Awakening Ceremony!
Chapter 2
The Azure Dragon Family occupied a a huge complex in the central part of the city. It's size was similar to several mansions put together. There were several buildings that were reserved as living quarters, others for training purposes as well as some for special occasions. Most of the young family members spend most of their time in the training buildings although some went outside to the forests and mountains nearby to train themselves against the magical beasts in the area.
The Dragon Den was the ceremonial hall of the Bellmont family where the young members of the family went to have their elemental affinity awaken by the Dragon Eye: A massive sapphire cut in the shape of a dragon's eye. Normally when a member of the family went through the awakening ceremony the ceremonial hall was packed with the family members and guests, if it was one of the children of the high ranking members of the family even more so.
However when Ambrose enters the Dragon Den the place barely had anybody attending, Anger coursed through his body and he could feel his ring heating up. He knew that he was the only member of the family that had not awakened his element but at least out of respect for his father they should have come.
He looked around and saw that only the eight elders of the family were present as well as his father and mother. Ambrose looked towards the first elder a man in his late sixties that was the one who poisoned the poor sap who used to have this body. He couldn't read anything on the man's face but he could imagine the man was shocked to see him alive and kicking.
The hall was entirely constructed of white marble and in the center of the room a blue dragon statue rested coiled around a massive sapphire cut in the shape of a dragon's eye. Now that he thought about it the naming sense of this family was a little odd.
From the memories of the previous owner he knew that the two times that he came into this hall were very traumatic for him. The first one he was an innocent kid full of hopes and dreams that were crushed when he didn't awaken his affinity then he suffered years of bullying and hardship as he trained harder and harder to not let his parents down. The second time he was jaded and determined to awaken his affinity only to have his efforts wasted.
Now knowing he had the sky flame inside him, Ambrose walked with a confident stride as if he owned the hall and didn't care what other people thought about him. At this moment he knelt in front of the Dragon Eye and waited for the elder in charge of the ceremony to begin.
The elders of the family had only come here out of obligation for the head of the family but who wanted to waste their time with a no good thrash that was only leeching the resources of the family that could be going to someone with more talent. That was the general thought among most of the elders.
Only the second elder who was in charge of all the ceremonial procedures, the fifth elder in charge of the family armory and weapons store and the seventh elder in charge of the family history showed some pity and compassion towards Ambrose and did not make his life more difficult than it already was. The other elders weren't wrong in their thinking, in a world where strength is the most important thing the weak get eaten and forgotten.
Markus looked at his son with pride as he walked into the room with the confidence he lacked before. It was good seeing his son like that; he was always so dispirited before due to his lack of affinity that he knew this was a heavy weight in his son's heart. His gaze landed on the Dragon Eye, you stupid rock you better work today or I will swear to break you into a million pieces.
The second elder stood up from his seat and walked slowly towards the Dragon Eye. Slow tendrils of frost covered the man as he walked forward. He stopped beside the head of the dragon and looked at the gathered people.
"We are hear today to witness the awakening of the elements within Ambrose Bellmont son of Markus and Julia Bellmont. I ask the gathered people to remain silent during this process. Ambrose Bellmont, rise and lay your hand upon the Eye."
Then the elder gathered his energy into a ball of cold frost before touching the head of the statue. The statue then started glowing a light blue from the tip of the dragon's nose where the second elder touched it to the tail. The white room was suddenly dazzling with blue lights as for the Eye, the jewel glowed with a dark blue light. No one dared to make a noise but the ridicule in their eyes said more than enough.
Ambrose ignored them all as he slowly stood up and walked towards the Eye. Confident and without any worry he raised his hand and placed it in the center of the eye before closing his eyes.
A foreign energy entered his body it was neither cold nor warm. He expected it to be cold from the ball of frost the elder inserted into the statue to activate it, but was surprised by it. The energy circled around his body before finding the flame paths of the sky flame; there the energy stopped before digging its way into the pathway and circled around his body along the the sky flame.
