Guild Wars

At this time, the core members of Umbra were currently discussing their future. The prompt given them by Draco and Eva was not something that could be decided idly, they had to know the pros and cons, as well as what was the best option for them in particular.

Seated in the order of power based on their tournament results was Essence Stalker at the head, Ghostpro to his side, along with Kiran and then the rest. Their expressions couldn't help but change when they saw that those in the lead all had bloodlines of various proportions.

This obviously created a slight bias in thought for those who didn't have.

"Alright, so this is a sort of open forum where everyone can share their thoughts and opinions freely. Whoever wants to take the floor first can do so." Essence prompted with a smile.

The core members were silent, looking at each other to see who would go first when Keira, the partner of Armonia, spoke up first with a severe expression.

"Personally, I don;t see what there is to discuss. Currently, our group of core members are further split into the elites and the average, unofficially of course. Those who are elite have bloodlines and those who are average don't."

"Personally, I treat everyone here as my friend and family, so this division doesn't actually exist, and you guys try your hardest not to make it obvious, but it doesn't mean everyone else doesn't think so, especially Draco and Eva."

"They have always been straightforward with their orders and how they expect things to be done, so when they choose who they want for certain task, they base it on applicable power or utility. Most often this happens to be those with bloodlines, which leaves the rest of us feeling like an afterthought."

Keira leaned back into her seat and shrugged. "That's just what I feel though, don't beat me up for it."

Everyone's lips twitched as they glanced at her askance. Exactly who here can match your fighting style you female tyrannosaurus?!

Akainu sighed and rubbed his eyebrows before speaking. "Let me offer a counter opinion. Not everyone necessarily needs a bloodline. Unless you haven't noticed, our current power level is more than enough to handle various issues."

"Even fellows at False Tier 1 can become unparalleled among humans, much less us who are at the minimum of tier 3. Literally apart from the golem that came at the end, we were able to beat down members of one of the three strongest Lineages to death without any casualties on our side. I don't think you understand how crazy this is."

Akainu blew out a puff of smoke. "One doesn't always need to chase more power, but to stabilize and make the best of what they have. To use an example, this is what separates One Piece from Dragon ball Z."

"In One Piece the characters can only eat one Devil Fruit, and the power they get is stuck for life along with its downside, inability to swim. Even then, most of the powers are silly and seemed useless, like string manipulation or turning your body in goddamn rubber."

"Compared to firing majestic energy beams and destroying planets with a single energy blast, this pales in comparison. Yet those of the One Piece world have maximized the use of that one power, forming it as their base while they seek ways to enhance its utility."

"String can be used to puppeteer people, form traps or even be a weapon if they are thin enough and used like blades. Turning into rubber can make a simple punch possess the power and velocity of a rocket due to build up momentum over distance, and can even be used to increased blood flow to enhance physical capabilities."

Akainu tapped the table with a weird smile. "Lets be honest, had you never watched One Piece or heard what I said, you would have likely thrown a tantrum or fallen into depression if you were handed such a power."

The core members shared a look and many nodded in agreement. By principle, it wasn't just the powers alone that was a problem. If one received a power in a society of powerless people, it would still be exciting and worthwhile.

But when you had a world with powers already and others could shoot fire and make earthquakes, receiving such a power would only make you feel the world was bullying you.

"As for Dragon ball, they simply seek the next tier of power to breakthrough limits, upon disposing of previous powers. Kaioken was tossed away when Super Saiyan came, and mastering the Super Saiyan form was tossed away when Super Saiyan 2 came around."

"Using their head to take advantages of their power, skill and experience was also tossed away when fusion came about, allowing them to always have a way out in a desperate situation. Want to win in this universe? Just make sure the scouter reports a higher power level than your opponent."

"Obviously, each has its own merits and demerits, which was why they could both stand as giants, but the ideology is what I'm pointing to here."

Akainu casually lit up a new cigar. "Just my two cents."

The room was quiet for a while before Armonia spoke calmly. "From a scientific point of view, you all who don't have bloodline absolutely have to take it, and get it. Its not just about the power or prestige, but that you need the fundamental DNA that comes with it in order to keep up."

"Draco and Eva are only going to get stronger, exponentially so. Any limit they have now will eventually be brutally smashed through as they achieve new peaks, and they will be forced to either level us up to match that standard - like what they're offering now - or leave us at the nearest point."

"The fact is, once we leave this planet, Control becomes far less potent. In the universe, there are beings that have powers similar to bloodlines and even news ones, because that is, in essence, where the bloodlines came from."

