Chapter 18: A Prior Engagement (Revised)

After paying for a carriage, Avery and Ira arrived at her family mansion in a few short hours.

“Hmmm. Not what I pictured.” Ira looked at the large mansion, which likely could hold dozens of families, his expression was one of slight surprise.

“Oh, and what did you picture?” Avery asked.

“More…Guards I guess.” Ira couldn’t see any guards anywhere, just two stone statues of the family’s previous matriarch, Kara Thynne.

“The statues are imbued with magic and come to life to fight off intruders.” Avery stated indifferently.

“Really?!” Ira eyes widened as he stared at the statues.

“No.” Avery chuckled as she opened the gate.

“…Not funny.” Ira dropped his shoulders in disappointment.

Avery led Ira directly to the front doors of the mansion and just opened them. The reason for front doors that didn’t lock was simple, they weren’t needed. Everyone inside the Manor, be it servants or children, had a certain amount of skill to defend themselves.

Inside the Thynne Manor weren’t many decorations. All the furnishing were made of a dark oak wood. In the entrance hall were a couple dozen leather seats and couches. As they walked further in they came to the dining hall, large doorways were on the left and right sides, both leading to two identical staircases, one side led to the rooms of the males and if they were married their families would also be there. The other side was for all the females with Valkyrie mothers, the females were constantly in training and thus occupied their own section of the manor.

There were a few people eating who stood up to greet Avery. She nodded and continued, the people currently occupying the dining hall were the children of the males of the family and lacked the Valkyrie bloodline. They weren’t treated badly, but they weren’t catered on either. Some of the girls who didn’t have Valkyrie mothers, chose to serve as assistants for those who did. If they could earn the favor of a Valkyrie, their status in the house would definitely increase.

After passing the dining hall, they exited the manor through a backdoor, ending up in a garden. A stone pathway lined with flowers on each side, led to a white pagoda.

Two servants sat outside of the pagoda on wooden benches, upon seeing Avery, they stood up quickly and bowed.

“Bring us some tea.”

“Yes, Ma’am” The servants bowed and walked into the manor.

Avery walked up to the pagoda and sat down, which prompted Ira to casually sit next to her. She then took a pendant from under her jacket and blew on it once. Even with his senses, Ira couldn’t hear anything. Still, he didn’t say anything and just waited.

He gazed at the mountain ranges in the distance, and then he noticed a figure flying towards them.

“Heh.” Ira couldn’t help but to chuckle excitedly, his attitude was somewhat infectious as it elicited a grin from Avery.

After a few moments, a woman wearing a black dress arrived at the pagoda and landed lightly before her wings gently fluttered and then retracted completely, disappearing without a trace. Ira examined her closely and was inwardly surprised, he instinctively felt she was strong.

The woman looked exactly like Avery, save a few minor differences, currently Avery had her hair put into a ponytail while Casey had her hair cascading to her back, which help set them apart even more.

Casey all the while evaluated Ira. On the surface he looked like a normal teenager, but she noticed that his muscle structure was abnormally dense. Then she looked back to his yellow eyes, they were the most obvious sign that he was the inheritor of a bloodline.

“My daughter speaks highly of you.” Casey said, a trace of excitement was hidden deep within her eyes.

“I’m honored to hear that.” Ira responded with a foreign politeness, he wasn’t quite sure about how to proceed.

Casey smiled and held up her hand, causing a small orb of light to appear.

“Mother, the boy is here.” She said into the orb and then waved her hand causing it disappear from sight. At this time, two servants appeared with tea and pastries, placing them onto the table and silently retreating.

Casey grabbed a cup and took a sip of tea. Avery followed suit and also grabbed a cup. Seeing them do so, Ira grabbed a cup and some pastries. Although he was uncertain of what was going on, he adjusted to the situation.

All of a sudden another woman wearing a black dress appeared. At this point Ira expected that Avery’s grandmother would look young, and his expectations were met. All three women appeared to be in their very late teens, or very early twenties. Lauren swept her gaze over Ira and he felt his instincts go wild. He suppressed his urge to jump back and create distance, and instead looked directly at Lauren.

“Good.” Lauren nodded her head and sat down and placed a small bag on the table, while her face held a pleased expression. She took a few sips of tea before speaking.

“Avery should’ve told you we wanted to meet you personally, I hope it wouldn’t be too much of a problem to see your status card?” Lauren asked.

“No, it’s fine.” Ira waved his left hand and produced the status card from thin air. Both Lauren and Casey took note of the black sigil on his left hand. Spatial magic was difficult to use and consumed a lot of mana, to use it so easily caused them some surprise.

Lauren took hold of the card.

Name: Ira Rating:B+ Growth Capacity: Bloodline: Blessings: Mana Capacity:Low Passive Skills:Abnormal Strength, Abnormal Reflexes, Abnormal Senses, Abnormal Comprehension, Abnormal Regeneration, Abnormal Instincts, Novice Swordsmanship, Apprentice Martial Arts Active Skills: short-range teleport(???)

Lauren showed no surprise, it was just as Avery said.

“Are you aware of what your bloodline is?” Lauren asked, curiously.