This surprised Ambrose but he didn't show it, from his previous memories he knew that in the previous ceremonies the energy had just traveled along his body before exiting. As the energy from the Eye traveled along the sky flame he felt his temperature starting to rise.
Unknown to Ambrose the heat that was rising from his body was being expelled across the cold room rising the temperature, the second elder was in shock as he was closest to Ambrose and had to take a step back. The other elders had risen to their feet with shock on their faces witnessing the scene. Markus was tightly holding the armrests of his chair worried for his son.
You stupid rock if something happens to my son, I'll turn you into dust. He cursed in his heart but kept a neutral face. He felt a hand rest upon his and noticed his wife's worried face.
"Ambrose is going to be okay." She said with utmost confidence in their son.
Markus smiled at his wife, she was one of the strongest fighters in the family and when it came to their only son she showed the fiercest protective instincts he had ever known. He grabbed her hand tightly. "He's our son, of course he will be okay."
Then they heard a collective gasp from the elders watching Ambrose. When they turned to look at their son they couldn't help but gasp themselves in surprise. Waves of intense heat were coming off their son, the marble floor beneath his feet had cracked and the heat showed no signs of stopping. The second elder had taken more than ten steps back due to the heat.
Just what was going on with this brat? That was the thought going through the whole room.
The heat waves suddenly died and everyone breathed a sigh of relief but soon they were caught by surprise again as another heat wave pulsed across the room hotter and stronger than the one before. Then on top of Ambrose's forehead a bright orange flame flared to life. A loud cracking sound was heard across the room and the elders looked at Markus who had broken the armrests of his chair as he stood up.
He couldn't believe it, the more he saw it the more he couldn't believed it. His son had finally awakened his attribute, it wasn't ice but fire and a very pure and unique fire. The flame that manifested in his son's forehead had a core that was pale orange in it, but it gradually become of a deeper shade in the area closer to its edges. Then his son opened his eyes and gave the room an even deeper shock. His son's previous blue eyes were the same color of the flame on his forehead.
Markus, like every elder, knew that when someone awakened their elemental affinity a manifestation of the element in question would be displayed; the stronger the affinity the person had with the element the more unique the elemental manifestation was. When he had undergone his own awakening everything in a two mile radius had been frozen.
Now his son who everyone regarded as trash had heated up the room so much everyone was sweating like pigs and the marble floor beneath him was cracked in a wide circle around him and the marble closest to him had melted. Shock and pride swelled in his heart, he looked around at the shocked expressions of the elders especially that trouble making first elder and couldn't help it anymore and released a booming laugh of pride.
Ambrose was shocked that the energy in the Dragon Eye had forced his dying will flame out but with out the actual support from either the dying will bullets or pills the manifestation lasted for less than a minute before the flame died out. Even the short time with the dying will flame he felt the strain on his body, so he knew he needed to train his body's strength. He lowered his hand from the Eye and waited for the elder's decree.
The second elder walked back towards the Eye, with every step a crunching noise was heard as he stepped on the broken marble. He then looked at Ambrose with respect and a little fear. The he noticed the Eye and saw a scorch mark on it in the shape of a hand.
By the gods, what kind of freak fire did this brat awaken?
He shook his head and cleared his throat. "The ceremony is over, Ambrose Bellmont has been awakened to the fire element let it's strength flow and enrich the Azure Dragon Family for generations to come. Please young master if you would be so kind as to wait outside the hall we will be with you shortly."
The second elder was not stupid, he knew that a hell storm was about to break loose and he wanted Ambrose away so the adults could come to terms with what had just happened. In the entire history of the Azure Dragon Family there hasn't been anyone awakened to fire before. The members of the family either awaken the ice element or a low minority awaken the water element which was an offshoot of the ice element.
A person inherited their elements from their parents there were some weird cases where an element that had been way up in the family tree were to awaken in someone of the younger generation. But both the Bellmont family and the Veric family where Ambrose parents hailed from were families where the ice affinity was at its strongest, with no hint of fire.
