5 Chapter 5 - The War Room. The Runaway Princess

I walked through the halls of the palace with an absolute bored look on my face. Who could blame me? You would think with all that the family has, there would be something fun to do. What would be considered fun though? It's not like I knew how to have any kind of fun in my previous life. Maybe because I was so preoccupied with surviving, I never picked up a hobby.

"What is it?" I questioned at seemingly nothing. The Shadows. They were different from shadow guards. They were almost broken and undying group of warriors that littered the entire palace. Broken in the sense that their only purpose was to guard and kill according to their master's will. Master being my father, the god-king. They barely had any need for themselves.

'As long as the shadow exist, so too shall we exist.' It was not an exaggeration when one of the group leader's spoke those words to me. They were so many that it was difficult to truly know their exact number. Heck, I doubt even they knew their exact number, yet they were like a collective hive. The Blood family's personal army. I never did like those folks. Probably because I was too weak to sense them. The only reason I could tell was because he/she 'revealed' himself/herself to me. I could never tell their gender with that grating voice they all shared.

"Princess, the god-king asks that you come see him in his study." The voice came from behind me, yet I could not see anyone present. Not like I was actively trying to search. I gave up on that endeavor a long time ago.

I nodded and spoke, "Take me there." Suddenly a black portal appeared in front of me and walked through without hesitation. Walking out, what appeared before me was a large, heavy looking door. I smirked to myself, "Can't get used to that." I said to myself. Like I said, not only were they littered all around the palace, but they were also like a collective hive mind. They could create simple portals and connect to anywhere in palace. Except of course the restricted areas designated by my old man.

The doors opened allowing me to step through. "Father, you wanted to see me?" Standing in front of me was a well-built middle-aged man with blood red-hair that reached his shoulders. The man feared throughout the continents as the ruthless god-king. Yet, this same man that was standing in front of me, unafraid to show his affection with that silly smile on his face, was my father.

"Emma, darling. Good you are here. How was your lesson today?" He tried to make small talk as he inched closer and closer to me. I rolled my eyes at him and opened my arms. Thankfully, I had grown much taller than the average five-year old due to all the pills and medicinal baths I took in preparation for my cultivation. I looked more like a twelve- or thirteen-year-old by mortal standards.

Seeing my actions, father's silly smile turned into a goofy grin as he quickly hugged me, bringing me up to his level. I could not blame him. Aside mother, my other siblings did not seem to like showing this kind of affection. They felt it was beneath royalty to act that way. Honestly, only eight and eleven, and they already acting that way. Not like I cared much. I quite enjoyed the feeling.

"Okay, that's enough big guy." I patted my old man on the back and forcefully pulled away. It was getting long and uncomfortable. "So, you wanted to see me?" The study was quite simple. It had rows and rows of books. You would think it was the library. In the middle of the room was a simple table with two chairs. At the side was a small table with a chessboard and moved pieces on it.

I walked to one of the chairs and sat, completely ignoring the grown man pouting at me. "There's not much else to teach you. You'll be starting your cultivation soon. Are you nervous? Want me to stand guard for your first assimilation?" After ignoring him, he finally spoke. While I had yet to begin cultivation, throughout the five years, I had gone through all the lessons and memorized all the manuals I needed for when it was time.

Our home had thousands of supreme grade manuals. Manuals, like everything else were graded from human/mortal, earth, heaven and finally, supreme or god grade. There were very few cultivation techniques that allowed the ability to cultivate from scratch all the way past the twelfth level of cultivation. Usually, those manuals were usually tailor made for certain people with special bodies.

"Nah. Not really. I'm good. I already know what to do." Father nodded with a weird glint in his eyes. I had no idea what it was, so I just ignored it.

"Alright. Now on to why I called you." Father materialized a chair with his energies and sat in beside me. "We the bloods, although compassionate, rule with strength. Here, strength is everything. That is how I have ruled for as long as I can remember." I remained silent, listening to my old man speak seriously. He no longer had the goofy smile on his face.

"We Bloods are borne of war and blood, and nothing will change that.. From now on you will have to cultivate diligently. When you turn eight you will be sent to the War Room, and it is not up for…" I did not really hear anything else after that because I heard something completely awesome. What the hell was that? War room? Why did that sound so cool? And why did that sound like a place I could go have fun? Er, was he about to say not up for discussion? Why would I protest? I had so much expectation that I did not even realize father had gone silent.

I saw father smile slightly before continuing, "The war room is a separate dimension at the meeting point of the north, east and our central continents. As you can infer from the name, it is a place that forges a person through constant fighting and killing, honing your battle prowess. It's simply a place where one must survive." The light in my eyes were practically blinding the room by now. I was smiling so hard I felt it was about to crack.

