As the time of my speech was nearing because I began to feel more nervous than I expected. My hands trembled uncontrollably and I couldn't stay put so I walked around and greeted some of the guests before the speech.
My father and I went to a majestic edifice connected to the Royal Castle one hour before the ceremony and began to greet the important guests from other planets along with the envoys from the Holy Church and the Empire.
The location was more spacious than the other places so it was used for national public gatherings and other official occasions because there was what looked like a plaza next to it.
My speech would take place on this plaza, or more precisely on the edifice in front of it, and I had to face the eyes of hundreds of thousands of people. In addition to that, it would be broadcasted live so that the people who didn't come to the plaza could follow it from where they were.
"Talking about a nerve-wracking situation," I grumbled. "This is quite a big deal for a former run-of-mill guy like me."
I became more and more anxious as I tried to remember the content of my speech and checked the time. 'Only 30 minutes before it begins.'
Thirty minutes ago, guests arrived one after another. Most of them were Lords of other planets and their families or nobles served as a substitute for the Lords who couldn't come.
As I looked around the room, I could observe some familiar faces which I couldn't match with a name around the room.
Most of them seemed to be taking part in a discussion with a group of people and some of them even tried to exchange greetings with many people as they could mostly because events like this were also a chance to build new relations.
As I expected, some people tried to talk to me and I couldn't ignore them.
"Good afternoon, Lord Adam," someone said, attracting my attention. Her voice was quite cold.
"Good afternoon, miss," I answered back, looking at the girl in a beautiful dress standing in front of me. She stood out even among the other girl.
This girl, what was her name again? There were a lot of people who wanted to talk to me, and most of them was the daughter of Lords or the nobles, but since I didn't have the time to deal with them all.
But I needed to stay dignified during occasion like this. I haven't given up in finding my ideal girl yet, of course, but it wasn't like I was in rush.
Was it Amelia? I finally remembered her name, but she had already walked away. It looked like she just came to greet me. For some reason, she appeared was a little bit haughty. Not my type.
Still, I feel like I am being observed. Well, everyone is looking at me, but I didn't like this kind of feeling.
After all, I was constantly worried about what would happen if I messed up my speech. Well, it couldn't be helped.
Another issues with this kind of event was that most of the topics of the conversations were about me since I was the subject of this occasion, making it a little bit uncomfortable to continue the discussion, because they were asking about my age, the nature of my gift, my future projects, my type of girl, my preference, and other personal information. Honestly, it was very tiring and it didn't help to relieve my stress.
'Okay, let's get out of here for now,' I thought, feeling like I was more stressed as I talked to these girls.
Thus, I decided to stroll around the spacious area, and as I did, some people picked my attention. One of them was a woman who wore a nun attire that made her long beautiful blond hair and delicate face stand out and also emphasized her mature charms that only older women had. She introduced herself as sister Gracia.
Next to Gracia, there was a very intimidating priest wearing a black robe who didn't utter a word since their arrival.
The two of them had this mysterious aura surrounding them which made it hard for people to approach them, and as soon as they finished exchanging formalities with my father and me, they went straight to their VIP seats and never moved from there.
I made sure to take a mental note that these people were the ones who would assess my ability the next day because I had the feeling that they were already observing me.
One other guest that picked my curiosity was the level 8 Lord called Gordon because he looked like a dark elf described in these books that I used to read back on Earth.
I was a little bit surprised that some races had the same intelligence, maybe even more intelligent than humans in this universe. They were few compared to humans but they were not rare either, and since I had almost finished reading all of the books in the royal library, I was more knowledgeable about this world, so I theorized that Gordon was part of the race called Aniak.
Gordon was supposedly the person who had ties with my father's former family, and from the look of it, my father's former family, the Raizel, was interested in me.
I didn't have enough information to determine what would happen when I go to the Empire good, but this might have been a good opportunity if nothing else
Because I talked too much, I am little bit thirsty. I don't want my words to get stuck in my throat later, so I searched for some drink. There were juice, but what I wanted was pure water. Thus, I looked for the head maid and made a request.
After a few moments, the head maid came back and offered me something different from what I requested.
"Young Lord, your mother prepared this for you. She said that it will help you with your stress," the maid said, and after hearing her words, I took a look around and saw that my mother had arrived. She smiled at me.
It seemed like she expected this situation and prepared something for me because she was always thoughtful.
'Thanks, mother,' I thanked her in my mind.
