Caedlum's birth was a day of both darkness and light for Patriarch Pakal.
For one, it was the day that marked his wife's inevitable death. She was a simple woman with decent constitution that Patriarch Pakal had chosen among those of this universe. As a Patriarch of a God Clan, women like her were hardly difficult for him to attain. But, he took a liking to her. She was a gentle and reassuring figure in the face of the cards he had been dealt.
However, that day was also a light of hope. Although faith seeds wouldn't be detected from far distances unless they were awakened. If an expert was in close proximity, it was possible to detect even an unawakened faith seed, given that you actively looked for it.
Out of sheer desperation, Patriarch Pakal had fallen into the habit of personally checking every newborn Pakal child. It just so happened that the chosen among them was his own son.
This truth though… Was a double-edged sword.
The day that Caedlum awakened his faith seed, would be the day that the Pakal main branch knew of their survival and their general location. And yet, if they wanted revenge, Caedlum couldn't hide his faith seed forever…
At first, Patriarch Pakal wanted to take his son's faith seed and shatter it. After all, one required a certain blessing in talent to be chosen by a faith seed from birth anyway. That meant that Caedlum would likely be an astounding talent even without his seed.
But the problem with that plan was something that left Patriarch Pakal horrified… Something he didn't have the heart to tell anyone else, but also fueled his will to want to destroy the current Pakal clan as well…
The very same karmic bindings found on Ragnor faith seeds…. Were found on Pakal ones as well…
This only meant a single thing. While Patriarch Pakal was lamenting over the inhumane actions of the Ragnors and their despicable nature, his own clan had been acting in this same way behind their backs!
Truthfully speaking, the Pakals only did this because they were forced into a competition with the Ragnors. If the Ragnors suddenly monopolized the majority of faith seeds in the quadrant, they'd be at a huge disadvantage. This was because even though the Ragnors only had five faith seeds, a single clan despite having more, wouldn't usually manifest more than 3 or 4 in a single generation.
However, this 'excuse' didn't stop Patriarch Pakal from being sick to his stomach. When he thought about all of the innocent lives needed to make what he saw possible, the anger in his heart only burned stronger.
At this point, anyone who was paying attention to the history of this quadrant would have noticed this much earlier. Why? Because around the same time Thor and Vidar died, Asura died at the hands of the Dukes and Duchesses too.
It was no coincidence that all three faith seeds appeared at the same time… They were all tied together by the same death and the same bloody massacres…
When Patriarch Pakal saw this truth, he was at a loss for what to do. Maybe the reason he wanted to save Thor and Vidar now because he saw in them the very same shackles that once bound his own son…
At the time, Patriarch Pakal could only lament his own misfortune. He prepared himself to forget about Caedlum ever having a faith seed, making sure to seal it away so that even his son would never detect it.
However, that was when his wife asked him what was wrong. Her smile was so simple and sweet that it almost undid all of the knots in Patriarch Pakal's heart.
After hearing that her son would be forever shackled, Mistress Pakal paled. Her heart ached, unwilling to have her son share such a fate.
So, she called in her sons. Three in total. One in her arms, and two growing toddlers, one of which was Ire. She spent weeks with them, never taking the time to do anything else. Although this confused Patriarch Pakal, he had no reason to stop it. After all, it was just a mother spending time with her sons.
But then, on one day, that simple woman that Patriarch Pakal had fallen for, said words so profound that they shocked him.
"To wash away karmic strings created by the utmost selfishness… You need karmic strings forged by the utmost selflessness…"
That day was the day Patriarch Pakal ended his wife's life. For the sake of her son's future, she sacrificed everything to buy his freedom.
Fortunately, her simple philosophy worked. Unfortunately, it came at a price even beyond her life.
To extract the essence of a person is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Every time Dyon obtained the essence of an expert, it was through that expert themselves. However, Caedlum's mother was a simple woman. She didn't have a celestial soul to detach from herself to fulfill such requirements. As such, Patriarch Pakal was forced to use the Blood Sacrifice technique on his own wife…
This freed Caedlum from ever having to worry about the karmic ties of his faith seed, letting him have all the time he needed to grow into the man who could take revenge on the clan who did this to his family.
However, it also alerted the Ragnors. The use of such a powerful technique would hardly go unnoticed, especially by someone so familiar with it like Loki.
This started the cascade of events that led to the Legacy World battle Dyon was forced to flee from.
"Do you understand now, Ire? My son." Patriarch Pakal placed his hand on his eldest son's shoulder, a tired look in his murky brown eyes. "There is no need for you to feel this deep seeded loyalty to our clan. You need only feel anger. Be calculative. Be smart. Don't act based on emotion, act on your better judgement. Do you understand?"
Ire was stunned, his eyes glistening in anger. But in the end, how could he not understand?
