After a short rest, Michael was awakened by the beeping of his watch communicator, a grumble almost escaped him until he saw the caller- his Mother, Tania.
With a light chuckle Michael sat on the bed, his annoyance fading, could one be really angry with their mother, well he wasn't with his.
"What's up Mum?", he answered through the holographic user interface.
" Open up I'm outside" a sweet dainty voice replied.
Everyone's compartment was synced to their watch , so he didn't need to open the door manually, with a simple voice command the room opened automatically.
Unlike his physically imposing and Giant father, human with long flowing hair and dark brown eyes, elegant and beautiful, it was really curious how such a dainty figure fell in love with Az.
Towards his mother, this 18 years old boy Michael wasn't so stern or "cool" as he was to the rest of the world.
Seeing a smile on her face Michael's face also involuntarily drew to a smile. Tania let out a light chuckle at this, this cute side of her usually stern son, few had seen it.
Sitting at the edge of the bed she asked him softly, " How confident are you about the battle rankings, do you feel any closer to awakening ? ".
To be honest Tania wouldn't really want to bother her son with this.
all deep Giant tradition of " strength and battle", she wasn't so inclined with all this.
Not that she wished her child to be weak, but above status, powers and other similar kinds of parameters she wished health, peace and wellbeing for him.
But since he couldn't avoid it, she wanted to help, no Giant especially nobility or Royalty could avoid this, it was through this brutal amd competitive environment the Giant spirit and blood blossomed and thrived.
" In terms of battle strength I'm okay, but in terms of realm or awakening... I'm not close Mum, I don't know what's wrong", Michael shook his head as he said.
Tania sighed, although Michael was quite strong in terms of battle strength, at least even some of his elder siblings couldn't defeat him in a fight, but to reach the age of maturity and still not awaken had some ramifications for him as a giant especially Royal.
From birth, not having the usually reddish orange pupils distinct to Royal or noble Fire Giant, there was already a bit of concern, even some gifted commoners could possibly, as it signified high concentration of fire giant blood energy.
But since he had always showcased sufficient and even exceptional giant strength they had assumed this was just probably a kind of rare mutation that caused different pupils.
Yet, to still not awaken 18.
Some very talented fire Giants could even awaken before 18, but none of sufficient bloodline lineage awakened later than 18.
Only less talented commoner giants with low bloodline lineage, possibly having digressed into normal giants and lacking elemental affinity, and powerful strength found in higher lineage giants showed this trait.
Some giants of normal birth ( commoners ) even had fire elemental affinity and possessed reddish orange pupils too, though not as brightly intense as their noble/royal counterparts.
Michael's case was very similar to a normal ordinary Giant, only his strength defied it, and of course as a Royal Scion his lineage was surely different from a normal giant.
Tania wasn't a weak cultivator, a sword master in her own right but she couldn't help feel possible guilt that probably the reason for his situation was her.
Maybe her human genes had diluted his giant lineage, or regression or mutation or something.
Yet that didn't make sense.
His father was a Royal fire giant Prince, and she herself was a high level cultivator, born form parents with immense life force, their child should have turned out fine right?, Al did turn out fine.
So then... what was the issue? No one knew.
From a very young age , Michael had been ostracized.
Even if he was able to stop physical bullying due to not being weak, could he stop the bullying impact of words?
Every sneer or snide remark that came his way.
And no matter how strong he was now at the Birth realm , could he face geniuses at the Awakening realm, what would happen when the gap between he and peers kept on widening, and his "True name" , Tania's heart really ached at all this.
Possibly having an inkling of his Mother's thoughts, Michael smiled, " What's there to be worried about, Mom, nothing is certain yet, if it comes to the worst I'll just leave the Fire Giant system after Imperial Grandfather's birthday.
It might not be a Royal one but I can live a normal and comfortable life elsewhere, I hope Mother can give me her blessings and support "
With a light chuckle he continued " don't forget to also keep tabs on me, even if I'm afar ".
With a smile yet her eyes teary Tania replied, " I won't" , sometimes having a matured child was a relief on parents , yet at times it was also saddening, certain burdens weren't good nor for younger ones to bear.
Afterwards spending a little time together Tania left.
Michael, feeling hungry, also left his room heading to the spacecraft's dining kitchen.
He had a monstrous appetite, eating even more than giants larger in size.
To compensate for this, he made a habit of eating high nutrient and energy value foods than extreme quantities.
