9 Scholarship
The Center of the Eastern Typhoon Continent, the Lightning Palace…
The palace of the Lightning Emperor, Radyn, the leader of the Lightning Manor was a work of art that eluded the understanding of every layman. This was a stone and metal palace that seemed to stretch all the way to heaven.
Lots of astral practitioners had no idea how tall it was as its tip went so high that they became hidden by the clouds filled with excited electrons.
The top of the Lightning Palace was a world of lightning and storms.
The top was not empty though, the tip of the gigantic Lightning Palace was a massive dome with properties that were able to generate lightning energy from the clouds and natural energy of the world.
And at this moment, seated on top the dome was a man.
The gray-haired Lightning Emperor sat cross-legged on top the dome, and with eyes closed he absolved the astral energy of extremely concentrated lightning that was being generated by the dome.
2 years ago when he sat here, he wore clean clothes but after years of being subjected to so much lightning and electricity, they already turned to rags on his body but he never paid attention to them.
Every breath from him induced a storm cloud in the atmosphere.
His training was cut short though into the night of his 749th day since he sat here, by a phenomenon that he last saw over a decade ago.
The clouds and atmosphere above him changed.
CRACK!
Lightning and thunder crackled fiercely and being so close to the top of the world, he witnessed it as the heavens seemed to crack open.
It was like the heavens were delivering a mandate on the mankind beneath it even as the night sky experienced a crazy transformation.
On this night, he saw it clearer than everyone else.
Directly above him hidden in the atmosphere, a giant silhouette of a giant golden sword appeared on the night sky as bright as day.
As soon as the golden sword appeared, powerful thunder and lightning struck but Radyn reacted on time to stop the natural disaster as stretching his right hand with his eyes glowing white, he grabbed the zig zagging lance of lightning.
"Such powerful lightning," He muttered. "This surely would have caused a natural disaster in my continent if left unchecked".
Then, standing up, he looked into the distance. 'Another heavenly restriction'.
He furrowed his brows. 'What is happening?'
'That old geezer, did he alter fate before his death?'
'Heavenly restrictions are supposed to be mandates of heaven that appear after many centuries and even millennia'.
'2 appearing just 55 years after his death, this is surely no coincidence'.
Thinking of this made him remember the old geezer's last words. 'Granting our wish is one of fate's saddest jokes'.
'I believe in fate'.
'I am the Fate Destroying Emperor!'
He grimaced. 'Even in death, you're still being mischievous?'
CRACK!
Thunder sounded in the sky and Radyn looked to the distance, he sighed. 'It's just a second ago yet they're already making a move'.
'Sigh…, being in charge of world peace is so stressful'.
BOOM!
Powerful astral energy crossed the protective barrier of the Lightning Manor the next moment, sending the thousands of mages and warriors of this organization into a frenzy even as a powerful existence landed on the dome.
The short brown hair and the giant physique that could put bodybuilders to shame already revealed his identity, Gustas had an impatient look on his face.
"Radyn, another heavenly restriction appeared!"
"Where is he?"
"Let's find him now!"
Radyn had a gentle smile on his face. "Relax, the others are coming".
More booming sounds reverberated as 7 more immensely powerful astral energy signatures were detected, sending the Lightning Manor into even more panic even as their leader remained relaxed.
All 9 rulers of the legal astral world were now gathered in one place.
Odenne did not appear on her real body though, instead a humanoid puppet wielding a chain that went round its body came in her stead.
"That's 2 heavenly restrictions in just 55 years," Iyana Olenor spoke up. "And both instances appeared in your territory".
"We should kill him!" Gustas said loudly.
Everyone looked at him. "Why?"
"…" This giant of a man paused, thinking hard. "Why…, why? He's a friend of the Fate Destroying Emperor of course and we should kill him!"
"…"
"A 10-year-old boy is a friend of the Fate Destroying Emperor, an Emperor who died over 55 years ago," Hywell said while staring at the Pugilist Emperor. "Well, when its coming from you, I'm not surprised".
BOOM!
Terrifying energy erupted.
"What do you mean?!" Gustas was angered as his astral energy flared.
BOOM!
Hywell did not let his guard down as his energy also flared.
