Meet The Family
From the very moment Anoteros showed up with his five wives, his parents scrutinised them like they were lumps of meat at a market, trying to assess their values. To a great clan, the value of the partner of one of its scions was limited to a few things…
Namely, reproductive capabilities, what they have to offer to the potential child that the superior bloodline of the Elt did not, and of course, their general skill level.
Edrick had no idea how some of these factors could be determined with just a glance, but his father soon nodded with a slight smile, seemingly satisfied.
After all, Anoteros had earned a passive that had greatly increased the fertility, childbearing, and birth-giving capabilities of his possessions. Not to mention, his wives were all young and were constantly kept in perfect condition through several means. The main one being their husband’s miraculous seed.
His mother, however, seemed more concerned about other aspects... She stared each of his wives in the eyes, as though attempting to make them admit something by sheer force of pressure. It was to be said that the Elt matriarch had a gift for appearing intimidating.
Of course, her son’s harem members were all bearing wife-crests and had been carefully taught to be perfect wives, so there was no fault to be found in their behaviours or intentions.
So in the end, she just glanced at Linmin in particular, and then at Edrick.
“I should have known what giving you a foppoof servant would lead to. I wasn’t expecting you to make him into a wife, though… I would typically have something to say about that, but since the rest of your wives are fully capable of fulfilling their roles and giving me grandchildren... I suppose it is fine for you to add some unexpected flavours to your harem”
The Elt patriarch put his arms around his wife’s shoulder.
“Indeed! A young man needs to have his fun, after all! Let us sit down”
Apart from the initial analysis, the rest of the evening went by normally.
Though it became abundantly clear about the great disparity in the personalities of Edrick’s parents. His father–Patriarch Yongfu–Was quite the jovial character. He seemed proud of his once-useless son for getting it together and gathering an array of women.
Listening to him, it sounded like there was nothing better than for a male scion to have several wives... But when Anoteros asked why he, as the clan’s patriarch, didn’t have several wives, the man just glanced at his wife before responding.
“Listen, Son… Some women are simply worth so much that there is no point in having more” he said, speaking like his statement was wise.
“It’s because he insisted on courting me despite being weaker than I am, and I don’t like to share my man” his mother was quick to elaborate, making the wise facade crumble before it could even form.
Indeed, his mother–Matriarch Yueyao–Was pretty much the complete opposite of her husband in how she acted. Though it seemed clear that she wasn’t nearly as emotionless as she looked, she certainly wasn’t one to wear her heart on her sleeve.
Overall, apart from questions probing into when Edrick intended to start producing grandchildren, nothing much happened during the dinner. The spooky and scary couple that led the current Elt clan appeared quite normal.
But Edrick knew that this was because he, too, was an Elt. In fact, some of the dishes that were served at the table were a fairly good indication that this clan was a bit odd.
Anoteros was a gourmet, so he had toured all restaurants and such places, on top of having Linmin prepare all sorts of meals. Therefore, he had a fairly good grasp of the diversity of cuisine this kingdom had to offer.
As such, he was fairly certain that eating live, baby eels, and animal brains that had been frozen to be made into a sort of ice cream wasn’t common at all. And so was the soup filled with human eyes.
They didn’t just look like those of humans. Edrick knew that they were the real deal, as his cannibal bloodline activated... Not that he or his wives minded. He had long since shared his own special tastes with them… He guessed that this was part of the test, to see if Edrick had truly prepared his wives to live like Elts.
Once the dinner ended, his wives left first, as Edrick stayed behind to speak privately with his parents.
“I will be honest, when the decision was made to send you into exile, the expectations were that the next news we would receive about you would be your eventual death from old age... You’ve truly proven everyone wrong–Very wrong, in fact. Thanks to you, I was able to rekindle some form of amicable relationship with the Myriad-Arm Sect… They sort of have the greatest amount of weapon cultivation techniques, you know? Always wanted to get my hands on some of that…”
“...Not only have you done this, but you have grown tremendously as well. Even if you have a later starting point than most, you are in a good place right now… You will be granted access to the family’s personal archives. Do be careful, however, many of the techniques have been refined and enhanced. They are nothing like the techniques sects have access to. Even great talents are stuck with such techniques once they start, and it is nearly impossible to give up on one of them partway through”
“Once you've made a pick, start cultivating it. You will have to do so until great mastery. Also, they tend to take up multiple ‘slots’, which is why having the capabilities to cultivate multiple techniques at once is so prized”
“Of course, you could always pick from the simpler and unrefined techniques if one catches your attention…”
His father explained, and Edrick merely nodded.
“It’s good that you understand. Here, take this” his father handed over a simple manual.
“It’s nothing much. It is the basic Elt Preservation Technique. It helps maintain fertility, youth, and beauty. Use it yourself and let your wives cultivate it, too”
“I understand, Father”
Then, his mother spoke up.
“I wanted to ask. Why do you call yourself ‘Edrick Lucien Anoteros’?”
“It is merely a pseudonym, Mother. I do not wish to overuse the influence of the Elt clan”
Whether or not that explanation was convincing was uncertain, but neither of his parents seemed to question it.
And as such, after being given a bit more stuff, such as a new insignia that featured not only the symbol of the Elt clan, but also the horned hydra that Edrick had decided to use to represent himself, as well as some robes… Edrick bid goodbye to his parents and began walking back toward his residence.
Not long after he walked out of the room–Illuminated by faint moonlight, he stumbled upon a woman of average height but petite proportions who was just sitting by a window. Her dark hair and eyes clearly marked her as a member of the Elt clan. In fact, Edrick had noticed that it was like his bloodline resonated with his family members, letting him know just how tightly they were connected through familial links.
Unfortunately, the clan didn’t really have a family tree he could refer to when encountering an unfamiliar family member. Though he had been given a book compiling the deceased and living members, which apparently updated in real-time…
He had not had time to look through it just yet, however.
“Oh, you must be the one who likes to go by Edrick? I heard that you went through quite the transformation… So I have been waiting to see you”
“Might we make acquaintances?”