An hour after the crew of astral travelers left Coco Village, a crew of astral warriors from the nearest outpost of the Lightning Manor finally arrived.
Only 5 astral warriors were deployed but the villagers felt at peace instantly on seeing them wearing the familiar Shaolin Arhat Robes.
This was the uniform of astral warriors in the Lightning Manor.
The upper garment was white with an emblem of a Dragon surrounded by lightning soaring through the skies in its middle, complemented with black trousers.
The lineup consisted of 4 men and a young lady.
As soon as they arrived, it didn't take much longer for the supervisor in charge of this region to arrive, the patriarch of the Brenden family, Brenden Enoch.
The middle-aged patriarch arrived at the scene wielding a long spear.
One of the men among the lineup from the Lightning Manor who seemed to be the leader spoke up the next moment, he demanded for the full sequence of events even as 2 warriors in his crew went out and started healing the injured.
The village head did not hesitate as he recounted everything that happened.
Once he was done, the man frowned. "This is just a small village, none of you here has the capability to face such a Dragon, how did you kill it?"
"…" The village head hesitated.
Seeing this, the astral warrior narrowed his eyes.
The village head finally succumbed. "It's a crew of 5 travelers".
He told them everything, not holding any information back.
When he was done, the astral warrior rubbed his chin. "A crew of astral travelers huh?"
Green astral energy erupted from this warrior the next moment as a small bird materialized before him, he whispered to the bird. "A group of astral travelers just left the Hope Town region, potentially dangerous".
After making the report, he looked at the village head. "I'm sorry for your losses, the Lightning Manor will do its best to help in Coco Village's recovery".
"As for now, we need your cooperation to locate where the Dragon came from. Let's hope its home and family are far away from here".
After healing the injured and setting things in place for Coco Village to recover from their damages, the crew of 5 astral warriors from the Lightning Manor went alongside Patriarch Enoch in search of the Dragon's lair.
…
A long time after the attack of the Fire-breathing Dragon…
It was already the next day and Ramon stood before the patriarch, looking down as he expected to receive more punishment.
Despite looking down though, the patriarch furrowed his brows because he sensed an unyielding spirit in his son that was not there before.
He finally spoke. "You didn't serve your punishment; you left the Swamp Forest".
Ramon nodded while looking down.
"Answer me with your mouth when I question you".
"Yes".
"Yes, patriarch!" He glared at his son.
"Yes, patriarch". Ramon kept on looking down.
"You stayed with a crew of astral travelers".
"Yes". Ramon peeked at his father; he was not angry like he expected.
"Tell me the truth, did you see the Dragon?"
Hearing that, a fuse seemed to be switched on in his head as Ramon paused then he raised his head the next moment and looked at the patriarch with brightly shining eyes. "I saw it!"
"It was so big, so powerful!"
"It spewed fire everywhere like bam bam Bam!"
"All the villagers were scared, crying and running everywhere like rabbits before a King Cobra!"
"There was fire everywhere but Augustus was not scared".
"He protected everyone and Joel attacked with his cutlass like BAM!"
"All the while Joro was playing his music like boom boom!"
"You know…, you know…," He held his father's hand for emphasis who froze. "Lynx disappeared and the next moment he stabbed the Dragon's scales with his daggers like BAM…!"
"Dad, you need to see it, I was so scared but also excited".
"Meyer dealt the finishing blow with ice…, ice dad! She controlled ice!"
"…" Enoch was speechless. This was the first time that his son was calling him dad in a very long time, Ramon mostly called him patriarch.
'This boy…, he changed'.
'I really hope this change is for the better'. He thought.
"Ahem…," He coughed.
"You evaded your punishment and for that, I'll substitute it with another punishment".
Hearing that, Ramon deflated as he looked down again.
"I already paid a scholar from Centerpoint City, he shall be your teacher".
"Your punishment is to learn under him till you are 10".
Ramon's eyes widened. "That's not fair!"
'I knew it, fool…,' Enoch was speechless.
'He told me he hated reading and wanted a teacher but just because I added punishment, he can't even tell that I'm doing him a favor'.
'Sigh…'
…
Getting a teacher brought Ramon to an entirely new phase of his life.
He no longer had the time to be as mischievous and carefree as he was before. With his strict teacher intruding into his life, life was no longer as fun.
