Chapter 27: Parent-Child Conversation, The Four Kingdoms of Evolution
***
Southern Continent
Collide Collide Collide
The swords collided with each other, John attacked fiercely with all his strength and precision, the movements of the swords were smooth and fierce like the waves of the sea, Felicia defended effortlessly every blow that John gave with all his strength.
— first form —
— second form—
— third form —
— fourth form —
John masterfully executed the four forms of the sea-splitting sword, Felicia defended all the blows with one hand behind her back, Felicia didn't use any force, she gently defended John's attacks.
After several blows John became tired, they had been training all day without rest, he was now drenched in sweat, his hands were numb from holding the sword so much, unlike the previous trainings where John had to use a wooden sword, now he had a real sword with a very sharp blade.
"Very well," Felicia said, nodding. John took a deep breath. "When can I learn the fifth form of the Sea-Splitting Sword?" John asked with a determined look.
"Impeccable," Felicia declared. John frowned. "What do you mean, impecable?" John asked. Felicia smiled. "Don't be impatient. It's already surprising enough that you learned the first four forms of the Sea-Shattering Sword. It took your father Fernando twice as long as it took you to learn the first four forms," Felicia said.
"John, from the fifth form onwards, the use of water elements is crucial to unleashing the art. In other words, the four forms you learned are just techniques, far from being the art that divides the seas." John listened patiently to Felicia's words. "Auntie, what's the difference between the art and the technique I learned?" John asked.
Felicia raised her sword and a torrent of water snaked or from the sword swirled around the blade, she lightly swung the sword and the torrent of water on the blade turned into a beam of water in the form of rising waves, the wave about half a meter high devastated the terrain and knocked down several trees, — this is a sword art, the first form rising waves, which you use is a technique, this is the difference between them — Felicia explained.
John was dazzled by the art of the sword, — don't worry, you'll understand when you go through your first evolution, the difference between a primitive being and an evolving being is very big, it's even bigger than the comparison between a person with good vision and a person who was born blind — Felícia explained
Felicia thought for a moment and continued, "The world you know is just 10% of the real world. You are connected to the world only by your five senses, which are very limited. There are things that cannot be detected by your senses." Felicia looked at John with a smile on her face.
"Auntie, what is it that I, as a primitive being, can't see?" John asked. Felicia came closer, stroked John's hair, and said, "You don't need to worry about that now. Eventually, you'll discover the mystical nature of the world on your own," Felicia replied.
— Let's end the training, you've already reached your peak as a Primitive being, any more training will be useless, go get changed, your father should be arriving soon — said Felicia.
John felt like these three months flew by, he missed his father so much.
***
In the late afternoon, when the sun was about to set, Catarina, Ceto, Felícia, Isa, Alex and John were in front of Venhorst Castle on the plains, in an open space.
In the same month that Fernando went to the capital, half a month later, Fernando contacted Catarina through a long-distance communication matrix in the capital, he informed her that he would come after two and a half months, he also warned that there was an advance for entry into the institute, knowing this, John trained during the three months that passed, he worked like crazy.
After this time, John managed to perfectly master the first four forms of the Sea-Splitting Sword Technique. He is confident that he will immediately learn the Sea-Splitting Art as soon as he undergoes his first evolution. Today would be the day that Fernando would finally return, and he is excited.
During the three months of Fernando's absence, John not only trained like crazy, there were moments he spent with Alex and Iza, and other moments, John used to get to know the entire Venhorst territory.
John got to know the other regions that he didn't know, he got to know the regions under the custody of the other nobles, he also got to know the region where his mother Catherine Venhorst was born, John had the opportunity to meet his maternal family on this visit, to his dismay, Felicia his mother was an only child and her mother John's maternal grandmother had already passed away, even when Catherine was younger than John now.
John explored the territory's agricultural fields, the metal mines, the forest, and the entire Venhorst countryside. Now John could roam the entire Venhorst territory with his eyes closed.