As soon as Ambrose walked out the door, pandemonium erupted in the hall as all the elders all started talking at once. It got so chaotic that Markus couldn't hear himself think, he noticed the second elder paled as he looked at the Eye. Markus stood up and walked towards the Eye, none of the elders noticed him standing too busy arguing among themselves.
He followed the elder's gaze and looked at the Eye, he felt his heart stop as his eyes landed on the scorch mark. Markus knew how strong the Dragon Eye was, even an attack from a General level warrior like him wouldn't leave so much as a scratch or dust mite on it. Yet his son caused this, what kind of freak flame was inside his son's body. His eye started twitching as the noise in the room escalated.
"If one more person speaks, I'll be glad to see them in the training arena." He didn't scream instead he spoke with an ice cold edge that sent a shiver down the spines of all the elders.
No one wanted to spar with a man who had become a General before the age of forty that training speed was monstrous and the elders knew it. Once everyone quieted down, he went back and sat down. No matter what, his son was his greatest pride and if these old geezers wanted to take his son apart they would first have to go through his mother... if she left anything then he will grind them into powder.
"I will listen to your opinions one at a time, starting with the first elder." He leveled his blue eyes against the man.
The first elder stood up with an arrogant look on his face and bowed in respect to Markus. "Leader, first congratulations on your son awakening his element however you must be aware of the implications his awakening has brought. No one in the history of the Azure Dragon Family has awakened to fire. All of our techniques, weapons, medicines are for ice and to a lesser extent water attribute warriors. The family's power base is in the element of ice that's why we can reign supreme on the northern border with the long winters and short summers our power here is augmented."
Markus frowned at the condescending tone the elder was using on him, he looked as several of the elders were nodding in agreement. He huffed in annoyance. "I thank the elder for the history lesson on our family but what does that have to do with my son."
The first elder ignored the tone of the family leader, you want to protect that thrash of a son then so be it. I'll make sure you pay for it. "It has everything to do with your son. Our family's power is in the ice and water elements we don't have any techniques, weapons or medicines to foster a strong fire warrior. We just don't have the resources to foster your son."
The elder then stood in front of the other elders as if he owned the room. "We are to spend our resources on the young ones who will shoulder the strength of our family and let us remain as one of the four guardians of the country. I'm sorry to say this leader but spending resources on your son is a risk we cannot take, the money spent on acquiring suitable resources would be staggering."
Frost started forming on Julia's hand in a formless mist reacting to her anger. "You better choose your next words very carefully, elder if not I'll turn you into a bloody pin cushion."
Markus smiled at the elder's pale face. They might respect his power as the family leader but they feared his wife even more. They have seen her battle and take out enemies with cold efficiency, even while she was pregnant.
The elder noticed that his life hung on the line of his next few words and chose them carefully. "My lady Julia, what I speak is the truth if your son had awakened to his element at the appropriate age even if it was to fire we would have moved heaven and earth to get him the best of the best. Alas he didn't, yes his manifestation was very strong but he is too little too late. We don't have any guarantee that even with the best treatment just how strong he will be at most he will have a middle position within the family and with the royal academy's testing coming up next year we need to focus our resources on getting our most outstanding children in it."
The elders that were on the first elder side were nodding in agreement and murmuring between themselves. The chair that Julia was sitting in froze completely. "Who the hell do you think you are to determine how high my son's talent is? A washed up old bag of bones like you, shouldn't speak about other people's talent."
The first elder frowned in contempt at Julia picking on his sore spot. Due to his recklessness during his youth he made a fatal error when breaking through from the Captain rank to the General rank and was forever stuck at the peak of Captain rank never to advance. All of his hopes were now on his sixteen year old grandson who was at the peak of Apprentice rank soon to be a full fledged Knight warrior and gain the qualifications to enter the royal academy.
Before the first elder could retort the second elder cleared his throat. Come on old fellow shut up and sit down before the lady goes crazy and slices you into bloody ribbons. Not that he cared about the first elder but this was his Hall and he already had a headache on how to replace the marble floor no need to add blood and meaty parts to it.
