CHAPTER 26

This ball, birthday party, Emperor showboating could make America look like washed up celebrities. Just the number of gold items of excellent craftsmanship numbered a thousand and that is before you arrive at the main gallery. I say, gallery and not grand room, ball room, or whatever else tag exists because this looks like someone showing off art. Everything is arranged in a way that you could walk through and see a gradual look into history. From the first village lord to the current Emperor, it did not matter that the families changed several times throughout.

Yet, here is the kicker. This was just the walk towards the grand stadium. The Emperor interior designer knew how to smack you with the superiority stick and make you feel very small and worthless.

But.. there isn't a precedent for empress. What this means is that I can understand why the Second princess is so enamored with killing the first prince even though she has the title for crown princess. Haha, it was just to add pressure to the male heirs, forcing them to perform better. After all, who wants to be below a woman?

My eyes focused on those that the second princess greeted first as she held my hand in a strong grip. Keeping me bound like a dog on the leash but it didn't stop those who wanted her beneath them, from coming over.

"Sister, it has been so long but I have to thank you." A rather handsome guy walked over as if he was the center of the crowd.

From the many paintings I had of him, this guy was the lucky bastard that escaped from my hand time after time. It made sense though, I could smell the powerhouse that made me not perform an adequate search for him.

The old man stared at me through the crowd as he sat on the third step from the Emperor. It is interesting how royals can smile at each other while trying to fork them over the last pizza slice.

The second princess neither frowned or smiled but that's her usual facial feature. She looked right past him as she dragged me to a middle aged woman who looked like her face was forever pouty face.. Not the sexy one but the one that made her look like an upset fat kid.

"Third sister, I missed you in Ravenholm but I'm so glad to meet you now." Why did her tone sound so fake?

The fat girl rolled her eyes as she turned from the gentlemen she was harassing. Who turned and fled the moment he had the opportunity too.

"I was busy with some minor transactions. I assumed that you had much to do with the Orcs overreaching." Her voice was at least more pleasant than her looks.

"Mm, I did have to pay some attention to those barbarians but it wasn't a big thing. We aren't like our neighbors who focus only on mage force."

I turned away as they chatted about things that weren't important to me. Mm, there were several beautiful women at this gathering. If I wasn't trying to be a new man, I might have dilly dally a bit. The most incredible thing was the three arenas in the easy section. I could see money exchanging hands as fighters dropped to the sand below.

"That's the gambling pit. A lot of nobles become wealthy or outcasts from a single bet. Counts and below aren't able to breed a decent warrior like duke's and princes." Gerald appeared beside me like he wanted to bite off an ear or two.

I could feel the hostility flowing out of him. "Oh." I turned away from him as I walked towards a buffet line.

He followed me like I just fed him. "Do you want to place a bet?"

Ignoring him, I grabbed some food and loaded up my plate, carrying it to a corner as I watched this amazing party.

"Are you really going to eat all that?" Gerald continued plaguing me.

"I am not the one you are looking for." I channel my inner jedi and he casts me a solid look like he confirms it.

I don't know how or why he bothered me. When I only killed a few of his comrades. He should really blame the prince for being such a wussy.

"Since you are being frank, I will too.." Gerald started but I didn't want to engage in sophistry with him.

"I am sorry but I'm not into guys. I'm the princess boy toy. Please go find someone else too…" I waved my hand at him as I walked to another corner.

His face was stuck in a petulant circle of confusion. I could see his lips moving as he really thought about if he came off as gay or not.

Tsk, such a sad guy.

Okay, I felt like a fat kid at promo eating in a corner. The guests were wild and sometimes a little too wild. I mean, some had servants up against a column or more open. Even the emperor was a bit forward. I felt like a pause even though I did the same in the past. Ah, how hypocrites come into being.

Sigh, I walked through a shadow and appeared on the cool street. My body took me through the lively streets, past the street performers and dancers. Past the food vendors hawking delicacies that I had to stop and try. Right to a huge open area with a live drama.

