Grand Ancestral Bloodlines

Ryu's brows arched. Of course he knew that Quibus Faeries were one of the three ruling Clans of the Faerie world and Ethereal Plane. They reigned over death and the most powerful Necromancers in all of existence, without fail, always had a Quibus Faerie by their side. 

Unsurprisingly, much like the other ruling classes of the Faeries, the Quibus Faeries weren't known for their combat prowess either. And, despite ruling over death, they spent much of their time meditating and reflecting upon it, grasping at abstract concepts a lot like philosophers would. 

However, just because Ryu understood just what Quibus Faeries were didn't mean he understood how Ailsa could be one of them. He had never heard of a Faerie having two attributes, though he had never really thought of what might happen if a Faerie bonded with another powerful Faerie. 

The weird part was that even Ailsa seemed surprised by this fact. If her mother was a Quibus Faerie, wouldn't she have known of this possibility long ago? And, what did being a Quibus Faerie have to do with seeing through what happened to Yaana? 

"Faeries are different from humans," Ailsa explain. "The female Faerie is often known as the vessel of life and is capable of giving birth to all things. We are the original Mother Nature. This is why even if my Life Partner was a Spiritual Herb, I would still be capable of birthing its child. For female Faeries, conception is beyond sex. It can be done through love, through will, or any related sort of connection. Copulation isn't strictly necessary. 

"However, male Faeries work a lot more like human males do. They can't reproduce with as much freedom as female Faeries do and rather than being vessels for life, they are more like transportation stations. 

"Simply put, a Faerie child take on the characteristics of the father 100% of the time while the Faerie mother becomes a vessel. Of course, a child might have some features of their mother, but this child's core being will follow the species of the father. So, even with part Faeries like Little Yaana, in order for her to be born, it would have to be the result of a male Faerie copulating with a human as the vice versa would just see her born as a normal human.

"Of course, even with this being the case, the seed of a male Faerie taking root in a human woman is an extraordinarily rare case. Even my Cultus Clan only has tales of a few instances of this… But, that is beside the point. 

"It could be said that the moment my mother married my father, she had already forsaken the right to have her child be born as a Quibus Faerie. By all rights, I shouldn't be a Quibus Faerie."

This sort of explanation made great sense… Until the last part. 

If Ailsa's mother had no say in what kind of Faerie she became, then how in the world had she ended up like this?

Ailsa blinked innocently. It was a look that Ryu knew quite well. It was the look she got when she was feeling conceited in herself and wanted to let him know, the kind of look she had when she had done something great and was waiting for praise. Seeing it, Ryu couldn't help but chuckle. 

"Go on, my queen. Tell me how amazing you are."

Ailsa beamed with a bright smile. 

"It's simple, really. It just means I'm a born natural. You should praise me some more, I really deserve it, you know."

Though Ailsa said this simply, Ryu had a feeling that it was anything but. A natural Faerie? What sort of concept was that?

Well, if this was taken and applied to anything else, it would border on ridiculous. It was well known that the very start of a Bloodline was always its very peak. During progressive generations, with a few exceptions, a Bloodline would always trend downward no matter what tyrannical methods one tried to use to keep it pure. 

If this concept worked the same for Faeries and Ailsa somehow was a naturally awakened Quibus Faerie… Didn't that mean that she had talent equivalent to the very first Quibus Faeries in history?

Ryu wasn't absolutely certain of this. After all, if a male Faerie could pass on their essence 100% of the time, that meant that Faeries might not experience a dilution like a Clan with a Bloodline might. 

That said… Judging by how Ailsa was acting, even if it didn't work exactly like a new Bloodline would, it definitely wasn't much different at all. It was clear that there were many things about this more than just a little worth exploring. This also changed a lot of things and made Ryu's future path even clearer. 

With a Quibus Faerie by his side, entering and exiting the Nether Realm would be as easy as projecting his mind into the crystalline jade. This was no small boon at all. 

"… But, how is this all related to the Black Rose?"

"With the seals on my soul undone, I'm a lot more sensitive, especially when it comes to Yin related matters, though I've mostly gained a boost in everything.

"I have reason to believe that Little Yaana used her connection with a Black Rose to set herself up in the sort of circumstances she deemed best. As for what that means, I'm sure you can have a guess."

Ryu's gaze narrowed. 

The Black Rose. It was a Spiritual Herb of legend. Yet, if one came across it in nature, you might miss it completely, not much unlike Ryu's supposed 'father', King Tor, had with the Spirit Seeking Lilies. 

However, if one was lucky enough to find a Black Rose and use it, what you would gain would be beyond your wildest imaginations. 

Anyone who touched a Black Rose would die. There was no denying this and there was no recourse about it. Even a Sky God wouldn't be capable of dodging this Fate. That said… 

The Black Rose would also allow you to reincarnate. Not only would it allow you to reincarnate, it would allow you to do so with all your memories, all your talents, and all your abilities, in addition to bestowing you with a Karmic luck you could have never dreamed of in your first life. 

But the issue with this was… Yaana clearly didn't have her memories?

"Here."

Ailsa's mind, flooded with thoughts and deductions, directly pooled into Ryu's own thoughts. In that moment, Ryu almost felt as though he was standing in Ailsa shoes and their minds were one. It was a completely different experience from what it usually was and it made Ryu realize that his and Ailsa's intimacy had truly reached the deepest levels. 

There were no longer any shackles on Ailsa and she could enter the Real Plane as easily as she could long before she tethered herself to Ryu. At the same time, she could truly display her full strength as well. It was a great feeling, like the two of them were suddenly as light as a feather. 

Once Ryu slowly got over this feeling, having almost been intoxicated by it, he finally began to grasp Ailsa's thoughts. 

According to Ailsa's deductions, the Black Rose was based on a relationship of give and take. One would exchange their life in exchange for a better life. Of course, if the exchange was equivalent, it wouldn't be such a legendary Spiritual Herb. But, it was still an exchange nonetheless. 

However, Ailsa could sense the signs of a Black Rose on Yaana which made it especially odd. This was because Yaana clearly didn't have her memories, something that should have been a telltale sign of the Black Rose's imprints. 

But, that was when Ailsa realized that the Black Rose hadn't faded away from Yaana completely. In fact, it felt like it was still pulling at the karmic strings, helping her to accomplish the goals she wanted before it completely withered away. 

That was when Ailsa came to an understanding. 

Yaana was most definitely Nuri. 

This ability to exchange for life was the core ability of the Black Rose. However, this odd flexibility in the defined abilities of the Black Rose were the signs of a partner to partner relationship. 

Much like every living thing, a Spiritual Herb's first priority was to survive and procreate. Usually, a Black Rose would do this by using the life of the individual to fuel their next birth. However, what would happen if a Black Rose had no intention of acting selfishly and would prefer to sacrifice itself for the sake of someone or something it loved more than itself? 

This was when things clicked for Ailsa. 

At the sacrifice of the Black Rose, Nuri was not only able to reincarnate, but she was even able to manipulate karma such that she was reborn as close to Ryu as she could have possibly been. The only slight failure in this case was that she wasn't able to keep her name, but even then, her mother was given her name, making the Black Rose just a single generation off. 

Without enough Karma to spare, Nuri had no choice but to also sacrifice her chance at remembering her former life. Ryu couldn't help but look toward the confused Yaana with a complicated gaze. She had given up all the good Karma she could have gotten in exchange for ensuring that she reincarnated near him. The result was her almost dying of old age as her luck had dried up completely… 

How could Ryu not be moved? 

Even now, it seemed his Big Sister Nuri was still intent on protecting him.