3 The Selection Ceremony

"Your highness, don't you think that's a little overboard ?"

Chaos looked up at Aria, whose face was pale as hell as she stared at him, he was sitting in his mother's lab in front of her... Wearing a baby dress shirt with the logo of a middle finger... A freaking middle finger.

He actually wondered how the hell his mother came up with this one.

From the looks of it, the empress couldn't seem to care less.

"What ? It's a little present to show our gratitude to the emperor once he finally sees his youngest son. I'm sure he'll like our act of kindness, right Aridam ?" She was grinning with amusement as she kissed his small head.

'Sometimes I actually wonder if my mother is crazy. She's so bipolar I started to believe all demons are that way, well I'm not complaining, I like the fact that she's not scared a bit of the emperor's reaction. I bet she's strong as fuck as well.'

"So tell me more about it." His mother's gaze shifted to Aria, all the amusement from her tone has left. She asked about the ceremony that was about to be held.

Aria sighed, sounding defeated about the dress shirt conversation, she said, "I believe that the mage tower's master would be present for he is the owner of the sacred crystal ball.

And in front of all the other nobles of the empire, each of the royal family descendants needs to put his hand on the crystal ball, and its color and size would change depending on your magic altitude and attraction to mana."

'That actually seems easy enough.. But why do I have a bad feeling about this ??'

The empress looked out through the carriage's window. They were getting close to the palace.

"And what are the possible colors ?" She sounded indifferent about it, but Chaos knew that she was actually anxious about what would happen once he put his hand on that stupid ball. Does the emperor know she was a demon and that there's a change he would be attracted elementally to dark magic ? It's not really to be worried about though. He only needs some time to get strong enough to crush anyone who dares to express hatred towards him or his mother.

Aria shifted in her seat, she was also worried. It's definitely the stupid dress shirt thing. Chaos held his laugher.

"They say that the crystal ball is actually transparent, it just reflects the kind of mana running in your body for everyone else to see.

Blue means that you're attracted to the water elemant. Brown is earth, bright red is fire, green is wind. These are the common ones.

But there are also colors like yellow lightning and purple gravity, gray metal and cyan which is ice magic, those three are considered one of the best. But the strongest one of all is known to be white and that is the light elemental magic. The current emperor is a fire and light magician."

The empress nodded briefly and the rest of the ride was silent as Chaos kept on staring blankly at Aria.

'What the hell ? I think I'm having an extremely early hearing loss. Where the fuck are my magic altitudes in this ?? Let's say that since the light magic's color is white right ? Then the demonic dark magic's color should be black.

But that doesn't help with my other two attractions... Chaos and void magic... Even my mother doesn't know about them. And they are not classified into anything Aria has said....I should probably be able to know later this evening right ?'

Half and hour later and the carriage came to a stop.

A nice looking man opened the door and held out his hand for Chaos' mother.

"Welcome your highness."

The empress held Chaos in her free hand as she took the seemingly looking butler's hand to get down the carriage.

"Well hello, Mikhail. For an old man, you look as fine as ever." She grinned at him.

Mikhail smiled back, "Oh you flatter me."

His gaze moved to the dress shirt Chaos was wearing..

Mikhail immediately frowned and he looked back at the empress who was smiling as if nothing is wrong and then back again at Chaos. Chaos lifted his tiny chin a little bit and looked at the butler with a smirk.

'Yeah bitch, you have a problem ?'

Mikhail's gaze immediately shifted to look at the baby's face. His eyes widened...

Seeing how he acted, Chaos actually wasn't surprised.. He also had the same reaction once he finally saw himself in the mirror..

His eyes.. Crimson with flickers of gold.. Even though it's hard to believe, they definitely looked worthy of being the eyes of a god, they're menacing in their own way...

Avoiding the butler's gaze, Chaos looks at the massive palace in front of him. It wasn't actually as big as the mansion of roses, yet it felt a lot more magnificent and elegant somehow..

