Serum

"Our son is back. City of Calaba."

Ryker saw a single message on his transmission device. Unlike Cecilia who had scoured the entire empire, he was back home working on sorting through intelligence. He had taken on the role of a detective for his wife, and piles of paper had stacked themselves on his desks. 

Of course, that was all swept away by that one message. Without even thinking, Ryker activated his magic in order to fly to the city his wife spoke of. 

He was a literal fireball that streaked through the sky. Using his full power, he was able to cross half the empire, a few thousand mile distance, in only 2 hours. 

Of course, he was exhausted afterward, but that didn't matter as much as seeing his son's face. 

"Where is he?"

Ryker burst through a door. Inside, he saw Dirk sleeping on a bed and Cecilia sitting next to him. He ran over, immediately seeing the new face of his son who had disappeared two and a half years ago. 

"...He's grown."

"Yet he's still our son."

Cecilia smiled lovingly as she combed Dirk's hair. Hearing those words, Ryker couldn't be more relieved. He had also been worried about Dirk changing. It seemed the best case scenario occurred. 

After combing back Dirk's hair though, Cecilia frowned again. Ryker noticed this and sat down beside her. 

"What's wrong?"

"...Dirk used vines from the jungle, tying them to his arms. Since he was weak, I took them off. But..."

She pulled back Dirk's sheet a bit. Then, Ryker saw his arm. Along the forearm was a complex metallic tattoo with a large number 8 on it. 

"He was Harbinger 8."

Ryker almost growled as he realized what it was.  

Asura wasn't the only one who tormented the empire. Asura had been a problem for dozens of years, long before Cecilia had ever been tormented by him. 

And across all that time, he had worked to develop his assassin organization, the Fallen Asuras. And he had success. 

There were two types of people under Asura. There were the normal underlings, people who carried out orders depending on how strong they were. They disrupted all kinds of businesses all over the empire, being a prevalent nuisance that nobody even knew existed. 

Then, there were the Harbingers. The Harbingers were the most highly skilled and capable of the assassins under Asura's command. They were unpredictable and impossible to deal with. To many nobles with a high degree of intelligence, they were a famous group of people capable of planting seeds of chaos. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that if Asura wanted a civil war within the Horizon Empire, they would be able to create one. They were weapons capable of bringing down entire nations. 

Cecilia herself was one of these people. She was Harbinger 7. Beside her, there were 6 other Harbingers, and they were all loyal to Asura. They were his hands and feet, his tools of chaos.

And it was because of the fact that Cecilia had defied him that Asura regarded her as his greatest failure. Never before had he failed to raise a Harbinger. And while Ryker knew that there were deeper conflicts between the two, Cecilia never spoke of it. 

Either way, Dirk was intended to be Harbinger 8. If Cecilia hadn't found Dirk, or more like if the Emperor hadn't stepped in, Asura may have gotten his way. Just the potion withdrawals told her that he had plans that went beyond even Dirk's knowledge. Not even Dirk could have guessed that the thing that was keeping him alive would also be able to kill him. He had been dependent, and that was one more tool to use to control Dirk. 

If Asura had been given more time, then even if it were Dirk, he wouldn't have lasted. Asura would have had another Harbinger. 

But this also caused Ryker to sigh in relief. They had gotten lucky. 

He smiled a bit. 

"We must thank the Emperor."

"There's not much we can give him."

"Our skills are more than enough. Especially your skills. And... I have a feeling he'll need us soon."

Ryker frowned as he spoke ominously. Before Cecilia could ask what he meant though, the doctor came back in to do a checkup. 

With that, the parents shook their heads, ridding themselves of dark thoughts. Their son was back, alive and... not dead. It was a happy situation, so they enjoyed it. 

..........

......

After falling asleep, Dirk didn't wake up for an entire four days. To his parents, it was a coma that wasn't that uncalled for. He had been traumatized both physically and mentally. Now that he was finally safe, his body and mind were recuperating. 

But while this was somewhat truthful, the main reason was due to Spyte. If Dirk knew that Spyte was going to knock him out for several days, he may have commanded it otherwise. 

But since he was deep asleep, it wasn't his problem. And in fact, Spyte wasn't just recklessly playing around with Dirk's body. Over time, his situation only continued to deteriorate, beyond what even the doctor was aware of. While the potion that the doctor gave him frequently helped, it wasn't enough. 

Spyte realized that Dirk's body truly was dependent on the potion in every sense of the word. At some point, he stopped being able to live without it. And removing this dependency could now only be done in two ways, according to Spyte's observations. 

