The Ancient Genes

Max slowly opened his eyes as he got out of the spirit world. His body still felt sore, and ached as he tried to move.

"You are finally up?" A joyful voice entered Max's ear as he slowly turned his head to look at the woman sitting by his side. He couldn't sense any kind of aura from her, but he could feel a little hint of familiarity from her face.

She kind of resembled his mother.

'She must be the one..' Max identified her. He had heard from Erina about her after all. There was no doubt in his mind regarding her identity as it was more than obvious from the joy on her face.

"Where am I?" Max obviously needed to act a little normal. If not, she might think he had hit his head too hard, and hence he did something obvious while pushing himself up and leaning on the back of the bed.

"You should keep laying down, your injuries haven't fully recovered yet.." A voice sounded in the room as two people walked in.

One was the Supreme Healer while the other was the Matriarch of the Crimson House. The two of them had just come in to witness Max waking up.

"Let me give you a look.." The middle aged lady, with grey hairs stepped forward to check on Max. As she did her job, Max turned his head to look at the Matriarch who had just walked in with her. She obviously resembled her sister.

But, there was a little difference between the gazes of the two people. She seemed a little sulky to Max. It was obvious that she was unhappy, and Max didn't need to guess the reason for it.

"If you have checked up on him, then leave for a few minutes.." The Matriarch suddenly spoke.

"Yes, I am done.." The Healer nodded, before noting her things down, and leaving.

"You too.." Matriarch looked at her sister, and pointed at the door.

The Second Matriarch gave her a look, but understood what it was all about. Relations were at their place. But, they were leading a lot of people, and protecting more than that too. There were times when one must put aside feelings and deal with things formally.

The Second Matriarch could only sigh as she gave Max a look, and then leave the room.

With that, only the Matriarch and Max were left in the room.

"Who are you? And, why did you come to our land?" the Matriarch asked as she looked at Max.

Max really wanted to laugh, but held himself back. He had done the same thing earlier after all.

"I am Max, and I came here just to get my friend. I lost connections with her somewhere around here.." Max calmly replied.

"Too bad she can't leave..and neither can you now.."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Max asked her with a frown.

"We don't know whether you are telling the truth or not. And, you won't be leaving until that is verified.." the Matriarch replied.

"And, how long is that going to take?" He asked while looking at her. He was no fool after all. Why would they allow him to leave even if he came with innocent intentions? After all, what chance was there that he wouldn't go out and tell others about this strange world in the mountains.

The Matriarch obviously didn't reply to Max. She was planning to observe him for a while and figure out his character before anything. It was true that she had heard from the Old man Sun about Max, but she still needed to judge him with her own eyes.

And, this was especially so, when Max was closely related to the Ancient Families.

Even though the Crimson's were not the enemies of the Ancient Families, there was no guarantee that they wouldn't stand against each other if the traitor moved before they did.

"I want to meet my friend, and ensure that she is safe.." Max asked as he looked at the Matriarch.

"Don't you realize your situation? You are a captive here.." She sneered at him.

"I forgot about it. Even though there aren't many who can stop me, you definitely can, just like you did earlier…" Max said with a smile, but anyone could sense the disdain in his tone.

Even the Matriarch's face turned a bit dark. She realized the brat was looking down on her for using her power to bully the weak.

"Regarding that, what was that stone you used.." The Matriarch asked as she slowly let out her pressure.

"Well, I can't share secrets with anyone, now can I?" Max asked with a smile. "I don't even know you.."

This was a little similar to the reasoning that she had just given Max in order to detain him, and stop him from leaving.

'This brat..'

A vein popped up on Matriarch's forehead, how could she not understand what this brat was doing.

She couldn't help but slowly increase her pressure trying to frighten him. After all, in her eyes, Max should be afraid of her. There was no reason for him to be so confident and calm unless he didn't fear death or had something to rely on.

To her surprise, Max didn't even flinch as the pressure slowly kept climbing until it reached the level of a Supreme. And, for someone at Max's level, this was impossible to bear, but looking at his face, who could tell that…

'What is wrong with the kid?' The Matriarch really didn't know how to react. She hadn't seen such an anomaly in all her life.

Even though she wanted to raise the pressure and test out Max's limit, she didn't do it. The pressure of an Ascensionist was very different, she might crush Max to pulp if he was just putting a tough front right now.

In the end, she decided to let it go for now.

'I will have to find out why the brat is so cocky…something doesn't feel right..it's as if he knows I won't hurt him or won't dare to hurt him....as for having a card under his sleeves…I can't be sure..'

The Matriarch felt that the chances of Max having some cards were low, but with the ability he displayed earlier, she couldn't rely on just that to be sure. And, even if his cards were useless against her, it might not be so for so many others around.

It was better to watch the situation calmly for a while..