NoGift

"A MAP?" Argent repeated.

"Yes.  The image was a bit blurry and it only lasted for about five seconds, but I'm sure it was a map," Aurum confirmed.

An image of a map that appeared after Aurum's blood came into contact with the pendant.  Now, why did it sound so familiar?  Because that's almost like what happened when Argent tried to enter the dragon king's temple.

"That map will probably lead us to the location of one of the remaining two artifacts."

Aurum frowned a bit.  "How can Brother be so sure?" she asked, because the way Argent said it, it's like she had no doubt that the map would definitely lead them to the location of either of the two artifacts.

"Remember what I told you about how I was able to enter the temple of the dragon king?  I simply put my hand on the door and it opened for me.  And that door wouldn't just open for anyone.  I think the same principle could be applied to the pendant.  Because it's your blood that came in contact with it, that's why the image of that map appeared," Argent explained.

Aurum slowly digested what her brother said and immediately understood the meaning behind it.  "The 'child of all'.  Is it related to that?"

"That's the most probable explanation."

"But what exactly is this 'child of all'?" asked Aurum, confused and unsure.

Ever since she heard the story about how her brother got the sword, she'd been worried.  Of course, she couldn't show it on the surface.  Their mother was still kidnapped.  They still had to formulate a plan to save her.  Worrying about that 'child of all' stuff was at the very back of Aurum's mind.  But now that almost everything was settled, her worries and fear just resurfaced once more.

"Well, if I would take a wild guess, it probably pertains to you, me, and our still missing father," Argent said a bit carelessly.

She already had her guess the moment she managed to get the dragon king's sword.  After all, according to the legend, only the 'child of all' could find the three ancient artifacts.  And then, there was also the fact that their father also managed to do the same feat.  Now, there was this deal with a pendant, that was very likely connected to one of the two remaining artifacts, reacting with Aurum's blood.

The 'child of all' didn't only pertain to her.  But to the Blackbourne's.  Or at least the direct line of the family.  At the end, everything could be traced back to the family's genealogical history.  Argent had a very strong guess that the Blackbournes were not just a normal duke household in Albion.  There was something more.  Something that had to with their lineage.

"You mean, this 'child of all' pertains to us?" Aurum said, a bit incredulously.

"Quite probably, yes."

"What does this term 'child of all' even means?"

Aurum felt a headache already coming.  She was having a hard time understanding what her brother wanted to say.  So she just stopped thinking altogether.  Although she didn't mind using her brain when she needed to, it's impossible to be an idiot when your brother was Argent Blackbourne, she still preferred giving the job of 'thinking' and 'analyzing' to her brother.

"My guess?  It means someone who has all the blood of the four races – dragon, elf, beastkin, human.  Hence, the term –'child of all'," Argent said indifferently, as if what she just said wasn't something that could destroy one's world view.

"Y-you mean m-me, you, w-we have the blood of dragons, elves, and beastkins flowing in our veins?" Aurum almost stuttered saying that loudly.  She couldn't even believe that she said those words herself.

"Most probably, yes."

But they wouldn't really know the truth of it unless they talked to someone privy to the whole business of the Blackbourne family.  Argent doubted if their mother knew about the truth of Blackbourne's lineage.  Because if she did, then she would have long known about the legend involving the 'child of all' and that their father was searching for the three ancient artifacts.  Then she would probably have found clues about his whereabouts long ago.  But because she didn't, they still don't know where that guy was now.  Or if he was even alive.

Seriously, the more Argent thought about it, the more dissatisfied she became of this missing 'father'.  If not for wanting to know the truth, she would have probably already suggested to their mother to just forget about the guy.  They managed to live for almost 15 years, well, almost eight years in Argent's case, without him, would it really make a difference if he suddenly appeared now?

But of course she couldn't do that.  Because for some reason, their mother still loved that guy.  Romantic love was truly a pain in the ass.

Aurum still couldn't believe the meaning of 'child of all' her brother said, especially since that meaning was related to them.  She subconsciously looked at her hands, could the blood of those three races really be inside them?

"B-but how?" she couldn't help but asked.

Argent shrugged.  "Maybe our great grandfather knocked up some dragon-elf-beastkin hybrid or something."

"Brother, be serious!" Aurum scolded, her voice had a bit of frustration in the them.

"But that's truly the best thing I could come up right now, considering the limited information we have."

Argent could probably do a PCR test to check whether the two of them do have the genes of those other three races.  Because, surely, there's a difference between the gene sequence of a normal human to those with a mixed lineage.  But she hadn't had time to build a PCR machine.  And she also needed the genes of someone who had a mixed lineage.  For comparison.  So she could know which gene sequence belonged to which race.  Or at least one of the races.  She had to know the exact difference.  So the margin of error would be lessened.  But now, she had someone like that. 

The half-elf – Janea.

She should put that on her 'things-to-do' list while they were still in this island.

"But if that's really the case, then shouldn't we be, I don't know, more powerful?" Aurum said.

Argent raised one of her brows at her sister.  "You don't think you're powerful enough?"

"Brother--!  I mean, yeah, I'm powerful.  But that's just normal powerful.  It's not 'I have the blood of three other races in me' powerful.  Besides, you—"

"Besides, I'm a NoGift," Argent said, finishing what Aurum was supposed to say.

Aurum looked a bit guilty.  "But you're still very powerful, Brother.  Just in a different sense."

Argent chuckled.  "I know."

But her sister did have a point.  It's also one of the things that had been bothering her.  If her theory was correct, then how come the original body ended up as a NoGift?  And then, there's the fact that when her soul took over, the body's constitution changed.

"Let's just wait until we talk to Mother again before we make more theories," she added.

Aurum nodded in agreement.