Josef || Eye of Saul
A banquet was held right after to welcome the reinforcements as well as the envoy. During the banquet, Ol' Fang was nowhere to be seen but Asher had no problem with that.
From what he had seen during the arrival of the capital's forces, it was easy to guess that Ol' Fang had a blood feud with the m who went by the name Lucius. Since that was the case, it was best that both parties were kept far away from each other, lest a fight breaks out.
During the banquet, Lucius and his men didn't cause any trouble or stand out, which although good, wasn't what Asher wanted initially, but he had no qualms with that.
One might be wondering why Asher wanted to clash with the reinforcements, but in truth, he didn't want to kill them nor did he want to shoo them away, especially since they are meant to reinforce his father's forces by the border. What Asher wanted to do was to send a message, not just to the soldiers but to the envoy as well. He might be a null and a child in their eyes but he wasn't an easy figure to mess with.
Asher had decided to stop hiding and although he didn't plan on revealing his cards yet, he wouldn't sit down and be bullied especially in his home.
"So if I may, what brings you here, Sir Josef?" Asher after the banquet had reached its peak with the formal introductions and greetings already done.
Josef Castellan, the envoy sent by the king, was a member of the Castellan branch family. In other words, he was a distant relative to the current main family. If one were to trace his heritage to that of the main family, they would have to go two generations back. In summary, due to the 'impurity' of his bloodline, Josef wasn't considered someone influential in the Castellan family, but he had managed to rise through the ranks through his performance. Even so, his growth would be limited unless he performed an extremely meritorious deed.
This was the information Asher managed to dig up on him from the time of Josef's arrival till this moment.
Unbeknownst to the fellow, Asher had been secretly growing an information network in the kingdom and collecting as much data and information on the royals and their allies it was also thanks to this network that Asher had found out that Bayern was a double agent. Although it wasn't complete yet, with some individuals' information being extremely hard to access, for someone of Josef's standing, it wasn't hard for Asher's network to have some information on him.
"I'm simply here to make sure that the handover goes with ease." Josef replied with a light smile.
"In that case, I'm guessing that you will be leaving tomorrow right away, am I correct?" Asher replied.
Josef raised an eyebrow, a sign that he was caught off guard a bit, but he quickly recovered.
"Young lord, you jest. My mission wouldn't be over until I make it to the border along with my men." Josef replied.
Asher kept a plain face at the reply. Only a fool would willingly believe any of the words that come from his enemy's mouth without investigating them, even more so when the enemy was one with a sly tongue.
There was a reason Asher had asked the first question and countered with the second. He never for once believed that Josef was sent to organize the reinforcements or hand them over. Having a typical commanding officer in the military do so was more than enough and there would be no need for a civil officer. Also, the commanding officer in charge of the reinforcements was seemingly a rogue tout with a strong head and hostility towards one of the most influential figures of the Arnhaunt family. There was nothing anyone could say otherwise that the Castellans weren't brewing a plot here.
'It's probably related to that incident.' Asher recalled what had happened during the test in the Manchurian forest.
Although the students had already been questioned by the academy previously, there was one thing that stood out; Asher's abilities. Whether it was the wisdom he had displayed in handling matters or the strength he showed in his fight against Aurora, all of these made others aware that despite being a null, Asher was still one with potential. What's more, by prodding a reaction from the desiccated hand thereby defeating Fenrir's false clone, he had added a bit of mystery to himself.
It would not be a surprise if the royals wanted to run some experiments on him but as Darius' only son, doing so would be no different from sparking the flames of a civil war. So, the royals could only pick the second-best option; send someone to investigate Asher from close range.
'In the Castellan family, inbreeding is a trend. This is to maintain the superiority of the family by increasing the chance of every descendant possessing the gold element, which is the Castellans' signature element as well as trying to increase the chances of creating a superior derivative.' Asher thought as h twirled the drink in his cup.
This was an open secret amongst the nobles.
