Chapter 23: A Tool

"Saved by a human… Shameful!"

Those words echoed in Lucien's head until his eyes yanked open and a bright light penetrated his eyes, forcing him to use his hands to block the sunray. His head felt light and his vision was blurry but even that didn't stop him from realizing that he was in a foreign environment.

"Where is this?" He asked as he tried to sit but visions of his last memory flooded his mind once again.

"Saved by a human… Shameful!" Blink said with a hint of disgust on his face before he forcefully tore open a spatial gate within the spatial zone and jumped in with the other invaders. Their whispers and chuckles kept haunting his mind, up to the point where he thought he was not sane anymore.

"I will kill them all… all of them!" Lucien growled only to hear a familiar voice.

"Kill all of who?" Hex's voice reached his ears causing him to jump off the king-sized bed and stand on his feet.

Looking at Hex, he realized the youth wasn't putting on the school attire, instead, he was wearing a loose black robe with the royal crest embedded on it. His spikey red hair was now tied back into a ponytail, giving him a rather gentle look, unlike his previous fierce look.

"How long have I been… sleeping?" Lucien asked with a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"A week now… You lost a lot of blood and even though that can be healed easily, the invader left traces of his chaotic energy in you… it was so serious that the emperor had to directly get involved just to subdue this energy" There was a hint of disdain in the latter part of Hex's words but Lucien was too focused on something else to notice.

The emperor had to take action personally, just to heal him? Yes, he knew his position as the heir of the Raizen clan was high but it wasn't high enough for the emperor to bother about his life, by the way, he was just a kid at the first level of the human realm. He just couldn't wrap his head around the information he had received and because of that, he found himself wandering around the room like a lost sheep.

Hex watched him walk towards the edges of the room, reluctantly touching the walls like he was torching a gold bar. Seeing this was amusing and irritating at the same time but Hex did well to suppress his true emotions before he spoke.

"I guess you figured it out, you are at the royal palace and I am here to gate you… My family is about to have breakfast and I was sent to bring you over" Hex chuckled lightly as he spoke.

'The royal family wants me to join them for breakfast?'

Lucien's mind couldn't handle the information he just received! Just like a lady who suddenly meets her favorite celebrity, Lucien's face turned red and he collapsed. Hex ran over his side in shock which soon turned to amusement when he realized Lucien just fainted.

"Is this the person meant to surpass my grandfather? What a joke!" He hissed.

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Walking out of the room, Lucien wore a silver short sleeve tight shirt that revealed all his 'manly' features, and beneath was a tight black trouser, and on his feet were slippers decorated with so many feathers it looked girlish.

"Who the hell picked out these clothes for me, I don't care if it's the emperor I won't forgive that person" Lucien asked Hex with a frown on his face.

Hearing this, Hex couldn't help but let out a burst of loud laughter while holding his belly. With watery eyes, he turned to Lucien and tried to speak.

"I- I am sorry but I couldn't resist! I had to do it, bro, you understand me right?" Hex confessed.

Hearing this Lucien just ignored him and kept moving forward.

"Come on man, it's just a joke" Hex called out as he chased after him but Lucien showed no signs of slowing down.

"Why would the emperor save my life? I am a nobody compared to the royal family and I am still weak" Lucien couldn't help but ask.

"But you have potential! You shattered the affinity testing orb with your insane magic affinity… You talked back to a powerful mage like Instructor Han, fearlessly! You created your own spell in just an hour! Something that takes peak experts days to do! And finally, you helped defend the empire against the invaders and held your own against one of the leaders for a while… yes, it was broadcasted all through the empire, you have some sick fighting skills….Your talent is probably close to that of the emperor or equal to it… You have contributed enough to make the emperor notice you and for your sacrifice, the least he can do is save your life" Hex answered.

Hearing this, Lucien finally understood why he was suddenly treated this way.

'if I were a normal student with average talent and was injured trying to protect the empire, would the royal family bother trying to save my life?' Lucien didn't know why he suddenly felt this way.

While it felt good that he was recognized by the empire, his instincts kept screaming out that he was nothing but a tool to be used by the emperor!

"What the hell is wrong with me?" He muttered as they reached the teleportation platform.