The death of the Fate Destroying Emperor threw the world into turmoil.
Every person across the world watched the battle and heard his speech.
Every warrior was influenced by the speech in different ways.
If there was something that the world was not short of, it was hot-blooded astral travelers and these warriors became even more hot-blooded after hearing the speech as it spurred them on.
"The ultimate treasure of astral travelers?!"
"I shall be the one to get it!"
"I will receive the inheritance of the Fate Destroying Emperor; I shall be the one to get to the end of the world!"
"I shall become the new King of astral travelers!"
The last words of the Fate Destroying Emperor brought in a tumultuous era in the history of this world since astral energy was discovered.
It spurred on the golden age of astral travelers.
The astral authorities found it hard to curb the new wildness and spontaneity among the astral travelers until the fated 9 finally rose up in arms.
The 9 survivors of the battle of fate finally rose up to curb the violence.
10 years after the death of the Fate Destroying Emperor, after recovering from their injuries, the 9 astral traveler organizations finally became a thing and were created by the 9 survivors.
Gustas Impetus created the Pugilist Dojo after killing off 3 famous astral travelers who challenged his rule, crowning himself as the Pugilist Emperor.
Iyana Olenor created the Warlock Manor.
Radyn created the Lightning Manor.
Tyrak, the strongest Fire Transmutator in the world allied with some of the strongest Fire Transmutators in the world with the same beliefs as him and created the organization, the Volcano Alliance.
Hywell created an organization called the Golden Ring.
Odenne created the Puppet Palace, crowning herself as the Puppet Queen.
Brie created the Fellowship of the Wind.
Cirris created the Assembly of Astral Adventurers.
As for Gul, he created the Astral Hunter Union, an organization oriented towards astral travelers that were more focused on beast hunting.
Together, these 9 organizations became the new astral authorities.
For the next 10 years that followed, they tried to bring peace and order to the world through various means but in a world of astral travelers like the Fate Destroying Emperor said, who cares about peace?
The world kept on derailing into chaos spurred on by the last words of the Fate Destroying Emperor even as geniuses kept on popping out one after another.
In the end, astral travelers were not beasts, they could not be tamed.
It was a true golden age of astral travelers.
…
45 years after the death of the Fate Destroying Emperor…
Somewhere in a countryside manor in the Eastern Typhoon Continent, in a town called Hope Town, a child was born into a family.
On the day of his birth, the skies were dark and gloomy across multiple towns even as thunder crackled across the town for hours.
The townsmen claimed to have seen a silhouette of a giant sword appear on the sky on that fateful night, the seers claimed that the 24th child of the Brenden family, a boy would bring good fortune to them.
His mother, a blonde-haired woman held him affectionately in her arms even as tears flowed down her eyes. "You are the manifestation of my love".
"You are my 3rd and last child; your fate shall be an interesting one".
"You shall not be bound by the rules of this world".
"Your name?" She looked at him affectionately. "You are Ramon".
"Like your name, you will grow up wise and protective of your loved ones".
And so, the mischievous one was born.
…
From the young age of just a year old, Ramon started showing traits that he was not just any ordinary child.
First was his crazy metabolism and appetite.
At the age of 1, Ramon's appetite was more than a 5-year-old.
He spoke fluently after just 13 months after saying his first word at just 8 months old. By 15 months, Ramon was already running round the manor of the Brenden family, causing the servants trouble.
The Brenden family manor consisted of a main 5 story-building made out of stones at the center, with 3 smaller 2 story building structures made out of wood and stones surrounding it.
A big stone fence surrounded the manor.
From a young age, Ramon showed strength that far exceeded his peers.
When Ramon was 3, he shrugged off bullying from one of his older step brothers, a 13-year-old, cutting his skin open by a mere slap.
A slap?!
How?
They tried to know the truth but could not rationalize it. In the end, they concluded that it was just a coincidence or Ramon lied and hid a knife.
Ramon was 5, he was now his father, the patriarch of the Brenden family's favorite but Ramon was not the gentle and obedient type.
He was stubborn, causing the patriarch headaches with each interaction.
"Ramon, come here!"
"See that butterfly! It's so beautiful…, I want to catch it!"
"Come here!"
"I want to catch it!"
"…!"
His energy and restlessness of a child increased the workload of the servants, making a lot of them to consider if the pay was still worth the work that they put in just to keep this ball of endless energy in check.
In the manor, some places and rooms were restricted, only accessible to the people with the right amount of authority in the mansion.
