"Awakening Altar?"
Lucien raised his eyebrows and searched through his memories, finally realizing what it was.
The Awakening Altar, as the name suggests, is an awakening platform that allows one to awaken a class as long as a set condition and sacrifice are met.
This was also one of the reasons why people flocked to Bellenford capital for this ceremony whenever they could.
In fact, this altar not only could awaken a class, but it would even enhance someone's potential or bring forth hidden talents in rare cases.
Unfortunately, as far as he remembered, the quota for the Altar had already been divided among the nobility.
"Yes, the Awakening Altar. After working through our connections, we finally secured a quota for you in this dungeon. So… this is your chance to awaken your class."
Seraphine smiled beautifully while looking at Lucien. Maybe because she thought her son would finally gain the strength he desired so much, her face was particularly bright. Even Viscount Cedric was full of smiles.
But unlike them, Lucien's face showed no joy. Instead, he suddenly placed his hand on his chin, as if deep in thought, and then asked his mother,
"What do we have to pay?"
As far as he knew, the Goldveil family was a recent noble house of the Edoria Kingdom, and they had managed to gain their status through money. If Count Alaric hadn't helped them, even with money, it would have been hard to become a viscount.
However, although they had gained their status, respect was another matter altogether.
In his memories, even barons and lower-ranked nobles secretly despised their family behind their backs. It wasn't without reason that he was being blatantly scammed everywhere without fear of retaliation.
So, gaining a quota that was already meant to be divided must have come at a price.
"Hmm?"
Seraphine and Cedric didn't expect Lucien to be so calm after hearing the news. They thought he would be so happy that he would jump for joy.
'Did he really grow up?' Seraphine couldn't help but think a little weirdly.
"Well, that's what we were talking about just now. In fact, we are actually expecting someone from the royal family to come here."
Cedric suddenly butted in and began to tell the truth,
"For the quota, we only need to give them 500,000 gold coins and partial control over our Azure Vein trade route."
"Of course, the royal family won't take such a large sum for nothing—they've promised to repay us after the upcoming war. So it's nothing much."
At last, he waved his hand as if it were no great matter to their family. After all, he didn't want Lucien to worry about such things.
"WHAT?"
Even though he tried to downplay it, Lucien suddenly exclaimed loudly with his mouth agape in extreme surprise.
'500,000 gold coins and even the control over the Azure Vein trade route?'
'And it is nothing much? Who are you kidding?'
Lucien almost screamed with indignation.
Just a quota for the Awakening Altar costs this much? Why did he feel like they were getting scammed? That was 100 million dollars, not to mention that trade route on the sea that could only be weighed in mana stones.
Lucien couldn't help but look at his mother and father weirdly. He thought he was stupid before.
Now he felt that maybe it was the fault of his genes all along.
Cedric and Seraphine, of course, heard his shout and caught the strange look on his face. It didn't take a genius to know what he was thinking.
His expression said it all—almost as if asking, 'Are you two stupid?'
"You brat, are you judging us right now? We are doing this all for your awakening, and you are like this?"
Viscount Cedric suddenly slapped Lucien's shoulder hard as he couldn't take that look from this brat.
He felt insulted, extremely so.
"Hey, hey, don't hit me. I didn't even say anything."
Lucien clutched the spot where he'd been struck and hurriedly backed away from his father. Cedric had used only a little force, but without mana, Lucien was as weak as a chick—and it hurt a lot.
"Okay, no need to reprimand him. His reaction was reasonable." Seraphine couldn't see any dirt on her son and hurriedly stopped her husband and began to tell Lucien everything.
"Well, although that amount is said to be for your awakening quota, actually, it was in fact a fee to get the royal family as our backing. After all, your grandfather is ill and hasn't gotten out of the coma yet. Without a strong person in charge, the Goldveil family has a hard time guarding their wealth."
She said with her brows furrowed. Actually, she and Cedric weren't that weak. They were both in the Arcanist realm. While she was a Mage Class, Cedric was a Warrior.
They also had their hidden troops and talent raised through money.
