The Ancient Genes

"Huff! Huff!"

A drop of sweat slid down Erina's forehead as she tried to catch her breath. Her body was slowly turning hot as a tinge of red energy began to envelop her.

"I feel it.." Erina looked at her palms, and then clenched her fists. She could feel the changes in her. The more she went against the cold energy hidden within the current, the more she felt that something deep within her was awakening.

Suddenly, Erina closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. The red tinge of energy surrounding her body suddenly seemed to thicken, and began to move towards her palm. As it slowly gathered there, sparks began to shoot out.

A little frown emerged on Erina's forehead as she tried her best to concentrate, and the next instant, a little flame lit up in her palm, and Erina felt something in her body crack.

A second later, Erina felt a strange feeling engulfing her. It was unreal, she had never felt anything like that. In an instant, she felt that the world she perceived around suddenly seemed to have changed.

The mana around seemed to be much easier to control, and a pure energy began to flow into her body. Even though it was only a little bit at this stage, it was still there.

The little flame in her palm burned vigorously with a deep red flare.

It carried a mysterious feeling to it and was totally different from any of Erina's previous flames.

Erina suddenly raised her hand, and with the flame engulfing her palm, she made a slicing motion towards the waterfall.

"Swish!"

A crescent blade made of bright red flames immediately swept out, and slashed through the waterfall.

"Ssshh!!"

A dense amount of vapors immediately gushed out when the water and flames collided. It immediately blocked Erina's sight, and she couldn't see anything at all.

When her sight recovered, everything was back to normal. She had no idea how it went, but she definitely didn't succeed. After all, when the Matriarch sliced, the water didn't even turn into vapors. It was as if anything that came into contact with those flames would just vanish.

"Hmmn?" Erina suddenly noticed that the entrance which had vanished behind her had once again appeared.

And, if she calculated the time. It was definitely getting late. She should hurry out or she wouldn't be able to return back on time.

With that in mind, Erina turned around and entered the hallway.

….

On the other side..

Not far away from Erina, the two old ladies were looking towards the direction of the waterfall with surprised looks on their faces.

"Such a pure flame? No wonder, she is able to control the Artefact.." The Matriarch stated as her eyes flashed with an excited look in them.

"The girl finally broke the seal of the cold energy we placed on her when she was young," The other lady said with a smile.

The seal which suppressed Erina's true ability was actually made using the waterfall's cold energy. So, overcoming it naturally led to the seal breaking.

"She is really a hope in this troublesome times for us." The Matriarch stated.

"Can't believe we almost missed someone like her." The Other lady sighed.

"Yes, that is indeed terrifying. But, that kid sure saved us," The Matriarch replied.

"Hmph! He has taken after me! I didn't expect anything less," The other old lady said with a proud look on her face.

"Look at you…" The Matriarch shook her head, "If he had taken after you, I would have contacted him long ago. After all, a fool like you is easy to handle. But, that kid isn't one.."

Even though the words made the other lady's face turn dark, she didn't get angry and instead asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, he is with Ancient Families. No doubt about it, but instead of alerting the Ancient Families about Erina, he made a deal with that kiddo Sun. And, on top of that, the two even cooperated and hid the artifact from the Ancient Families. It's hard to say whose side that kid is on.."

"He is playing a game of his own. So, don't underestimate the kid. It's very likely that he doesn't completely trust the Ancient Family as well."

"Then doesn't that mean we are completely safe in making contact with him?" The Other lady asked.

"We will when the time is right.." The Matriarch vaguely answered.

She didn't want to say the real reason to her sister, and give her worries when she hadn't confirmed things for herself yet.

According to Old man Sun, Max had a pure Demon aura on him.

If she was correct, it was a drop of Royal Blood.

From Sun's report, the drop of blood contained the might of a strong Demon. And, from the looks of it, there seemed to be some kind of engravings on it. Even though Max had hidden the drop of blood in the life force flame, it still didn't escape Old man Sun's eye.

The Matriarch knew the meaning of these engravings.

Demonic Transformation..

This put Max under some serious suspicions. But, the fact that he was helping them made everyone even more confused about his identity and standing.

'This kid…just how many people is he playing with..' The Matriarch muttered inwardly. She knew that Max was extraordinary, but she had no idea that he was literally involved with every force that was in the picture.

Hell, he was even in alliance with Demons.

To be honest, he had enemies everywhere and allies too.

…

"How dare you treat people's lives as a joke?!!!" Synthia's voice sounded like a roar in Max's ear.

Even the other people around were looking at him with a frown on their faces.

Bell and Argus still had control on their emotions, but Ragnar wasn't holding back the anger on his face.

And, the reason for all of this was Max's refusal.

"I said it once, and I will say it again. I am not giving up." Max looked at everyone. "As for Rihanna, we will continue the search."

"We already did! If we continue to delay, we don't know what might happen to her." Synthia clenched her fist in anger.

Max understood her. But, he had things on line as well. There was no way that he could give up just like this.

A tense atmosphere enveloped the hall, as the argument continued. Max knew that things would end up in a very bad way if this situation continued.

"Fine, come with me.." Max suddenly stood up.. There was only one way for him to solve this situation.