Chapter 3 - Evaluation

"Good evening Henry," a woman with long silky hair and a purple dress with long high heels said to Julius' father.

"Good evening to you too, Mary, we're so glad you could make it," the king replied to the woman.

"Julius, you remember Mary right?" the king asked.

"Of course, how could I forget... Good evening your highness," said Julius as he bowed to the woman. Even though he was royalty himself, so was Mary. In fact, she was the ruler of a great kingdom herself. She hadn't found someone to marry yet so she often went to events such as these alone.

"Happy birthday prince Julius, we're all expecting a lot from you. Especially since today is your big day," Mary said.

She was referring to the big event which would take place very soon and would lead Julius into the path of cultivation. Since Julius was royalty and his father was unquestionably the strongest man alive, it only made sense that his child would follow suit. While it was scary and overwhelming to think about having to surpass the world's strongest man, Julius would always be reassured that he didn't need to be scared.

"Don't worry Julius, everything will be all right. I'll always be your number 1 supporter. You'll slowly but surely become strong just like your father," the king whispered to the prince as he tried to reassure his child.

"Yes, father, I know very well. Thank you," Julius replied before speaking to the other guests who had come for his big day.

Once everyone settled in, they were called in to have lunch which was taking place in the dining room, more specifically the dining hall. There were 5 long tables which had seats for 20 people each. Of course, the 9 rulers of the kingdoms along with whoever they brought with them sat at one of the 5 tables while the other guests which consisted of wealthy and powerful people sat at the other 4 tables.

Of course, the meal which they ate was a feast unheard of by anyone. It was prepared by the greatest cooks of all the land and it took them several days to finish planning and preparing each sophisticated meal.

As would be expected of a prince, Julius' life was a dream for many. Being born was a game of luck however, being born into a rich family such as the one Julius was born into was like winning the lottery 9 thousand times.

After finishing their meal, it was time for the big event which everyone had been eagerly waiting for the entire day. The person who made the announcement to inform the guests that it was time for it was the king as expected.

"We thank you all for traveling all this way all for this great day. If you would be so kind as to follow me to the next room. We can finally begin the event which everyone has been waiting for," Henry said as he stood up and grabbed Julius by the hand as he led all the guests to a nearby room which was an auditorium.

Once everyone had taken their seats, Julius was made to be seated in the centre of the room as everyone watched with anticipation. Next, one of the king's servants brought a crystal artifact which sat on a golden podium.

"Master Julius, if you would just place your right palm forward on the artifact," the servant kindly asked the prince.

Without asking a question Julius did as he was told. Within a few seconds of placing his palm on the artifact, the crystal orb began to glow as it released a gust of wind across the room.

...

"Surely there's got to be a mistake. Apologies my king, there must be something wrong with the crystal artifact. Let me try again," the servant whispered to the king.

"The artifact can never be wrong. Don't make our guests wait any longer," the king scowled at his servant which wasn't in his nature. However, due to how important the event was, nothing could go wrong.

"Very well your majesty," the servant said before announcing the results of Julius' measurements.

"These are the current base status points for master Julius' aspects," the servant yelled out to the crowd.

[Heath: 100]

[Intelligence: 100]

[Bravery: 10]

[Stamina: 50]

[Speed: 30]

[Defense: 20]

[Physical Strength: 25]

Up until that point, Julius was looked at as normal and some even thought that it was disappointing.

[Mental Fortitude: 10000]

[Skill: 10000]

...

Everyone had gone quiet. Not a single person spoke and even some forgot to breathe. There was something definitely wrong. In Julius' eyes, he was quite disappointed in himself as he thought that the silence meant that he had let everyone down. He had expected to be someone who would gain fame and power so that he could make his homeland but most importantly, his father proud.

The silence was finally broken but a sudden clap by Julius' father as his facial expression turned to that of utter seriousness.

"Now everyone, don't start getting any smart ideas. Don't forget where you currently are," the king said as he looked up at each of the other 8 rulers of the great kingdoms. However, each of them glanced back at him with the same petrifying look.

Within this death-like stare down, Julius stood up from his chair and bowed down to the audience.

"My apologies everyone, I know you've all been expecting me to have miraculously good base status points. However, it seems that your silence indicates that my results were less than satisfactory for you. For that, I am deeply sorry," said Julius as he was truly disappointed in himself.

Hearing his words, the crowd broke into laughter, including his father. It seemed like Julius hadn't understood why the people were silent. However, in doing his little act, he had brought ease to the crowd and everyone temporarily went back to how they were before hearing the status of prince Julius.. That would soon change as Julius would eventually learn why everyone had gone quiet when they had heard his status.