One, he could expel all his existing bodily systems like his organs and muscles and then regrow them. The regrown systems wouldn't be dependent. 

Of course, this method was close to impossible. And if he did go down that route, it would take years to recover. It wasn't feasible. 

So then there was option two. Dirk's body needed to adapt, replacing the potion with natural genetic and magical systems. This was what Spyte worked on. 

And Spyte had small success. Dirk's genetic code was changed and adapted, slowing his deterioration. His blood that was filled with mana and anima also helped, seemingly attempting to replace the function of the potion automatically. After all, potions were both material and magical.

But even after four days, Spyte wasn't able to solve the root of the problem. Dirk's body continued to destroy itself, and only with the potion the doctor gave was he able to stay alive for a bit longer. It was no longer a matter of weaning him off. It all came down to when his body adapted.

It was on the 4th day of his sleep though that something outside happened. Spyte had always sat with Dirk and watched the surroundings, keeping a keen eye out like an actual cat. So when a man came walking into the room followed by Dirk's parents, Spyte turned its attention. 

Spyte was like Dirk who saw things through mana. Thus, when it saw the dark mana around the man be purged in its entirety, it raised its vigilance. Even more so when it felt pressured by the man's presence. He was a beacon of absolute power. 

*Growl*

Spyte couldn't help but let out threatening sounds as the man approached Dirk's bedside. Cecilia saw this and stepped forward. 

"Black Cat, this is the Emperor, an ally."

"Isn't this interesting..."

The Emperor, the man with the overpowering presence, mumbled as he looked at Spyte. Spyte looked back with its golden eyes as if telling him to keep distance. 

The Emperor ignored the cat though as he quickly shifted his gaze to Dirk. He wanted to see this child who now turned out to be another Harbinger. 

When he looked at Dirk's body though, he got a glimpse of what was happening inside of him. Nobody knew how powerful the Emperor was, but it was generally agreed upon that he was the strongest existence in the Empire, and one of the strongest in the world. He could easily see Dirk's entire situation with but a mere glance. 

Of course, it was rude to probe a person's body with magic, but when the Emperor saw what was happening, he couldn't help but look deeper. 

"Your son is continuously dying."

"Sorry?"

Cecilia's eyes widened at his words, her worry suddenly surging. 

"His body is destroying itself. Without that potion, he can't live. He's fully dependent on it. If left alone, he would need a constant potion stream for the rest of his life."

"W-what?"

"But... It seems like he's doing something about it, as impossible as that sounds."

The Emperor leaned over as his deep voice shook Cecilia's ears. She stood back. 

Unlike most people, Cecilia knew that the Emperor was someone who wielded the fire and light elements. Fire was his primary specialization, but he was absolutely powerful with the light element as well. That meant he likely knew how to heal, and he could help Dirk. 

After a while, the Emperor smiled. He looked at Spyte who still maintained its vigilant gaze. 

"Hard at work? This should lighten your load. Do make use of this opportunity."

The Emperor put out his hand. In it was a red pearl. Cecilia was surprised.

"That's..."

"A bit of condensed bone marrow from an unknown anima-type monster that I was given. If used in alchemy, it would be a great ingredient for healing potions. Normally nobody would have much use for it by itself. But... this case is special, isn't it?"

The Emperor moved his hand to Spyte. The cat looked at the red pearl, then back at the Emperor. Standing, it grabbed the pearl with its mouth before walking to Dirk and dropping it in his. 

Dirk swallowed the pearl unconsciously. Nothing immediately happened after that, but the Emperor knew the changes that were going to come about. He nodded to Spyte. 

That wasn't all though. The Emperor grabbed Dirk's arm seeing how Spyte was a bit less vigilant. He looked at the metal tattoo and the large number 8.

"This will be easy to take care of."

Right as he said that, he pointed one of his fingers at the tattoo. A sharp flame ignited on the tip, and he lowered it to the metal. 

Under that fire, the tattoo just burned away. The Emperor traced all the metal before getting rid of the large number 8. Raw skin was left behind where the tattoo was, but it immediately healed when he used some light magic. All traces were gone.

"Good. As for this..."

Finally, the Emperor frowned. He looked at Dirk's eyes. The cloth had long been removed, exposing the cursed cracks underneath. 

"Can you restore his vision?"

"...I don't know."

The emperor mumbled unsurely at Cecilia's question, touching the cracks. A strand of light came out of his fingers, seeking to purify the dark curse. 

