specifically targeted. The only thing that makes sense is Elena's kids are doing so well in the ceremony. He knows his other wives target Lara and he knows they had schemes against Victor. They don't have the ability to alter the art so the only thing that makes sense is they made a deal with somebody who does, so while maybe not straight to the mines with everyone, they should all be on the do not trust for now list.
Even if you aren't willing to suspect your other two wives, you still have to think someone is trying to prevent your children who have the best chances of doing really well from doing well. You know they have used Rex as a vehicle to hinder/kill a Hilda of yours with potential. So why would you include him in a plan that would greatly strengthen your position and your family until you uncovered what happened?
As far as them being older than Lara. Rex can't have been teaching them all the art for that Long, maybe a couple of years. At most he is Mike's age, 19. So he would have had his bad results 2 years or so prior, and started to teach them all at the same time. Even if the other two learned the correct art at first, if Rex just believed his was the correct art, he would of spent 2 years coaching their performance incorrectly. The fact that he only taught Lara the altered art is a Huge red flag and means he should be kept away from anything involving family for now.
As far as the difference in treatment between Luke and Victor. I agree. It could be said the Luke's only broken rule would have ruined his ceremony, where Victor's was considered a betrayal of the family, but even before that Victor was kind of shunned. Maybe not completely but not being allowed to act as a Von Weise/White. Luke is still viewed as a kid though because he hasn't had his ceremony so that may play in.
@KONASBUD
Maybe this is a test too. Whoever choses those two will fail. But it seems like i am expecting too much .
Out of 3000 , he chose 70 or something. Still they are full of bullies and trash.
Maybe if there is not a strong bloodline or character, demon Bloodline turns them evil.
@Vikass17
Well I doubt he is picking three-year-olds.
The world they live in has a different moral compass, it's pretty constant with a lot of cultivation genre novels. There are entire studies done on it. Anyway, many of them grew up rich and strong, with a strong background, at least compared to regular folks. UT even in that "privileged environment they are aware there is an entire class within their own relatives that they can not touch. It makes sense that a bunch of them would be awful people.
It should be noted that many of not all of these kids are old enough to have volunteered for the Ceremony Luke Nick did butvthey passed on it. So for all of their bluster they punked out when they had a shot in the past because of the risk.
@KONASBUD
If i remember correctly, Mike is not 19. He was 25-26. Otherwise Theodore wouldn't be so surprised to know Victor' level ,when Victor said he was level 10 or something.
While his other son almost surpassed him at 19.
@Vikass17
You remember wrong.
Alice oldest. Elena left home 21 - 22 years ago. Mike middle Victor 17. Between Mike and Alice there needs to be 18 months of pregnancy plus probably a couple months between.
Also, only Elite heirs under 25 where invited to the competition in the Mines.
Ted's surprise at Victor's level was that he came back a week later and was over level 10 then a couple of weeks after that he was in the level 30s. This is all while setting up his household and forces....and harem. Mike is acceptional so two or so years and being in the 40s is great then you have Victor making that look sluggish. That was what made shocked Ted, he specifically pointed out Elena's kids because of it.
@KONASBUD
Could be Irish twins- easy birth so s*x starts up quick after resulting in two kids born in 12 months. (Knew a lady who was pissed because she got pregnant again one month after birth)
For the ages look at the table.
Ted was shocked because Victor made Ted look slow with his level up speed, too.
However Rex's age is more flexible, in fact it would still make sense if he was getting close to 30. Make those bit*hy wives feel angry about this new wife up and coming with children that are scoring better then theirs, the elder children.
“I see…” one of the inquisitors said, looking at the others. “Rex… You can leave for today, stay on the island for two more days though, and don’t practice that art anymore…” he added as Theodore frowned looking at his son.
Rex nodded and stepped out… He looked a little lost but seemed to not dare question his father.
“He was telling the truth…” the man who was silent until now spoke. “My skill didn’t detect any anomaly!”
“And he never practiced the modified art… He couldn’t even apply it…” the other said.
“What does this mean?” the last one said.
“Someone brainwashed him…” Theodore replied as he squinted his eyes. “I need to go over everyone Rex worked within the last three years…” he said.
