Black Phoenix Heir

Chapter 218: Chapter 218 — The Graveborn Family

Chapter 218 — The Graveborn Family

Roughly ten minutes later, Victor, Zack, and Daniel entered the mansion.

The interior was every bit as impressive as the outside.

Marble and finely cut stone lined the walls and floors, polished until they almost seemed to shine beneath the light. Statues stood throughout the hallways, each depicting different figures Victor assumed were members of the Graveborn family.

As they walked, Daniel occasionally pointed toward one statue or another, mentioning some of the more infamous Graveborn patriarchs from the family’s past.

Victor listened, but most of his attention remained on his surroundings. The deeper they went, the more obvious the Graveborn family’s wealth and history became.

Eventually, they reached the main hall.

The moment Victor stepped inside, his attention landed on the people waiting there.

Several members of the Graveborn family were gathered inside.

And one person immediately caught his eye.

Alex.

A trace of bloodlust slipped out before Victor could stop it.

The atmosphere in the room shifted.

Daniel immediately looked toward him.

So did everyone else.

Victor barely noticed.

His eyes remained locked on Alex, who stared directly back at him without saying a word.

For several long seconds, neither of them looked away.

But as Victor stared at Alex, he gradually became aware of the others in the room.

One was a young girl who looked around eight or nine years old. She had the same red hair that seemed to run throughout the Graveborn family, and from her appearance, Victor guessed she was Alex’s younger sister.

Beside her stood a woman.

Victor couldn’t tell what her cultivation was.

That alone caught his attention.

She was clearly powerful, but something completely concealed her actual cultivation. Victor couldn’t tell whether it was an artifact or some kind of technique.

She was also incredibly beautiful.

Long red hair framed a youthful face that made her look more like a princess than the mother of a fourteen-year-old boy.

She couldn’t have looked older than twenty-two or twenty-three.

Then another thought crossed his mind as he looked between her, Alex, Daniel, and the young girl.

Does everybody in this family have red hair?

Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Do you automatically get red hair when you marry into the family or something?

Then his attention shifted toward the man who could only be the patriarch.

Gravius Graveborn.

Unlike Daniel, there was nothing particularly welcoming about him.

Gravius looked like a hardened warrior. His expression was naturally stoic and severe, and there was something about the way he carried himself that made Victor feel like asking the wrong question might end with a fist flying toward his face.

Even standing still, the man was intimidating.

And Gravius was staring directly at him.

Victor had walked into his home and immediately started leaking bloodlust toward his son.

Yet instead of anger, a faint smile appeared on Gravius’s face.

He already knew the history between Victor and Alex. That history would make bringing Victor closer to the Graveborn family difficult, even with the amount of promise the boy had shown.

But Gravius couldn’t deny one thing.

The boy had nerve.

Nearly everyone in this room could crush him, yet Victor hadn’t hesitated for a second.

Daniel’s reaction was different.

A strange smile slowly appeared across his face. There was almost a hint of pleasure in his expression as he felt the bloodlust radiating from Victor.

Something about it seemed to excite him.

Daniel glanced toward Gravius.

Gravius gave him a small nod.

That was enough.

”Victor.”

Daniel stepped forward, finally pulling Victor’s attention away from Alex.

”Come now. This isn’t the time for whatever scuffles you and Alex have had in the past.”

Victor stared at Alex for another second.

Then the bloodlust disappeared completely.

His expression returned to normal.

Daniel walked toward Gravius and bowed.

”Patriarch.”

Zack did the same.

Victor watched them and immediately understood what was expected of him. Whatever his feelings toward Alex, the man standing in front of him was the patriarch of one of the three most powerful families in the entire Alchemy Tower.

More importantly, Gravius himself was clearly an extremely powerful cultivator.

Victor bowed.

”Patriarch.”

Gravius studied him for a moment.

”You must be the boy I’ve heard so much about.”

Victor looked at him with slight confusion.

Even the patriarch of the Graveborn family had heard about him?

Gravius noticed his expression.

”You seem surprised.”

Gravius smiled.

”It’s not too often that somebody disappears into Region G as a Rank Four Body Tempering cultivator, only to return six months later as a Rank One Spirit Gathering.

Victor remained quiet.

”Just about everyone on the higher levels of the Tower has heard about you by now.”

That wasn’t exactly comforting.

”Everyone is curious,” Gravius continued. ”Everyone has questions about how you managed to acquire so many skills while supposedly being stuck in a cavern.”

Victor watched him carefully.

Gravius’s smile remained.

”But everybody has their secrets.”

There was something deliberate about the way he said it.

A probe.

Victor wondered whether Gravius was trying to get a reaction out of him.

If he was, Victor wasn’t going to give him one.

Instead, he smiled politely.

”Thank you, Patriarch.”

Gravius raised an eyebrow slightly.

”I’ve also heard quite a bit about your fighting prowess,” Victor continued. ”I don’t think there’s anyone in the Tower with as many stories about slaughtering powerful beasts as you.”

For a moment, Gravius simply stared at him.

That wasn’t the response he’d expected.

He’d deliberately pressed on the mystery surrounding Victor. Not enough to openly challenge him, just enough to see what happened.

Instead, Victor had sidestepped the subject entirely and returned the courtesy.

Even the bloodlust from earlier was gone. He wasn’t looking at Alex anymore, nor was he allowing the boy’s presence to affect him.

Gravius’s interest grew.

Fourteen years old.

Yet Victor seemed to understand when to show aggression and when to put it away.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

Gravius looked around the room.

”All right. I think it’s time we head to the dining room and have ourselves a meal.”

His eyes settled on Victor.

”How does that sound?”

Victor nodded.

”I’d love to.”

”Good.”

Gravius turned toward the hallway, and the rest of the family began following.

Victor fell into step beside Zack and Daniel as they left the main hall behind.