Duke Ashthorne was a man of unquestionable reverence who stood at the peak of the Awakened.
He was a Duke and head of one of the most prestigious families in Dawnflame Kingdom second only to the King's family, the Dawnflames, located in Dawnhaven City.
Duke Ashthorne was one of the 8 Inner Skies.
The 8 Inner Skies represented the eight undisputed most terrifying beings within Dawnflame Kingdom. Whenever they fought, there would only be a path of destruction where even the terrain would become permanently reshaped or even completely flattened.
Not all the 8 Inner Skies were tied to families like Duke Ashthorne was, some were wanderers that freely travelled the lands and avoided human affairs.
Any one of the 8 Inner Skies could alter the entire dynamics and landscape of the east.
The reason why there were only 8 Inner Skies was because there were only eight different types of essences, the most powerful Awakened that wielded their respective essence would become one of the 8 Inner Skies.
Duke Ashthorne was the Inner Skies who commanded the power of Darkness. He was the strongest when it came to wielding the essence of Darkness.
His essence core grade is believed to be the legendary violet gold.
Duke Ashthorne had two lovers in his life, the first Lisandra and second named Aerith.
He had a total of four children, two of them were currently standing in front of him, Maxwell and Elias.
Maxwell and Elias were sons of the Duke's second lover, Aerith, who passed away directly after the twins were born.
There were 5 months left until the start of the first year at Dawn Academy.
Elias Ashthorne, a young boy with clear brown eyes and black hair with a height around 3 feet 9 inches tall and a slightly above average build uncommon for a 12 year old. His slanted eyebrows were characteristic of his father, Duke Ashthorne. His traits were similar to his father's, carrying a dignified aura wherever he went, despite his age.
His eyes revealed an innocent yet determined look as he stared back and forth between his father and the essence stone, his mind racing with thoughts.
'I need to become an Awakened with a high grade essence core, otherwise all my efforts in studying and training up until now will have been a waste. It would be best to awaken the Darkness essence like my father.' Elias determinedly said.
I slowly peeked to my left towards Maxwell, his twin brother, 'I need to be able to be strong enough to help Maxwell.'
Maxwell Ashthorne, being the twin brother of Elias was expected to exhibit similar characteristics to his brother, however he could be said to be directly the opposite.
Maxwell had a pale skin tone with dark eye bags and messy hair, his life force seemed like it was dwindling with every passing moment. Maxwell had a physically frail body from birth, a polar opposite to Elias. Although he was the quieter one of the two, he always showed kindness and had a sharper intellect, family members praised him to have a mind fit for a leader.
Duke Ashthorne tried his hardest to find a cure for Maxwell over the past 12 years, searching far and wide across the continent, paying exorbitant prices for Awakened specialized in the Light and Water essences and using rare Essence Treasures but they all resulted in fruitless endeavours.
My heart pulled with a tinge of guilt whenever I looked at Maxwell.
Elias always felt it was his fault that Maxwell was born so sickly whereas he was born with vigor.
I watched as my father called the first child up towards the essence stone to awaken his essence. I remember who he was, Fred Ashthorne. He was the one unnecessarily bickering and called me a brat earlier.
'I don't really care about him.'
As I was having these thoughts about him, as if hearing what I was saying, Fred turned his head as he was walking and stared into my eyes.
I stared right back.
"A bastard son like you has no right."
...
...
I understood what he said. It was barely audible but I could see it with his mouth movement. I've heard that phrase many times in my life.
Just because I heard that phrase many times doesn't mean it doesn't affect me anymore. It did affect me. It always has.
I haven't met my mother, Aerith, and I couldn't - because she died when I was born.
Fred's tactics to provoke me had worked.
It took all my willpower to not rush up and deliver a well-deserved punch to his face.
As always, I calmed down.
I couldn't slander the reputation of the main branch because of some kid, in front of all these distinguished guests.
Duke Ashthorne of course heard what Fred had said, he narrowed his eyes but in the end, said nothing.
I continued watching the Essence Awakening Ceremony, ignoring what Fred said, as I've always done.
I watched as Fred placed his palm onto the surface of the essence stone and closed his eyes.
After some time, his body emanated a faint earthy brown hue resembling the essence of Earth. Tiny strings of earth intertwined and pulsated out of his body before quickly diffusing into the environment.
"Gold." Duke Ashthorne evaluated.
Waves of astonishment rose amongst the children and even the some adults became delighted. Gold!
"The first one has such a rare grade! The future of our Ashthorne family looks promising."
"He will bring glory for the Ashthorne family at Dawn Academy."
This meant his essence core was a gold grade, one only seen once of every 30 people! He was definitely a top tier talent amongst this generation. He would stand proud even within Dawn Academy where the best gathered!
Even I was quite surprised.
Fred opened his eyes with a wide grin on his face, and looked at me without saying anything. It was as if he had already won. He was extremely proud of his gold grade.
One by one the children evaluated their essence type and essence core grades.
...
...
Majority of the children became Awakened with silver grades and there were even some gold grades. They all awakened with varying types of essences.
There was not a single person who awakened with a bronze grade. The Ashthorne family had a high talent pool, perhaps it was within their bloodline.
But there was one prospect that makes all others pale in comparison.
Sylvie Ashthorne.
A young girl with large, round glasses and light green hair who was famous within the Ashthorne family due to her intelligent nature. Sylvie wore a plain white dress with the Ashthorne insignia embroidered on the top.
Sylvie was expected to join the scholarly departments after graduating from Dawn Academy but her Essence Awakening showed she also had extremely high talent as an Awakened so she has potential to join the frontlines against the threats of Dawnflame Kingdom.
Her awakening caused an uproar, she had become an Awakened specializing in the Wind essence with a dark gold grade!
Her awakening even caused the air to tremble as if nature was bowing towards her new birth.
Sylvie having a dark gold grade which was only seen once every 2000 people within Dawnflame Kingdom signified she had an extremely bright future. Even within the Ashthorne family this was rare.
The crowd could not hide their astonishment. She had unlimited potential!
She had high enough potential where if she was just left to grow in the future she would easily become strong enough to become the head of one of the family's branches.
Who knew if that's where her potential stops.
Even Duke Ashthorne was surprised, the first time since his appearance.
....
"Maxwell Ashthorne."
It was now my brothers turn to carry out his Essence Awakening. I turned towards my brother as he headed for the stage, with slow steps and uneven breathing.
Instantly, murmurs spread within the crowd.
"He's too weak."
"He's an inferior version compared to his brother. He can't become the new leader of our family like that."
"It's a shame he was born with such a body. I doubt his essence core is even large enough."
Duke Ashthorne didn't say anything to their comments. He knew this was the nature of the world.
Maxwell slowly placed his hands onto the surface of the essence stone with an intense focus. Flashbacks of his life played back in slow motion, remembering the gazes of the Awakened in the crowd, yet he did not stop.
'I shall make all those who looked at me like that suffer.'
...
....
When he placed his hands on the surface of the essence stone, the surrounding area in Triplume City within a 5 mile radius was enveloped in a fog of intense darkness.
It was as if the god of darkness descended onto the mortal world.
Dark clouds were caving in towards the center where Maxwell stood in a spiralling fashion like a vortex as if there an invisible force that was slowly pulling the clouds into a single point, engulfing the clear blue skies.
The air transitioned from its serenity to a heaviness that bore down on everyone inside the 5 mile radius. Some children couldn't breathe properly due to the pressure and let out exasperated breaths.
Only Duke Ashthorne and the Awakened within the estate could react to the sudden changes.