RING RING
RING RING
The alarm clock sounded. Vex, rubbing his eyes, slid his legs off the bed and stood up. After glancing around his dirty, messed-up room with a drowsy expression, he went straight to his private bathroom.
Looking back at him from the mirror was a handsome fifteen-year-old boy with messy, pure-black hair that fell well past his shoulders and deep black eyes that stared back blankly. He wasn't wearing a top, revealing a well-defined body with lean muscles and veins running down his forearms.
After staring at himself for a bit longer, he eventually came out of the shower fully naked. His eyes drifted to the formal suit, necktie, and shoes that were already prepared for him. He looked at them with an almost sad but fierce expression, then put them on, tied his hair into a ponytail, and headed out of his room.
"The guests are already at the dining hall, young master," his maid Alice said.
She accompanied him to the dining hall and opened the doors. Inside, eight people were already seated—three males and five females. On one side of the table sat his family members: his mother, Alena Emberfall; next to her, Lucian, the eldest of the family and its pride; and beside him, his two elder sisters, Lilith and Luna. None of them reacted to the door opening.
On the other side of the table sat the Stormhaven family. All of them had blond hair, and unlike his own family, all of them were looking at him.
A middle-aged man he recognized as the lord of the Stormhaven family was watching him with a judging gaze. Vex knew him as a battle-hardened warrior, something the scars on his face and forearms easily confirmed. Next to him sat his wife, her face covered by a veil. He didn't know what expression she wore, but he assumed it to be the same as her husband's. Beside her was the Stormhaven family's eldest son, who wore a blank expression, and next to him sat Morgana who was the same age as him, wearing a smug grin. It made him dislike her instantly, even though this was their first meeting and possibly his future wife.
Vex took his seat next to Luna without saying a word and waited in silence for his father.
He didn't have to wait long. A few minutes later, the doors opened again, and his father walked in he was a huge man with broad shoulders and forearms as thick as Vex's legs. He looked around, and his eyes revealed everything.
He looked lovingly at his wife and daughters, proudly at his eldest son, nodded respectfully to the Stormhaven family, and finally, when his gaze landed on Vex, it held utter disapproval and disgust—perfectly hidden behind a neutral expression.
"We shall discuss while having our meal, shall we?" he said, taking his seat.
Once he sat, servants brought in the food. The two families began discussing Vex's and Morgana's trial and engagement.
"Both Vex and Morgana will be turning fifteen this year and will have to go through the Trial of Ascension. I hope Vex has already chosen a planet for the trial?" asked Jareth, lord of the Stormhaven family.
"Yes, indeed he has already chosen. He will be going to Pandora," Magnus replied.
Everyone from the Stormhaven family—and even Vex—was surprised by this. But Vex quickly hid his surprise behind a confident and calm face.
From what he knew, Pandora was one of the deadliest planets in the universe. One needed to be at least a Grandmaster to set foot on it.
It was obvious his own father wanted him dead. No sane parent would ever send their child to that planet for the Trial of Ascension—especially a mere warrior, which Vex wasn't even qualified to be.
Realizing this, Vex could only think back to the time his mother was still alive.
She had been an extremely beautiful woman, with hair and eyes the same as Vex's. She was a Transcendent-level powerhouse. Magnus had met her on the battlefield during her mercenary days and fallen in love with her. One thing led to another and eventually Vex was born.
But after his birth, Magnus discovered something he should've learned long ago or perhaps never.
After testing Vex's DNA, he found that both Vex and his mother were half-Malrath. Malraths were an ancient breed of cold, merciless, vile, and sinister humanoid creatures who roamed the universe millennia ago but were now believed extinct or in hiding. Most believed they are already extinct due to their suicidal nature.
Magnus—being the lord of a celestial family—was raised to hate the Malrath. And so, he began hating the woman he claimed to love. He likely wanted to kill both of them then and there, but for reasons Vex didn't know, he didn't. And whatever that reason that was, Vex knew for a fact it wasn't love.
Instead, Magnus humiliated them and made life hell for both. He repeatedly tried to kill them indirectly. His mother protected him most of the time, taking the injuries herself. When she was taken to the battlefield as a mere soldier, Vex was starved for days or bullied by the maids and his siblings.