So after Rex 'proved' his innocence with the aid of the corrupt inquisition, we know Rex was teaching Lara for the last three years or so.
@Blueneck666
Even Irish twins need a total of 18 months of gestation, barring premature births. It's just 9, in reality 10 months between the twins, but Elena's clock would have started from when she met Ted.
Elena left home 20 to 22 years ago depending on the chapter, butvit is fair considering rounding. She tells her patents it's been 21 years. Let's give as much leeway as possible, she leaves home meets Ted a month later and gets pregnant 9 months later Alice is born. A month later she gets pregnant with Mike. 9 months later is born.
So 20 months after Elena leaves her parents is the most practical answer for Mike's birth, franky over is more realistic. I said about 19, and still thinknitvis a practical answer, 20 is possible but it is such a stretch.
Marta was pregnant when Elena was brought in, it is implied that was woth Max butvitvis possible it was with Rex. Rex is max 21 years old, but more likely closer to Mike's age guve or take.
It's likely Ted has has kids roughly 30, but it isn't easy gmfor them to find women who birth bloodline holding heirs. It's likely that after Rosette was lost 25 years ago ot took a few tears to find someone who birthed one. Patrick is older than Ted and only found 1 who only conceived 3, children, one of which only awakened as a semi-player. Elena is a treasure.
It sounds to me through your quote that Ted is still suspicious, and definitely suspicious of him being brainwashed. If you were suspicious of someone being brainwashed, would you expose him to your new secret force, consisting of your children? I get it the force isn't going to stay secret, but the plan to select ones with potential and awaken them with a super awakening artifact is a secret right now. It makes no sense to expose a risk like Rex to it, frankly it .ax should be a suspect too, but that is "understandable".
Ted knows people in the family are targeting him and Ann.
Not getting a clear answer after interrogating Rex should make him MORE weary, not less. Even if he thinks Rex was "innocent" and brainwashed, a SMART character would think to keep him further away from critical information and operations, until he finds out what is going on. This just solidifies the fact that Ted is dumb when it matters. Frankly, too dumb to live.
George seems smart, he should be like, "um master, isn't it an epically idiotic move to expose the kid you suspect has been brainwashed to this plan?".
On a side note, they are never really clear that the ceremony takes place at 17 for every heir. And we initially think that it takes place once a year but find out later that that's not true. So when we hear about ceremonies coming up next year or in two years we assume that it takes place at 17 for everyone, because they are considered adults after their ceremonies. It is possible that there is some leeway and because of Victor's situation they waited as long as possible for his. I still think everyone's took place roughly at seventeen, because Rita and Zoe were both 17. But Iris survived and she should be older.
I should adjust this. Ted met Elena during his bachelor's party prior to marrying Marta. Assuming the marriage to Marta, who isn't a player is due to birthing an "heir" it would have had to have been Max. Elena got pregnant the first night. So, assuming max was a newborn he's only about 21 to 22 and Rex is younger than him.
@KONASBUD
Book is a first draft, years are kinda flexible. Mike is 22 on the character sheet.
Assume the 20 years has been rounded. From up to 24 years.
@Blueneck666
She straight up tells her parents that it has been 21 years since she has seen them. Not really a rounding issue. I meant more 21 years and 7 months or 20 years and 9 months. Who rounds 24 years down to 21? You still have to add the time Elena was pregnant.
I really don't care about the character sheet until he fixes the damn novel, or outright states in the novel someone's age. Having an entire story where something is one way then changing something on the character sheet to make it another so etching else is no way to tell a story.
@Blueneck666
That character sheet means nothing. Elena is listed as 36. If Mike is 22 Alice has to be 23 are you telling me she gave birth at 13? Her parents were about to marry her off to her father's dead friend's son at 13? I'm too lazy to look but I thought we were told she left home at 17? Even that is a bit off timeline wise but nowhere near what Mike being 22 would cause.
I don't trust the character sheet because people can edit it.
Also, Mike being 22 would make him far less impressive than he is at 19 to 20, Hitting level 49 in about 2 to 4 years was impressive. Hitting it in 5 to 6 is less impressive.
