Chapter 7: The Patriach’s Order
Kage climbed back up to the main hall, severed the crimson thread sealing the blade, and unsheathed it.
[The Wolf of the North stares intently, asks what you want to use this rusted metal for]
Kage remained silent for a moment, examining the corroded metal. The sword was so rusted and blue it couldn’t slice bread.
He sighed and dropped it among the pile of other swords, letting a sharp clatter ring out.
[The Oathbreaker stares strangely, asks what you are doing]
[The Wolf of the North shakes their head pitifully at you]
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth strokes their beard]
Kage ignored them and simply turned away, leaving the sword among the rest of the useless blades.
’I should rest this late morning, greet mother, then check the library this afternoon for books while familiarizing myself with my breathing cultivation technique to awaken my dantian.’
[The Wolf of the North scoffs at you, says you speak of awakening dantian like it’s a walk in the park, says a talentless vessel like you has no chance of awakening their dantian in a single night when even prodigies take days to accomplish it]
Kage smiled softly. He didn’t respond, but the Wolf of the North wasn’t wrong. Awakening the Dantian was no simple feat.
Dantian was divided into three categories: lower, middle, and upper. The shortest time anyone had taken to awaken the lower Dantian was twelve straight hours—and they were terrific prodigies, one being the eldest son of the Ironstorm Clan himself.
A talentless boy like Kage dreaming to accomplish it in less than six hours was laughable—Well, it would be, if he hadn’t lived for thirty years of his life and seen quite a lot in the process.
Kage shook his head with a small smile and retreated to his bed.
***
The entire mountain shook.
The tremor was so massive that paper lanterns perched neatly on Kage’s brown wooden shelf crashed to the floor. His body shuddered and the wood frame groaned as if in agony.
Kage’s eyes snapped open, all senses instantly alert. He rolled from his bed, face tense with a frown.
’What is that? A natural disaster? I don’t remember a disaster happening—’
His thoughts shattered when a loud, vicious screech tore through the sky.
At that moment, all concern and worry vanished from Kage’s face, replaced by a cold, frightening scowl.
Kage knew exactly who it was.
The entrance, that vicious screech—it could only be that old shameless man and his squad of wyverns!
He straightened, grabbed his robe, draping it on as he dashed from his room with a cold, dark expression.
As Kage strode through the passageway, Taro, who was running toward his room, stopped abruptly to intercept him, but Kage walked past without sparing the servant a glance.
Taro felt the cold shoulder; the atmosphere grew stifling, but he quickly composed himself and ran after Kage.
"Young master, Master Shinro and Lady Renka commanded that I ensure you stay in your room."
Kage stopped abruptly and turned, nearly causing Taro to collide with him had the servant not braked early enough.
"And why? An important person arrives from the main Clan—isn’t it expected that the Prince of the clan, bastard though I may be, should welcome him?"
Taro looked down, slightly confused.
"Well, y-you’re not wrong. But I-I think Lady Renka is worried about you."
Kage grinned eerily.
"Taro, it’s only a man with a flying lizard. Why should mother worry about me?"
Taro froze, shocked and incredulous.
’Only a man with a flying lizard?!’
He shook his head vigorously, snapping from his stunned state.
"It’s apparent the young master doesn’t understand our situation at all! That man with the flying lizard—I saw him—the man himself is as massive as five pillars stacked together! Wait, is five even enough? Damn, I don’t know, but have you seen the..."
He gestured frantically in the air, making air quotes.
"...’flying lizard’?! That wyvern wraps itself around the entire mountain! Heavens, young master, that’s a beast from folklore itself!"
Kage considered whether to knock Taro unconscious—in fact, his hand had almost moved, but he clenched it and sighed. Then he turned and continued without a word.
Taro was left staring and blinking into the distance as his young master walked away. He belatedly ran after him, shouting:
"Young master! You shouldn’t go there! Young master!"
