"KAISER IMPERADOR!!!"
*RUMBLE* *CRACKLE*
*CRACKLE!!!*
Before Kaiser could digest the meaning behind his family name, a thunderbolt descended where these three people were gathered. Kaiser, Claire, and the old lady looked up and saw the yellow thunderbolt dropping on them at an unbelievable speed. The old lady was so terrified that she fell to the ground while Claire closed her eyes shut and brought Kaiser closer to her bosom to protect him. Kaiser immediately covered Claire's head with his two small hands without fearing for his life. There was a look of madness in his eyes and an unyielding will to protect Claire.
'I DARE YOU TO HARM HER. IF YOU HAVE BALLS COME AT ME!!!'
"UAAAUUUAAAA UUUUAAAA"
As if listening to his command, the lightning descended in the area around them but somehow all the current around Claire was diverted to him. The old lady was immediately burned to the bones but miraculously Claire was unharmed.
A black dot appeared on Kaiser's glabella and all the lightning was promptly sucked into it. When lightning disappeared, Kaiser had fainted in Claire's arms. The old lady was dead and Claire was somehow unscathed.
When Claire opened her eyes, she saw the dead old lady and sucked in the cold breath of air but when she saw the fainted Kaiser in her arms, she panicked. She had just announced him as her son and she couldn't help but blame herself. She noticed that he was still alive but his breathing had slowed down considerably. She didn't waste any more time and ran towards her clan's physician even though she knew that entering that place could bring her trouble.
"I will deal with it later, saving his life is of utmost importance."
Rumbling and crackling of lightning resounded through the heavens alerting powerhouses of the world but no one knew the source of this phenomenon. The heavens were exerting pressure on this world as if to oppose the birth of something that goes against its will but it was so minute that only the true experts of this world felt the difference. They only knew one thing, somewhere in this universe an enigma has been born. Various forces mobilized their troops to find this anomaly but everything was in vain as they had no idea where to start. Several forces tried to find if the anomaly was with their enemies or not. The origin of this disturbance, the mother-son duo was clueless about the commotion a simple naming ceremony had caused.
A similar scene was occurring within the three sects and Imperial Clan of the Strana Empire.
***
Strana Empire consisted of four major cities namely; Bidem City, Holizier City, Krestal City, and Oppidium City. These cities were managed by Tang Clan, Ning Clan, Imperador Clan, and Imperial Clan respectively.
Oppidium City, the capital city of the Strana Empire.
This was the city where Kaiser was currently in and also the city home to the Imperial Clan; the three clans: Imperador Clan, Tang Clan, and Ning Clan; and the three sects: Azure Sea Sect, Wind Leaf Sect, and Mountain Fist Sect. The other three cities were managed by the representatives chosen by the clan heads of the three clans.
Oppidium City was situated beside the vast ocean with the ocean towards the south. A huge castle home to Imperial Clan was sitting atop a cliff facing the vast ocean like a deterrent that wouldn't allow any trespassers from the sea. The West side of the city was home to the three major clans. The East was covered with dense forest where the Wind Leaf Sect was located. The North was blocked by a huge mountain and was home to Mountain Fist Sect. There was a small island to the south of the Imperial castle housed by the Azure Sea Sect. The central region was occupied by the common folks where all the hustle and bustle took place.
***
Within a dark room inside the castle, a man with long scarlet red hair was sitting in a cross-legged position. This man, as seen by his upper naked body, had a well-sculpted body, broad shoulders, arms full of strength, well-defined abdominal muscles, a sharp nose, and a perfect jawline. There was a red tattoo, a totem of some kind running from his back to his neck. Upon hearing the rumbling of heavens, his eyes with green pupils slowly opened for a minute then closed again.
He sent a mental message to one of his subordinates to look into it and then he went back to meditating. He was sitting in a large pool of knee-length height. If someone were to notice the pool that he was sitting in, they would notice the liquid within the pool boiling. This was odd as the pool was not being heated by anything but the scariest part about this pool was that the liquid in it was blood. This blood was boiling and being absorbed slowly by the totem on the man's body.
In the darkness of the room, if one looked at this person, he would have the instinct to run away as far as possible. Those eyes were the eyes of a predator with a hint of disdain towards this world as if everything here was beneath him. In truth, this disdain that he held for this world was well deserved if seen from his perspective. Even the three sects of the Strana Empire were ants in his eyes. They were weaklings that banded together to survive under his threat.
