Chapter 381: Monstrous Descendant
Third Step Sea Establishment!
At just 15 years old!
As far as Ariana knew, that shouldn’t have been possible, or at least, only should have been possible for once-in-a-100 years prodigy from the Rising Sun Empire.
There was no one in the Vast Ocean Trading Company, or the Kore Sovereignty for that matter, that Ariana could think of who was comparable.
No wonder Celestina told me I was in for a shock, the former queen thought to herself, a grin unconsciously forming on her lips.
The fact that such a monster had been born into her family was something Ariana took immense pride in, but it wasn’t long before a frown replaced her smile.
Being talented and having great potential was certainly a good thing, but too much talent and potential could also be a problem.
During their conversation earlier today, Lucas had mentioned to her that an Imperial Envoy was currently residing in the Royal Palace.
At the time, Ariana had noticed a hint of displeasure in the young boy’s voice when this topic came up. The former queen had originally thought this was the normal reaction a smart kid like Lucas would have towards the presence of an arrogant and overbearing Imperial, but now it seemed there was more to it.
Just like she could see through Christina’s disguise, an Imperial Envoy certainly could as well, and that was undoubtedly dangerous.
Encountering such an outstanding seedling, especially one who was blood-related to her, Ariana had immediately considered recruiting Christina.
If she brought her back to the Kore Sovereignty, Christina would have access to far better resources as well as a wider range of training opportunities, but knowing her descendant had already taken a competent and capable Master, the former queen was able to easily set aside such thoughts.
An Imperial Envoy, on the other hand, wouldn’t be so considerate.
It would not have mattered that she was a princess, or that she had a formal Master-Disciple relationship, with Christina’s level of talent, an Imperial Envoy would surely snatch her up whether anyone agreed or not.
Whether Christina was kept in that Envoy’s own force, or offered up as tribute to some bigger power, the rewards for ’recruiting’ a potential future Spirit Grandmaster were incalculable.
For Christina, however, that would mean being permanently ripped away from her home and family.
Everything she knew and everyone she loved would be taken from her, replaced by a life of brutal conditioning and indoctrination that was basically little more than brainwashing, all to ensure her loyalty to whoever ultimately managed to acquire her.
There was, of course, a chance that a righteous power would take her in and raise her with care and love, but the much, much more likely scenario was that Christina would has her Soul branded and become a slave to the highest bidder. She would be used to secure some force’s power and position, or worse, forced to become a ’vessel’ to produce the next generation of talents.
Although not directly related, a child’s Innate Talent was certainly affected by that of their parents, so it wasn’t uncommon for powerful forces to ’acquire’ outsiders or low status and high potential to use as ’partners’ for their own members.
Thinking about such a horrific fate befalling her great great grandniece, the Royal Ancestor unconsciously clenched her fists and swore to not let that happen.
.....
Back in her luxurious guest room, Ariana Rockwell found herself in deep contemplation.
Dinner was lovely, one of the best the former queen had ever eaten in her life, but between meeting and talking with Celestina’s two female Disciples, she found it hard to concentrate on the food.
Eris was a bundle of joy and energy, and her boldness drew more than a laugh or two from Ariana’s lips.
What was truly impressive, however, was that the young red-head freely admitted her injury bothered her. Eris was deeply concerned about how her missing right arm was affecting her, but not because she felt sorry for herself.
No, what worried the girl the most was that she couldn’t be of more use to her mother, her Master, her fellow Disciples, and the people around her.
In Ariana’s eyes, Eris was the epitome of righteousness, and not the naïve, childlike version. The young girl had faced terrible loss, grievous injury, and far more than her fair share of life-and-death crises for someone her age.
Eris understood that she would never be able to help everyone, never be able to save everyone, and would never rid the world of suffering and injustice, but that didn’t discourage her from trying; quite the contrary, in fact. She would fight for what she believed in, even if victory was impossible.
To Ariana’s pleasant surprise, Christina shared a similar mentality to Eris when it came to right and wrong, but perhaps because she was a bit older, or perhaps influenced by her anomaly of a Senior Brother, she was far more practical in her approach.
By her own admission, Christina was doing her best to improve herself so she could better the lives of her friends, loved ones, and everyone in the kingdom. She sought strength not to prop up her sense of self-worth or to feed her pride, but to protect and defend those who couldn’t do so for themselves.
At the same time, though, Christina readily admitted that she had a lot to learn and had a long way to go before she could take on a real leadership role.
In order to achieve the lofty goals she had set for herself, the young princess was willing to face her own shortcomings, ask others for help, and didn’t hesitate to seek guidance when she needed it, a fact that a few of the Spirit Initiates close to Christina who were present at the dinner quietly attested to.
Sensible, pragmatic, caring, compassionate, determined, humble, all characteristics you wouldn’t expect to find in a young, spoiled prodigy of royal descent, yet these traits all seemed to be second nature to Christina Rockwell.
Seeing such outstanding youngsters born into her homeland only reinforced Ariana Rockwell’s determination to assist and protect them however she could.
As for what exactly she could do to promote Lucas, Eris, and Christina’s long-term growth, Ariana wasn’t certain yet, but in the short-term, there were certainly a few things she could arrange on top of providing them with some resources like Spirit Crystals, elixirs, and techniques.
Although restoring Eris’ arm was currently a bit beyond her capabilities to arrange, Ariana felt that getting her a proper prosthetic was possible.
In the Rockwell Kingdom, the best artificial limbs were little more than decorative pieces or crude stumps with hooks attached to them, but in the Sovereignty, semi-functional artificial limbs created by Spirit Engineers and Spirit Doctors existed.
These prosthetics certainly couldn’t replace real arms and legs and were generally only effective for those in the Sea Establishment Realm and above, but they were much better than what Eris was currently using.
For Christina, Ariana felt that a Peak Grade 3 Aura Concealing Spirit Tool was what she needed most right now.
Such a tool would reliably be able to hide or disguise her cultivation even from High-Rank Soul Elites, so as long as Tina didn’t travel to any Large-Sized Kingdoms, she would basically be safe for the next decade or two.
As for what happened when Christina eventually did leave the South-Central Region and ventured out into the wider world, that was a problem for later.
That just left Lucas.
Ariana originally had no idea what exactly the young boy wanted or needed that she could provide for him, but after a brief discussion with Natasha, she realized that helping him would probably be quite simple.
In fact, if her royal grand niece wasn’t exaggerating, which she never did, it might even be profitable for Ariana to strike a deal with Lucas, a possibility she was quite interested in exploring over the next few days.
Before she could get to any of that, however, the former queen had to take care of her immediate task; delivering the initial batch of relief aid she had brought with her to where it was needed.