《Riddick/ Against the Heavens》Book 1 - Chapter 1 - The Beginning
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Author note : Hi guys, gsdreddy here with Riddick, I will take you on a long ride of supernatural Xianxia so sit back and relax.
Full Proofreading credits go to Eric Allen,
Thank you Eric and readers,
ENJOY.
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THE BEGINNING:
I was walking along the rough mountain path with moderate speed, I could see an endless mountain range on my left while my right side had a very large city, this mountain seemed like a borderline between civilization and wilderness.
Thinking of such things I arrived at the end of mountain trail only to see four bodyguards waiting patiently for my arrival, upon seeing me they respectively saluted me by calling ‘young master’, yes I am their master. Soon I returned to the castle which was constructed by integrating a part of it into the mountain. This is my home, the Grand Marshall castle of Reinfield territory.
My name is Riddick, I am the third son of Thenadier Elsevier the duke of Reinfield territory. I was born to a mistress, my father took brief interest in but soon after my birth my mother died, the duke never had any mistresses later making me his only bastard child. He has four children including me I have two elder brothers and a younger sister, all of them born to the principal wife thus being the rightful heirs to the dukedom.
While I was not thrown out I was given no authority expect that I had a dozen soldiers as my personal bodyguards, though all this sounds like a terrible situation. I personally am quite satisfied with it as I do not have any desire to gain power, I am eight this year thus I was given the freedom to go out and do anything out of my will that was the reason why I was earlier on the mountain path because I always wanted to see how it looked like for many years.
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The rules of nobility are such that the children were not allowed to venture outside the estate till they are eight years old because of various dangers they will be exposed in their innocence. The children were all given compulsory education for five years from the age of three to eight , first year they will be thoroughly brushed of their language comprehension so that they can understand others, the second year they were thoroughly given a basic knowledge of both noble customs and behaviour as well as alphabets and numericals which will be continued till the eighth year, from the third year the children are taught about the basic knowledge of the ‘ki’ also they begin cultivating their ki, this is usually the stage where they start growing more powerful than normal children of their age.
You can say that this is a benefit enjoyed by noble children because all others start their ki cultivation at the age of seven or eight. Though we start our ki cultivation it is only passing ki in our channels to get a feel of it but we don’t arouse ki in our channels as it is considered that any children below the age of eight still has very tender ki channels leading to their rupture when ki is aroused, this is also why the children are strictly supervised till they are of eight years.
The age of eight has yet another significance that it is only at the age of eight that a mage’s spiritual force and elemental affinity are tested. In this world there are five basic affinities they are fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning
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All mages initially begin with only basic elemental affinities but upon reaching a certain mastery over their
elements they can discover whether they have any unique or rare magic of their own. It is incredibly rare for a mage to start with an elemental magic other than five basic elements.
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The warriors as well as mages are divided into ten stages of ranks ranging from one to ten. There are people who are ranked above ten as well, not much is explained about them to us.
I became eight about ten days ago, these past few days I was busy doing various things which I couldn’t do before. In another twenty days I will be tested for my elemental affinity, though I don’t hold too many expectations as mages are very rare in our family. I am still looking forward for the testing ceremony.
My knowledge of this world is still very limited despite me being a noble with vast sources of information because I am still a child and treated as one. For the longest time I wondered whether I was born genius but no I am not, I was just born with a talent to be sensitive to people’s thoughts and emotions and thus matured fast. I always trying to be as invisible as possible in the castle and I rarely meet the main family members including my parents and siblings. I am grateful to them as they did not throw me out but instead gave me a life where I need not worry about food or shelter. My family don’t hate me for certain, instead I think they love me at least to a certain extent.
My two brothers are both considered very talented. My elder brother James is about nine years older than me, second brother Gates is about six years older and my younger sister Sasha is only about a year younger than me. My step mother Catherine is a very beautiful, majestic lady who I think was the person responsible for my safety or else I would probably be dead by now. Though my father Duke Thenadier is the family head there are many elders and also my uncle Ganong who hold power rivaling my father’s within the family, as a family which has been ruling the Reinfield territory for 1200 years it is very large with many branch family members along with main family, so I think my step mother was crucial for my survival as without her support a bastard child like me would have been long discarded to erase the shame of family.
I am rarely invited to have dinner with my father and others as there are always elders and sometimes my uncle attending the dinner to discuss various matters with my father, today I was ordered to be present at the dining table by my father as today marked exactly the end of thirty days since my eight birthday. I was impeccably dressed and arrived on time to the grand dining hall.
Seated far from the chair of honour, I am nervously eating my food when my father suddenly spoke.
“How are you Riddick?”
“I am fine, father.”
“I hear that you are to undergo testing ceremony tomorrow.”
“Yes, father.”
“I see, I will send your brothers as my representatives to tomorrow’s ceremony at the church.”
“Thank you, father.”
“Alright, eat now and retire for tonight.”
“Yes, father.”
It was already much that my father was sending my brothers, the direct heirs to the dukedom for my ceremony, feeling very good I lifted my head only to see my brothers and my mother smiling kindly at me. I decided then and there that I have to repay their kindness by working hard, first thing is the testing ceremony after which I can officially train.
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