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Ross Aitmurn was ripped out of his meditation by the brutal strike of a blow against his direct lineage. His soul shuddered under the attack, costing him precious time as he stabilized himself. Controlling the flames billowing in the room that aided him in gaining Experience in commanding them took several minutes. His body had been tempered in fire, yet these flames by their nature had the ability to injure him. Once everything settled into his control, his eyes glowed deep fiery red. Taking a glance at his Status to be sure everything was fine, he breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Name: Ross Aitmurn

Race: Human

Class: Lord of Flames

Level: 501

Health: 12,580/12,580 (629 HPs regen)

Mana: 12,580/12,580 (6,290 MPs regen)

Stats: Str 1258, Dex 1258, Con 1258, Wis 1258, Int 1258

Free Stats: 0

Skills:

Five Senses of Fire

Blessing of Flames

Spells:

Domain of Fire I

Mental Trait:

Mind of Fire

Physical Trait:

Body of Fire

Ross nodded to himself; while he may not have a thousand Skills or Spells like his younger days, he had learned the power of simplicity and the versatility of the Domain of Fire I.

Pulling instantly on the thread of mana that had been attached to his grandson, it unraveled into nothingness, which he expected. It would be foolish of the enemy to leave behind something that would allow him to pull his grandson to safety so easily.

Without delay, Ross used his Domain of Fire I to cycle through his Spells hunting for any trace of Devon’s existence. He had lived a long life before choosing to have progeny, and the number of Spells his domain contained was immense. With slow despair, he realized whoever had struck had been thorough. There was nothing left to find. No bloodline, soul, or trace of a grudge existed to track.

Too late. Ross thought, his eyes wet with unshed tears before he blinked them away, and his expression hardened. Where? Who? WHY?

The five kingdoms that had replaced the Empire after the Emperor’s death were at a delicate balance of power with each other. No one wanted an open war because other human and non-human territories around them could take advantage of it. To that end, all the powerhouses of Meaven, Lanmas, Maildi, Leewstu, and his own Aitmurn had taken Oaths backed by the System.

The Raven, Lion, Snake, Horse, and Rat would not fight each other without a specific set of reasons. His grandson's death was one such reason, except he had no proof any of them had been involved in the murder. While his four counterparts were strong, and each could have removed Devon without leaving traces, there would have been word of their movements. Disturbing his meditations for any of the other leaders' movements would have been completely acceptable had such a thing actually occurred.

Yet, instead, within mere minutes after he calmed himself, the attacker was able to remove all traces. No, this was something else. It smelled of treachery that had been long in the planning. Something the House of Rat was quite familiar with considering how the Emperor fell.

Ross shifted his position in the world following the fire that existed everywhere and nowhere before appearing directly into his son’s chambers. It took a moment for all parties in the opulent room to realize he was there, and they instantly knelt in supplication to him. His meditation robes shifted into Rank One combat clothing, and swirls of mana leaked off the most powerful glyphs that adorned them.

He grimaced, looking around at the tapestries hanging and the plethora of enchanted silver, gold, and rarer metals. Was any of this display going to save his son, Arthur, if an enemy came for his head? Only true power kept the filth at bay; perhaps he should look into taking a more active role in guiding the House. Such musings would have to wait for later as he turned his attention to his heir and the boy’s two retainers.

“There has been an attack against the bloodline. Devon is gone.” Ross said, his voice containing the fury he felt. “Explain. Now.”

Arthur, his son, and Devon’s father rose before bowing and saying, “Devon was chasing the rumor of the Legion of the Wolf. He entered the Endless Forest to track them down. We had one of our best low-level retainers, Lars Murst, accompanying him.”

“Lars? A member of the Legions? Are we certain he was loyal?” Ross instantly pulled the memory of the mage, thanks to his Trait. This could easily have been a blow from the Emperor’s ghost, someone waiting to strike at the perfect time.

“No retainer to a direct descendant got there without signing a contract.” Arthur said. “While it is possible to circumvent such things, the cost, even with Devon’s death, wouldn’t be worth it. If there were any possibility of fighting back, he would have done so.”

Ross nodded; breaking a System backed form of Contract, Oath, or Bargains was expensive even for him. That a mere retainer would have the funds to do so was unrealistic to the extreme. A small part of the Oath allowed surrender because no one wanted to be used as a shock trooper.

The System wouldn’t stop someone from signing a bad deal of their own free will, and that interpretation was flexible, true. However, most people with a Class had the ability to end their life instead of being forced into slavery.

It also didn’t help that human lands were constantly at war with both inside and outside enemies. Killing higher-level humans often resulted in someone painting a nice juicy target on their back while weakening themselves. It was rare that someone like the Emperor died, and the nobles had only been willing to strike because the amount of treasure was too great.

