Reign Of Terror Era, Seravelle Continent, Unknown Region, Underground.
The underground house of the Hunt tribe could be considered a masterpiece of engineering solely due to the Path Skills of some of its women.
The way it was illuminated by glowing spores, precious stones, and special plants, alongside the flowing river that had been divided into streams, gave it a mystical feeling.
Along with the mystique, beauty was the most prominent theme in this lovely place, and the farm was at its pinnacle.
On such a farm, a young man could be found amid all sorts of weapons scattered and dug across the ground. He himself sat on the hilt guard of a colossal greatsword.
The man looked as serene as could be. If one looked at his peaceful face and knew his past, they would never be able to relate the two as the same person.
It had been a decade and a half since his reincarnation, and now, at fourteen, all the impatience, bloodlust, and needless restlessness had been purged from his system.
"Phew…" Ashen let out a soft sigh and continued caressing the katana in his hands, gently running his fingers along its edge. Mana seeped in as he channeled his skills.
Threads of mana exuded from those same fingers and warped the surrounding weapons, with the thickest thread taking hold of the greatsword beneath him.
This phenomenon had been happening for years now, and it all started when he showed his father the Path Skills he had gained.
Whenever the warriors came back from aboveground, their weapons were repaired and nourished by him.
By now, most of the weapons had reached a quality unheard of in modern Seravelle. Ashen, at least, had never seen a blacksmith forge something this perfect.
Whether it was hardness, resilience, or killing power… everything surpassed the limits of what was naturally possible for the metals.
The most obvious changes had occurred to the greatsword currently stuck under him. It was his father's weapon, and its current evolution wasn't solely due to Living Temper and Resting Forge, but because the manaweave planted in it with Late Bloomer had finally bloomed.
Now, it had gained a new ability: gigantification.
The greatsword was now able to change its weight and size according to the user's wishes, and Adam had the time of his life when he wielded it. Ashen could still remember his father's wide smile when he showed him the changes.
Now I can kill giant targets more easily, thanks, son.
Ashen smiled softly, remembering the grateful look.
As to why he dared to reveal his Path Skills to everyone, it was simply that, unlike modern humans, people of this era carried a different mentality.
Jealousy? Scheming? Pulling others down? None of that existed in this humanity; at least, this tribe was like this.
And it was logical. Everyone was focused on survival. Birthing someone great was a cause for celebration, and killing one's own for such things was an unthinkable act.
That was why whenever he showed an absurd skill, the only gazes he received were ones of delight and happiness, as if they were the ones who had received them.
And it was essential for Ashen to show his skills if he wanted to use them to their fullest anyway. Otherwise, how would he explain the sudden changes occurring whenever their effects manifested?
Late Bloomer was the perfect example.
Naturally, Late Bloomer did not only show its effects on one greatsword. The perfect example was the tree currently sitting behind him.
Ashen had tried it with an experimental mindset. Planting a manaweave inside a manaweave? Would that even work?
And lo and behold, not only did it work, but the compatibility was off the charts. Perhaps it was because he spent hours each day tending to it, or perhaps because they were of the same nature, but it bloomed in just a couple of years.
With it, the sapling turned into a young tree straight out of a fantasy tale. Its branches turned and coiled charmingly, pink leaves sprouted beautifully, and, as the cherry on top, the yellowish-white glow it constantly emitted completed the look.
Ashen turned to admire it with his Patient Eye.
◉◉◉
[ PATIENT EYE ]
Target: Evolved Manaweave Tree
Caretaker: Ashen Hunt
Development: Completed Bloom
Structural Integrity: Robust
Mana Reserve: Vast
Essence Formation: Accelerated
Observed Conditions:
The manaweave has undergone a successful bloom and subsequent evolution.
Its structure has developed beyond the naturally fragile state
common to manaweaves, possessing remarkable durability and
resistance to disruption.
Its growth has also altered the natural progression of its
Development.
Manaweaves ordinarily require extended periods of maturation
before producing their essence. This specimen's maturation period has been drastically shortened following its evolution.
A nascent consciousness has emerged within the manaweave. Its consciousness is intimately attached to Ashen Hunt.
The manaweave presently regards Ashen Hunt as the source of its growth and the one who nurtured its existence.