Hanging out near a corner, I watched a very amazing reenactment of one of the emperor's mighty battles. The illusion could put the cgi to shame.

"Why is such a handsome guy like yourself hiding in the shadows like a common thief?" The smell of some kind of liquor brushed against my nostrils as this Itty bitty raven hair girl walked towards me.

I took in her wispy body wrapped up in black gown. The girl could be considered a real beauty if her lips weren't showing her upper teeth.

"I was enjoying the play. How about yourself? What made you pick the guy hiding in the shadows?" I was curious why this lady had followed me.

It was clear her gown was more expensive than what commoners had. Not to mention that she has the skill to see me when I was standing in my element. Her power was definitely above mine.

"Just curious why her majesty pet would wander around." She stopped beside me and looked at the play. "It is exaggerated, you know."

I shrugged, "it isn't about the play itself but how people react to it. Besides I can tell that the truth isn't as fantastic as this version." My voice sounded like it was distant as I shadow step to a large lake.

I stood upon the face of the lake, just before the beautiful imitation of the full moon. It wasn't surprising that the woman appeared before me again. I had a feeling that she was hunting me but for what reason, I had no idea.

"Is this where you want to die?" She asked as a pitch black sword with green etching appeared in her hand.

Rubbing my neck, I had to ponder on that. Did I really want to die under the watchful eyes of the moon goddess? Before I even saw my daughter born into the world? I didn't think I wanted to die.

I gripped my dark blue sword, "mm, kill me if you can."

My eyes couldn't keep up with her speed but once she entered my sword domain. I had no trouble blocking or counterattacking. Sadly, she was like a damn fairy dancing on the water surface.

I would definitely not be able to harm a hair on her head but I would even get tired. I twisted aside as her dark green nails slashed past my face. The smell of some kind of acidic poison had me in scare mode.

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Her laughter was as toxic as playing league with professional bronze players. I could see the glistening joy in her eyes as we danced in circles. She destroys my amazing ice sculptures as she chases me. I try to minimize my movements to the lowest degree, to persevere as much as possible.

In the end, we look like two actors in the midst of a riveting play. A beautiful ballad about two star struck lovers on the opposite sides of the battlefield. Fighting against their hearts but for their respective nations.

Tsk, the fireworks that should have been a solo performance became something for a crowd to gather around. Women cheered when this crazy woman did something that an ice ballerina would find inspiring. Like her sword tip digging into the lake and bringing the water trailing after her sword tip. Having it lash at me like a whip made of silky ribbons.

The guys would pump their fist and grunt when I turned it into snowy petals that blew past me. Making me feel like an immortal that was one mistake from the grave. If my plastered hair across my forehead didn't say how much effort i was putting in, then how about the underpits sweating put pure salt.

"Do you think the audience is big enough for your final send off?" The woman laughed as she slowly upped the pressure.

I could only grunt out as I danced on ice. Probably pulling off the moonwalk better than M.J. However, I felt relief as I felt her majesty shooting over. Fighting above my league might sound amazing in wuxias novels but it wasn't something I could put into reality.

"Oh, you silly one. Calling for help might save you now but what about next time?" She laughed as she sank into the lake without disturbing the surface.

I rushed out of the lake towards my only hope. Yet, I felt like this evil woman was worse than the retard from earlier. She attacked me the moment I almost lowered my guard.

Her blade was only a black light under the starry sky. Without the sword domain, I would be buried at the bottom of the lake. I return her attack with a flash of black lightning.

"Ouch, that stings!" Her playful voice entered my ear like a lover's moan.

My body hair was already standing on end but I felt them jump from the scare. Could I not get a serious killer? Even I am silent when hunting others.

A bright red phoenix illuminated the sky as my attacker was temporarily revealed. She gave me a pouty smile as she turned and walked away, fading the moment the fire attack extinguished.

I turned to the second princess and saluted but she waved her hand.

"Interesting, someone fears your potential."

I didn't need to guess who since only two people would harbor any ill intent against me and one of them had the power and influence to have me put down.

The princess grabbed my arm, "let us return to my palace."

