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This was a truth Aiwass had never anticipated.

But he also suddenly understood why his grandfather, having encountered so many Transcendents and with such an extensive network, chose to be an obscure and impoverished poet in a remote countryside...

Grandfather was avoiding trouble!

Aiwass also suddenly realized why, even though his birth father and mother came from Path of Devotion and Path of Beauty respectively, and his foster father was not from the Path of Transcendence... he had inexplicably developed a profound obsession with Demonology back then.

It was an inclination engraved within his bloodline.

Talented Transcendents usually begot children who would become Transcendents of the same path—not because they inherit abilities, but desires, or rather, "debts".

If talent was insufficient, that might actually be fortunate.

But if one's level had already reached its limits without undertaking advancement rituals... the call from the path would grow increasingly intense. At this point, if offspring were conceived, they would inherit the overflow of this "calling", and in turn, provide relief to their parents.

This was also why the ancient nobility tended to have more offspring.

The nobles were usually high-ranking Transcendents. But they neither wished, nor dared to advance further, so they needed to keep having children to relieve the imprinting of the path's power on their souls. If they suppressed themselves for too long, the first child born often suffered from mental illnesses.

This phenomenon, during the era of the Heracel Empire, was referred to as the "eldest child calamity" by the royal scholars, who had not yet understood the principles behind it.

The imperial scholars saw this as a curse inflicted by Angel Envoys, explaining why the eldest children in families were often inclined to inherit the family business, yet were also prone to mental disorders.

Those nobles focused on their careers, who had not had children into their thirties or forties, often had firstborns who were prone to madness; but commoners usually did not have this issue, and early marriages among the nobility did not exhibit this problem either.

And the scholars' solution to this curse was to encourage imperial nobility to marry and reproduce early.

If one were to marry shortly after setting foot on the Transcendent path, children would often be born soon after hitting a bottleneck in path advancement. Although they did not understand the underlying principle, they effectively resolved the problem.

After that, the children prone to insanity were usually "illegitimate". Early marriages could control the lineage of marital children, but not that of extramarital children. If the extramarital partner was also a Transcendent, pregnancy was likely, resulting in children cursed with the Phantom Demon Egg.

Even in the Knight Family, not many were privy to this secret. Aiwass's grandfather, as an unofficial Transcendent, could not possibly have known this. He also did not dare to advance, thus his children inherited a part of the impulse to embark on the Path of Transcendence.

This was one of the reasons why the illegal paths of Avalon continued unabated. Finding an illegal Transcendent meant prolonged imprisonment or even death, and yet, despite such measures, eradication proved elusive.

Since Julio had not gone mad, the likelihood was that he wasn't the eldest child. This meant that he likely had an older brother or sister... which would make Aiwass's grandfather, Jacob, quite old.

"Initially, the Hand of the Scaleless was a folk ritual association. Their profession was not as Demon Scholars, but rather as 'Curse Ritual Magicians' specialized in rituals and curses. They did not possess knowledge about Demonology—after all, 'Demonology' was a study that required the piling up of numerous sacrifices and materials for trial and error."

"They secretly imparted ritual studies and used rituals to assist others. They would also curse corrupt judges or officials, which earned them quite a good reputation among the common folk."
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"Later, the survivors of Alktoth, sponsored by Star Antimony folk, brought the orthodox heritage of Demonology to join the 'Hand of the Scaleless' and eventually rose to high positions."

Sherlock continued, "Anyway, everyone was an illegal Transcendent of the Path of Transcendence, with the common goal of opposing the royal family—most of the members of the Hand of the Scaleless thought there was little difference. The essence of the Path of Transcendence is rebellious non-conformity by any means; they cared nothing for morals or rules. After all, demons were much easier to study than rituals and curses..."

"Eventually, the number of Demon Scholars within the organization gradually outnumbered the Curse Ritual Magicians, and finally, under the control of a pure-blooded Giant, the organization was renamed the 'Noble Red', and all the upper echelons were replaced with Half-blood Giants."

"And some of the old-era Curse Ritual Magicians distanced themselves from the Noble Red Society and chose to seclude themselves, including your grandfather Jacob. The profession of Curse Ritual Magician originally came from those Demonologists who regarded demons as petty, dangerous, and uncontrollable. They had a different understanding of the Path of Transcendence compared to the Demon Scholars—they believed that demons represented a 'power that is easy to gain and easy to lose', and that Transcendence achieved with the help of contracted demons was neither pure nor safe."

Reaching this point, Sherlock scoffed, "According to my investigation... none of the Curse Ritual Magicians who left the Noble Red Society have survived to this day—they and their entire families died from curses. Hence, there can only be one obvious truth."

"So that's how it is..."

Aiwass mused.

He admired Sherlock's investigative skills, "When did you start looking into this?"