Devourer's Legacy: I Regressed With The Primordial Crest
Chapter 75: The Silent Monastery (2)

Chapter 75: The Silent Monastery (2)

Lord Augustus left the room, giving Renard and Hobbren privacy to discuss their business. Although he was curious about what they needed to talk about, he didn’t make things difficult for his grandson.

There was silence between Renard and Hobbren for some time before Renard finally started speaking.

"Do you know anything about the Silent Monastery?" Renard asked.

"Silent Monastery? Is it some kind of religious house? I’ve never heard of it," Hobbren answered after thinking for a moment.

"Well, that makes sense. Not many people who know about that place are still alive."

Hobbren raised his eyebrow, clearly having questions about how Renard knew about it then. But he didn’t ask and just listened.

"How should I explain this..." Renard said carefully. "The Silent Monastery is a hidden facility run by House Aster. It’s located at the easternmost side of the continent, right along the borders with the Barbarian territories."

He paused to let that information sink in before continuing.

"The Silent Monastery is like a training center, but not for warriors or beast masters. It’s for young people who are being forced to learn magic."

"As you know, House Aster specializes in magic."

Hobbren’s ears perked up at that word.

Magic.

A completely different path from the Zone system that most people used. Very few people in the world practiced magic because it was incredibly difficult to understand, and the methods were completely different from normal cultivation.

When you used essence normally, it strengthened your body and, based on certain conditions, people could advance to higher zones. This made their bodies stronger and improved their Blood Crests. The Zone system depended entirely on Blood Crests and the abilities that came from them.

But magic was completely different!

Unlike Blood Crests, which were inherited and awakened naturally, magic had to be learned through years of study and dangerous experimentation.

It was an incredibly hard path, but it could also be very rewarding if you survived the training.

Once someone mastered the use of essence to cast magic spells, they became quite powerful in ways that Blood Crest users couldn’t match.

The method worked by creating rings of essence around the heart instead of storing essence in the normal vessels throughout the body. Magicians called these rings "Circles."

The strength of a magician was decided by how many circles they could maintain around their heart. It started with novice 1-Circle mages and went all the way up to grandmasters with 8 Circles. No one had ever managed to reach beyond 8 Circles, so that was considered the absolute limit of magical power.

There were many advantages to learning magic instead of relying on Blood Crests.

First, magicians weren’t limited by the potential of their Blood Crest. Someone born with a weak or common-rank crest could still become incredibly powerful through magic.

Second, they could learn as many different spells as their mind could handle. Blood Crest users were usually stuck with whatever abilities their crest provided.

Third, they could use many different types of power. Fire spells, ice magic, healing, illusions—whatever they studied and mastered. Blood Crests usually specialized in just one area.

But despite all these advantages, very few people chose to pursue magic. That was because learning magic required some very specific things that most people didn’t have.

You needed a strong mind capable of understanding complex theories and calculations. Magic wasn’t just about having power—you had to understand exactly how and why each spell worked.

More importantly, you needed a powerful heart capable of withstanding the pressure of the circles. Creating rings of essence around your heart was incredibly dangerous. If your heart wasn’t strong enough, the circles could crush it or tear it apart from the inside.

The House of Aster called this combination of mental strength and physical endurance the

"Heavenly Magic Physique." Unfortunately, very few people were born with both requirements.

"So House Aster created the Silent Monastery to scout people from all around the continent who might have this special physique," Renard continued.

"Well, at least at the start, it was just scouting and voluntary training. But as time passed by... it changed into something much worse."

Hobbren’s face darkened as he sensed where this was going.

"You see, most people didn’t want to learn something so complex and dangerous. They preferred to stick with their Blood Crests, which were much safer and easier to understand. Even the small number of people who did want to learn magic often ended up dying or being permanently injured during the Circle cultivation process."

Renard’s voice became grimmer. "Creating the first circle around your heart is incredibly painful. Many people’s hearts simply can’t handle the pressure, and they die on the table. Others survive the first circle but get permanent heart damage that makes them weak for the rest of their lives."

"House Aster received a lot of criticism and backlash for these deaths and injuries. Eventually, they were forced to close down the Silent Monastery... at least publicly."

"But..." Renard paused, meeting Hobbren’s eyes. "They didn’t actually stop. They just moved the operation underground."

"They started secretly kidnapping children who showed signs of having the Heavenly Magic Physique. Instead of asking for volunteers, they began taking people by force and training them using extreme methods."

Hobbren’s hands clenched into fists. "You’re saying they’re torturing children?"

"The process of creating circles is already dangerous for adults," Renard explained. "For children, it’s even worse. But House Aster discovered that younger bodies are more adaptable. If a child survives the first few circles, they’re more likely to be able to handle additional ones later."

"So they take kids who have the right physique and force them through the circle creation process, over and over again, until either the child becomes a powerful magician or..."

"Or they die," Hobbren finished, his voice deadly quiet.

"Yes. And your daughter... she’s one of the people being held and trained there right now."

Hobbren was silent for a long moment, processing this information. When he finally spoke, his voice was filled with cold rage.

"Do you know the exact location of the place?"

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