Chapter 3 - Holocron and City in the Skies (Patreon)

"You returned faster than I thought... and your Aura is almost intact, and by the way, it was a good fight."Maschenny commented as if she already anticipated this outcome, though he couldn't really tell if she knew that he would win or if she was just betting on it. Either way, slaughtering one's way through the horde of more than five hundred Grimm wasn't something that D-Rank Huntsmen could usually do."Now that we are safe... for some time, care to explain some things to me that I am too lazy to search through on that fancy shmancy device?"He asked her many things to her irritation, because he would ask mundane things, and she would answer, but that was his way of probing for information and analyzing her personality to learn more about her.Ardyn Izunia was a notorious schemer who plunged the entire world into war and managed to rise to the position of Chancellor of the Niflheim Empire. After Maschenny explained to him the value of the Nuclei that he obtained and the value of the currency, he was pretty satisfied.It seemed that his initial guess was right, and the buying strength of the Lien was high. Well, it was a global currency, because apparently all nations in the world used this currency for several centuries already for much easier commerce.Only some really distant settlements that were not located on the four major continents did not use Lien; instead, they used raw materials as currency and operated on the principles of exchange and barter."Also, with the number of the Grimm you killed, you are guaranteed to obtain the citizenship of the Dominion and also apply for the 3rd-Class of Knighthood, the Grand Knight Title... if you were stronger, then you could apply for the Castellan Title, if we consider the fact that you technically speaking saved my life."Ardyn and Maschenny were talking about various things, though it was mostly her trying to recruit him for the Atlesian Dominion. The Dominion's lowest noble title was Knighthood, divided into the three degrees.1st-Class Knighthood = Esquire - The lowest rank of the Knighthood within the Atlesian Dominion, usually awarded for military merits.2nd-Class Knighthood = Knight - Full-fledged Knighthood of the Atlesian Dominion.3rd-Class Knighthood = Grand Knight - Highest Title of the Knighthood of the Atlesian Dominion; people holding the Title of the Grand Knight could establish their own Knightly House within the territory of the Dominion and their own Estate.Obtaining even one of them was apparently extremely arduous, as Maschenny admitted that, when it came to the nobiltiy titles, the Atlas was strictest among the existing kingdoms. Even when compared to the nations that were destroyed, they would still rank in the top in this aspect.At the same time, though, the privileges that they got were also pretty enticing.Above the Knighthood, there were the Lesser Houses, which were two Ranks.Castellan = Basically a person who could construct a Castle on the Solitas and lord over. In the Atlas, the Castellans were usually the people who made countless peritorous contributions to the Atlasian Dominion. Atlas also had a requirement for the people to be named Castellans to be Titled Saints...At the minimum, they could be Spiritron Champions, mainly to maintain the strength of the Nobility and also to uphold the responsibility that goes hand in hand with the Castellan Rank.Above the Castellans were the Lord or the Lord Title. It was basically an upgraded Title Castellan, as the Lords could open an entire territory around their Castle and lord over villages and towns as long as they had the capability to protect said territory.Within the Altas, the people holding the Title of the Lord needed to be minimally Titled Saints, with no exceptions allowed at all. Lords ruled the entire territory within the Dominion, and they were obliged to protect and fight for the territory in the case of a powerful threat appearing within their territory.Ardyn didn't really think about the place where he would settle, as it was already a rather complicated topic. At first, he wanted to gather enough information about the various kingdoms to help him decide which one was best suited for a quick rise in power and social hierarchy."How would the other nations compare? And please give me a version without the recruitment ads and try to be objective."He was rather curious, because he learned a great deal about the Atlesian Dominion over the course of an hour or so that they spent together. Obviously, he preferred a version of the story that wouldn't include her nationalism or her efforts to stay in the Dominion.It was rather entertaining to see the kind of face she was making right now, because she wasn't really most pleased about it."Every kingdom has or sometimes in its past had its own specialty. The Dominion is stronger in the aspects of Military and Magic Guidance Engineering, and we are also the source of the world's technological prowess. Empire of Mistral, on the other hand, has a very extensive culture of the Martial Arts and Spiritron Cultivation that is the highest in the world, yet the Empire is notoriously unstable. Right now, the Imperial Qin Clan, while in name, rules the continent of Anima; in reality, it rules only its capital. Rest is under the control of Grea Families, Sects, and occasionally independent factions that declared semi-idependence from the wider Empire."Ardyn listened with eagerness because the more he learned about the current state of the world, the better it was for him. Hearing about the state of the Empire of Mistral, he knew that this country could be a good place to rise to a real position of power.Albeit one needed to consider the potential dangers of such a thing.This was something where the risks were very high, and he wasn't really willing to take them, considering his strength, which he found inadequate."Well, I think that I will pass on this one... it seems to be pretty problematic either way, though it speaks a lot about the incompetence of the Imperial Clan to allow something like this to happen."Ardyn stated as she just nodded in agreement. For him, the Mistral was actually a pretty good area where he could rise in status and operate, but in the unstable regime, the probability of war was huge.And he knew that wars on Remnant were far more brutal and unpredictable than the ones on Earth or Eos. Why wouldn't they be, when there were people capable of making even nukes seem like fireflies in comparison, fighting on the frontlines?"Then there is the Sultanate of Vacuo... more problematic country because the consecutive generations of weak Sultans have resulted in a state similar to that in the Mistral, with the only exception... where in the Vacuo the Sultanate still enjoyed high support from the Great Families of Vacuo to maintain the status quo in the nation."He also heard from her that the Vacuo was a notoriously reclusive nation, and that it was pretty hard to get in and out, given all the other factors. The people of the Vacuo were not fond of foreigners or anyone who wasn't originally from Vacuo, and this sentiment was rahter prevalent even among the Great Families of Vacuo."This is a pretty similar situation between Vacuo and Mistral, though in Mistral, the Great Families and Sects are