Chapter 1

Volume 1 + Chapter 1: Virtue? Bloodline Awakening??

“Best Soul Selection Guide??”

“And also, awakening the family bloodline? Is that for real??”

“What on earth is a Virtue Tree??” Winnie looked utterly bewildered, repeatedly confirming that he wasn’t hallucinating.

The golden-framed panel before his eyes was clearly not a figment of his imagination.

The background of the panel featured a six-winged cross ablaze with holy fire, which Winnie recognized as the emblem of the Varelis family.

Virtue? Purchase?

Winnie glanced at the amount of virtue he possessed, and suddenly a golden border popped up.

‘Ways to Acquire Virtue: Fulfilling the duties of the Varelis family, or causing emotional fluctuations in main characters.’

Duties? Emotional fluctuations in main characters??

Who are the main characters? It couldn’t be referring to those jinxes, could it??

At this thought, Winnie’s face turned pale.

The second method was as good as not mentioned; he wouldn’t dare provoke those destined girls now.

Good news, having awakened his past life memories, he wasn’t without a system.

Bad news, the system seemed utterly useless.

Those jinxes were something he wouldn’t dare to mess with now.

His survival instinct made him completely ignore the second method; people naturally seek advantage and avoid harm, and he absolutely wouldn’t take such a high-risk gamble.

Joking, what if he got entangled in the main storyline’s karma?

For Aesphyra and her harem, it might just be a thrilling emotional catalyst, but for him, a mere bystander not yet free from his villainous role, it would be an insurmountable mountain!

And what the heck is this Soul Selection Guide?

Isn’t this just making things difficult for him??

The only current descendant of the [Blessed Angel] Varelis family, Winnie, has only a one-star magic aptitude, a fact well-known throughout the royal capital.

What level is one-star?

It means that many ordinary people’s magical abilities could easily surpass Winnie’s.

Among ordinary people, the majority lack magical aptitude, and one-star aptitudes are nearly as common as having none at all.

The rest have aptitudes above one star, including many geniuses of common birth.

So, even by ordinary standards, Winnie is considered too mediocre and incompetent.

A best selection guide?

No matter how he chooses, it can’t change the fact that his magical aptitude is only one star, right?

The soul arts available to a one-star magical aptitude are the weakest of the weak, almost devoid of any magical attack, called soul arts but actually all physical.

As for awakening the family bloodline?

The bloodline of the [Blessed Angel] Varelis family had completely become a ‘dead vein’ by his grandfather’s generation.

A ‘dead vein’ refers to a Saintness family that has lost its ‘divine favor.’

In ancient times, top-tier powerhouses were blessed by the sacred founded human civilization, later revered as ‘Saints.’

The ‘descendants of Saints’ inherited the great power of their families, capable of unleashing formidable divine powers that defied the rules, known as ‘divine favor.’

The title of ‘Saints’ was often named after the family’s inherited bloodline, such as the royal family of the Camella Kingdom, the Pavone family, one of the human Saint families.

With the bloodline of the Wrathful Golden Dragon, they could use [Divine Favor] to recreate the might of the Wrathful Golden Dragon, hence named [Wrathful Golden Dragon].

However, the [Divine Favor] of the Varelis family, originally the [Blessed Angel], had completely vanished by his grandfather’s generation, leading to no successor for the Saintess position and the Varelis family losing its voice and actual leadership within the church.

This wasn’t the direct reason for the Varelis family’s expulsion from the church.

Despite losing divine favor and no longer holding the Saintess position, the Varelis family still bore the name of the goddess, being the bloodline descendants of the Goddess of Graceful Radiance, widely worshipped by humans.

The reason for their expulsion seemed to be due to a major mistake made by his grandfather, which led to the already symbolic Varelis family being driven out of the Church of Radiance and stripped of the Saintess title.

By his father’s generation, the Varelis family had moved to the Camella Kingdom.

The then king, out of respect for the Goddess Varelis, granted Winnie’s father a Viscount title, ensuring the Varelis family could survive in the kingdom.

Winnie’s father was a formidable figure.

Even after losing the divine favor, he managed to achieve numerous military successes through his sheer strength and skill.

It was because of this that Winnie had the opportunity to interact with Mirexia during his childhood.

Following this trend, the Varelis family, if not revived, could at least continue to survive.

However, misfortunes never come singly.

Winnie’s father died unexpectedly in a battle, and his mother passed away soon after due to depression.

The church then took advantage of their vulnerable state, and the Varelis family, which had just begun to recover, was once again pushed to the brink of collapse.

Later, rumors spread that “Winnie is not a true descendant of the goddess but a fraud, and the true Varelis lineage has already died out,” further tarnishing Winnie’s reputation.

Such rumors were impossible to refute, as Winnie, with his dead vein, truly had no way to prove his lineage as a descendant of the goddess.

He could only helplessly watch as these rumors spread.

For other nobles, if the main family declined, they could rely on their mother’s side.

However, Winnie’s father was a pure love warrior who rejected alliances with other nobles and married a village woman with no background.

Moreover, he was only skilled in warfare, not in financial management or interpersonal relationships.

This was one of the reasons why the church dared to openly raid their home.

The Varelis family was like a withered, isolated blade of grass, with no allied nobles or powerful maternal family to back them up.

