Over 500 views? Wow! Thanks guys. Anyways, I am bad with naming styles and stuff and use what sounds cool to me. In this chapter the MC undergoes both a psychological and physical change. This chapter might seem dark so be warned. Is this the last chapter of the day? Dunno. Trails of thought enter my head and I get tired of waiting for new chapter releases as I am the one writing it. Haha. Big thanks to those who like my story and I will try to write to your expectations. Hopefully my imagination is big enough. This chapter has the whole ritual vibe to it and really was exciting to write. Enjoy.
Chapter 4: Price for Power
"You are doing WHAT!?" Lily Maltos screamed as she barged into the throne room. Count Marus's face turns gaunt and hurriedly ordered his servants to prepare the ritual.
"Have you lost your mind! He is only EIGHT! In the name of the Realms, what are you thinking allowing our son to do it? Our EIGHT year old son undergoing not one but THREE divine tattoos!" Lily roared.
"D, Dear calm down," Marus laughed nervously. "The boy was blessed with azure lightning. He can survive this. I would definitely not let our son do this if I didn't have the preparations necessary for his survival."
"At what cost! People pay a price for that kind of power! Even if you and our son don't want him to be an ice magus, he shouldn't be doing this! What need does he have for power? He is our SON. A son of the wealthiest family and most feared and respected nation in the land! You got to him right now and tell him this farce is over!" Lily ordered. "And what blessing? Azure lightning hitting our son is a blessing? If the Thousand Year War didn't end I would be dragging you out right now and see you get this blessing!"
"Very funny dear," the Count laughed. "Anyway the boy is on the bottleneck of the seventh rank of Spirit Shadow. He is not a genius and can only do ice element qi techniques besides the physical techniques. He can lift a man three times his size and run a mile in less than three minutes. He is not a genius. People might bully him in the academy as they will think he is nothing but a Count's son with no power behind him. He is not all-powerful. He wanted this. I never asked him to undergo the ritual."
The Count sighed with relief as his wife stormed out of the throne room. He might be sleeping in his twin children's room for the next few nights. He felt pity for his eldest son. If his wife was outraged at him this much, Duren is definitely going to suffer a lot worse.
---a week later----
"Finally!" Duren shouted with glee as he opened his eyes. "I reached eighth rank Spirit Shadow. Inside his dantian, a small globe of ice had appeared. Upon the eighth rank, his dantian doubled in size and started to have wisps of ice emanate from the globe. It really took a lot of Yin cultivation to break the bottle neck. He experimented with his qi and made an ice claw. Before he only had claws of ice on his fingers. Now he could make an ice claw all the way to half his forearm.
He couldn't practice with the qi elemental techniques of thunder, wind, and destruction until he did the ritual, He had studied the three sword manuals he had received from his father. The Twin-Dragon Fang style was the most powerful, but he did not have the qi to even experiment the style. The Imperial Executioner style was also out of his league as his physical body wasn't strong enough.
As for the Frost Chaser style, he had succeeded in the first stage. The first stage required the user to cover his body in a layer of Yin energy to augment his physical body. He had five times the strength and speed when he used the first stage and could destroy a boulder. For his age, it was pretty impressive.
"Young master," Gustav said as he bowed upon entry. "The Count has summoned you. The time for the Divine Ritual has come."
Duren gulped and nodded as he followed the butler.
"What do you know of the ritual Gustav?" Duren asked as they walked.
"I only know the ritual your father took. Your father had a natural affinity for fire and earth qi techniques. Truly a prodigy if he became a magus," Gustav sighed with admiration. "The Divine Ritual your father did was to combine his two qi into one and become the first magma qi martial expert in the land. Your father underwent the Divine Ritual at Spirit Knight rank five and nearly lost his life. Are you sure you want to do this young master?"
"I am willing to pay the price," Duren said with emotion. He desperately wanted to use thunder qi techniques. Thunder magic be damned. It didn't use his real body so being a magus was beneath him. He wanted to rip his enemies apart. Not stand back and watch them disintegrate. Where was the fun in that?
Gustav opened the door and the duo entered a ritual chamber the size of a small gymnasium. Rows and rows of tables and chairs lined the walls of the chamber as knights sat with grim expressions, each of them holding the hilts of their swords and shifting their shields nervously.
In the center of the back of the gymnasium, his parents and twin little brother and sister were watching. Little Drax and Dylana had both turned six two days ago and were allowed to witness the Divine Ritual. They waved excitedly upon seeing their elder brother but were reprimanded by their mother. Lily was still furious and would not calm down during the last few days.
Duren then centered his attention to the center of the gymnasium. A large circle twenty feet long in diameter with a star outlined with magic runes seemed to emanate pure energy. Behind each point of the star that touched the circle's edge, five people in priestly garbs of white sat cross-legged on the floor, each person in the back putting both hands behind both shoulders on the person in front of them with the foremost priest in the front having his hands make a circle on his lap with the thumbs pointing to the ceiling.
