The thing that really intrigued him and added to this Palace’s magnetism was this Night-Sky-like roof that he was staring at. He was lying on his bed and his new room was the most luxurious and peaceful place he had seen in his life. It was not just his room, the entire Palace was so.
Vienna had shown around the Gardens, the lakes, and there was a garden of lifelike sculptures as well. Everything he had seen was mystical and inspired awe in his heart. Perhaps it was her company that made this tour even more beautiful to him. Her sweet voice and charming voice never let the smile on his face fade away. She introduced things to him with such enthusiasm that it was contagious. And he felt more drawn to her by every passing moment.
From the Gardens he had seen the Star Palace. It was majestic, grandiose, and its architecture was even better than the Halls of The Castle of Knowledge that was famous for their beautiful buildings. The Star Palace was in itself a small city. It was just that there were only 5 people residing in it and so it wasn’t lively like other places. He wondered how the place would look like if it was flourishing.
The Castles around the Star Palace that once belonged to the nine Guardians were now empty. Of the nine only the Silverborn Castle still had the Morningstar Emblem revolving on it. He had planned on teasing Vienna when they were together but the things he saw and the introductions she gave had his mind fully occupied.
She had then taken him to the Star Hall. This was the place where the guests were received and the ceremonies took place. The spaciousness of the hall was enough to accommodate even a hundred thousand guests. The furniture was all made from Adam’s Wood. A thing that was so rare that even a foot long piece of which would earn you several Purple Gems. It was a luxury that even the richest people couldn’t afford.
The decorations and various carvings on the tables, walls, and the floor gave of a mystical and awe-inspiring feeling. The Night-Sky roof added to its mysticality. A majestic black wolf sculpture, in all its glory, was resting on the Host’s platform. The black wolf was the manifestation of Ka’zaed Blood. Its pupils were the shape of a Siz-Pointed Star and so it was the Manifestation of a Morningstar and not of just a Ka’zaed Blood. He had kept staring at it in admiration for almost an hour and Vienna stood silently by his side. They had then returned to the Palace Core. It was the hall where the Black Star was. Viara and others had already left for their rooms.
Aizen found many Glass-like tiles on the floor and when he asked about them, Vienna just tapped on one. The circular discs detached from the ground and hovered in the air. The Black Star merged with the pattern below it. They were now standing inside a Star Formation. The formation was mysterious. He felt that his blood was boiling and the purity of his bloodline was increasing. Vienna explained to him that if a Ka’zaed Blood got heavily injured then he could lie down on the Black Star pattern to heal and replenish his strength and mana. The formation had another use as well. When inside it, a Ka’zaed Blood could monitor every place of the Star Palace. It was like a monitoring room. And if someone is not in the palace, as long as he called his Blood Ring then he could be located and monitored from here.
The formation had its own space channel that only a Ka’zaed Blood could open. It could lead you to any place you have once been to, no matter how far. This was the formation Viara had used to rush to him. The Star Palace was hidden somewhere in the North of the Middle Realm. To reach Akradiom from here would have normally taken about a week’s time. Portals were space Magic and required mana to be generated. And every individual had limited mana depending on his Bloodline Strength. Mana required a lot more time to replenish than the strength.
The portal that Viara came from was generated by the Black Star after she had received coordinates from the Head-Master. Since there was no Morningstar controlling the Crystal, the channel was unstable and could have led her to somewhere remote and dangerous.
He was curious about how they got to know about him and why he heard Viara’s voice before he had lost consciousness. She informed him that it was because the Crystal resonated as he had his awakening and Viara used it to see where he was and passed him the message. However, when he lost his consciousness the image was lost and the space channel had not been constructed yet. It was then that the Head-Master had sent them coordinates using their father’s token. She was, however, not clear about the relationship her father had with the Head-Master of The Castle.
They had then looked at the rest of the places in the Palace from the monitoring room. And when the sun and fallen she had led him to his room.
The little tease had tiptoed and kissed on his cheek before running off faster than he could have imagined.
“I will come to take you when the Dinner’s ready.” That’s all she said.