Also, Also. Alice is Der than Muke but is listed as 20.
What makes more since, is to change Alice to 21 and Mike to 20, Make Elena 38 or 39. She left 21 years ago when she was 17, had Alice 10 months later Mike about a year after that. Everything else can just be a rounding error.
@KONASBUD
Increasing Elena's age is good idea, but decreasing Mike's age is not. He have to be that " big brother", that Victor saw as cool and reliable.
Mike still has more than double levels compared to his age. So compared to Theodore , who only has almost same levels as his age, Mike is really impressive.
Even compared to baron , George other old characters, Mike has better levels age wise.
@Vikass17
When did we get Barons level?
He'd still be 2 to 3 years older than Vicfor that is cool big brother territory. He has to be younger than Alice and Elena is supposed to be under 40. There is a limit to how much movement you get. Is Alice the Oldest yes. Mike had to be younger than Alice is Mike older than Victor? Yes, Mike had to be older than Victor. He can't be 22 because Alice is 20. Okay make Alice Older and Mike younger.
I have never at any point thought that Mike was older than 20, and it doesn't ruin the way I View him. It's odd to me that you guys have read the story and think that Mike is 22 based on a spreadsheet, and somehow fixing the spreadsheet messes up how you view Mike.
@Vikass17 Well theoretically if Theodore didn't spend most of days in wife hunting his level should increase more . After all just because you're part of a family doesn't mean you can't join any public dungeon quests right. ( And it's not like you can't use a disguise too right ) Even if they are rare with the Von weise spy network you should at least be able to find one every month right.
@KONASBUD
Okay reviewing the damn spreadsheet.
Max is 23, it works baby born then test is had the wedding g is planned Ted goes on a bachelor's party meets Elena knocks her up 9 months later Alice is born.
Alice is listed as 20. That doesn't really work at best it works with Elena's age but well get back to that. You make Alice 22, the whole 21 years since she saw her parents is just seen as one of those things where you forget to add a year when looking back on things.
Alice is born baby is tested boom purple hair Elena is made a wife, 9 months later Mike pops out. All that is required is to swap Alice and Mike's ages. At the same time Rex is born.
It should be noted that Alice is 3 years older than Yulian in this scenario.
Okay so Elenas age has to be fixed. The easy answer is may 17 for the sensors when Alice was concocted and she is 39 now. The more complex answer make her 16 and she is 38.
The easiest answer is to leave everyone else's age where they are and make Mike 19. Change nothing else in the story because it all works fine. The only real issue is Max being 23 and Marta and Ted's wedding being when Ted met Elena but if you consider months it can work just fine, maybe Max just turned 23 and Alice is Almost 21, throw in the wedding raking almost a year to plan because Marta is a bit*h and it works just fine.
@Kavinka
Also, as they get more family responsibilities they may not have time to dungeon dive much. Think about the fact that Ted was planning a dive into a C rank dungeon with Vuctor. He probably wouldn't gain much from a C rank dungeon but a B or A rank could take a year or more. Up until now most of the Von Weise higher ups have probably not felt an overwhelming need to power level. They would rather enjoy life while steadly fain power.
Ted is 12 levels under his level cap, if he was that worried about leveling up he would probably have been closer to level 69 prior to the start of the story.
Also this is a good chance to mention that Rosette is 41 and went missing 25 years ago. So she was 16 and pregnant at the time. She was Heavenly Sect so she may have already been kind of strong when she was 16. Alice entered the sect at 9.
Also Yulian can't be 20 yet, because the family pulls him back when he is 20 and he is supposed to have 10 months give or take until then.
@KONASBUD In ch 170 Elena said mike is 20.
Rex's age shouldn't be more than one or two years older then Victor as in ch 295 is stated that only Max and Mike trained under Theodore, so Victor and Rex probably trained under Max, depending the age they start practicing the family art
@Danni_Chaos
Okay so he's 20, i have no issue with him being 20. 20 makes perfect sense.
Rex is 20 I'm not sure why Rex wasn't trained with Mike but Ted is a weirdo so whatever.
