A gust of wind raged through the coliseum as shimmering lights of a teleportation formation formed in the center of the arena. Soon, a group of 6 figures blinked into existence.The regular students and citizens of the Elvin Kingdom couldn"t help but hold their breath under the pressure of these 6 young men and women.
Zaltarish was the first to make a move, his black changpoa fluttering slightly in the wind along with his sleek black hair. Taking a step forward, he bowed towards the above terrace, "I apologize for our late arrival elders, I hope we haven"t missed any of the proceedings."
Headmaster Acacia sneered within his heart. He"d let Zaltarish figure out for himself that his plan to arrive after Acacia Academy"s a.s.sessment had completed had failed.
In place of his master, Aeson Acacia"s voice came out from within the s.p.a.ce below the terrace, not bothering to step out, "if you"d like to witness the proceedings, you can sit within the audience, or you can sit among us here. You haven"t missed anything, Master has yet to announce the start of our a.s.sessment," his voice was faint, yet held a powerful disdain and pride.
Although Zaltarish was a bit disappointed that his plan had failed, it didn"t matter too much. What really bothered him was the fact an orphan had the audacity to speak with him like this. But, he felt it was beneath him to show displeasure for such an insignificant figure, so, he ignored it. Deciding to instead smile and nod appreciatively.
Turning towards his fellow geniuses from Mathilde and Florence Academy, he smiled again towards a particularly striking and seductive beauty: Mithrandir Norville. Although many had been stifled by the arrival of the geniuses, after the initial shock, not a single pair of eyes could be found looking anywhere else but towards her.
She constantly wore a playful smile, coquettishly luring everyone"s gaze towards her. Her hair was a pure white, without impurities and blemishes. Her eyes were like red and clear rubies that seemed to twinkle from every angle. Her dress was tight, short and revealing, leaving little to the imagination. Despite the purity of her hair, everything else about her couldn"t be further from it. Her chest nearly spilled out of her dress, a deep ravine of soft flesh that gently bounced with her every movement. Her hips were wide and flexible, seductively enticing gulps from even some women. Her a.s.s was plump and soft, nearly falling out of her short dress. And yet, in all of this, no movement seemed to let anyone see anymore than what she wanted them to see.
Despite the beauty of Jade, Celine and Opal, whether it was because Mithrandir was so seductive, or because she was truly more beautiful, their lights seemed to have dimmed.
Mithrandir pretended not to notice the hot gaze of Zaltarish, and instead held onto a close friend of hers that seemed to be the polar opposite. Although she was just as seductive in her wardrobe choices as Mithrandir, whether it be her eyes, hair, or wear, they were all a deep blue. Together, they walked towards the beauties of Acacia Academy, ignoring the stares of the men around them.
Celine smiled, welcoming them, "Mithrandir, Primrose, it"s good that you"re here. It was getting stuffy with all the testosterone," the girls giggled, lost in their own world.
It seemed like the concerns and tensions of the academies and kingdom had nothing to do with them. They had been friends since they were young, they would hardly decide to close off their friendships for something that was still so abstract.
Zaltarish didn"t seem too bothered by Mithrandir"s ignoring him, he instead smiled towards the terrace, and walked towards its lower level along with the rest of the male geniuses, none willing to lose to the other. Unyielding and arrogant.
Soon, all of the geniuses were seated in their own little groups.
"You must be quite confident in your manifestation to set all of this up to show off Zaltarish, I hope you have the skill to back that up," sneered a young man with striking red hair that Dyon would immediately recognize as the disgusting man who tried to take little Lyla away.
A small smile played on Zaltarish"s features, "of course, Ores. Maybe I"ll be less confident when the words I painted in the sky disappear."
The geniuses froze when they heard this. Although they disliked the idea of Zaltarish having a better manifestation than them, they couldn"t deny that the impact of his manifestation far surpa.s.sed theirs.
A young man whose hair was long, and the lightest shade of green laughed lightly, "it"s a shame. To have such a manifestation and yet still not receive the favor of Mithrandir."
Zaltarish sneered on the inside. Only he was fully aware that he was already betrothed to Mithrandir. In fact, he had been for a long while. The Norville family usually chose partners early since it was very beneficial for their Singularity Type Technique. The only exceptions were their utmost geniuses, who chose later in life. Although Mithrandir qualified to be among their utmost geniuses, it was all the more reason why Zaltarish was chosen as her partner. This was only kept secret because marriages between major families had never occurred. Often, they would inter-marry among distant branches of their families, meticulously ensuring that those branches never tangled too much. Separations of 5 or more generations was usually within acceptable limits.
Now, affairs were a completely different question. While the main spouse was chosen among branches, in order to maintain separate branches to sustain the main bloodlines, relations between different major families and even sub families weren"t rare. The reason the latter option wasn"t a possibility for a primary spouse, was because this significantly dropped the percentage of a child manifesting the major family"s bloodline. This sustaining of the main bloodlines is what was responsible for every true member of a major family having a distinctive hair color and eye color, although these were only the surface results. The more important results had to do with their manifestations and innate const.i.tutions. Meaning, it was very possible for a commoner to share their hair and eye color but have none of the benefits.
Thus, an initial marriage between branches was necessary to make sure a child carrying the main bloodline was born. Then, extramarital affairs were practiced, despite their low chance of producing a child of the main bloodline, it was ensured that should such a child be born, they"d be able to start a new branch of the major family so that future primary spouses were always abundant.
In layman"s terms. A union between members of the same major family meant a near 100% certainty that the child would carry their main bloodline. A union between members of differing major families was practically a toss up as to which bloodline would be manifested. A union between a member of a major family and a sub family would result in a higher likelihood of the bloodline of the sub family being manifested since, while the percentage chance of a major bloodline manifestation would drop. And so on and so forth.
This aside, it went without question how game changing a marriage alliance could be. It went beyond just an extramarital affair. Which was why the relationship of Mithrandir and Zaltarish was kept secret. It wasn"t yet the right time to reveal such a connection.