Chapter 4: Yao Jun's birth.
When Yao Jun opened his eyes after leaving the Garden of Eden, the sky was still dark, so it seemed like time passed the same both inside and outside the gate. Throwing the thoughts to the back of his mind, Yao Jun raised his right arm and turned his palm over, facing the sky. Circulating some of the Raw Qi in the air into his body and into the gate made him feel an exhilarating warmth that coursed through his body, making him feel completely comfortable.
After circulating some Qi into the gate, he touched upon his connection with the gate, and the gate appeared above his palm, silently hovering there. Yao Jun looked at the simple black stone gate with a silly smile, this little gate was everything he had ever wanted while training.
Looking closely at the gate, Yao Jun noticed that atop the gate were nine small spikes, like teeth. Under these nine spikes were nine indents, looking like compartments to store gems. The indent located all the way to the left had a small glow to it, like a tiny amethyst was growing in it.
After going through everything he had read before, the only explanation Yao Jun could think of was that these spikes and indents were his power's indicators. Every inborn spell had an indicator that would allow others to see exactly what level the inborn spell had reached.
These levels were simply called grades, from 1st grade to 9th grade. Every grade had 9 sub levels, reaching the 9th level would allow you to upgrade the spell to the next grade. The way to strengthen the level and grade of one's spell was by either absorbing the Raw Qi and circulate it into the spell, slowly storing Qi and upgrading it, or by eating some treasures that would strengthen it.
Yao Jun returned the gate into his body and quickly stood up. Without even bothering to look around, he immediately began sprinting back home. As he ran, even though he was ecstatic, he still had enough mind to keep a careful eye on his surroundings, making sure that he wasn't attacked.
While running he also noticed that he ran a bit faster than he usually did, towards the end he also noticed that he managed to last a little longer than he usually would. Thinking about it a bit, he was reminded of the pain he suffered right after the Lightning Tiger was absorbed by the gate. Thinking about how it felt like his flesh was melting and his bones creaking and displacing, Yao Jun assumed that when he absorbed a Demonic Beast, his body would gain a slight increase in power, a clear sign that one's inborn spell was of a rather high level.
This thought only helped make Yao Jun even happier as he ran through the streets of Flying Fish Town, heading towards the small cottage where he lived with his parents. Yao Jun threw open the door and found his parents in the kitchen, eating breakfast.
“Father! Mother! I have good news!” Yao Jun spoke as he panted heavily, trying to catch his breath.
“Oh? Good news? I can't....” Before Yao He could finish his sentence, his voice got caught in his throat as he looked at Yao Jun.
His once clean and elegant robe was covered in blood and dirt, the cloth on the left shoulder completely tattered and shredded. His face was dirty and his hair in disarray, it looked like he had walked out of a battlefield.
“What happened to you?! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Yao Xun rushed out of her chair and over to Yao Jun, grabbing him and inspecting every inch of him.
“Don't worry mother, it's not my blood. Im perfectly fine, i'm even better than fine.” Yao Jun spoke with a bright smile as he snuck in a little lie, his mother would never stop worrying if he told her that it was his blood.
“What happened Jun'er? Does it have something to do with the good news you mentioned?” Yao He managed to regain his calm upon seeing that Yao Jun seemed fine.
“It does indeed have something to do with the good news, father.” Yao Jun nodded towards his father after comforting his mother for a bit.
“I decided to walk deeper into the forest this time around. I found a heavily wounded Demonic beast, and after a short fight I managed to kill it. At that time my inborn spell activated and sucked in the beast's corpse, allowing me to gain control over it's power and to do this.”
As Yao Jun spoke, he raised his hand and the little gate appeared in his palm. The gate opened and a purple light shot out of the gate, materializing into the Lightning tiger, standing on guard next to Yao Jun like his guardian.
He had told his parents the main parts, but changed some details. If his parents found out that he had started a fight with a perfectly healthy Demonic beast, there was no telling how much they would yell at him.
Yao Jun had a proud and brilliant smile while looking at the Lightning Tiger, but as he turned his eyes towards his parents, he noticed that their faces had gone pale with a shocked expression.
“Father, mother, what is the problem?” Yao Jun hurriedly spoke as he returned the Lightning Tiger into the gate, and the gate back into his body.
Yao He looked at his son as he was taking deep breaths, slowly calming himself down. “Jun'er, does anyone else know about this power of yours?”
“No father, I haven't told or showed anyone else.” Seeing the grave face of his father, Yao Jun knew that something was wrong so he hurriedly spoke.
“Good....good... that's good. Jun'er, take a seat, there are some things we must tell you.” Yao He beckoned Yao Jun over to the kitchen table as he himself took a quick glance out of the window. Not seeing anyone outside, he himself took a seat next to his wife as they looked at their son.
“Jun'er, do you know why we moved to this tiny town?” Yao He started with a question that slightly surprised Yao Jun.
