5 Origins

"Mom, what am I?" Kayn finally decided to ask his mother as he was approaching 7 years old quicker than he thought and still didn't know what race he belonged to.

Sighing, Zerana looked into her son's unique eyes that always seemed to desire more and more knowledge. She knew the day he asked about his lineage would come, but hoped that he would be a little older first.

"Kayn, what have you learned from your tutors so far about the races in our empire? And further from that question, our continent?" Zerana asked her son with a strange seriousness he hadn't seen from her before.

Kayn assumed his mother was just testing his general knowledge about the populace and who lived where so he didn't hesitate to answer her question.

"Our continent is called Lavanth. The Empire of Carnet, where we reside, is ruled mainly by those of the demon races as well as humans. However, around our northern borders in the forest are where the elves live, it is even rumored that those of the ancient high elf lineage reside here, this area is called the Great Forest.

"The demon races and humans get along well in our empire, but this is not the case everywhere as inside of most empires or kingdoms, humans and demons despise each other with most other races harboring some ill feelings towards humans.

"Beastkin are those who have a mix of an animal and another race, normally human, and have managed to become a race due to magic allowing different races to mingle.

"Beastkin mainly live in the empire to our west, the Mancean Empire. Our empire currently has a non-aggression treaty with them as the south is ever expanding and threatening both of our borders.

"The last and third empire and the empire that controls half of our continent is the Inmortuae Empire that is ruled by liches. This empire consists of all the undead or cursed races such as vampires, werewolves, normal undead, liches, dark elves, and more. There are also various orc, troll, and ogre domains within this empire as it is more of a free for all area than completely united entity.

"There are various others called monster races, such as goblins that also exist, but their intelligence is too low to be counted amongst the major races and are mostly seen as monsters to be exterminated. How did I do, Mom?" Kayn asked his mother with shining eyes full of expectation.

Once again sighing, Zerana looked at her son in a complicated light. "I know you didn't get your intelligence from your father, and while I am wise, my learning capacity paled in comparison to yours at that age." Zerana replied while eyeing the ceiling.

'I wonder how far you can truly go?' Zerana thought to herself as she only hoped the best for her son.

"Kayn, what do you know of the races that are classified as extinct or have disappeared from our world, Talganoth?"

"Well according to teacher there have been a few races that have disappeared from our continent and it is unknown if they still reside in our world or not. This includes many races, but the most mysterious of all are the disappearances of the dragon and phoenix races in most continents.

"Ancient high elves or the original elven race which all elves have originated from also haven't been seen in centuries, but elves still claim that they are leading them in the Great Forest. Teacher didn't know about other continents.

"Aside from ancient elves, there are also the demon progenitors who are said to have lineages that originated with the first of each different demon species. However, they are not gone, just very rare, and only two are known to still be living on our continent.

"To teacher's best knowledge, there might only be one place in which all of these so-called extinct races may reside still and that is the Celestial world that people can ascend to at some point if they become strong enough."

Noticing the dropping expression on his mother's face, Kayn decided to put on a more serious attitude, but he also felt a tinge of fear as the aura his mother was releasing was becoming more and more suffocating.

"Mother, why are you asking me this? Did I ask or say something wrong?" Kayn began to tear up as he feared he had upset his mother. While his knowledge and mind were of an adult, his emotions were that of a child and he couldn't bear to see someone who had given him so much love and care look like she was suffering so much pain.

Zerana blinked as she noticed the tears beginning to form in Kayn's eyes as well as his formal tone and she immediately suppressed her aura. Although she needed to prepare her children for their future struggles, she didn't want her son to know about their family's tragic past this early on.

Even Clementine had never asked what she was or where her parents came from. She just assumed she was like everyone else and didn't care about her capacities because she preferred to play with her brother or mother rather than study and learn.

"My son, I know you are smart, sometimes even too smart for your age. While I would have preferred to tell you about our origins when you officially became an adult at 16, I guess it won't be the worst thing for you to know now.

"As you mentioned before, there are several races that have disappeared, and there are many others that have existed in our continent and world that it is hard to even remember them all. Your father and I are old, much, much older than you would expect.

"While our appearance matches that of a non-mage in their 30s, both of us are well into our 400s. We waited a very long time before we had our first child, your sister. We had to wait until we could find a safe place where no one knew us and we could begin anew to provide a nurturing environment for our children."

Kayn blinked at his mother's words as she was looking at him with a complicated look. He could understand them being old with the life expectancy being different between races and also those who could reach the late stages in core strength had extended lives.

The thing that caused Kayn to be stupefied was the fact that his parents, especially his father, are very well known in this empire. So why would they go somewhere to hide, but then spread their name by performing great feats for the Carnet Empire?

"I can see the question in your eyes silly boy," Zerana giggled as she could see that her son wanted to ask the obvious.

"Our family name is different than what we originally were named for starters, but even if we didn't change it, no one in this continent would know who we are. Both your father and myself are from different continents to this one, in fact we are both from different continents than each other."

"Which continent are you from then mother?" Kayn asked as he quickly became excited at the opportunity to gain knowledge on the other continents or even worlds as he heard that some people can transfer between them.

"I am not actually from what is called a continent, where I am from is called the Void Realm, a realm attached to this world and your father is from the small Nether Light continent. I don't expect you to know these names now, nor will I teach you as there are more important things for you to learn and experience at your age." Zerana stated as she once again sighed.

Lowering her shoulders Zerana continued with her explanation. "Kayn, I know you seek knowledge, but you are only 6 years old. Your sister was only running circles around me and barely starting to progress in reading and writing at your age. As your mother I want to warn you of your future, but I also want you to enjoy being a child rather than pushing yourself to learn every day."

"But I want to learn Mom! I don't want to play with toys or run around. Reading and learning from my teachers are what I enjoy the most!" Kayn hurriedly spoke as he feared his mother would ban him from attending the tutoring lessons he enjoyed so much.

"I understand that son, but I want you to enjoy being a child too, you're only so young once."

Kayn coughed inside his head as he heard this statement from his mother. 'Most people only experience childhood once.' Kayn thought to himself.

'I have already experienced being a child and in this life, I don't want any regrets. I want to live to my full potential and not fall into any depravity as I did in my last life or would have according to the being who transferred my soul to this world.'

Determination sprouted in Kayn's heart as he wanted nothing more than to live a fulfilling life while keeping his loved ones by his side. He didn't want to experience the loss he did last time, so he was determined to use his advantages to protect those whom he cared about.

Zerana didn't know what her son was thinking, but she could tell he was determined about something and assumed it was just about obtaining knowledge since he seemed passionate about learning.

"Okay Kayn, you can continue to learn and I will even teach you various things relating to other continents and magics, however, you must always cherish your sister. If she wants to play with you, you play with her. Do not forsake your sister for knowledge, family is much more important and can vanish without any prior notice." Zerana could only sigh as she spoke.

"Of course, Mom! Clem is my big sister and I will always put her first." Kayn stood up straight as he said this looking into his mother's eyes with the look of a soldier ready to go to war.

Giggling, Zerana enjoyed the look of resoluteness he had for his sister and she couldn't ask for more from her son. "Good, then since you have learned our origins, I guess it is time to talk about what your blood is mixed with. This way you can assess your potential as that seems to be why you asked your original question."