"Your eldest brother left when he was eight. If he survived, he should be returning soon, and your second sister will go and take his place. If all goes according to plan and she returns, you will also go. Well, you will still go even if she doesn't survive. Our family will not tolerate weakness." Oh, that explains why I hadn't seen eldest brother and second sister in such a long time. One was having fun somewhere while another was cultivating diligently in preparation to enter the war room.

"So, I have three years to get ready?" I asked, receiving a nodding confirmation from father. "That means all I need to do is cultivate and be ready in three years?" I repeated my question, this time receiving a somewhat confused nod from father. Basically, it meant I did not need to stay where I was. All I needed to do was show up three years from now. That's great. I swear, I feel like I'll die of boredom in the three years if I stay here. Plus, this peace is just not for me. In my previous life, I was already fighting for my life at five years old. I had wanted to ask why I couldn't enter now, but I guess it did not matter.

"Alright, father. I understand." After a few quick plans, I nodded to father. "Don't worry. I'll be ready by then." Without waiting for him to say anything, I walked out of his office, ignoring his dumbfounded face.

[General POV]

The god-king had no idea what had just happened. Things had gone completely different from what he had expected. He was even prepared to become a monster in the eyes of his favorite daughter, for he knew it was all for her benefit. It was for all his children. Too many times had he seen families and sects fall because they had grown too arrogant yet possessed little power. He was not about to let something like that happen to his family.

His first son merely nodded dutifully and went on his way with very way. He however felt the gap between them open a little more. His second daughter threw a massive tantrum trying to get her way out of it like usual, but after her father's serious face that she had never seen before and the slight pressure she felt, she knew this time, her father was dead serious and locked herself up, cultivating like a mad woman. Again, it broke the god-king's heart, but he knew it was for the best.

"What just happened?" Eve appeared beside her husband with the same dumbfounded look on her face. She had been worried about how things would turn out with Emma, as such she had been in the same room as them, hidden from sight. Her husband was the only one who knew of her presence. She turned to look at her husband to see that his dumbfounded look had been replaced with a happy, yet crazy grin.

"It was the same." The god-king replied to his wife. He had always noticed the bored look on his daughter. Aside from times she spent with him and his wife, she was almost always bored of whatever she was doing. It was confusing to see such on the face of a five-year-old, but it was always there. Until today. Times had changed but he was always the battle maniac, and that savage grin on his daughter's face was the same as he used to have. That happily grin when he was about to have a fun battle.

"HHAHAHAHA!" A maniacal laugh echoed throughout the room. The furniture and shelves shook from power being subconsciously released. If not for his wife keeping everything down, it would probably all have been blown to dust. How could he not be happy? His daughter was just like him. Eve shook her head with a slight smile and disappeared from the room. She had not seen her husband that way in a long time.

After a while, things finally calmed down. The god-king fell silent for a while before nodding to himself. "Left." The god-king spoke to the wind. Immediately, a middle-aged man with a set of white hair and a scar on his left cheek appeared in front of the god-king with his hands behind his back.

"Go with her. Protect her but don't interfere unless her life is in danger." Left seemed puzzled by the orders but nodded and left the room, not questioning the orders he received.

"You think she'll do something crazy?" A voice sounded from the shadows as Right walked out. He and his brother were outside the room. The god-king loved to be left alone in the room. Having to sense others in the shadows around him was distracting for him, as such his personal guards were usually an 'ear' distance from the room. Right and his brother showed up when the god-king flared his powers.

"I know it. It would be best to let her do what she wants, but I have a bad feeling. It would be best if Left kept an eye on her. I have a feeling We'll be surprised in three years." Just as the god-king had said, he felt Emma was similar to his younger days, and he knew just how reckless he was in his younger days. That same recklessness, however, was what made him into what he was today. That was why he had no intention of stopping whatever his daughter had planned. With Left by her side, there was nothing to worry about unless those monsters leading the other continents decided to make a move personally. Even that, Emma had more that enough protective talismans to buy time for him to show up. Right chuckled to himself, seemingly remembering how the god-king used to be before returning to the darkness.

…

The god-king was right in his assumptions. Emma had already decided to do something very dumb without the slightest hesitation. Without a pause in her steps, she marched straight into her room. "Zaya." She called out. A young teen walked out of the shadows. She had long black hair reaching her back and a sharp pretty face.

After five years, she had grown into a young beautiful girl. She had never left Emma's side once during the five years. She was her personal shadow guard after all. "Pack up your essentials. We're running away." Emma spoke with a happy grin.

"Princ… Eh?." As if the words were slowly registering to her, Zaya's eyes grew wider in shock and horror. "EEEHH??"