rather contemptuous of the continual decay of Mistral and the eventual dissolution of the kingdom. In the Sultanate, they have openly started fighting for the throne of the Sultan, with the Asturias Family leading the biggest faction. On the side note, the entire country is disgustingly hot and covered in dunes and deserts..."He noticed the particular situation between the kingdoms, as neither of the four really liked each other, while some were already on the verge of falling apart. Yet, despite that, they worked together and tolerated each other in the face of the greatest threat."And the Vale?"Even according to the booklet that he received as a free gift from Murasaki, he knew that Vale was the second strongest of the Kingdoms. Vale and Vacuo were both located on the same continent, Sanus.Yet the Kingdom of Vale occupied much larger territory than the Vacuo, as well as the best territory in the entire continent. Contrary to the dunes and sands of Vacuo, most of the Vale was covered by green, lush forests, landscapes, and high mountains full of ores...One could say that it was the best continent for building civilization here. The Kingdom of Vale occupied the most prosperous and fertile lands of the northern Sanus and also the southern area of the Dragon Continent, which was a continent bordering the Sanus but primarily inhabited by Dragons.Especially in the Dragon Mountains in the north. Regardless, one could agree that Vale occupied the best lands in the entire Remnant for human life, which was also the reason why the Kingdom of Vale was the most populous nation in the Remnant, and also drew a lot of envy from the other nations."Inbred, stuck-up cowards. Officially, the second strongest kingdom with very long traditions of Aristocracy, for what they are the most famous, but at the same time, it has become their greatest weakness, because it led them to enormous corruption and internal problems. Most of their Nobility in the past centuries gained too much power, and the Royal House of Arnor cannot really suppress them like they could have done more than three centuries ago. Atlas and Vale don't really get along, especially in the past hundred years, the relationship between the two nations has reached rock bottom, and if not for the threat of Grimm, we would already be waging war on each other."Maschenny summarized the situation in the four kingdoms as Ardyn pondered that remaining within the Atlesian Dominion was probably the best course of action for the time being.Considering everything that she said, it was still the most stable nation, and most importantly, even though it was socially the strictest and was extremely militaristic, there were a lot of opportunities to climb through the social ladder thanks to this.The Atlas had many methods for advancing one's social status on the social ladder."Well then..."They spoke for another one and a half hours about various things in the Remnant, as he was rather surprised that she was pretty patient and actually explained everything that he was asking about.He also learned that the situation of the faunus was worse than he thought, because most of their species had only two fates. Either try their luck and escape to the Menagerie, or live as a slave or pseudo-slave within one of the four kingdoms.Empire of Mistral, Atlesian Dominion, and Sultanate of Vacuo openly practiced slavery on faunus, with the Dominion allowing them to leave the Dominion if they killed a ridiculous amount of Grimm and paid thousands of Grimm Nuclei to redeem themselves.Of course, such a thing was nigh impossible, but it still gave some sort of hope to the faunus that were conscripted to the Dominion's Death Battalion. Only Vale was treating them as 3rd-rate citizens, but even that wasn't really any better than the other ones.Going to Menagerie wasn't any win either, because that continent was even more inhospitable than Vacuo, had a lot of Grimm and pretty powerful and dangerous local Magical Beasts.The majority of the faunus population still lived in the territory of the four kingdoms, as their ranks and numbers were culled after their attempt at the revolution.Ardyn personally didn't really care about it... Someone who had two thousand years worth of memories and who almost destroyed the entire civilization certainly didn't care about some slaves.And his memories as Sirius Grey weren't that much better, actually. In his life as Sirius Grey, he was personally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Blackstar Industries instigated conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and its weapons killed millions.In the end, like most of the humans, faunus could be just a useful tool, if he found any that had potential. But overall, he was certainly pretty much indifferent to their race as a whole."And what about faunus? How do they fare against the Kingdoms?"Maschenny mentioned them only a little bit, and Ardyn suspected that it was because they were practically of no interest to them."The animals? I don't really pay attention to them, because they are weak... It's somewhat of a loss because before the Culling, they had a pretty solid power base and even had one Holy Saint, though the Culling destroyed their entire society and culture. What remains now is on Menagerie... but going there as a human is nothing short of suicide."Maschenny wore a genuinely confused expression when she spoke about the faunus, but contrary to his expectation, Ardyn didn't detect any disgust or outright hatred...There were only two or three certain emotions when she spoke about them, ones that he was pretty familiar with.Amusement and indifference.Though it was surprising that Fanus had Holy Saint among their ranks.According to Maschenny, the Holy Saints were Limit Saints, who broke through the Limits and reached the Level 100 in the Spiritron Capacity while at the same time reached the pinnacle in both Aura and Magic.Long story short, they were extremely powerful beings that could raze entire continents if they went full-out and used their strongest moves indiscriminately."You don't seem to hate them..."It wasn't really a question but more like a statement, to which she actually nodded."They are not important enough to warrant any emotions in my opinion... well, what the general public isn't really aware of, is that during the Culling, the Great Families saw it to personally crippling their future. All Faunus Bloodline Lineages were killed till the last newborn, and their Legacies were taken by us. Even if some super genius appeared among their ranks... it would be nigh impossible to even reach the level where they once were, not to mention the level where they could threaten humanity."He wasn't really surprised hearing that, though he was surprised by another thing entirely."Won't you get into trouble for spreading information like this? Should it be... like suppose secret?"She actually chuckled in amusement, hearing the question."No... this is also something that everyone among the Great Families is aware of, and in some circles it's very well-known information. And even if it got out, what could happen? You think those animals would be able to do something or their sympathizers?"The Great Families were the ones that led the events of the Culling. Maschenny knew that, at least partially, it