"My name is Guendouzi".
"I shall be your teacher from today, in every aspect of your life ranging from learning history, current information, to astral energy, to even your combat training, I shall teach you how to become a man".
"But before accepting you as my student, you need to pass my test".
"Huh?" Ramon was confused.
His teacher was a tall man with long purple hair who was always on black scholarly clothes, he had a makeshift umbrella that he always carried around with him and at this moment, he looked at his prospective student seriously.
"If you get my question right, you qualify to be my student".
"So answer me, what is your type? In girls I mean".
"…" Ramon's head went blank.
And that was how the phase of his life with Teacher Guendouzi started.
"This region of the world is called the Eastern Typhoon Continent. This continent derived its name due to the presence of the Lightning Typhoon Eagle".
"The Eastern Typhoon continent is under the jurisdiction of the Lightning Manor led by the Lightning Emperor, Emperor Radyn".
"The Eastern Typhoon continent has 51 countries," Remembering something, Guendouzi paused. "Ramon, what is the name of our country?"
"Huh?"
"…" His face darkened.
Reading the atmosphere, Ramon chuckled. "Hope Country?"
BONK!
"Ouch…"
"The name of our country is Tiberia".
"Tiberia has 32 states and Hope Town is one of the capital towns of Stoneflower State where we currently are".
"Your father, the patriarch is the supervisor on behalf of the Lightning Manor in charge of Hope Town and all 8 nearby villages surrounding it".
"This is why the rampage of the Dragon in Coco Village implicated him and forced him to join the search for the Dragon's lair".
"That is the end of our lesson today. Tomorrow, get prepared, I will teach you basic combat techniques and start by learning the basics of the sword".
The next day, the lecture felt much more fun to Ramon as he got to wield a sword for the first time in his life, something that completely fascinated him.
Despite how much brain power that he expended in learning it though, someone explaining it to him made it easier for Ramon as he finally understood the map of the Eastern Typhoon continent that was explained to him yesterday.
The next day, Guendouzi tried teaching the basics of a different weapon but for some reason, Ramon was awful with any other weapon that he wielded.
His only talent seemed to lie with the sword and after asking the patriarch for permission, Guendouzi taught Ramon to major on the sword path.
Amid his lectures, time passed and it was already 2 years.
Throughout this time, Ramon never spoke about his ambitions again. It was like he suddenly forgot but only he knew that he kept it at the back of his mind.
By now, Ramon already made a name for himself.
Rumors spread through Hope Town of the prodigy of the Brenden family that was a sword genius. "Did you hear? I heard just 6 months after learning the basics of a sword, he was able to match his teacher move for move".
"After a year and 2 months, they say he could beat his master with just the sword, a renowned teacher who is also an astral warrior".
"That boy really is a beast".
"The Brenden family really hit the jackpot again, he has the potential of taking them above their rivals, the Crosti family. If things go well, Ramon may as well eclipse all his older brothers and become the crowned patriarch".
Ramon was now 7 and years of stubbornness and training already turned him into a mini man, his body developed faster than his age.
On his 7th birthday, Guendouzi finally granted his student's wish.
He taught him about astral energy.
"The energy of nature is called astral energy and astral practitioners and beasts absorb and store it to empower their bodies, prolong their lives, and use astral techniques that are only possible through astral energy".
"Over time, a system was established, separating astral practitioners into astral warriors and astral travelers".
"Astral warriors are recognized astral practitioners that are under any of the Big 9 organizations".
"Astral travelers, like their names suggest are those astral practitioners who value freedom above everything else, going as far as becoming criminals and oppressing those that were unfortunate to not awaken astral energy".
"The paths of astral practitioners are divided into 2, there is the warrior path and the mage path".
"There are more subdivisions under both astral paths".
"You will learn more about this in your astral academy when you're 10 and you finally get to awaken astral energy".
Over the years, Ramon already grew to like Guendouzi and as he was finally taught about astral energy, this 7-year-old felt on top of the world.
He could not wait to be 10.
Accomplishing one feat after the other, solidifying the fact that he was superior to his peers, Ramon kept his genius streak and like a dream, the D-day was here, it was the night of his 10th birthday.
And on that night, something happened.
An assassination was planned.