Meanwhile, somewhere in the second domain ruled by the Angel Rak’hael, Queen of Eden, a young man with dishevelled hair wearing a dirty lab coat looked up in surprise as he heard his fellow researcher talking about ’Jason Marc, the Undying King’. The young man was part of a research institute within the Holy Light Magic Academy. He had graduated top of his class years ago, and ever since then, the Academy had granted him a complete sponsorship so that he could continue with them as a top researcher! The young man had been researching ways to increase the total mana which could be absorbed from various mana stones to increase the destructive capacity of artefacts or weapons that the mana stones were used on, but in his short career as a researcher, the young man had also been instrumental in the creation of various high-level artefacts and runes on this world, so he was treated as a very important person by both the government as well as the research institute. And although he was more of a recluse than most of his siblings, anyone who saw him would be able to tell whose son he was from his sharp facial structure as well as his black hair and eyes.
The young man’s name was Harold Marc, but his friends all called him Harry, and he was the third son of the sixth wife of Richard Marc, as well as one of the only children of Richard Marc who actually bothered to finish both high school as well as a higher education! Harold had worked in this lab for the past twenty-five years, and although he had only seen the outside world once or twice in all that time, he had enough spies and informants outside these walls to keep him in the loop of whatever was happening constantly! But right now, Harold was hearing something that his informants had still not brought to him yet. There was a new legend gaining momentum in the Primordial Expanse, and once Harold heard the name of the person in the legend, he immediately knew that this was his half-brother.
’So, his name is Jason. How many children do you really have, Dad? I feel like I find out about a new child every other month.’
Harold frowned down at the large TITAN Rank Mana Stone he had been working on, and he let out a small sigh! Harold had been keeping tabs on all his siblings and stepmothers through his information network, and after he learned about the fiftieth sibling he had, he told his network not to bother telling him about any more children unless something serious happened. But Harold couldn’t really fault his father for having so many children, especially since he knew that their world had been destroyed a long time ago and many of their people had been killed. Besides, having many wives was not against the Avaran culture, so his father was not doing anything wrong. But Harold was just so in love with his research that he couldn’t wrap his mind around having to deal with so many women and children! If Harold tried to do what Richard was doing, then he was sure he would just go mad! Harold shook his head to get rid of those thoughts, and his brilliant mind quickly ran through everything that could take place because of Jason’s newfound fame. The abilities that Jason had were something uncommon for an Avaran, and even though most people wouldn’t be able to figure out what his real powers were, Harold was brilliant enough that he knew exactly what Jason’s abilities were, as well as the implications of their father giving Jason these abilities. Richard was not a fool, so there was no way he would choose Jason unless he saw something special in him, but there were some people who would not stand to let that happen! And now, Jason’s popularity had drawn a large target on his back. Harold looked down at his research once again, and he let out a small sigh as he realised that he would have to put all his research on hold for now. If Harold wanted to prevent this family from tearing itself apart, then he would need to make the first move.
Harold stood up from his workstool and began to take off his gloves while telling his assistants to take care of the rest of the research until he returned. The assistants were shocked to see their lead researcher leaving the lab for the first time in months, but none of them dared to question Harold, and they simply did as they were told. Harold had a face that would’ve been called handsome by nearly anyone, but his appearance was ruined by the messy hair that he never took care of, as well as the large eye bags that showed his lack of sleep. Harold’s posture was slightly hunched over from all the hours he spent bent over his work table, his skin was oily and pale due to the fact that he hadn’t seen the sun in months and he hadn’t taken a bath in days, and his eyes were red and bloodshot from all the Divine Grass Wine he drank to keep himself awake for weeks at a time. If not for his Avaran Gene that allowed him to remain healthy, Harold’s horrible lifestyle would have killed him a long time ago!
Another lead researcher – a beautiful red-skinned woman named Grala who saw herself as Harold’s rival from school – was surprised when she looked up and saw Harold leaving the lab! Grala asked Harold where he was going, but Harold just waved her question away calmly and told her that he would be back. Grala wanted to ask more questions since she was worried about the look on Harold’s face, but she bit her lip and nodded.
"Make sure you take care of yourself. And write me often so I know how you’re doing."
Harold smiled when Grala said this, and he turned to her with a teasing look on his face.
"Will you miss me?"
Grala’s eyes widened, and she snarled at Harold as her cheeks reddened!
"Who misses you? I just want to know how much of a lead I’ll gain in my research while you’re gone! Just get out of here!"
Harold chuckled calmly as he continued to walk out, and he waved back at Grala and promised to send her a message later. Grala watched Harold go, and she felt a strange worry in her heart once he vanished through the teleportation circle. Even though Grala had no idea what Harold was going to do, she had a feeling that it was something dangerous, and she couldn’t help but think that this might be the last time she saw Harold. But Grala shook her head and turned back to her research as she got rid of that thought. Grala knew that she was just being paranoid because she was worried about him.
’I hope he comes back soon. The lab gets really boring without him.’
In another part of the Primordial Expanse, outside the ten domains ruled by the Council of Nine and One, in a region known as the Primordial Zone, a woman stood under the dim light of a magic stone as she looked through various data figures on a file. The woman was tall and beautiful with a mature face that would make many men see her as an older sister figure, and she had the same black hair and eyes that every member of the Marc family had. She was wearing a plain black gown that hung off her figure ordinarily, but she didn’t care about her appearance, and she was more focused on making sure that all the data in her folder was accurate.