was because of the mess that faunus created with their attempted revolution, and partially because they wanted to obtain their heritage.The knowledge, artifacts, resources, and everything that belonged to the strongest and oldest faunus Tribes. Everything that belonged to them was then divided between the ones who orchestrated the Culling.The Great Families.A term that Ardyn grew increasingly familiar with.Mostly thanks to Maschenny here, who told him a lot of things.Things that he really thought she shouldn't be talking about, but if there was one thing that he noticed, it was that she was extremely heavy and liked to create chaos."Sympathizers?"He parroted the world, as it seemed that not everyone was united on the "Faunus Final Solution" as he called it. But that was almost given that not everyone would be on board with the greatest genocide of sentient species in the history of Remnant."Not a lot... but among humanity, many were and still are sympathizing with the Faunus and think that they were right in their struggle. Most don't even know the full truth behind the Culling... not like I know it too..."Hearing that made Ardyn frown heavily at the sheer stupidity."Ideals don't determine who's right... Power determines who's right."Maschenny's eyes narrowed, hearing that, because she actually very much approved of the sentence and its meaning."Khun Family, Aire Family, Po Bidau Family, Schnee Family from Atlas. Nikos Family, Imperial Qin Clan, Ha Family and Ari Family from Mistral. Roselia Family, Eurasia Family, Royal House of Arnor, and Tu Perie Family from Vale. Hendo Lok Family, Yeon Family, and Asturias Family of Vacuo. They were the main perpetrators of the Culling, but they were not the only ones because it also gathered support from many Sects and other factions backed by Limit Saints or Holy Saints, as it was a tacit understanding that the powerful faunus species could never be allowed to grow once again."He could sense the tone of finality from her voice, which was rather interesting...In fact, Ardyn found the entire concept of Culling rather intriguing. However, he could clearly see that even if nothing like the Faunus Revolution happened, the Great Families would have found another reason for the Culling.Greed was a great motivator.Power even greater.Yet even Maschenny didn't know the reason behind the Culling aside from the official ones written in history books, but even he knows that those are just nonsense."Strong live, weak perish... the eternal cycle of the civilizations. How poetic..."Ardyn understood the principle...He understood it really well.Because it was the same regardless of the world.***Several Hours Later, Dominion Floating Warship IronbloodThe Floating Warship Ironblood of the Atlesian Dominion has finally arrived at its destination after spending several hours in the skies because of the blizzard. The weather of the Solitan skies could be as dangerous or sometimes even more than the Grimm themselves.Still, they finally arrived at the coordinates given to them, and their sensors had already picked up some residual traces of Mana and even outstretched Wards, meaning they were at the right place.What was interesting was that the entire place was showing the traces of battle, because it seemed that they were attacked by the Grimm horde, but someone managed to slaughter the entire horde."Secure the perimeter and send down the extraction team with medics."Captain James Ironwood issued the orders when he noticed that the area seemed safe... at least for now. Due to that, they needed to hurry, because one could never know when the Grimm would appear.He also ordered one of the technicians to access the satellites that were orbiting around the Remnant and observe everything that was happening within the continent of Solitas. He wanted to get the visuals of what exactly had happened in this place.Soon enough, the technicians got him the video recordings from the satellites over the entire area, and it was his turn to be shocked.Because the footage was...Unreal.Now he could understand why the Holy Saint Blue Thunderclap was adamant about retrieving the teen. Even though Ironwood wasn't any kind of scholar, he recognized the God-Level Semblances when he saw them, and he could see their potential.Two of them.Which meant that the teen possessed Twin Semblances.Which was considered as one of the most precious innate talents that one could possess, even when compared to the strongest Lienages of the Great Families. On the list of the Innate Talents, the Twin Semblances ranked at the top of the list and often shared the same 1st Rank together with the Ultimate Semblance.Which were Semblances with the Ultimate Attribute.Innate Talents were something rare... not everyone had Innate Talent, and even among the Great Families, having an Innate Talent meant that one would be considered a genius and superior to their peers.From what he could see... both of the Semblances that the teen possessed were God-Level ones, and both seemed to contain Ultimate Attribute.Those with the talent like that were bound to have also a very powerful Noble Arte.Noble Artes were Inherent Magic Abilities passed through the Bloodline.Not every Mage had the Noble Arte, because having one was proof of one's strength in their Magical Lineage. Only the Mages of the prestigious Aristocratic Bloodline Lineages possessed the Noble Artes because the Noble Artes were created through generations of specialized Magical breeding and training.From what Ironwood saw, the young man that the Holy Saint Blue Thunderclap ordered to retrieve was a talent with a huge chance of becoming a Holy Saint.His talent was already on the level of the top-notch Lineages Great Families, because only the descendants of the Great Families had such power or Innate Talents. And even then, it wasn't absolute, because even among the Great Families, the descendants who inherited more than one Semblance were very rare.He knew that there was something deeper in this... perhaps the Blue Thunderclap Holy Saint recognized those Semblances or whatever.Or they wanted to sponsor the young man...Either way, he knew that with this, his mission was completed, and now the only thing that remained was the journey back to the Atlas. He was rather eager to return to the city as well, because at least it was interesting, contrary to the other duties that the Captains like him had.Patrolling the borders of the Dominion was...Boring for most of the part.There wasn't much happening aside from the occasional Grimm Tides threatening the Dominion, or some random powerful Magical Beasts popping up here and there and causing trouble.Though in a few months, they would be conducting a raid on the White Fang, which would be a huge operation, as some of the territories were seen acting around the borders of Dominion, which was unacceptable.If there was one danger the Faunus represented, it was that they bred pretty fast... faster than humans, which had something to do with their animal genome, allowing them, in many cases, to have much more numerous offspring than humans.White Fang had recently created terrorist organizations that were primarily active in the Empire of Mistral, which wasn't that surprising considering the state of the Empire that was collapsing within and from what he