Rivers of the Night

Theron saw all of this through his Third Eye. He almost brazenly swept it, and yet even the Crown Prince himself only looked around for a brief moment, then felt as though he had sensed something wrongly. Or rather, if there really was a Third Eye that was so subtle, it must have belonged to a senior he couldn't afford to offend anyway, so there was no point in pursuing the matter regardless.

Aetherion swept his gaze over the surroundings, and the geniuses of the Nightingale Province had already stood to their feet.

Theron took another bite of food and followed suit. There was never anything to pick at him for when it came to his actions, and matters related to pride were less important to him than the ultimate outcome.

Even though the last time he came across this Crown Prince he had all but threatened to take his life, Theron reacted as though he couldn't recall this at all.

Thessa's reaction to Theron was also quite measured and calm. She seemed to have matured in ways that couldn't quite be seen unless one understood the inner workings of her mind. Though Theron wouldn't claim to, he had seen enough of her vulnerable self to feel the difference.

Theron was still most curious about the young woman of the Black Clan. This was the first time he had met a decent Water Mancer—almost all of the Water Mancers of the Nightingale Province were weak.

Of course, there were still some geniuses of this path that could be found in the Imperial Academies and the Sects, but they were few and far between, and none of them had ever caught Theron's eye.

The young woman, though, seemed far more enamored with the young man she hung from the arms of.

As far as Theron could guess, judging by the Earth Mana radiating from him especially, this young man was more than likely the Crown Prince of the Gold Clan. Right now, they were in the territory of the Sangun Clan, and adjacent to this province was the Gold Province, led by this young man and his family.

It could be said that of the five Provinces in this region—the Sangun Province, the Gold Province, the Nightingale Province, the Firewing Province, and the Auran Province—the Gold Province was consistently the strongest.

The Gold Clan had a very unique Bloodline Resonance that was a lot like the Ironhart Clan of the Nightingale Province… but on a completely different level.

The Nightingale Clan could rule their Province because they had a Higher Imbued Resonance Bloodline, allowing them absolute control over the Darkness Element that most couldn't fathom. This was part of why Theron's Lower Manaborn Resonance was truly so broken. There was no one in the entire Nightingale Province that could even match him.

The Gold Clan, however… they were the only Imperial Clan of the five Provinces that had a bloodline capable of crossing that threshold.

They too had a Lower Manaborn Resonance that could be triggered to awaken by their bloodline.

And this Crown Prince, Marcel Gold, was a Gold Mancer genius of their Clan who had long since awakened their Gold Bloodline from the days he was a Bronze Mancer.

It could be said that even if this young woman hanging from his arm was among the weakest of the weak of the Black Clan, if Marcel wasn't at least at this level, they wouldn't have married even a maidservant to him.

But interestingly enough, someone with the status of Marcel was walking around with Aetherion as though they were equals. This was something truly uncommon given the arrogance of the Gold Clan.

While it was true that Mana affinity was hereditary, and most assumed that the practice of marrying like Mancers was the best path toward strong offspring, there were many examples of stronger affinities birthing from a clash of opposites.

A Water and Earth Mancer would have a great deal of trouble having a child together, but it was pretty consistently shown that once a child was successfully conceived, whether they became a Water or Earth Mancer, their affinity would be all the stronger for it.

That was all to say that the Gold Clan and the Black Clan often intermarried, at least when a genius like Marcel was available.

By comparison, although Aetherion had once been a great roadblock for Theron… honestly speaking, Theron wasn't sure if he could even take him seriously right now.

A part of Theron wondered if Aetherion was even capable of taking a single sword strike from him at this point.

It was an arrogant thought, but one Theron calmly considered as he measured what clues he could find from this interaction.

The Nightingales were definitely hiding something quite great—maybe he was still underestimating Aetherion. But if it was the case that the Nightingales somehow had some relationship with the Firewings and were now forming decent relations with the Gold Clan…

What was the need for this gathering? Or was it all a facade?

The new board game of politics piqued Theron's interest again. He had almost grown bored of playing around in the Nightingale Province. It was too easy.

This was more interesting.

'My thoughts… they get more arrogant every day…' Theron thought to himself while he bowed along with everyone else. Sigil was no exception; he too seamlessly fell in line as though the Thistles had no quarrel with the Nightingales at all.

"Please sit, everyone. There's no need to show such courtesy," Aetherion said with a smile. "I'm only here to eat just like the rest of you."

"Oh. These are your representatives for this year? Why are there only seven of them?" Marcel asked curiously.

Aetherion chuckled. "That's because we have quite the genius as a First Year. He will be representing both the academic and military streams."

"Is that so…" Marcel's gaze naturally fell to Theron, who looked by far the youngest of them all. "Huh… I can't see through his cultivation. Truly interesting."

His young Black Clan wife giggled. "Hubby, you're so silly. He's in the Ninth Silver Resonance."

Everyone's gaze shifted over to Theron, their irises flickering.