I drank the beverage that the head maid brought and it had a refreshing taste, making me feel refrigerated and revigorated.
*****
Time passed quickly and it was already time for the ceremony to begin.
My father stood up in a charismatic manner and presented himself in front of thousands of people.
I was sitting next to my mother, and the other important people sat behind us on the right and left sides.
I watched my father's actions because he was different from his usual self at times like this, and I felt like I could learn something from him.
This world had technology similar to microphones and cameras but more advanced. Mostly because of the usage of artifacts though. Using these pieces of equipment, my father's image was projected on two huge screens that even the people at the back could see and his voice was also amplified so that it can fill the whole plaza. However, it was also my father's charismatic voice and attitude that managed to grab the attention of these thousands of people, and their eyes were focused on him.
"My dear people, esteemed guests, it is with great joy and pride that I announce to you that my son will come to be an adult from today onward. So—"
My father began to talk, but I couldn't hear what he said.
Huh? I felt dizzy and my head was hazy, as if I was floating. I massaged my palm a bit. It must be because of my nervousness, I thought, but suddenly, I couldn't feel my legs. What?
"...!!?" Suddenly, I felt something poking my arm, and I turned to look beside me, then I saw my mother gesturing for me to stand up.
It seemed like my father had already finished his speech and it was my turn, but for some reason, I couldn't even follow his speech.
Even so, I stood up and walked to the place where my father stood. 'I can do this!'
But as I walked, the scenery in front of me looked distorted. I had hard time walking.
I finally realized that it was not normal.I felt my body temperature rising at an unnatural speed. 'Even if I am extremely nervous, I shouldn't be like this,' I thought, and bad feelings began overflowing in my heart.
Little by little, I felt like I was suffocating. I couldn't open my mouth, and my muscles were assaulted by agonizing pain.
I felt my strength leaving me, and I fell to my knees. I still couldn't say anything. I couldn't talk.
And...
At that time...
Before anyone could react to what was happening to me...
Before my parents could say anything...
A ragged sack containing a purple crystal-like stone landed in front of my mother's seat.
Everyone was stunned. But then, something inside the sack made a breaking sound, and a dark-purple rift appeared in front of my mother.
In a question of a second, a dimensional portal materialized and monsters overflowed out of it literally like starving beasts.
"Grooooar!!!!!"
Damn it! I messed up. I let my guard down. That head maid. She was worked for our family since I was little
I let my guard down.
My father used his fire elemental power to prevent the monster from reaching my mother, but he was a few seconds late.
As if everything happened in slow motion, I saw a vicious black-wolf-like monster biting on my mother's right hand which she used to protect her face. However, the monsters that came out of the three meters wide dimensional gate were already close to her, and she was helplessly assaulted without a way to defend herself.
Damn it!!
Damn it!!
My mother was already heavily injured before my father could fend off the monsters around her.
It all happened so fast that only a few people could react quickly.
Swoosh! Six flashes of light appeared in front of my parents and obliterated six monsters. Silvestre and Brad finally arrived.
But it was too late. People only began to shout and panic after a few seconds. "Monsters!"
As for me, I tried to use my power, but I helplessly slumped down on the ground instead. I couldn't concentrate, nor use my muscles.
Damn it!!
I could see my father panicking, holding my mother who was in a critical state and covered in red crimson blood in his arms.
"A healer! Quick, a healer… Is anyone here a healer," My father shouted desperately.
However, his voice was overwhelmed by the panicking people and the roar of the monsters that came out at an insane speed from the portal.
The royal knights and other soldiers began fighting the monsters, but as soon as they eliminated a certain number, other monsters already replaced them.
This was why portals were synonymous with disaster in this world, because no one knew the exact number of ferocious monsters that awaited beyond them.
Furthermore, these monsters were level 4 monsters so even level 7 gift holders had a hard time fighting against multiple of them. Monsters level weren't similar to humans'.
I needed to do something... I tried hard to keep myself conscious while bearing the pain, but before I knew it, chaos had already spread all around the plaza and people were running for their lives, and those who had powers began to protect themselves and their families.
Even though the royal knights fought against these monsters, they couldn't eliminate them all at once.
And the biggest problem was the portal, because as long it was open, monsters will come out of it.
Portals could only be sealed using powerful artifacts or by masters who possessed the power of authority that can confine space and time, I recalled, but with my power, I should be able to do something about it... If only I could ignore the pain and focus on activating my power...