"And they wouldn't be like the Lineage members who are already strong, but have a jumble of powers limited by purity. Each species would likely be a pureblood of their race, with only one ability that they have honed over their lives. Control at Tier 3 cannot help you against that and you will become a burden."

Armonia's eyes flashed. "At that time, you are more likely to do something stupid when realizing you have become a burden. A person who has been powerful and is suddenly reduced to average sue to new elements would always seek to get that power back, and they may not always use the best methods to achieve that."

"To avoid that, just choose a bloodline source and pick whatever you want. There is virtually no downside to a bloodline that matters in the long run."

The room became heavy with Armonia's frank admission. As a scientist and genius, his words were blunt and never accounted for feelings, only facts. Both his girl, Keira and Akainu were talking about fanciful things that didn't matter and were dodging the heart of the topic, so he had to step in and right things.

At this point, Austin Wu coughed lightly, capturing everyone's attention.

"Erhem. I will introduce myself once more, I am Austin Wu, inheritor of Quetzalcoatl, one of Lord Lucifer - and now Draco's - God Serpents."

Austin bowed slightly and continued. "Since I have been absent, I lack a lot of history and context to influence your decisions, but luckily, I am skilled with understanding of bloodline, genetics and DNA."

"This because I, Quetzalcoatl, currently as Austin, have spent the entirety of my lifespan researching genetics and the human genome especially. As you may know, I once was a God of a certain advanced civilization - at the time of course - which were quite… barbaric."

Austin blushed and coughed as he spoke. "You might have heard how they loved to make blood sacrifices… well yes. I have dominion over Lightning, Wind and Blood. In order to research about genetics and blood, you obviously need… blood."

"Specific kinds and types, which was why the targets chosen always had specific characteristics. At the time, they were willing and I was totally engrossed in my research so…"

"Cough cough, anyway, I am saying this because I want you to understand that I am not a hack, but come from a qualified background on this topic, so you can take my next words with utter serious and validity."

Austin them folded his hands behind his back and began speaking scholarly.

"Firstly, the bloodline you are about to be given is from three main sources, the Lucifer, the Amaterasu and the Pangu. Secondly, its quality, if all progenitors have 100% bloodline power, will be pure. Thirdly, it will have full compatibility."

"This is a bestowal, not an inheritance. When inheriting bloodline, it requires reproduction. This is up to chance and depends of many thing which will decide how much power and exactly what power you inherit."

"Bestowal though, is giving the raw bloodline to another by the bloodline holder done willingly by both parties."

"What are the pros and cons of this?"

"For Inheritance, the pros are that you can pass it down to your children and you are not limited by your progenitor. The cons are that you cannot know how much power you will inherit or what specifically. Also, you will have to master the bloodline on your own."

"For Bestowal, the pros are that you can receive 99% bloodline purity as well as any denomination you want and you have full access to all the power the progenitor has in real time. The cons are that you cannot pass the bloodline down to your children and you are limited by the progenitor, you can never surpass their currant power level."

"For example, if Draco and Eva received a bestowal rather than inheritance, they could have never broken through to 100% and become what they are today."

Austin paused for a bit then continued. "Now, on the topic of receiving the bestowal, I have noted your current states and have to say this. Firstly, you need the bloodline bestowal because without it, you can never surpass Tier 3 Control. It may be, as Mr. Akainu said, more than enough now, but it will forever be your cap."

"Secondly, a bloodline provides no real detriment, as Mr. Pendragon stated. The only one would be that you will be limited by your progenitor and also become suppressible by them."

Austin scratched his nose with an amused look. "However, the fact of the matter is, Draco and Eva do need to sue their bloodline to suppress any of us. They can use Control or even just their level of life to do so, so nothing much realistically changes."

"I think the idea of saying no will likely have more consequences in the long term than saying yes. I know all of your are sharp enough to know which one has more consequences and which one to take."

Austin looked at the group of core members silently. "So really, what we should be discussing is who will be choosing which bloodline and what inheritance/power you wanted."

The group shared a look once more and found that Austins words basically resolved the issue. Any uncertainty they had was clarified by him, which was absolutely perfect. As for the pros and cons, like he said it was a luxury to even have a chance to think about it.

Anyone else would kill for these bloodline and yet they dared to hesitate?! It really was true that Draco and Eva pampered them too much. A normal person would have given them an ultimatum and a countdown, not bothering to leave them to discuss it themselves.

Thinking like this, many of them had made their final decisions in their hearts.

Suddenly, Austin seemed to remember something and added: "Oh right, those who have Lucifer, Amaterasu or Pangu bloodlines can have their purities upgraded, but those with other Lineage bloodlines cannot have a new one added."

Immediately, the smiles of Sublime, Kiran and Misery froze.