The first elder nodded and sat down. "Thank you first elder for voicing your concerns and they are valid concerns. However I must voice some concerns of my own, we all know how important it is for our children to enter the royal academy to grow and mature, the requirements are extremely harsh. Being a Knight rank warrior by the age of sixteen is no easy feat even with our vast resources. So your concerns have merit however I would like to point out that young master Ambrose was only a Trainee rank warrior for many years yet when he showed up today he had the aura of an Apprentice rank warrior. With his element awakened and a little coaching he should be able to reach the requirements for entering the academy and there he will have access to all the fire elemental resources he might need in his four years of education there."
The first elder frowned and coughed into his fist. "What second elder says might be correct but we all know that the academy resources while they may be good for a commoner, they wont help much someone from one of the four families so my concerns are still valid."
A fist slapped the table and everyone turned to look at the huge muscle bound fifth elder in charge of the family armory. "Caliban shut that gaping hole you have for a mouth, Ambrose is the young master of the Azure Dragon Family and a candidate for the position of head of the family since his birth. If he needs resources he bloody well should get them or were you thinking of hording all the resources for that grandson of yours?"
Caliban the first elder turned red from anger. "Noracord you dare accuse and slander me with favoritism? Have you gone senile in your old age? Yes young master Ambrose is a candidate on account of his birth but so are others, he isn't the only one and yes one of them is my grandson. But tell me can you find someone more outstanding below the age of sixteen than my grandson who in a couple of months should be breaking into the Knight rank."
Noracord gave Caliban a wide smile. "Then how about making a little bet with little old me?" He knew that the first elder had a little gambling problem and he just couldn't help himself to poke at the old shrew.
Both Markus and Julia looked at the two elders with neutral looks but inside they were highly expectant of what Noracord wanted to do.
Caliban frowned. "You're talking about bets when we are speaking of the future of the young master inside the family." He said indignantly but inside he felt his heart beating a little faster, what was this old meat head thinking.
Noracord smiled knowing he had Caliban right where he wanted him. "Yes and we all know how much you care about the future of the young master. But since the first elder is so sure in his concerns why not make a bet with little old me. Here's my bet the family competition is in two months and everyone who has awakened their element will participate so us old folks can gauge the strength of the next generation. Since first elder is so sure that the young master is a money pit that no matter how much we spend he will only have a middle position in the family due to his strength and talent. Well I say that he will not only rise in the family tournament but also take one of the top ten spots."
Caliban snorted when he heard that, his heart was beating faster and faster at the prospect of taking this fools money. "Fine, I heard that Elder Noracord has just forged a pair of low grade Earth rank ice attribute axes. How about betting those."
Noracord frowned yes he had forged a pair of low grade Earth rank ice attribute axes. He was one of the few blacksmiths who could forge Earth and Heaven rank weapons. Weapons were classified in three ranks, Mortal, Earth and Heaven and these were subdivided into low, mid and high levels.
A Mortal rank weapon was a weapon that had no elemental affinity, these were mostly use by none cultivators or warriors below Knight rank, depending on the materials used they could be anything from low to high level weapons. Earth weapons were weapons that had a trace of elemental affinity and allowed the warriors to send their power for devastating attacks. As for heaven weapons those were unique weapons created by using high grade materials such as monster cores, and had high elemental affinities.
Even though Mortal rank weapons didn't have any elemental affinities themselves a warrior could still channel their affinity to the weapon and use it. Earth rank weapons and above due to them having their own affinities were not given to warriors below Knight rank because the affinity in the weapon tended to create havoc with the energy in the warrior if they were not strong enough.
Noracord knew that Caliban was aware of this so this old cheapskate wanted a free weapon for his grandson and was using the bet as means to get it. Well there was no way that he was going to go easy on the old coot.
He smiled at Caliban. "Since first elder is requesting such a precious item as the Ice Wolf Fangs then I would have to say that if the young master makes it into the top ten then how about first elder betting that rank 4 Artic Guana monster core he got recently."
