"I will be keeping it," Ishtag said to the Water Celestial.
"Do as you like."
"Thank you, dear ancestor."
The Water Celestial looked away from him as if saying, "I don't remember having a descendant as shameless and savage as you."
Ishtaq shook his head at him. 'You can't blame me. I definitely inherited these traits from my mother's side of the family."
His mother was a female siren.
Ishtaq put some seals on the coffin and grabbed it. Then, he transformed into his human form and floated down the air.
"This trip didn't turn out to be fruitful." A wandering knight sighed.
"Although Chaos got away, we at least got this." Ishtaq patted the coffin. "Take a good look at it. It's definitely a first-rank runic item."
After landing on the ground, he reunited with his clansmen.
Badulf and Arnard were his nephews. He was the brother of their father, who died when Chaos came to kill him.
"Uncle, what are you doing here?" Arnard asked him.
Ishtaq pointed at the Water Celestial and said, "He will explain it to you."
The ignorant one of the two brothers turned to him. Arnard was the only one who was kept in the dark. Badulf knew everything about the Water Celestial's plan.
"He came here for two reasons. The first one is to teach Chaos a lesson." From his words, one can infer that he never expected Chaos to be caught or killed. "The second one is to take your son as his student."
Arnard jaw-dropped, "He will be teaching my son?"
"What kind of reaction is that?!" Ishtaq slapped the back of his head. This one hit sent Arnard all the way back to the County. "I may not look responsible, but I am quite good at teaching!"
Arnard kicked up a cloud of dust as he ran up to them in a flash. It seemed like he was never slapped away like a bug.
"Damien is no longer a ticking time bomb. I used this chance to reduce his divine power to 0. He will regenerate it in the future and establish a connection with the divine stars, but by then, he will be fully grown and have a constitution that will help him process it. So there's nothing to worry about even if he leaves the County." the water celestial explained.
Actually, his extensive plan consisted of several goals. The first one was naturally to foil Chaos's plans. The second one was to clean Damien from divine power, which was like poison to his young body. The third one was to let him gain access to his innate powers and set him free from the restriction of the Nine draconian seals. The fourth and fifth one was to teach Chaos a lesson and see if Death would send someone to save him. And like he guessed, Death really did.
"It isn't easy to get a powerful constitution, and one that can process divine power must at least be sky-rank." Arnard asked, "How are you going to give him that?"
"Brat, who taught you alchemy?" Ishtaq questioned him.
"You," Arnard answered.
Ishtaq showed him a bag. It had a few holes in it. Maybe he made it by stitching up his old and dirty socks. Out of it, a few fruits and herbs were sticking out. Arnard hadn't seen them before, but he was certain that they were high-leveled.
"I already have the materials and the method to help him evolve his physique. It will just take several years to give it to him." Ishtaq revealed.
As they floated back to the County, Arnard turned his head to the Water Celestial and asked, "Was this what you were planning from the beginning?"
He nodded, "Making him officially work under your brother is just a cover-up."
"He will learn under Uncle and will formally join the Wandering Knight organization after he awakens. This way, even if the prime minister went against him, he would only be lifting a rock to smash his foot." Badulf said the rest.
The Wandering Knight organization was a neutral party. But it had immense power. If the court was said to be divided into four parts, then it could be said to be one of the parts. It didn't interfere with politics, but there's no telling how many members of this organization were in the court and serving the Emperor. The previous prime minister went against them, and as a result, all his crimes were dug up, and he was brutally dragged through the streets of the Capital City and executed along with his two-faced family. After that, no one dares to offend them.
"Actually, I came here for three reasons." Ishtaq suddenly stopped and looked at Arnard with sharp eyes. There was not a hint of playfulness to be found on his face. He was serious as he said, "The state preceptor has an important message for you."
"Let's hear it out."
"What's written in the children's book is not a bedtime story but a prophecy that's bound to happen. The Empire has many hidden dragons and crouching tigers, but are they really united? You know it better than I do that they are not. The people the emperor can trust are really few. So please find a way to overcome your limits and return to His Majesty's side. You don't necessarily need to undergo the fourth awakening of your soul-herding ability to do so."
Ishtaq relayed it to him, and Arnard's expression changed.
"I will set out in search of it tomorrow," he said after a moment.
It was at this moment that he decided to seek a different way to overcome his limitation, which led him to lose all his hair in the future.
...
Damien accepted Ishtaq as his master. Vivia was naturally reluctant, but under everyone's consistent nagging and begging, she reluctantly agreed to it.
Ishtaq took him away. It was only after that Damien realized why this Grand Uncle of his was the black sheep of his family.
The next one will be the last about Damien's past!
