Ryu stared into the deep white fog for a long time, unable to calm his emotions. He had never met his Great Grandfather before, but just seeing the Tatsuya name caused feelings he had been pressing down for too long to come bubbling up. The result was him doing something impulsive. But… Even if you asked him after he calmed him, he didn't regret it for even a moment.
Primus Tatsuya. His father, Titus Tatsuya's grandfather. His grandfather, Saint Tatsuya's father. Founder of the Tatsuya Clan, conqueror of the Fire Dragon, legend of the Shrine Plane.
What Ryu couldn't understand is why his great grandpa would be here. From his cursory understanding, this so-called Mercenary Guild was likely created by great talents who hadn't bothered to build their own Clans. As such, they needed a different method of gathering Faith for themselves, an especially important commodity for those of their level.
The issue was that Ryu's great grandpa had the Tatsuya Clan. Could this place really provide him something they couldn't have? And, even if it could, why would his name have a '0' beside it? Even the second lowest number had several hundred under its charge. How could he possible gather of Faith if he had zero members of his Faction until Ryu came along?
Ryu knew that under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be able to join a Sky God's Faction. In fact, he half expected to be rejected from his own Ancestor's Faction as well. But, it was likely that Osiris made special provisions for descendants of the thirteen Sky Gods.
Almost as though to confirm this…
[… Direct Descendant Status Confirmed…]
**
"Hm…?"
The world all around could only be described as a land of fire. Arcs of molten lava shot into the air like rings of smoldering red-gold.
A man sat at the center of this carnage, seemingly completely oblivious to the danger. In fact, his red-black robes were somehow completely untouched.
In mortal terms, the man seemed to be between thirty and forty years old. His stature was large, even seated, he seemed to tower above those of average height. His fiery red hair danced like flames instead of strands, accentuating his sharp, handsome jawline.
The man had just sensed something he shouldn't have. Someone joined his Faction? But with the impossible standards he set, that much was impossible. If he recalled correctly, the only person in history to ever meet those standards was his grandson's kid. But, he was unfortunately born with a False Spiritual Foundation.
If Ryu could hear the man's thoughts, he would be shocked. From his understanding, Primus Tatsuya hadn't even paid their Clan a visit in millions of years, how could he possibly know anything about a great grandson that only lived for a thousand years?
Though, as he thought these thoughts, Primus' emotional state hardly shifted. In fact, it could be said he was indifferent, as though Ryu's unfortunate plight had nothing to do with him.
Primus sent his mind into a conspicuous golden ring on his finger, looking up the information of his Faction in an instant.
[Saintly Weapon Sky God Faction: 1].
[Ryu Tatsuya].
[Talent Designation – Sub-Common].
[Battle Prowess Designation – Black].
[Status – Direct Descendant].
Primus froze. Even if he only saw the name, he would have known immediately that it was his great grandson, he didn't need to see his Status. In all of existence, no one would dare to take the Tatsuya name without his acknowledgement.
It was then that Primus' indifferent attitude cracked slightly. It was incredibly subtle, nothing more than a calm glint in his once indifferent eyes, but it appeared, nonetheless. It could be described as curiosity?
'Sub-Common. Black.' Primus thought to himself. 'I'll become a laughingstock having a descendant like this.'
It would have been fine if Ryu had the lesser 'Descendant' Status. In fact, there were other Sky Gods with descendants who were lacking similarly. But, 'Direct Descendant' meant something completely different. It was impossible for Primus to divorce himself from Ryu.
Still, Primus was curious. How was it that Ryu had made it this far? How could someone without cultivation pass the test? And how could a mortal survive for nine hundred million years?
Primus opened Ryu's evaluation. What he saw confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that Ryu was the very great grandson he was thinking of. Though, he found it odd that he didn't see Ryu's Heavenly Pupils noted. Did the lad figure a way to hide it?
If Ryu saw this, he'd be shaking his head at the unfairness of it all. '80% of the Sky Gods must vote yes before they could see his information, huh?' Well, luckily, Primus was only able to do this because Ryu joined his Faction. Primus could easily block other Sky Gods from looking.
In the end, Primus saw the dreaded False Spiritual Foundation once more. But, when he looked toward Ryu's cultivation, he received another shock.
'Lower Qi Refinement Realm? Something's wrong… Even if he survived nine hundred million years, his cultivation shouldn't be so pitiful, right?' The issue was that Primus could also see Ryu's basic information, including his age. This great grandson of his that was born nearly a billion years ago was somehow only eighteen? What was going on? Still, only Qi Refinement at eighteen? That was slow too…
It was impossible for Primus to think of a Sky God's inheritance. There were simply no Legacies that worked like the Phoenix Sky God's, and as far as he was aware, there was no Sky God Legacy possible to inherent without passing a trial requiring a certain level of cultivation to complete.
In the end, Primus silently sent his mind back to his body. After his initial curiosity, he once more became indifferent.
Family? Love? Compassion? When one had seen trillions of years, how much had they gone through? How many of their so-called family had long since died? How much love had they given out only for it to be severed?
It was impossible to expect a Sky God to still be tied down by worldly affairs.