Caliban frowned when he heard what Noracord wanted. He indeed had a rank 4 Artic Guana core but he had almost died killing the beast. Magical beasts of rank 4 were on par with a General rank warrior while he was just a level 9 rank Captain. How did this old geezer find out about that, he wanted to use the monster core and take it to the family alchemist so they could refine a pill for him to try and make the breakthrough to the General rank that had always eluded him.
Noracord saw the frown on Caliban's face and gave him a wolfish grin. "First elder should know when making a bet both parties should stand to lose something of equal value. A rank 4 monster core is just as valuable as two low grade Earth rank weapons."
Caliban frowned but then thought how his grandson was just a step away from the Knight rank and Earth weapons were expensive even for an elder of a great family such as him. Besides there was no way that thrash was going to make it into the top ten.
Caliban grinned and nodded. "With the other elders and the family head as our witness you got yourself a bet."
Markus was still looking at the whole thing with a neutral expression but deep inside he was fisting the air with glee. You old geezer you look down on my son, wait until he makes you eat your words. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that his son would soar to new heights now that he had awakened to his element and would make that order he got from the King a little more bearable. But now wasn't the time to tell the family that, after the family tournament would be the best time.
"Well now that the discussion is over, everyone return to your duties." He glared at the elders as they left one by one except for the second elder who was still staring at the scorch mark with a pained expression. Julia stood up and hugged the old man with brimming joy in her eyes.
"Dad, my little boy finally awakened to his element." Her voice was low and filled with emotion.
Valiant Veric smiled at his daughter and hugged her back. He was always happy when she displayed her emotions. In this cold war of family politics where one needed every edge possible, his poor daughter had learned at an early age to hide her feelings and respond with swift ruthlessness to any attack. He knew how worried she was about her son.
"Don't worry dear, that old bastard will surely regret the day he looked down on Ambrose." He scratched the back of his head and looked at the mess that was the Dragon Den. "Aiya... but he could have been a little careful, that little brat sure knows how to give me headaches."
Markus gave a booming laugh. "That's why you are his favorite grandpa, now that his element has awaken that brat has to step up his training and make it to the top ten otherwise that order the king gave me will be an even bigger headache than cleaning this whole place up."
Julia looked at her husband who just shook his head. She frowned but knew that getting her husband to open up about something he was keeping quiet was next to impossible. "Let's go and have a meal."
They all walked outside hoping to see Ambrose waiting like he was told but found the hallway empty. Markus scratched his chin. "Now where did that brat run off to?"
Ignorant of all the commotion his awakening ceremony caused Ambrose had rushed to his room to change into something more comfortable. He put on a purple jacket over a black shirt and black pants with boots. This world was very different from his original from the memories he got both magic and technology had progressed side by side making miracles and wonders. Even though technology had advanced a lot, people preferred to battle magical creatures with swords, bows and weapons of the like.
Then again given the vast advantages of spiritual energy and elemental affinity he could see why. Right now he needed to test his strength and hunt some magical beasts to get points for the KHR System; the sooner he can get access to the X-gloves the stronger he will be and not to mention all the other stuff waiting for him.
He grabbed all of his savings about four hundred silver, this world didn't have any paper money like his own; here 100 copper coins were equivalent to 1 silver coin and a 100 silver coins were equal to 1 gold coin.
There was a small forest on the outskirts of the city where low level magical beasts roam there he could hunt some as well as train his body to endure the dying will mode. He needed to raise his strength fast so that he wouldn't suffer the humiliations from the past. Since he couldn't get to the weapons of the KHR System, he would need to spend some money on the weapons of this world. These savings were all he had from the allowance his father gave him over the years.
With the money in hand he rushed to the family armory where the weapons shop was located. He knew that this amount of money was enough for him to buy a low grade Mortal weapon but that was enough for him for the moment. As soon as he got to the armory he saw rows and rows of weapons from knives to cannons and not just weapons but armor too which was a very popular item.
