Today was a bustling day in the holy land, as today was the birthday of Saint Mark.
He had just turned twenty, the gifted celestial dragon Mark Rose, was going to celebrate his birthday party and everyone was invited.
"Saint Mark, it's my honour to meet you, allow me to present this as a token of my gratitude."
A celestial dragon of lower birth than Mark, not being a direct descendant, was presenting a plate of colourful fruits with beautiful swirly patterns to Mark.
"Chris! My pal, do not be so distant, come on in, please enjoy the occasion!"
Mark smiled and took the platter filled with devil fruits from Chris, who seemed thrilled at the prospect of Mark remembering his name.
"I will Saint Mark, thank you."
Smiling happily Chirs went inside, he might be smiling right now but he was very stressed.
This birthday was less a party, and more a gathering of every powerful family in holy land.
Everyone important was here. Mark was after all the heir to Rose family, and a newly appointed God's Knight!
Coupled with his good looks and bachelor status, Mark's importance was very high.
After Chris went inside, he found another celestial dragon of noble birth amongst them.
"Charlos! How have you been?"
Charlos looked up from his mermaid tank, he frowned at Chris as snot dripped from his nose.
"Chris? Go away, I am busy."
Chris didn't get discouraged by the rude words, he only tried talking to Charlos because he was Mark's best friend.
Being Mark's first friend and everything.
"Okay Charlos, I'll be off."
Though he didn't get discouraged, he knew he wasn't respected because he wasn't a direct heir, that is also one of the reasons he had come here.
Like countless others, he had come to build connections with Mark Rose.
Finding a large gathering of men and women, where people of similar status as his were standing, he decided to join in.
"Oh it's Chris, come join us."
Asked a man who was on the same level of nobility as him.
"Oh? It's my utmost pleasure."
Chris walked up to the group and saw who was causing everyone to gather around.
Giving his best smile he spoke to the girl in question.
"Shalria! You look as pretty as ever."
Shalria looked over to the newest addition around her with a haughty expression.
"Of course! It's my dear Mark's birthday today, how can I, Shalria look anything less than the best around."
Chris didn't reply and just smiled, because he knew this was a minefield, answering this will be result in a boom.
"Hah, your Mark? Please, don't kid yourself, he barely knows you."
"Your brother Charlos is his friend, it's got nothing to do with you."
And there it was, the boom.
Chirs slowly backed away as he watched Shalria's face twist with anger, she angrily looked at an equally pretty girl, if not even more pretty.
"Why you?! Gunko you shameless harlot! Don't think I don't know, why you refuse to wear any pants!"
"Mark would never want to be with someone as cheap as you."
Gunko's face turned ashen when Shalria's words painted her in a very different picture, than what she intended to show.
Gunko was of lower birth than Sharlia, but she too was a newly promoted God's Kinght, she wasn't about to lie down and take this.
"You have some nerve spreading baseless rumors, when It's you who purposely wants to get close to Mark."
"You think he'll like you, just because your families are allies? Please, don't kid yourself."
Shalria's hand reflexively went to her waist, she was about the shoot Gunko.
Then she remembered that Gunko was very strong, and she doesn't have her gun with her.
So she decided to keep telling Gunko how much she sucked instead.
"Haha, good joke, Mark and I are childhood sweethearts, he was there the day I was born!"
"And you Gunko, you just like him because of his potential."
"You want to become a high ranking celestial dragon by joining the Rose family."
Gunko scoffed, it was true but this wasn't something to be said out loud.
"You have no grace Shalria, your beauty is wasted on you."
"Only someone shallow would think, that I approached Mark because of his potential."
Saying something she herself didn't believe, Gunko continued before Shalria's incensed face.
"The admiration I have for Mark is genuine, it has no relationship with his abilities or status."
Ending with painting herself in a favourable light, Gunko quickly dodged the slap thrown her way.
"Shalria! How dare you! I'll have your head!"
As Gunko and Shalria were about to fight, they were restrained by a voice from afar.
"Oh! You guys are here, are you having fun?"
Both Shalria and Gunko's faces changed, they quickly fixed their appearances they put on their best smiles.
It was their image which will determine if they can join the Rose family. Mark silently watched the fight stop and breathed a sigh of relief.
'Father bragged too hard, the elder's took notice of my powerful observation Haki, and directly named me a God's Knight Candidate.'
'They can't help it, most celestial dragon's are too useless, the standards are pretty low the position wasn't even hard to get.'
Mark didn't think that living a normal life was something so utterly unique, that even the five elders were alarmed.
Mark's father bragged too much about him, causing the elders to know him, coupled with his friendly relationship with many heirs, he was directly appointed a seat amongst the God's Knights.
'This is what they would like us to believe, but Im was definitely involved in this somehow.'
'Maybe he (she?) was the one who found potential in me after the elder's recommend me.. something to think about.'
Mark knew the elder's were not only smart, they were also strong.
Saint Ethanbaron V Nusjuro carried a mito grade sword and was an awakened skeletal horse Yokai.
Anyone with eyes could see they were powerful. They were even named warrior gods.
For them, Mark had shown obvious interest in strength and had a rational mind, this made him prime God's Knight candidate.
'My new position aside, the twenty years of training I did wasn't in vain.'
'The constant daily practice sessions, two decades of nothing but observation haki practice has made me extremely good at it.'
'And best of all, I have finally unlocked it today.'
Life return.
That was unlocked by Mark today, it has been sixteen years of constant practice, sixteen whole years of endless grinding.
'Now that I have it, I can finally become monstrously strong.'
Mark's preparations were complete, he had learnt a lot throughout the years, and the technique life return was perfected by him.
Tody would be the start of Mark's rise, his two decades of penance will pay now off.
'After this party, I'll take my first step towards real strenght.'
'Not just in observation Haki, but real all around strength.'
Soon Mark was done reminiscing about the years, and was currently talking and laughing with his fellow celestial dragon's.
His noble life wasn't comparable to a barbaric one of the pirates, it wasn't all about eating meat and fighting enemies for him.
It was about gaining strength while living the best life imaginable.
He was a celestial dragon, the god of this world, he will next come down to the lower realm and claim it all for himself!