Something shifted in the air around them as soon as his mother took her first step on the stairs..

Chaos' eyes narrowed as he looked around him and behind his mother's back.

'There's a massive protection spell casted around the palace, the illusion magic used to hide the spell is at least a master level since I'm the only one who's able to see it, even though my mother is a fourth circle dark magician. By using my eyes frequently, I was able to know the attribute and the number of mana circles of anyone I want, and just like the eye's description, illusions don't work either.

I was also able to read a little about the magic system of this world for the last couple of days without my mother figuring out thanks to my dragon senses detecting her before she comes to the bedroom.

What I was able to know is that the magic divides into five sections : Offense magic, protection magic, summoning magic, healing magic and creation magic.

Each section also divides into eight levels : Beginner, intermediate, advanced, master, royal, imperial, divine and finally godlike.

And to whoever wondering... I still didn't sleep yet.. I don't know if that's good or bad honestly.'

Moving forward, Mikhail takes them to a massive door. He whispered something to the man standing next to it and then he opened it and bowed down a little as they got inside, the empress walked confidently with her child in her arms.

"The Lady Veronica D Olivia and the seventh young master have arrived.", the man Mikhail whispered to shouted, and every eye in the massive hall turned towards them.

Chaos has never seen this many humans before... Everything was new to him, the hall, the light, the whispering, the laugher, the gazes, the atmosphere, the piano playing in the background.. it was all new, and his eyes sparkled with excitement as he looked around.

Yet he wasn't blind, he could see the eyes of hatred directed towards his mother, the wonder and curiosity they get once they look at him. For a baby he was definitely angelically looking..

Weirdly though, he couldn't feel or see any mana roaming inside the hall. 'Do they use some kind of anti magic here or something ? But my eyes or dragon senses doesn't seem affected by it.. is it because they're higher grade skills ?..'

Thinking about his dragon senses skill, Chaos was actually able to prolong the amount of time he could use it for fifteen seconds without killing himself in the proces.. but he still didn't check the "Mana Bless" unique skill. It was expected to get that kind of skill though since dragons are known to be creatures who are blessed by mana.

"Well, I offer my greetings to his Majesty for inviting us to this sacred ceremony." The cold tone of his mother's voice broke the trail of thoughts Chaos was having. He looked up to meet the coldest face he has ever seen yet.

The emperor was sitting on his throne in front of him, he had a silver hair just like Chaos, but his eyes were blue, ice blue...

'I thought he was a light and fire magician, then why the hell do I think ice magic would've been way more fitting..'

A woman was standing next to him with a child between her hands, she looked down Chaos' mother without even hiding the hatred in her eyes.

Chaos actually wanted to kill her then.. but again, he's a damn baby.

'Let me guess, she's one of his other wives, and since she's the only one standing next to him she's probably his favorite.. And the child between her arms even though he has a black hair and hazel eyes just like hers, must be my brother.'

"Well you and Aridam are also a part of the royal family now Veronica.. Sadly I couldn't leave you out of this."

For this is the first time he's seeing his child. He's being an asshole, and it made Chaos' blood boil.

His eyes then moved to the baby she was holding, Chaos tilted his head to the side a little bit, letting the emperor take all of him in, especially his dress shirt of course...

Veronica didn't seem to care about what the emperor just said, so she bowed down a little before turning around and walking away from his throne.

Chaos looked over his mother's shoulder to see that the man is still looking down at them silently. He was staring blankly at Chaos' crimson eyes...

'Bitch, you can't do anything if I do this right ? Since in the end I'm just a newborn baby who doesn't know anything. And you can't kill a child in front of all those nobles anyway.'

Chaos then grinned at the emperor and pulled out his tiny middle finger..

He could see the way the emperor's jaw clenched and it made him smile even more and satisfied for now.

Standing with the other nobles, and waiting for the stupid ceremony to begin. It was clear that everyone else were avoiding them. But well, neither of them cared.

A graceful looking woman approached them, a shy kid was walking next to her.