heard, some provinces in the Empire were already technically independent in reality.Their Sects and Great Families were controlling the entire Provinces of the Mistral, but the Imperial Clan only observed from the side and didn't dare to say anything.But what was interesting was that, they were already expanding their operations to Vacuo and Vale to a lesser degree.Ironwood had to admit that whoever was planning their operations had a good head on their shoulders, because Mistral was the perfect place. The government in that nation was technically non-existent, and as long as they avoided particular Great Families and Sects, nobody would really send someone really powerful after them.Perhaps only the Great Thousand Martial Palace would care about the operations of White Fang, but even that wasn't really clear. Though if they were encouraging on some territory of the Hashashin Sect, then it wouldn't end really well for the White Fang.Yet, their mistake was attacking the convoy of the Schnee Dust Company several weeks ago, during which a lot of Dust and Suspendium were stolen, personnel were killed, and a lot of property was destroyed.According to the reports that he read, even several Schnees were injured during the ambush, and Patriarch Nikolas Schnee was furious to the point where he brought the matter ot the Trifarix Council.The highest executive body of The Atlesian Dominion.The Trifarix, also known as the "Council of Three", was the current governing body of the Atlesian Dominion, embodying the fundamental tenets of the Trifarix doctrine, or the "Principles of Strength". This organizational structure emerged in the aftermath of Atlas's transition from a monarchy led by fallible emperors to a meritocracy under the watchful eyes of the Trifarix.The Trifarix Doctrine revolved around three core principles: Might, Vision, and Guile. These principles encapsulate the ideals that each Atlesian Citizen should strive to embody for the prosperity of the Dominion.The emphasis on all three aspects reflects the belief that a balanced combination of strength, foresight, and cunning is essential for the success and dominance of Atlesian Dominion.Nikolas Schnee, Lo Po Bia Traumerei and Arie Hon were the members of the Trifarix Council as the Limit Saints of the Atlas. It wasn't like the Atlas didn't have more Holy Saints, but neither Khun Eduan nor Po Bidau Gustang were interested in "responsibility" or politics.So the moment the proposal was brought up, it was immediately approved, and now, a large part of the Dominion's Military was preparing to strike at the bases of the White Fang around Anima that were in the No-Man's Zone or at the outskirts of Solitas.It would be a really grand military operation that wasn't seen in years, though that was only true because it was a military operation against faunus and some of their human sympathizers.Military operations in the past decades were typically carried out against the creatures of Grimm. The Remnantians rarely fought against each other, mainly because it was only benefiting the Grimm and Magical Beasts that would then act against them.The last large conflict between the Remnantians was the Faunus Culling that happened a few centuries ago, but that was it.Still, Ironwood could see the patterns were not boding well for the Remnant. With Mistral descending into collapse, Vacuo was on the brink of a coup or civil war, and Vale was growing increasingly hostile to the Atlas.Mainly because Atlas was rising in the areas of Magical Engineering and Arcane, which was threatening Vale as the kingdom with the longest and most powerful Magical Heritage in the entire world.On both sides, there were many people who were already preparing to wage war...Be it the Valean old nobility that wanted to restore the glory of their Old Empire or the Atlesians who wanted to prove their supremacy in the new age over the Vale, which symbolized the old era.***Getting into that monstrosity of the Floating Warship was one hell of a journey, because the Warship that was called "Ironblood" was enormous. It was much bigger than the naval ships that he saw in his life as Sirius Grey or the airships in his "life" as Ardyn Izunia.It was floating thanks to the usage of the Suspendium and Dust.Maschenny was picked up by medics when they descended down from the Ironblood, as she was given a comprehensive check by the doctors and healers on the Ironblood, which showed that they was rather alright.Her Spiritron Reserves have recovered enough to start healing, and she was already out of the greatest danger of Magical Exhaustion. Which was another added bonus for the Maschenny, because it seemed that there wouldn't be any lasting injuries on her person."Welcome to the board of the Dominion Warship Ironblood. I am Captain James Ironwood, commander of this vessel, Captain of the Air Force of the Atlesian Dominion Military, and Heir Apparent to the Ironwood Family."James Ironwood was rather accommodating toward the two of them, as Ardyn noticed that the man in front of them was a soldier through and through. It was rather evident from his posture and everything, even the way that he spoke.Most probably, his entire family were career soldiers because he was reminiscing about the military families on Earth and Eos, who, through the generations, served in the military of their respective nations."It's my pleasure, Captain."Maschenny said lightly, but she didn't really pay much attention to the man in question because she just wanted to return home and then report to the Academy that the mission she took was a failure.Something that was probably pissing her off a lot, because Ardyn noticed that she was a perfectionist who cared about her stellar results and achieving her goals at any cost."Well, thanks for the save, Captain Ironwood. Your service couldn't have been more precise, or else we would have frozen to the icicles."Ardyn said with a dramatic tone of voice as he shook hands with Captain Ironwood.He knew that Ironwood was a General of some kind in the original canon... obviously, he wouldn't really know that if he would achieve the same rank in this world, but it would cost him nothing if he decided to maintain a good relationship with him.With them on the deck, they would be returning to the Atlas, the capital of the Dominion. He was rather eager to see the most prosperous and advanced city in the entirety of the Remnant.Both he and Maschenny were given personal quarters during the time that they were on the Warship Ironblood.Obviously, the Dominion Warships, at least the newer models and those which were more advanced, contained some pretty luxurious facilities within them that were usually reserved for the Officers, powerful Huntsmen, or guests ot the Warships.Ardyn wasn't really that fazed by it, because he experienced an even higher degree of luxury in both of his lives, or so he had thought. Apparently, the journey back to the Atlas, the capital of the Dominion, would take them around a few hours, because of the weather conditions that were far from ideal.When Ardyn checked on his queaters, the first thing he did was check the other contents of the Dimensional Storage he had taken from the deceased student at Alsius Thors Military Sentinel Academy.He emptied the entire Dimensional Storage, which wasn't particularly