But even if they had, it would have been of little use.

Not even the great nobles or the king dared to provoke the church, let alone the minor nobles.

What was left for Winnie was a mess, a once glorious Saintness family that had ruled over the faith of thousands in the Church of Radiance, now reduced to a single surviving member of a fallen saintly family.

As a direct descendant of the Goddess Varelis, the Varelis family had been expunged from the Church of Radiance.

The current Church of Radiance has no Saintess, only a Pope.

Starting with negative relationships with two female protagonists, one of whom has a ‘life-and-death grudge’ with him and wishes for his early demise, coupled with a reputation akin to a rat crossing the street.

One can’t help but exclaim, ‘What a wonderful start!’

Is there still a possibility to turn things around?……..

Staring intently at the words “awakening the family bloodline,” Winnie’s gaze became serious.

Trying it wouldn’t cost him anything, but the second method of increasing virtue? Hah.

Winnie felt that he could indeed evoke strong emotions from the destined girls now, anger that would make them want to chop off his head.

Compared to favorability, emotional value is quite mysterious.

Happiness is an emotion, excitement is an emotion, anger is also an emotion, and a surge in killing intent is even more emotional UPUP.

Perhaps Winnie could gain emotions by infuriating the female protagonists, but then what? What would be the cost?

He didn’t want to become a senior sister yet.

So, what does the awakening of the Varelis family bloodline refer to?

Is it simply the restoration of divine favor?

Winnie felt it wasn’t that straightforward.

Could it be that awakening the bloodline would make him more handsome?

That wouldn’t be unacceptable.

Returning to the dilapidated and desolate courtyard, because the master and mistress had both passed away and salaries couldn’t be paid, almost all the servants had left, leaving only an old servant named Dak.

“Young master, you’re back.” The old man sweeping the floor nodded towards Winnie as he saw his figure.

“Mm.” Winnie, preoccupied with his thoughts, barely acknowledged the old servant and walked straight into the house.

Noticing Winnie’s reaction to him and his silent, reserved demeanor, a flicker of surprise passed through the old servant’s eyes, gone in an instant.

The Varelis family’s house wasn’t exactly small, with two floors.

However, due to long neglect and lack of funds to hire servants for cleaning, many areas were covered in dust, and the building looked as old and abandoned as if it had been deserted for years.

As soon as he entered, Winnie caught a whiff of a pungent, low-quality alcohol smell wafting from the cellar, causing him to frown.

The original Winnie, disheartened and lacking ambition, had turned to alcohol.

Unable to afford good liquor, he drank cheap, unbranded spirits from small street vendors that cost just a few copper coins for a large jug.

Whenever he felt down, Winnie would come home to drink, not stopping until he was thoroughly drunk.

Coupled with a complete lack of exercise, he had, at a young age, ruined his health, leaving him as weak as if he had been drained.

Winnie shook his head.

If one doesn’t cherish themselves, how could they possibly cherish others?

He thought he should find some time to throw away all that cheap, bad liquor to save space.

As dusk fell, casting light on the peeling yellow walls, Winnie returned to his room and closed the door, calmly watching the twilight glow gradually fill the old wooden floor.

In reality, what he was looking at wasn’t the afterglow or the floor, but the golden-framed panel only visible to his eyes.

“Virtue…” Winnie pondered for a moment, repeatedly murmuring the word that would determine whether he could survive in the future.

Even if he wanted to try, he first needed to accumulate enough virtue.

But what are the ways to gain this so-called virtue? The panel didn’t specify at all!

Besides giving alms to beggars, what else could there be?

Could it really just be about doing good deeds??

If that’s the case!

Winnie stood up, a plan forming in his mind.

He pulled out a leather suitcase from under the bed, which contained the last remnants of the family’s savings.

One copper coin could only exchange for a bit of virtue, perhaps too extravagant for him now, but it was a necessary sacrifice!

If he could truly awaken his bloodline, would he still be short of money in the future??

Thinking this, Winnie reluctantly took out the remaining coins.

Winnie was truly backed into a corner; he had no choice now.

Relying solely on these meager savings, he would surely run out before Aesphyra even made her move, and he’d be done for.

Given the circumstances, it was time to act!

Thus, Winnie strode towards the door, only to hear a somewhat hurried footsteps in the corridor.

Winnie hesitated for a moment, then opened the door to find Dak standing respectfully outside.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Young master Winnie, it’s time for dinner,” Dak said, bowing his head.

“No, I’m not hungry. You go ahead and eat.”

“But… young master, no matter what happens, you must eat, or your health will suffer.”

“That’s none of your concern. Alright, alright, I’m in a bad mood and need to go out for some air,” Winnie feigned impatience.

“…Understood, young master.”

“Hmph.” Winnie walked past Dak and headed downstairs.

Only after leaving the courtyard did Winnie turn back, giving a meaningful glance towards the mansion.

Interesting, very interesting.

Winnie had thought that Dak, the old servant, stayed because he had nowhere else to go, accepting the meager wages.

He truly hadn’t expected that someone had planted a spy right beside him.

Who could it be, so wary of a one-star magic aptitude waste like him??

Recalling the inexplicable infamy he had in the original story, Winnie narrowed his eyes.

Even now, there are still people secretly working against him?