System's POV-Chapter 14: The Perfect Scapegoat!
The sound of weapons clashing against each other reverberated inside the training room.
Alessia and Gerald were sparring against each other, and the two were evenly matched—at least for the time being.
That all changed when the beautiful woman smirked and summoned several swords of light that circled around her, forcing her husband to distance himself.
But, that was a mistake.
The swords of light shot toward him like missiles, forcing him to dodge, deflect, and block them.
While he succumbed to this distraction, Alessia managed to close the gap between them, and she placed her sword against her husband's neck, ending the duel.
"You cheated," Gerald said in a bitter tone.
"I did," Alessia admitted. "But it surprised you, right?"
Gerald nodded because this was indeed the case. He had been so used to his wife's fighting style that the moment she changed her approach, he found it hard to counter her moves.
Neither of them unleashed their full powers, not wanting to potentially destroy the Training Grounds and possibly their house as well.
But the power Alessia displayed was enough to convince her husband that she had gotten much stronger after three days of comprehending her new Martial Technique.
"Just how is Zion able to do this?" Gerald asked as he wiped away his sweat using the hand towel that Shasha had given him.
"I asked him this question as well. And do you know what kind of answer he gave me?" Alessia asked back.
"I don't know, but I'm sure you'll tell me."
"You're no fun."
Alessia then glanced at her five-year-old, who was currently playing a game of "Catch Ball" with her youngest daughter, Remi.
Alessia didn't know that Thirteen was already starting his little sister's training at such a young age, allowing Remi to sharpen her senses and improve her reaction time.
"Zion said that he had died momentarily in the hospital and met a God," Alessia replied. "He added that since he was too young, too handsome, and too awesome to die, the God decided to bestow him with knowledge for how to succeed in life. However, he was banned from spreading this knowledge outside of our family."
"… I know that this may sound strange, but I am very inclined to believe this story," Gerald replied.
This was the only reasonable explanation he could accept as to why his son was able to act mature for his age, as well as know things that even they didn't know about.
"Me, too," Alessia admitted. "But he's alive and healthy. That's all that matters. He's still young, so although he lost his memories, he can still create new ones as he grows up."
Gerald nodded. "Well, at least that explains why he had been able to give the three of you these Martial Techniques. By the way, did he mention the Rank of these Techniques?"
"Mythical Rank," Alessia replied in a heartbeat.
"Hahaha! Very funny," Gerald chuckled. "So, what is its real Rank?"
"Mythical."
"… Are you serious?"
Even the Leventis Sword Art was only at the peak of the Gold Grade, which meant that the skill that Alessia and his two children had learned was greater than the ones owned by the Ten Prestigious Families.
What Alessia didn't know was that Thirteen had lied to her.
The techniques he had given his family members were Divine Ranked Martial Techniques.
The only reason why he didn't tell them the truth was for two reasons.
The first one was that he had a feeling that his Mother and Father wouldn't believe him if he were to say that they were now in possession of three Divine Ranked Martial Techniques.
The second reason was for his family's safety.
Currently, the highest known grade for Martial Skills was of the Mythical Rank. If a technique that surpassed that Rank suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it would cause the Five Monarch Clans and the Ten Prestigious Families to target Thirteen and his family.
In order to avoid that issue, he only said that it was of the Mythical Rank.
His Father and Mother were both Wanderers, so the two could simply say that they discovered an Ancient Ruin where they gained these skills as a reward after clearing it.
Although this story was suspicious, there was no other explanation as to how someone like them was able to gain the Martial Techniques that they now possessed.
Fortunately, Thirteen's brother and sister were still young, so they were unable to unleash the full power of their newfound abilities, allowing them to avoid suspicions.
If someone asked how they came into possession of such powerful Martial Arts, he could just chuck the blame to "The One," making the Omnipotent Being the perfect scapegoat!
"I hope The One doesn't make things difficult for him in his First Wandering," Gerald said, feeling uneasy that his five-year-old was using the Omnipotent Being who stood above all Wanderers as a shield to get away with his antics.
"So, are you planning to get a stronger Martial Technique?" Alessia asked.
"I can't," Gerald replied in a heartbeat. "The moment I stop using the Leventis Sword Style is the moment I truly break away from the family. Although I got disowned, I still kept my Family name. Since that is the case, I am expected to carry on the family's fighting style."
Alessia smiled. "Zion had a feeling that you would say that, so he told me to tell you this."
The beautiful woman cleared her throat and tried to imitate her five-year-old's way of speaking.
"Pops, you don't have to change your Fighting Style," Alessia said while trying to use Zion's tone. "What I'm going to give you is the upgraded version of the Leventis Sword Style. It works the same way as your fighting style, but many times better.
"In fact, the moment your family sees this fighting style, all of them will beg you to return to them so that you can teach them all this technique!"
The handsome man frowned before shifting his gaze to his son, who was still playing Catch with his daughter Remi.
"I will be going to Solterra two weeks from now to do a mission," Gerald said. "Will I have enough time to learn it?"
"You will," Alessia assured him. "After all, you are the genius of the Leventis Family that your family failed to rein in, unlike your brothers and sisters."
Gerald sighed after hearing his wife's words.
He was indeed hailed as the genius of the family, which was one of the reasons why his mother insisted that he kept the Leventis name despite being disowned by his father.
"Fine," Gerald replied. "You win. I plan to return home safely to all of you after all."
Alessia's gaze softened as she moved close to her husband to kiss his right cheek.
"You do that," Alessia said softly. "Our kids are still young. They still need their father."
Gerald didn't know that this decision of his would end up saving his life, allowing him to return to his family after barely surviving an assassination attempt made by a mysterious organization that operated in one of the Human Kingdoms of Solterra.