Several hops later, we were standing on the balcony of her room. She stared out at the festival environment. I figured she would say something but she just stood quietly.

"You will have to just stand by my side until we leave." The princess released a sigh like I was a huge inconvenience.

Maybe I was but come on! With my looks, wasn't I at least handsome enough to make up for that?

***

Next day, I was slowly rolling through a practical form of swordsmanship. A blend of tyrannical but subtle flow of wind through a grassy plain with hills and bends. It not only displayed absolute control I had for my weapon but also the degree of precision that was hidden in the brutal wild swings.

It would be even more visually impressive if the drops of rain actually fell instead of being frozen after my blade passed through. Well what am I saying, having little clear crystals floating around and behind you as you swung a sword the size of your entire arm wasn't unimpressive.

If we went by the looks of the maids and servants, I was hot shit. If I cared at all about the looks of the guards who had stopped their patrol route or those training in the same field, then I was definitely something to behold.

Sadly, I didn't care about the looks of men. Upon hearing the footsteps of the Princess, I slowed to a stop, letting the rain that could hardly touch my clothes, pelt me once more.

The second princess stopped under the overhanging balcony and gave me a placid look. She beckoned to me with her fingers as she turned on her heels to continue her stroll through the palace.

My long legs took merely a few short strides to catch up with this slender woman whose body was as powerful as a top grade human. If you added her spiritual energy into the mix, then she could easily stop my fist in its track. If I didn't protect myself, I might find my arm fracture into tiny raindrop size bone shards.

"My father's party will last for six months. During this time, I want you to focus on improving your ability. You are useless to me if I have to save you again."

I bit back a reply about how I could raze that bitch if I was in my dragon form, yet it wasn't true. I felt like when I gained that second heart I would become immensely stronger. To the point that, I might actually skip levels to fight those I can't at the moment.

Instead I walked behind her quietly as she led me to an empty section of the palace. I could feel the essence of the world becoming stronger the further we walked.

We took a bunch of twists and turns to arrive before a small open sky sandbox. Around the sandbox were a bunch of stone doors.

"This is where those that I usually have hope for will train. Everything inside is to help you increase your theoretical strength quickly. You have three months after that, whether you are ready or not, you will attempt to kill my lousy brother again." The second princess stated right before she turned and left.

Mm, okay.

I walked by each room and felt a sense of wrongness before I reached the last room and found it opened. I guess the wrongness was just a way to deter people from entering.

I expected some fancy magical gear, instead there were shelves full of potions and pills. Others are filled with books and a bed and bathtub.

How helpful was this shit?

Clicking my tongue, I ran my fingers over the spines of the books. A mixture of all kinds of knowledge, from spells to professions. I pulled out one of the spell books and found myself befuddled by a series of math logic and geometric shapes.

I put it back in and turned around at the sound of footsteps. A little redhead rolled a tray in, some she put into a stone door. Well put was a gross understatement, she placed her hand on the door and it phased through. She did this to all but two doors, the last one open to showcase a not so stunning girl with an amazing body.

"They left off that damn cheese, right?"

The redhead nodded as she handed over the tray. The girl finally came to my room and pushed the whole cart in. What was left was six plates stacked with almost perfect cuts of steaks and ribs with a side of some kind of soup.

The girl turned and left without a word.

"Hey, handsome." The other lass walked over but I closed my door in her face.

I grabbed a random book and sat down to eat and read. It was fascinating how they theorized magic and made it happen. Yetz what truly drew my wholehearted attention was a book on the usages of a dragon second heart.

This made me think back to the spider heart and the fact it was filled with the power of concepts to me. Or I was just simplifying it and naming its concepts due to my wuxia inclination. Yet, I think that to complete my second heart, I need to infuse these concepts into it but the question was how?

How do I fucking combine the two when one hasn't even form yet? Or is it that I form it based on the concepts from the beginning?

Stabbing the last slice of steak, I chewed on the cold meat and began trying to figure out how to transform concepts into energy that can be used to form my heart.