He was the strongest person in the entire Strana Empire, the person on the highest pedestal;
Emperor Zhafeer Tagavor.
***
On a small island to the south of the Imperial Castle, inside a hall full of grand elders and elders, sat a woman with blue hair and blue eyes at the head position. The woman had long blue hair that dropped to her hip length, her blue eyes were as calm as a still water lake, her small mouth with red cherry lips was very alluring. She wore revealing clothes that accentuated her fairly large breasts, her blue backless dress dropped down to the floor revealing her plump thighs and long legs due to the cut in the dress from her waistline downwards.
She was the epitome of a water goddess if there was one. Even with all the charms exuding from this lady, no one present here had a hint of lust in their eyes. In contrast, some of them were even fearful of her. She was the sect leader of the Azure Sea Sect;
Hina Asfera.
There was a meeting ongoing among the elders and grand elders of the sect regarding the issue of the imperial edict recently issued by Emperor Zhafeer. Some of them wanted to retaliate while others didn't want any kind of conflict. Sect leader Hina was carefully observing every elder within the hall while looking at a few of them with a sharp gaze. These few were the ones who had close ties with Tagavor Imperial Clan.
While she was formulating a plan in her head, she felt the presence of the heavens will descend upon the world. She immediately got up and disappeared from the hall, reappearing in the sky in an instant. She narrowed her eyes towards the Imperial castle.
"Did that creepy red-haired bastard have a breakthrough? No, this phenomenon is related to something else. I wonder if it is a good or a bad omen for my Azure Sea Sect? I have a feeling that the power balance in the Strana Empire would soon tilt to one side. We should start preparing in advance."
She returned to the meeting hall while everyone went quiet. It was to be noted that no one beside her in the entire sect felt the presence of the heavens will. This just proved that she was the strongest person in the entire sect.
She gazed at the group of elders around her and said in a calm voice, "See if anything abnormal happened within Oppidium City no matter how small it is. Report back to me as soon as possible."
"Yes, Sect leader." Everyone's voice resounded in a clear harmony.
***
The east of the Oppidium city was covered with lush green forest trees. In the depth of this forest, there were houses built atop various trees and had members of the Wind Leaf Sect residing within them. These members of the Wind Leaf Sect had something special about them. They all resembled human beings just aside from their long pointy ears, long life span, and low birth rates. They all were of Elven race. There were also some humans within the forest but they all remained in the outer regions of the forest.
Whenever the member of the elven race decided to marry a human or had a child with a human, where the latter case is a very minute possibility, they had to relocate to the outer region of the forest. Only the members of the elven race were allowed to enter the depths of the forest which was the area belonging to the Wind Leaf Sect. In terms of population, Wind Leaf Sect was miles behind the other two sects but every member of this sect was insanely powerful.
The latest imperial edict also had the least effect on this sect as they were a self-reliant sect and rarely mingled with the general populace of the Oppidium City.
Within the largest house created on the tallest tree, the tree of vitality, there was a green-haired lady lazing around sleeping in peace. She was wearing a green-colored dress that matched her hip-length green hair. She had a small pointy nose that blended well with her tiny face and small pink lips. Her pointy ears only added to her beauty. She had average-sized breasts and with her petite figure, she looked like a forest fairy. Her beautiful features could elude someone from guessing her true age. She was more than 600 years old but considering the life span of elves along with her deviant powers, she was still young. She was the beautiful queen of Oppidium forest elves and Sect leader of the Wind Leaf Sect,
Kesha Ibrium.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Sudden knocking on the door woke her up from her nap.
"What you want Riya?"
Riya was the name of her protector as well as one of the elders of the Wind Leaf Sect.
"You are late! The elders are all gathered in the meeting hall. Did you forget?"
" *Yawn* I didn't. It's just pointless to discuss the imperial edict. It has zero effect on us. Don't these elders have anything better to do?"
"What if one of the other two sects decide to confront the emperor?"
"Then..."
Just as she was about to state her opinion, she felt the pressure from the heavens will and fell into deep contemplation.
Riya was already going crazy by this laid-off attitude but seeing her sect leader go quiet in the middle of the conversation made her go bonkers.
As she was about to blow her steam, Kesha continued, "No one will confront the emperor, there has been an anomaly in the capital. Everyone should be wary of this unknown factor for now."
Riya gasped and she asked with a somewhat hopeful expression, "What? Do you want me to investigate?"
The reply from the other side poured water on her excitement, "It doesn't concern us. There is no need to investigate. I know you just want to go out and play. Hehe… Should I tell your parents?"
