Alicia's brother was brutal.

Dressed in full plate, wielding a great sword in one hand and a tower shield in the other, he always moved that little bit faster than him.

Kardain countered his every move, used every opening, and absorbed every magical attack he couldn't avoid.

At first Kai tried to use his the steps from the training kata, but Kardain was familiar and after playing along for a good minute he started exploiting the flaws in the technique. He forced Kai to adapt and lean into his instincts more and more than their spar went on.

But the main thing Kai couldn't shake was why he was so angry.

Alicia's brother wasn't goading him, or even taunting him, but all Kai wanted to do was hit the man and hit him hard. But he couldn't land a solid hit, no matter how hard he tried.

It made his blood boil.

Kai had enough. He threw up a time dilation to ensnare him. Kardain came to an abrupt stop as space around him slowed in time.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything more Kai could do once he had the man caught in the time trap. Sure, there were plenty of attacks that he could setup, but this was just a spar and the moment he had him trapped, his anger seemed to cool.

So after adjusting the space in which time was manipulated, he positioned his spectral blade as close to a possible critical attack position as he could and held it there as he released the man from his control.

To his credit, Kardain didn't flinch, but it was hard to read more into it than that, as he was wearing his full plate for the spar, helmet included.

Swatting Kai's spectral blade, their spar continued and, though Kai tried again and again, Kardain was now somehow able to detect the distortion. Kai couldn't trap the man in another time dilation.

His anger flaring once more. Kai buckled down and leant into every trick he could think of.

But his mana bolts, fired in rapid succession and off in odd and unpredictable directions to arc back in on their target, all shifted off course to slam straight into Kardain's tower shield. With barely a splutter, the mana was absorbed without leaving so much as a scorch mark.

Kai tried working a stun in here and there, but though they seemed to land, they were shrugged off like they were nothing no matter how much mana Kai put into them.

Using admittedly rough telekinesis, he tried a few grabs and pulls to try and shift the man's centre of gravity and put him off balance.

Again, it was pointless.

Kardain's stats were just too high for him to overcome, nevermind the years, decades or centuries of experience he had over Kai.

His frustration growing stronger, Kai fainted with his spectral blade and aimed to punch him in the gut with the opening.

The power in his fist surged as he prepared an infused strike.

As Kardain deflected the feint, Kai's knuckles impacted, and he released all the mana in a pulse of power, right into the tower shield.

Kai cursed inwardly, but he kept moving.

Pulling one of his smaller focuses from his belt through his storage, then into his free hand, he hooked a second Spectral Blade, then pressed his attack, hoping two swords would be harder to handle than one.

Kardain adjusted quickly.

Kai continued to rotate through his tricks, knowing none of them would work, gradually building the mana in each blade until they vibrated and hissed with power.

He clamped town on that power, compressing and containing it until it hummed at a frequency he knew could cleave steel.

When his longsword clashed against the man's great sword, it bit deep.

Kai could have sworn he heard a grunt of astonishment from within his opponent's helm.

But Kai wasn't happy. It was supposed to cleave the blade in two, cause a crack, make it fracture.

He pressed again, but Kardain changed his approach to counter Kai's spectral blade as he stopped with his hard counters. His style and form adapting so he only over used his sword to deflect and his tower shield to block the more direct attacks.

Kai kept at it, trying to land the strike that would get Alicia's brother to admit defeat. To sate his fury.

He drew Kardain in, got him to think had exhausted his bag of trick, plumed the depths of his shallow experience, tapped into his meager instincts.

He drew the fight out, and waited, biding his time as he hit Kardain with pointless attack after pointless attack, until finally his short blade clattered against the tower shield and Kai swung with his long blade and altered his intent.

Kardain froze as Kai's blade skipped through his great sword's perfect deflection and swept cleanly through his neck.

There was a blur of movement faster than anything Kai had shown so far. Kardain's helmet, sword and shield were all gone as he gripped at his neck.

"What was that?!" he cried in alarm and surprise as he shot a look at Kai.

His anger easing off Kai replied, "A trick of intent. Had I wished it, I could have bypassed your blade and armour…" his anger faded. "I think... not something that I have had the chance to practise against a living foe. Not something I should practise against an ally, friend, or family," Kai said as he realised he might have gone too far. "I don't think Alicia or your mother would be too happy with me if I actually took your head off, Kardain."

Kardain blinked. "You're insane."

"People keep saying that."

