Hundreds of Miles away, somewhere deep inside the Hawkstone Valleys on mainland Netheria, a massive compound was present at a private property, built to stay hidden from the eyes of people.
Inside that compound was life. Hundreds of children and young adults were out in the front yard at 4 am, and their voices as they sharply exhaled their breath after every move they performed, travelled far into the surroundings.
The sun had not risen yet, and there was a young man, seemingly in his early twenties, sitting on the steps as his vacant eyes watched his fellow Sect members perform their morning exercises. And in his mind were questions, some of which had been haunting him for the last three weeks.
The young man's name was Kylian Dusk, the younger son of the Sect Master of the Sect of Dusk, and the last month of his life had been filled with nothing but humiliation.
At first, he had been reluctant to even return home when his father bailed him out. But there was nothing left for him in Arkton City. Part of the deal was that he would no longer live like a civilian and would stay out of sight.
The life he had built for himself was gone like a fleeting dream. The friends he made had disappeared one after the other, and after hearing his mother's voice for the first time in years, he could not hold back his emotions and lowered his head to his father.
The first few days of his life had been fine, the most peaceful he had spent in the last few weeks, but then life played a joke on him again.
On the fourth day of his return, his mother fell sick, and her condition worsened over the next few days.
It turned out that it was the same sickness that had gripped his younger sister several months ago. Something that was considered incurable until Hadrian took a gamble and took their younger sister, who was also his wife, to an expert in the outside world.
The sickness that was considered incurable was defeated, and the life of the young lady and the child in her womb was saved, something the entire clan was grateful for.
The Elders planned on seeking that Expert's help again, but Kylian stepped forward, having observed the state of his mother, realising how much pain she was in, and not willing to let her go through it for a few more days.
Being confident as he was, he refused to listen to the Elders and his father who wanted to wait for the Miracle Doctor and decided to help his mother by operating on her, assuring everyone that he could do it.
He was very confident in his abilities, but once he started operating, he realised that it was beyond the scope of his expertise even if he could see whatever was happening to her. His mind went blank and he froze, which further deteriorated the health of his mother, throwing her in even more pain.
Luckily, he managed to regain composure and helped stabilise her state a little, but he knew that she had even less time to live than she had before.
Hadrian could not hold himself back when he watched his little sister, who was also his wife and heavily pregnant, crying as she witnessed the pain her mother was in.
She had gone through it, so, she understood it better than anyone else, and she could tell that after Kylian operated on her, their mother was in more pain than ever. And in her depressed state of mind, she could not contain her emotions and grabbed Kylian, yelling at him in front of everyone that his foolishness would cost them their mother's life.
After being driven by guilt, Kylian accidentally pushed her away, causing her to tumble. Luckily, Hadrian saved her, and he went straight for his brother's neck, not holding back on the emotions he had been suppressing for the last couple of days.
Kylian felt his heart constrict as he recalled the scene where he engaged in an all-out battle with his brother, who was much stronger than him, and he still felt the bruises on his body ache and remind him that he had lost.
Yes, his mind was not clear during the fight, but the truth was that he had lost to the man whom he wanted to defeat in order to be acknowledged. But his brother now looked down on him even more, and his already estranged relationships were more estranged now.
Last night, he had stayed seated outside his mother's cottage, listening to her crying in pain and begging for death. And there was nothing he could do about it.
The morning exercises in the yard ended as the first rays of the sun illuminated the sky, and it was then that he subconsciously looked at the gate of the compound and found three figures approaching it.
He had seen them even before they arrived, and he had recognised them immediately. It was none other than the Heir of the Demiliore Family, who he had met a few weeks ago, and with him was his bodyguard, whom he knew was his Shadow, and the last person was his beautiful maid.
Kylian was just about to get up and walk to the gate to open it for them when Hadrian rushed past him rather frantically and opened to door for Keith before the guards could stop the three strangers and question them.
"Master Demiliore!" The tall young man, who was nearly seven feet tall with the same curly brown hair and blue eyes as Kylian, bowed to him.
"Hadrian." He smiled. "I would like to see the patient right away."
His words were straightforward and he did not bother about pleasantries, which made the young man revere him even more.
"This way, Masted Demiliore." He immediately bowed again and then lead him towards the cottage of his stepmother, who was also his mother-in-law.
As they walked right past Kylian, who was standing there in a confused state, Keith did not even look at the man. And it was the same for the two ladies who did not acknowledge his presence either.
It was not something that disturbed him, because his mind was confused and trying to piece things together.
And then he was shocked when he realised that the Miracle Doctor Hadrian felt so indebted to was none other than Keith Argus Demiliore.
Instead of being relieved that his mother could now be saved, the first feeling that hit him was a wave of envy as he realised that Keith was even younger than him, and was probably way more skilled than him in Medicine.
When he finally sobered up, he immediately walked toward his mother's cottage.
"Stop right there, Kylian." Hadrian placed a hand on his shoulder and stopped him in his steps when he was about to enter the cottage.
"She's my mother." Kylian clenched his fists and gravely said, which made his older brother frown.
"Stay here. You must not disturb the doctor." He clearly said, and before Kylian could retort, their father and little sister arrived there together with some Elders of the Sect.
"What's going on?" Their father frowned when he found his sons locking their eyes again.
"The doctor is inside and treating Mother Bella, and Kylian is finding it hard to stay put and not disturb the treatment."
"You!"
"Enough!" The aged man with a scar on his left eye, who was one of the Sect Elders, gravely said, stopping Kylian from pushing his brother away. "You will stay here with us, Kylian."
There was no room for objection in his voice, and both the young men respectfully lowered their heads and obediently stood where they were.
The old man was not an ordinary person but was the strongest in their Sect. He had been around for over a hundred years now.
No one knew how strong he was but Kylian, and he could see that the old man was already beyond the limits of a man in the Spirit Profound Realm.
Some days, the Aura inside his body would simply vanish, and when it would return, it would be more ferocious than ever.
It was a very strange and mysterious phenomenon, and it was something that piqued Kylian's interest a lot when he returned home and saw through the strength of this old man named Bal.
And right now, he felt even more helpless at being so pathetically weak. Inadvertently, he looked inside the cottage and found the two ladies standing at the door whilst Keith operated on his mother with a very strange technique.
He could see the change inside his mother's body, but he could not understand or see what Keith was doing and how he was doing it.
He frowned as he tried to see through the strength of the three of them, but just like before, his powers were simply not working on them.
Everyone frowned as they found Kylian looking at the cottage with strange expressions on his face. There was no worry on his face anymore, just some displeasure and confusion, and it earned him more dislike from his younger sister.
"Do not doubt the Miracle Doctor. He's far better than you. Mother will be fine now." She confidently said, and Kylian nodded to her words before lowering his head and gritting his teeth.
Why did everyone look down on him so much?
Kylian vowed in his heart that he would make them all eat their words one day. So what if he was not as good a doctor as Keith today? Tomorrow was a new day.
