Seed of the Sovereign

Using the new spear as his walking stick, he returned to his family's mansion from the ancestral hall.

But this time, there was purpose behind his steps. The experience fro the ancestral vault had given him purpose and showed him what he needed—what he had always needed.

Power.

Power to understand what was going on with himself.

Power to save his sister.

Power to avenge his parents.

He knew it. He had always known it but the trials and the visions made sure he understood. This world was ruled by power. The strong ruled while the weak were cast away and oppressed.

It was clear from the hierarchy that was immediately set from the awakening ceremony. Those with awakened seeds were immediately exalted while those that awakened dud seeds were immediately cast down and ridiculed.

If a peasant awakened a proper seed, their family's rank was immediately raised, having access to better benefits.

It was to the extent that the major clans had talent hunters, out among orphans searching for diamonds in the rough to adopt into their families.

And even a genius like him—once he awakened a dud seed, he lost value in the eyes of all but his family.

Power was the centre point of this society and for good reason.

Latiara, the world he lived was on the defensive side of the war against two other worlds.

The mundane seeded could only do so much. They were the bulk of the warriors but it was truly the power of the awakened seeded that mattered in the war.

For example, their world was on the crucible of defeat before the three overlords ascended and became powerhouses that could rival those of the other worlds.

When individual power became enough to wipe out entire armies, the focus changed from churning numbers to grooming special talents.

And that was why the academies existed.

At first, noble clans trained their progenies themselves, but as time passed it proved inefficient.

The nobles clans even with all their wealth couldn't have all the resources they needed at once.

Not without giving up too much in return.

And even worse for their world, what about talents who were never noticed by the nobles or didn't want to join them?

Someone with the talent to be an overlord could be completely overlooked and ignored because they weren't found early or they didn't want to be part of a clan. They couldn't have that happen.

Though Latiara was aristocratic, the wars had forced it to adopt a militant system. Potential strength was too important to be squashed by nobility—at least on the surface.

Academies in contrast, were a convenient way to gather the talents of their worlds together and give them the best training they could get.

They were overlooked by the overlords and were a joint effort of Latiara. They were also completely neutral to the schemings and plans of the nobles in the three continents.

Walking into his room Luke went to the bedside and picked up a memory stone. He connected it to the aether source at his bedside and a holographic image was projected.

It was an image they took to mark his twelveth birthday. He was holding his parents hands while trying to restrain his smile from splitting his face.

Arya laughed wildly sitting on their father's arms.

He stared at it intently for a moment—a single tear dropping from his eyes— before unplugging the aether source, letting the image fade.

He took out his backpack and began storing the essentials for a journey. Though the mansion was destroyed, he still salvaged a lot of resources from it. As the heir to a military family, he was well trained on wilderness expeditions so he knew what to take and what to leave behind.

He was leaving for an academy.

With his Phlego clan destroyed, it was the only place where he could become powerful enough to matter.

It also helped that it was completely safe, guarded by some of the strongest people in the world since he didn't know if the black masked man would come to kill him if he discovered that he was still alive.

But before getting to the academy—or anywhere at all, he had to cross a daunting obstacle.

The dural forest.

The Phlego clan's mountain structure was surrounded by a large forest all around.

The forest teemed with dangerous aether beasts. Naturally this beasts had been driven deep into the forest, but now, with the destruction of their predators, they were sure to have started expanding their territories.

This was why Luke made the decision to leave immediately.

Now, it would still be the weaker beasts moving around. If he waited till the more powerful ones left their homes deep in the dural forest, he'd be doomed.

In order to cross those obstacles and survive till then, he double checked his stock, making sure he had all he needed for the trip.

Before leaving the clan, he confirmed that their treasury had indeed being raided. All the unique treasures and the bags of aether stones were taken, leaving behind just a few common weapons. Thankfully, his parents were not stingy with his allowances and he had some savings they kept for him in the bank. But for that he'd have to find civilization first.

He walked into the treasury and picked up a common spear.

He looked at the sharpened stick in his hand, then the spear with a bronze shaft and steel head. Luke shook his head. He wasn't a fool, with the vision, he knew there had to be something special about this spear shaped stick, but he couldn't stake his life on something so unreliable.

"I guess, I'll just take both," Luke said. Then he tied the stick to his back, using the bronze spear as his new walking stick.

Outside the Phlego clan's mansion, Luke looked at the once domineering fortress. This had been his home.. and for the first time, he'd be leaving it without any guidance or protection. Uncertainty and anxiety bred in his heart but even more, there was a pump of excitement in his heart at the endless possibilities waiting for him... And it scared him.

Still, they were all overthrown by the burning desire for power and revenge. Gritting his teeth, Luke swore to avenge his clan and family... And save his sister.