"You…"
Riya might be the only person in the entire empire to speak so casually with the queen of elves but it was only in private, both of them were childhood friends after all. In public both of them were all business.
Riya knew that her parents won't allow her to go outside the forest area due to the increasing tension in the capital. In fact, after the announcement of the imperial edict, elves were forbidden to leave the forest area. If they leave, they would be on their own, no one would come to help them if they get into some trouble.
***
In the north of Oppidium city stood a gigantic mountain also known as Oppidium mountain. On the peak of this mountain, there stood a burly man looking down at the Oppidium city with some concern visible on his face.
He stood at 10 feet tall like a straight boulder. His chest was so broad, large, and hard like it was made of rocks instead of muscles. His arms were huge as well, his biceps were as big as his face, and when he clenched his fists there were light booming sounds. This was partially due to their sect's deviant technique and partially due to his immeasurable strength. He had small brown colored hair and a beard of similar color. He had a small square-shaped nose and short slitted eyes but the boundless power he exuded made it clear that he was the sect leader of Mountain Fist Sect. His name was,
Gora Kalnas.
He was pondering over the recent imperial edict issued by Emperor Zhafeer and in what way should Mountain Fist Sect react. Unlike Azure Sea Sect where the decision is made by taking into consideration the views and concerns of every elder, here at Mountain Fist Sect the decision is made solely by this burly man. Every elder and sect disciple would have to follow his decision whether they like it or not.
Just as he was about to go and inform the elders of his decision, he saw lightning descend in the distance somewhere in the city. With lightning, he also felt the pressure of the heavens will and immediately darted towards the distance where the lightning had descended. He wasn't as fast as the sect leader Hina in his movement speed but he wasn't slow either. It's just that he was a little too far from Imperador Orphanage. Within a matter of minutes, he was already standing at the spot staring at the burnt corpse of the old lady. He surveyed the area but he couldn't find anyone else. Heavenly thunder had also erased the presence of every being in the vicinity. He looked around and after some thoughts, he entered the Imperador Orphanage to find some clues regarding the heavens will.
"I had decided to disregard the imperial edict even if it meant going against the emperor but with this unknown anomaly, I think I have to re-evaluate my decision."
Sect leader Gora had come closest to find out the truth of the matter but alas the only witness of the miracle lay dead on the ground.
***
Claire reached the entrance gate of the Imperador clan after running for a few minutes. She didn't want to come here as she had very bitter memories of this place but right now, she couldn't care less. Her Kaiser's life was on the line at this very moment. She was so anxious right now that she could hardly breathe.
Just as she was about to enter the Clan gates she was stopped by the guards. They looked at her coldly and one on the right sneered at her.
"Lady Claire, forgive my rudeness but we are ordered to prevent you from passing through the gates."
Claire looked at these guards feeling humiliated by mere gatekeepers looking down on her but she swallowed her pride for the sake of her son.
She replied calmly, "I need to see the Clan's physician right now."
"I apologize my lady but that's simply impossible. You are barred from using any of the clan's privilege."
She felt an uncontrollable urge to smack this rude guard to death, "It's not for myself but the baby!"
"Baby? Why would you bring a baby here?", the guard asked with some curiosity.
She thought they must have witnessed the descent of the lightning. Just as she was about to tell them that the baby was hit with the lightning, Kaiser woke up in her arms.
The guard noticed this as well and retorted," My lady the child looks perfectly fine to me, you should make better excuses to gain entry into the clan."
Claire ignored the jerk and looked worriedly at her son before shouting in relief, "KAISER!"
All her anxiety and all her guilt were released in that single shout of relief.
The guards turned around after noticing that she was no longer trying to force her way through.
No one knew but if Kaiser hadn't woken up at that moment then every powerhouse in the city would have realized that the anomaly that occurred a few moments ago was related to this child.
Kaiser looked around in confusion after his gaze landed on Claire.
Claire felt like she could finally breathe. She hugged her son tightly as if he was her treasure. She felt like this situation was crazy. This morning she didn't even know this baby but now he was indispensable to her. After she had resolved to accept him as her baby, she had accepted him as her flesh and blood. She felt like he was her light in the dark, her pride and her happiness.
Kaiser too felt the love and care in this unspeakable moment. He felt the urge to call out to her even though it might come out as him speaking gibberish.
He looked up and said the words that would forever be imprinted in Claire's memory.
He tried to say 'Mother' but it came out as,
"Mama"