Lionel [3]
"Lionel."
Hearing the familiar voice, Lionel subconsciously froze. Slowly, he turned around to see who had called him.
"Good evening, Second Brother."
The 'Second Brother,' seated on a black horse, returned the greeting with a nod, staring at Lionel's dirty appearance with an odd expression. He had bright blue eyes and black hair and was particularly handsome.
This was the second son of the Blaze family, David Blaze.
Behind David was a group of men in leather armor. Though they also wore puzzled expressions, they saluted and greeted the third son of the Blaze family.
"Good evening, Lord Lionel!"
"Good evening," Lionel softly reciprocated the greeting with a nod.
When David saw the torn section of Lionel's clothes and the dried blood around it, his expression twisted into a frown.
"What happened to you?"
Lionel didn't have a second to respond before his brother dismounted hurriedly, rushing to stand in front of him.
"Are you hurt?" David asked worriedly, lifting Lionel's shirt to examine his stomach. When he found only healthy-looking skin under the torn fabric, he was baffled.
There was blood on Lionel's clothes, and they were torn. Logically, this meant something had happened to his brother, but aside from his dirty appearance, Lionel looked perfectly healthy.
So whose blood was it, and why was he in such a state?
Lionel, on the other hand, couldn't help but twitch his lips at his brother's reaction. He now understood one of the reasons for his former arrogance.
He was an excessively spoiled and privileged brat.
Lionel was the youngest son of the Blaze family, the last child born to the lady of the house before her untimely death.
Given these circumstances, it was easy to guess how Lionel was raised, especially since he bore the closest resemblance to his mother among her three children.
However, one must commend the discipline within the Blaze family.
Despite being the "prince" of the family, Lionel's share of resources was allocated based on his demonstrated talent, not his status.
As David continued to check Lionel's body for injuries, Lionel observed his older brother.
David Blaze, 22 years old, was the second son of the Blaze family. He was an official knight of the mortal rank and a peak level two extraordinary. These titles were indeed impressive, particularly the latter ones.
Extraordinaries were the ones who shaped this world. As long as one had the title of Extraordinary, they were destined to walk a path different from ordinary people.
However, even among Extraordinaries, there were levels.
The more powerful an Extraordinary was, the more, well, power they had….
According to Lionel's knowledge, there were nine known levels and three ranks that graded Extraordinaries.
Levels 1 to 9, the Mortal Rank, Earth Rank, and Sky Rank, were the classifications. Extraordinaries from levels 1 to 3 were called Mortal Rank Extraordinaries, levels 4 to 6 were Earth Rank Extraordinaries, and levels 7 to 9 were Sky Rank Extraordinaries.
There were legends about levels beyond level 9, but Lionel's status was too low to have any detailed knowledge about them.
The strongest Extraordinary Lionel had encountered was his grandfather, an Earth Rank Knight. Although Lionel had never witnessed the power of an Earth Rank Knight, he had seen Mortal Rank Extraordinaries and knew the higher the rank, the greater the difference in power.
His brother David was at the peak of level 2, on the verge of reaching level 3. It was estimated that within two years, he would ascend to level 3.
A level 3 Extraordinary at the age of 24 was considered a prodigy in the kingdom of Sungreen.
Some even speculated that David might be the next in the Blaze family to enter the Earth Rank, instead of their father, who was a level 3 Extraordinary in his fifties.
The process might even be faster with a better cultivation technique and superior resources.
On the other hand, Lionel didn't have much of a presence compared to his second brother due to the difference in talent and power. Even his eldest brother, who had a similar talent to their father, had become an official Knight at the age of 16.
David was even faster, achieving it at 15.
Lionel was still an apprentice knight at 17 and even that was going to change in a few months if no unexpected growth happens.
Perhaps one of the reasons Lionel had such a strong hunger for strength was likely due to the invisible pressure of belonging to the Blaze family.
"What's Second Brother doing here?" Lionel thought for a moment before inquiring. He knew his brother would ask what had happened to make him look like this, and he didn't have anything reasonable or sensible to say, so he tried to redirect David's focus elsewhere.
"What do you mean?" David asked with furrowed brows. "Are you trying to distract me from questioning you?" he added.
As expected, David immediately saw through his brother's little trick.
Lionel smiled bitterly. He had anticipated this. He watched as his brother opened his mouth to say something before a knight behind him spoke first.
"Lord David, sorry to interrupt you, but the envoy will be here any second," the knight said.
At this point, David, who seemed ready to interrogate his troublesome brother, instantly became conflicted as he stared at Lionel.
A few seconds later, he sighed and spoke to the knight who had interrupted him, along with the other knights.
"You all should get ready. We'll be leaving the territory soon to welcome our visitors."
"And you," David turned to stare at his younger brother and paused before speaking again after a few seconds, "We're. Not. Done. With. This," he said, emphasising each word.
Lionel hurriedly nodded. He saw it as a good enough result that he could avoid an interrogation for now. As for whether it would occur again in the future, that was for future him to handle.
"Later, Brother," Lionel said and quickly separated himself from David's group, hastening his steps to the manor.
David watched as the distance between him and his little brother widened, an odd expression on his face.
"Brian," David called out.
"Sir?" A knight behind him answered and stepped forward. It was the same knight who had interrupted him earlier.
David did not turn back and continued speaking.
"Don't you think... Lionel is acting weird today?" David inquired.
"Lord Lionel? Acting weird?" Brian wasn't sure what to say as he hadn't noticed anything unusual.
David didn't mind this and continued speaking.
"Yeah, he's definitely acting weird because for once, since the beginning of his existence, this was the first time he did not act like a pain in the ass and actually treated me like an older brother."
"Ahhh," Knight Brian and the knights behind him were stunned by their master's manner of speech.
Weekly Power Status
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