Chapter 33 - 33: Human Emperor

Soon, Orion exited the bath wrapped in a towel. "Haa… feels like heaven after taking a hot bath." Rina and Fiora followed behind him, feeling relieved that he had finally woken up. "Ah, Master Orion, Old Master Eldric said to tell them when you wake up. They have been quite worried these past few days because of you. Should I inform them?" Rina softly asked, finally remembering Eldric's words. Orion waved his hand in refusal, "No need, I will go and meet with both of them." He looked out the window. "They should be having breakfast right now. Perfect." With that said, he moved towards the room's exit and pushed open the doors. Fiora and Rina quickly followed after him. … "How long will he take to wake up?" Selene worriedly muttered. Eldric, who was sitting beside her—away from his usual head chair—patted her shoulder softly. "Don't worry so much. We have already checked his condition and he's just exhausted. We just need to let him rest and he will recover naturally." Despite him saying this, he couldn't help but worry inwardly. They both had taken turns taking care of Orion and monitoring his condition. They knew he was stable, but they couldn't help worrying needlessly. "Haa… I just can't help but worry. His awakening was something unlike anything we have seen. What if it left some lasting effects?" Selene said, her voice filled with concern as she had no appetite for the food placed in front of them. The maids had left the two of them alone in the dining hall as per Eldric's order. Eldric silently patted her back, fully understanding what she was going through. They both had already lost a son; they didn't want something to happen to Orion as well. WOOSH! Just then, the gate swung open. The couple raised their heads, wanting to see who would enter without knocking. "Grandpa, Grandma!" Orion entered with a bright smile on his face. Eldric and Selene both stood from their chairs, their faces filled with pleasant surprise. "You finally decided to wake up, boy?" Eldric said with a berating tone, but he couldn't suppress the small smile forming at the corner of his lips. Selene elbowed him hard. "Hmph! You would have died ten times over if you had gone through a ceremony like he did." She quickly walked forward and looked him up and down before circling him. "Good. Doesn't look like there are any issues." Orion shook his head. "I'm fine, Grandma. Let's go and eat. I'm hungry now." "Ah, lad, come, come. We have food prepared already." Eldric beamed and invited him. All of them sat down at the table and began eating. Rina and Fiora had stopped outside to let them talk. Helena had already instructed them to stay out. Eldric and Selene looked at each other while glancing at Orion, both wanting to start the topic but afraid it might be sensitive to him. Orion, despite having his Dragon instinct suppressed, could still easily sense their concern. He pushed the plates slightly back and finally said, "I know both of you have questions. You can ask them freely. I will answer to the best of my ability." Eldric and Selene again glanced at each other, not knowing how to start. "Dear, how many affinities did you awaken?" Selene asked, posing one of the main questions. Orion took a moment to decide what to answer. He took a deep breath, "I…don't know." Eldric and Selene speechlessly looked at him. After all, how could someone not know how many elements they had awakened? "I mean, to me it feels like I can control all affinities. So I don't know exactly how many that is." He quickly finished before they started getting suspicious of him. Eldric thoughtfully nodded his head. "Hmm… the basic elements of our world are Fire, Water, Earth, Metal, Wood, Wind, Thunder, Ice, Light, and Darkness. Then there is Arcane Magic or Conceptual Elements like Space, Time, Gravity, Holy, Curse, Soul, and many others. I have never heard of anyone possessing Time or Soul magic, though." Selene nodded in agreement. "Even Spatial users are exceedingly rare. Not even a single one in a trillion can be born." "The only reason we believe these affinities exist is because of the Mythical Beings such as the Time Dragon, Space Dragon, Soul Dragon, and others. But even they are a unique existence—only one can be born at a time, or if the previous one ascended to heaven. Or so the legends say." Orion raised an eyebrow. He knew about the Time/Space/Soul Dragon from his Draconic Legacy. They weren't mere myths but real Dragon Gods who had ascended to higher Chiliocosms. They were only below the Evil Dragon Tiamat and the Holy Dragon Bahamut. "But Orion, you have to know that just having all the affinities is not enough to master all paths. A human only has a limited lifespan. You need to focus on some paths to reach the peak quickly. You can slowly learn the other paths after reaching the peak," Eldric solemnly advised. Orion calmly smiled. "I won't do something so foolish, Grandpa. I will only focus on four elements for now. That should be enough for me to become versatile." Eldric's lips twitched slightly—he wanted him to pick only two, not four. But it wouldn't be right to dampen the ambitions of a young man. Selene proudly smiled. "That's my Grandson for you. If you want to learn something, then you can always ask me." "Thanks, Grandma. I will be sure to ask." Orion chuckled and waited for them to ask the question which he knew would come. Eldric took a deep breath and finally asked, "Orion, wh-what exactly are you?" Orion drew a sharp breath. He knew it would come, yet he didn't want to face it yet. Lying to the only people who had taken care of him in both lives would leave a bad taste in his mouth. Selene's eyes slightly widened; she softly elbowed Eldric, as if asking why he had to bring it up. Sёarch* The novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After much deliberation, Orion decided to tell them the truth, "I—am the Human Emperor." BOOM! All the mana within the room trembled, twisting into chaotic streams of elemental lines and ancient runes. Words that had remained unspoken for eons were now confirmed by the will of mana itself. Eldric and Selene's eyes widened in shock upon seeing the change in the environment—never in their wildest dreams had they expected the child they adopted to be the Human Emperor. Even with the Old Daoist's words, they were expecting at most a hybrid of a True Dragon or a Titan, or perhaps the heir of one of the Three Human Empires. But this far exceeded their imagination. In the history of Humankind, there has only been a single Human Emperor—the one who stands equal to the Gods. "Human…Emperor…" Eldric mindlessly muttered the words, as if recalling something forbidden. Selene's hand trembled, her heart filling with myriad emotions. "How… how is this possible?" Orion raised an eyebrow, confused at their extreme reaction. He thought at most they would be surprised. 'There are three human empires; don't they call themselves Human Emperor? Hmm, I should have looked at this more deeply.' [Master, what if you told them you are also the Dragon Emperor? (⊙_☉)]