Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths

Chapter 145: Yes or No

Returning to the cabin, the questions on Aren’s mind kept growing with nothing to stop it from doing so.

Was Nathan’s death date my birthday a coincidence? No...the timing lined up too perfectly for it to be one.

Did that mean...for a Dragon Bloodline to be born, the last one had to die? No, I’m getting ahead of myself. If that was the case, wouldn’t I have the Dragon bloodline in my last life too?

Hmmm...either somebody else had it. Or...someone messed with my opportunity to evolve.

Aren decided that if they managed to survive this, he’d need to hit the books or visit the largest database in all of Terra—the Grand Records in the Western Dominion.

If there was anything written about the Dragon Bloodline, it would be there. But also...he needed to find that old man in his last life, the one that handed him the old manuscript. He would know something about this phenomenon as well.

But speaking of phenomena, he had to figure out what the hell was happening in the Wildlands first, why they’re being targeted, and potentially...how to get out of this with their necks intact.

He glanced at the still-silent Lord-Class Beast in human form drinking tea slowly on the other side of the table before pulling out the small leather subspace pocket inside his bag.

Hesitantly, Aren called upon the creature inside. And not even a few seconds later...it emerged from within, crawling out onto the table.

The drake looked around for a second, scanning the surroundings before its eyes locked onto Kko. Its eyes widened almost immediately with recognition before it jumped right into Kko’s lap.

"Sister Cat!"

Kko flinched immediately, almost spilling her tea everywhere but barely managed to hold on as the small drake barreled straight into her body.

She set the cup down before looking down at the small creature in her lap.

"...Drakey?"

"It’s me! It’s me, Sister Cat!"

These two really did have some kind of connection.

Aren thought as he closed the subspace pocket and put it to the side. Professor Sterling, seeing the whole thing happen, sighed softly.

"Right...I forgot about this little fella."

Kko glanced back at Aren, who was now looking over the entire scene before finally speaking. "Seems like...you’re its new guardian?"

Aren’s jaw almost dropped onto the ground as he immediately shook his head, hands flying up almost instantly.

"Me? Its guardian? I literally just met it," he said quickly. "I was only trying to get information...about what happened in the past."

That got Kko slightly interested as she adjusted her posture and finally gave him her full attention for the first time since they’ve met.

"...Go on," she said.

Aren exhaled slowly, steadying himself before continuing. "From what the drake told me, there were some ’bad people’ who entered the Wildlands that tried to capture some of its mother’s friends."

"An ’uncle turtle,’ an ’aunt bird,’ and a ’brother cat,’" Aren added, recalling the words carefully. "And just now... it called you ’sister cat.’"

"...So I’m guessing you’re not just some random hermit living out here."

But even as he said the sentence, the realization hit him. These so called ’friends’ could’ve easily been Lord-Class beasts as well. Considering how much downplay the drake was giving to Kko, that might very well be the case.

She went silent, as if trying to decide how much she should reveal before Aren gave her a small push.

"Alright...how about this," he straightened slightly despite the lingering pain in his body. "I’ll ask you some questions, and you can answer with ’yes’ or ’no.’"

"...Sound fair?"

Kko tilted her head slightly. A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched her lip, one that Aren would’ve easily missed had he not paid close enough attention.

"Ask."

Aren nodded, minding already racing to think of some questions. They had to be answerable in ’yes’ and ’no’, which did make it harder for himself, but Aren was confident he could extract enough information.

The first question...

His mind went back to how the small drake described the events. It was childlike, at best, and vague at worst. As Lord-Class Beasts, Aren highly doubt that anyone could’ve really "captured" them.

"Alright, first question," he nodded slowly, confirming to himself. "Were these ’friends’, including the drake’s mother, actually captured?"

"No."

Knew it. But even if they weren’t captured per se, what even happened?

Even if the Defilers were strong, and Aren knew they were. There was no way they’d be able to capture 4 Lord-Class Beasts in one go.

But maybe it wasn’t actually the Defilers. It could’ve been another group or another third-party...

So his next question was easy.

"Second question," he carried on. "The people that were there for said ’capture’, were they wearing black hoods and emitting a foul, rotten ether smell?"

"...Yes."

Alright, two for two.

Now the second thing that was bothering him...was the timeline. Even with said account, beasts tend to live longer than humans. What could’ve been retold as the present past for a beast could’ve been a thousand years ago for all he knew.

"Third question," Aren continued. "Did this happen in the last century?"

"No."

"Mmm," he nodded.

Aren had a suspicion that it was an event a long time ago, as such a big commotion would’ve caused massive repercussions. But the fact that Defilers as an organization existed all the way back when was a terrifying thought.

Hmm. I’ve got the ’what’, ’who’, and the ’when’...now for the most important ones.

But the questions regarding the last three subjects were hard to ask in ’yes’ or ’no’ terms. The ’where’ couldn’t really be narrowed down to a specific part of the Wildlands. And the ’why’ and ’how’ was almost impossible to find out if he didn’t really know what happened in the first place.

But even if he didn’t know, Aren’s theory from back then tugged at his brain. He thought about the Defiler that he fought, the one with the mismatched Bloodline formed from already existing Beasts.

Then he thought of Miu, and Professor Voss’ theory on the Original Ancestor...

And decided on one final question.

"Is it possible...to extract ether from a Beast and... turn them into a Bloodline to be artificially implanted into a human?"

"..."

"..."

"...Yes."