Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!

Ethan nodded slowly, a low hum leaving his throat as he felt the potent surge of power radiating from the Dragon Child. Her presence was overwhelming, difficult to measure, but he knew at once that she stood far above the trio who had tried to ambush him earlier. Those three, dangerous as they had seemed, were only early Saint-ranked fighters. By comparison, this girl's aura was on another level entirely.

His eyes shifted toward the woman dressed in red. He had already recognized her flames—the fiery streaks that had accompanied the spears of ice from before.

"You… are Bongo?" he asked.

Before she could answer, a hoarse voice barked out. The burly man Ethan had already beaten back once came charging in again, fury twisting his face. "What's with the smart mouth, you brat?! You dare lay a hand on me? I'll bury you myself!" He was no weakling, a Saint-rank fighter in his own right, though only at the early stages.

"Scram!" Bongo's voice cracked through the air before Ethan could even react. A whip of fire materialized in her hand, snapping with a sharp crack.

The brute barely had time to scream before the flames tore into his flesh, sending him spinning helplessly across the snow. The watching crowd shuddered as one. A Saint-ranked powerhouse, tossed aside like kindling?

Even Ethan's brows lifted in surprise.

Blackie quickly pulled him aside, whispering hurriedly in his ear. "Boss, let me spell it out. This one's temper's hotter than a blacksmith's forge. If you value your skin, don't test her patience."

Ethan frowned. "And what exactly is her deal?"

"That old man Regis said after she woke, she called herself the Southern Beast Soul—the Dragon-Phoenix," Blackie explained, his voice dropping even lower. He risked a glance at Bongo, as though afraid she might overhear.

Ethan absorbed that with a slight frown, his eyes darting between Bongo and the Dragon Child. "the old City Lord? He made it here?"

Blackie scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Heh… when we first linked up, she nearly strangled Julian to death. If it wasn't for… her…" He tilted his chin toward the Dragon Child. "…Julian would've been worm food by now."

Ethan's patience thinned. He smacked the back of Blackie's head with a sharp slap. "I asked where the old City Lord is, not for gossip."

"Alright, alright!" Blackie rubbed the sore spot. "They're still on their way. Moving slow, big group and all."

"A big group? How'd you get through the array then?" Ethan asked. He himself had only managed to make it this far thanks to Beastie's guidance.

"That fat bastard dragged us along," Blackie said with a shrug. "He's the current City Lord of the Forgotten City. Coup or not, he's still got the title, and every Forgotten City Lord is supposed to know the secret to navigating the Starfall Array. Some rite of passage thing."

"And the old City Lord?" Ethan pressed.

"Ah, him. He was digging through Uncle Jed's things when he found a letter—one meant for you, Boss. It had the key to unraveling the array. That's when he realized the Ice Fields had a massive formation running through them. But by then we'd already left. Then your 'sister' showed up out of nowhere, and the moment she appeared, Bongo here woke up. I even heard they fought—full strength. It only stopped when Dana stepped in."

Ethan understood who Blackie meant by 'sister.' The Dragon Child. But why she and Bongo would come to blows was still a mystery.

He narrowed his eyes at Blackie. "And how do you know so much? You sound like you were sitting ringside."

Blackie gave a sheepish grin. "After we met up, I swiped some liquor off Hank to stay warm. Once he was tipsy, the guy couldn't stop talking. So… Boss, care to explain this sister of yours?" His eyebrows waggled.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that. You're not fooling anyone. You just pried it out of him because you think she looks like Red Snow, right? You seem quite lustful for a Qillin, and damn if you aren't proving the rumors true."

Micah spat loudly on the ground, sneering at Blackie. "Pathetic."

Ethan glanced between the Dragon Child and Blackie, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. Now that he had pointed it out, the resemblance to Red Snow was impossible to ignore. Yet the Dragon Child had a younger, more innocent beauty about her, though she seemed far more mature than when Ethan had first encountered her back in Ethereal. Her horns were gone, replaced by a flowing mane of dark hair.

"City Lord Ethan," a smooth voice called. Baelor Wane and Shaw Zilo approached, Baelor smiling politely as he bowed.

Ethan returned the courtesy. "City Lord Wane."

"There's no need for such distance," Baelor said warmly. "Regis and I are old friends. If you don't mind, you may call me Uncle."

Ethan's polite smile stiffened. Uncle? Old bastard, you've got some nerve. We're both City Lords—equals. And Regis clearly became my sworn brother. If anyone here should be calling someone Uncle, it's you.

Before Ethan could respond, the Dragon Child spoke up, her clear voice cutting across the air. "You want him to call you Uncle?"

Baelor froze. "Uh…"

"He is my master. My very life belongs to him." Her words were delivered with casual certainty, as if she were remarking on the weather.

The effect was instant. Baelor blanched, his eyes wide. Shaw Zilo looked like his eyes might fall out of his skull. Ethan himself was left blinking, utterly thrown.

The Dragon Child's voice slid into Ethan's mind, a private whisper: I don't know why, but when we arrived, they kept insisting I was the Eastern Beast Soul. Even that fat one. It's nonsense, of course.

Pieces clicked into place for Ethan. Beastie had once spoken of a massive turtle slumbering under the Ice Fields, calling it the Northern Beast Soul. Bongo had just declared herself the Southern Beast Soul, the Dragon-Phoenix. And now these people had mistaken the Dragon Child for the Eastern Beast Soul. But Ethan knew better. Morzan had already told him her true origin—she was from the Ninth Universe, the cradle of the Beast Clan itself.

For a moment, silence lingered between the groups. Baelor Wane eventually forced himself to accept the reality before him: both so-called Beast Souls were aligned with this young man. Whatever he had hoped to gain from this expedition was slipping through his fingers.

Ethan watched him carefully. The old merchant's eyes darted back and forth, calculating, scheming. And Ethan realized then that Baelor wasn't here for battle. He was just trying to buy himself a place on the winning side.