big. When one took away all the food, things for survival in the wilderness, and other things, there were not really many valuables left.The moment was prominent where something which seemed to be credit cards, but they were the Lien Cards. What was problematic was that he didn't really know how to acess them or what to do with them...Those were not the only things, as there were some other things that he didn't really recognize, aside from the Dust Crystals. Long story short, the Dust was essentially crystallized Mana that was extremely dense in some areas, which led to its creation.Suspendium and Dust were the two minerals on which the entire Remnantian Civilization functioned. Dust was needed for the weapons and the most advanced technology, and for some other things.Not to mention, Dust was also acting as some sort of battery for the technology and device, because Dust Crystal could absorb ambient Mana to recharge itself."Hmm... I should go bother the bluehead... she wants something from me, so the minimum she can do is to sort these things out and prepare some things for me."Ardyn muttered as he then left his assigned room and went to find Maschenny to bother her a bit, preparing to exploit her schemes for his own benefit. Or they could give each other some mutual help.He went through the corridors of the Warship, which were simple, utilitarian, and somewhat pleasing to the eye. Everything about the Dominion Warship, like all of the Floating Ships of the Atlesian Dominion, was designed ot be maximally efficient and combat-ready.Fortunately, Maschenny's quarters were not really that far from his own, as they were in the section of the ship that was reserved for the commanding officers and high-ranking combatants or prominent guests.If, by some accident, someone like that were even invited aboard the Warship by the Captain's order.He stood in front of her door, as he knocked on the door several times and waited until she opened it.Which was rather fast, so at least he didn't need to wait for a long time.After they were taken to the Warship, Maschenny was checked on by a healer, and she would apparently be fully recovered very soon. Well, with her Aura healing her, it would be a pretty straightforward thing, and she would recover soon.Then there was another factor, which was one of the greatest advantages of the Great Families.Because they were bred among the strongest Bloodline Lineages for countless centuries, their physiques were unnaturally strong, and their healing factors were several times higher than those of an average human.Yeah...Apparently, Eugenics was a huge thing for the Great Families so they could strengthen their Bloodline Lineage Factor. This was the ultimate goal of all Great Families, Factions and other Noble Houses, to strengthen their Bloodline Lineage Factor and produce even stronger powerhouses through the next generation.That was the reason why they only rarely allowed marriages with people outside of prominent lineages, as the next generation must be at least as strong as the one right now that was procreating.But it was only logical.Even on Earth, while many agreed that Eugenics wasn't ethically the best practise around, it was undeniable that it was the excellent and most efficient way to accelerate the evolution of practically any species.The selective breeding of individuals with the best traits would ensure that the next generation would be better. For the Remnantians, where Bloodlines and supernatural abilities were real deal, Eugenics was a deciding factor when marrying and having descendants."Hello there... again."Ardyn greeted Maschenny, who had changed to more casual and comfortable clothes from the battle armor that she had worn the previous day. She wore a dark-blue costume with a light-blue collar and a tiny tie that looked like a weird version of an Asian girl's school uniform."Hmm... these ones suit you better than the previous ones, it really brings up that cute side."He commented lightly as she was caught off guard and blushed slightly before she quickly regained her composure."Though you look like a school kid on the other side."Ardyn grinned as Maschenny suddenly froze as lightning cracked around her, and she instantly used her newly recovered Mana and Aura to launch a high-speed punch at his face, which was blocked by his Aura.Still, Ardyn felt the impact pretty much because even if the Aura was blocking the attacks, it still hurt to a certain degree.Mostly because he could actually feel the strikes even if they were blocked by his Aura."Damm you really have a strong punch... ou."Ardyn pretended to be hurt, but seeing her unpleasant expression, told him that it was more than enough teasing for one season."Do you come here just to cause trouble or for something specific?"She asked directly as he gave her a nod."Can I go inside? Obviously, I don't want to talk about it in the corridors."Maschenny then reletned and shoved him directly inside to deal with his antics. Like him, she was also observant enough to realize that the young man in front of her liked messing with people, and perhaps one could say that he liked it too much.Her room looked exactly like his own, which, on the other hand, was logical, as this was a military ship, not a luxury cruise."So what do you want?"Ardyn then pulled out the things that he wanted his help with."Within the Dimension Storage that I... found, yeah, let's decide on that... well, back to the story, I have some Lien Cards with what I don't know what to do, and some other objects with what I am rather unfamiliar."Maschenny looked at the things that he had, and with a defeated sigh, she proceeded to answer all of his questions. It was rather interesting, really, but she could be rather helpful when she wanted.He didn't really know if it was due to the fact that she really wanted to help him or that she just decided that she wouldn't waste time, and it didn't really cost her a lot."These are unbound Lien Cards, meaning that there is a specific amount of Lien on them, and you can use them freely. The crystal here is the Scroll; it seems it's fried, so it's rather useless. Other things you can sell at the pawn shop or something, not really useful... aside from this thing."She took a look at the things that he showed her, though most of the things that he showed her were virtually worthless for someone like her. Shame about the Scroll, though, because she knew that if the Scroll was functioning, they could access it and obtain more money from it, because it was for sure connected to the bank account of the deceased.Ardyn also thought so because having more money never hurt anyone.Yet there was only one single object that caught her attention almost immediately.It was a palm-sized, glowing cube-shaped object made primarily from some kind of crystals, but the edges were coated in metal... even to Ardyn, it looked very weird and somehow... very advanced?It certainly looked more advanced than anything he had seen on Remnant."How would a fool like him get his hands on something like this?"Maschenny muttered as she held the object in her hands and stared at it like it was some kind of holy grail, before her gaze flickered between Ardyn and the object.Several times at that."Why are you so lucky... this is Holocron, essentially an extremely