The God of Jesters
Chapter 371 - 6.10.1 Don’t concern over the dead.

Chapter 371: 6.10.1 Don’t concern over the dead.

Since the return of Mehmet’s war fortress, normalcy has returned to the colony.

People seemed happy on the surface. Walking and talking while they were employed for reconstruction work for the factories. With the exception of a few odd incidents that left the army baffled.

"Another one?" In front of them were scathing words written about the military, their cruelty, and the names of those who have died.

"The bastards, do they think we enjoyed it?" One of the soldiers cursed, while his companions just shook their heads and went on to clean the graffiti.

It was then that Amir’s jeep moved past the graffiti and earned his interest. "New one?" He said, looking at some names as well as the number next to the name. ’Children.’ Before he shook his head and turned to his teacher.

"Instead of war, we should deal with the internal issues firsthand." He made a comment, to which David his combat art teacher shook his head in denial. "That is the only way mortals can struggle but that would never amount to much. The real strength comes from within." David said, tightening his fist.

And in a way, he was not wrong.

This whole state was sort of like a prison for mortals, even moving between small villages or towns was made hard for commoners, and it was mostly the military moving utilizing such services. Leaving the rest of mortals to be constrained to the place they were born on, or brought to.

The difficulty of transferring out of the Planc colony was even more astringent. Once a worker is brought here, it’s almost impossible for them to leave this place through normal means.

’No matter how much a fish struggles in a bucket, it will always end up on a skillet.’ The best course of action for Amir was to not think too much.

The mortals were something akin to renewable resources. The only value they held was to be exploited by their country. The only reason they lived was for their country.

So why care about them? He was never going to be part of them, he was never going to be like them ever again.

’I need to abandon my past self... I am not a commoner anymore, I have risen up above the likes of them. I am a higher being, they exist to serve me.’

He said, overlooking the children playing on the streets, before a hint of nostalgia clouded his mind.

’Weakness... I am weak.’

******

"Depending on the path one takes on their journey of transcendence, they have two choices."

"Follow the blood of origin, or breakthrough using your own will..."

David did his explanation in the training center, speaking about differences in breakthroughs.

Ignoring some exceptions and special cases, the Knights can walk on two paths. The one with blood concentration is the easiest path to follow and helps one obtain similar talents to that of their bloodline totem.

The second path is that of self-cultivation, which brings some mutations to the bloodline talents of a person, bringing some variety among the same bloodline.

But generally, the so-called mutation is not that noticeable in most cases. What’s noticeable is the "rights" one obtains by making the blood their own. "There are various names among different tribes. From Divine strength to spiritual energy."

"But among the military, its name is just Aura. It’s the divine rights one obtains by walking off a harder path."

Knights with Aura were as rare as Grandmaster Knights. But of course, they would be, for they had turned the borrowed strength from their blood into their own. Embarking on a new path of self-discovery whose potential is limited by the talent of a Knight.

"The combat arts I showed before use the very same aura to function. Which means, you have to first master Aura and how to drag it out of your body."

The lessons began as usual. But unlike before, Amir has some interest in these new kinds of teachings.

Aura is such a wonderful concept. It felt like a kind of energy similar to magic. But in truth, it was an energy extracted from one’s own body, unlike magic, which is extracted from the atmosphere.

Then was how to use it.

"The Bloodcrow method you used before was for universal use, the breathing methods would need modification, as your blood is not the same as it used to be." This was the key. Most of the time when people walk on the path of self-cultivation, due to lack of knowledge, even when entering Grandmaster rank, they are never able to unlock Aura due to this very reason.

A new path requires new practice to show its full effects. So Amir has to modify it to suit his own talents.

"First of all, please use your bloodline technique."

Amir did as he was asked. His nails turned red as small drops of blood floated from them. All of which ended up turning into black crows with red eyes.

"You speak of changes, but I don’t believe my bloodline ability is much different than the one that was written on notes."

"The one you read just gives a general description so that the descendants don’t get confused," David explained while he looked at the crows with interest.

But Amir on the other hand shook his head. "I have met some other members of the royal family, all of them carried the same crow as me."

"I don’t think Prince looked harder," David said, pointing at the crow perched on his shoulder. "The blood crow got their names not only due to them birthing from blood but also due to the red hue their feathers carried."

"But yours?" It’s pitch black with only its eyes being red... "

"So mine is the color black? What does that entail?"

"Nothing much besides confirming that Prince did walk on the path of self-cultivation... then next would be to know how some changes on the Knights practiced method affects this crow."

"A trial and error? It’s a bit archaic."

"Don’t be scared young prince, it won’t be as long as you might be thinking... your blood crow comes under a summoning kind of bloodline, so it’s easy to notice changes. But for bloodlines that are simpler, noticing such changes is harder. In the majority of cases, few are ever able to find the true path in their practice."

"There is a reason why Aura users are as rare as Grandmasters," David said with some pride, as the air around him danced, showing his control of aura.

"Is it so?" Amir sighed, knowing full well that it might take longer than David was claiming.

But no worries, it’s not like he was going to stay here and train for long.

A war was brewing on the horizon, and all it needed was a spark.

******

Mehmet’s war fortress was on the seas of Wortham, floating over the wreckage of what seemed to be a ship of sorts.

"We didn’t find anything of value, besides a few hollow tubes... They seemed to be used as carriers for the Iron Tongues." Iron tongue was the name given to the weapons that Yethel used, by Cynark, considering they were still not aware of what they truly were.

"No magical signatures in them as well?"

"None, they are of mortal creation."

Frustration and a hint of anger filled the young man’s face. "The audacity of that woman has turned greater... She needs to learn the difference in our strength." This was none other than Amir’s grandfather who had joined the fortress after having an important talk with his grandson.

"Deimos, don’t be led by your emotions. It’s what she wants." Said an even younger man in an old tone. But Deimos didn’t dare to argue with this young man, for he was the god of the Bloodcrow family, Duke Wortham, who had come to the fortress for a visit after learning that they had found the wreckage of the iron tongue carrier.

"I apologize, I am just frustrated over my own incompetence."

"No one could have expected such an attack. No one expected a mortal weapon to carry such strong firepower. So blaming yourself is foolish." Wortham said, looking at the wreckage down below. "Didn’t you say that you found signs of explosions in between the two locations?"

At Deimos’ agreement, Duke Wortham continued. "From my perspective, this was just a test on their side as well as a warning to us. They are showing us what they are capable of."

"But considering Yethel didn’t own up to their crime, it would mean they still have some reservations, they might still be weak, and this act is nothing more than a scare tactic to buy more time." Duke assessed the situation to the best of his ability.

Fighting with that accursed woman for so long, he had learned what kind of individual she was, even though the two had never met. It’s why he was able to read in between of this event.

"What about the Rat King? He might have led this attack?"

"Ho? Do you think this might be the Rat King’s decision? A being that didn’t exist in our knowledge until a few months ago?"

"..."

"Don’t worry, the Rat King is as his name suggests, a king of rats. He is not the king of humans who can lead such an attack. He just serves the person who ordered this attack." Duke explained, reading the situation clearly to the best of his ability. And who would have thought, he was partially right?

"Don’t concern yourself with him. I have ordered someone to take care of him."

"Who are you speaking about Uncle?"

"A totem."