Kage finally burst into the parlor. Despite the bright, radiant day outside, the vast parlor with its brown décor felt dark and oppressive.
It was because of the sole presence that towered above the rest. If Kage could describe the man’s appearance perfectly, he felt like a colossal lion.
Lions were rare types of Impures that could endlessly grow in size and mane. Those were the two traits this man shared with those creatures.
The man flashed his teeth in a massive grin, folding his arms across his broad shoulders.
His voice boomed across the room like a sonic assault.
"Young Master!"
Kage smiled gently, his expression cool and respectful as he bowed gracefully to the man.
"Commander of the Red Sky, Lord Shen. It is a highly esteemed honor to be graced with your presence."
Master Shinro, who was standing before the man beside Lady Renka, glanced at Kage with a slight frown.
The young boy greeting the Commander of the Red Sky and the boy who had come to meet him at dawn today...
’Why does he feel so different?’
Lady Renka quickly moved across the vast room, her footsteps heavy on the wooden floor. She positioned herself in front of Kage and regarded the Commander with a stern expression.
"What does that man want this time?"
Lord Shen’s expression darkened as he watched Lady Renka push Kage slightly behind her.
He scratched his big head for a moment.
"This isn’t quite what I expected, though... considering you sent a message to the Patriarch yourself. You’d make such an entreaty, then hide behind your mother. Huh, I was excited for nothing."
Kage lowered his head and bowed gently to his mother.
"Dear mother, I understand you’re worried for me, but please—let me handle this myself."
He gently separated himself from his mother and walked forward, standing beside Master Shinro. The entire room—the wooden floor, the enormous rectangular table creating a partition between him and the Commander, the gentle rustle of brown vintage curtains—
Everything drowned in a moment of silence.
Then Kage looked at the Commander.
"The love of a mother is as boundless as the heavens. No matter how endearing I might have been, or I might be... my mother will always move to protect me, surely, someone like Lord Shen understands the unbendable desire to protect their own."
The Commander stared at Kage indifferently for a heartbeat then he scoffed.
’At least he’s not dumb.’
Kage bowed once more, extending his hand forward with fingers interlocked.
"Ardyn Kage is ready to receive the Patriarch’s order."
Lord Shen looked down at him with a little shock.
’He’s lived here all his life... yet he knows the clan traditions. Has this bastard been hopeful all this while?’
He glanced at Shinro, observing the slight shock on his face as well, then sighed and folded his arms again.
"The Golden Jade Grand Academy is a spotlight that sits atop the entire world. For a talentless bastard like you to dare aim for such heights, you must back your words with actions and strength."
He continued after another sigh.
"The Patriarch has commanded that if you wish to attend the academy, you must leave the forest on your own."
Silence settled in the atmosphere.
Kage exhaled calmly.
"I, Ardyn Kage, receive the Patriarch’s order."
Lord Shen looked down at him, eyes gleaming with cold blue light.
"You know what that means, don’t you... Y...oung M...aster."
Kage straightened.
"Yes, Lord Shen."
Kage stared up at him, meeting his gaze with a soft, timid, radiant smile.
The man sighed and shook his head.
’A young flame snuffed out too early. Perhaps it’s for the best.’
He exhaled and turned around. The air of the parlor blew violently as his maroon cloak billowed like a blanket across the space. He walked towards the hole in the wall opposite them—where he had crashed through to enter the parlor.
Then he casually leaped down. A moment later, the mountain quaked once again, and a winged creature as massive as a valley—with a long neck and tail, wings spanning over a hundred meters across the sky—rose into the air with the massive man astride it.
Kage stared darkly at the hole in the wall.
’I’m going to beat that man senseless one day for this hole.’
Suddenly, Kage felt a much darker and more sinister aura emanating from behind him.
Dreading what awaited, he slowly turned back.
Lady Renka was burning with fury.
"Ardyn."
Kage gulped.
"Yes, mother."
"To my room. Now."