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Chapter 140

Just a heads up for readers, although this comes out “first”, the version on my site gets edited. So, if you’re running into plotholes and such, a lot of them do get fixed… just not on this version. My site also doesn’t have any ads… probably worth a gander… *cough* Speaking of which, a bit of a retcon here. The coup and fall of Lord Edison occurred eighteen years ago. I feel that’s a more reasonable length of time for such a change, and naturally, it helps tie into the fall of the Lyn family.

These kind of things happens. This isn’t a translation like some stories on here, where by the time you see it, it’s already been written, edited, and sometimes even published before being translated into english. This is the first draft of this story, written in real-time in English, so I hope people can be cognisant of that. Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy the novel. Please leave comments. I do appreciate them and they do make me want to write more.

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“I’d say let’s get a drink, but for once I might not be up to it.” Sammuel joked.

The pair of us were sitting in the recovery tent. The tournament had ended and most of the spectators had already left. In a few hours, the magistrate would be holding a banquet to which the top twenty contestants were invited. This was ultimately where the families would have a chance to recruit the contestants, and where we’d ultimately be gifted our rewards. This was also presumably where Lady Capala would announce her decision on marriage, but that had nothing to do with me.

“I wonder what they gave Brandon for him to recover so quickly.” I mused, looking over Sammuel’s injuries.

I could heal any wound done to myself, but I couldn’t heal other people. My cells ought be recognized as enemy cells inside any other person, triggering their immune system causing their body to attack it like an infection. If I could just heal someone, I would have healed Mara’s parents back then. Thus, his body was covered in bandages and he was still resting in this tent. Meanwhile, Brandon had already recovered enough to go directly home by the end of the tournament.

Sammuel laughed softly. “He was furious. He likely felt he was owed a battle against you. I overheard him wanting to defeat you after Jordan lost. He felt he could do it even with his injuries, but his father forbade it.”

“You don’t seem all that surprised that I won.” I glanced at him.

“Heh, I didn’t think you’d get a higher rank than me, but I suspected you were stronger than your mana suggests. The rumor going around now is that you’re a superior mutant.”

“What does that mean?” I asked cautiously.

“A translocation mutation is a type of nonsense mutation where the benefits of one status are stunted toward the evolution of another status. Of course, it’s also possible someone has both a nonsense and a point mutation, but it’s rare to see two innate mutations in a single person. People inherit countless hereditary mutations, but more than one innate is strange.”

In other words, an innate mutation was a mutation that first appeared in someone. If that someone had children, their mutations would potentially be passed to them. In this way, family lines build up positive mutations by breeding innates with natural mutations into their family line.

“Do all mutations get carried on?” I asked.

He blinked. “Not always… different mutations are passed on at different rates. In the first generation, they always are passed on, but they will often disappear in the second generation. We call them recessive. Oh, and if you haven’t expressed your mutation yet, you can’t pass it along. That’s why there are fewer mutations further down the evolutionary path.”

“I see…”

Humans experience mutations all the time. From the moment we’re conceived, our dividing cells mutate. Most mutations are meaningless and don’t affect anything. When cells do mutate wrong, our bodies are pretty good about getting rid of them. There are a lot of checks and balances. However, considering we have trillions of cells and a lifetime, the mistakes eventually build up and you get things like cancer. However, for the most part, these mutations aren’t passed on to offspring. They’re known as somatic mutations.

Only germline mutations, the kind that occur within sperm or eggs, would ultimately get passed to the next generation. Yet, it seemed like, in this world, any mutation that expresses itself ends up being passed on to children. Perhaps, this was a result of evolution. When someone evolved, their mutations seemed to become a permanent part of their body, causing them to be passed down.

“Anyway, there is a rarer kind of mutation.” He shrugged and continued. “It’s called a superior mutation. In this case, instead of a single status… every status is amplified. The rumors have it that you’re a superior mutation with a nonsense mutation. How else could someone in the second evolution defeat a third evolution so soundly? Poison could explain your first few matches, but you shouldn’t have been able to defeat Jordan.”

