“And this blue flower?” I picked up the flower on the table and looked at her.

“That’s Leviora, my lord.

It's the flower that makes desserts taste sweet.”

I looked at the flower with pointy ends in my hand once more.

“Sugar?”

“I heard that there is something called sugar in lands of Shiva but there is no need for importing that.

People who have tasted both say they are almost the same.”

She's very knowledgeable for a maid.

I was in our kitchen, and it was one of the biggest kitchens I had ever seen. It was like a small bakery. My father liked to eat warm and fresh bread in the morning, so he had a big wood-fired oven built there. There were two large refrigerators that worked with ice runestones, a huge cupboard full of various jams, and even a big table so the maids could eat together.

Now that I looked at our kitchen, these maids had better lives than an average third-world country citizen.

At that moment, I was trying to have fun and spend time on my own because Nazir wasn’t around. I thought he was supposed to be accompanying someone, but I didn’t understand what he had said. So, I decided to try one of my old hobbies, cooking, while he was away.

One of the very few things I had enjoyed doing before I came into this world was cooking. As much as it pained me that there was no whipped cream in this world, there were spices with flavors similar to those in my old world.

Across a huge sea called the South Sea, there was a country called the Shiva Kingdom. Their culture and land resembled India. Marhea, the great empire where I live now, imported a lot of spices from that kingdom.

“Thank you Helene.”

“Always, my lord.” She smiled and I left the kitchen.

I had spent enough time there and wondered what my father was doing. He had said something about a friend from Asai coming to visit. Like Shiva, I was sure there were countries with cultures very similar to my old world. So, I was expecting an Asian…

And, I think my expectation was right.

A man with long black hair and small, slanted eyes was sitting in the garden with my father. He was wearing a really long, loose, and elegant white robe, the fancy outfit that every arrogant young master in every xianxia novel wore. I had always wanted to try one of those clothes; it was a strange little desire of mine.

Our garden was a big open area, full of various flowers, and there was a gazebo on the right side with a view of the sea. We even had a pool. It felt so good to be rich.

Maybe I could buy one of those robes, actually.

When I started to walk to the gazebo, I saw Nazir, and he noticed me and rushed to my side. I guess a 3-year-old noble boy couldn’t walk alone even in his own house.

“I was about to come to you, my lord.”

“Guest?”

“Yes my lord, he is Lord Eliar’s guest.”

When I came up to my father, he stroked my hair and sat me on his lap.

“Is this the little lord I've heard of?” The slant-eyed man said as he looked at me with a smile.

My father nodded.

“Altevia, say hi to King Sun Hao.

He’s come a long way.”

“King?” Why was there a king in our house? I knew the emperor had come to my birthday, but he lived here.

“He looks surprised,” Sun Hao chuckled and father stroked my cheek.

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“I taught him the nobility rankings, he's very bright for his age.” Father looked me in the eye and smiled, “King Hao is a close friend of mine Altevia, you don't need to be formal or nervous.”

“Your rosarish is good,” I said and he chuckled again, “Well of course, it is the only language our empress can speak.”

My father looked at the king with a forced smile.

“Oh, before I forget…” The king took a scroll out of his robe and handed it to me and I gave it to my father.

“This letter needs to be delivered to Laxendria.

At least one of your ships should be going there tomorrow.”

My father looked at the scroll for a while and his eyes narrowed.

“There is no seal.”

“So that you can read it.

It says who it goes to and who it comes from.

I don't want you to do anything you might be uncomfortable with.”

“I appreciate that.

But all the way from Xinshui to Laxendria?”

“Can’t I have friends across the sea?”

Father chuckled and put the scroll on the side table next to him.

“And I noticed, you seem to get along with your son better than I thought.” King turned to me.

“I love my father.” When I said this looking at my father, he put both hands around me and looked at the king.

“He's a little beast that runs around and asks questions all the time-”

“Do I really run around and ask questions all the time father?”

“Yes, but I love your curiosity.”

Compared to my old father, Eliar was like a gift from the heavens… I liked calling this man "father."

“Your relation touches my heart, I wish I could get along with my children like that.”

“You can start by giving them some freedom.”

The king looked at my father with a funny expression and started laughing.

“Freedom?

The one I let off the leash finds an excuse to attack his other brother, and the one who doesn't want the throne goes to the flying islands to learn martial arts.

What kind of freedom are you talking about?”

“You didn't ask me when you took twelve wives.”

“Are you saying that I should shackle my heart?”

“Heart?”

“Heart.”

They looked at each other in silence for a very short moment, then both laughed and the conversation continued in this way for some time. I enjoyed listening to them. But all this chatter stopped when someone came up to us. My eyes widened and my jaw almost dropped.

A giant green woman with huge teeth was standing in front of me. She was almost the same height as Nazir. She was wearing a robe similar to the king's, and I could see her muscles through the fabric.She was perfect. I never thought I'd see something like this in my whole life.

“Ah! Here’s the woman I wanted you to meet.” The king grabbed the orc woman by the wrist.

“Where did you find this chunk of meat?” Father looked at that beauty.

I wanted her to smash my head like a watermelon.

