Ancestor of All

Edric summoned his system interface to check his stats.

Name: Edric Windwalker

Age: 15 years, 4 months, and 13 days

Tasks: Ancestor of a Village – Have 1,000 children (Legendary) Progress: 418 / 1,000

Next Task Unlocks In: 105 days

Techniques:

Legendary Knight Training: 96 / 1,500,000

Golden Mage Training: 347 / 275,000

Talents:

Knight Talent: Legendary (0 / 2,400,000)

Mage Talent: Average (0 / 100,000) Skills: Flesh Control (White) Steel Hair Manipulation (Silver) Extreme Yang (Silver) See-Through (Silver)

Cheat: Low Level – Gains 1,000 XP per day

Available XP: 173,914

"It's been four months, huh?" Edric sighed. It had been four months since he was punished for sneaking away.

Even though he could leave the castle whenever he wanted, he still had to conceal himself at all times, which was exhausting.

Initially, he had planned to fake his own death and escape months ago with the help of the Darkwind family. However, the sudden emergence of this task had thrown his plans into disarray.

The reason was simple—Marquis Windwalker was helping him complete it. If Edric left now, he might struggle to finish it on his own. And this wasn't just any task; it was a legendary one. He was determined to see it through.

Thanks to the marquis's assistance, his progress had been swift. At this rate, he could complete it in less than a year. Currently, the marquis was bringing him three women every day. If every attempt was successful, he would need only 200 more days to reach his goal of having 1,000 children.

Once he completed the task, he would receive a legendary reward—whatever that might be. No matter what it was, he was certain it would be invaluable.

His plan now was simple: endure the current situation until the task was finished. After that, he would wait for about a month to see if a new task would refresh. If it no longer required him to have children and staying in the castle no longer served a purpose, he would move forward with his original plan—disappearing for good.

At this point, faking his death wouldn't be difficult. The Darkwind family was already under his control. Kaelith—a man who once despised the idea of submitting to an outsider—had no choice but to yield in the presence of a Golden Knight. Over the past few months, Edric had visited the Darkwind family several times, issuing specific orders. Not once had Kaelith shown any signs of resistance.

Edric thought, "Staying here is the easiest and fastest way to complete the task. Technically, there are even quicker methods—like invading a city, seizing control, and forcing everyone—but that's not something I'm willing to do."

He set those thoughts aside and shifted his focus to his progress in mage arts. Over the past four months, he had mastered two additional spells to the point where he could cast them without referring to a spellbook. His success rate now exceeded 98%—not perfect, but a significant improvement from when he failed two out of three attempts.

The first spell was Invisibility. With it, he could conceal himself far more effectively, making it incredibly useful for his current needs.

The second was the Disguise, which was just as valuable. This spell allowed him to alter his appearance—changing his hair color, eye color, skin tone, and other details that his flesh Control skill couldn't modify. Each had its own strengths and weaknesses, but together, they provided him with an even greater level of concealment and adaptability.

The Flesh Control skill had its own set of advantages. It was much faster and easier to use, and it was much harder to detect. Even a Golden Knight or a Golden Mage would likely miss it, as the skill involved altering the muscles and flesh of the user. In reality, it wasn't a disguise at all—he was changing his very physical structure. Detecting such a transformation would require a deep understanding of human physiology.

However, the skill wasn't without its drawbacks. For one, it couldn't maintain a disguised face indefinitely. The transformation was temporary, though the duration was long enough that it rarely felt like a true limitation. The bigger issue was that Flesh Control couldn't change aspects like hair color, eye color, or skin tone—details that were important for certain situations.

On the other hand, the Disguise Spell had the advantage of being able to change everything: hair color, eye color, skin tone, and more. The downside was that the changes weren't permanent. The magic created the illusion, but it didn't actually alter his physical form. This made it easier to detect, especially by a Golden Knight or a Silver Mage. However, since there were no Golden Knights or Silver Mages around, this risk wasn't significant at the moment. So, while it had its flaws, it wasn't a major disadvantage in his current situation.

Edric had learned the two spells well enough that he could use them practically, making his excursions outside the castle much easier. Now, he could leave at any time without the risk of being detected. With the combined use of Eagle Wing and Invisibility, he could slip away even in the morning without anyone noticing.

He had also been working on learning another spell—Clone Spell. This spell would be incredibly useful for his current situation. It created a clone of him, one with 10% of his original strength, that could last for up to a full day. While the clone took his place, Edric would be free to leave and do whatever he wanted outside the castle. With the Clone Spell, he wouldn't need to remain in the castle as much. He could return each morning to fulfill his task of having children, then leave again.

However, the clone had limitations. It couldn't have children, nor did it possess its own consciousness. In essence, it was a lifeless replica—a set of programmed actions and memories that it followed. It wasn't a particularly advanced spell; it was only at the Silver level. While the clone could fight and react to situations, it couldn't handle complicated scenarios. If things got too difficult, the spell would fail to fully replicate Edric's behavior.

Despite these drawbacks, if he could learn the Clone Spell, it would be a game-changer for his current needs. Unfortunately, the spell was far more complicated than the other two, and he still hadn't mastered it enough to cast it confidently.

He had already learned to cast the Clone Spell, but he couldn't do it perfectly yet. As a result, the clones he created with his current unrefined casting lacked memory and couldn't act or speak like him at all. The clones, while functional, were not advanced enough to pass for the real Edric, making it impossible for him to leave without drawing attention.

...

Sitting in the library, Edric flipped through the pages of the Clone Spellbook once again. For now, his focus was entirely on mastering the spell. He wasn't spending much time training as a knight, as he knew it wouldn't help him progress toward becoming a Golden Knight. Training for that was impossible within the confines of the castle, so, in truth, he hadn't been working on any knightly skills lately. Instead, he had been meditating as a mage.

Unfortunately, his progress had been slow. After 120 days of consistent effort, his mage XP still hadn't reached 500, which meant his daily gain was less than 10—barely enough to even show up on his stat page. For most, this would be considered a disaster. But Edric had 1000 free daily XP at his disposal and wasn't particularly worried about his pace.

Setting aside his other thoughts, Edric began to focus on the challenges of learning the Clone Spell and the difficulties he faced in mastering it.