Right when the light touched the cracks though, the Emperor pulled back. Dirk's body also momentarily shivered, blood seeping from his eyes. 

"...Damn you, Asura."

"What happened?"

"The curse is almost linked to his life. It ingrained itself deep, only stopping before being engraved into his soul. My power is enough to erase the curse, but Dirk isn't strong enough to survive the backlash. As of right now, he's stuck with it. At the very least, it doesn't go beyond blinding him. It seems like Asura isn't stupid enough to ruin a Harbinger over a bit of frustration."

The emperor backed away while Cecilia clenched her fists. 

"Well, your son will be fine, regardless."

"...Thank you, Emperor."

Cecilia bowed a bit, as did Ryker. Although Dirk wouldn't get back his vision, he was going to live. That's all they cared about.

The Emperor turned back to them.

"On another note, your son is... a bit special. Rest assured, once he recovers, he'll be able to go back to things like normal. Asura won't try anything, so even if he's alone, there won't be any lingering threats. And, here's something that belongs to him."

The Emperor brought up his hand again. In it were two books. They were Dirk's two training manuals. 

"I got them while going through the mountain, along with a few other books. Tell Dirk that, although I know it's not entirely his fault, he shouldn't withhold original magic texts."

"Original texts? My son has never even seen one."

"Due to the whimsy of a certain someone, he actually has. He's not in trouble and he probably didn't get anything from it, but nevertheless, just pass along my message when he wakes. He'll know what I'm talking about. I don't blame him for getting roped into trouble if it's that man."

"Garel..."

Ryker spoke the man's name as he guessed some of the situation. He nodded to the emperor.

"I will speak to my son."

"Sure. Then, I must go. In fact, Marquess Strider, since you're here, I ask if you could walk with me."

"Of course."

Ryker nodded, the two men walking out together. Cecilia watched them before turning back to Dirk. If she was being honest, at this moment, she cared about nothing other than her son.

............

"Tensions are only getting worse."

The Emperor spoke as he and Ryker left the hospital building they were in. The hospital was actually inside of the palace that was in the center of the city of Calaba. The palace was massive and luxurious, so it had many functions while being inhabited by the highest profile persons in the city. 

A butler showed the two to a secluded room. Inside this room there were already a few other people who looked more like soldiers. One of them was specially decorated with medals and royal robes. He had a sharp demeanor, his eyes hiding vast wisdom. 

"General."

"Emperor Horizon."

The General bowed at the waist before nodding to Ryker. Ryker nodded back as the three approached a table. There was a magic map on it as well as a few papers. 

The Emperor continued his original statement. 

"Our southern border is already experiencing conflict. It's been a problem for a couple years now, but it's become especially bad in the last few months. The Dark Kingdom has deployed a large portion of their forces and we've had no choice but to respond. There haven't been any battles and we've entered a stalemate. Now, its about time for diplomatic negotiations. This is where the problem lies, though."

"Emperor, if I may ask, why is there such sudden friction? There haven't been any major changes, and because the Queen of the Dark Kingdom has been the sole ruler for hundreds of years, there aren't any political shifts to worry about. Has the Queen perhaps had a change of heart?"

Ryker asked. Since he was here, it was obvious the Emperor wanted to include him in this discussion. 

The Horizon Empire occupied the north-western part of the massive continent. Below them was the Dark Kingdom who occupied the direct western section of the continent. 

There was only one super continent in this world, and it took on the form of a poorly shaped donut. Around it was ocean, and in the center of this donut continent was a small sea. Thus, both the Horizon Empire's and the Dark Kingdom's territories extended to both the central sea and outer ocean. There was a single horizontal line that comprised their border. 

It was the part of the border that was near the central sea where this friction was being seen. Ryker had actually heard of this progressively worsening situation, as had the rest of the empire. Only, the Dark Kingdom wasn't giving any reasons for their sudden aggression, so it was causing a bit of panic.

Now, the two opposing forces had finally entered a stalemate. There would either be talks or an immediate battle. Of course, nobody even thought that the Dark Kingdom would just suddenly go to battle without stating their reasons. Not even their own citizens would allow that. 

Thus, they were waiting for messages to be sent. But the Horizon military wasn't one to just sit back and wait. They had already collected intelligence. 

The Emperor stood imposingly. 

"You're correct that the Queen of the Dark Kingdom has dominated her people for hundreds of years. And usually, when political shifts or even uprisings are seen, they're promptly taken care of. But this time... it's everyone. The entire political circle of the kingdom is calling for change. And not even the Queen is stopping it. From what I've heard, it's actually economic, the reasons for their aggression."