During this time, John occasionally received visits from the young talents of the water clan and the Bo Bárbara tribe. The visiting talents were Beatriz and Bo Bárbaro. John now had a little understanding of the two young geniuses from the two regions.
As time passed, Alex and Iza did not fall behind, although the two could not learn the art of the sea-splitting sword, they could still learn a similar art, the crescent sea sword, one of the versions similar to the sea-splitting sword, surprisingly Iza mastered the art a week before Alex, knowing this John gave Iza a gift as a prize.
John informed Beatriz and Bo Bárbaro that their entry to the institutes was brought forward during one of his visits, and in response, the two young talents opted to spend the rest of their time training behind closed doors.
***
After a while, a flying ark crossed the sky. The ark was a yellowish color. It looked like a futuristic spaceship from John's perspective. Two wings with a wingspan of 6 meters held the body of the flying ark. It was 9 meters wide and 3 meters high. Everyone recognized the flying ark at first sight. It was Fernando Venhorst's ark.
The ark descended from the sky and stopped a meter above the ground, a gentle wind blew the grass causing a small gust that made hair flutter in the wind, the door of the ark opened like the hood of a modern car on earth.
First, Fernando flew until he gracefully reached the ground. Then, two figures also emerged from the flying ark, a man and a woman. The man was very handsome, his appearance would enchant any woman. He carried an elegance of the highest nobility, his clothes were endowed with golden borders and a golden raven on his chest. His red hair was the same color as his eyes, and he had an attractive triangular face.
The woman was a beauty that attracted the gaze of any man, she wore a graceful red dress with golden edges, a golden crow on her chest, her beautiful face had piercing red fennel eyes, just like her long hair, she had an oval face, the dress had slits on both sides, her beautiful slender legs were covered with long stockings, leaving only a part showing.
With a wave of Fernando's hands, the flying ark transformed into a golden light that entered his space storage ring, after which Fernando introduced the visitors to his family.
— This is the prince, Leonel Albert — in response to Ferdinand's introduction, Catherine, John and the others present bowed slightly and saluted together — Greetings, Prince Albert — in response Leonel Albert nodded slightly.
After introducing the prince, Fernando then introduced the young woman next to Leonel Albert, — this is the young princess, Victoria Albert, daughter of Prince Leonel Albert, — with one voice everyone greeted, — Greetings, young princess, — after the greetings, Fernando introduced everyone present.
Leonel Albert was inwardly stunned when he sensed Felicia's power. A level 3 superior being, truly impressive. A territory with two superior beings, one level 2 and the other level 3, truly impressive. Coming here wasn't a waste of time, Leonel Albert thought.
When Leonel felt John's presence, he frowned imperceptibly, that's because he didn't detect anything special, which is why he was present here today, in John's body he could only feel the bloodlines of an iron tail, nothing out of the ordinary, he was just stronger than his peers at the same age, stronger than a mercenary below evolution, well Leonel decided to leave everything for later.
On the other side, Victor Albert was curious about John. She wanted to find out how a lord's son could make his father leave his precious laboratory to personally organize his evolution ritual. Not even the royal family could bother his father to perform a primary evolution ritual. This fact intrigued her. She wanted to find out a little about this boy.
No matter how much Victoria Albert looked, she did not detect anything out of the ordinary about this boy, this fact left her confused she thought John was a special boy at first sight.
"Prince, young princess, please follow me," Ferdinand and Catherine personally led the father-daughter pair Albert. John took his place next to Ferdinand. Behind Catherine were Felicia and Ceto, and the rest dispersed. John realized a great convenience in this world: even when traveling, there was no need for people to carry luggage; they stored everything in their spatial storage rings.
Inside the castle, Catherine made a point of showing the two best rooms available, one for Prince Albert and one for the young princess.
***
In the room designated for the young princess, she and her father Leonel Albert were having a brief conversation.
