Hero of Darkness

Kahn was both dumbfounded and petrified after learning the truth that came along with the position of being the Shadow Disciple. And no matter how he looked at it… This position came with way too many forced conditions that put his life in danger.

Why?

Because not only he was going to be forced into life and death battles when the Tribal Tourney started… But he was also prone to be targeted by other tribes and people who coveted his position within the tribe itself.

Romulus then took a deep breath and explained a few more things.

"In the Nadur Empire, we don't have Noble Factions or Clans. We have Tribes.

Unlike the first two, our Tribes are connected through bloodlines.

Many clans that share traces of the same bloodlines come together and form a tribe.

The strongest person among all those clan leaders gets to become the Tribe Leader.

As for me… Apart from being one of the 4 Heavenly Kings, I'm also the Tribe Leader of the Fenriborne Tribe." revealed the wolfkin.

Kahn too revealed an astonished expression.

"So that's why I felt a sense of Familiarity and Kinship with you.

Because you have the Godbeast Fenrir's bloodline." said Kahn.

"Let me tell you one important secret…" spoke Romulus and leaned on his throne.

"Although everyone believes that the strongest always rules the empire… The truth is that all the rulers of the Nadur empire and the top echelons have always emerged from species heritage and bloodlines.

If we were to classify that group, they'd be called…

The True Descendants." he iterated with a solemn countenance.

"What are the True Descendants?" asked Kahn with a curious gaze.

"The people who are the direct descendants of the Godbeasts. But unlike the monsters you might have seen so far…

The True Descendants can shapeshift themselves into taking small forms instead of being massive monsters.

This body of mine isn't even my final form." he revealed.

Kahn was simply perplexed. Because this meant that all the top powers of the Beast Empire were actually world calamities just like his subordinates in their true monster form. And that too happened with any of them possessing any Metamorphosis bloodline.

This was similar to how the Fireborne Imperial clan such as Venessa and Havi, could transform into a primordial creature called the Simurgh.

But in the Nadur Empire… Many people had the same ability and not just some imperial clan if there ever was one.

"I'll tell you more about it when the time is right." spoke Romulus and moved to the next topic.

"Currently, I don't have an Official Disciple yet.

And since you won't be staying here in the future, there's no point in making you one either.

But I couldn't make you a random tribe member either since you're a Saint.

Hence, this was the best identity for you since no one would ask questions related to your origin as part of the tradition." he explained why he made Kahn his Shadow Disciple.

"Besides… I am to train you till your stay here.

This pressure is what you need to diligently practice." he gave his reasoning.

The 7th stage saint then asked what kind of skills Kahn aka Atreus had along with their mastery.

After going through the entire list… Romulus was simply petrified.

"What the hell have you been doing with your divine abilities and blessings?

Did you spend your entire time just hunting powerful monsters in dungeons and forests?" he questioned with a constricted face.

"Aside from your swordsmanship skills… all of your other skills, weapon mastery and proficiency is practically shit.

Although you have reached Grandmaster level at some of them by acquiring from others… They're all mediocre abilities at best.

And your control over mana and world energy is subpar even with your rank as an Intermediate Grandmaster Magician.

All the other Heroes and Heroines of Darkness' were much better than you." he spoke with a discontent expression.

Kahn replied with a helpless voice…

"Well, I did not actually have someone to teach me overpowered and forbidden skills.

And neither did I have a plethora of highly skilled teachers in the world or an empire's support to help me so far in case you've missed to notice." he too made a rebuttal.

Just then, Vildred showed up out of his invisibility barrier and interjected.

"Battle techniques are not my forte. As for magic study and everything else related to them… I can see to that." he openly proposed on the spot.

Kahn and Romulus were taken aback at the same time.

"You'd do that for me?" he asked the royal dragon.

To his hushed voice… Vildred replied with a confident smile.

"Child… until our deal is done, we're both tied to each other.

Besides… I too noticed that you are much weaker when it comes to your control over world energy compared to all the Heroes I've seen and met.

To be honest, I knew the 5th Hero of Darkness over 1400 years ago. He was a magician who I met by coincidence.

He was simply too powerful for a human and his control over mana and world energy was one of the best I have seen." explained Vildred.

Right at this moment, Rathnaar also chimed in.

[Same for the 6th Heroine of Darkness in my time. She was a very powerful Sorceress over 1 thousand years ago.

She was one of the few people who didn't have an enmity with me and we even fought beside each other against a Godbeast that terrorized the Rakos and Abyss empire's common borders.] iterated the Peak Saint.

Vildred then continued…

"If my guess is right, you have received 2 enlightenments in Laws of Magic but you can't progress from there.

That is shackling your breakthrough, am I right?" he made a guess.

Kahn simply nodded in response.

Romulus, the red wolfkin saint also spoke again.

"Remember how I broke your domain without any effort?

It was because your control over its law and world energy were like a frail and dried tree branch.

Compared to that, my Domain of Slaughter is like an entire forest." he said, almost in a bragging tone.

And finally, both Romulus and Vildred asked Atreus aka Kahn in a domineering voice.

"So which one do you want to learn?"