advanced form of Grimoire. Holocrons are information-storage devices that are usually created by extremely powerful Saints to store their knowledge and pass it to their descendants or disciples. They are far more durable and could store more information than your average Grimoire in the form of a book... and most importantly... they always have a Data Version of the person creating them, so you could consider them sentient."Ardyn only vaguely grasped the meaning, but for Maschenny, this was rather shocking. She didn't really know how such an idiot like Arathion could have obtained the Holocron.Even for the Great Families and major factions in the world, Holocrons were rare treasures because of the power that one needed to successfully create one, and thus every one of them was precious.They were more effective than traditional Grimoires, and the fact that the person creating them was able to store their Data Version to guide the inheritor of the Holocron was even better.Sometimes, some random Holocrons appeared on the Auctions, but each was for billions of Lien, and sometimes... when it came to the Holocrons of truly powerful experts, then Lien were not even able to calculate the true value of such a thing."Holocrons usually contain all knowledge and experience of the person creating them, and to create them, you need to be a very strong person... Arathion Family is just a little shrimp in the Dominion, even if they tend to pretend otherwise, so that it couldn't be from them."Ardyn now looked at the thing with greater interest, and part of him was certainly a bit worried that Maschenny would keep the thing solely for herself, depending on the reaction that she had toward the object."So it's like precious?"He asked as he reached out to touch the Holocron, and the moment he touched the thing, suddenly he felt like his head was spinning, and sparks of electricity appeared around the Holocron as it shot towards the two of them.In a split second, the Holocron started shaking, and its mechanical parts began turning and doing something. On both of their hands, a mark appeared that appeared to be of a small, crimson, tower-like structure.Soon enough, the Holocron opened partially as lines of text appeared before their eyes, which Maschenny read out loud.[To whoever is reading this.You managed to open one of my Holocrons that contains part of my Legacy that is spread acorss the entire Remnant Realms and contains even the knowledge of the Forgotten Realm.Unlike the others, if you want to access this Holocron, you need to pass a series of tests to open it fully. Only those guided by the Fate could open this machinery and be given my Mark.When the Mark of the Red Tower is filled, you will be able to access Level 2 of the Holocron. For the time being, you can acess only the Level 1 Knowledge from the overall 5 Levels of the Holocron.After unlocking the entirety of the machine, it would give you a method of obtaining the next part of the Legacy.This is my message to whoever reads this.If you pass all tests and obtain all of my Holocrons, you can inherit my complete Legacy.I am Enryu, The Red Tower and The Messenger.]Both Maschenny and Ardyn looked at each other for some time, as neither really knew what to do with this situation or even how to react to this. Obviously, Ardyn was even more confused than, but truthfully, even Maschenny didn't really know what to do."Let's think straight over the things that just happened, alright?"He took charge of the situation because he saw how she looked at the Mark on her hand, and it wasn't the look of happiness or excitement but of worry instead. He could understand the sentiment, because even if he was confused as heck, he managed to find a few clues.Obviously, the one who created the Holocron was someone extremely powerful.He didn't know how much, but considering Maschenny's worried face, which was shown for the first time, it was someone far more powerful than her father, who was Holy Saint, which could be pretty troublesome.Maschenny wasn't even worried about the Grimm horde that surrounded them... because, overall, the danger of the Grimm wasn't big to her. They were predictable and could be dealt with through conventional means.Another thing was that she didn't recognize the person who was signed down there below the information. That was rather troublesome because it could mean a lot of things... from the situation where the person was someone long dead, which could be one of the better scenarios.Referring to the situation where he was one of the old monsters in the seclusion, or perhaps he was someone not even from Remnant. Ardyn wasn't really aware that the Remnant was aware of the existence of other dimensions... it could be or could not, but he was aware of the existence of different worlds.Nevertheless, he understood one thing very well.Having the attention of someone like this didn't really mean a good thing in all cases.That was something that Ardyn could personally attest to."This Holocron belonged to an unknown, powerful entity and contains his Legacy, right?"Ardyn asked as Maschenny as she nodded because that was indeed the truth. He knew that she must have been pretty stressed and nervous, because he knew firsthand that having the attention of unknown, powerful entities could be really frightening.Nobody really knew what the plan of the said entity was and what they wanted to achieve, which could be very dangerous for them."Now, the Mark seems to be harmless at the moment, and it seems that this is indeed just an ordinary method to pass on Legacy for the time being. Though, if you want, you can let yourself be checked for the signs of possession or something nefarious."He could imagine that someone could even be trying to resurrect by passing their Legacy onto someone. As someone who carried two thousand years of knowledge in his head and met with literary Gods, he knew that the powerful beings had many tricks up their sleeves.Ardyn was also aware of the Gods in this world, because one of the things that he drew in the Gacha was that the version of the Gods from his world appeared in this world as well.Which was another thing that he wasn't fond of and considered it more troublesome than anything else. The fact that the Gods were walking this world wasn't that good news to him, but alas, there wasn't much that he could do with it.At least, it also provided an opportunity for him to get stronger."So what do you want to do? I admit that I was initially very excited... but now I have certain reservations."Maschenny stated that even though she was rather bold and wanted to obtain the Legacy within the Holocron, she knew that it could be dangerous. Many Holocrons contained plenty of traps and countermeasures... many tests and who knows what else.Opening a Holocron was something pretty dangerous most of the time.Despite her tendencies as an extreme adrenaline seeker, which was something that she was famous for, she knew that if she wasn't careful, then in disturbances like this, death was the best-case scenario."I think it's worth the risk. Let's take a look at what we can obtain from the acess to the Level 1 of this Holocron."Ardyn decides to explore the Holocron because he didn't sense anything dangerous from either the Holocron or the Mark that appeared on his hand. When they