Chapter 211: Taboo Ritual

"What?!!"

Raiden stood up in surprise.

"Calm down, child. It was a long time ago. I’ll tell you what happened."

Raiden sat back down after hearing these words; his face was still full of anger. He had no idea what stealing the bloodline meant, but it didn’t sound like anything good.

"A long-standing family like the Stormwind family has thousands of members in it. There is a main branch, a side branch, an Elder Branch and even more subdivisions. And naturally, where there are men, there will be conflict."

Under the anxious gaze of Raiden, Old Man Tobias paused and picked up his teacup to savour it slowly before he continued speaking.

"Aria was born to that bastard son of mine, the head of the family. No, after what he did, I wouldn’t call that waste of human species my son anymore!! He is just a bastard!!!"

Tobias’s voice was full of anger as he talked about it. The more he talked about it, the stronger his anger got as Raiden started to feel an invisible pressure fall upon himself.

"Grandfather, calm down. It’s okay..." Aria moved to his side and held his hand, consoling him.

After a few moments, the old man became normal again as he let out a weary sigh.

"I am sorry. Where was I?? Oh yeah, we were speaking about that bastard." The old man still gritted his teeth in anger but didn’t flare up this time as he continued the story.

"He is the head of the entire Stormwind family and leader of the house. And since they are part of the main family, the bloodline that flows within them is one of the purest ones out there."

"A few years ago, the Gods themselves blessed our family with a special child. My dear Aria." Tobias’ gaze was full of love as he glanced at her.

"Aria... Was a special child. She loved to read a lot. She was very mischievous and happy, and she lit up the whole room with just her presence. I was very happy to hold her when she was born. I still remember when she was ’this small’. She used to climb up my lap and pull my beard and swing from it. One time, she tried to pee from—"

"Grandpa, stop!! We don’t need to know about that!!" Aria felt mortified. How did this story end up derailing so badly?

"Hahaha, alright. I won’t embarrass you in front of your friend. Where was I? Yeah, Aria was a very special child. She loved nature and didn’t like to fight or train too much. She wanted to grow up and heal the world and help people. Normally that wouldn’t be too big of a problem but..."

Tobias’ gaze turned downcast as he spoke the following words with a heavy heart.

"But fortunately, or in her case, unfortunately for her, she was born with an atavistic bloodline."

"Atavistic Bloodline??" Raiden asked.

"Yes. You do know how humans gain the power of bloodlines, right??" Tobias asked.

"A little. I think it originates from when one of your ancestors becomes a Mythical powerhouse??" Raiden spoke what he knew.

"You, that’s correct, but only half the information. While the Bloodline does originate from a Mythical-tier Battle Master, it is only the strongest Mythical Tiers that are able to infuse their bloodline with powers. And inevitably, as the bloodline passes down to the descendants, it keeps getting diluted and becomes weaker,

"But every once in a while, a unique child is born with the power of Atavistic Bloodline. It refers to those people whose bloodline has somehow traced back their origin and reverted to their ancestors, making their powers surpass all others." Tobias paused in his narration to let that information sink in.

"And you are saying Aria had that kind of power in her Bloodline??" Raiden asked cautiously.

"Yes... That’s why she became the brightest star in the eyes of the whole family. Everyone had the same big expectations from her that she would grow up and lead our family to glory. But when she finally did grow up, she wanted nothing to do with fighting and led a normal, happy life."

"And that... That was her Original Sin." Tobias spoke with a heavy heart.

"How did growing up and not wanting to fight become a sin??" Raiden asked with a frown. He did not agree with this point of view.

"When you are born in power and hold too much power that you cannot control, it becomes a sin in itself. Her sin was that she was born in the main branch of the family, and she had the strongest bloodline. Her sin was that she wasn’t strong enough to protect that power. Her sin was that she wanted to control her own fate without any powers." Tobias’ eyes held a deep sorrow as he spoke those words.

For a moment, a heavy silence fell upon the room as Raiden tried to process these words.

’Her sin was that she wasn’t strong enough, huh?? How accurate it sounds in this broken world.’ Raiden chuckled to himself with a heavy heart.

"So, what happened next??"

"What I’m about to tell you next is the darkest secret of my family, one that can lead to their ruin. I hope it leads to their ruin." Tobias’s voice took a tone of hatred as he spoke, as if he wanted to kill them himself, as an invisible pressure started to fill the room again.

"When it became clear to both families that Aria didn’t want to grow up and fight, they started concocting a dark scheme. Something that is considered the biggest taboo in human history. Something that, if it got out, would ruin the entire reputation of the family and lead them to their deaths."

Tobias took a pause and looked straight into Raiden’s eyes as if he wanted him to commit these next words into his memory.

"They wanted to conduct a Taboo Ritual that would strip her of her Bloodline."