The Harukian Chronicler 9 Appraising... Failure? Chapter 9

Well before any of that, first thing is first as my grandfather waves to a couple of people coming up the path… lord he could cradle me in a single hand if he felt so inclined. The two people coming up looked to be an old man and another old woman; both give off that feeling they're quite chummy. Maybe they're married?

Giving a yawn which my grandfather sees, he gives a small smile beneath his bushy beard. It's quite surprising to me that one man could have such a beard; but that just means I have the possibility of it later on… unless my blood is more along the lines with that of my father. My mind wanders as such as the old couple walks up to my grandfather and give him a quite respectful greeting;

"Good day, Jarl Bandi." Greets the old Man

"Jarl Bandi, I hear Indra has given birth; I have come to give them their appraisals." So says the old Woman, making it known that was the town's appraiser. Now that I think about it; I wonder if that's anything like my Keeper's Eye, or if she is using something else entirely. Could be interesting to learn something new, even if it's just for my information; though something is giving me an odd inkling in the back of my mind. It's almost telling me that appraisal of newborns or children… is a relatively new development… could it just be an old experience from my first life?

["Appraisal happens usually at the age of four, as that is when most families can afford the fee; richer families are able to do it after the first feeding; as that is when the mother's milk gives a dose of mana to activate the veins. Holder was able to do as he will, because his veins were already open."] Yramala spoke quite elegantly, and with quite a bit of respect for me… were they not Patrons that looked after me, shouldn't I be more respectful towards them? ["Most other Patrons would think that way too; but it is because of you that we can be in the world. So why should we not be respectful towards you?"]

<"hmmm… thoughts="" have="" changed="" much…="" since="" i="" last="" saw="" the="" world…="" course…="" last="" time="" i="" was="" here,="" i="" was="" in="" a="" goblin…="" he="" quickly="" elevated="" to="" demon="" lord."=""> Baal gives a small chuckle; and I just roll my eyes mentally.

("From what I know… Appraisal is a type of magic, not a Holder ability. The child is placed into a circle with a slate next to them in a receiving junction. It's different for every culture; but there are similarities. If I had to hazard a guess, the Appraisal will involve a tiny drop of blood from the child, and it's then put on the slate.") Hann states, and I can feel him adjusting his gla.s.ses. I still haven't heard anything from Dralath, I wonder if he's just the silent type.

Grandfather walks back into the small hut; from the conversation they're having, this really is just a small shack that is used by the head family for births; that way they're not interrupted. The three old people talk about how rough it was for my mother to get pregnant with us, and to have three as her first birth… I have a bad feeling I may be the cause of it. I'll have to do something to make it up to my mother someday, maybe I'll give her wonderful grandchildren that she can be proud of. My eyes scan around at the plain room that the old gramps and two extras sit in; while my father comes out… Zekiel I believe his name is, and he bows respectfully to the elders;

"Good afternoon to the both of you. Indra is ready for some medicine now, and the children have had their first feedings. They're ready whenever you are for their appraisal." My father speaks in a respectful tone to both of them; his green eyes peeking pa.s.sed his gla.s.ses at the group. Grandfather stands from his seat and walks over, handing me off to my father; clapping the poor man on the shoulders… I can feel him buckle. Father smiles, "Jarl Bandi, how did young Zeri handle being outside; any complications, or oddities?"

"I have told you to call my father, did I not son? And the little lad is quite accute, I could see his eyes moving around to stare at everything. If I had to guess, I could say that he is able to comprehend everything." He chuckles; "We might have another intellectual here."

"We won't know till the little brats are appraised; get them set up in the room for me please." The old crone gives a cackle, walking into a side room with a small hustle. We must be eating into her remaining time on this planet… I'd roll my eyes if no one was watching. My father carries me to the room, while my grandfather goes to fetch my siblings. The room we enter is almost literally filled with nothing; save for a small end table, and a rug on the center of the floor… no wait, that's a bear skin, and it has some odd arcane symbols sewn into it. A blank slate is places on a separate circle that is connected to the main one in the center.

