A lush of vegetation could be seen below as a Golden Wyvern puppet is traversing it. Winds brushed past its metallic wings, yet its passengers did not feel any sort of discomfort. Hours of travel had already taken a toll on their mana reserves and the long silence on the way was really vexing for them.
"We are getting close." Mart Suns said to his other four companions. They had to travel afar from the imperial capital of Skyfire to a city at the edge of the nation for a reason.
"Finally. It was stifling on the way here." Carter Suns gave his opinion as he looked at the reason for all of their troubles. At the rear end of the flying puppet is a person at the young age of eighteen.
His features were that of noble birth with handsome charms under his black hair. The youth's eyes were black and despondent as he viewed the fast-moving scenery below.
"Tsk. What a pain!" Mart sneered in discontent when he saw the indifferent attitude of the teen. "Brat, you should at least be thankful. We had to go through all this way just to send you to your destination."
The others also interpreted the youth's uncaring attitude as arrogance. They could not help but curse inside their heads.
'It is not like you are some bigshot anymore. After all of this, you will be forgotten and looked down upon.' They secretly thought. This youth that they are escorting is supposed to be their young master and had the greatest possibility to lead their clan in the future. It was a shock for them to know that he was being deported and banished to some unknown city.
"Hehe! You are not some noble titled as Young Master Suns anymore. A nameless and stray kid is what you will be!" The older guy in their group called Dime Suns did not hold anything back and uttered harsh words.
His other companions were shocked by his remarks and could not help but ask. "Hey, Dime, can you tell us some context here. Why is this brat being abandoned anyway?"
"Well, it is quite a story! It was because of the words from the Imperial Oracle." Dime confidently filled up the curiosity of his peers.
"The Imperial Oracle was a respected fortune teller in the Skyfire Nation who practices a secret art to foretell great events. It is said that she is the great adviser for the recent emperor and someone who turned the tides in major battles against their enemies."
"During the last clan gathering, the oracle was among the guests. Our Suns Clan is among the strongest four families in the empire after all and we hold great importance in the stability of the nation." Dime told his companions of what he knew. Only he had the qualifications to join the gathering and was there to see through the entire event.
"From what you are saying, it seems that the great oracle had seen a future with regards to this boy. What were the contents of her vision?" Stein Suns was not in the gathering and was intrigued by the great turn of events. He looked towards the boy in the back of the puppet, finding that he was being as indifferent as before.
"Destruction sleeps within the firstborn of the Suns. His presence would crumble the great walls around the clan of power." Dime recited the words of the Imperial Oracle.
"After that, she collapsed and the emperor said that she would slumber for ten years. It had to be known that the Imperial Oracle is also a great friend of the empress, so imagine her discontent with this brat who was the reason for all of it."
"What do those words mean?" Carter inquired. It was straightforward and vague at the same time.
"It is quite clear, idiot! The first young master would bring destruction to our clan's long history and end our great glory. Our mission at this point is to send him far from the heart of the nation and the clan." Dime rebuked Carter's foolishness, "With the oracle's prestige and trustworthiness, the clan head's only choice is to disown his son. It is well-known how this brat is relatively disinterested in cultivation, so this was a chance for the patriarch to remove the shame in his progeny."
"This first-born is given great privilege yet he spends his time in books. Are you trying to be a scholar, brat?" It was known to everyone that the first young master of Suns is an eccentric who spends his time in reading literature. His younger siblings and most of his cousins had already shown great potential in the field of the martial way. This behavior earned him the dislike of his clansmen.
The teen was still apathetic as always and ignored those around him. Carter Suns was incensed by his attitude and said, "Why opt to only banishing this bastard and not directly killing him instead?"
"I don't get it either but the patriarch only said that interfering with the fate of a person would bring unforeseen circumstances. He is a bomb that would explode in misfortune, so the best method is to reject and forget him entirely." The wisened Dime gave a logical explanation of the situation. The other Suns clan lackeys had their mind riddled with the cloudy explanation that led to their excitement being waned and they could not wait to finish their mission.
The recently nameless youth that listened to their mockery of himself was silent the entire time. 'These shameless dudes really knew how to insult people.'
He had his reasons for his lackadaisical attitude with the path of power and mystical ways.
'I am someone whose fate to his family is broken. You reject my existence, then I could reject you as well.' He secretly thought as he looked forward to his lonely journey ahead. 'It is not like I really need to follow your stigma. That old man of mine must have planned all of this with that oracle. His pride must have really been stained by my laziness that he even went as far as to hire the Skyfire Nation's greatest con artist to fool the world. It is not like I chose to be lazy but was actually forced to.'