Unlike the first wife's kid, this little guy was a complete replica of his father. Silver hair, crystal blue eyes..

His cheeks were flushed as he looked up at the baby in his mother's arms. The curiousity in his eyes was so clear, Chaos almost laughed.

His mother slowly bowed down a little in front of them. "It's been a while, Veronica."

Veronica smiled and returned the gesture, "Yeah it is, I see you've doing well Bianca."

Bianca rubbed her kid's head who never stopped looking marvelously at Chaos, his eyes sparkling.."Yeah, It has actually been so hard for Arth to become a friends with the other kids, he keeps on getting bullied and ignored by the other royal children.." She smiled sadly, "I guess we're both are similar in that matter.."

'Him ? Ignored ?.. But the mana around his heart... He has no magic circle.. But it's half white half yellow.. He's technically more of a genius than the emperor himself so I don't think after this ceremony he would be ignored for long..'

Veronica bent down in front of him,"Hey, little kid, would you like to take Aridam with you when you go to that crystal ball or whatever ? I really don't like to standout in front of so many people. " She smiled and winked at him and Bianca chuckled.

The kid blushed as he held out his hands to take me from her.

'Damn this kid is straightforward, and why the hell is he not speaking..

He seems kind though so I'll just play along.'

Chaos smiled warmly at Arthur when he held him. The kid looked fascinated, happy.. He squeezed Chaos' cheek with his free hand and stared deeply in his eyes.. Chaos started to realize how much those eyes of him are of a problem, they're way too catchy that he's starting to get annoyed by it, only his mother and maybe Aria don't seem to care about them when they look at him anymore..

'Weird.. I think he actually likes me as a brother... Well, with his talent, he seems to be the next heir to the throne so it wouldn't be bad to make a good brotherhood with him..'

The air in the hall shifted and flickers of mana finally started roaming around when the door opened and a wise looking old man entered..

He held a massive staff with his right hand and on the left was a medium sized crystal ball... Chaos' eyes narrowed. A sixth circle gravity and metal mage.. The Mage Tower master..

Everyone's gaze in the hall shot to him as he came to stop before the emperor, who looked as bored as hell by the way..

The Mage Tower's master nodded briefly to the emperor before turning to look at the guests, "Today, we begin the fiftieth selection ceremony." He held out his hand who's holding the crystal ball.

"Once you hear your name, come forward and put your hand on the sacred ball, and in front of everyone present, we'll see if you're talented enough to attend the mage academy.."

'This mage academy bullshit again.. I never really want to go there, I'm pretty sure I can get stronger alone, but I'm forced to do this shit, while still being technically a newborn baby who didn't even reach a month old.'

Chaos looked up at Arthur who was holding him.

'He seems excited about it at least...'

Noble after noble... Kids being called out by some dude and putting their hands on that ball, some of them actually had the talent to attend the academy, others weren't.

It was finally time for the royal family..

"The first prince, Cane D Olivia."

'Ah, it's the kid who was with the first wife.. his name sucks.'

He stepped forward proudly and put his hand on the ball, he closed his eyes and injected mana into it.

The ball's color changed to half purple half brown..

'A gravity and earth magician, not bad at all.'

The Mage Tower master smiled down at the kid, "Welcome to the academy, young master." And the kid beamed with happiness while his mother smirked as her gaze shot to Veronica. 'That's so childish what the fuck ? Like woman, chill.'

Chaos' mother just rolled her eyes though and kept on staring blankly at the event.

The servent shouted again, "The second prince, Rudy D Olivia."

And an other kid stepped forward, his arrogance as clear as the sky while he moved towards the Mage Tower's master.

Chaos' eyes narrowed at him. 'A fire and wind mage.. Loser..'

The baby smiled, it was satisfying to see the disappointed and the tears in his eyes as the ball turned to half green half bright red once his touched it.

And so the ceremony kept on going and Chaos lost interest after a while, till it was the fifth child's turn.

