A Background Character’s Path to Power

By the time I returned from my meeting with healer Avir, I thought they would have finished talking. But it seems like I was gravely mistaken.

More than three hours had passed since the maid took Cassandra away, and there was still no news from her. I checked them from afar using my ability and saw them still deep in conversation.

It seems like that phrase about women never running out of things to say was absolutely true.

Not that I minded. Perhaps Mother would find some solace in Cassandra's company.

Relieved, I decided to go to the library again and search for books about this kingdom and its history. I had a feeling I would need such knowledge soon. Especially about the shield families.

Heck, I'm still clueless about the current world. The history books I read in the academy were mostly about the Empire and brief topics about the other continents, and so on.

I will have to research more. Perhaps Cassandra's guesses might be true. These memories we inherited, the powers we got, might be from the civilization that lived in the so-called Forgotten Age. And she wouldn't talk with that much certainty if she didn't research it herself.

And, since the world is vast and the power level is high, I'm pretty sure that there are going to be world-ending scenarios as well. No, I'm sure of it. The First Thread alone confirms it.

But what makes me more curious is the fact that there might be more Inheritors. People like us.

I wondered what kind of memories, powers, or systems they had.

Would they be 'good' people or not...

There was a lot to find out, and I needed to use my time wisely.

"Hmm," I scanned the surroundings and the library. There was no one.

"Alright, help me out again."

In an instant, another 'Lumin' materialized in front of me.

"Oh, finally some fresh air." The other Lumin took deep breaths, not that it could. "Hey, that's pretty mean, you know."

"I know, now, let's get to work," I told him. Since our minds were connected, there was no need to tell him what to do.

"Alright, then I will search for books about the kingdom," he smiled. "You learn more about the Shield Families."

"Do whatever you want, just don't get caught." I waved my hand and started searching.

After the Phantom Twin got upgraded to Stage 2, he learned the ability to interact with physical objects. What was more surprising and useful was that I could learn, see, and hear everything my phantom self experienced. It was truly like having a shared mind and consciousness now.

It had been a game-changer for my research, improvement, and learning efficiency. Two minds working simultaneously were definitely better than one, as they say. While I focused on one topic, my phantom could delve into completely different subjects, and we'd both absorb the knowledge instantly.

But, I would have to unsummon him to merge our knowledge. Although it was a bit of a hassle, it was still an OP effect.

I even used it to discuss the resonance arts and techniques with him during a month's training in Virion's domain. It helped me to raise my mastery in them more than I could do myself. Especially the Mender's Paradox's mental side mastery.

But alas, he couldn't help me with my aura. If he did have access to aura, that would have been truly broken. Having two people's worth of aura training and development concurrently would have made me ridiculously overpowered in a short time.

"Instead of complaining, focus on your work," my phantom self said with a smirk, clearly having caught my thoughts about its limitations. "Who knows, maybe I can do it in the future. So, next time an opportunity arises, just choose to upgrade me instead."

"As if," I scoffed. "I'm gonna find a way to make you less annoying first. Anyway, did you find anything useful?"

"Yes, actually." He said, his tone becoming more serious. "It seems like the Orlan Kingdom isn't as powerful as other kingdoms under the Empire, but it has its own advantages and duties. It also has two Tier 7 individuals as its protectors - one is their royal ancestor who resides in the capital. The other's identity is unknown, but it is rumored to be a mythical beast that watches over the kingdom."

"I see..." I nodded thoughtfully, processing the info. "Then, the probability of a main character(s) existing in this kingdom rises by a big margin."

"Right," my phantom self agreed. "It's probably a prince or some kind of noble's weak or illegitimate child with hidden potential. Well, it's just a guess. But considering what we experienced so far, they are highly feasible ones. What about you, did you find anything?"

"Yeah," I replied, opening the next page of the book in my hand. "It seems like the Luthaire Family was the biggest Shield Family among the three originally. But more than half of its lands were devoured by the Hollowlands, and it became what it is today. From the biggest baron of the kingdom that could rival even the count families, to the weakest and poorest barony."

"So the problem is still the Hollowlands, huh..." My phantom self mused on my words.

"Hmm..." I nodded in response.

And just like this, we continued to discuss everything while learning.

I also didn't forget to check the surroundings every 4 or 5 minutes, and I didn't exactly have to worry about anyone hearing us since we were communicating through our mental link, yeah, just like with the rime weaver.

Approximately an hour has passed.

Hmm?

My gaze landed on a particular piece of information.

It was about the relationships of the shield families. The book said that they also fought amongst each other in the past, but as the threat of the Hollowlands grew bigger, they realized they should stop fighting amongst themselves and establish friendly relationships.

But past grievances still existed, so they created a tradition among the three families.

It was about... connecting by blood?

...

Wait! No way-

My eyes flicked to the paragraph, heart sinking with each word.

...Shoot!