The sales clerk saw him and looked at him with disdain. The matter of him awakening to his element had not been spread to the whole family yet and even so they would still think he was thrash.
Don't you worry, I will show you all.
"Welcome young master is there anything that I could help you with?" The words were polite but the tone had an edge of derision.
Ambrose ignored the tone and just got down to business. "Do you have any low grade Mortal Katanas?"
The sales clerk frowned usually the young master would spend all his time in his room or the training hall. Training on his martial arts or building his laughable spiritual energy but the aura the young master had was that of an Apprentice rank warrior and he wanted a low grad Mortal Katana.
"Is young master hoping to train in one of the families sword manuals? Which one is the young master wanting to practice?" The sales clerk couldn't keep the ridicule off his tone.
Ambrose frowned even buying a weapon turned into an odyssey when people thought you were weak. "I finished my training today and just had the feeling of buying a sword. Where are those low grade Mortal Katanas again?"
Since he rushed from his room he knew what weapon he wanted, eventually he wanted to train in the strongest and undefeated sword style Shigure Soen Ryu of Yamamoto Takeshi, the Vongola Tenth Generation Rain Guardian. But he still didn't have the points to unlock the manuals for it. There was a manual for each of the stances and each one was worth three thousand points. However the set of attacks of Superbi Squalo the Varia's Strategy Captain and Rain Guardian were only one thousand points each since there were so few of them.
That was good he would use Squalo's attack style to get used to the sword before devoting his time to learn Shigure Soen Ryu. That should tied him up until he could get enough points for the X-gloves and Shigure Kintoki. Besides Squalo's attacks were not reliant on Rain flames as Yamamoto's were. To get the full power of Shigure Soen Ryu he would need the according flames and those were too far away.
The sales clerk frowned deeper and pointed with a lazy hand to a counter where the low grade Mortal weapons were located. Without saying anything he went to the weapons and started combing through them but all of them were so expensive. Damn it not just the KHR system everyone in this world wanted to rip him off.
There were several swords of all style but only two Katanas; one was very heavy while the other one looked like it could break at any moment. He looked at the sales clerk and frowned. "Are these the only Katanas?"
The clerk frowned in anger at the tone the young master was using as if we had wronged him. "Katanas are one of the best weapons out there, our blacksmiths focus on creating such weapons with high grade materials to make them as strong as possible. They wouldn't waste their time forging such a weapon from lowly materials. Those were forged by our apprentices; if you want a better Katana than what an apprentice makes, those would be Earth rank or higher."
Before Ambrose could snapp at the condescending idiot someone slapped the clerk in the back of the head. "Insolence, how dare you speak to a customer like that? Especially the young master; go polish the weapons in Store Room 1 until I can see my beautiful face in them."
The clerk turned around and saw Noracord the fifth elder in charge of the whole armory and store. He mumbled a quick word of apology and left. Noracord glared at the running clerk. "Coward, the young people these days. Getting more wild with each passing year."
Then he turned around to look at the young master and smiled. "My apologies for his insolence young master. You caused quite the commotion during your ceremony, I nearly died from laughing at the face of that bastard Caliban. Now what would you be interested in purchasing?"
Ambrose frowned he knew that the first elder had tried to kill him but he didn't know about the different power struggles that were going on in the elder council. But from elder Noracord's words the first elder wasn't his favorite person. "I was hoping to buy a low grade Mortal rank Katana but the two of them that the store had were not good and according to the clerk the rest are Earth rank or higher which I don't have the money for."
Noracord frowned in deep thought. "Young master, even though his words were crude he was right. The low grade Mortal Katanas are scraps made by our apprentice. Is young master wishing to train in sword arts and make the Katana his weapon?"
Ambrose shrugged, his main weapon in the future would be the X-gloves. "At the moment I'm more confident using my fists to fight but eventually I'm going to need a weapon and the Katana seems like a good fit."
