Chapter 380: Unique In Their Own Ways
Ariana had already met Lucas, so for the moment, she directed her attention towards the two young girls, quickly figuring the bubbly little red-head who was chatting away with everyone around her was Eris.
Knowing that she was Celestina’s descendant, and knowing what Celestina looked like when she was that age, Ariana smiled and thought to herself, She’s the spitting image of Little Tina, just with green eyes.
Noticing the young girl’s missing right forearm, however, the former queen couldn’t help feeling a sense of pity. To lose a limb at such an age would surely have been traumatic, but from the wide, happy smile on Eris’ face, it was obvious she wasn’t letting this disability dampen her spirits.
Even if part of it was false bravado, an attempt to convince both herself and those who cared about her that she was ’okay’, Ariana could tell that there was also a genuine spark of light in the girl’s eyes.
That kind of spark only existed in the eyes of someone looking towards the future, rather than being trapped in the past.
Nodding in approval, Ariana’s gaze finally landed on her own descendant, and when she did, her eyes involuntarily shrank.
Her shock was so great that she actually let out a small gasp. Fortunately, she was still standing at the room’s entrance and no one had yet noticed her arrival, so she was able to quickly cover-up her gaff and force a calm expression back onto her face.
Celestina had mentioned that all three of her Disciples were gifted in their own unique ways, a description Ariana found quite apt now that she was seeing all of them together.
Lucas’ Innate Talent was, frankly, not very impressive, but he was undoubtedly the most unfathomable of the trio. It wasn’t just his incredible intelligence and critical thinking abilities, it was the way he used them to innovate and examine the world around him.
As the ruler of a kingdom, and then an Elder of a powerful international chamber of commerce, Ariana was used to thinking 3 or 4 steps ahead and anticipating her opponent’s next move before they even made it, but Lucas took that concept to a whole new level.
The young boy saw the world differently, that much was obvious, and it seemingly allowed him to pierce the veil of the future, looking not just a few, but dozens, or even hundreds of steps ahead.
It was a little unnerving for Ariana if she was being honest, like despite being dozens of times older and more experienced, Lucas somehow knew and understood more about the world and its future than she did.
Eris’ gift was very different from her Senior Brother’s.
Her Innate Talent also wasn’t anything special in the former queen’s opinion, but from the little she had seen and heard so far, it was clear to Ariana that the young girl possessed a strength of heart and inner fire that were both extremely rare and precious.
Many people believed that talent was the most important factor in cultivation. Others believed background and resources were what mattered most. Some even considered intangible things like ’luck’ or ’fate’ to be the key to success; however, Ariana had seen plenty of youths with all three of those who ultimately failed to leave their mark on history.
In her opinion, and the opinion of most true powerhouses, what mattered most on the long, arduous climb to the peak of cultivation was will.
It didn’t matter how talented one was, or how many resources they consumed, or even how favoured by the Heavens they were; all that meant nothing if they lacked grit, determination, and the ability to overcome adversity.
Potential was just potential, only hard work day after day, year after year, decade after decade, century after century could make someone truly strong.
Many might have found it confusing why Celestina had chosen to take Lucas and Eris as her True Disciples, but Ariana felt she had made a wise decision, looking not at what these children had already achieved, but what they could achieve if given the right support.
Christina Rockwell, however, was something different altogether.
While her Senior Brother and Senior Sister were unconventional choices for the Disciple of a powerful Master, Christina was the exact opposite.
On the surface, Christina appeared to be a Third Step Core Formation Realm Practitioner.
For a 15-year-old child from a Mid-Sized Kingdom, even a royal princess, this was an astonishing level of potential and Ariana’s subordinates from the Vast Ocean Trading Company were praising the girl for it.
In their opinions, as long as nothing unexpected happened, Christina would likely break through to the Sea Establishment Realm in the next 2 years.
Such Innate Talent was rare even in the Kore Sovereignty, where breaking through to the Sea Establishment Realm at the age of 18 was the standard to be considered a top-rank genius.
That being said, as natives from a ’superior’ country, the praise being offered to the young princess was clearly tinged with a hint of envy and dismissiveness.
This was especially true for Sonia, who was barely even trying to conceal her bitterness at Natasha having such a young, beautiful, and talented daughter, even if Christina wasn’t blood related to her.
As far as those from the Sovereignty were concerned, Christina may one day become someone strong and important enough for them to have to look up to, but the chances of that were still slim, especially if she remained in a backward place like the Rockwell Kingdom.
If, however, they could ’see’ what Ariana could see, the former queen was quite certain all her subordinates, even the arrogant Bennett girl, would be tripping over themselves to ingratiate themselves to her little niece.
Christina was using some kind of Spirit Tool to disguise her cultivation, but the quality of this artifact was probably Peak Grade 2 at best, meaning it was only effective against those at or below to Peak Rank Adept Realm.
For a Mid-Rank Spirit and Low-Rank Soul Elite like the former queen, however, it was obvious what Christina’s true cultivation was.