They soon approached one of the administrative buildings. There are three of them each with control of a portal that grants access to the different sections of the academy. These three buildings take care of all the external issues of the academy. It is where they will register and be granted access. The building in the middle is the one that deals with the secondary stage of training.
“You follow your elder brother’s orders in there, Okay?” Mihila said to the kids.
“Why? I thought you said we should stay away from him because he is a bad influence on us.” Litori asked.
“He is also smart. He knows how to get his way. You should also follow him around and apologize when he says something offensive. That mouth of his is going to get him into trouble.” Mihila answered. Soverick rolled his eyes.
“If you say so.” Litori agreed before she glanced at Soverick to see his reaction to the arrangement. Only soverick could reject a suggestion from their mother and get away with it, he had done so more than once. Litori was surprised that he didn’t object which made her relax subconsciously.
But Ghaster refused outright. “I don’t care. I am not following him. Why is it that no one gets to follow me?”
“You are stupid, yet strong. Litori is intelligent and also strong. I’m better than the two of you in every way. So I get to be the boss.” Soverick said.
“I haven’t admitted defeat.” Ghaster refused to back down.
“What does your refusal to admit defeat matter? You can’t defeat me and the two of us can’t last a minute against the eldest even when we fight two against one. No one wants to follow a weak guy like you.” Litori jeered at Ghaster.
It didn’t matter that Soverick was the eldest, only Strength mattered. Apart from the fact that they were born together and were triplets, even if they were siblings born several years apart it still didn’t matter. In a society where the ties of family and bloodline are confusing because of long longevity, only strength determined seniority not your time of birth. It is common for an uncle to be younger than his niece and this is just the simplest case. The fact that you were born earlier means that you have an advantage of time, it doesn’t make you the senior. Battle sage monkeys have always cared about battle strength since the era of origin waters. The strongest monkey got the tallest tree, it was like so back then as it is right now.
Soverick has long proved his strength to them. He had engaged in several spars with them in the name of helping them get stronger during the week of waiting. Mihila encouraged the spars to gauge how much progress they had made. She was especially focused on determining how strong Soverick was. Ghaster had accepted immediately, he claimed he would be the one to tutor Soverick instead. The only thing that their spars taught Soverick is that Ghaster could take a beating. Soverick was not doing it out of some good intention, he was simply keeping his promise to Hadrick about helping Ghaster awaken his soul. The intense agitation from numerous defeats helped him to boost his awakening progress. And yet, Soverick had held back from injuring them. He was just playing around with them which probably made their defeat more humiliating.
Ghaster’s face flushed due to his frustration and anger. His bloodline made him easily riled up and he would have fought Litori’s here and now if he had any chance of winning. He had to admit that Litori’s was strong. She possessed an edge in brute strength while he had the advantage in speed. All in all, they were evenly matched, it was not surprising, they both have top-grade talents and awakened bloodline of high purity. What was outrageous is the fact that their eldest could easily wipe the floor with them. The eldest outclassed them in speed and strength. The memory of those spars made him sense that the eldest was far ahead of them in skill.
That’s why Ghaster is looking forward to the training he will undergo in the battle academy. With it, he will be able to hone his battle techniques and become skilled enough to finally defeat Soverick.
Litori might have been right but he still wouldn’t admit to it. There was no way he would follow Soverick. That would only make Soverick aware of his strength and progress. It will reduce his chances of a comeback.
So he shook his head and said. “I don’t care. I am not following him. I have my plans.”
Litori’s looked at Mihila for her response. Mihila usually dealt with insubordination by releasing her pressure on them. The pressure of her mind will act as a force that tries to compress their body. She will continue doing so until they finally agree.
Mihila’s glanced at Ghaster who was giving her the cute puppy eyes and said. “Fine, you can do whatever you want in there. I’m not going to be around anyways. But I’ll be checking on your progress. You know you will still come out. I’ll be waiting for you back then.”
“Yes.” Ghaster pumped his fist in excitement.
Mihila smiled at the sight. She found Ghaster much to her liking more than the other two. He is her favorite child. He was adorable when he is being stubborn. She has punished him the most because he refused to back down without the use of force. His stubbornness reminded her of Ghoto. Litori on the other hand is Ghoto’s favorite, she is caring and always concerned about him. They hit off. Soverick might not be the favorite of anyone, but he is undeniably reliable. Ghoto and Mihila can be comfortable leaving the two younger ones in the care of their eldest. Soverick doesn’t care about being anyone’s favorite anyways, he has made it very clear through his words and actions.
Kayla watched the family interaction with longing. She missed her family. The sight of the bickering siblings reminded her of her own siblings. Her family branch is led by their ancestor who is the only transcendent in the family. Becoming a transcendent is very difficult. There is a massive Gulf between an ascendant and a transcendent. They are very rare in families without a bloodline to help them.
There are three levels of bloodlines. The low-grade bloodline is gotten from a transcendent ancestor. Such a bloodline will assist in becoming a mana entity and nothing more. The High-grade bloodline is derived from a titan of law ancestor and will assist in becoming a transcendent. The next grade and the greatest of all is the Royal bloodline which will assist in becoming titans of law. The direct children of Origin gods can even become Sovereigns with utmost certainty.
Kayla is related to Mihila through the main family which is headed by Mihila’s father. Mihila’s father is a sovereign of law much older than Tandrak. He is the source of their High-grade bloodline and the backbone of the family. Their entire family doesn’t have a single titan until recently with Mihila’s breakthrough. If he dies then the family might fall apart. Their status will fall at least. If he becomes an origin god, their unimpressive family will become a bloodline family. Such is the distinction between the power of bloodlines.
Kayla doesn’t have any bloodline, low grade, or otherwise. The bloodline had long thinned out before she was born. Her pursuit of transcendence is why she left her family to stay with Mihila. Mihila’s immediate family members have all died apart from her father. And the same thing will happen to her family too.
The small nuclear family that Mihila’s father started has ballooned in size over the years to create Kayla’s. That’s how growth works, but only transcendents can trace the family ties for more than an origin cycle. So even though she misses her family she has to endure it for now and hope they can also achieve transcendence so that they can spend more time together in the future. Transcendents used to be at the top of the plane but now, only transcendents can guarantee their lives to any extent in the plane.
Things here in the city aren’t bad. The mana here is off the charts. This is a city that transcendents will like to be in. She had tried to overcome her shyness to interact with Ghoto’s family. Ghaster and Litori made it easier for her to open up. Ghoto was also accommodating. It made things easier for her and she had been making progress in her effort, but Mihila’s presence made her regress. There’s something about Mihila that just makes her feel like prey. Kayla found it unnerving being around Her.
She has a mana body and a somewhat powerful divine sense. It wasn’t anything much compared to that of a transcendent who could even sense the laws of the world. She can only sense mana at best but to a sufficiently high enough degree. Her senses always pick up on the activation of surrounding mana every time Mihila moves. It’s like Mihila’s body is about to start a supermassive spell, one so powerful that her instincts are screaming to her to escape for her life. But then Mihila’s body gives up halfway and lets the ocean of mana go. It happens again and again and it terrifies Kayla in more ways than one. It’s like riding a rollercoaster that you know is unsafe and can crash at anytime.