Inbreeding might seem like something horrible to most, especially the common populace, but to some noble families, this was a way to maintain the purity of their bloodline and ensure that they would remain powerful. This was because elemental affinity could be passed down and unless they could ensure that their descendants could marry someone of a similar element, the chance existed that future generations would lose this property.
For families with average elements, there was no reason for inbreeding as they could easily marry someone outside with the same elements and maintain elemental purity. However, for noble families with rare elements like darkness, and lightning, or rare but powerful derivatives like gold and ice, inbreeding was usually the go-to option to maintain that bloodline purity. Although not all of them utilized this method.
For example, the Arnhaunt family didn't practice inbreeding which leads to some of their members having different elements other than ice. In Darius' case, his wife was an ice magic practitioner from the outside, which was quite rare. His marriage with her ensured that his bloodline would be extremely pure in terms of elemental affinity; something which solidified his position as duke and earned the envy of his younger brother, Elijah. It is important to note though, that Darius didn't get married to his wife solely for this reason.
Another reason for inbreeding was a theory proposed by a magic scholar from one of the three empires. The scholar had stated that if a family with an average element maintained elemental purity for at least five generations, there was a chance that one of their descendants would possess a remarkable derivative. If that descendant procreates and maintains elemental purity for his derivative, there was a chance that after five generations or more, his descendants would unlock a new path.
According to the scholar, the odds would be increased if the family practiced inbreeding as this would ensure that not only was elemental purity achieved but genetic mutation and concentration could occur within the future generations.
This theory, although proposed by a magic scholar in one of the three empires, was frowned upon as inbreeding increased the risk of genetic diseases showing up and reduced the chances of genetic diversity which would help in the improvement of bloodlines.
Even with all the disadvantages, the Castellan family employed this method for the two mentioned benefits.
'Not only did their inbreeding practice guarantee that their future generations would be majorly made up of gold element users thereby securing their prosperity, but it also proved that anathema of a theory right.' Asher thought.
'Less than two decades ago, the Castellans succeeded with the birth of the twin godsouls, albeit with my help. But a few decades before that, it seems they had somewhat succeeded.'
Asher glanced sideways at Josef.
'The Eye of Saul.'
The Castellan family's element was gold element which was already a derivative of the metal element. However, the Castellans' decades of inbreeding had created the 'Eye of Saul'; a special ability with a technique that was more of an auxiliary feature.
The Eye of Saul was an eye technique that could manipulate metal mana in the most subtle way with just a look. This made it possible for the wielder to cast spells, not just with their hands but their eyes too. However, what was most valuable about this ability was its auxiliary feature; the Eye of Saul could spot a target's elemental affinity, mana level, and strength of their mana with one glance.
This was a very valuable espionage technique and for that reason, the Castellans had kept a tight lock on this information. No one in the noble families knew that Josef had this kind of power except for the Castellan higher-ups.
As for how Asher knew that Josef possessed the Eye of Saul, it was because the theory of elemental evolution via inbreeding was nothing new to him. In fact, the practice and idea was quite common in a world in his past life and so, he was familiar with the Eye of Saul as well as its tricks and appearance.
Wielders of the Eye of Saul always had different coloured pupils and irises. However, while the iris was coloured amber, the pupil was further divided into two circles. When the Eye of Saul was inactive, both circles would be black, making the pupil black. In this state, the eye of the Wielder of Saul would appear like an average eye except that the iris was amber and not the typical black, brown, or rare colours like blue and green.
However, when the Eye of Saul was active, the outer circle would still remain in black colour but the inner one would switch to an amber colour, just like the iris. In rarer cases, the sclera (the white part of the eye) would go black when active, showing that the wielder was an advanced user of the Eye of Saul.
'Although this auxiliary feature is valuable, it consumes a lot of mana and is more effective when the target is relaxed and their mana flowing calmly. However, I have been acting as if I'm on my toes preventing him from using the ability yet.' Asher smirked.
'Until I can figure something out, this is all I can do t the moment. Such a troublesome ability.'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone