The Ancient Genes

"Blood is thicker than water?... Hm…" Max mumbled with a deep thought.

"Anyway, it's your turn. How do you know that guy? Mr. Passerby!" Lear asked calmly.

"Well, I have some history with him. I came across him in Arcane." Max replied.

"Arcane? You are from Arcane?" Lear asked in surprise. After all, Arcane had been in the news for a while.

"You can say that." Max replied.

"Stop being so vague. Do I really look so untrustable to you? I even let out my own situation to you." Lear said with a troubled look.

"It's not about trust and stop acting like that. What you said was something that anyone could find easily. Your acting ain't gonna work on me." Max replied calmly.

"Tsk...you are a tough nut to crack. No wonder you survived the Arcane incident. My brother too made it only by the breadth of a hair." Lear replied while clicking his tongue.

"Your brother?" Max asked with raised brows. He suddenly felt an ominous foreboding.

"Yes, my 2nd brother was at Arcane Academy. There were rumors of some Ancient cemetery floating around and he was sent there for inspection." Lear replied casually.

'Ancient cemetery….are they talking about the Trial of God? So they know about it. It doesn't seem impossible after all there were previous participants too.'

"Are you allowed to tell me about this?" Max asked.

"I don't know. Nor do I care. It's in the past anyway. I don't think anyone is going to look for it anymore." Lear replied calmly.

Max knew that the information must be deemed invalid or else this guy would have never told him about it.

"Arnold Barnes...right? He is your second brother. Is he as rumors make him be?" Max suddenly said as he thought about a possibility.

"What are you saying sudden-"

"I will answer your questions if you answer mine." Max said with a hint of seriousness and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.

"What are you planning…." Lear asked. His eyes were extremely calm.

"It depends on your answer." Max replied.

"It's not as bad as the rumors. But he isn't at the level of the main heirs." Lear replied as he started at Max.

"Arcane Academy held a trip to Orena at the time of the disaster.….I want all the details about it. The real one." Max said calmly.

He knew that the identity of the people from the noble houses must have been kept a secret. If not, it wouldn't have remained hidden in the Academy.

"Don't be unreasonable." Lear replied.

"It's not too difficult for you. Besides, if I find my answer. It will be helpful to you too."

Lear still didn't budge.

"I am Max, a student from Arcane Academy and the survivor of the disaster too." Max finally spoke and Lear's eyes widened.

Max wanted to confirm a few things and get rid of his doubts. He really hoped that his doubts would only remain a possibility and not turn into reality.

"Is that enough?" Max asked as he looked at Lear still starting at him.

"Um..yeah..I guess.." Lear said a bit dumbfounded. He clearly didn't expect that this guy who was desperately hiding his identity would suddenly reveal it

He got up from his seat and left the room to get the information from his sources.

Max on the other hand, kept quiet. His face had turned dark. He revealed his identity to earn Lear's trust. If Max's thought were right, it was even more so that he needed to get Lear onto his side.

Several thoughts kept resolving into Max's mind. He remembered the last talk he had with with the other three through system.

'If Average Man had predicted it right, the Ovens House had betrayed the 12 Noble Houses. They have got connections with the Demons and the Dark Society.'

' The next thing was the field trip. It was supposed to be a trip only for the Blacksmith Department but the Academy Board suddenly changed the idea and made every department participate. The students who supported it included James, one of the leading figures in the Academy. That bastard....I clearly remember sensing Demonic Aura at the Border city and rushed along with August feeling that something ominous was about to come. James definitely knew it was coming and still dragged everyone towards the Orena. He definitely planned something. He could have clearly killed everyone. But, he didn't. That bastard must be up to no good.'

'After incident occured and James Ovens must be among the survivors. Arnold Barnes survives too or more like allowed to survive.'

' And Lear is now attacked by the Dark Society. You can't ask me to believe it's a coincidence.'

' Either I am thinking too much or everything seems to have a connection.'

' Let's assume James or the Demons want to kill Lear, but what would they get from it? Instability…No it won't last long… What can it be?'

At this moment, the door opened again and Lear walked in with a bunch of papers in a file and threw it towards Max.

"That was fast." Max said while picking the file up.

"Don't underestimate the noble houses." Lear said before taking his seat.

Max flipped the pages searching for the name of survivors first. He was worried whether his friends were able to make it out or not.

As Max went through the names, the first one finally entered his eyes.

….

Kevin Zen

…

Axel Rim

...

Wilson Scarlet

..

..

..

One by one, every name entered his eyes and he finally sighed in relief.

'Good! Every one of them is fine.'

Max smiled. One of the burdens had been lifted from his mind.

"You look disgusting with that smile." Lear's voice entered Max's ears.

Max avoided the fellow and searched for the thing he was looking for and expected.

'F*ck! This looks troublesome…' Max cursed as a deep frown emerged on his face.

His assumption had been correct. There was a link between James and Arnold. They were in the same team in the Competition and only one of their team mates had died while the rest survived.

The thing which gave Max the headache was the name and identity of the people who were in James's group.

'They are the same like Arnold Barnes. All of them are people who are not in position to inherit. The thing which confirms my suspicion even more is the fact that none of these people's House supports the Ovens House. This isn't looking good…. What is James trying to do?'

Max looked at all the names. His eyes turned specially grim at a particular one.

Victor Edwinson….