He had wanted to ask her about her parents but seeing the cheerful smile that adorned her face, he couldn’t bring himself to ask about it. He didn’t want to see that smile leave her face.
Aizen sat up on the bed and summoned the black flame on his hand. It was not an element of Fire but his Darkness element that had taken the form of a flame. He could pretty much sense that the strength of his Bloodline was at the level of Rank 10 Royal Blood. The awakening had directly brought him to the Peak of Royal Blood. He had just humped over two entire realms of Bloodline Strength, Remanent and True Blood.
For someone who had only been a Common Blood until yesterday this would have been a dream come true. Aizen, however, knew that the power he had was not enough to even survive the dangers that awaited him. He had to strengthen his Bloodline as soon as possible. After Royal Blood was the realm of Ancient Blood and then came the realm of Ancestral Blood.
Everyone present in the Star Palace other than him was at the strength of Ancestral Blood. He was the weakest one here. Even that little tease was Rank 7 Ancestral Blood. Lord Malcolm was someone even above Ancestral Blood strength and was at the peak of the False-Origin stage.
The strength of the Blood, however, depended on the Origin of the Bloodline. A Bloodline that originated from an Origin God would be more powerful than the one generated from False-God. Therefore, if he came across someone of the same strength but weaker bloodline Origin, he would be invincible against him. It was a shame that he had never concentrated ardently on the Art of Battles. He would have to start from scratch to master the Battle Art of his bloodline.
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He called back the flame and summoned his Blood Ring. He hadn’t taken a look inside it yet. Aizen closed his eyes and put the right hand on his Ring. He could see the space inside of the ring by concentrating on it. He didn’t know what he was expecting but there was not much in there. The space was as big, about a thousand meters in radius. But there were only three Shelves in there.
A Sword was placed on one of them. It was a weapons shelf but other than that sword there was nothing. He opened his eyes and called the sword out from the Ring. A small portal opened and the hilt of the sword emerged from it. He grabbed it and pulled the rest of it out. The hilt of the sword was big enough to hold with both hands. A howling wolf was carved on the hilt and a Star was floating above its head. The guard was not really present. Where the hilt ended, two kite shaped black crystals were embedded that connected to the blade and sheath. The blade was single edged and 3 feet long. It was less than 3 inches wide and looked straight but on closer observation, it was slightly curved towards the end.
The sword gave an impression that its sharpness could cut through anything. Aizen saw an inscription carved on its mirror-like blade. He focused on it and his mind translated it for him. ‘Chaos Blade’ was the sword’s name. The sheath was made of a strange wood and there was “Morningstar” written on it. He put the sword back in its sheath after he felt the blade compel him to wield it and draw blood. It had taken him off guard and he was apprehensive of this sword now.
Aizen put the sword back in its place and looked at the next shelf. There were several hundred small wooden boxes containing Crystal Vials. The opened boxes contained empty vials and the closed ones had some information written on them. He focused on the information of one of the Boxes.
“Essence of the Origin Devil of Lust” He called out the box and opened it. There were two vials in it filled with a violet liquid. Intriguing as it was, the essence of Devil of Lust could possibly not be a good thing. He thought to himself and just placed the vials back and closed the box.
“Origin Blood of the Silverborn.” He was shocked as he read those words on the next box.
Origin Blood was arguably the most precious thing in the world. A single drop could drive the world to war. Even if one was not of the same Bloodline as the Origin Blood, he could benefit greatly from it. Therefore, every family coveted other family’s treasured Origin Blood and was adamant on raging war to obtain it.
Origin Blood was rare and not every family possessed it. A person could only consume a single drop of an Origin Blood which would give a one of a kind variation to his Bloodline. Every drop after that could only be used to heal wounds and regenerate lost limbs.
A single drop could boost your bloodline strength to a height that would otherwise take you hundreds or thousands of years to achieve. And if the Bloodline matched with the Origin Blood then it could help that person attain the final awakening and break past the shackles of the False-Origin stage. That was only if the person’s Bloodline Origin was not False-Origin level. A bloodline could not strengthen any more than its Origin. So the most a person could achieve was the level of strength of the First Ancestor.