Further development may cause its consciousness and conceptual nature to mature alongside its body.
The Tree is currently satisfied.
◉◉◉
'Grow up healthy, my baby…' Ashen let out a tickle of mana filled with his expectations for it, and the tree shook briefly, as if answering him.
'Late Bloomer turned out to be a really busted skill, huh.'
Ashen wasn't saying this solely because of the two examples before him. Late Bloomer had bloomed inside most of the adults by now, turning them into some kind of high humans.
From outward appearance alone, changes could already be seen. The already beautiful sisters had become even more so, which made the warriors look at him with even fonder gazes, but the real kicker was the internal changes.
Starting with the magic circuits, which had doubled in robustness, followed by mana sense and manipulation, which had gone from an almost impossible affair to something barely manageable.
Next was the mind itself. Everyone had reported that they felt their thoughts flow more smoothly and quickly.
But even with all that, Ashen knew that this was not Late Bloomer's limit. The proof was in the children.
None of the manaweaves inside them had bloomed yet, and his conjecture was that compatibility increased when the manaweave grew alongside its host from infancy.
'The description said that there was a chance for a concept to manifest after all…' Ashen thought.
One outlier, however, was his own mother. It turned out that the manaweave had also acted on her special constitution, Bountiful Cradle, giving it a new absurd ability.
'Now... every child she births comes with a Late Bloomer already cast.' Ashen shook his head with a helpless smile.
Naturally, with him present, this ability was redundant, but the mere fact that his Path Skill had become just another feature of her constitution highlighted how ludicrous his mother was.
"..."
Ashen's thoughts halted; there was a persistent stare boring into the back of his head. He turned toward its source and saw his cute little sister kneeling there amid the sea of weapons.
Like always, she was lovely. Even with the half-face veil obscuring most of her face and the piece of cloth loosely draped over her head.
The choice of clothing wasn't personal, but every woman naturally started wearing such things as she grew up.
This was due to another rule established by the patriarch of the tribe. In his words, one of the main reasons that caused needless conflict and resentment was a woman's beauty.
No matter how united they were, a man's instincts could sometimes make him act irrationally. And even if he could control himself, why make him endure the constant temptation of seeing what should remain private and risk betraying his own wife, his brother's wife, or even his tribe in a moment of madness?
Adam's solution was simple and effective. A woman could dress however she liked in her own space or that of her husband, but whenever she entered a shared space, she had to cover up.
The women themselves did not have a problem with this, and so it was naturally implemented.
As to why Lapis was also following along while she was merely fourteen… it was simply because the members of the Hunt Tribe matured earlier due to Anastasia's constitution.
Ashen himself, though only fourteen, looked more like an eighteen-year-old, and so did Lapis. He keenly remembered her complaining about how her breasts were growing too big too soon and how she had to carry extra weight all over again now.
Coming back to his sister's stare, Ashen's somewhat indifferent stance on the women's choice of clothing had no choice but to tilt toward Adam's favor.
And it all started because of that Cain.
The brat who refused to grow out of his obsession with Lapis.
◉
It happened at night.
Back then, Lapis was in the kitchen cooking a late-night snack for herself and Ashen, while Ashen himself was in their shared room, trying to figure out a way to complete Trinity Harmony.
That was when he felt someone silently sneak into the room. Ashen knew Lapis had no reason for such a pointless action, so he immediately knew it wasn't her.
He lay down and covered himself with a blanket in hopes of not alerting the intruder. He didn't have to wait long before he felt someone sneak onto the bed beside him.
He looked over and realized that it was none other than Cain…
"You little fucker… now you've done it…"
"A-Ashen!! Why is it you?!"
"Why? Were you hoping for someone else?"
Ashen was already standing up and dragging the flailing Cain by the hand out of the room.
"N-no… but shouldn't you be at the farm right now…?!"
"Haah… shut up for a second. If you keep flapping your mouth, I might not be able to hold back my temper and kill you."
The cold voice, coupled with an expressionless face that Cain had never seen before on his brother, made him unconsciously obey.
And while he was still in shock from seeing this new side of the young man who was always smiling softly while tending to the plants, he was unknowingly dragged to the training grounds.