Sadly, to say that my routine turned into a clickbait training montage as I didn't have a clue how to proceed forward. Yet, these runes were fairly complicated but if I use my chi to act as ink in the air, I could theoretically cast spells. That was if my understanding of these runes and spell formation was adequate which I was correcting as I went through the most challenging part of my life.

One month, two weeks, and three days later and I think I stumbled onto it as I was sparring with her majesty.

Her every move was fascinating to watch if you weren't the one she was beating on. The way she moved that long spear like a serpent in the water. God, every move made me feel as if I was Drowning and had nothing to hope for.

I could only focus on defense against her. Even if I used a light portal or the shadows to move around, she was equally able to keep up with my speed. After all, I wasn't teleporting but moving at speeds equivalent to light or sound.

My eyes couldn't help but blink at the sharp winds that were stirred up by her strike. The spear was inches away from my throat, inches away from having me breath out of a straw. All I could do was continue backpedaling, her spear never ending. Attacks flowed together, techniques that were equally devastating followed. It was like she had a sea of chi to chain all these together.

But this is where I found my enlightenment as she was using something very similar to what I labeled as concept attacks. Growling, I began to utilize my concepts around my hand that wasn't busy defending my life. When I had a dense enough orb and the second to refocus my mind on absorbing it, I dragged it through the meridians towards my heart.

Mm, can I just say that if the princess didn't like me, even just a little. I would honestly be dead at her hands. Well, I wish I died in her hands because the pain was even worse than anything I ever experienced. I couldn't even fucking pass out. I just lived through it.

This is the type of torture that you wish you could cause someone else to feel. Hell, this is the type of pain you dream of replicating in any form but will never come close to it.

***

Sometime later, I woke up to the redhead girl washing me with a cloth. She felt very experienced at this to the point I had to wonder how long she had been doing this.

Despite the weirdness in waking up, my inner gaze landed on the incredible feeling of power in my body. This gushing warmth that spread throughout my body. This sense of invisibility that had my toes curling and my balls feeling that after sex feel.

I knew I was smiling because I felt good. Like better than ever good. Like an old man suddenly becoming young, good.

The servant girl left and I stood up in the tub, reaching out to grab a towel. I had this moment where I wanted to wrap up but I was standing at attention like a damn flagpole in the center of a flat plain.

"Good, you are up. Explain what happened." The second princess commanding voice entered my ears before her body ever did.

"I broke through a bottleneck."

The second princess' eyes dropped below my chest area then she turned around. "Let's test out this bottleneck."

I frowned as I searched around for my clothes but there was nothing there. I could only walk out ass naked. The princess already had a spear in hand. The ugly girl tossed a sword at me and I sighed as I caught it.

My sword domain.. it feels like it upgraded as I felt everything within fifteen yards of me in perfect detail. My ears picked up the sound of the spear cutting through the air as it entered my domain. Yet, with a thought a crystalline sword blocks the spear at the border of my domain. However, the princess immediately flowed into another attack after attack.

Pushing my sword domain to its limits to the point that she was breaking through my crystal swords and even the grey colored ones. I assumed she was only testing me but she picked up or well… she increased her strength to the point that just her chi attacks were cutting through my defense and making me use my real sword to block.

Just as I was getting comfortable and about to counterattack, she started sending very powerful fire attacks that actually roared at me. It got to the point that, as a dragon, I had to dodge attacks that turned sand into glass. Turned the air into a misty steamed that was probably hotter than pouring water on boiling oil.

I tried following up with frozen water that was as cold as an angry woman's heart but her flames progressively got hottier. Then I just got fancy and used black petals to devour the flames. It was only at this point that she stopped attacking and looked pleased with my state.

"Excellent, you can rival a plat warrior now."

I felt proud at her words but then I took a sniff of the disdain coming off her.

"I will be sending you up north to handle the demons with Alissa. When you get stronger than the fort commander, then I'll have something more for you." The second princess spoke in a placid voice as she walked away.

I could only blink at feeling like she was underappreciating this achievement that I accomplished. Power came not with strength but also knowledge.