Silence filled the room.
Everyone looked at Valdis with different degrees of shock. Even the ancestors, who are rarely affected by anything, appeared completely stunned.
Suddenly, the second ancestor burst into loud, boisterous laughter.
"I knew it— a holder of a forbidden physique must be extraordinary in some way," he said.
Valdis turned to his father and asked,
"What do the color changes and the rings mean?"
This question snapped Draven out of his thoughts. He looked at Valdis and explained,
"You know how talents are graded, right?"
Valdis nodded.
His father continued, "The rings represent the grades. If only one ring appears, that indicates a low-grade talent for that particular law. If all eight rings appear, it shows the individual possesses a divine-grade talent for that law.
Your talent influences how well you resonate with the laws you are connected to. It also determines how quickly you progress in understanding that law. The lower your talent grade, the harder it will be to advance through the realms."
Valdis's eyes lit up with understanding.
"The colors, on the other hand, represent the laws you have an affinity for. In your case, you have five—something never seen before," Draven said.
"What's the most affinities a person can have?" Valdis asked.
"While there's no set limit on how many affinities one can possess, the ancients capped it at four because of the strain each law puts on the body. That limit might also have been influenced by the fact that the highest recorded number was four. But you've exceeded that, likely due to your special physique. Heavenly physique holders have never been known to follow the norm," Draven replied.
"So, which laws do I have an affinity for?" Valdis asked, his voice calm, but with a hint of excitement beneath the surface.
"The black and red colors indicate your affinities for darkness and blood. Your talents for both are at the supreme grade. These are expected because you're a vampire. Vampires as a race are inherently connected to the laws of blood. Your affinity for darkness comes from being part of the Ebonhart lineage. The same applies to the royal family, the other dukes, and some noble families—all have innate connections to specific laws," Draven explained.
Valdis nodded, already aware that the royal family and the three ducal houses had innate law connections. This was due to ancestors who were at least saint level and had undergone law baptism—an experience saints undergo when they break into the saint realm. This baptism makes them physical embodiments of the laws they've understood, imprinting these laws into their flesh and blood, which can be passed down to their offspring, strengthening their connection.
However, this imprint diminishes over generations unless the ancestor reached the divine realm. At that level, the law imprints carry a hint of the ancestor's divinity, allowing them to endure across generations without fading.
This is why the royal family and the four ducal houses remain at the top. Though they haven't produced a divine realm powerhouse in recent centuries, they have produced numerous saints within that period.
"You also have a supreme-grade talent for spatial laws," Draven added.
Hearing this, Valdis's eyes widened in shock. He understood what having an affinity for a supreme law meant.
"The last two color changes represent fire and destruction..." Draven paused, both he and Valdis stunned.
Spatial and destruction laws are supreme laws, and only a few have any connection to them. In the kingdom, only the royal family has a connection to a supreme law, which cements their position at the top.
Having a connection to two supreme laws is incredible. Even if your resonance with them is low-grade, you can still use them to enhance your other affinities.
Draven took a deep breath and continued, "Your last two affinities are at the divine level."
Valdis's mind exploded; his eyes widened as if they might pop out.
"D-Divine...?" he stammered, voice barely above a whisper. His tongue felt useless. That grade had only ever been a dream.
"Well, that concludes this evaluation. Let's move on to the next," the first ancestor said, breaking the silence and causing everyone to snap out of their thoughts.
Valdis also came back to himself and began walking toward the last device— the Blood Purity Crystal.
As he approached, his blood grew restless again, but he ignored it this time and kept walking. Soon, he stood in front of the device.
He noticed a small blade beside the bowl.
"Use the blade to draw blood and pour it into the bowl. The device will do the rest," the first ancestor said.
Without hesitation, Valdis took the blade, cut his palm, and let the blood flow into the tiny bowl.
After a few seconds, he removed his hand. Everything remained silent, except for a faint hum from the device, which soon ceased.
Suddenly, a disk lit up. On it, twenty tiny orbs split into two rows of ten. Nine orbs in the top row glowed red, while seven in the bottom row glowed yellow.
The room grew silent again.
"So he has a source bloodline as well. At this point, I'm not surprised," Grand Elder Mircalla said. She then turned to Elanor, who was still in a trance-like state, and spoke, snapping her out of it.
"I'm sure this has something to do with your lineage. Producing three top-tier talents, two of them outright monsters, has never been seen in the Ebonhart House," she said.
Meanwhile, the second ancestor's figure vibrated.
"Good, good, good," he said, laughing loudly.
"A source bloodline hasn't been seen in a few centuries, but even then, a blood purity of ninety-seven is extraordinary," the third ancestor added.
Valdis looked at his father for an explanation. His father nodded and explained:
"The red orbs represent major milestones in bloodline purity while the yellow ones indicate minor milestones. Each red orb equals a ten percent advancement; each yellow, one percent," he said.
Valdis turned back to the disk. "Ninety-seven," he muttered.
Immediately, he called out to Malrik:
"Big brother, you've been recorded with the highest blood purity level in the last millennia. What level did you reach?"
Malrik chuckled awkwardly, ran his hand through his hair, and said,
"It's not anything special. I got a blood purity of just ninety-three percent."
As soon as he finished speaking, he sensed several pairs of eyes on him. He had more to say but chose to remain silent.
"Bloodlines above ninety-five are called source bloodlines—those closest to the progenitors' blood."
"That grants access to vampire transformations and exclusive power boosts," he added.
Hearing this, Valdis began contemplating many things, just before a cold, sweet voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"Potential is potential. If news of this gets out, people who don't want you to grow might try to stop you. So, if this evaluation gives you pride or power, erase that feeling. In front of powerhouses like us, you're only a pebble on the ground," Isolde said, releasing a faint aura that enveloped him.
Valdis felt cold and sweaty at the same time, as if he was being watched by some dangerous beast, he could hear his heart pounding in his chest loud and clear. Before he could fully process the moment, the aura disappeared. After her aura vanished, Valdis noticed all the hair on his body stood straight as proof that what he felt hadn't been an illusion.
Isolde seemed harmless, but her aura told a different story—such a presence can only be gained through killing many people.
Today, Valdis learned his first important lesson— not everything beautiful is harmless.