Hyperion Evergrowing

Chapter 61: Noble

The wind picked up, it rustled leaves and billowed clothing. The sound was not that of a raging gale, instead the wind possessed an almost shrill melody. In the distance, motes of purple and red fluttered up from the earth. Specs of bioluminescent light reaching for the sky.

An arrow of light streaked through the night. It impacted the side of a grassy hill with a thud. An instant later two figures appeared in a flash of light.

The first was a cloaked being that teetered briefly before taking a step forward to gain their balance. The second staggered only to be caught by an amber arm.

“Hells Leif. Why are you so damn heavy? If you were any higher level I’m not sure if I could have teleported us both. Maybe only a shorter distance.” Hera grumbled, wincing at the internal pain caused by the over-taxation of her skill.

“We could have walked.” The spriggan pointed out, mentally focusing on the teleportation anchor left behind by his [Amber Steps] skill. He felt his connection to the anchor remain stable despite the distance.

“We’ll walk back. I don’t think my skill would activate if I tried to take you again.” Hera snorted, straightening up and observing their surroundings.

“Why would you leave?” Leif asked after a minute of silence. “Your family I mean. Even if things were bad, wouldn’t it have been better to stay?”

Hera pursed her lips and started walking. She indicated for him to follow. “Why would I have wanted to stay? I was being groomed for a position I didn’t want. Surely you know a little of what the northern kingdoms are like? The things the noble houses do?”

“But they’re still your family. Leaving it all behind is walking out on everything you knew. What about those who would miss you? Those that loved you?”

“Anyone who loved me would have been glad to see me escape. How much of your own house do you remember? Because mine certainly wasn’t worth sticking around for.” Hera said.

“I… I only recall small flashes.” Leif admitted, picking up his pace to match the archer’s. “A face here, a happy moment there. But my advancement trial was a moment from my past. It showed a disagreement between my past self and house Vin, but there was good too. I had a sister, and a father. Both…” He trailed off.

Both would miss me. He didn’t say. Both would have mourned my death and moved on. He tried not to think.

“I was eleven.” Hera said after Leif didn’t continue. “I was eleven when my family told me who I would marry. A man from another house, he was almost triple my age. We wouldn’t have been wed until I was of age but still. Absolutely disgusting.”

She spat to the side and continued. “But you know what happened? A year later he was assassinated, then the people who had him killed were in turn assassinated. So the whole thing was called off, thank the gods.”

Leif didn’t know what to say. He still was only partially familiar with the cultural part of humanity. He remained silent and let her vent.

“And then the war started. The Enslaved Legions started marching on our lands. You know what my family did? They bickered and squabbled, more interested in their own power than protecting anything or anyone!”

Hera came to a stop, she clenched and unclenched her hands, clearly worked up. Leif stepped up beside her. For a few minutes nothing was said. Finally Hera broke the silence and turned to him.

“What happens when you go back to them?” She asked pointedly.

“Then I’ll-”

Hera cut him off. “What happens when your family doesn't see that it’s you? What happens when they try to use you? Or harm you? Or even kill you? Do you think they would prioritise you over whatever minor benefit they can gain? What happens when they see a level fifty, or whatever level you’ll be monster, and they try and harvest the mana shard inside you?”

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Leif froze. He’d considered the possibilities, but surely not? He could convince them, they would see reason if he explained himself.

Surely.

But he couldn’t say those thoughts out loud. Because what if it wasn’t true?

“At best you’ll be a resource. Something to be used.” Hera said, teeth gritted. “And at worst… At worst you’ll be an obstacle. Something to remove. It’s how the nobility always are.”

“It’s been eleven years.” Leif said hesitantly. “Things will have changed. My father and sister will probably be in charge. From what I saw they were good people. I can trust them.”

A swarm of green light flowed through the night sky. It spun towards, then over the flickering firelight of the distant camp, twisting in intricate and dazzling patterns.

“Have you thought about it?” Hera asked finally, seeming to have calmed down.

“About what?”

“About the inheritant class we both have. About [Noble]?”

“No… Not really. I like the skills it gives though. Most of them at least. Without them I’m not sure how far I could have gotten.” Though I still can’t stand the idea of ever making use of [Legacy]...

Hera grunted and kicked a small stone. It went sailing off into the night, trailing a soft white afterglow. “Why do you think there’s a class specifically for those who hold power? Why isn’t there a farmer class? Or a villager class?”

Leif thought about it for a moment. He didn’t know the answer.

“It’s because inheritant classes can be passed down. But they had to come from somewhere. A person wasn’t randomly born one day with the [Noble] class.” She said.

The spriggan nodded. It made sense. “So… someone earned the class. And from there it was passed down?”

“No.” She said, smiling sadly. “The system cannot reward inheritant classes. It comes from someone trying to teach a different type of auxiliary class. Like a mythical class, or more likely a unique or legendary class.”

“The story goes as such:” Hera continued. “There was once a man who ruled over all humans. He fought back the tides of monsters and built the first cities. As a reward the system granted him a class, a class that he passed down to his children, and they passed that down to children of their own.”

“So people with the [Noble] class are the descendants of this man? This… first king?”

“The First King. That’s exactly what they call him. It’s because of him some people have a class that signifies that they’re supposedly better than everyone else. That they have some innate right to rule. But it’s bullshit. Anyone can learn the [Noble] class, it just has to be taught by another holder of the class. It’s all about aptitude for the class’s skills. Bloodline and birthright have nothing to do with it.”

Leif re-examined his class. Why did he have it when others didn't? As a monster, was he even deserving of it? But what was more, why did he still have it when all of his previous classes had been lost?

“But do you know what’s worse? The skills. They’re awful.” Hera said, wrinkling her nose. “They’re manipulative and controlling. Did you know there’s a [Noble] skill that can force someone to obey a command?”

“No. I don’t think I was ever offered something like that.” Leif admitted hesitantly.

She nodded. “Good. The skills any class offers the owner is based on personality and experience. But it’s worse than that. [Aura of Nobility], the skill pretty much every single person is offered right from level two. Even that skill leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

Leif frowned internally at her words. He hadn’t found the skill to be anything but useful.

“Surely you’ve noticed it? Everyone’s aura projects their emotions and intent. It’s not something specific to [Aura of Nobility].” She said.

“No, I have a perception skill that allows me to sense that.” Leif said, confused.

“[Court Empath]? Yeah I have that one too. That skill’s real use is piercing through basic obfuscation, aura manipulation and the innate resistance of those with higher ranked aura’s to being read.”

“Wait. So… why? Why does [Aura of Nobility] even exist?”

“The skill allows you to lie. You can project an intent while meaning something completely different. You can be feeling one thing but present to the world that you’re feeling something else. Most classes that allow for deceit or direct manipulation are restricted, or at least partially. Not [Noble] though. Why would those with authority restrict themselves?”

Leif considered her words, he really did. But they were wrong. Weren’t they? “I don’t think your conclusion is correct, at least not fully. The [Noble] class’s skills can protect and guide. They’re not inherently malicious, doesn’t a leader need to be able to correctly care for their subjects?”

“I’d agree if these powers weren’t so readily abused. I’ve seen those with sinister intentions use these skills all my childhood. It never ends well.”

“You can’t blame a tool for how it’s wielded.”

“I can if the tool corrupts anyone who picks it up.”

Leif sighed inwardly. He was arguing with someone who had made the same mistake his past self had. But unlike him, she hadn’t experienced what it was like to wake up having lost everything. She hadn’t lived half a decade flickering in and out of awareness with a gaping hole where her identity and past should be.

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