The day my training, my life, my purpose, is supposed to all come together and I’m to be acknowledged as the true emperor of Zakhara. The day of my coronation ceremony is upon me and I’ve barely dressed to even see my family.
Standing at a solid two meters tall, well above the non cultivators of the population, I look at myself in the mirror. My body is incredibly muscular and vascular with small and big scars covering my body, fruits from the labor of my efforts my grandpa would tell me.
I was always pleased to admire myself in the mirror knowing the physique I achieved was through the accomplishment of my own effort.
I go on to wear my pure silk white shirt with my dark brown doublet only buttoned up to my upper stomach. I had matched accordingly with my dark brown trousers and finished off with my black and gold trimmed dress shoes. A nice outfit which suited my tastes.
I went to see my mother and father as they were already awaiting my presence in the dining room
“Good morning to you both mother and father.”
I said as I took my seat and was presented with my favorite meal to eat. A freshly caught wild fish from the Verdant river is perfectly grilled and marinated in an assortment of spices, peppers, and vinegar, including a side of garlic fried rice with a fresh vegetable salad mixed in our cooks homemade dressing.
“Good morning Lucien. Are you ready for today?” My father asked me.
My father, Roland Qadir, is towering above me even in his seat, when standing he’s exactly seven meters tall and is a well-built and well dressed man, putting honor and status as the importance of a man. He used to be a Duke of our empire before marrying my mother. He earned his status as being one of the only men to challenge my grandfather in a duel and live to tell the tale, earning my grandfather's respect. This happened many years ago before our empire even unified the realm of Zakhara.
Before even getting a chance to respond my mother cuts me off.
“My sweet baby Lucien, finally after all these years he’s finally becoming an adult and having his coronation ceremony. Lucien Qadir now but later it will be Emperor Lucien Qadir. Also button up your doublet all the way” My mother tells me with her ecstatic response.
My mother is the current reigning Empress Khayri Qadir and the most cunning and caring woman I know. Her elegance and grace befits her as the empress and makes her presence known whenever entering a room. Her height, below my fathers at nine and a half meters, doesn’t make her weak at all and I have seen her many times go head to head against my father and even my grandpa a few times. Although grandpa holds back quite a bit.
“Let him speak for himself dear, as you said it’s his day today and not yours. You had your moment already, empress.”
“Oh enough with the nagging, you and I both know how much Lucien has trained and worked for this day. We raised him ourselves after all.”
“Ahem. You mean how I raised Lucien while you all taught him behind the confines of these walls.” My harshest, strictest, teacher but favorite person in the realm walked in, Arshad Qadir, my grandpa, as he took his seat amongst us.
My grandpa is undoubtedly the strongest being in the entire realm and unmatched by any individual. He stands at 20 meters tall, clearly having the entire palace designed to suit his stature.
“Father, your methods to teach our little Lucien were too extreme and too old to even be considered anymore. I still hold a grudge for marking our precious little boy’s body and leaving scars of your teaching.”
My mother is definitely the most loving and caring person towards me. However she fails to realize her training was just as hard and even left their own scars, mentally.
“You know you went through similar training as Lucien and look at you now, the current reigning Empress Khayri Qadir.” My grandpa argued back
“Alright everyone let’s all step back for a moment. Lucien, are you ready for today my son?”
I have always been thankful and grateful for my father. Never once would he ever fail to leave me out of anything, always letting me be by his side when he was free. Taught me quite a bit about dueling as well.
“I think so father, I just need time to wrap my head around finally becoming emperor.”
“It’s to be expected after all, growing up you acquired many titles, each one of them being achieved is no small feat. The Prince of Sabers, The Lord of Light, The Whisperer of Wisps, and now Emperor Lucien Qadir and Ruler of the realm of Zakhara.”
“Even saying it out loud now makes me proud to see my son accomplish so much with his own skill and effort.”
My mother and grandpa added their own nods of approval.
“Mentioning your wisps title now, where is your life long partner at?” My mother asked me curiously.
Ah my will-o-wisp, my contractor, my best friend. I met Teruo on the day of attempting a summoning circle I found in my grandpa’s old book stash. Supposedly the summoning circle has a very minimal chance of success to even summon anything at all, especially a will-o-wisp. Despite the waste of resources I decided to proceed with the summoning anyway and looking back now, I realize how impulsive I was but I do not regret it one bit.
