The sunrises at Blue Eden are among the best you can see anywhere in the world.
The uniqueness of its beautiful blue and purple northern lights creates a beautiful synchronicity landscape, harmonizing with the blue city and the illuminated, perfectly preserved lake.
Many people from other cities come to Blue Eden simply to observe this beautiful peculiarity up close, and it is thanks to this that it is the most visited capital in the world.
Today, Ryan woke up quite early.
It was September 1st, 1150. A good time to see the northern lights.
As he watched them from his window after getting ready, he looked at his system.
'Arnold's goodwill gave me one more spirit and four Orbs,' he thought. Honestly, he didn't feel entirely comfortable with the feeling of having killed him, but he could understand the reasons why he did it.
When you kill someone, that person's spirituality goes to you, and depending on your abilities in Condensation and Improvement, you can transform it into spirits or simply reject it, since killing them does not remove the danger of absorbing it.
There was an alternative way to absorb this type of energy if you wanted to, and that was if the dead person wanted to give you their spirituality and had a completely clear conscience when they died. In that case, the spirituality came without evil, and you also had a high probability of obtaining an additional spirit.
Arnold did this at that moment, although Ryan did not really need it, as there was no danger in absorbing that energy. The thing is, when you give up your spirituality in this way, your spirit will likely transform into a spirit required for leveling up.
And that's what happened in this case. In addition to spirituality, he also gave him a spirit, and now he had nine.
'It's been a good gift,' he thought, because if he killed one more beast, he might get enough orbs to obtain another spirit.
As he was deep in thought, checking his system and planning his next move, a strange chant suddenly reached his ears.
"Oh, great hero of the East! Oh, great hero of the ledge! You who destroyed that God and rose up against the heretic! Bless us with your power and remind us of the glory of a true god!"
The rhythm of the slightly peculiar music with sounds of harps and musical instruments pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked down at the road below the castle.
'A bard?' he thought.
It wasn't one, it was four, and they were singing in front of large carriages moving smoothly through the city, heading towards the castle.
The chair Ryan was sitting in suddenly shot backward when he stood up.
"Aster Zeggler!" His vocal cords trembled with rage as he uttered this name, his hands dug into the wall, and his eyes wanted to kill the man who was greeting the few people walking the streets at this hour.
No one had any idea this legendary man would come, so they were surprised.
Aster Zeggler hadn't aged much since Ryan last saw him, but he had become more pompous in his dress.
He wore a king's robe that fell to his feet, with honorary bands and many precious stones on top. Even his carriages were adorned with precious stones and expensive ornaments.
As he greeted those present, Aster frowned and looked toward one of the castle windows.
'Hm?'
Confused, he looked through several windows, wanting to find the peculiar presence he had sensed. After looking at all he could, he found absolutely nothing, so he continued on his way to the castle.
His arrival would soon cause a tremendous shock in Evigheden.
-
Two hours later, in the Royal Hall.
The princes, dukes, marquises, and the rest of the nobility had gathered with the ministers at the king's call.
The Nine Princes were present. Most were dressed in elegant garments adorned with jewels, decorations, and insignia that demonstrated their worth, except for the First and the Ninth.
Those two were special in the eyes of the nobility. The first was simply too carefree and straightforward to wear appropriate attire at these grand gatherings. No one could question him either, for at the young age of 40, he was already a Level 5 Hunter, a Master Hunter. That's why he wore his usual battle attire, without even his rank as one of the Kingdom's Great Generals.
On the other hand, the Ninth was special in a bad way. Too shy, too out of the ordinary for a prince. No charisma. He had practically no good qualities. He didn't even have power or support.
He was the most useless of them all. And in the circle of nobility, no one was ashamed or afraid to say so. He did wear elegant, noble clothing. A full suit of a distinctive blue, with gold trim and a large moon emblem on the right shoulder, but not a single insignia adorned it.
He wore gloves up to his forearms in the same color and also long boots. His entire body was dressed in blue, characteristic of these parts.
Although it was pompous (in Ryan's view), the reality was that it was even simpler than Albert's, due to the fabric and stitching used. Unlike the haute couture suits made of exotic materials worn by the rest, his was made of pure linen or cotton. Beautiful, yes, but simple and offering no protection.
"Why does the ninth prince have the nerve to come here? He should stay locked up in his library and not embarrass the royal family," complained one of the duke's sons, rather impertinently, but not even his father reprimanded him.
"Shh, Young Lord Murphy. Don't speak so loudly, he could report you to the King," teased another young man, the son of another duke.
"Hahaha, you're right, Young Lord Quinlan. It's not worth it." After sighs of frustration, with no one to tell them off, several disrespectful nobles began to talk about Ryan or mock him.
Of course, they didn't say it to his face; they simply whispered throughout the royal hall, taking advantage of the fact that the King had not left.
The Fourth Prince glanced sideways at his younger brother, feeling slightly angry. Many of the nobles' words were mocking them, solely because of him.
'I always knew it was a disgrace to have him in the family, but here he is, bringing us more shame.' He frowned and walked toward Ryan, calling his attention.
"Fourth Brother." Ryan greeted him respectfully, but without submission.
"I heard you finally became a Walker, ninth." He looked him up and down, as if he wanted to scrutinize him. But this was nothing more than a facade. In his gaze, there were hints of mockery and intentions to laugh.
Becoming a Walker at the age of 20 was one of the most useless things he had ever seen, it only happened in lower-class families and even they couldn't celebrate it.
Ryan smiled. "I got lucky." It was casual; he didn't want to talk to someone who despised him with every breath.
"Haha, that's obvious. The luck of being born into royalty, because if you were from a lower-class family, you'd have to plow the fields your whole life."
Once again, Ryan shrugged, unwilling to respond further.
This clearly angered his brother, who leaned close to his ear and whispered, "If you know what's good for you, you'd better leave the room right now. We're embarrassed enough to have you in the family. Do we also have to listen to them mocking you just because of your stupid presence in a place where you don't belong?"
"Fourth brother." Ryan looked at him sideways. "I hate it when people spit in my ear, but I hate it even more when they threaten me. If you want only eight princes to answer the king's call, go ahead, you can leave."
The fourth prince was stunned. 'Has he become arrogant now that he's become a Walker?' He clenched his fists in anger at such an arrogant response.
'I'll teach him a lesson,' he thought, enraged.
But then...
THUM*
THUM*
The sound of bells announcing the arrival of the King echoed through the room, silencing everyone.
The Fourth Prince had to rush back to his position.
Ryan watched his retreat closely.
'Spirituality,' he thought, noticing a strange trail of spirituality that lingered in the air and was slowly being drawn back into his brother's body. 'Is this what it means by being able to devour even the Paths?'
It was interesting, but he had to look ahead when he sensed the king's presence... and many others.