SYSTEM ASCENSION

The best lounge in the academy was arranged for the royal family. Soft carpet, velvet couches, great window view, but it wasn’t enough to ease the awkwardness in the room.

Yes, they had reunited as a family, but Tiana kept clinging unto Elias, Bora kept glaring at Tiana, Tyler kept nagging at Bora, and the parents were left dumbfounded.

”This is a disaster.” Elias blurted out.

The whole family flinched.

”You’re the king but somehow don’t know what to say to your daughter? Shame on you man.” He scolded the emperor.

”Em!” The man coughed.

”And you are the empress. I thought women understood each other better. Why are you over there and not dragging her away from me?”

”Well I...” The woman’s face heated up in embarrassment. ”I don’t want to...”

Tyler raised his hand. ”Elias, are you trying to fix our problem or get rid of her clinging onto you?”

”The latter. I don’t care about your family issues.”

They were all dumbfounded.

”The... child,” the empress decided to step up and talk. ”What’s his name?”

”Huh? Mona?” Tiana raised his child who had successfully fallen asleep, stings of Elias hair still clenched in his little hands.

”Mona... it’s a lovely name.” The emperor coughed slightly. ”Who suggested it? You or him?”

”I didn’t—” Tiana froze. Whatever they were thinking suddenly became clear to her. ”You don’t think this is my child, do you?”

”Huh?” They chorused.

She slapped a hand on her forehead and shook her head. ”Mona is a physical manifestation of Elias’s ability, and I’m simply holding him because if I don’t, Elias will go bald in a week.” She held out Mona’s clenched fist to show strands of Elias’s hair.

”See?”

”Oh! Right! Sorry...” The empress laughed.

The emperor on his own part was stunned. ”Physical manifestation of an ability? How did...”

Although they are rare cases of summoners or beast type physical manifestation, he had never seen a manifestation of a child. This only showed him how much would go bad between the Salvador empire and Black empire if something were to happen to Elias.

Tiana had finally let go of Elias’ arm while she was explaining, and he immediately stood up.

”I have class to attend.”

And walked away before they could object.

As soon as he walked out, Bora ran after him.

He had barely gotten out of the corridor before she grabbed his wrist, stopping him on track.

”So, you’re not with her.”

He turned around, looked at where she held him, and then her face.

”Do you like her?” Bora asked.

”...”

He pulled out his wrist and shoved his hands into his pockets.

”What is it?”

She huffed and rolled her eyes. Then look a ladylike stance and flickered her hair. ”I’ll give you a chance. Become my follower.”

”...”

His lack of response made her speak further. ℯ

”Unlike Nria who just returned, I have everything. I can pull any string without a consequence. My—”

”Your point?”

Her lip stretched into a grin. ”All you have to do is follow me, and I’ll...”

He turned around and took a step away.

”You lack manners.”

The moment Elias turned away, the hallway went silent.

Bora blinked.

”...Huh?”

For two seconds she just stood there, like her brain couldn’t process what just happened.

Then her eyes went wide.

”He... rejected me...”

***

He continued to walk till he was in the general hallway where students were still gossiping about the royal family.

They subconsciously parted ways as soon as they saw him, but while he went past, they released hateful comments.

He didn’t notice though. Only his line of view mattered to him, until a voice pulled his attention.

”Wait up!”

He glanced back, and Mimi bumped into him.

”Ouch! Sorry.” She stepped aside, and they walked together.

”Where are you going?” She tilted her head to look at his face.

”Anywhere without the royal family.”

She chuckled.

When he looked at her, he realised that she was formally dressed. Although, because of Tiana’s case, there was no class today, she wasn’t dressed casually.

”Going somewhere?”

Her eyes lit up at the question. ”Yes. The monastery.”

He paused. ”Monastery? It’s not even the eighth day of the week.”

”Yes,” she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. ”It’s a one on one session. I love talking to the preacher.”

Elias’s mind returned to the man who had called him out that day.

”Let’s go together.”

”Huh?”

He pulled his hand out of his pocket and grabbed her wrist to walk faster.

Her cheek turned pink and she smiled, but remembering her grandmother’s words right after added a bad taste to her mouth.

She bit her lip.

’Can I...not have him?’

Five minutes later, they arrived at the building. Mimi was panting heavily because of the speed she was forced to endure, while he just stared at the building that was still in ruin from when he and Coco fought.

”I see you brought someone Mimi.” The door opened and the man peeped out.

”Yes, this is Elias.” She introduced.

The man smiled at them. ”Come on in.”

They walked into the place, past the rolls of destroyed materials and benches.

”Pardon me. It seemed like a burglar broke in a few days ago,” the man explained. ”Luckily, there was nothing that valuable to take.”

Elias looked around. ”This is horrible.”

The man laughed. ”I know.”

They finally took a seat in the front, where the benches were intact.

”Do you know why he came with you Mimi?”

”Ah...no. He just came along.”

The man’s attention returned to Elias who was staring at the drawings.

”And I assume it’s because of what I said last week?”

Elias pointed to the drawings. ”Explain them.”

”Like I said last week, they are the disciples of the lord of the void, Omeo,” the man explained.

”Why do you say I was connected to them?”

”Because, the disciples are also mortal creatures. Mortal creatures live in realms, and in realms, they reproduce. You’re the offspring of one of them.”

”How do you know?”

”You had a connection with the drawings when you came in right?” The man smiled. ”I specialise in reading people. It’s my ability.”

Elias frowned.

He had never heard this story before, so it was safe to assume that it happened before he was born. But that comes down to why his mother is among the disciples. Was she that old? Why was she in the human realm? Was that why she was always strange?

He recalled something she told him:

*Once upon a time, I was a slave, and then a servant, then a minister, and then an emperor’s wife, and now a mother.*

He realised that he never knew anything about his mother.

”All this...when did it all begin?”

The man stood up and walked to the paintings. He touched the little girl that looked human.

”This little girl is royalty. The mother of the first Ringoff.”

”Ringoff?”

”Yes. The Ringoff family is about five hundred years old. So we can say we knew about the disciples six hundred years ago.”