Devourer's Legacy: I Regressed With The Primordial Crest-Chapter 16: Sword Of Honor (2)

The Providence divided people into different zones based on their powers, each level distinguished by its own abilities.

Firstly, at the lowest tier was the Unawakened Zone—a rarity. Only a minority of people belonged to this group since most of the people would awaken their Blood Crest even if it was of the lowest rank.

Then there was the Awakened Zone, which as the name suggested, were those people who had successfully awakened their Blood Crest.

Renard belonged to this tier.

Beyond that came the Essence Zone, which was achieved by learning to make use of essence and stabilize it within one's Vessel.

Renard's escort warriors, including Gerald, were in this stage.

A Vessel was a crucial part and served as a container where an individual could store their essence energies, normally it would be located exactly at their navel. Its size and capacity would vary from person to person and could be enhanced with the help of different cultivation techniques.

Following the essence Zone was the Master Zone, where an individual could condense their essence and expand their vessel's capacity.

The Wandering Warrior Jin stood in this Zone.

Beyond the Master zone lay the Transcendence Zone, where people could manifest Essence as a tangible aura.

Observing that most of the people standing in front of him belonged to the Master Zone, Renard couldn't help but smile.

'There are Blood Hounds indeed.'

Corrupt as they were, the Blood Hounds remained a vital part of the House Grim, so it was no surprise that even the newest recruits were this strong!

"You may select any two as your personal guards," Roderick, the Vice Master of the Blood Hounds said.

"All are capable warriors who-"

Renard stopped listening to him and studied the assembled young hounds before him. He was searching for any familiar faces among the young Blood Hounds. He'd specifically requested younger members, hoping to find someone he recognized from his past life.

About twenty to twenty-five men and women stood at attention, most appearing to be in their early twenties.

None of their faces triggered any immediate recognition.

But Renard hadn't come this without any plan—he activated his crest ability.

His eyes glowed with a golden glint and immediately, several translucent screens materialized before his vision.

These screens revealed the Providence States of the young warriors Roderick had brought for him to select from as his personal guards.

All of them were powerful and had some good Blood Crests associated with them—but there was something else that caught his attention.

[Name: Karan]

...

[Name: Roland]

...

[Name: Lilly]

...

Most of them only had a single name.

'Orphans.'

Renard didn't need anything further to recognize that.

While Blood Hounds were a part of the main family, their work was dirty and it wasn't what the people would call noble. Their job was to stay in the shadows and protect the people of House Grim and most of the time that included sacrificing themself.

That was why the core of the Blood Hounds was filled with Orphans. They were expendable. And of course, while they could rise in ranks, they weren't allowed to achieve higher positions like the Vice Leader and Leader since the House Grim feared giving all the power into their hands.

It was an unspoken rule that had persisted for generations.

'All are skilled, but none are specifically exceptional.'

Well, the Vice Commander of Blood Hounds would be a fool if he were to allow his most talented people to be taken away by Renard.

Renart was pretty sure that the ones before him were the ones filtered out from the talented people who would be part of Blood Hounds.

Just as he was going through the Providence States of these young men, something caught his eye.

[Name: Zain]

[Title: None]

[Zone: Essence Zone (peak)]

[Blood Crest: Code Resonance]

[Crest Rank: Unique]

[Crest abilities: Code Creation (0/2), Foresight of Code]

Renard's breath hitched.

He had never thought that he would meet the sword of Honor like this!!

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At fifteen, like every orphan taken in by the House Grim, Zain went through his Awakening Ceremony.

He remembered standing in that grand hall, heart pounding, hoping for anything decent—even a common Blood Crest would do.

He just wanted something to help him support his little sister.

Then it happened.

The ceremony master's eyes widened in shock before he announced Zain had awakened a Unique Blood Crest: Code Resonance!

Not common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, or even royal - but Unique, a classification reserved for abilities that appeared only once in the world.

Everything changed after that.

The Southern Lord, one of the Seven Patricians, personally took him in. For the first time, Zain felt like he'd finally done something right in his life. His sister would never go hungry again.

But reality proved harsher than he had ever imagined.

No one understood his Blood Crest. Not the Southern Lord's advisors, not the cultivation masters, not even Zain himself. Code Creation and Code Foresight—they sounded impressive, yet no matter what he tried, nothing seemed to work. Despite having countless resources spent trying to decipher his ability, there were no results.

"Useless," the Southern Lord had spat before casting him aside. "Even a common-ranked crest that works is better than a unique one that doesn't."

With his sister to feed and nowhere else to go, Zain joined the Blood Hounds. The work was brutal, and the seniors were cruel. They especially loved mocking his so-called "unique" ability.

"Hey, Unique! Use your special power to clean the stables faster!"

He endured it all in silence. What else could he do? At least the pay was enough to keep his sister in school.

Now here he stood, lined up with other Blood Hounds, waiting for some noble brat to pick his guards. Another tedious drama of the privileged. He just wanted to get home to his sister—she was going to make her special soup tonight.

When the noble finally showed up, Zain nearly laughed. The guy was shirtless, drenched in sweat with barely any muscle on his frame. Yet, even Zain had to admit—with those striking features and jet-black hair, he was annoyingly handsome. Some of the female Blood Hounds were actually blushing.

'Life sure is unfair,' Zain thought as the noble inspected them one by one. Some people really did have it all—looks, status, wealth...

Then the noble stopped in front of him. Their eyes met, and for a moment, Zain saw something strange in that gaze—recognition?

"I want him," the noble said, pointing directly at Zain.

Zain's mind went blank.

What? Why him? There were dozens of stronger, more capable Blood Hounds here. His useless unique ability certainly wasn't...

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

But before he could process what was happening, his fate had already shifted once again.

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