turned their attention back to the Holocron, there was only one major piece of information in the entire 1st Level to which they had access."Shinwonryu? Sounds like something from the Anima Continent..."Maschenny spoke about the entire Level 1 of the Holocron; there was only one technique that was part of the Enryuu's Legacy, as it seemed. Even with her rather vast knowledge of all topics, she didn't really recognize the term, but it sounded oddly Mistrali.Like it came straight from the Anima.Remnant had several languages that were being used, though for the most part, everyone spoke in the Remnantian Common. Still, Anima had actually several minor languages that were still being actively spoken, and the name Shinwonryu sounded very much like something from the Anima."Well... It's written that this is an Aura Manipulation Style... here look... It's written here that it's for 'Those who have opened the door'... isn't this for the Irregulars?"Ardyn read the description of the thing, which surprised him, because if something like that was recorded here, it meant the Holocron's creator was also Irregular and had opened his Soul on his own.This was also something that Maschenny thought too."Dammit..."Maschenny looked rather annoyed because she felt that she was losing something valuable.Which wasn't entirely wrong, because if this was the Holocron of Irregular, it meant that most of the things inside would be created to be used by Irregular only.So, any direct benefit for someone like her wouldn't be that high.But that was to be seen... There was still a possibility that she could learn something out of it."Don't be upset... even if you cannot learn it in its full form, it doesn't mean that you cannot take some inspiration from it at all, and studying the techniques of the Irregulars or the knowledge meant for them could be useful even for you in one way or another."Ardyn said as he knew that even if the technique or whatever it was was meant for the Irregulars, it didn't mean that she couldn't benefit from the observation and study of the thing in the future.Another thing was that, even though she received the same Mark from opening the Holocron, which surely meant something. That led him to the idea that they had opened the Holocron together for some reason, meaning that even she had been chosen by the Holocron.According to everything she said about the Holocrons, one cannot open them without the approval of the consciousness inside the Holocron. So by that logic, despite not being Irregular, Maschenny was also chosen by the Holocron as she had the Mark of the Red Tower on her right hand, as he had."Yes... That's it. Even if I couldn't perhaps use the things in there directly, I can still use them to improve myself, and perhaps I can even comprehend some skills for the Irregulars."Upon hearing his words of encouragement, she immediately came up with a new wave of determination to achieve something from the current situation as the two of them started studying the records on the Holocron.***Dominion Warship Ironblood, Atlesian Dominion, Atlas"Welcome, Mr. Izunia, to the Sky City, also named City of Progress... and most importantly, our Capital, the City of Atlas."Before them was an enormous floating island, according to public information, covering more than ten thousand square kilometers, which meant it was enormous. Obviously, the entire island wasn't one huge city, but there were also farmlands, various other facilities, military installations, and many other things.The city itself was built atop a large, flat plateau, with a range of mountains on the north-most "coast" of the landmass, as well as a singular mountain rising at its center. Large generators surrounded the island, allowing it to be protected by Hard-light Dust Shields and countless Magical Wards, which also served as climate control devices."Originally it wasn't floating, but several thousand years ago some Holy Saints ventured into the depths of the underground catacombs and discovered the starting system... when they activated it, the entire city was raised to the skies, where it remained till now. Even though it's a Floating Island, it's actually capable of moving and could be moved around the Solitas if needed."Ardyn stood on the command deck of the Ironblood together with Captain Ironwood and, surprisingly, even Maschenny was there once they were notified that they were already nearing the airspace of the capital.He had to admit that when they were nearing the City of Atlas, it was a breathtakingly beautiful sight. Even if he counted together scenarios of the Terra and Eos, there wasn't anything that could come even close to the beauty and majesty of the Atlas, the City in the Skies.Coming north from the Airport, Atlas city was built concentrically around the former Imperial Palace, now known just as the Immortal Bastion.The majority of the city's island was composed of large residential areas and businesses, whose architecture drew heavily on a blend of art deco and neoclassical elements, creating something truly unique and one of its kind, even in the entire Remnant.At first glance, it was more than apparent that this place was the heart of all technological and magical advancements in the Remnant, because it was everywhere one looked. The Atlas was the origin of the Magic Guindance Engineering, and all progress that was made in the Remnant was made in the Atlas.The Dominion's supremacy and mastery in the areas of technology, Magic, and military were ever-present. It could be felt in every single part of the capital of the Atlesian Dominion, or throughout the entire island in the skies."What are those floating ships around the island?"Ardyn pointed to something that was very reminiscent of the concept of the Floating Castles if they had them here. They were humongous, obviously, they were smaller than the island and City of Atlas, but they could easily pass for some smaller town... aside from being clearly armed to the teeth, which he could see even from a far distance."Those? Those ones are the Floating Castles of some of the Great Families... if you look closer, you would see their crests on them. That one with the snowflake symbol is of the Schnee Family, the one with the sword is of the Arie Family, and the last one with those inscriptions is of the Lo Po Bia Family."Ardyn recognized the names because all of them were of the Great Families.Knowledge that was drilled into his mind by Maschenny, he even remembered that from them, the Po Bidau Family was originally from the Vale, and the Lo Po Bia Family was originally from the Empire of Mistral.Among the surviving nations of Remnant, the Atlesian Dominion and previously the Imperium of Atlas were the youngest in terms of age because they existed only around three thousand years ago.These Floating Castles were very large, vast Floating Ships that could be easily identified by their massive size and their capacity to house thousands, or even dozens of thousands, of living beings.Some Floating Castles also often had buildings, skyscrapers, house residences, enough to build a city-like environment, because they were often used by the Great Families to act as their headquarters, and for the Families with thousands of years of existence, they surely had a lot of members.The Floating Castle