"So..."
The Emperor’s voice cut through the quiet hum of the dining hall. Conversations died instantly.
All eyes turned to him as he leaned slightly forward, his eyes resting on Azel with warm curiosity.
"Your father tells me you’ve been training for quite some time," he began, a small smile playing on his lips. "And he says you can use the first two forms of the Dragon Saint Style... with ease."
The air shifted. There were audible gasps around the table, and even a few wide-eyed stares.
Naelia blinked, and Ira tilted her head, suddenly more curious than sleepy.
Azel sighed inwardly.
’Guess the secret’s out.’
The Dragon Saint Style wasn’t just rare — it was infamous in this world.
Hard to learn, dangerous to practice.
In the game forum, players joked that trying it too early would get your character killed by internal bleeding.
The first form alone could rupture organs if the body wasn’t trained properly.
"That’s true," Azel answered simply. "I trained while hunting magic beasts in the wild. My father made sure I knew the basics... and then told me to figure the rest out on my own."
Steven, sitting across from him, cleared his throat and looked away at an extremely interesting candlestick.
"Hunting beasts alone at your age?" the Emperor said with a chuckle. "No wonder you learned fast."
Azel raised a brow. "Fast?"
"You didn’t know?" the Emperor tilted his head. "Just mastering the first form takes most students years. Even your father took two."
Azel turned to Steven slowly, his expression unimpressed.
The man avoided eye contact.
"I did it in four months," Azel muttered. "Father said that was slow. He told me a serious student would’ve done it in a month."
A pause.
"And after that?" the Emperor asked, intrigued.
"He said experience would teach me better than he could," Azel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "So I had to use it over and over for the rest of the year till I got it right."
A stunned silence settled over the table. Even Mira, normally unreadable, leaned in with keen interest.
"And the second form?" she asked, voice sharp.
"Much easier than the first," Azel said, nonchalantly chewing on a piece of chicken. "Less pressure on the body. It’s more about speed than force."
Another silence. Mira’s hand hit the table with a loud thud, making several flinch.
She stood up, her eyes lit with something like excitement.
"A hundred slashes?" she asked.
"I compress a hundred strikes into one," Azel replied, glancing up at her. "That’s what Father said was the true version. Anything less isn’t complete."
Steven coughed awkwardly. Mira sat down slowly, clearly re-evaluating everything she thought she knew about Sword Saints.
Then, the Emperor laughed. Deep, hearty laughter that filled the room.
"You were scammed, young man!" he said between chuckles. "The original form only has thirty strikes! But to pull off a hundred... your training must’ve been hell."
Azel nodded.
He wasn’t wrong.
’This is nothing,’ he thought to himself. ’The real threats haven’t even arrived yet — calamities, outer gods, twisted cults... I have to get stronger. Fast.’
The Emperor’s laughter faded, and he sat straighter. "Now, the real reason I asked you to stay for dinner," he said with a grin. "I wanted to give you a reward. Name something, if you like."
Azel didn’t miss a beat.
"If it’s not too much, Your Majesty..." he said politely, "I’d like something from the royal treasury."
The Emperor blinked. "...Isn’t that a bit much?"
Azel gave a small shrug. "The princess is safe, right? I just want something that’ll help me get stronger. I need all the help I can get."
"And you’re sure you’ll find that in the treasury?" asked the second Empress, her brows raised with curiosity.
"If it’s not there," Azel said, "I doubt I’d find it anywhere else."
He stood, brushing imaginary crumbs off his tunic. "Thanks for the meal. It was really good. If it’s alright, I’d like to head back to my room."
But before he could take a step, the second Empress leaned forward slightly.
"Would you be interested in staying here at the castle for a few more days?"
That made even the Emperor look surprised.
It wasn’t often his wife took such initiative.
Azel blinked, then smiled sheepishly.
"If you’re the one asking, how could I say no?"
The Empress smiled softly in return.
And Azel went upstairs with the help of a maid that was around, he had completed a step of his plan. Tomorrow he would go to the Royal treasury and retrieve a priceless treasure that had belonged to the first Emperor.
The [Ever Bracelet], it was seen as a bracelet that didn’t have any unique ability but that wasn’t true, as long as you were able to tame it, The Bracelet could allow you to alter the gravity around yourself.
’Time to get some Dragon ball training.’ Azel thought with a smile.