In the headmaster's room, an old man dressed in elegant azure robes was sitting behind a desk while reviewing some scrolls.
*Knock...knock*
"Yes, you can come in."
As the door opened, a sapphire-haired beauty entered elegantly as the doors closed behind her.
Leon Xeton's eyes moved, and he got up with a warm expression on his face, "Little Reva, what brings you here? How was your first class? Take a seat."
Reva sighed as she sat down, "Uncle Leon, the class went fine. But that boy called Damien is so…"
Leon Xeton narrowed his gaze as he took a seat, "Is what?"
Reva shook her head, "It's just that he was not at all as I imagined. He is so cocky, arrogant, impudent, and…"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Leon Xeton chuckled, "Haha, seems like he made quite an impression on you for you to describe him so vividly. Boys his age tend to be arrogant, especially when their talent is extraordinary. Can you not expect him to show some arrogance when he was born with a Lightning seed and the ability to even defeat opponents a whole realm higher than him?"
Reva furrowed her brows, "But he is also coming from the Rong Empire. I thought he would be a humble and modest boy as he should know the difference between our empires. If he shows too much arrogance, he would only get himself in trouble. I can't believe the one we are looking for is him. On the first day of the class itself, he questioned me whether I am fit to be his teacher."
Reva had an aggrieved expression and poured out her complaints to Leon Xeton as if he was her father.
Leon Xeton raised one of his brows, "Oh? He seems interesting. To think that he would behave so impudently with you as you said. I am sure he knew of your status. Either he is a simpleton or someone with schemes. If he is not a fool, I am sure he is being arrogant because he is confident of himself or confident enough by having something to rely on. Such people don't do things without reason. I think he might have tried to probe you."
Reva had a perplexed expression, "Probe me?"
Leon Xeton nodded, "Yes. It's just my speculation, but I think that he wanted to find out your nature or how you would respond to his provocation."
Reva knitted her brows and asked, "But why? What is he after? You did check his background, right?"
Reva knew that Leon Xeton was probably right as he had lived for centuries and has a good understanding of human interactions. After all, his main job was dealing with various kinds of people from different places and origins.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Reva felt that Damien tried to probe her not because he was in love with her or had a crush on her but because of some other reason. She had asked Leon Xeton about his background to verify whether he was someone with a hidden goal.
Leon Xeton had an inscrutable smile as he said, "Of course I did. And do you know the interesting fact that I found out?"
Reva had a blinking expression, "What is it?"
"He was the personal servant of the Celestial Princess...Lily Rong."
Reva's eyes widened as she said in a low voice, "That can't be...it doesn't make sense. From what I have heard, she is not the kind of person to take in a boy as her personal servant. If it were just as an ordinary servant, then it would have made more sense. And why would he even be her servant? He has such extraordinary talent that he could have easily got himself recruited into some reputed family and have a glorious life. I am sure in the Rong Empire, he would have been hailed as the number one genius along with Lily Rong."
"Wait...you still haven't heard another shocking fact. While he was her servant, he was a cripple! My sources say that his ethereal core points were destroyed beyond repair which not even the most genius doctor in the world could treat."
Reva leaned forward with a confounded expression. Her forehead puckered as she said, "Uncle Leon, are you really sure he was a cripple? No...I guess that makes sense how no one knew about his Lightning seed or his extraordinary prowess. But if that's the case, how was he able to cultivate again? And was he simply Lily Rong's personal servant or something more? I am sure she was not taken in by his pretty face. She must know something we don't know. It seems that there is more to him than what he shows. Is this why 'He' told us that Damien is the one we are looking for?"
Leon Xeton said with a thoughtful expression, "Maybe there is something he is hiding or maybe not. You should know that these are just merely rumors without any substantial proof. Maybe Damien wasn't a cripple or was pretending to be for his own reasons. Maybe Lily Rong took pity on him and took him in as her personal servant because she saw something in him. I will dig deeper and see which family he is coming from because I am quite sure that there is no family with the name 'Godwin' on this continent. What if he is from the 'outside'? Maybe that can also be one of the reasons 'He' told us about him."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Reva's eyes flashed as she said in a slightly expectant tone, "Probably. Because I think 'Godwin' is not a name he simply made up. If everything goes well, then things would be looking good for us.."
"I also forgot to mention that his Lightning seed does not seem to be ordinary. According to the records of the last known Lightning seed practitioner, a Lightning seed will only produce dark blue lightning streaks. But Damien's was a bright purple, which makes me think that his Lightning seed is special. Probably why his talent is so extraordinary, then I guess his parents must be extraordinary as well. More than we imagine and probably more powerful than even the emperor."
Reva raised her brows, hearing his words. She knew how powerful her father was and also the fact that he was the most powerful practitioner in the whole continent—someone who could cover the whole continent with his palm.
"So, what are you going to do about him?"
Reva's azure eyes narrowed as she said, "For now, I will just observe him. But I am also intrigued about the origins of the girl called Valentina. 'He' told me that she possessed the Blood seed and was a different form of my Water seed. I have never heard of such a seed, nor did I expect anyone here to have one like those. I feel like she is also someone from the 'outside'."
Leon Xeton stroked his beard, "Hmm, probably. But we can't delve too much into her. She is, after all, the personal disciple of Alchemist Azrael. For now, we will just do what we should do and focus on Damien."
——-
It was evening when Damien and Valentina were roaming the streets with her hugging his arm. Many heads turned, and by now, almost everyone knew who the exotic rosy pink-haired girl was even if she hadn't worn the azure token around her neck.
Some even knew that the boy Valentina was hugging onto was the newly joined Elite disciple, Damien, who possessed the mythical Lightning seed.
Looking from afar, people felt like they were a perfect couple made for each other and looked so good together. However, most youngsters, especially the men, didn't hold the same opinion as they started at Damien with green faces.
"Big Brother, was what I did wrong? I wish I had gotten earlier, but many of those disciples were pestering me, and it took me a while to put them all down." Valentina asked with a worried face as she wondered if Damien got into a problematic situation because of her.
But she felt that even if she was faced with such a situation again, she would have probably done the same thing again.
Damien smiled, "Of course not. In fact, I am glad you want to protect me so much because I would have done the same for you. Now I know why your ethereal arts were named in such a way. You are the Protectress. No, you are my Protectress."
Valentina gave a beautiful smile hearing his words, and she liked how Damien titled her as his Protectress.
Damien wondered whether Luna included the term 'Protectress' in her ethereal arts because of Valentina's nature or for some other reason.
The duo had a nice time at a luxury inn where they peacefully celebrated their birthday. Damien heard from the conversations in the inn that an interesting play or stage drama was going to be held in the city square.
He asked Valentina if she was interested in watching it, and she nodded. Damien was curious to find out how the stage shows in this world were.
The two soon reached the center of the city square and saw many people had already taken their seats. There was a huge platform in the front where the play was going to be held.
Damien and Valentina paid for the expensive front row seats and had to pay extra as those seats were exclusive for rich people who came late.
A man came forward on the platform and spoke in a loud voice, "Welcome, everyone. Today we are going to stage a drama or a story about the history of our glorious Xeton Empire and see for ourselves how it stood the test of time and protected itself against invaders or rebels. Now, let the show begin!"
