From a narrow slit hidden within the shadows, beyond the perception of mortal senses, William Von Dawn sat cross-legged in silence as he watched his son slam a fist into the bed in frustration.
Feathers burst into the air.
The boy…
no, the Emperor, stood there with clenched fists and burning eyes filled with stubborn resolve.
A faint smile touched William’s lips.
He rose quietly, his cloak brushing against the cold stone floor as he disappeared deeper into the palace.
Not toward the gardens.
Not toward the military halls.
Below.
Past the inner sanctum.
Past the ancient gate carved with a single blazing rune.
Further down.
Into the Chamber of Echoing Flame.
A place forbidden to all except the Emperors of Dawn.
A place where blood tied to the First Light still lingered beneath ancient stone.
The moment William crossed the threshold, the torches dimmed.
Then darkness swallowed everything.
And within that darkness…
Eyes opened.
Not one pair.
Not two.
Twelve burning eyes emerged silently from the void.
Crimson.
Sapphire.
Storm-silver.
Molten gold.
Pale green.
Void-black.
They floated motionlessly within the dark, ancient and terrifying.
They did not blink.
They simply watched.
The true foundation of the Dawn Empire had awakened.
A voice echoed through the chamber.
Old.
Hoarse.
Regal.
“The child.
Has he begun?”
William stood calmly beneath those burning gazes.
“He has tasted frustration.
But he has not broken.”
Another voice followed immediately after.
Female.
Sharp as ice scraping against steel.
“There is nothing worth praising yet.
Remember that he is merely a pawn in this game, dear William.”
Invisible flames crackled somewhere within the darkness.
The storm-silver eyes brightened slightly.
“It seems Skyfall has chosen to use us as their testing stone.”
William remained silent for a moment before speaking.
“There have been movements from the Union Demon God Sect in the south.”
His voice lowered slightly.
“And the Warkarians gathering near the border are not to be underestimated either.”
The void-black eyes narrowed.
“Then we crush them.”
Molten gold flared brightly.
“It seems the outside world believes the Emperors of Dawn have slept for too long.”
Silence followed, heavy and oppressive
Then the crimson eyes spoke once more, carrying unquestionable authority.
“We wait.”
The chamber trembled faintly.
“Let us first see what our neighbors are capable of.
If a few border cities must fall, then so be it.
But if they dare step too deeply into our territory…”
William slowly inhaled, his eyes cooled.
Then he answered quietly.
“They will remember why I was given the title Sword Sovereign.”
At those words, several pairs of eyes brightened intensely.
A rough laugh echoed from the void-black eyes, almost like a Demonic Emperor.
The sapphire eyes flickered gently.
“How is the boy holding up?”
William looked toward the sapphire glow.
“He remains content so long as we continue protecting him.
He is exactly as we predicted.”
A brief pause.
“There will be no issue of him not abdicating, if that is your concern.”
The atmosphere instantly became suffocating.
Then the final voice spoke.
It was ancient beyond comprehension.
So old that age no longer existed within it.
The golden eyes illuminated the chamber with pale radiance.
“Then we watch.”
The voice echoed slowly across the stone walls.
“The blood that he has is the Royal Blood, which means he has equal right to the Throne…
If he shows promise, then the Throne is his.”
“To the capable belongs the Throne…”
One by one, the glowing eyes dimmed.
The darkness reclaimed the chamber.
Only the sound of breathing remained.
William turned and left without another word, his cloak billowing behind him as he disappeared back into the stone corridor.
A single thought drifted through his mind beneath that calm expression.
‘Talking to those old fossils is truly exhausting.’
==================================
Kaiser sat alone within the quiet of his chamber.
The pale glow of the status screen reflected across his face like cold moonlight, stretching his shadow long against the wall behind him.
His eyes slowly scanned the floating text before him.
The Continent of Karak Korvec was unimaginably vast.
Empires stretched across endless mountain ranges and ancient deserts.
Oceans deep enough to bury civilizations separated the lands, and within those black waters lived monsters so ancient that even their names had long been forgotten.
Yet among all the races, kingdoms, and cultivation systems born throughout history, one path stood above all others.
The Immortal Path.
The orthodox road followed by nearly every dominant power on the continent.
A path dedicated to refining the soul, tempering the spirit, and drawing in the energies of heaven and earth to transcend mortality itself.
To walk the Immortal Path was to seek ascension.
But it was not the only road to power.
Far to the frozen north of the Dawn Empire lay the lands of the Warkarians.
A brutal region of jagged mountains, endless snowstorms, and skies filled with howling winds.
The Warkarians did not cultivate the Immortal Path.
They cultivated the Body.
To them, flesh was the first weapon and the final truth.
Bone, blood, muscle, and marrow could all be reforged beyond mortal limits.
Theirs was the Great Sanctification Path.
Immortal scholars often mocked it as crude and barbaric.
Primitive.
Inelegant.
But even the proudest cultivators could not deny the horror of witnessing a Warkarian warrior charge through an army alone.
Their bodies were living weapons.
Raw, and violent.
It was agreed by all that the Path that stood tall when it came to combat prowess was the Great Sanctification Path.
During the reign of the Fifth Emperor of Dawn, a duel once took place within the Valley of Eight Screams.
There, the Emperor crossed blades with a Great Khan.
Though the Emperor survived, his meridians were shattered and his spirit heavily wounded.
Yet he did not feel humiliation after that battle.
He felt enlightenment.
For sixty years afterward, the Fifth Emperor secretly studied the Warkarians.
He dissected their breathing techniques, analyzed their methods of tempering bone and blood, and translated the ancient battle hymns they used during cultivation.
Then, after years of research, he created something entirely new.
A cultivation art that allowed one to temper the body without abandoning the Immortal Path.
The Dragon Martial Body Technique.