Chapter 25: New bonds

"For the sake of your pride as a warrior?" The Beast emperor muttered as he steered the soup in his bowl with his finger. His eyes were void of any emotions as he pondered on these words.

Lucien was taken aback by this because the emperor had a different aura entirely while acting this way, it was like he was speaking to someone entirely different.

"If you go up against them again the chances of you losing your life is quite high… it's almost certain… Right now you are the poster boy of our empire! The most talented in the empire and we are more than willing to spend so many resources just to help you cultivate! Are you willing to give that all up for your little pride?" The Beast emperor asked with a straight face.

"Yes! Call it little or stupid or anything you wish but my pride makes me who I am! Without it, I will be nothing… empty…" Lucien said with so much determination and fire that everyone was startled.

Hearing this a big grin appeared on the face of the emperor and he clapped repeatedly!

"BRAVO!!!! That's perfect kid! You have the right mindset, from now on I will refer to you as little emperor!" Emperor Fei laughed loudly as he spoke.

Hearing this, Lucien frowned since he didn't really fancy the little that came before the emperor.

"You know that means I will end up battling you for the post of the beast emperor in the future right?" Lucien shoved another piece of steak into his mouth while he said it.

"HAHAHAHAHA! I look forward to that day!" Emperor Fei laughed out loud.

Lucien spent most of his time eating and speaking with the emperor the invaders are still within the empire and it is believed that a member of the royal family, Bradley, and his group were killed by this group as well. The corpses of Bradley's teammates were found west of the empire but Bradley's body was never found.

Lucien spent another week in the royal palace at the capital. During this time, the raizen clan had sent over a gift for his amazing achievements. The first was a minor grade spatial ring capable of containing over ten pieces of equipment and within it were about 3 E grade mana crystals, two D grade mana crystals, and a C grade mana crystal, all used for cultivation purposes.

What caught his attention was the Raizen clan heirloom, the Stormborn whip! It allows the user to channel the lightning element through it and increases the output at least tenfold! He could hardly believe that his grandfather would release his soul seal on the weapon and hand it over to him so soon.

[A/N: Every magic weapon requires a person's soul seal to work! By pouring in one's mana into a newly forged magic weapon, one binds the magic weapon to him, making it impossible for other mages to make use of it! The only way to remove someone's seal on a magic weapon is to get him to do it willingly or just kill him or her]

"It's probably because of your achievements… Don't let it get to your head… if you didn't do so well or show any promise, no one would even bother to look your way" Emperor Fei said when he saw Lucien gazing at the Stromborn whip.

Its hilt was golden with the face of the Raizen God-beast carved into it and that was just it. There was no whip or anything outside that! Only after taking hold of it and pouring his lightning element into it did the glowing blue lightning whip appear. It took him only a few seconds before he felt lightheaded and was forced to let go of the whip!

"Hahahaha! I see we have a one-minute man here" The emperor Fei said while laughing out loud.

At first, Lucien didn't get the joke but when he noticed the lewd look on the emperor's face, his face turned red as he ran out of the room.

The extra week spent with the royal family was dedicated to training with the Emperor. Their training exercise was mainly focused on sharpening his senses and improving his physical capabilities through numerous combat experiences, as for the moments spent outside training hours was dedicated to chatting and having fun.

Unknown to Lucien, he soon got attached to the Emperor and viewed him as a father figure, completely forgetting about his roots. This was simply because the old man shared the same beliefs and views as him about life. Thanks to the emperor's occasional tips and guidance, it took Lucien a week to create a spell with his secondary element, lightning. This is something that would normally take a normal person a month or two to accomplish.

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Lucien sat on his king-sized bed in a cross-legged position, absorbing mana from the last E-grade mana crystal he had on him. He decided to save the D and C grade crystals for later. During the past week, he slowly absorbed the contents of these mana crystals and silently paid attention to the physical changes his body underwent.

"I feel slightly stronger and faster… my mana reserves have increased a little bit but I am still far from breaking into the second sky of the human realm… I guess it will take a bit longer" Lucien muttered as he dropped the transparent crystal shard, void of any form of energy.

"It's time little Emperor, the invaders are heading towards the Blackwater cave… it's time we put them down for good!" Emperor Fei's voice echoed from the side, causing Lucien to instinctively throw a punch towards the source of the voice but it was caught easily.

"Nice reaction…" Emperor Fei added.

"We? You are going to get involved in this?" Lucien asked with a hint of disbelief in his eyes.

"Of course! They killed a member of the Phoenix family and even though Bradley was not a member of the main branch he is still family… so it's only natural I avenge his death… also did you really think I would let you go down there all alone?" The emperor said with a charming smile on his face.