“Because you were afraid that the pressure and bullying from the other children at the main Yao clan would be too much for me?” Yao Jun slightlty lowered his head as he spoke, but Yao He's next words gave him a slight shock as he raised his head again.
“That is only a small part of the reason. Did you know that your mother and I retired from the Yao clan's army a few months before you were born? The reason we retired is because we suffered an ambush by the Demon Race in our latest skirmish, and your mother was hit by one of their attacks, infecting her body with the Demon Race's energy.”
“Do you know why the Human Race and the Demon Race have been enemies for so long even though the two races look exactly the same? A person from the Demon Race may look the same as someone from the Human Race, but everyone from the Demon Race has a Soul Beast, instead of an inborn power.”
“When someone from the Demon Race fights, they can either summon their Soul Beast to fight next to them, or draw upon it's power, relasing it as a foul miasma, this is what we call Demonic Energy, and it is fatal to humans.”
“The reason I am telling you this is because when your mother was hit by the Demonic Energy, I tried to use my own energy to push it out of her body and save her life. But something went wrong, all the Demonic Energy went into her womb, and from there into you. Since nothing seemed wrong, we thought that maybe the energy had dispersed so we ignored it.”
“We never told anyone, but when we saw that little gate appear on your chest as we were awakening your Inborn Spell and felt the slightly Demonic Energy radiating from it, we immediately decided to take you and leave the main Yao clan. Settling here in Flying Fish Town where no one had ever seen someone from the Demon Race or felt Demonic Energy.”
“After spending some time here and not seeing any activity from the gate, nor any Demonic Energy radiating from you, we assumed that things were safe. But looking at it now, it seems like that Demonic Energy that entered your body back then has already become a part of you. While your power no longer radiates any Demonic Energy, it simply looks too much like a Soul Beast. Jun'er, you can never let anyone you don't trust see you summoning anything through that gate, and even if you trust them, think it over before showing them.”
“You said that you could control the Demonic beast's power? Then you can simply pretend like your inborn spell is granting you control over lightning, as long as you don't summon the beast, no one will be able to tell.”
As Yao He finished talking, he heaved a heavy sigh. The act of accidentaly pushing all that Demonic Energy into his unborn child's body had always been his greatest regret, and now it seemed like him doing that had caused a change in his son's body, making him neither Human Race nor Demon Race.
Looking across the table at his son who was in deep thought, he couldn't help but feel guilty, yet another point where he had harmed his son, this time more physical than mentally.
“I see, so my body contains both Demonic Race and Human Race energy... Since I now have a powerfull inborn spell, does that mean we can start working towards returning to the main Yao clan?” Yao Jun digested all the facts he had just heard for a few minutes before speaking up.
“That's your question? Nothing about the Demonic Energy? You aren't angry at us for doing that to you?” Yao He was slightly shocked at how little his son seemed to care about not being completely human.
“There isn't really anything I can do about the Demonic Energy, nor do I personally have any great hatred against the Demon Race, so why should I be angry about it? Besides, you did it to save mother didn't you? I can't be angry at you for something that simple, I would probably do the same.” Yao Jun gave a bright smile as he spoke his mind.
Even though his power was based on the Demon Race's power, so what? Weren't they just like humans, just with different powers? Where was the need to hate them or their powers?
“That's good... good....” Yao He had the slight urge to cry as he saw how little his son cared, and even forgave him. He had been afraid of his son hating him because of the past for so long, but now it all seemed like it had all been his own delusion.
“Of course we can work on returning to the main Yao clan if you want, I can get in contact with some of my old friends, they will get us a nice house.” Since his worries were lifted, Yao He spoke with a happy smile.
“If possible father, I would like to return to the main clan through my own efforts. In three weeks the branch in Flying Fish clan will hold a tournament to select the two candidates that will be transferred to the Golden Moon Town's Yao clan branch. I would like to participate in that tournament and win the right to head to the Golden Moon branch, and from there head on to the main Yao clan.” Yao Jun interrupted his fater and spoke with a solemn face.
“Oh? Why would you want that?” Yao He spoke with a slightly confused face.
“While we could simply return to the main clan through your connections, everyone will think that your connections are the only reason we could return. I want to prove to everyone who looked at me with pity and scorn that the son of Yao He and Yao Xun is not some nobody.” Yao Jun spoke with a determined voice, his eyes staring directly into Yao He's, showing his determination.
“Good. Good. Indeed, the people here have truly not been looking at your properly. Then go, show yourself off, show them that the son of Yao He and Yao Xun is not someone who they are fit to look at.” Yao He spoke in a loud and proud voice, this son of his had never been someone who liked being beneath others.
Yao Jun nodded his head in confirmation before quickly changing into a new robe and heading out into the forest again. He only had three weeks, so he had to take every moment he had to train.