"The fifth princess, Athanasia D Olivia"

'Why do I think that her name is hard to pronounce..'

She looked cold and indifferent as she walked towards the ball.

She touched it briefly and the ball's color went half green half cyan.

Chaos could see from his place the way the emperor smirked as the small girl glared at him before turning away and heading back to her mother, people started whispering..

'Hm.. excluding Arthur and of course me, I think she might be the most talented between the others.'

"The sixth prince, Arthur D Olivia."

Arth looked down at the baby in his hands and whispered, "Let's do this.."

It was the first time he talked, and his smile seemed kind and genuine.. so the baby returned the gesture.

Chaos saw the way his mother tensed a little bit when Arthur finally stepped forward.

Silence filled the room as every single one was looking at them now, even Athanasia who was looking into nothingness with a bored expression on her face.

Chaos wanted to say that they were anticipated about Arthur, but that was clearly a lie. Everyone would want to know what is the attribute of the crimson eyed baby.

But the problem is that not even Chaos knows what the hell the color of his mana would turn out in the crystal ball.. or more like what colors..

Holding the baby in his hands a little bit tighter, Arthur puts his hands on the crystal ball. And every eye in the room widened even the emperor's and Arthur himself as the ball turned half white half yellow..

The Mage Tower master smiled brightly and shook the kids shoulder, "Oh your highness, I think we found this generation's genius. A light and lightning magician, that's a scary combination indeed, we would be honored to accept you in the academy, young master.."

'That man is seriously a level one hundred simp for talents..'

The emperor nodded briefly and the first woman's face became red as she glared down at the poor kid. Arthur smiled awkwardly, in the end, he was an eight year old kid.. He wouldn't understand that much about her hatred.. people were whispering everywhere and the eyes are all around him now.

The Mage Tower master cleared his throat, silencing the nobles as the servant finally shouted, "The seventh prince, Aridam D Olivia.."

'How can they except a baby to handle this much attention and anticipation, I don't know...'

But with the way Arthur took Chaos' small hands and guided it towards the ball, he realized that it didn't really matter what the color appears to be... He's still going to conquer this world and see the end of Aridam's story the way he wishes it to be. That was his end goal.

Before his tiny hand reached to the crystal ball, a window popped out in front of his face.

<Notice!: Thanks to being in a place with lack of mana for while, the user unlocked proprieties unique skill, Mana Bless.>

-Mana Bless: The ability to attract all of the mana in a certain area and sucking them inside the user's body. The user would also be able to use the full potential of his magic attributes depending on the spell's level.

Chaos' eyes widened..

Even for a small moment, he could still use the full potential of all of his magic attributes now.. of course it would probably cost him all of the mana he has in his small body, and there wasn't really a bunch of mana to suck in this stupid hall..

And he couldn't also use any spell either because of the anti-magic, well, not like he knew any.. he can just inject mana in this crystal ball.. but he will use all of it.. all of the mana he stored for now.. and all of his attributes, the three at the same time, even him wants to know what would happen if he injected Chaos and Void magic mana into the ball, he'll have to worry about finding spells to use his abnormal magic attributes later.. For now, they want a show ? He'll give them a good one.

Narrowing his gaze a little bit, Chaos' left eye flashed golden as he touched the crystal ball and injected it with everything he has for now.

Every eye shot to the item as it's color started changing..

It wasn't really a beautiful color like every other mana...

Dark, bloody crimson covered the whole crystal ball for a second..

It was a moment before black and golden orbs started dancing inside of it... Wait.. What orbs ???

Inspecting it calmly, Chaos thought that it looks like a snow ball...

Or at least it looked like it before the sacred item cracked and the void and chaotic mana started leaking out of it... 'Wait what... Even that little was too much for a damn sacred item to handle ?? Are you kidding me ?'

It happened in a second, Chaos' eyes widened and his dragon senses kicked in, he quickly withdrew his hands just fast enough before the crystal ball exploded...