"Father, why are we here?" Victoria asked. Leonel Albert looked through the windowsill. "I thought I already told you, we are here to perform a primary ritual of evolution for Lord Fernando's son," Leonel Albert replied.
- Yes, father has said this before, but what I want to know is why? Why would the great Leonel Albert, the greatest researcher of the Ngola kingdom, spend his precious time to perform a mere evolution ritual, I'm confused. — Victoria asked confused, she lay on the soft bed on her back.
"It's simple, you don't need to think much," Leonel Albert said, Victoria tossed and turned in bed, "What do you mean it's simple?" Victoria asked, even more confused.
Leonel Albert sighed, "Fernando is an old acquaintance to whom I owe a great favor, coming to repay this old favor by performing the evolution ritual for his son, simple as that," said Leonel Albert.
"What favor is this, father?" Victoria asked. Leonel got off the windowsill and sat next to his daughter. "Well, if your sister is still alive today, we have Lord Fernando to thank in part," Leonel Albert explained.
Victoria sat down. "Lucira? How could Lord Fernando be responsible for my little sister still being alive? Isn't it your work that has kept Lucira alive to this day?" Victoria asked.
"Yes, it's been my hard work, that's true. However, the higher-level ice cores that have kept the array operational—can you guess where I got them? Not even the royal family could afford so many?" Victoria asked, shocked. "Don't tell me what? It was Lord Ferdinand?"
"You're right, it was Lord Fernando who gave them to me." Victoria's mouth fell open for a moment. "How is that possible? He's not just a lord, how could he get his hands on treasures like that?" Victoria asked, shocked. "I don't know either, and that's not all. Your sister, Reade Dragon, is a Level 3 Superior Being, just like me," Leonel Albert said.
By this point, Victoria was shocked to the core, to say the least. She was also quite curious about the Venhorst family. "This family is full of secrets. If I remember correctly, Lord Fernando purchased a Life Matrix, which was personally brought by my disciple Jeremiah, an envoy from the royal family. Unfortunately, he couldn't give me any more information. Given the time that has passed, I can only deduce that it had something to do with this boy's birth."
— So that's why you decided to come and try to unravel some mystery about this family? — Victoria asked curiously. Leonel Albert smiled, — Well, I can't deny that. I feel like I'm at a dead end with your sister's problem, so I decided to go out for a bit to get some fresh air. Maybe something will happen to me, who knows? — Leonel Albert said.
— that being the case, I'll keep an eye on it — said Victoria, Leonel Albert looked seriously at his daughter, — don't you dare snoop around here, don't forget we're in the castle of two superior beings, not to mention the countless matrices I detected in this castle, — Leonel Albert spoke with seriousness etched on his face.
— Okay, I won't snoop — said Victoria, pouting, — Very well, behave yourself, you should make friends with Lord Fernando's son, maybe you'll find out something through the boy — said Leonel, while stroking his daughter's hair.
— Dad, he's just a child, how could I get anything important out of him? — Victoria asked disgruntled, — He may be a child, but don't forget that it was for him that we are here — said Leonel Albert.
—Okay, I'll get closer to him, but I can't guarantee anything—replied Vitória.
— Very well, I'm going to take a shower — Leonel Albert said and left his daughter's room and headed to his own.
***
John and Fernando were having a pleasant conversation, a father-son moment.
John told Fernando everything that happened in his absence, he told what happened in the Bárbara Bo tribe and the water clan, he also talked about his visits to other regions, his visit to his maternal family.
Fernando also told a little about what he experienced in the capital.
— Dad, how is Grandpa? — John asked his father Fernando, — Your grandfather is fine, he wanted to come to witness your evolution ritual, but he has a lot to deal with in the capital, he wished you good luck and sent a gift — said Fernando.
"That's great. The last time I saw Grandpa, I was 5 years old. I wonder what he's like now. It's been a while. With the institute knocking on the door, I don't know when I'll see Grandpa again." John said with a regretful expression.