His siblings knew he was half-Malrath, but the servants didn't. Still, bullying someone while their status was the lowest was something they wouldn't pass up. His father did nothing to stop them, so they continued.
Vex and his mother suffered for six years. Then, on one mission, Magnus took her to the battlefield—and she never returned.
After that, nine more years of humiliation and near-death experiences followed until Vex finally had a chance to leave this hell. And apparently, the place he was being sent to was an even worse hell.
"Isn't that a bit too dangerous for someone of his level?" Jareth asked, clearly surprised.
"Don't worry. I have trained him, and I'm confident in his strength," Magnus said with a carefree smile.
In reality, Vex had never received a single martial arts or cultivation lesson. When he tried studying by himself in the cultivation section of the library, he was starved for a week for attempting it. Before being kicked out, he barely managed to learn the basics.
He knew the basic ranks: Warrior as the weakest, God as the strongest. Creating cores depended on affinity that either you were born with or developed later on in life due to various experiences —forming the first core in the lower dantian made one a Warrior, completing it made one an Elite Warrior. The Master Realm required forming the second core in the middle dantian, and the Ascension Realm involved the third core in the upper dantian. Elite warrior, grandmaster and transcendent was divided into three sub ranks according to the purity of the formed core as clear core, pure core, and true core. He found no information on advancing to the later realms—Sovereign, Demigod, or God.
Thanks to his mother, he knew the basics of dual-blade combat. But that was nowhere near enough to survive Pandora.
After hearing Magnus's claim, Lord Jareth's opinion of Vex shifted slightly—but only because he didn't know the truth.
"Is he really that strong? I think he'll die in five minutes after landing on Pandora," Morgana said with a bored expression on her beautiful face.
Vex could hear Luna suppressing a chuckle beside him. She was probably right. Still, he didn't react and maintained the same indifferent, emotionless expression throughout the entire conversation.
"So, we shall announce their engagement after both of them complete their Trial of Ascension… and if both survive," Lord Jareth said, glancing at Vex from the corner of his eye. That concluded the conversation.
Even though Magnus claimed to be confident in his son's strength, Jareth tried repeatedly to change his old friends mind—to at least save the young boy's life. But nothing convinced Magnus. In the end, Jareth could only accept the decision and worry about his own daughter's trial.
After that, the Stormhaven family left the dining hall, leaving Vex alone with his family. As soon as the doors closed, their friendly façade towards him shattered.
"Can't believe you're even getting the chance to be engaged to such a beautiful lady," Luna said mockingly.
"Of course, you'll die before you ever see her again, so don't get your hopes up," she added with a wide grin.
Vex showed no reaction and stayed silent, staring at his plate.
"You can go to your room now. No need to throw up the food today. Be ready by 0900 tomorrow," his stepmother said, dismissing him. He gladly obliged.
Usually after a meal like this he was forced to throw up everything he ate. They were probably showing him there first and last act of mercy for he will be flying to his death tomorrow.
After he left, the rest of the family continued talking.
"What if he does survive, Father? What will we do then?" Lucian asked.
The response was not what anyone expected. Magnus laughed—genuine amusement shaking his shoulders. He laughed for a couple of minutes before calming down.
"Son," he began, "I went there just a couple of years back. Trust me when I say I never want to return."
Hearing this from a Transcendent was shocking. Few things could challenge someone of that level. It was considered the peak of power for most people. Only ancestral families backed by gods possessed Sovereigns, and even they were rare—existing gods didn't want more beings who could challenge their absolute authority.
"So don't worry about him not dying in Pandora. It's guaranteed."
He patted his son's shoulder and left the room.
After hearing that, no one had any doubts. The rest of the family left as well.
***
The power system goes like this;
1. Warrior<
2. Elite warrior (clear core, pure core, true core)<
3. Master<
4. Grandmaster (clear core, pure core, true core)<
5. Ascendant<
6. Transcendent (clear core, pure core, true core)<
7. Sovereign<
8. Demigod<
9. God