As he closes his eyes and his back rests on the chair, Aren's mind starts to spin on various thoughts. The upcoming week would have been the inauguration of a new line of transports that he worked on. Clean and reusable energy from emblems will fuel those high-speed vehicles, helping millions of people on moving around the world and connecting the continents for the first time.
After repeating his speech in his mind a couple of times, Aren decided to take a break.
It's a Voiday morning, on the thirty-first of Zephiris, the cold season will officially end tomorrow, he has the responsibility to check if someone needs him in the throne room before heading out for a walk.
⁂
Exiting his studio he walks on the hallway of the palace, where paintings of his ancestors are displayed in a chronological order, from the older to the most recents which are his parents' ones.
One thing remained unchanged, the Valoria clan's blood remained strong, all of them sporting silvery hair and eyes with a very bright grey colour, very hard to be unnoticed. He often looked at all of his ancestors observing the uncanny resemblance with himself, not only the aesthetic one but the expressions in their faces. People call them 'The House of natural born leaders', but for Aren that is the natural result of a very lucky good set of genes and a lot of hard work.
Aren has now a very similar age to his father's in the painting. Two hundred years, given or taken, but on the appearance he would resemble a normal forty years old adult, shaving his beard would have taken even more years, and that's why he decided to grow one in recent years. This is one of the perks of his bloodline, the strongest clan of rulers, gifted by strength and longevity, health and prowess to whatever fields they wanted to focus on, no matter if it's combat, sports, science or politics, the House of Valoria always delivered.
On the other side of the corridor there are the queens, each one of them facing the partner, equally important as the kings, as their royal tradition wants.
Aren's panting was still missing, despite having already a spot reserved, he ascended to the throne ten years ago, but he didn't know yet what to request. He wanted something simple, and as a tradition, each king and queen would have added in the background something representing their passion. As a kid he believed that those details were showing some kind of personal trait to his ancestors that he would fantasise of. His favourites were Queen Cleo with all of her beloved dogs, King Lyre sporting his collection of swords won on duels, his father King Drake who has a lot of maps of the worlds and globes, indicating his passion for adventure and exploring, and his mom who was painted on a theatre stage with an orchestra which reminded her that she was a fierce warrior but also a famous singer. The fun part is that Aren's passion was painting itself, he loved sketching since he was a child, and he even thought about painting his own portrait but he decided to postpone the matter since there was no urgency for that.
His parents were still alive, due the times of peace they didn't have to wait to put him on the throne, they took their chance once he was at the right age to let him lead the empire. He did not find a partner yet, somehow despite his long lifespan he didn't meet yet anyone who caught his attention permanently, but only some sort of flirtations or passionate short-lived adventures.
⁂
Once he reached the throne room a group of guards greeted him. There were ten guards all of them at a Champion rank, with their captain ranked as Ascendant, standing closer to the throne.
Not that the king and the queen would need that much of a protection, due the centuries of peace that the Valoria dynasty has brought, no one was holding a grudge on them, but even in the extreme case that someone would be able to pass the palace defences, breach into the throne room and defeat the guards including the captain, the main obstacle would be the royal family itself.
Every person sitting on the throne undergoes a very long and severe training in various arts of combat, strategy, and physical activities that would place them in the Archon rank, which makes them practically among the legendary beings on the planet.
There was a time where the combat skills of the royal family has been used to stop conflicts or protect from cataclysm, as this is one of the duties of a ruler, to protect their people from everything, but luckily enough those days were long gone, but the training was still needed despite the peace.
Aren approached the throne, but as he was going to sit down he changed his mind and walked towards one of the huge windows. He opened it and the spectacle was breathtaking. The room was placed on top of a tower that was facing the whole city.
The season is changing, what a perfect timing, he thought while contemplating the view.
A very lively city where a lot of people from many races and countries gathered together to make their dreams come true. The city was noisy but at the same time the room was so high that everything sounded loud and soft at the same time. The month of Verdahn was coming, with its full greenery as nature awakened once again.
"Your Majesty," a person carrying a tablet, came into the room looking for the king.