“Her name is Urzul, she is like an… experiment of mine.

She is using and learning ki for building her physique.”

Ki? I thought this world has mana, does it have both?

“Father, what is ki?”

“It is a way of using mana without conjuring spells and elements.”

“You use mana for defence, is it called ki?” I looked at my father with a confused face then turned to king as I heard his voice.

“No, it is a bit different.

In order to attack someone using your mana, you normally need to cast a spell. Like creating a fireball.

But when you do that, your mana leaves your body and you become defenseless.

The art of ki is practiced if you want to use the mana in your body directly to strengthen your punches or kicks.”

“More mana means stronger punches?” When I tilted my head slightly and looked at the king, he laughed.

“You also need to learn things like meridians and controlling the flow of mana through your body, but basically yes more mana you have stronger your punches are.

He really is bright Eliar.” He looked at my father with one eyebrow raised.

So, its for martial artists, unarmed fighting… I looked at Nazir.

“Can you use ki, Nazir?”

“I practiced a little my lord.“

“Can you beat her?” Everyone suddenly looked at me and Nazir stared at Urzul.

“It would be rude to answer that question, my lord.”

After Nazir’s words a smirk appeared on King Hao’s face.

“Actually, I'd like to see how much Urzul has improved.

What do you say, Eliar?”

Father looked at Nazir and Nazir nodded.

“Sure, why not?”. Father said.

Urzul and Nazir looked at each other then they both moved to an empty space in the garden and stood with some distance between them. Nazir clenched his fists and took a boxing-like stance, while Urzul opened her hands and took a stance similar to what I had seen in Chinese martial arts movies. It was a bit weird to see a big orc woman like that.

When they both looked at me as if they were waiting for me to start the fight, I raised my hand and Urzul gestured 'come'.

I noticed a smile on Nazir's face that I had rarely seen. He seemed a little bit excited and a little bit curious. Taking quick steps to the left and right, he approached Urzul and threw a swift punch. After Urzul easily dodged the attack by moving her head, Nazir started throwing punch after punch. She blocked most of his attacks with her elbows, and the ones she couldn't block, she easily avoided.

No matter how much Nazir pressured her, Urzul dodged one more punch, hit him in the chest in the small chance she found and pushed him away. Even though I was watching from a distance, I could feel the impact of that punch. Nazir opened his eyes in surprise, exhaled heavily and scratched his chest. Looking carefully, I noticed a hole in Nazir's shirt and turned to look at Urzul. But what surprised me most was the look of confusion on her face. I looked at Nazir again. That punch was strong, extremely strong, but his body didn't seem to be wounded.

“You alright Nazir?!” I shouted and Nazir looked at me with a smile. “She is strong my lord.”

“Can you win?”

He just nodded.

He took his stance again, but this time he opened his hands. Urzul was just waiting. He charged at her, grabbed Urzul's elbow after the second punch he threw, and as she took the opportunity to attack, he spun around and threw her to the left. Nazir charged at her again, threw a punch at her head, but Urzul parried it with the back of her hand, then struck him in the chest, neck and stomach with her palms and fists more times than I can count. She was incredibly fast. After another attack, she kicked Nazir in the stomach and made him fall to the ground.

Nazir lay on the ground for a while, rested his head on the ground, looked up at the sky, sighed and slowly stood up. And I saw her confused face again.

Nazir looked at Urzul with a smile on his face and waited with open hands. This time Urzul approached Nazir, but it was Nazir who started the attack. His successive punches were again blocked by Urzul's elbows, but now he managed to hit her upper arm, breaking her defense, and when Urzul lost her balance he punched her really hard in the stomach. With this chance he punched her stomach again and as she tried to kick her, he jumped back, grabbed her ankle and slammed her to the ground.

“Practiced a little…” King Hao started to laugh.

Nazir walked up to Urzul and offered her his hand. He helped her stand up and looked at the king.

“This woman is a far better fighter than I am, my lord.

I was just lucky to have more mana.” When he smiled at her, I saw her eyes widen.

“More mana, stronger punch?” I looked at the king and he put his hand on his chin.

“Yes but… You moved all your mana in the direction of the attack to reduce the damage, didn't you?

That level of control is amazing.”

Nazir nodded “Thank you.”.

If I understand correctly, Nazir gambled a bit. But he won, so that’s good.

“Your shirt's torn.” I walked up to him and he kneeled down. I touched a part of his stomach where he had received damage. It was hot. What kind of attacks were those?

“I’m alright, my lord.”

I turned to Urzul and walked to her. When I touched her, she looked at me surprised. I was just checking her wound, certainly not an excuse to touch her muscles. As I was slowly moving my hand over her abs, Nazir picked me up like a puppy.

After all this they fought once more, but they did not use ki and Nazir won easily. But this time he had to use some wrestling moves. Nazir is a really good fighter. He knows he is built like a tank and he uses it.

They fought, we had fun, chatted all day long and I even made her smash watermelons with her thighs. I ate lots of watermelons.

When my mom came home, she did it one more time to show her. It was a wonderful day. A day I'll never forget. The king of Xinshui spent the day with us. He was a good guy, maybe I’ll visit him in the future.