Aizen opened the box and found only one vial in it. And there were only 2 drops. He had not planned to consume it since a person could only consume a single drop of Origin Blood in his Life that would benefit him. It was wiser to only consume your bloodline’s Origin Blood, for it was the most beneficial. He didn’t want to limit himself by consuming any other Origin Blood and miss the chance of the Final awakening. He called out another vial and transferred one drop in it before putting them in the box and placing it back in its place.
“Too bad, that there isn’t another drop.” He sighed.
He searched through all of the filled boxes and noted their information in his mind. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find the Origin Blood of Ka’zaed. Most of the boxes contained essences of Devils, Monsters, and Gods. There was the blood of Sacred and Demonic beasts but The Origin Blood only amounted to 7 different Bloodlines. Aizen was not disappointed. He understood the value that these Vials held. He knew that he could use them to protect his future. And those essences, even if not as desired as the Origin Blood, were still heaven-shakingly precious.
The last shelf had 7 small chests placed on it. Each chest contained a thousand gems and one crystal as big as a hand. A crystal of this size was of the value of those thousand gems combined. Red was the common Gem and the next color in order was a hundred times of its value. 100 Red gems were of the same value as a single Yellow Gem. A Green gem was valued at 100 Yellow Gems. A Blue Gem valued at 100 Green Gems and a Purple Gem valued at 100 Blue Gems.
The other two chests had Black and White Gems. White and Black Gems were of equal value and their rarity made them highly expensive. A single white or black Gem could snatch a purple crystal of the size of a hand which meant 1000 purple gems. The reason for the rarity of these gems was that they could be used to make things that could last forever. They contained highly concentrated energy that could be used to manufacture life-saving equipment. They could also be adorned on weapons as they had the function of channeling and storing energy and mana, making the weapon or the tool more powerful and useful.
Aizen lied back on the bed and kept staring at the stars that glowed on the Sky-like roof. He thought of his mother and a tear slipped down his eyes. Her serene smile on her blood drained face speared in his mind. And he recalled her last lesson.
“Without Power, it is a sin to exist. Without Friends and Allies, it is unwise to rule. And without Love and Desire, it is a Wasted Life.”
He closed his eyes and repeated those words. He understood that one needed the Power to survive in this world. The Power didn’t mean just one’s own strength, it was the collective strength of the person, his Friends, and Allies. However, no matter how much power one gathers and no matter how many people one rules, without people to care for and to share happiness and sorrow with, it would all still be a wasted life.
“I miss you, Mother.” His heart ached as he said those words and drifted off to sleep. He allowed his mind to understand all the information he gained in his awakening. A black barrier of flame enveloped him and took his consciousness far away in the world of his own.
……………….
Vienna had been watching him intently for some time. She was covered in an illusion cast by her shadow. She had come to take him for dinner and surprise him by taking him off guard. Her plan was dissolved the moment she saw a tear slip out of his eyes. She heard him say those words before the flame engulfed him. Those words inspired her but the pain his voice contained made her heart heavy.
She wanted to know what made him so sad and weak. Only someone that he deeply loved and lost could make a man like him shed tears.
She had never cried. The little family she had, always showered all their care and love on her. She was only a year old when her parents had passed away and since then her older sister, Lysaria, Aunt Mary and Uncle Arthur had brought her. And she had Meera to grow up together with. They had grown up always laughing and creating mischief.
She had sometimes wished that her parents were still alive but it was never something that made her sad enough to cry. But she understood that if she loses any one of her family then her tears would never stop. Her cheerful smile was no longer present on her face and her eyes were warming up in the wetness of her tears.
“Vienna, why was he crying?” Meera asked. Her heart was restless as well.
“He doesn’t have someone to give him a reason to not to.” She said.
Vienna held back the tears in her eyes and they were now filled with determination. She made a vow which she would observe for the rest of her life. She would become his reason to not cry. She had to.
“Let’s go. We shouldn’t keep everyone waiting.” She softly said to Meera and they both nodded to each other before walking out of the room.