“Really… now…” I shook my head in disbelief. “Is it so hard to believe I’m in the third evolution?”

“You’ll have to excuse the masses.” He chuckled. “They just have a hard time believing that. Even I wonder a bit.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Do you know how few make it to the third evolution by twenty-five? You’re only twenty-two. To reach the third level, and more importantly, to not be part of an existing noble family, is practically unheard of. Either you come from a fallen noble line like me or you’re in your second mutation and have a superior mutation. No one is willing to believe anything different.”

I felt a bit speechless. I had intended to not stand out. For the entire fight, I had held back as much as possible. Since there was someone in the fourth evolution, and a dozen in the third evolution, I had felt comfortable pretending to be in the third evolution. I had even depended on cheap tricks and poison to give off the impression that I was unremarkable. Yet, after everything, the masses still ended up coming up with rumors that I was somehow special. I could only let out a long sigh. When I looked back up, Sammuel had a subtle grin.

“Why did you fight? Really?”

His grin slipped slightly. “Naturally, I’m a bit of an outcast, looked down on by the masses. Since the Nikola family overthrew my father, all of my potential was thrown away. Even my prospects of getting married are nonexistent. If Nikola learned I got someone pregnant, the woman and her child would be killed immediately. I suppose I just wanted to show these nobles that I’m still here, still better than all of their silkpants children.”

As he spoke, Sammuel’s hand tightened into a fist. After a moment, he released it and fell back in the bed.

“So… pride?” I raised an eyebrow.

“If it wasn’t for Brandon reaching his fourth evolution, I might have very well made first place. How embarrassing would it be for the aristocracy? That women of the Capala family would have to choose someone second place to me.” A vicious sneer appeared on his face, but then he relaxed and chuckled. “Although, seeing a commoner reach first place is almost as enjoyable.”

“You don’t like the Capala family?” I asked.

“The two families that stood against my father and aided the rise of the Nikola family were the Domini and Boran families. Capala’s crime is merely to remain passive. If they stood by my side with Lyn family, perhaps…”

My body shook slightly as I heard some unexpected names. “The Lyn family stood by your father?”

“Mm…” He nodded. “The Lyn and Edison family were close. Well, my father thought all of the families were their brothers, but the Nikola, Boran, and Domini all rose against him. Only the Lyn family stood by.”

So, Mora’s father Tanner had such a background. Was that why the pair were on the run? It seemed like I really would need to head to the capital one of these days. Lord Nikola was the one who wiped out the Tanner family. However, that didn’t mean he was responsible for their death all those years later. It could have been any of those families who did the deed. As for engaging in a senseless slaughter, I had no interest in waging some war.

I was quickly finding that even with my high evolutionary realm there were countless other things in this world I couldn’t account for. I wouldn’t act before I knew what kind of tricks these nobles had. They not only had spent countless generations storing up mutations, but they also developed countless techniques out of their skills allowing them to be far stronger than their level suggested. Compared to that fish I had battled back in my pond a lifetime ago, or even compared to those random knights and mercenaries who attacked the farm, these paragon families were far stronger.

“We probably should head to that banquet at the magistrate’s mansion soon,” I told him after thinking about it for a bit.

He looked me up and down. “Like that?”

I frowned, looking down at my clothing. Living on the street, I never really developed a sense of style. You wore whatever you could pick up at the local soup kitchen. My years in a pond where I didn’t even have clothing didn’t exactly help that behavior. This was basic commoner clothing I had borrowed from Tanner’s farm. It was a bit dirty and ripped from the battle, but I could probably fix it with my skills once absorbing it into my Luminal Space.

“I suppose I’ll put on something clean,” I admitted.

He let out a snort. “You may be a commoner, but even I wouldn’t dare show up at the magistrate’s office like that. It’d be a slap in the face. He might refuse to reward you just on principle.”

“Really?” I asked although I felt like he probably had a point.

“Here, help me back to the inn. Let’s put you in something decent.”