"Val! What an amazing day, don't you think?".
Valerie was the family advisor, she apparently served under three generations, she looked around her sixties but everyone suspected that she was around a thousand years old, but no one ever dared asking her age, neither any king or queen.
Her rank was also unknown but there was a rumour that her longevity came from the fact that she is a distant relative of the royal family, and that's how her name sounded like the royal name, but again, no one even tried to ask.
"The city is indeed pretty much alive, the preparations for the inauguration are following the plans according to your calculations. All the routes are ready to be open at your signal"
"What about our guests overseas? Are they still coming?"
"We just received the confirmation from the other five reigns. It seems like all the five Royal families will be gathering here without any issue".
They really made me us wait until the last minute, but at least it was worth it
A soft smile was visible under Aren's beard. There were a total of Six reigns, ruled by the most powerful royal families on the planet, also historically known as the Six Dragons.
It took so much time to reunite those families, it was the work of generations over generations of Valoria kings and queens, that tried to help and reconcile those families once reunited for a bigger cause, and that time drifted apart.
Aren's reign was at its beginnings but the innovative vision of the king allowed the put together the all the best minds of all the reigns and create something unique. He was really proud of it and couldn't wait more to celebrate this new era.
"This has to be perfect. Our reigns will be finally united".
"It is going to be, Your Majesty. How are you feeling these days? There is no need to overwork, everything is going according to the planning".
"I know, I am just so excited that...".
For a moment Aren felt a little dizzy, it was just an instant but this wasn't the first time. He felt something in his head for the last months, but he wasn't sure if it was just stress.
"Your Majesty? Do you want me to call the doctor?"
"No need for that. Thank you, Val. It was just a brief moment, I should probably rest my eyes".
Val seemed worried but she knew her king and that nothing would have stopped him overworking anyway.
Aren excused himself to Val and the guards as he went straight to the training facility of the palace, a complex built under the building, so deep that it would be hard to access it without being noticed.
⁂
The royal outfit was folded and placed on a bench, his reflection on the mirror was showing scars that were hidden before. The ones on his back were pretty big, they were given by some wild creatures from a land far from the city, while his arms were covered in cuts, probably from the enemies's blades or some sharp claws from some beast, at this point he wasn't keeping tabs on his injuries, as long as he was still alive.
After changing into his training clothes, a compression shirt made of a breathable fabric and a pair of comfortable sweatpants, you could see how his body was built perfectly, muscles that he shaped individually, to adapt to any situation, and probably withstand the power of his emblem.
Since he was young, he was taught to follow a specific training routine and now it has become such an important part of his day. He started the routine by running some laps while wearing an elevation training mask, and a vest full of weights. Then doing some free climbing, trying to use only his arms. His body was still at its peak and it would have been like that for another century at least, thanks to the Valoria bloodline.
After warming up his body, he started to interact with a panel on the wall, the system activated and a series of faceless mechanical dummies came into the room marching like a small army.
He took a sword from the wall full of weapons, and as soon as the dummies were all in their position, then finally training started.
[TRAINING SYSTEM ENGAGED: LEVEL CHAMPIONS]
The digital voice echoed in the room through some speakers on the roof. The dummies resembled vaguely big humanoids, being able to walk normally and capable of using various weapons if programmed to do so.
Aren unsheathed his sword and started to attack first. Each dummy was moving independently and very rapidly, but his footwork made him too unpredictable to be hit. All he did was keep his side in check from any attack, and whenever their guard dropped, he went for the hit, landing multiple slashes and making them all fall on the ground.
[EMBLEMS ACTIVATION]
The dummies stood up again, but this time from their chests some symbols started to appear and shine. They had a very beautiful design and Aren was able to recognise all of them.
Here they come, you better not disappoint me, a glimpse of excitement was very visible from his face, the king always loved good challenges.
The first dummy was using a water emblem, its manifestation was shaped as a snake, glowing with a blue light, allowing it to materialise a water whip. He avoided the hits, despite the snake-like movements.
He deflected every lash with the sword, calculating exactly every angle based on the curving of the whip.
