In a long castle hall exuding regality, various paintings on the walls depicted deserts and wars. Some showed valiant warriors fighting for their lands, while others showed generations of a family that had left a mark on this eternal place. Those fortunate enough to walk past them could almost feel the scenes coming to life before their eyes.
Before a painting of a lady with blonde hair wielding a giant sword, driving it through an obscure being's heart, stood a man—a giant of a man—gazing at it. He seemed to have been in a trance for decades, yet his facial features didn’t show boredom.
The man, dressed in casual attire suitable for a summer day, wore a pair of comfortable shorts and a light buttoned shirt. His attire, though relaxed, still carried an air of elegance and refinement, with a hint of wildness that could make or break the look. In his case, it seemed as though he embodied something particular, something that dominated but also had restraints that showed control.
He stood tall at around two meters, with blond hair similar to the lady in the painting but of a more opaque color, and with reddish eyes reflecting calmness, he had an easy-going expression that would weigh on the hearts of anyone who saw him. However, there were always exceptions. To some, he was not just someone worthy of respect, but also family.
As the man stood still, a clicking tone sounded, growing higher and higher, and it seemed to close in on him. When it became too intense, a woman with long white hair and dark eyes appeared, standing at one point seven meters tall. She was as beautiful as the woman in the painting. She wore a dress that complemented the man’s looks. Standing beside him, she gazed at the painting for what felt like minutes with him before finally speaking, "Kaplan is waiting for us."
Upon hearing this, the man regained the liveliness he had lost while gazing at the painting. Slowly turning his pale reddish eyes to the woman before him, he smiled slightly and said, "I know. I was also waiting for you."
Upon hearing his words, the woman couldn't help but smirk a little and said while shaking her head, "Arslan, you really can’t seem to take on the role of an Emperor. You’re standing here, gazing mindlessly like you don’t have anything better to do." She had an easygoing smile, mirroring Arslan's. She then extended her hand, clearly asking for Arslan to hold it.
Seeing her gesture, Arslan smiled even more and said, "Derin, I’m who I’m. I don’t think our relationship, or our lives as a whole, would have been like this if I was anything different. Neither you nor I are a normal in any sense. I find it miraculous our marriage survived through thick and thin. Hopefully, this upcoming event will set us on a path that will make up for the things we can’t change." As he said this, he kissed her hand before pulling her into his embrace.
The two, husband and wife, slowly turned their heads towards the painting of the heroic-looking lady. After they shared a moment of tranquility, they turned towards each other and said, "Let's go to our son," at the same time.
After a brief smile of understanding, they started walking towards the ends of the castle hall. During this time, Arslan and Derin didn’t stop holding each other's hands. But the way they walked seemed odd.
Each step Arslan took seemed to hold an accelerating momentum that seemed to rise, but Derin, although she didn’t have the same momentum, kept the pacing. After taking a right, they entered an open garden bathed in sunlight, but it was in a reddish hue. In the middle of the garden lay a tiger before a water fountain, and a female in a maid dress fanned the tiger with a feathered fan.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
As Arslan and Derin saw this, they couldn’t stop their smiles from faltering.
The tiger, sensing something was wrong, opened its left eye and glanced in their direction. It made a sound that caused the maid to disappear into the opposite hall, where the garden’s exit lay. Slowly, the tiger looked toward the exit. Just as it was about to dash, a hand landed on its back. From its expression, it was clear the tiger knew what was coming.
As Arslan lowered himself to his knees and combed the tiger’s fur with his fingers, he asked, “What do you think you are doing, son?” He felt the tiger stop breathing for a second before relaxing.
“Nothing, Father, the weather was cool, and I asked Natalie to make it better,” the tiger unexpectedly said, though not in a way a normal person could understand. As someone in the Mortal Mental Fortitude realm, he could easily control external forces to relay his thoughts.
Arslan replied, “Kaplan, I sometimes doubt whether you are a cat or a tiger,” looking helpless when he noticed Derin had the same expression. After sighing as if it were the end of the world, he continued, “In two days, the ship will come to our Shattered Continent to take us.” Kaplan turned his head sharply and let out an uncharacteristic growl, but Arslan's touch calmed him.
Watching this, Derin came in front of Kaplan, lowered herself to one knee, held his head with her hands, and said, “Your grandpa will be with you, no need to feel like this. It’s an important step for us, you understand right?”
“Yeah, yeah, but are you guys sure the win is guaranteed or will not make our lives harder than they already are?” Kaplan questioned with a soft tone that left one with caring feelings towards him. He looked both ferocious and noble with his white fur, dark blue eyes, and black stripes that covered his body.
Arslan answered, “Nothing is guaranteed in life. All we need to do is move forward and move anyone who dares block our path.” As he spoke, his voice gained unnatural momentum, causing the environment to lag as if time had stopped and restarted, like an illusion.
Seeing this, Derin and Kaplan closed their eyes to refocus, while Arslan’s bones rattled like a steel ship impacting massive waves of water in the endless ocean.
This happened due to his Path. In this world, everyone had their own paths that they chanced upon in life. Some relied on their innate talents and focused on them, while others who felt their path lay elsewhere chose to embark on another Path. Arslan, who was nearing the peak of the Mortal realm, was already a force to be reckoned with. Due to his strange innate talent, he had chosen to go with the second option to improve, and that was the Path of Momentum.
After a minute, everything settled down, and the family of three looked at each other and smiled. But after a few seconds, Derin questioned with haste, “Is your breakthrough nearing?” Arslan frowned a little but relaxed after a moment and said, “How can it be easy to reach the Immortal stage with just mood swings? But it’s also not far for me to birth the Seed of Immortality. But it is lacking. Don’t worry, as the tournament needs teams consisting of Mortal realm cultivators, I would not make the mistake of birthing it.”
After he said this, he got up, and Kaplan and Derin followed. He said, “Let’s go. I gathered some information, and we should discuss this with Father.” Kaplan looked at him with surprise and asked with a voice that carried hope, “Father, can I also come?”
Derin interrupted before Arslan could deny, “Let him come. He is a prince after all. When we are gone, he will look after our lands and rule it, just like he is meant to do,” she said, and after voicing this, she didn’t even wait for Arslan to say something before slowly walking towards the same exit that Natalie left before saying, “Let’s go, it has been a long time since I saw the old man. I have few words to say to him.” As she said this, she continued walking and made her exit from the garden.
After sighing a little, Arslan and Kaplan shared a look before Kaplan started chasing his mother to avoid being left alone with his father.
Seeing this, Arslan, with unfathomable momentum, stepped forward and embraced his son with his massive form. He then made a rotation that was not achievable by mortals who hadn’t reached the peak of their mortality. Afterward, he put him down and said, “This should be enough for what you asked that girl to do all day long and asking that in front of your mother.” With that, he left Kaplan behind, who had stumbled a few steps due to how quickly Arslan made his move.