However, the problem was that their Goldveil family was too rich, and their influence spanned multiple kingdoms in the Carag Continent.
So, without the only Peak Weaver Rank Beast Master as a strong deterrent in their Goldveil family, they were having a hard time guarding their immense wealth.
"Oh? Grandpa is still in a coma? What about his pet, Velmara?"
Lucien asked. Velmara was his grandfather Malcolm's beast companion, an owl. If he remembered correctly, his grandfather had gone into a coma during a sea exploration mission one month ago. The reason was still unknown.
"He is also not awake, although he seems fine."
Seraphine shook her head and dragged the topic back,
"Anyway, so this was the decision we made for the Goldveil family. And honestly, that much gold is nothing for our family anyway. It was just giving partial control of the Azure Vein trade route, which is a little… unsettling. But in times like these, sacrifices have to be made."
Perhaps Seraphine felt that Lucien had become responsible, so she expressed her point of view without hiding anything.
"Wait a minute… so, you're saying you've got the gold and deed ready for someone coming here now?"
However, Lucien suddenly noticed something strange and hurriedly asked.
"Hmm? Yeah, didn't I say that we are waiting for someone from the royal family here? They should arrive shortly."
Cedric asked, confused.
"Where is it?"
However, did Lucien care? Of course not.
Instead, his entire attention was on the deal that they were about to conduct with the royal family.
'Since they said they will pay it back, it should count as a debt, right?'
Lucien realized the deal, though framed as loyalty to the Edoria royal family, was essentially a loan.
'So, will the System count it as such if I am the one to give the money to that person?'
Lucien thought it was indeed possible.
"Here!"
Although Seraphine found his reaction weird, she still took off the mana ring from her finger, placing it on the table.
Inside are the 500,000 gold coins and the deed for our Azure Vein trade route. But why do you want it?"
She asked, puzzled. After all, she knew Lucien was someone who treated money like dirt—no amount of it ever excited him.
"Nothing! I suddenly want to conduct this deal myself. Making a deal with someone from the royal family sounds exciting."
Lucien casually replied while grabbing the mana ring. Then, he quickly opened his status panel, looking at his Wealth tag,
—-
[Wealth (Personal):
• Funds: ~250,000 Gold
• Estate Holdings: Goldveil Manor, Minor Properties
• Mana Artifacts: 3 (Low-Grade)]
—-
'Looks like just grabbing it like this won't work, huh?' Lucien thought bitterly and looked at his mother, a little reluctantly,
"Mom, how about you first transfer the ownership of this item to me? That way, it will feel more realistic when I make a deal with the royal family. Don't you think?"
He asked with a smile as if he was excited.
Poor guy, he had to make the lame excuse so that he could use his system to his advantage.
"Sigh… and I thought he had grown up."
Sure enough, as soon as Cedric heard his ridiculous words, he sighed heavily. His mumbling was a little loud, which Lucien managed to hear loud and clear, causing him to twitch his mouth.
But time was tight and he had no other ideas in his head. So, he just played dead like an idiot.
'But why is my mom smiling instead?'
Unlike his father, though, he saw that after hearing his request, Seraphine smiled widely and directly hugged him with her arm. She was so fast that Lucien was caught off guard once again.
"Haha… of course. What's ours is yours. From now on, the gold and the deed in the ring are all yours. Hehe… my Lucien is so cute."
While any mother on earth wished their son to grow up, they also wished they never did. Perhaps because of that, when Seraphine heard the weird request from Lucien, instead of sighing like Cedric, she became happy.
"Hey, hey… stop doing that. You can just say it, you know."
Lucien was speechless and hurriedly removed himself from the embrace of his mother when he heard a swift prompt,
[Congratulations! Your wealth has increased.]
---
[Wealth (Personal):
• Funds: ~750,000 Gold
• Estate Holdings: Goldveil Manor, Minor Properties
• Mana Artifacts: 3 (Low-Grade)
• Trade Assets: Partial Control of Azure Vein Trade Route
]
---