"Are you sure it was okay to let them go?" a man clad from head to toe in a large black cloak spoke in a raspy voice that showed signs of 'un-use'. As if he wasn't pleased with the way his voice sounded, he cleared his throat several times. The man was tall and had a sword strapped to his waist. He wasn't alone, and his words weren't meant for himself. Next to him was another person also fully covered in a black cloak. He was referring to an ambush that they had set up. They ordered some of their top class teams to tail and intercept a group of Barbarians and whittle down their numbers. And the mission had gone off without a hitch. However, now he wondered if it was the right thing to do when they could have just killed off the entire group.
"Yes," the person next to the tall man replied. This person was different from the man. For not only was she a woman, she was an old woman. Her back was slightly bent and her hunched figure leaned heavily upon a gorgeous cane. The cane was exquisite, and it had a crown that was made entirely with precious materials. The crown of the cane was made of pure gold, and it was shaped into a Lionhead. Her voice didn't belong to one her age, for it sounded cool and was refreshing to the soul. Her eyes peered into the distance with calmness and they looked so peaceful that one would think that she had not a worry in the world. Yet anyone who was familiar with her would know that this was far from the truth. The burdens upon her shoulders were heavy, and much of her stooped posture was a result of the yoke of responsibility that had been passed to her by the reckless and careless vagabond Basileus.
"Why? If we had dealt with them all, they wouldn't be a danger to the boy." The man who was with her was confused. Although he had been following this woman for a long time, and most likely his entire life, he still wasn't able to decipher her thoughts; neither did he understand her ways.
"That much is obvious," the old lady smiled and struck her cane against the ground. The smile that stretched her lips apart was infectious and was full of concern. Yet anyone who had come across her on the battlefield or on a chessboard knew that she was more merciless and conniving than she was kind.
"So why didn't we just do that?" the man next to her wondered. His eyes were full of curiosity and eagerness to learn. He had received a lot of guidance from the old lady by following her. His intelligence, wits, comprehension and judgement had all improved over the years, and he knew that by staying at her side he could get even better. He had never been right when he was with her. But that was okay with him. For whenever he was wrong, he grew mentally. And that was why he was far above so many of his peers. And it was also the reason why whenever the Elders asked him to take up a higher ranking role, he refused them. Being this old lady's aide was high ranking enough. And he wasn't planning on doing anything else other than that.
"Because we are not raising a daisy," the old lady smiled and said. As she spoke, she struck her cane onto the ground, and the ground shook slightly. The man next to her smiled bitterly and said, "Control your strength Matriarch."
This friendly looking old woman was the Matriarch of the Ancients! Her position was an untouchable one. For the Matriarch wasn't simply the ruler of the Ancients. Unlike the Barbarians and Elementals, the one who ruled the Ancient race wasn't under the jurisdiction of the Ancestors. For she was the ultimate ancestor! She was one of the most powerful ancestors of the Ancient Race. There were less than four people among the Ancestors who could stand up to her. And one of these people just happened to be Komfo Anokye who was better known as Basileus. The former Patriarch of the Ancient Race had passed his position to the Matriarch before leaving on a mission that was of great importance to the Ancient Race with another of their Ancestors – Keira.
This happened at least a few times each day. Sometimes the Matriarch would forget her position and struggle to control her strength. And the results were…well not great.
"Ah. I lost concentration there for a bit," the woman who was the Matriarch of the Ancients smiled bitterly and said. The place where her cane struck now had a long crack in it, and the crack extended into the deeper recesses of the earth. A light tapping of her cane had caused such chaos. One could just imagine what would happen were she to go all out!
"What I saying before?" the Matriarch had a look of confusion on her face. The man who was her aide smiled bitterly. Although the Matriarch looked old, and was old, her memory was still fresh and strong. How could she forget what she was saying? She was just messing with him.
"You were saying that we weren't raising a daisy, but a wildflower," the aide replied, and the Matriarch nodded her head in approval whilst saying, "I see you haven't forgotten what you learned."
"No I haven't Matriarch," the aide laughed and said. Whenever the Matriarch feigned a disjointed, discontinuous memory, it meant that she wanted him to prove his worth. She had said this before regarding her own son, the Prince of Ancients: we are not raising a daisy, but a wildflower. She didn't finish her statement, and had handed the task of completing it over to him, and he had passed the test by doing just that.
What that statement meant was simple. Ancients weren't a pampering race. They didn't believe in confining their talents or limiting their tasks. At times they even abandoned their kids – the really talented ones – and chose to let them grow with humans under several trials and difficult tests. Just so that they would get the very best out of them. They afforded them some protection, but it was meagre compared to what the two other races did for their talents.
The Barbarians were so reluctant to let their Princess out that they gave her the simpler missions. In fact the Barbarian Lord Magma didn't want his sister to do any sort of task and had been holding her back for the longest time, worried that she may get hurt or even worse, lose her life. And he was proven right in his worry when she was given a dangerous mission without his knowledge and lost her life.
The Elementals weren't any better. Lam and Lily were sheltered by their grandfather, their talents locked within them so that they wouldn't be able to wield. Why? To protect them from the world of the Three Races. Old Fan wanted to keep them away from the war that had been eating away at the population of the Three Great Races for decades and centuries now. Of course that had been thrown outside the window when Mane baptized them in Edict and gave them the freedom to pursue power.
Now let's compare that to the Ancients. Dan was the Prince of Ancients, yet his own mother hadn't hesitated to throw him into the belly of the Resurrection Cat; just so that he would unleash his true potential. And the strangest part was that Ancients were very intelligent and had several ways of achieving this without putting him through such great danger. She had stayed in the village to protect him for some time, but had left him to himself when she thought she wasn't needed anymore. She didn't even hesitate to orchestrate an entire Overflow to achieve her goals. This was the way of Ancients. They didn't shield their talents from the world and its troubles. They threw them headfirst into them!
"He doesn't need us to protect him. He only needs us to reduce the numbers." The Matriarch smiled and said. Her aide nodded his head and added, "Besides if he is in real danger the Heavenly Nether Beast you sent as his guardian will protect him."
A Heavenly Nether Beast. This was a beast that was described as belonging to the Beyond Legendary Realm. And why was that? Why wasn't it called a Sacred Beast, but a Beyond Legendary Realm Magical Beast? Sacred Beasts were beyond the Legendary Realm, with each Sacred Beast possessing power at the top of the Magical Beast food chain. So why was a Heavenly Nether Beast not just called a Sacred Class?
The answer was actually simple: because Heavenly Nether Beasts didn't have measureable strength! Yes, these beasts were called Heavenly Beasts because they were capable of growing stronger than Sacred Beasts! Although the ones that could exceed the Sacred Beast realm were rare, they had the talent to do so. And as long as the right conditions were met, they would become true to their names, exceeding the Sacred Beast level and becoming Heavenly Beasts! Such a beast was a treasure wherever it went, and its power wasn't to be underestimated. As long as it was guarding anyone, that person could rest easy.
"Yes," the Matriarch replied. "You are getting wittier and wittier boy," she added and turned to face her aide.
"It is because I am with you Matriarch. Your teachings sharpen my mind." The aide humbly reflected the praise to the one who gave it. He seemed well versed in his actions, for he bowed very low, almost too low in a comic fashion; a cocky smile hanging at the corner of his lips.
"And better at flattery too," the Matriarch laughed and turned to walk away. Her aide smiled pleasingly and followed her.