The black-hearted dog-loving Emperor Rothschild had been sitting on his Throne for too long. When it became known, he kept too much to himself towards the end, and the five houses had decided to get their blood cut. It had been a mess at the end, even with planning, fortune, and treachery favoring the betrayers.

“You have the focus?” Ross asked Arthur and received a scroll from his son that had been carefully tucked into his dapper fashionable clothing. Taking the Contract focus scroll, Ross reached out, searching the mana strings that bound all of the retainers under a Contract to the Aitmurn family.

A single string led away from the city into the Endless Forest. He pushed his mind along the pathway of mana created by the Contract. Even with his vaunted level of power, doing this was a test of his own strength. The forest’s ambient mana fought him hard for every single meter closer to his target. Eventually, enough trees rushed by until a small house that he had never seen before was revealed. It had a make and model that Ross had never seen before, making him wonder if this was the legendary Forest Hag’s residence.

The view was blurry and unfocused from all the ambient mana, yet he knew he was close. A little more would allow him to secure a connection to the servant!

Once he connected with Lars Murst, he would travel to his location using one of his rarest long-range Spells combined with his Domain of Fire I unique ability. Since the same power would allow him to return, it was normally only used for leaders' annual meetings due to the cooldown time before he could use it again. For revenge, though, Ross was willing to make an exception in its use.

Pushing his mind past the strange house and over the garden wall, Ross witnessed a sight of absolute strangeness, which made him pause for a brief moment. Paper boxes were lined up within prisons made of thorns. It was a sight that brought to mind the many and varied tales of the Forest Hag, a creature who ate little children and fed on the blood of strong men. Shaking off his unease, Ross moved towards the endpoint of the mana string.

The string led to one of the boxes, causing him to rush towards the box of paper with his mental power. Moments before he breached the paper box, a pulse of mind-crushing agony flew along the string connecting him to the servant. Using his mind to travel the link, it struck past his defenses without triggering them, forcing his mental link to the mana string to shatter. Watching the mana string pulse with waves of unholy agony caused Ross to snap.

“Fires take the Forest Hag!” Ross screamed as molten lava flowed from his hand to melt part of the wall in his son’s room. The agony that had flowed back along the Contract’s mana string had turned a possible lead into nothing but a trap for the weak. The pain was so bad even Ross sweated at the idea of being tortured in such a manner. Recovering his control moments later, he crushed the heat with a wave of his hand before reshaping the wall with an effort of will.

“Lars is dead, or soon to be dead. I have no doubt he will give up everything possible that he can, Contract or not.” Ross said as everyone in the room was careful not to look at the new wall with silver and gold embedded in it. Starting to pace, Ross considered his options.

Devon’s death will cause the vultures of the other four families to turn their eyes to us. I need some way to turn that attention away from us. Ross thought. A decoy? A decoy and a trap, worth of the House of Rat! Since the Forest Hag is the most likely suspect, let us send the brave lads and lasses of the other Houses to meet my grandson in his grave!

The other three in the room shivered as Ross grinned with a maniacal smile when he stopped pacing. He had lost a scion of his house, a direct descendant. Why should the other houses not suffer the same as him?

“Announce it slowly, as if we are trying to keep it secret.” Ross paused, placing his hands behind him and continuing, “My grandson has discovered a powerful treasure from an ancient ruin in the Endless Forest. Say he is wounded and that we are sending reinforcements to rescue him. That way, we will have an excuse to send a few of our younger elites to rescue him.” Ross said.

“Should we kill the known spies in the House to show that we are trying to keep it quiet?” Arthur asked. While his son couldn’t see everything Ross had, it was clear he had picked up on the makings of the trap. At least the heir to his house wasn’t a complete fop.

“Yes, get rid of the most obvious ones, and let the rest learn of the news. Make it look like we are desperate to reach him because he suffered a terrible injury in acquiring this treasure.” Ross said.

“There are several branch family members that were as good as, or better than Devon. Should we send them as well with our elites?” Arthur said with a sly smile.

Ross grinned, “Indeed, we shouldn’t allow such an opportunity to pass us by. Let us filter the wheat from the chaff with this expedition. Offer resources from our stockpiles and a few trinkets from the Vault.”

“Did you see anything about the attacker, or should we let them go in blind?” Arthur asked.

“It was the Forest Hag.” Ross said, choosing to blame a legend. The best part was no one could prove he was lying, even under Oath, because everything he had seen pointed to it. How or why a monster like that had come out from the Deep Forest was none of his concern. Only the ability to use the knife of another mattered to him. Were he to leave to find the strange house personally, it would be the work of a day to remove his House, all his treasure, and the rest of his bloodline from existence for his counterparts. No, this was a task for the younger generation.

“Let others remember and fear. No one cuts a Rat’s tail off without paying the price!” Ross said, his voice rich with fury.