2 apocalyptic powerful astral energy erupted at the dome at the top of the Lightning Palace even as 2 distinct auras of brown and yellow clashed.
While this contest started, the others reacted like they didn't see it.
They were used to this anytime that they were all together.
5 seconds later, Iyana Elenor raised her right hand. "Enough!"
"You have all the time in the world to spar after we finish our talk here".
"Humph!" Gustas snorted. "I'll kill you someday!"
"My ego would be hurt more than my life if I let a musclehead like you kill me, you're powerful but not so smart you know".
The Warlock Queen gave Hywell a side glance as a tinge of pitch black appeared in her eyes. Instantly he calmed down, glancing sideways.
"I want to hear opinions regarding this". She said.
Cirris, the handsome man with white hair and white eyes raised a hand, the Warlock Queen nodded. "In my opinion, leaving the carriers of the heavenly restrictions at large is dangerous".
"We fought the Fate Destroying Emperor in a quest for peace".
"Leaving more heavenly restrictions at large is detrimental to this goal. My advice is to take them under our wings now that they are still young saplings, let's mold them in the image that we want".
"No!" Radyn spoke, looking at Cirris with a smile.
"What's the joy of spontaneity in life when we control their fate?"
"Their fate is not to be controlled; it is theirs to live".
"The Fate Destroying Emperor was powerful enough to kill everyone of us anytime he wanted but he never did so, neither did he force us under his wings, this was because he believed in the machinations of fate".
"Taking them under our wings will be tampering with fate, that's dangerous".
"Let's allow nature to take its course".
"Why do you suddenly sound like a disciple of the Fate Destroying Emperor?" Hywell asked with a teasing smirk on his face.
"He was our enemy but he was also the strongest".
"It's an honor to be called his disciple". Radyn smiled.
"Humph!" Seeing his smile, Hywell snorted.
The others present here gave no opinions but before making the decision, Iyana briefly turned to look at Odenne, the Puppet Empress who spoke. "I have no objections to any decision that is taken today".
"All I know is if they both become a threat in the future, I will take it upon myself to personally hunt them down and if required, kill them".
The Warlock Queen nodded, then he finally looked at Gustas Impetus.
Gustas waved his hand dismissively. "You are the big brain lords, make the decision".
"I will follow so long it does not endanger humanity".
"Fine," Iyana Olenor nodded. "We'll follow Radyn's advise, let's let nature take its course, let's see what their destiny has in store for them".
Hywell glared at Radyn who smiled in response.
Radyn spoke one last time. "Before you all leave, a friendly advice".
"After coming to this decision, if I see any strange forces deliberately targeting any of the 2 heavenly restriction carriers, sorry but I will retaliate in full force".
"Hmph!" Hywell only snorted before leaving first, turning into a giant yellow sword that levitated before disappearing with speed.
The others left in their various ways and Radyn was alone again.
He looked into the distance. "2 heavenly restrictions huh?"
"I wonder if more will appear".
"This era is truly turning out exciting".
…
It was already 3 days since Ramon awakened astral energy even as he kept on familiarizing himself with this new aspect of his life in the training center.
A day ago, he got admission to enter the Hope Town astral academy.
Considering the academy's prestige, his mom was happy and felt proud, Ramon was due to resume in 3 days which would be Monday but on this fateful day, while he trained, the patriarch came to meet him in the training center again.
The patriarch rarely visited the training center, him visiting here twice within an interval of just days and because of 1 boy made the others wary.
Ramon's siblings could sense the threat that he posed in the crown patriarch competition that was already heating up.
Arriving at the training center, the patriarch showed a paper to Ramon.
Confused, Ramon looked at it.
{Scholarship certificate!}
{Dear Ramon Brenden, your incredible talent has been recognized and our prestigious astral academy has given you a scholarship…}
Ramon got a headache reading through it, reading and writing was where he got problems with his teacher, Guendouzi the most.
He looked up at the patriarch with pleading eyes.
"…" The patriarch's eyes twitched.
He sighed. "You got a scholarship".
"In Hope Town Academy?" Ramon's eyes twinkled in excitement.
"No," The patriarch looked at his son as he felt a complicated feeling. "You got a scholarship into the prestigious Centerpoint City Astral Academy".
"…!" The training center became as silent as a graveyard.