"You have arrived," Count Marus said grimly. "Today is the day of the Divine Ritual. You cannot stop until all three divine tattoos of wind, thunder, and destruction appear. No matter the pain, endure. Steel your heart and your mind. Do not waiver. If you fail, you will become a monster and the knights here will try to slay you before you leave the ritual circle or die trying. Do not make me and Lily personally end your life in front of the twins. Endure Duren. Endure."
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Hearing his human father say that brought shivers to Duren. Never before had his father spoke with such seriousness. Was this human ritual that dangerous? He had the soul of one of the Nine Thunder Beasts. He breathed deeply, clenched his fist, and sat, cross-legged, in the cent of the star.
Gustav secretly made a prayer to the heavens. He had seen the Count suffer and hoped the son would survive as the Count did. He knew the young master was different since the azure lightning hit him and developed an aura of a king.
"You two stay quiet and don't move," the queen ordered to her children as she covered their body from the beck down with earth magic. She also did the same to herself as she knew she couldn't do nothing if her son was in pain. The twins nodded, scared by the tone of voice in their sweet mother.
"Begin the Divine Ritual! Begin the Five Point Star Array! Do not mind the boy's screams and finish to the end!" the Count roared and sat down.
The twenty five priests started gathering their qi and from the back to the front, the qi spread until it reached the circle.
"AUGHHHH" Duren screamed with pain as the massive amount of qi reached the circle and extended three feet in the air. Slowly, three spheres of qi appeared in a triangle above Duren.
"The journey to enlightenment begins with wind. Wind is the element we breathe," the priests chanted. "The qi of wind allows us to move as the wind. To shape our breathe, to fly in the sky as birds do."
A green sphere the color of an emerald slowly descended onto the lower left back of Duren. Duren clenched his fists so hard the nails pierced his skin as the sphere of qi touched his skin and spread. An emerald tattoo of a phoenix appeared on his back and the Count sighed with relief as the first divine tattoo succeeded. He knew it would as it was one of the four basic element qi of fire, water, wind, and earth. The next two would determine his son's life.
"Thunder and lightning represent the power of the sky and the heavens!" the priests chanted in unison. "Thunder represents the power of the sky. Lightning bestows on us the power to move blast our enemies and have our enemies bow to us in fear. In a flash life is created, so too, is it ended. Like a wolf of a pack, lightning is not alone. Lightning is a storm and all bear witness to its divine judgment!"
A sphere of qi the color of gold slowly descended on the lower right region of Duren. As it touched his back, Duren coughed blood and tears flowed down his face. He screamed in anguish and a divine tattoo of a golden wolf appeared on his back. The divine tattoo of the phoenix and wolf both changed shape to face each other in a circle, leaving a large region empty toward his upper back.
"He did it. He really got a second tattoo. Our ancestors must be watching us," the Count laughed with glee. He stopped laughing as his wife glared at him and remembered about the third divine tattoo. The last divine tattoo was different and more dangerous than his own ritual as it was one of the ancient qi elements.
"And so the journey ends with destruction. Life is not created without destruction. Destruction signifies the end of One and the beginning of Another. Immortality is not absolute. Even immortals die," the priests chanted, their pitches increased by an octave. "Destruction is power. Power rules this world. Destruction is ancient and lies in the hearts of all beings. Destruction is HERE!"
The last globe of qi glowed a violet color and radiated danger. The Count and his knights were startled at the amount of qi pressure the orb emanated.
"Duren!" Lily screamed as the globe descended and time seemed to stand still as all eyes in the audience watched it touch Duren's back.
Duren screamed an inhumane roar as the qi slowly spread into his back. scratches appeared all over his arms and legs and blood burst into the sky. The pain was so great that Duren's scream could no longer be heard. His body, unable to take the ancient qi, suffered a backlash that shocked everyone: Duren's left arm from above the left elbow down blew up in pieces of flesh, bone, and blood.
The Countess screamed and fainted on sight. The two twins screamed with fear and muttered repeatedly while closing their eyes. They could not cover their ears as their mother encased their body with earth and heard the cries of shock and fear from the knights. The Count clenched his teeth and wanted to turn away. He didn't as he made this decision and had to see it to the end.
Duren fainted from the shock as the last of the qi entered his body. An image of a violet two-headed dragon appeared on his back. The Divine Ritual was a success and the Count immediately ordered his servants to attend to his wife as he rushed to his son.
"Gustav, you have attended me when I fainted from the ritual. How is he?" Marus asked loudly as Gustav also entered the circle.
"He will live my Lord but he requires immediate attendance. His left arm is gone but we do have magus experienced with prosthetics. He can receive an arm from primordial golem materials. He can use qi in his new left arm this way, but I am afraid he will remain unconscious for the next few days. He won't even feel the pain of the prosthetic being attached to what is left of his left arm.
The Count nodded and let Gustav and his physicians rush out the ritual chamber. His son succeeded but he lost his arm. No arm can replace the original and he regretted allowing a three divine tattoo ritual. He stopped as he pondered what he heard before his son's arm blew up. How did his son scream an inhumane roar like a Spirit Beast? He shook his head as he stared at the blood on the floor.
"It was too high a price," the Count said shakily. Too high."