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“No.” Ira answered truthfully. His lack of interest over his bloodline was noticed by the women present. There didn’t seem to be a shred of curiosity inside of Ira.

“We have a more advance way to check, if it is alright with you we would like to.” Casey spoke up. Seeing her mother push towards Ira’s bloodline so heavily caused Avery to look as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she could only refrain from doing so.

Ira took another pastry while grinning and voiced his willingness. “Alright.”

Lauren reached inside of the bag she place earlier and pulled out a glass card. It was very similar to the Kingdom's status card, except instead of blue glass, it was white.

“It works in the same manner as the Kingdom’s own.” Lauren handed over the card to Ira.

Ira received it and wasted no time focusing on it.

Name: Ira Rating:A- Growth Capacity: Bloodline: Blessings: Mana Capacity:Low Passive Skills: Inhuman: Strength, Agility, Reflexes, Senses, Regeneration, Instincts, Endurance. Greater Metabolism, Greater Physique, Night Vision, Self Adaptation, Temperature Regulation, Decelerated Aging, Bloodline Resonance, Lesser Beast Manipulation, Genetic Mutation(Inactive). Active Skills: Short-Range Teleport, (Sealed).

Ira widened his eyes as he looked at the card. Ever since he woke up after being cursed, he felt he had changed, but now he knew what it was.

“Why is this card different than the Kingdom’s card?” Ira asked curiously as he still held the new status card in his hand.

“The current status cards are far from omnipotent, each card carries information from a manufactured index. Things that aren’t stored in the index can’t be listed.” Lauren patiently explained as she waited to see Ira’s status card.

“Oh.” Ira nodded in understanding, he glanced over the card a few more times before handing it back to Lauren.

Lauren received the card while lifting the cup to take a drink.

“Ah.” Lauren lightly exclaimed as she accidentally shattered the cup in her hand. Casey leaned over to see the card and was rendered speechless.

Lauren was most surprised by the cards inability to read the bloodline, it was highly likely that Ira had an incredibly rare bloodline, that may be on par with the Valkyries or possibly more advanced.

“You share similar qualities with beast people or lycanthropes, except your own abilities are miles stronger.” Casey said as she looked closer at Ira, his bloodline probably had yet to mature, but even so his current abilities were immensely strong.

Lauren handed the card over to Avery, who heard her mother explain and already knew Ira, was prepared for something unexpected, surprise couldn’t help but escape her expression. The new status card placed Ira’s current rating around the same as hers, though she had to remember her bloodline had yet to awaken.

“Ira.” Lauren called him in an incredibly serious tone, causing Casey and Avery to listen carefully to her next words.

“I would like you to marry my Granddaughter.”

“…” Ira held a deadpan expression, but Lauren paid no heed and continued.

“If you choose to marry other women that’s fine too, but Avery must be your first wife.” Lauren stated sternly. Ira looked at Lauren and saw she was completely serious, and then turned to look at Avery who didn’t look to be in disagreement.

“You don’t have to answer immediately, but we’d like to hear your answer before you consider any other marriages.” Casey added, she didn’t know what type of person Ira was and could only go off of the information Avery had given them. If he was an idealistic youth with thoughts of adventure they could only wait until he was ready. It was obvious she hoped that he didn’t hold such childish notions, but she was prepared to adapt if it was so.

Meanwhile, Avery remained quiet, she wasn’t a pampered noble girl who would get embarrassed over talks of marriage, and since she had yet to awaken her bloodline she couldn’t speak brashly to her Grandmother. Not only that, but she and Ira seemed to share a sense of understanding. If she didn’t marry him, she probably would never marry at all.

“I agree to marry her,” Ira said casually, which was a bit unexpected for everyone, well maybe not entirely unexpected by Avery, which is why she attempted to caution him about a rushed decision.

“Ira.” Avery tried to advise him, but Lauren sent her a meaningful glance.

“Then it’s settled, I brought these just in preparation of such a scenario.” Lauren reached into the bag and pulled out two smooth white rings. Lauren handed a ring to both Ira and Avery.

“These rings are carved from the bones of an Elder Thunderbird. As far as ceremony goes, you’ll both have to put the ring on the others hand.”

Ira turned to Avery, with the ring in his hand and then slowly put the ring onto Avery’s left hand. Avery, who’s face held a faint smile, repeated the same motion and placed the ring on Ira’s left hand.

The rings glowed and then dimmed, perfectly adjusting to the size of their ring fingers.

“And with that, you’re now engaged.” Lauren said abruptly and then turned to a servant.

“Bring out some wine, something aged and ceremonial.” She ordered, the servants bowed in response and went into the manor. They had overheard what had happened but knew better than to gossip. At least not while the Valkyries were still present.

In regards to personal feelings, Ira and Avery weren’t in love. They got along well, but it couldn’t be called love yet. But even though their engagement seemed a little forced to say the least, it didn’t really bother either of them. As far as Avery saw it, she probably wouldn’t get along with anyone else like she did with Ira. As far as Ira saw it, things wouldn’t change much if he said yes.

Ira looked at Avery and waved his left hand, Avery gave a pleasant smile and even almost laughed.

………………..

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