"Resource shortages?"

"The opposite, actually. They've recently experienced surges in industry and capital. The entire kingdom is in an economic boom. But this is the source of conflict. The Dark Kingdom frequently trades with the Elven World Tree, as well as us. But they don't directly trade with the most prosperous empire in the world."

"The Dwarven Haven."

"Correct. We could be said to be inhibiting them with our territory. And they're pushing military forces toward the land that would connect them with the dwarves. What does that tell you?"

"They want a direct channel with the dwarves. But is that not something we can facilitate? We fought the Bloody War with them 50 years ago, but things have settled. If anything, this could be a chance to strengthen our ties."

"That's a good question that we'll have to ask. But that's also why we believe there's something else going on. Regardless of what it is, they want our land that connects to the central sea... Ryker, can I trust you?"

Suddenly, the Emperor turned. Ryker became solemn at the question. This was asking if he wanted to be involved in a deeper struggle that he couldn't back out of. 

But Ryker wasn't afraid of any kind of struggle. He had been a military man before becoming one of the Academy's administrators. He was no stranger to war and battle or even political struggles. War was how he garnered his achievements, specifically his performance in the Bloody War he spoke of. 

Not only that, the Emperor was the reason he was able to get his son back. He had been wondering how to repay him. This was his chance. 

"I, Marquess Strider, am at his majesty's service. My flame is yours to command."

Ryker got on one knee, kneeling before his Emperor. The Emperor smiled before patting his shoulder. 

"Rise, Maruquess Strider. I accept your pledge. Now allow me to tell you something very important."

The Emperor turned to the table. On it was a map of the world. In the center was the central sea. There was actually an island within the central sea, as well as a land bridge leading to it. 

The Emperor pointed to the land bridge.

"The territory around this bridge cannot be taken, no matter what. This is something I will go to war over."

"...I understand."

Ryker nodded a bit stiffly. If the Dark Kingdom wanted a direct route to the Dwarven Haven, they would be cutting off their access to that land bridge. 

Now, Ryker was understanding how serious of a matter this was. The Dark Kingdom wanted greater prosperity, and the Horizon Empire wouldn't budge an inch. Although the Emperor didn't give him a reason why, it was apparently important enough to go to war over. 

As Ryker understood, the Emperor smiled. 

"This will be important information. Especially when you go as an envoy of the Horizon Empire to engage in diplomacy."

"I'm sorry?"

Ryker was stunned at the implied command. He composed himself though and frowned. 

"The Dark Kingdom hasn't said anything to us, though."

"Well, they haven't said nothing. In fact, if not for the recent conflict, I would have thought they were being friendly when they sent me this."

The Emperor took out an envelope as he said that. He handed it to Ryker.

"...An invitation to the annual holiday: Advent of the Dark Dragon."

"They sent me this a month ago. The holiday is in five weeks. I'm currently planning on sending you, a Duke, and some other delegates. What do you say? It should be a relatively enjoyable trip."

"If you believe I am fit, then I will be your envoy."

"Good. Then that's all I have for you. Tomorrow I will go back to the capital. Take your time here before returning with your son. And since you are my envoy now, I will give you this."

The Emperor held out his hand. In it was a ring with a large metal seal on it depicting a large sword and a flame. It was a royal seal, and out of the three ranks of silver, gold, and crystal, it was a gold seal. 

"That seal will give you access to any teleportation platform in the Empire, as well as a large sum of money to access from the treasury among other special items. I know the artifact you used while in the war was taken back upon your discharge. Go ahead and grab it from the imperial armory."

"Thank you, Emperor."

"Of course. And..."

The Emperor suddenly had an odd smile. His gaze turned toward where Dirk would be located, as if seeing him through the walls.

"When you go to the holiday in five weeks, take your son with you."

"Ethan?"

"Dirk."

Ryker went quiet. His son Ethan was in the military, so he figured the Emperor would mean him. But it was actually Dirk he specifically wanted to go. 

This caused Ryker to frown though. With everything that had happened, did he want to even remotely involve his son in this?

"...I'll think about it."

"Of course, but know that I'm insisting this to some extent. Anyway, I'll need to speak to the city governor. He's been itching to have a dinner. All of you are invited, if you so please."

With that, the Emperor finally left. Ryker was left pondering the future, brooding over the Emperor's 'suggestion'.