Unfortunately a dummy came from behind with a flying kick, making him lose the sword. Aren jumped away to avoid being surrounded, and with a very fast reaction he started to channel his energy.
"Celestial Cry!", from his chest a rune shaped like a dragon's head but with a bright colour started to glow and a bow made of light appeared on his hands.
As soon as he lifted his hand, a string of light appeared along an arrow fully made of light. As he released the arrow, its speed was so fast that a hole appeared on the center of the dummy's chest, turning it instantly off, right after the arrow vanished.
This time two dummies summoned two other emblems, the earth golem and the iron wolf.
"Different elements but both physical!" said Aren thinking out loud.
In that case the bow disappeared as he screamed "Blinding Requiem plus Dawnpiercer". On his left side a huge shield materialised from the light, blocking a dummy that was throwing giant rock shaped as hands at him. The shield was able to repel the punches but the other dummy was running toward the open spot from behind.
A very intricate spear appeared right before the enemy reached, allowing him to keep distance from the other dummy that grew long metal claws while also accelerating.
As he lifted the shield over his head, a glow expanded from it and the whole area around him got covered by a transparent structure, which was blocking all the attacks from all sides.
As he waits for the right moment, he calculates every pattern they are following and when all the enemies are taking a step back to charge, he instantly makes the barrier disappear and the spear of light becomes so long that he is able to hit everyone by rotating it around him.
The other dummies' emblems didn't even had the time to activate properly before being hit as well.
"Not bad... I need to remember to ask for an increase of the difficulty for the next time"
Usually fighting a group of Champion ranks would be challenging, but for a king this was pretty much doable. But what makes the royal family standing above the others is their Prime emblem, the Bright Dragon.
He inherited the Bright Dragon emblem from his father, and this got passed from generation to generation, giving to the user the control of the light. Each generation passed their techniques to the next one, polishing, perfecting and building the use of it from user to user.
Aren will always remember learning from his mother how to shape the light into weapons while his father was focusing on teaching him how to control the energy and use it to fortify himself.
After a meditation session to relax his body and mind, he felt that it was enough to feel satisfied for the day, before heading to take a shower and go back to his studio.
⁂
It was late at night but he couldn't fall asleep, and so he thought that he could spend some time painting the view from his window. He started it some days before, because he loved the view with lights from the city. He wanted to frame the city now, before it would grow and evolve into something different.
While he was brushing the sky, he saw a falling star, it wasn't the first time that he saw one, the view from his room gifted him with many sights, but in that specific moment he felt like the brush needed to capture that view, and so he did, he captured it in his painting.
The king was finally tired, and as he went to be, he managed to fall asleep immediately.
"Wake up..." the voice said.
"Wake up Aren..." continued.
"Wake up!" This time the king opened his eyes, he had never had this kind of dream before, and he couldn't give a face to the voice calling him.
My mind is clearly playing some sort of tricks, I should get ready.
It was already morning so he got out of bed, and went straight to get ready.
His reflection on the mirror seemed fine, he didn't seem to have any sign of fever or injury from the training, but suddenly the sense of dizziness came back again while looking at his own face.
The Bright Dragon emblem on his chest started to glow for a few seconds, before stopping.
"What is happening to me..." he tried to think, but nothing in his memory could help him give him an answer.
Once he felt more stable, he decided to get ready and see if taking some fresh hair would have helped, and if it wasn't enough then a visit to the doctor would have been his next step.
After he got dressed he went for a walk in the palace's garden. Nothing was different in the palace, the guards were in their posts while the weather seemed pretty good.
While Aren was living his daily routine, someone was observing him from far, cold eyes were locked into observing the king's movements, and among everyone in the area, they were the only ones that noticed the Bright Dragon emblem shining briefly. Not even the king himself was aware of it, but once the Aren was far enough to be not visible anymore, the figure revealed herself to be Val.
"There is not much time left. Activate procedure."
[SYSTEM ACTIVATED - KING'S RETURN LOADING... ]
[WARNING - PROCEDURE IRREVERSIBLE - DO NOT TURN OFF]
"I hope it is not too late, Your Majesty".