Full heirs don't seem to stick around the island and train their siblings. They re off doing dirt.
Think about this Lara has been traing a few years and is 13. Even if Max completed his training awakened at 17 the other Rex and Mike would have been traing for years prior to Max awakening.
Best guess is, Ted shows all of his kids the art, but only activity trained Mike and Max with his full attention. He probably had the older kids and maybe some servants or lower ranking family members train train Rex.
For Victor ue didn't show much promise and couldn't advance through the art, then got shipped off when he almost got laid.
The only real oddball is Rex. He doesn't have an other bloodline holding semi-player that could have trained him. Max could have trained him for a few years but why wasn't he training Mike along with him?
Maybe, Ted just saw a lot of potential on Mike and he played favorites. Which seems in character.
@Danni_Chaos Elena also said her brother Larry was only a teenager when she left but according to the character sheet he would have been 21. He's five years older than her. At this point we can't trust anything anyone says.
@KONASBUD
I don't mind Elena being 42 or 43. Max should be a serious villain so he needs to be 26+. That's why he wasn't present in the competition. All good right.
Alice has to be around 25 , because otherwise she will be most talented in the world, being around level 105 .
@KONASBUD
Lara was 14 from the start. She should be almost 15 now. Theodore and Victor even mentioned her ceremony in 2yrs , once she turns 16.
And she was only learning under Rex for more than one years (if i remember correctly).
@Vikass17
It's just keep things within the narrative of the story. Victor at one point says she is almost 40. She runs away "20 years ago" as a teen.
f*cking Max's mom Marta is 33 she had him she was 10. You want to make it so she was pregnant at 7. Dude gross. Plus Ted specifically states he's not a Lolicon.
Also, my point is. The spreadsheet isn't the authority.
Max is currently 6 years older than Victor, that is a 6 year headstart. Nobody has ever claimed that Max is a serious villain. He's not even an elite heir. Not only did he not earn it when he awakened but he didn't earn it later.
Why does Alice need to be older? Now Elena left home 26 years ago. Making Max older means you have to change the situation with Raosette. You are just making people older to make people older. Alice is already older than Yulian. He's listed as 20 but has to be 19 because of his family trial.
It actually make perfect sense to me that Alice is 20 to 22. For me 21 make the most sense. Mike is 19 to 20. Victor is 17, plus the 5 months sense the start of the story. Age isn't static. Lara is listed as 13, that had gone round and round so there is inconsistencies in the story but she has landed on 13. Elena is putting out quality Bloodlines and she was supposed to be Ted's favorite so it makes sense that she would stay pregnant the first few kids. Then needed a break.
@Vikass17
Lara is 13 as of now. So here's the deal, the author has admitted he really didn't know what to do with Lara early on so he has changed his mind with her a few times. I wouldn't put too much stock on when her ceremony was planned, in the early chapters.
I was the biggest complainer about that but the dude owned it so it is what it is.
On a related note about Von Weise Ceremonies. Zoe and Rita had their ceremonies at 18 and Vivmctor at 17. Ted mentions John and Luke having their ceremony next year and they are 15. There seems to be a window when the parents can allow them to have their ceremonies not necessarily a specific age, 17.
Obviously, it was under the older artifact. Which Iris survived having her ceremony and she wad 20. Roxy is 30 and probably going to awaken with the new one.
I me Rion this. Because if Mike showed a lot of promise maybe Ted has him awaken at 16, possibly even 15. Then he has that much more time as a player. For those of you who want him to be the more "experienced" brother. That would be 4 years as an adult because they are recognized as an adult once they awaken. This would .Atchison the your "ceremony next year" comment made to John and Luke.
Maybe Ted held off on Victor's ceremony as long as possible because he was worried. The same could be said for Rita but because she had to do traitor shit.
@KONASBUD Rita was hold off because she is just a chip for her Grand father. If i have to guess they just took Rita there to hide The Von Zewei guy who i totally forget his name. She just there to make a good enough cover as most of the elders would be giving thier attention to her as she is a legitimate heir and not a fake adopted one like the other.