could also carry many Floating Warships, and it also served as the military hub for the entire nation, not only the Great Family to which the Floating Castle belonged."Right now, there are 7 Floating Castles in the entire Dominion. Each of the Great Families of the Dominion owns one, while the remaining two are the property of the Dominion's Military."Ardyn nodded as he then proceeded to ask another question."Does every Great Family have such things, or is it just a few?"He was pretty interested in this because there were more Great Families across the world than just in the Dominion."No. The Floating Castle is being built only in the Atlas, because only here you would find the necessary technology, Magic, and industrial capabilities to actually produce one of those."It was better left unsaid that buying a Floating Castle was nothing short of insanity, which cost tens if not hundreds of billions of Lien, and sometimes it couldn't be paid even in the Lien, because constructing and functioning a Floating Castle was much more precious than money.Though Ironwood knew that some of the Great Families of Remnant's other kingdoms bought or exchanged many things for that. Mostly only the ones that were backed by the Holy Saints could afford something like that as the Floating Castle was something befitting that of the prestige of the Holy Saint.From the factions that were not Great Families, only the Great Thousand Martial Palace bought a Floating Castle, as most of the factions were not that much interested in buying them due to the ridiculous price.The last buyer of the Floating Castle was the Ha Family from the Empire of Mistrali, as they paid an exorbitant price for it.Mainly because wild Khun Eduan appeared, and because of his grudge with the Ha Yurin, the price reached a rather irrational number. The relationship between the Great Families of Remnant was far from peaceful, because while all of them cooperated against the Grimm and other threats, they also fought among each other for resources.Not to mention some families just outright hated each other.In the end, the Ha Family could only grit their teeth and pay up...When they returned the Floating Castle to Mistral, it sparked another wave of tension between the Ha Family and the Imperial Qin Clan, which still officially ruled the lands of Mistral.Previously, when the Great Thousand Martial Palace bought the Floating Castle from the Atlas, it sparked a lot of tensions within the Empire of Mistral, because the Imperial Qin Clan was looking at that with great distress."Hmm... it seems that ours is a mission as well as the Ark of Knowledge of the Po Bidau Family..."Maschenny muttered as she looked at the panorama of the floating island, which also meant that her father wasn't present within the capital."We would be descending toward one of the military Airports, from which you will go by yourself. I have taken the liberty to contact the Administration Bureau for the citizen registration."Obtaining Citizenship within the Atlesian Dominion was pretty hard.One of the greatest distinctions between the Dominion and other nations was that the Atlesian Dominion had the concept of Citizenship. One could say that all people living in the Atlas were separated into three Classes, collectively known as Atlesians.1st were the National Civilians, 2nd were the Citizens and 3rd were the Atlesian Junker Aristocracy.Everyone who wasn't a Citizen or Atlesian Junker Aristocrat and had a National Civilianship Certificate, then belonged to this category. This category of Atlesian National Civilans or people holding the National Civilianship.This category of people was the biggest but also had the least amount of rights and privileges compared to the other two. The National Civilianship was the basic category of the Stateship that one obtained after being born in the Altas to the Atlesian parents.The National Civilians didn't have the most rights around. However, they still had more than most, and compared to the civilians in the other nations of the Remnant, they certainly enjoyed much higher life standards and everything.The living standards in the Atlas were pretty high for civilians because of the widespread adoption of the Magic Guidance Technology, which had been booming over the past few centuries.The next ones were the Citizens or Citizens of the Dominion, which was the whole name.The Citizens were those who joined the Dominion Service in any form and contributed to the nation.Joining the Dominion Service does not necessarily mean military service, and applicants may be assigned to any field where they sacrifice their time and effort for the Dominion, though military service is most highly regarded.It all fell under Dominion Service.The Citizens were first and foremost given a lot of rights. They were able to vote in the Dominion Elections, run for the public offices, they were given the right to relatively free speech, they were also given a lot of grants in the form of money and other support, they were paid tuition for University if they wished to pursue higher education, they were given many bonuses in the form of governmental support when having a family...Then they were also allowed to buy new properties in the Atlas Metropolitan Area, which was something that Civilians were not really allowed to do as the civilians coud only inherit the properties in the Atlas Metropolitan Area.They were allowed to live in Atlas, own the property, but they were not allowed to buy the property, and in certain areas of the Atlas Metropolitan Area, they were not even allowed to own it at all.Most importantly for the Citizens, and what was considered the greatest privilege... was the fact that Citizens were eligible to be raised into the Atlesian Junker Aristocracy. Only after one rose to the rank of Citizen, they would be eligible to be Ennobled into the status of the Aristocrat within the Atleasian Dominion.For the foreigners, it was even harder, but also at the same time much more straightforward if they were Huntsmen, Mages, or anything that could kill Grimm or had the necessary skills to make contributions to the Atlas.And the foreigners needed a Letter of Recommendation from somewhere, and before Maschenny could ask someone from her family to give it to Ardyn, it was already written by Captain Ironwood.The blue-haired heir of the Khun realized that the Captain of this ship must have seen the images from the satellites and knew that Ardyn was someone worth investing in and befriending...Thus, he made the first move.These extremely strict rules in the Atlas were implemented to prevent the Atlesian Aristocratic Nobility from ending up like those in the Kingdom of Vale. In the Kingdom of Vale, the Nobles obtain too much power to the point where the Royal House of Arnor and governmental structures cannot restrain them.The worst thing happened, and Atlasians who despised the Valeans implemented the rules that basically forced changes in the entire society and its rules.But it was backed by the entire Trifarix Council, the Dominion Military, and the Great Families of Atlas.Even though, when it was first implemented a few centuries ago, some were complaining and were not the happiest about that, but because the heavyweights of the Atlas decreed that, there was nothing that they could do about that.