As my grandfather enters the room; the youngest brother, Nihlis, is placed in the center of the circle. The volva takes a needle and gets a small drop of blood from his finger, he did not like that. As soon as he starts crying, I can sort of feel an odd rage build up in my chest. The blood is placed on a small dot on the outer circle, which then begins to glow in a faint green light; which is then leaked to the slate and appears to write something on it in arcane runes. The Volva examines the slate, and gives a nod;

"He has Death, and three Patrons total. He is able to be part of the Main Family. His other Patrons are for… The Healer and The Archer. From the looks of it, he could become a grand Ranger in the future." The Volva hands Nihlis off to my grandfather who then hands over Yehai, who gets the same treatment as before. The circle glows a faint blue this time however, is this tied to one's inherent mana type or something? That was interesting… "Another with Death and three patrons. Looks like… The Warrior and The Commander. I see a grand military leader in his future." My grandfather gives a chuckle; taking Yehai from the Volva with a proud smirk. Now it was my turn, oh boy. I give a small groan, as I just don't want to do this; would rather be asleep if not for that d.a.m.n trait. The Volva takes me and looks down at me with a… strange look… almost like she was looking at an insect. I glare back up at her, or what I feel is a glare; before she places me in the circle and p.r.i.c.ks my finger.

The second my blood touches the dot, however; a major difference is seen, as the circle brightly shines with a pure silver light. Within a few seconds it gets sucked into the slate and disappears, but I can see the face of the Volva is quite shocked to say the least; suck it b.i.t.c.h, no idea what I did, but I did something. She picks up the slate and… was that a sound of disappointment? She shakes her head slightly before announcing;

"This one does not have Death, and what's more only has a single Patron. Cannot be part of the main family, and I don't see much of a future for this one. My suggestion is to get rid of it to the nearest branch family, and raise those two." As she was going to learn, I can hear my father actually grind his teeth, almost like he was agitated. I was mostly confused; I know I had four patrons, and one was Death? The f.u.c.k is with that b.i.t.c.h… then the world turns gray and seems to slow down;

{"Ah, I can see that's going on here. The siblings show no sign of Demon heritage, while you do. In fact, Nihlis looks to have Celestial heritage while Yehai has Draconic. d.a.m.n witch, I could feel her hostile eyes on your father since she entered. How dare she… my Holder is much stronger than that… how does she feel of this…"} That was the first time the Old man, Ugdralath has spoken, and indeed he felt old. Older than time itself, and quite annoyed. Which caused my blood to boil, how dare she look down upon me because of my heritage blood; and how dare she look down upon the Haruk clan with her blatant lies.

<"as the="" owner="" of="" the="" sphere="" of="" wrath…="" may="" i="" say…="" now="" that="" you="" are="" appraised…="" and="" circuits="" open…="" try="" to="" demonize."=""> I wasn't paying attention to Baalish as I could feel my feet, legs, arms, and hands begin to burn. I looked down at them, and a black ichor began to crawl up from the tips of my fingers; up to my shoulders, claws formed and plates of natural armor grew where the ichor was. I could feel the same happen to my feet, and I let out a loud shrill wail; as I released my Mana and a giant black skull tribal formed on the left side of my chest, laughing with a frown. Polar opposite to it, a woman tribal formed, smiling while weeping; and at the time I could feel my right eye begin to burn, it burnt with the flames of my pa.s.sion and rage, and I could tell that a magical seal formed on it beneath a silver fire. Baalish, chuckling in my mind; as I could feel his markings grow on my tongue and down my throat… a place no one could see.

As I demonized, and my patron marking grew; the Volva crone tried to leave the room, but was stopped by my father who had the hand grabbing her already covered in the plate ichor that was known to his bloodline. His left eye was emblazoned with a purple fire, and one could tell he was rather p.i.s.sed off…

"If he only has ONE patron… then do be kind to explain why he has Death's engraving, even the rarer one of Life. And like his father; The Scholar is fitted in his eye. I count THREE Patrons, b.i.t.c.h." His demon aura grew with his rage; and my Grandfather was letting out a rather scary rage aura as well… and like one would thing, my brothers were crying cause they were scared over everything… Good lord what has this b.i.t.c.h started?

End of Chapter 9