He could have had a maid or even a service bot bring him his meal but sometimes, somethings, he liked to do them himself.
They were already approaching the Fire Giant World.
From outside the window he could already see different huge and luxurious spacecrafts on their route, some from emissaries, nobles and even some from other Princely houses making their way to the Imperial Stargate.
Michael had planned to spend the remaining time eating and relaxing.
Until his watch communicator beeped again 30 minutes into his meal.
This time, it was his Father.
He was being summoned to the study.
As a massive royal-class aircraft, their spacecraft was practically a floating home with countless apartments, battle stations, training grounds, a huge library and many others.
finishing the large roasted beast leg he had been gnawing on, Michael wiped his hands and made his towards the study.
Unlike the sleek electromagnetic doors of the spacecraft, the study had large wooden doors.
Knocking lightly, he waited until he heard his Father's response before entering.
Although it was called a study, it was more than just a reading room, it had a library filled with rows of books and another section had rows of different weapons stored in racks. Across a large table Az Fire sat holding a parchment, reading, Michael bowed lightly and waited.
Then for a moment AZ simply stared at him, silent. Then at last he spoke:
" Choose a weapon and battle technique as you please ".
Michael blinked in surprise.
" Your elder siblings did the same when they came of age ".
Still slightly caught off guard, Michael bowed lightly and turned towards the shelves of books.
Moving across the rows of books, Michael came across different techniques.
As a royal Prince Az had a wide array of combat and cultivation techniques of different kinds and grades.
For Michael, this was a very novel and fascinating experience, the only other cultivation technique he had come in contact with was a basic energy manual from his mother.
Broadening his understanding, despite his father's gaze on him, Michael took his time.
Before they awakened Giant didn't practice any cultivation or evolution technique, the Birth realm was simply a period of strength and physical growth for them, where they relied solely on raw strength, fists and physique in battle.
Noble and Royal descendants strictly followed this unwritten rule, only transitioning to weapons after they came of age.
By all means without awakening, Michael couldn't use an evolution technique, as only the Giant spirit could circulate Giant cultivation techniques.
in a sense, true giant cultivation began after awakening.
This was why he didn't expect anything, he had already turned 18 a few months back but didn't receive anything until now, unlike his other siblings who received cultivation and battle techniques with weapons upon awakening.
Hence his surprise.
Looking at the vast array of techniques and even Unity Force realm techniques all Michael did was read.
Each technique had a description of its intricacies and features on a small tablet in front.
Michael didn't think his father didn't have above the Force realm techniques but since this was all there was here, then this was what he wanted him to see.
Such a vast array of books, a vast array of knowledge, although he couldn't grasp everything, he learnt as much as he could.
Even beyond combat techniques and evolution techniques, he looked through other miscellaneous books.
Some books described the divisions of the Universe, some talked of races, Powerhouses, objects, treasures, wonders and all sorts of things, he couldn't read them all but he skimmed through the ones he could but placing his focus Combat techniques, since he was there to choose a combat technique.
After looking at the combat technique from the highest grade to lowest , he went to the corner and sat crosslegged contemplating.
For the first time since Michael started looking through the library, Az let out a deep amused laugh.
Az really found him amusing, from the beginning he had just kept on watching Michael, his other siblings hadn't placed much focus on other things, placing their entire attention on the highest grade techniques they could find, might!, typical giant like.
Az didn't think they were wrong, at all, what was wrong with that.
He just found Michael's antics amusing..
From almost skimming through the whole library including what would be uninteresting to kids his age, to sitting down in contemplation before choosing.
Michael's face twitched to his father's laughing, blushing a bit in shame.
He couldn't help himself, his curious nature, although he knew he had spent a while but since his father didn't stop him, he kept on.
Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes to concentrate, Az also stopped laughing at, just looking.
For Michael, all techniques were distillation of Predecessors knowledge created by their experiences and insights. And powerful ones were created by powerful cultivators containing more extraordinary perspectives of the universe and superior capabilities and potentiality.
A good or better technique mattered a lot, and could be what set apart one from others , offering far numerous advantages to one, even beyond those of similar realms.
But the best combat technique for him was the one that suited him the most and could grow with him. Compatibility and growth potential, it didn't even have to be a technique of high or very high grade standards.
He believed that what was best for him was what was strongest for him.
After a bit of time he stood up and walked to an inconspicuous corner and pulled out a book.
Not looking back, he walked towards the weapons section.