Noracord nodded as he came to a decision. "Young master is correct in that the Katana is superb among swords and wanting to get a feel for it with a Mortal rank weapon is a sensible choice. Hold on just a moment."
The elder then went to the back of the store before coming back with a Katana in his hand. He placed it on the counter, the sheath was made of dark red wood and the finger guard had a design of a lion. Then the elder pulled the sword from its sheath. The blade was a dark blue color and along the edge of the weapon a light blue pattern in the shape of claws were etched on it. The whole sword was beautifully made and it was by no means a low grade Mortal Katana.
"This is something that I made a couple of years ago. One day I was walking along the edge of the forest outside the city on a clear sky at the end of the fall. We hadn't received much snow that year which was strange. When out of the blue a bolt of lightning hit a tree in front of me turning it that bright red. The tree split down the middle and inside the tree was a chunk of Flame Spark metal."
Noracord said with emotion as he recounted the tale while holding the sword. "Flame Spark metal is a rare metal in the north, its usually found near volcanoes were the fire energy its at its highest. The metal is both flexible and sturdy a perfect ore to make a sword. Sadly the ore had been in the frozen ground for who knows how many years that all the fire affinity had been sucked out of it, so I was only able to forge a high grade Mortal Katana out of it."
The elder sheathed the blade and presented it to Ambrose. "I named it, Lion Spark in account for the roaring sound that thunder made as if the king of beasts himself was challenging the world and for the metal it was made from. I would like to gift it to young master."
Ambrose's heart shook with emotion as he looked at the elder offering him the sword. "Elder Noracord, I couldn't possibly take this sword. It looks like you took good care of it and not only that I don't have the money to buy it."
Noracord shook his head and pushed the sword into Ambrose's hands. "Take it young master, think of it as an investment into your future. Your first weapon must be something to be remembered. I would like to ask is young master planning on participating in the family tournament two months from now?"
Ambrose thought in a daze the family always held a tournament every year before the start of the school year to gauge the strength of the younger generation. This year's tournament was held in especially high regard because the enrollment for the royal academy for the kids Ambrose's age was also around the corner. He hadn't thought about it much but now that the elder mentioned it, this would be the perfect stage to show everyone his new found strength.
He looked at the elder and nodded, Noracord smiled. "Then think of this sword as an investment of this old man into making the young master one of the top ten in this year's tournament. You wouldn't want to hurt my feelings now would you?"
Ambrose didn't know if he should laugh as if he could hurt this old man's feelings but then again he was so insistent on it and it was a beautiful sword. He took out the four hundred silver and placed it on the counter before putting his belt around the sheath as the sword settled on its hip.
"Thank you elder Noracord for the discount on this sword. I promise to make you and it proud by taking the championship this year." Before the elder could reject his offered money he sprinted out of the store.
Noracord looked at the money on the counter and gave a rueful chuckle to the empty store. "Prideful brat, just like his father. Oh I do hope you can get that championship kid, I can't wait to see the face of that old bat Caliban when he has to fork up that rank 4 monster core."
Outside of the Azure Dragon Family complex, Ambrose was rushing to the outskirts of the city with new found determination. Now that he had a weapon he could start training to get a sense of his strength and abilities so that he could take that tournament by storm. The first step was manifesting a flame on his ring. With a grin on his face he ran past the city gates and rushed to the forest.
Hullo guys, Happy Holidays and a New and wonderful year to all. HK here with another chapter ready for you guys. First and foremost I would once again like to thank Kalypso Fox my wonderful editor that polishes my mistakes so that you guys can enjoy a better story.
I also want to thank everyone that has Favorite and Follow as well as those who have reviewed letting me know their thoughts on the story. As you can see the story is slowly picking up speed and soon we will see Ambrose get into all sorts of trouble that I'm hoping he can get out of.
As always read and review, I want to know what you guys think. Suggestions are also welcome as well as critics. This will be a long time project with several arcs in it. As of now I have about 3 whole arcs planned so there's more to come. Hope you guys enjoy the story and have a wonderful year.
HK