— Cheer up, tomorrow will be your evolution ritual, you will be reborn like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon — Fernando said encouraging John.
— I wonder what it will be like? — John asked, Fernando smiled, — It will be mystical, it will be like coming out of your mother's womb again and using your senses for the first time, you will have powers, isn't that the best? — Fernando spoke enthusiastically.
"That makes me very excited about tomorrow," John said, his eyes shining. "Dad, I'm still only 8 years old, I don't meet the evolution requirements yet, won't that cause problems?" John asked.
— A person can only evolve after a minimum of 10 years, that's for sure, but you don't need to worry, that's why I brought the great researcher, Leonel Albert, he can make even a 6-year-old child evolve safely, what about you who are 8 years old, only 2 years away, it will be a piece of cake — said Fernando, stroking John's hair.
— Well, if father says so, then there won't be any problems, — John said confidently, Fernando sat on the bed, — anyway, my son must be confident like his father — Fernando said.
After a moment of fun, Fernando's voice became serious. He looked at John with concern. "Junior, your mother told me that you intend to evolve into a warrior mage. Are you sure about that, son?" Fernando asked seriously.
John nodded in agreement. "Junior, my son, I'm sure your mother has already instructed you on this, but allow me to remind you, a warrior mage is indeed very powerful. Combining the battle prowess of a warrior and the magical power of an elemental mage, it is a power to be reckoned with indeed, and I understand why you chose this path."
Fernando sighed and looked John in the eyes. "In the Ngola kingdom, we only have the first realm of evolution for the warrior mage. You must already know about the realms of evolution, right?" Fernando asked.
John nodded, "There are four realms of evolution in all, in each realm you obtain extraordinary power, the difference between the realms of evolution is enormous, so much so that no one can fight someone from a higher realm," said Fernando.
— Junior, the kingdoms of evolution are as follows: primary kingdom, base kingdom, middle kingdom, and superior kingdom. These are the four kingdoms of evolution. Each kingdom has its own levels. The primary kingdom has 7 levels, the base kingdom has 3 levels, the middle kingdom has 3 levels, and finally, the superior kingdom, the latter having 4 levels. — Fernando explained.
"Tomorrow, you will undergo your first evolution ritual. If successful, you will evolve into a level 1 primary being. Through training, battles, and knowledge, you will advance level after level until you reach level 7. After that, you will need another evolution ritual to become a level 1 base being. When you reach level 4, you will need a ritual to become an average being, and the same for a superior being." Fernando continued explaining.
— unfortunately here in the Ngola kingdom, we don't have rituals for the realms above the primary of a warrior mage, if you just choose the path of a mage like your mother or a warrior like me, it won't be difficult to perform the rituals for you to climb realm after realm until you reach the higher realm and become a superior being — Fernando sighed when he reached this part.
— Junior, you only choose a path of evolution once in your life, there is no room for regret — Fernando warned.
"Father, you don't need to worry. As long as the evolution ritual exists outside the Ngola kingdom, I'm confident I can acquire it. I won't rest until I become a superior being on the path of a mage warrior." John spoke confidently.
John knew that in this world, the evolution path was like classes in RPG games, the word evolution path was similar to the word class in an RPG game, the two words mean the same, from what John researched, not only were the words similar, but the context was the same.
In this world and in RPG games, one can choose a variety of class or path as it is called in this world, just as in the game, a player can only choose one class, in this world a person could only choose one path.
The evolution paths of this world were the same classes in RPG games, they are, Druid, mage, warrior, paladin, barbarian, ranger, amazon, priest, necromancer, shaman, summoner, Simone, dark mage, sorcerer and much more.
Just like in RPG games, certain classes were limited by races, in this world they call it bloodline path and racial path, let's take Isa for example, she is of the werewolf race, due to this race, her evolution path or classes were already defined at birth, but just like in RPG games, certain races like John for example, they had the freedom to choose between a variety of paths or classes.
Continued in the next chapter...