Despite being Novice Eye Kings, the strength of Sigrid and Aren was very high for Rank 3 life forms. They were able to face Peak Rank 3 life forms without a problem, even if they had powerful bloodlines or expensive armament.
However, there was dissatisfaction in Ezequiel's eyes as he analyzed the duo, especially when he saw how complacent they were with their new power.
Sigrid and Aren were accustomed to the cold attitude of their trainer, and they remained quiet as they waited for his instructions.
Despite the hellish training they had to endure, there was no resentment in the heart of the Eye Holders. One of the reasons is that they were mature enough to understand that power is absolute, and getting angry was not a luxury they could give themselves when they faced the Supreme Neo-Demon. Even now, they felt the difference between their power and Ezequiel's was so large that he could kill them with a single attack.
The emotions of the duo were also influenced by the fact they were not being forced to do something against their will. The hate they have for the Sage is immense, and there is almost nothing they would not do to get revenge.
"You have fulfilled the requirement my Master set for you two, but I consider that your power is barely sufficient to obtain a Tier 3 completion in the Holy Trial." Ezequiel's words were not baseless conjectures.
When the Neo-Demon was given this task, he made sure to obtain all the information he could about the Holy Trial and its most exceptional champion in the last thousands of years. He did that to see if the power of the duo would be high enough to fulfill the goal Zatiel gave them and also guide their training so they could display their greatest strength in the trial.
Even though the Holy Trial was sacred for the Eye Dynasty, the information about the challenges those with Emperor bloodline would have to face was not overly hidden. There are few things the Daybreak Clan can not learn about the Magi World thanks to its wealth and connections with the Scientia Kingdom.
"For you to understand how difficult the Holy Trial is, I will tell you about the talent of the greatest champion." Ezequiel's face was serious, and you could feel in his voice a sliver of admiration.
Ezequiel's standards were extremely harsh, and he considered his capabilities barely adequate, despite being virtually invincible on his Rank, no matter the opponent.
In his eyes, the aptitudes of individuals with Law bloodlines were nothing great. Even Dante, with his bloodline and Mind Force, did not impress him and only achieved what was expected of him.
He did not evaluate the talent of an individual based on his battle power. To him, the only ones who deserved to be called talented were those who were able to achieve a greater strength than their natural gifts allowed them to have. It was this mentality that always pushed him to tirelessly train and break his limits.
Other than Zatiel and Heinz, there was only one person the Supreme Neo-Demon had met that he considered worthy of the title genius, and that was Gwyn Xinter.
Of course, there were those like the Second Prince of the Scientia Kingdom, Gabriel, whom Ezequiel could not measure, so he did not assume anything about them.
As for Sophia, the Supreme Neo-Demon found her scheming tactics astonishing, and he truly hoped that when she came out of her egg, she could amaze him. Other than his lover, the ones he was closer were Zatiel and Sophia. This was because of the relationships they formed as they faced their challenges when they were weak and alone.
Sigrid and Aren were surprised when they heard Ezequiel speak about Gwyn, and they understood by the seriousness of his voice that this was important.
"I met Gwyn Xinter when I was at Rank 1, and he was a Novice Eye Lord. Back then, he was already powerful enough to defeat a Master Rank 2 Magus with ease. However, that did not impress me because when I entered Rank 2 and still had an Emperor bloodline, I was already powerful enough to kill Rank 3 life forms, while he could only escape from them. The reason I can say with honesty that I feel admiration for him is that unlike me, he obtained everything he has with his own hands and thrived despite the great adversities he had to face." Ezequiel disregarded the surprised look in the Eye Holders and continued to speak.
"He was born in a simple family. His parents were Eye Masters with a Rank 2 bloodline, but he was blessed since a mutation occurred during his conception. When he was four years old, the power of his bloodline awoke, and the head of the small city in which they lived determined that he had a Peak Emperor bloodline.
This should have been a turning point for the Xinter family, but unfortunately, they were part of the Blood Eye Clan. A few years before Gwyn's birth, the Patriarch of the clan had a son who was born with a King bloodline, Tritus. The boy was pampered and always told how he was the greatest talent of the clan, so when the news that someone with an Emperor bloodline was living under their ruling reached him, jealousy filled his heart.
Things would have been different if Gwyn was a true member of the Blood Eye Clan, but his family and the rest of the people in his city were just part of a group that shared no bloodline with them. They lived under the clan's protection and paid tribute for it.
Tritus and his assistant assaulted the city where Gwyn lived and butcher everybody. The only reason Gwyn was able to survive was due to the sacrifice of the people close to him that gave their lives so he could escape.
When the elders of the Blood Eye Clan found out what happened, they were angry. Their anger was not because Tritus killed the entire city, but because he left too many clues of his involvement and allowed Gwyn to escape.
The elders of the clan planned to nurture the boy with an Emperor bloodline into a weapon for the clan. Of course, they would have made sure he would never reach a level in which he could get out of their control. But thanks to Tritus' actions, their machinations would never succeed.
They could not leave a poisonous snake with such a great talent alive, so the Patriarch and elders put an immense bounty on Gwyn's head and charged him with killing members of the Blood Eye Clan to improve his power.
Anyone with a brain could see that the charges were totally fictional, but unfortunately for the small Gwyn, might makes right. He was talented, but no one would offend a clan with an Eye Tyrant, for a child who may die before reaching Rank 4, especially when there was a great reward for his head.
Gwyn's bloodline hid him from his enemies' scrying abilities, but he knew it was a matter of time until they would find him. He was a four years old child with no possessions other than the clothes he wore stained with the blood of his family, who was chased by Soul Forging existences. He should have died, but he refused to give up and embarked on a journey through a land full of people who wanted to kill him until he reached the only power that accepted and protected people like him. At the age of five, he joined the Death Army of the Holy Clan."
When Aren and Sigrid heard the last part, they were utterly shocked. They know very well what the Death Army of the Holy Clan was and could not believe that a five years old joined it and survived.
The Death Army was a force composed mostly of death row criminals of the Eye Dynasty and people running from enemies they could not survive. Anyone could enter this army, and not only their crimes would be forgiven, but they also would obtain the protection of the Holy Clan. Anyone who harmed a member of the Death Army without reason would have their families killed.
Of course, there was a price to pay for that protection. The members of the Death Army had to take dangerous missions, most time acting as cannon fodder in World Wars. The mortality rate in each mission is 99%, and murder between soldiers inside the army to steal their wealth was not uncommon.
The Holy clan protected them from external forces but made nothing about infighting. Actually, they fomented that behavior between those in the same Rank. That way, they obtained powerful warriors while eliminating the weak.
There was only one way to obtain your freedom back. Once you complete one hundred missions, you become a Captain of the Death Army. After that, you no longer have to take part in the missions of the army and still enjoy the protection of the Holy Clan.