A wisp is an entity of pure mana birthed by an element or even a law. They are legendary specimens that not even a single person in recorded history throughout the entire realm has had one. Many people gave up on trying to summon a wisp over the years but with my recent success there has been a big boom of attempts thinking of me as a lucky star.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
When I summoned Teruo we were immediately soul linked and able to communicate through sending via telepathy. I found out that wisps are born in their own realm, and there are an incredibly small number of wisps in general. Teruo has never even met another wisp his entire life, whether that life is short or long I have no idea. Teruo told me a wisp’s main goal is to experience life through its contractor and in exchange for partnering they gain access to the wisp’s natural mana affinity and power.
I thought it intriguing to have a wisp of unfathomable power be my life’s partner while acquiring the benefits of its power. What fascinated me the most however is how it explained to me there was no concept of how to live or their purpose, stuck in a never ending realm with no communication with others since birth sounded extremely sad to me. I decided Teruo would be my best friend and he seemed to decide that as well. He also decided to be the same gender as me since we were best friends, he was so delighted to have his own name and gender it made me happy.
“He’s great as usual, although he still wants to adapt to the ‘sleeping schedule’ we have and is still ‘sleeping’ right now.” I say while chuckling to myself
“Lucien you are still incredibly lucky to have summoned a wisp through the circle, that was an outdated book that could have caused great havoc on our realm if something else was summoned.”
As always my grandpa will find a way to lecture me. I’ve grown accustomed to it now and learned to appreciate his advice and I know it comes from his heart to look out for me.
“Of course grandpa, I’ve learned my mistakes and won’t use the summoning circle ever again. Besides I got Teruo now and have no desire for another wisp.”
“Pshhhh, talking as if you can even summon two wisps in a row. The chances of Teruo even coming out on your first attempt would have used up the luck of this life and your next to barely cover the cost.”
Before grandpa could give me another lecture, Teruo finally ‘awoke’ from his slumber. Shining brightly as a yellow wisp of light circling around me.
“Gooooooood morning Mr and Mrs Qadir. Good morning to you as well grandpa. I’m starving and ready to eat.” Teruo learned to communicate with others recently through channeling its mana into others. Of course the recipient would need to allow his channeling to go through to hear him still.
Wisps don’t actually need to eat, as long as there is ambient mana in the surroundings it is enough for them to live. Teruo doesn’t even have taste buds either!
“Good morning Teruo.” Everyone acknowledged.
“I still can’t fathom the strength of yourself Teruo. To be able to force me back in our duels by only learning the magic spells of the Association of Mages for one week is unimaginable. Of course if I went all out even yourself wouldn't be a match for me but I digress” Typical of my grandpa to have his stubborn pride.
“Of course grandpa, you were extremely powerful yourself in our last duel, you even made me use 60% of my power!” Teruo exclaimed. Oh Teruo, how you still don’t fully understand the human mind and our psychology yet. Grandpa is going to have a field day with you in your next spar.
Grandpa was smiling and enjoying his meal hearing the first half of Teruo’s comment, then after hearing the second half he immediately froze looking directly at Teruo.
“Ok then Teruo, how about we go outs–.” Boom. Explosions and screams of the public outside the palace could be heard.
One of the palace guards rushes into the dining hall
“Empress Qadir, the capital is under attack by an unknown entity and is not being harmed by anything we throw at it. The grand marshal is currently gathering up the elite forces to make an attack on the entity and we need to secure the royal family's safety before anything terrible happens.” The guard tells us without sparing a moment to take a breath in between.
As if on cue, my parents and grandpa stand up ready to take action in a moment’s notice.
“Roland take Lucien to the family's royal vault and secure the area before meeting up with me and father in the main city square.” My mother told my father.
“Father, I will need you to handle the mysterious entity for as long as you can. I will gather all of the elite forces and royal family’s guard’s and meet you at the city square. If you can kill it, great, but we must be prepared for the worst.”
There goes my mother, she wasn’t raised without training and nurturing either. Her words and presence make others look in awe whenever she lets herself be known, her own talent I presumed. Only my grandpa however could be the strongest of us all and have no one teach him what he taught us when we were young.
“No need, this being’s power is stronger than anyone in this realm could handle.” I was shocked by my grandpa’s statement. To openly admit another being could be stronger than him was completely unimaginable.
“Of course, that doesn’t include me. I’m not just anyone in this realm.” My grandpa replies with a cheeky smile. There was the grandpa I knew and mentored me all my life.
