While the students of the Axis and the other academies were moving to the capital where the Game of Kings would open, the delegations from the other Empires were heading to Solaria too, and soon they’d all gather in one place.

But away from all that, in a remote palace inside Solaria, Zen Asterval’s footsteps rapped on the empty corridors as he walked through his remote palace... a place he was used to using to get away from Imperial politics and from his father’s eyes too.

There were barely enough servants here to look after the place and keep it in good condition, so he didn’t run into anyone while he walked into the depths of the palace... or maybe because they simply avoided him.

’What busy days.’ Whether it was his sister and her companions coming back from Ancient Earth in an unprecedented incident, or Alicia’s fight with the Pillar of Blood with one of the Axis students at the center of it, all of it was interesting to him.

Especially the last one, it was very surprising to him.

And while he was thinking about the news they’d publish after the Game of Kings ended, he reached a double door to the lounge and opened it, only for his eyebrows to rise in surprise and a short sound to come out of his mouth. "Oh..."

He stared at the beautiful woman sitting in his house without him knowing, his lips rising into a small smile as he closed the door behind him to face the uninvited guest. "Wasn’t expecting you to just drop by... auntie."

With her arms folded under her chest, Medirin tilted her head in amusement. "Why? Haven’t you missed your aunt, you ungrateful little brat."

Zen’s smile didn’t waver as he stepped toward the group of couches. "Of course I missed you, auntie... actually I wanted to see you after everything that happened recently, but you know, you were off the grid."

"Still, I’d rather you didn’t drop in on me here with no warning... you know my father’s moods, he’s a little unpredictable."

Medirin ignored the complaint as she crossed one leg over the other. "So have you thought about what I told you?"

Zen sat across from her and with a quick movement he pulled a wine bottle out of his ring with two glasses and filled them, holding one out to Medirin.

"Haven’t thought about it yet... you know, it’s a little complicated." His tone was free of worries... like it always was.

The corners of Medirin’s mouth lifted a little in a troubling smile. "Well, that was expected."

Without caring about her answer, Zen brought the glass rim to his mouth, the taste of the wine refreshing his tongue before he spoke.

"This hasn’t been published or disclosed yet, but I’m sure you know what my sister and her companions brought back from Ancient Earth."

His eyes were catching any reaction Medirin gave, but she just stared at the dark liquid as she turned the glass with deliberate slowness. "Arcadia, the Sovereigns, the Pantheon... the past and the things that were forgotten."

Her voice was terrifyingly calm as she recited those new facts, which made Zen narrow his eyes.

"You think we didn’t know? Unfortunately, we know a whole lot more... all of that went and became the past, even the names didn’t stay in this world."

She took a sip of her wine. "Whatever my brother’s thinking, it won’t change anything... the only thing that comes out of it is lifting people’s spirits by telling them they used to be something great in an era that just got discovered, and taking the credit for this little discovery himself, especially if this generation wins that little game."

"Heheh..." Medirin let out a short laugh, which made Zen raise his eyebrow.

"What?"

She looked at him, amusement shining in her red eyes. "Nothing, I just remembered someone I met a while back, a really interesting kid who’s got a strange relationship with little Alice."

The carefree expression faded from his face and turned into a frown. "You mean Caius Astroweild... were you trying to recruit him?"

Medirin shrugged her thin shoulders as she took a sip from her glass. "Yeah, he was kind of unexpected... you know, he cursed at me and said something about unqualified selfishness with this strange anger and hatred... like we’d been torturing him his whole life or something."

"And you, what did you do to him?" Zen asked, while she answered indifferently.

"Nothing... he was carrying something with him, then little Alice showed up... and you know, the whole thing went up in smoke, that was a real painful blow for me... but it made him more interesting." She licked her lips as she said the last part.

With a frown Zen put down the glass as he leaned back in his seat. "So... why are you here, auntie, I don’t think you came for a chat and to strengthen our family bond?"

Medirin rolled her eyes in annoyance. "What’s with young people and their moods these days."

When Zen didn’t say anything, she clicked her tongue and went on.

"Yeah, I want to ask you for a small favor."

...

Caius’s POV

The days were passing between Mary’s torture and sleep, I barely interacted with anyone... I was tired, really tired.

Every time Mary increased the intensity of her treatment which left me exhausted in the end and barely holding onto consciousness, but after all those painful sessions, I could see some result.

It was something very small and not useful at all, but I felt that my body had the potential to make some progress again... even though she said I might go back to its first state or worse if I got injured and healed myself too much... or tried to achieve Fusion.

In the end the day came when the student delegation headed to the capital and me with them of course.

Coming out of the teleportation gate with a hundred other people most of whom I don’t know, and seeing the capital, was refreshing... really, the capital of Solaria was very vast.

Hundreds of skyscrapers rose up, and the metro systems and the cars that aren’t used much in other cities were spread everywhere... its streets were packed with citizens and tourists from other places... and a lot of strong people too.

That was what I saw, because the moment we arrived we were led to a hotel next to the teleportation gate, it was a building of dozens of floors made of white stone with a glass facade overlooking the spread of the city.

We were given separate luxury rooms and access to anything here... or even going out and walking around but after asking permission.

"Nice." I looked out of the big view in my room, down there the streets stretched out, and the towers rose past the floor I was on.

With that the Game of Kings would start in a week, and the opening ceremony and the reveal of the game in five days, and the delegations from the other three Empires would start arriving at this same resort today... why are they putting us in one resort... maybe to boost the spirit of friendliness and some drama.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a great mood these days to care about these things.

It’s true I was very angry after finding out about my condition, but as the days passed, I let go of that, there was no use cursing like a madman all day... right?

I needed to focus on how I’d win this and see if I could get the Lifeweaver Serum... and honestly my chances of winning weren’t great.

No, they’re really bad.