By 4, Ramon already entered all the restricted rooms and faced the equivalent punishment already, something no other son of the Brenden family could boast of achieving except just 1 room, the patriarch's library.
And now, 5 years and 5 months old, Ramon set a new goal.
"Hehehe…!" He giggled to himself.
"The patriarch was invited to the annual convention by the King".
"Only him notices whenever I'm up to something".
"I can evade the others".
"Today is the day!" He was excited. "I shall see the patriarch's library!"
2 hours of patient infiltration like a master assassin, Ramon managed to achieve his goal, making it to the secret library of the patriarch.
The library was big, 100 meters long and 50 meters wide with rows of shelves all filled to the brim with books of different sizes.
Just looking at the books was already giving Ramon a headache but just before he could sigh in disappointment, he saw something.
It was a blue crystal glowing at a hidden corner of the library.
He noticed it due to his unnaturally keen perception.
'What is that?' Thinking, Ramon went closer.
"Human presence detected!"
"…!" Ramon jumped back in shock on hearing the sudden voice.
He looked at the crystal in shock, it just spoke!
That was just the beginning though. As the curious little boy watched, to his shock, moving pictures with sound appeared in the air from the crystal before him.
Ramon's eyes widened in shock; he had heard of them but had never personally seen moving pictures!
As soon as the crystal was activated, away in the convention, the patriarch was alerted as he instantly became alarmed.
Asking permission, he started rushing home.
While the patriarch rushed home, an innocent Ramon watched with pure curiosity written all over his face.
"Self-Created Ultimate Ability: Destroyed Fate; Altered Reality!"
BZZZT
Ramon's eyes widened in shock and fascination.
BOOMMMM!
Watching the mighty power erupt, he staggered, he felt like he was there.
Then he heard the words.
"I am the strongest in the world".
"I am the Emperor".
"I am the wielder of the Heavenly Restriction, Fate Destroyer".
"I am the Fate Destroying Emperor!"
"Even in my old age," He smirked. "No one can defeat me".
"But it is boring when you already achieved everything, from fame to riches, power and there is no one to challenge you anymore".
"The so-called astral authorities claim to keep the peace in the world, but who cares about peace in a world of astral travelers?"
"This is a world of violence!" He grinned.
"Astral travelers…, we thrive in violence".
"This is why I want to leave an inheritance".
"Astral travelers…!" The eyes of this old man gleamed mischievously as he stared at the Fate Crystal even as his 9 opponents' eyes widened in desperation.
He ignored them and continued and they dared not go on the attack.
"From a young age, I embarked on the path of power and I accomplished my goal, becoming the strongest".
"During my journey, I met powerful magical beasts, I fought Dragons, I fought Krakens, and I prevailed against them all, and I also got to the end of the world". His eyes twinkled as he said this.
"There, I found the ultimate treasure of astral travelers".
"The treasure befitting of the King of astral travelers".
"I shall die today".
"I'm old now and the world is boring, my wish is for a more exciting world. I want to place my belief on the younger generation to take the mantle and birth the new King of astral travelers".
"Hehe…," He grinned.
"Fight, evolve, become the strongest, then get to the end of the world to get my ultimate treasure".
"This is my test".
After his speech, with a mischievous smile on his face, the Fate Destroying Emperor raised his staff and pointed it at himself.
Terrifying astral energy gathered at its tip even as the whole world watched.
"Granting our wish is one of fate's saddest jokes".
He laughed. "I believe in fate".
"I am the Fate Destroying Emperor!"
BOOM!
The door leading to the library was roughly pushed open as the patriarch surrounded with blazing astral energy rushed into the library aggressively ready to attack the intruder at the slightest opportunity.
Behind him was a group of shocked and panicking librarians.
The patriarch of the Brenden family was a middle-aged man with short black hair and sharp eyes. One look around the library and seeing Ramon was all he needed to know the full sequence of everything that happened.
This patriarch shook in rage as he looked at his son who looked back at him with eyes filled with fascination like he just saw the most amazing thing ever.
He clenched his fists. "What is the punishment?"
"24 s-strokes with the lightning lash". The head librarian stammered.
The patriarch closed his eyes. "Increase the punishment, after the lashes, Ramon will be dumped in the Swamp Forest for 3 days to reflect on his mistake".
"Y-yes, patriarch!"
The patriarch finally looked at his son again. "Do you even know why I'm about to punish you?"
Ramon looked up at his dad as his eyes twinkled like stars. "Patriarch! I want to be the King of astral travelers!"
BONK!
"You FOOL!"