“That damned mage from the tower should have also noticed this by now and should be here to help soon. I’ll be damned if I let him take all the glory for saving MY empire over me.”
Ah, grandpa’s oldest rival and the only man grandpa sees as an equal. The Archmage, Father of Nature and Grandmaster of the Tower of the Association of Mages, Silas Alarie.
“Fine, have it your way, but I’m not weak enough to hide around waiting in the vault while my power could still be of help to the people. I’ll start evacuating all of the populace with the royal guards and whoever else I can find along the way.”
Mother is showing that stubbornness she inherited from grandpa, might be a Qadir family trait. Wonder how much of that stubbornness I possess.
“Alright fine, I know how I could never change your mind anyway. Roland, just follow after Khayri when you're done with Lucien.”
My father respected grandpa a lot and knew the duties of being an empress were countless. He was also ready to ensure my safety before going back to mother and ensuring her’s as well.
After we had made our makeshift plan, we all headed our separate ways ready to accomplish our tasks.
While I definitely didn’t like being left out of the plan and being put away for safekeeping I understand the reasoning behind it. My entire life I haven’t stepped a single foot into the family’s cultivation technique as my parents and grandpa advised me to hone my body's limit to the utmost potential I could achieve before starting it.
While it took many years to achieve the mastery and control I have over my body, I’m also leagues ahead of any non-cultivator in the realm. However even I know going up against a cultivator as a non-cultivator is death. Especially one on the level of my grandpa.
“I can see the discontent on your face son. While it is true if you started your cultivation earlier you might have at most been able to join your mother and me in helping the people, it would have hindered your potential and development to gain true strength.”
My father could always sense when I had troubles or something was amiss. He was either an extremely perceptive person, or I needed to work on showing my emotions.
“Don’t worry Mr. Qadir, I will also use my strength to protect Lucien. He’s my best friend after all!” Teruo exclaims
“Hahaha, with Teruo by your side and knowing the teachings of mine, your mother’s, and grandfather’s instilled into those bones of yours, you will be safe in almost any circumstance I could think of. We wouldn't have decided to have your coronation ceremony today if we didn't believe in you.”
“Ah my coronation ceremony, guess officially becoming emperor is going to get delayed.” I said
“Considering the scale of power this entity is said to possess by grandfather, I assume there won’t be a coronation ceremony for a while. Some of our enemies waiting in the dark would use this opportunity to discredit the royal family and mark you as the cursed child.”
Tsk, troublesome people to deal with for sure. These people have long hated my family since my grandpa founded our empire and the list of people would be quite long now considering how many toes my grandpa and mother stepped on to ensure our dominance throughout the realm.
“Alright we finally arrived, Lucien head in and I’ll lock the door from the outside. I’ll go straight to your mother and help her finish up as quickly as possible. Once grandfather has finished with the entity outside we’ll come back to pick you up.”
“I understand father, you take too long and I’ll leave this vault and save the empire myself.” I say with a joking smile.
“Hahaha, I will also help Lucien save the empire as well Mr.Qadir.” Teruo says while spiraling around Lucien and glowing brightly.
“Good to know we have a plan B, in case things get too tough. Sadly I don’t think we’ll even get that far. Stay safe Lucien.”
My father tells me before closing and sealing our family’s vault. I hear his footsteps go off in loud stomps immediately fading away in no more than a second.
“Hey Lucien, what do you feel with everything going on right now?” Teruo asked me.
“Honestly grandpa seemed to have a slight change of expression when getting a feel for the entity's power level; it may be stronger than grandpa let on. However, after watching the spar between grandpa and Silas, I find it hard to believe anyone could take down those two if they work together.” I replied to Teruo.
“I wish we were strong enough to help out Lucien. Even if we could just help out your mother and father, that would be great!”
“Undoubtedly you have the potential to surpass your grandpa dear will-o-wisp, or should I say Teruo.” The stranger said.
A mysterious man I have never seen before inside the family vault? This immediately felt like trouble, the power to even enter our vault isn't even something I could match. I’m going to have to use my years of learning and honing my speech craft with my mother to even have a chance to get out of this alive.
I look at the stranger, my posture straighter than ever. Bringing out the airs of an emperor and making my presence felt. Nothing to intimidate but to prove I’m no lesser being of this realm. I look at him straight in his eyes and use all the charisma and persuasion I can muster.
“Who are you?”