"Why…-why are we h-here?"
"For education."
"H-huh?"
Bam—!
What answered him was a fist to his right cheek.
Bam—!
Before he could understand what had just transpired, his head whipped to the other side as another fist greeted the other side of his face.
Bam—! Bam—! Bam—! Bam—!
From then on, Cain Hunt was bestowed with the beating of a lifetime.
THWACK! THUD!
"Ugh… uhhhh… N… no… s-s…top…"
But the beating never stopped, no matter how much he begged. The only saving grace was that the strikes were concentrated on inflicting maximum pain rather than causing serious injury.
After what felt like half an hour, Ashen was forcefully separated by another man. He slipped free and delivered one final kick into Cain's stomach, sending him rolling across the training grounds.
"Stop! Stop it, Ashen!!"
He turned around and saw one of his big brothers trying to hold onto him with a distressed look.
His eyes traveled past the man and found both Anastasia and Adam, alongside many others, arriving at the scene.
It was only when a hug engulfed him that he finally calmed down. Ashen looked down and saw Lapis clinging to him with a worried expression. Only then did he snap out of it.
Sigh.
'What a mess…'
What Ashen thought would transpire did not. After that complete beatdown, he expected to be scolded or punished for it at the very least.
But when he explained everything clearly, the opposite happened. Cain was the one confined for the next week after his injuries healed.
'It turned out that entering another woman's bedroom uninvited was considered just as much of a taboo in this tribe as it was in my mind…'
…even if the woman in question was only fourteen.
Everyone's reaction to the matter confirmed it. He was also given a warning by Adam that what he had done was enough and that he was not to pursue the matter any further.
Actually, the reason Ashen had reacted so violently was not merely because Cain had trespassed into their private space.
It was the way he had done it.
He was clearly up to no good. And if he was already doing this at fourteen, then what kind of godforsaken things was he going to do when he grew older?
Ashen felt that he needed to give him a lesson that would be etched deep into his mind, even if the beating had admittedly been somewhat excessive for the young boy.
What's more, while Lapis dressed conservatively outside the room, inside she completely let go. It was typical to see her strutting around in mere underwear or a completely loose sash-tied robe.
In short, she considered it a place where she could let her guard down.
Having that space invaded by him was completely unacceptable from Ashen's perspective.
And, unsurprisingly, so was it from Lapis's perspective.
◉
…and that was why she was now sporting an expressionless face as she stared at him, her thoughts unknown.
'Hmm… what a mess indeed…'
Ashen was a bit worried here.
If she did something irrational, such as castrating the kid, the incident would completely blow up, and he doubted the tribe would stay silent by then.
Especially since Cain had already been punished for it.
'The problem is… I'm completely certain that Lapis is daring enough to do it.'
He looked at those pink eyes that never strayed from his face and gave her a thoughtful look.
'Should I just follow her around for now…?'
It would interfere with his other activities, but he could at least do this much if it would prevent an even bigger mess.
"Brother."
'Here it comes…'
He gave her his most gentle look. "Yes, dear…?"
"I want you to change the door into a sturdier one. Also, build a really… realllyyy… secure lock, and only give me the keys to it."
She smiled beneath her veil.
"You're the best blacksmith after Father; you can do it, right?"
"Yes… yes, I'll build you the most secure door ever. Don't worry, sister. Not even Adam himself would be able to break it with his greatsword."
Ashen tapped the sword beneath him twice for emphasis, nodding twice with a half-indulgent, half-relieved expression.
"No probs." Ashen finally relaxed. "It's my duty as your future husband, right?"
"Huh? You can use the husband joke, but I'm not allowed to use the little wife joke? Brother, that's not fair."
"Uhh… maybe because I don't feel like it's a joke when it's coming from you, dear sister…" Ashen smiled apologetically.
"Nah. That's just your imagination."
"Sure…"
As the atmosphere finally softened, Monica, the one who was supposed to be taking care of the farm, came into view.
"Laaapiss~ Sister Rune is calling for you!"
"Coming~"
Lapis stood up, dusted off her robe, and looked at her brother.
"Seems like it's time for that, brother. I'll be back."
"Alright. Take care. I'll wait for you here."
"Okay~"