Ascending Pride

Resonance

Lucian took his time examining "Ashton Black", the more he looked the more he recalled a goal of his youth. They didn't carry themselves the same, nor did he use the same mannerisms; but there was something that caught his attention.

Lucian took another step so they were only hair from making contact. Ashton's gaze didn't waver, nor did he step back, "Who is your biological father?" he demanded tilting his chin to keep eye contact.

Ashton didn't flinch, "Thomas Black fathered me, your majesty."

Lucian narrowed his eyes further. "Lying to Us will have 9 generations of your family executed."

"This commoner does not dare your majesty. Surely a level 5 battle mage can test bloodlines." He added as if they were talking about the roads traveled on a pleasant day.

Lucian slowly reached for Ashton's face, when the boy didn't flinch he snatched a dozen hairs then held them out to Devlin. "Test the bloodlines." He ordered keeping eye contact.

Thomas stepped forward, Devlin pulled out half a dozen hairs and made a small prick on his left middle finger. Ashton had to offer his hand but didn't move because he had not been given permission to stop looking Lucian.

Devlin was inwardly sweating, he was a battle mage, not a healer. It took him a moment to find the resonation between the hair and blood. Magic wasn't quite as omniscient as people believed.

Mages were rare because they had to be trained, first you had to find someone who was a natural conduit and could hold their own reservoirs of magic. It was impossible to test the personal reservoir of a magician so they were tiered based on how much magic they could release at a given time.

The higher the level the conduit the more magic they could use at the same time. A straw could never release as much water as a river. Even if the straw had water flow through it until it broke down a river could probably release the same amount in a single day. There were ways to increase the level of a conduit, but few survived such machinations or went mad. Alphonse had been the only seventh tier conduit in 300 years, and he'd only been born a fourth-tier conduit.

While there wasn't exact standards for each tier of mage, there were requirements. Anyone who could use mana was considered a first tier mage.

Second tier mages had to be able to influence the elements, such as moving water from a river into a bucket. Many second-tier mages would create sparks, or encourage rain.

Third tier mages started to branch significantly based on personal preferences since they could call upon elements and start making enchantments.

Fourth tier mages were a little hard to pick out since they might be able to turn a flame into a whip, but not be able to call water from the ground. Specialization was far too common.

To be considered a fifth-tier mage, you had to defeat twenty fourth tier mages, and be able to create a master node. Most could make enchantments, but they were considered a master of their chosen element.

The sixth tier could manifest their elements by will, no enchantment or spell circle needed. A though could create a tsunami or earth quake. Most permanent enchantments of myth were said to be made by mages of the sixth tier, such as the crown of wisdom which had let rulers hear the thoughts of people around them for almost 400 years and only organized a new owner if the previous relinquished control willingly.

Seventh tier had basically been a myth until Alphonse had walked onto a battlefield at 14 years old and swallowed an entire city without a single spell circle. He had repeated the feat over a dozen times in less than a month. He'd been able to teleport himself along power relays, brought a lightning tornado inches from a city gate, and had created a dome of water over another country's capital city when they continued to threaten to invade.

The reason mana crystals were so important is they could artificially increase the level of a conduit by one, sometimes two levels. While the reservoir a mage could tap into wouldn't increase it could be refilled, the only consequence was usually exhaustion. Mages also could replenish and increase the size of their reservoirs with training so very rarely did mages need to rely on stamina to win.

Ashton didn't show it but he'd almost choked when Devlin damaged the first sample...the man could infuse blades with lightning and create fissures in the ground... but had a hard time finding resonance between items. Talk about a sprint runner.

Lucian's eye twitched when he'd seen the golden hairs start to smoke; but when the blood and hair shown with resonance he stepped back. He continued to eye the boy but this at least proved the samples were strongly related to each other.

While the original tension was gone, the group was still at a standstill. Aaron coughed to draw attention to himself, "Perhaps we can step inside before we can continue?" He offered. While the insult of having your parentage question couldn't be neglected, apologizing for an emperor couldn't be straightforward or public.

Ashton gave another formal neck bao, "This commoner dares not, please excuse us to fetch servants during your stay."

Aaron gave a beaming smile, "Surely Master Thomas cannot walk into town as such, we insist." Aaron really was a better envoy, unfortunately the surrounding townspeople wouldn't understand anything too complicated, but they really couldn't keep standing here after that spectacle.

Ashton deliberately glanced at the unwelcome visitors paling just enough to be visible to the gallery, he then gave a stiff gesture to enter. He couldn't outright refuse since they were now forcing the issue. Thomas went upstairs to find a new shirt, while Samantha trembled as she and Ashton went to start boiling water for tea. They then excused themselves to freshen up since the visit was so unexpected and they had been out in the fields.

Ashton followed Samantha into his parents' room just using a damp towel to wipe himself down. When Samantha started to open her mouth, he shook his head then glanced at the floor. She gripped her pendant, nodded then quickly freshened up as Ashton and Thomas went downstairs.