.....
The Golden Wyvern puppet is a prestigious and powerful travel mechanism, so its path was unhindered as it flew over the bandit-infested borders.
Criminals are knowing enough to not offend a powerhouse that has a reputation as the Skyfire Nation's strongest. Even in the great outskirts, people still know of the famous puppet that serves as mounts for the vassals of the Sun's family.
The group of travelers could already see a city-like cluster of building on the horizon. This would mean that the group of five would already be done with their job.
"This should be the Green Silk City of the Great Heaven Nation. This is still near our borders but this is also the destination where we are going to leave the brat." Dime Suns became the designated leader of the expedition and under his command they landed in the forest beneath them.
"Brat, get down already!" Under their urging, the youth jumped off the Wyvern puppet. It was a considerable height, so he felt pain in his descent.
"That must be painful. Here is a bag that is meant to be given to you." Carter mocked the teen and threw a parchment on the ground. "Inside are some provisions to keep you living for a while. The clan head said that it would be the last form of connection that he has for you. It would be best that you would not use the previous name as your identity anymore and not disgrace the great name of Suns."
The puppet ascended again with a wave of air that blasted the teen from where he stood. The group laughed when seeing his sorry state.
They envied his great position ever since his anomalous birth and now they found joy in his fall from grace. After all, it was better to be a part of a rich power than being thrown in the harsh world with nothing but yourself. Although they had Suns for their surname, they were not of true blood but only servants that earn the right to use it through gruesome efforts.
Under great speed, the Golden Wyvern had already left towards the direction of the Skyfire Nation.
The teen stood up from his disarrayed state and patted out the dust in his body. He was indifferent all throughout because he had already anticipated such treatment.
He was already the center of hate in the family, so he was used to the harsh treatment against him. The environment he was born in had molded his personality towards solitude and silence.
"I am a living disaster for them. I should be called Aster then." He named himself as a contradiction to the disastrous label that was given to him. He had truly grown lazy from more than a decade of reading through the Sun's Clan's library and could not be bothered to rack up his brain cells for naming himself properly.
Aster checked the bag that was blown to the distance. Its contents were shining gold coins that were remuneration towards him. It was a space bag having magical properties such as having more space for containing and was lightweight.
"It is roughly five thousand gold coins. It was nice of them." He said in a sarcastic tone. Such wealth was enough to enrich a commoner family for a decade but Aster knew that it was nothing to the Suns family.
These coins were the symbolism of his worth to them. It was demeaning but useful to his current self. This was enough for him to buy land and stuff for his future plans.
"I need to check the city. Good thing that I wore normal clothing." He remembered the Green Silk City that he saw from above and headed to the approximation of where it should. Normal clothing would help divert the attention of robbers on the way because they would think that he is only a lost kid.
Not being used to adventures had taken its toll on him. Aster could not remember how many times he was being chased by wild animals. Dirt and mud had already cluttered most of his shirt.
"This is good as well. They would think I am some beggar." Consoling himself from his predicament, Aster finally walked out of the forest.
By the city gates, the designated guards paid no attention to him and let him pass easily. It was hard to keep track of the many people that are coming and going. There was no harm in letting a beggar-like teen pass through.
"Aunty, could you inform me about this place. It is quite lively." Aster found a lady and decided to use his inherent appeal for curiosity to gain knowledge about this place.
"Little beggar, this is the Green Silk City that is the home for famous business associations. This place is by the border and a common pitstop for thousands of travelers. Products from neighboring regions are easily found here." The lady explained the history and founding of the city.
"The city is relatively old and but is still developing with its five thousand year history that makes it stand out than most bordering cities."
"Thank you for your time, aunty." They parted ways and the lady was happy to flaunt the greatness of her hometown even to traveling beggars. Despite the city's low worth to other families, it seems that its citizens have developed some sort of patriotic belief in the place.
Aster headed and mingled to the numerous stalls in the streets. A variety of people with their own agendas were moving about.
Riches were truly the trend of the entire place which made the average power of people here to be quite low compared to the power-driven capital of the Skyfire Nation.
This did not mean that they were vulnerable because he was sure that true experts were keeping the security in check.
"Just by this corner would be the place I am looking for." Aster muttered under his breath as he was nearing his goal. He was in a life of independence, so he had to make sure that he would survive in this cruel world.
The best method would be to cultivate and strengthen while cooking up revenge from a faraway land.