The Lowest Royal Returns

Raelis smiled at his handiwork. It was a bit grotesque, but it was more than enough to get the job done.

He had stabbed the pursuer's head with his own curved sword, and then Raelis proceeded to pin it to a nearby tree.

It was a harrowing sight, and frankly, it made him sick.

However, if it was enough to make him sick, that meant the others would very likely feel even worse.

Therefore, with that finished, Raelis planned to leave, but when he shot the man's body one final glance, he spotted some kind of glowing golden-white object near his heart.

It was barely noticeable since it was hidden by clothing, but from the small hole, Raelis managed to spot it.

He took the man's shirt off and glanced at the object in question.

It was an extremely small flame that resembled his own, and when he focused on it, something surprising happened.

[Ding!]

[Dominion Flame has been activated!]

Dominion Flame: Your flame grows stronger by absorbing other flames, bloodlines, and elemental essences. Each unique source grants a small permanent boost to heat intensity, elemental resistance, or special flame effects. Only three traits may be active at once. New traits take time to integrate, and unstable absorption may cause backlash.

[Ding!]

[Trait: Swordsmanship Talent (Medium-Grade)]

—Description: Your talent with any blade-related weapon is enhanced significantly.[Personalized notice: This trait does not apply to daggers or knives.]

[Do you wish to assimilate with this Trait? Yes / No]

[Notice: You may, at any time, remove the Trait from your being. If you do so, you will still retain the Trait's partial effects; however, you will suffer a 50% decrease in your mana pool for 31 days.]

Raelis stared at the pop-ups with wide eyes. He had nearly forgotten about the special effect he got not too long ago.

In fact, he thought it only worked on those who had special bloodlines, but clearly, it worked on someone who was pretty ordinary.

But... is this everything I could've extracted from his bloodline? Unless he had a sword-related bloodline, then I don't understand...

There were many variations of bloodlines, and they included increased mastery over arts as well.

It could be better comprehension of blacksmithing, alchemy, and tailoring. Swordsmanship, archery, and spearsmanship.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg. There were way too many bloodlines like that to count.

It really makes me wonder what Clea's bloodline really is. She can shapeshift, but she can also make her nails extremely sharp. There's definitely more... but maybe she'll share that with me sometime in the future. I don't want to pry into her life too much.

Anyhow, since the person he killed very likely had a bloodline related to swordsmanship, Raelis was unsure of what to do.

He wasn't a swordsman. But he also had a persona he wanted to develop for the Black Lotus identity, Amon.

A swordsman with a revolver. It was something he had been thinking of for a while now; he just wasn't sure because he wasn't the best at swordsmanship.

But if this could solve that issue, Raelis was more than willing to sacrifice one of his three Trait slots.

So, just like that, he pressed "Yes" and began the assimilation.

He was expecting something grand to happen; however, there was nothing.

Or so he thought, when all of a sudden, information flooded his brain.

Basic stances, swinging posture, counters, and even the perfect trajectory for where his sword had to travel.

And within that same instant, the flood of information stopped.

Raelis staggered backward, hitting a tree as a couple of pop-ups appeared before him.

[Trait: Swordsmanship Talent (Medium-Grade) has been added to your list of traits!]

[Current Traits]

1. Swordsmanship Talent (Medium-Grade)

2. Empty

3. Empty

But just when he thought that was the end of the surprises, he felt the flame in his heart grow significantly warmer.

And when he checked his status, he realized it really had.

<Phoenix Egg (Hatching: 42% → 86%)>

Name: Raelis Varekan

Age: 16

Race: Human

—Flame Core: 3 Flame Rings

Flame: ??? Primordial Flame (★★★☆ — Mastery: 15% → 87%)

↳ Dominion Flame [1/6]

—Bloodline: Cinder Phoenix

Purity: 28% → 29% (Kindle)

Next Rank: 30% (Flame)

—Attributes:

Vitality: 204 → 225

Perception: 198 → 225

Willpower: 191 → 225

Magic Control: 210 → 225

—Traits:

Swordsmanship Talent (Medium-Grade)

—Abilities:

Flame Singularity (★★★★★☆ — Mastery: 0% → 4%)

Fireball (★★★☆ — Mastery: 81% → 97%)

Fire Manipulation (★★★☆ — Mastery: 29% → 87%)

Heat Control (★★☆ — Mastery: 30% → 79%)

Heat Resistance Barrier (★★★☆ — Mastery: 3%)

Flame Step (★☆ — Mastery: 9% → 92%)

Passive Flame Sense (★☆ — Mastery: 21%)

—Techniques:

Flying Knife Technique (★★☆ — Mastery: 24%)

Dagger Combat Technique (★★★☆ — Mastery: 9% → 14%)

Stealth Technique (★★★☆ — Mastery: 1%)

Flame Body Technique (★★☆ — Mastery: 1%)

—Resistances:

Acid Resistance (★☆ — Mastery: 1%)

Fire Resistance (★★☆ — Mastery: 42%)

It seemed like every single technique, ability, or resistance related to fire had increased a big amount. Even the Phoenix Egg's hatching progress doubled.

The abilities that were previously difficult to increase even with maximum effort had jumped up significantly.

Even Flame Singularity... It's a last-ditch effort ability. I'm not using it any time soon, Raelis thought, then focused on the Flame Body technique.

He was at 0 stars before assimilating with the trait, and now it had jumped up to 2 stars.

At a single star, he could infuse his body with his actual flame, which would obviously be the dangerous Primordial Flame. And at 2 stars, he could alter the Primordial Flame with extreme precision.

He could turn his body into a deadly concentrated flame weapon that could burst at any moment, but of course, Raelis was not suicidal enough to try that right away, so instead, he focused on his other gains and finally resumed his journey.

Killing that pursuer was an incredible boon, and he was sure that now he would have even less trouble dealing with the demons.

Especially because his Bloodline Purity went up.

If I can get the Phoenix Tear fast and refine my flame beside the dying phoenix, I should be able to break through into the [Flame] bloodline purity rank.

And he had already fulfilled the prerequisite, which was having a third Flame Ring, as well as advanced mastery over the Flame.

So all I need now is that last 1%.

With those pleasant thoughts, Raelis hopped inside the shadows and sped up, heading straight for the Azteran mountain range.