'Yes!' Exclaimed Alex, hearing the smoke spirit approval.
'Come on, let's start right now'
"Hold your horses, before we start, I want to make something clear for you".
'What is it ?'
"You need to understand that becoming a true sovereign may bring you some unwarranted attention and you may be confronted to a lot of trouble by becoming a true sovereign," warned the smoke spirit.
'What kind of troubles ?'
"I don't know" answered nonchalantly the spirit.
'So, you say that I might find myself in troubles by becoming a true sovereign, yet you are not sure about the specific nature of those troubles, is that correct ?' Asked Alex a little annoyed.
"Well, I have never encountered a true sovereign, so I don't know how it was for them, but I do know that many people will covet your true sovereignty if is known by people".
'I see, thanks for the warning' replied Alex, realizing that the spirit was right.
If people learned that he had true sovereignty, some people might target him to understand how he became a true sovereign and if those people were powerful they could even transform him into their puppets, so he had to make sure that his sovereignty is not exposed.
'However, I don't have any intention to hide myself and my power'
"Well, suit yourself, anyway, let's begin the process".
'What do I need to do ?'
"Nothing, if like I thought when you touched my consciousness, your ability tried to link our souls subconsciously. So, just being in contact with me could make your ability try to connect our souls again." explained the spirit.
'Okay, then you can go ahead'
"Then, let's make a sovereign out of you"
***
'What's going on? He has been in here for almost a day,' worried Lilia as she glanced at her husband's body still encased in smoke.
At this point, she was the only one still in the training grounds; the others had been gone for several hours.
'Did I make a mistake b-'
Before Lilia could even finish her train of thought, she saw the smoke around Alex move away from his body. Instead of dispersing like it usually does when someone comes out of this state, the smoke started swirling around.
Slowly, the swirling smoke gained momentum, gradually morphing into a vortex, resembling a tornado, as its speed continued to intensify.
"What the hell is going on ?" Wondered Lilia as she looked at the tornado of smoke.
She had never seen nor heard something like that happening when someone tried to enhance his affinity.
However, if she could see what was happening outside, her astonishment would be multiplied by a hundred-fold.
***
Outside the mansion, no, throughout the entire Fiore Empire, columns of smoke began rising into the sky!
In this strange moment, the air changed a lot, becoming charged with the strong smell of smoke of all kinds.
Columns emerged from every corner of the empire, spanning from the thriving regions to the desolate ones. This extraordinary phenomenon encompassed diverse sources — smoke billowing from the chimneys of homes, plumes from explosive events, and even wisps from the simple act of smoking a cigar.
All those types of smoke merged, creating beautiful, rainbow-like columns that people inside and outside the Fiore Empire could observe.
Everyone on the continent suddenly halted their activities, whether it was women cooking, children playing, hungry individuals crouching on the ground, soldiers training, men fucking their wives- or mistresses.
Every one of them raised their heads to look at the columns of smoke that kept rising in the sky, wondering what was happening.
As they watched, the columns began converging, forming an immense cloud of smoke that veiled the entirety of the Fiore Empire. This ethereal cloud shimmered with a myriad of colors: blue, green, gray, white, yellow, brown...
Then, under the astonished gaze of the onlookers, the smoke started shaping itself into a figure.
At first, people couldn't tell what it was, but as time passed, they began to see the shape. When it was done, everyone was amazed to see that the smoke had formed a human figure!
It was specifically the figure of a man.
As they gazed upon this smoke figure, their hearts raced, feeling as if they were witnessing a divine presence—a god among humans. The magnitude of this being was so overwhelming that many instinctively bowed their heads in awe, fearful of enraging such greatness by prolonged stares.
***
In a distant sub-dimension, far from the Fiore Empire, in a room cloaked in darkness, two eyes abruptly opened.
These eyes were truly captivating, gleaming with a spectrum of colors that could mesmerize anyone who gazed into them.
Their mere presence had the power to dispel the darkness in the room.
The eyes then turned their gaze toward the Fiore Empire.
"Interesting, it seems that a sovereign is born" said the being to whom the beautiful eyes belonged.
She released a light laugh as she looked at the smoke depicting a human.
"A human sovereign at that, fascinating" remarked the being before closing its eyes, causing the room to fall into darkness again.