It is quite similar to how someone make a poster for a Beauty product using huge Bold latters to show it's good qualities while using small letters to hide that they use a huge amount of dangerous chemicals.
While there maybe more reasons for her to keep her verginity i think that is most likely explanation.
@Kavinka
Yeah, that's what i said "traitor shit".
Damn, reading Lara's ass whipping of Pan hits different now thatvi know Pan is 6 years old. Lara was kind of bit*h there.
@KONASBUD It never was stated Pan's age. Besides he has already finished school, where he bullied Roy, and is old enough to drive, as he only agreed to go to the test because his mother would by him a car
@Danni_Chaos
He's listed as 6 on the character sheet. That is the point.
@KONASBUD Fair
@KONASBUD
If Larry was a teen when Elena left then it might be real bad what happened to her. We are talking Child prostitute levels bad. Would be a real reason to hate Margaret, because she reminds Elena of herself.
@Blueneck666
Ruby.
Ted claims not to be a lolicon but Marya is 33 and and Max is 23 you do the math.
I think he planned on making Larry older then in the story he made him seem Luke the younger brother but never changed the age.
Also, the if Larry and Bob were in there 20s when Elena left and she was 15 to 17, they are that much more scummy for hiding her situation from the dad. Screw him too.
@Blueneck666 the flip side to these assholes who would let their little sister be sold into s*x slavery rather than share a bit of the inheritance os Mike who is legitimately worried about Victor, and all he wants to do is go check on his soul jade. Victor has proven to be resourceful but Mike Stull worries for him. The entire list of decent older brothers in this story is Mike, Yulian, and Victor.
Frankly Victor is sus leaving for another world with all that is going on in the family. And Yulian could cross over if his care for his sisters gets pervy, but so far he just seems to dote on them.
@KONASBUD
We should kidnap @Akaichi and make him fix all the age problems first.
Time problems can be ignored. It is even fun that everything is happening so fast. Something is happening everyday.
But age kind of stops you from enjoying story. I don't even see the reason to not clarify the age. Legal adult age is different all over the world.
@Vikass17
Yeah, I better never find out where he lives. He'll be chained to a desk with a laptop. He'll be fixing that whole Elise and the Emporer poison debacle too.
On more serious note, if you disregard the spreadsheet, the age issues aren't that bad. Lara we all know about and that is more a he changed his mind and settled on who he wanted Lara to be, she is 13, El is 9, most of the magical girls are 13, or 14. It works.
As far as legal age the answer can be simple, who says a year is 365 fldays in that world?
I honestly don't even know how Akaichi Counts age, some countries the first year of life is counted as zero and you refer to children by how many months old they are. Other countries like Korea and China they count you as 1 at birth so 17 would be an American 16. So to some extent you just have to take things as an in universe age, and not think too much about it. It's when you get into age in comparison to other characters, or to events that happened that it matters to me.
@KONASBUD @Akaichi
I never liked the idea of Von Krone ruling the world. Maybe biggest power ruling biggest continent. But world is too much.
You can't control it with a small family like Von krone. Even these families are too small for that. Specially one guy ruling everything.
Then most of the world is supposed to be unsuitable to live , demons have cities. Even some scions made their own kingdom.
And Von krone are still ruling all the world.
Even though Victor said going that making space portal was super hard even in the future.
@KONASBUD
Incidently some countries count you 1 year old at birth and add a year every new years. Looking at you India. This means you could be a few days old and called 2 years old.
@Vikass17
Well half the world. As you said there were people ruling the cities but it sounds like over hundreds of years they solidified their power. I'm sure their are still some rebel forces but nothing worth mentioning.
I would imagine the Von Krone have subjugated multiple powers, it's not just them ruling the world but at the top of the hierarchy. They probably have subordinate families both acting within their administration and ruling over entire regions as lords, traditional feudal lords not the whole lord thing in the story. Throw in the fact that everyone has magic and super powers and it works.
Let's be somewhat honest though, the Von Krone are a puppet regime for some Lord or Emporer, not feudal but transdemensional power.
@KONASBUD yes well the dungeon surrounded the mines is like a big dongeon don't you?