"No, Kai, you don't understand. The entire time we were sparring, I was taunting you, drawing your attention and stoking your anger."

"Shit…" Kai said softly as his anger made sense to him now. "You're a full-blown tank? That's why I was pissed the entire time."

"What is a tank?" Kardain asked.

Kai shook his head. "It means you draw your opponents' attention and weather their attacks while your team does damage… A defender, I think, it's called."

"I'll have you know I hold my own when it comes to damage. But yes, that is my typical role. But again, Kai, you're missing the point. I'm level seventy-two and you just shrugged off some of my strongest mental manipulations and kept a cool head the entire time. I was impressed you were able to think and adapt, but honestly, that last attack. You said it was a trick of intent?"

Kai nodded.

"So, you had to... what? not intend to harm me for that blue blade of yours not to actually cut me? And you think you can control it to such a degree it should ignore armour but still cut flesh?"

"Eventually… yeah. Though I was hoping you'd have tough skin because of your level and I didn't nearly kill my brother-in-law on the day I met him."

Kardain summoned his great sword, took a second to examine the damage Kai had wrought against the blade, then tossed it to the side for it to disappear before it hit the ground.

Kai watched him rub at his throat again as his ears twitched in thought.

"Maybe I was the insane one to aggravate you so much. One slip of your intent, and you might have actually taken my head off."

Kai scoffed nervously.

He doubted he could hurt someone at level seventy-two when their focus was mainly defence.

Kardain grinned and his eyes flashed with a look that Kai couldn't read as he asked, "Round two?"

Kai had hoped one round was enough. Could he pretend he was being summoned by Syl or Alicia? The old, 'I just got a phone call, got to go,' trick.

Suddenly Kardain's head flicked to the side, and he tsked as he pulled a stone from somewhere. "Mother is concerned. She think's I might be brutalising another brother-in-law." His grin grew wider. "Just wait till she hears that you nearly took my head off."

The rest of that afternoon was a bit of a blur after Kai was led from the secluded courtyard Kardain had found for their impromptu sparring session.

He had a private meal with his extended family.

Syl, for her part, seemed to be getting along with Sietra like a house on fire. No sign of any friction for her daughter's husband's other wife. Though, technically, Syl was also Alicia's first wife… and thinking about this was confusing.

Kai wasn't equipped for all the mental hoops, so he let the matter go and tried to probe for more information on the up-and-coming meeting.

Unfortunately, both Sietra and Kardain were tight-lipped and politically adept at changing the subject.

All he really got from them was confirmation that the meeting was to aid him in his responsibility as Master of the World Wonder and that meant choosing a location and establishing a controlling authority. Just like the system told him, he needed to do two months ago.

The most he could tease from his new in-laws was that everyone attending was part of a unified alliance from several nations that had come together for the sole interest of protecting their own interests in the world wonder.

Some merely wanted to assure their access. Others wished to prevent a certain nation with a less than friendly disposition to the other races from gaining control.

Many just had mercantile interests in what people brought out of the wonder.

The prevailing plan was to create a controlling authority on his behalf that could both monitor and establish the facilities required to serve and defend the needs of those coming to make use of the wonder when it finally opened.

When he said it sounded like they were planning to build a whole new city around the wonder and make him the figurehead, they couldn't contain their amusement.

They reassured him he had a few years to level up and establish himself as an adventurer before someone would hunt him down with a mountain of obligations.

Sietra assured him these things practically managed themselves. Especially since a city wasn't so bad compared to the intricacies of running an entire empire. It was just a matter of finding the right people. She explained while heavily hinting that one of his wives had extensive lessons on statecraft while they were young and that he should have no issues so long as they paid attention.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Seeing Alicia shift uncomfortably, Kai asked if it would just be easier to hand it off to someone they trusted, an Alean with Alean interests.

That was when they pointed out that anyone with Alean interest was most likely to favour their own Alean interests over any other Alean's interest. He was ideal because he had no Alean interests to exploit.

He just wanted to… actually, he wasn't sure what he wanted beyond getting stronger and staying alive. Of course, that extended to Syl and Alicia, but beyond that he wasn't sure what he wanted beyond one day returning to Earth to see how his family got on with the system taking over.

Sietra and Kardain gave each other a look and smoothly moved the conversation on to pleasantries such as how many children he was planning to have with Alicia and Syl.

When he almost choked on his drink, he made it clear to everyone he hadn't thought that far ahead when he affirmed his contract with Alicia. Which was convenient, considering he had no set obligations in their mutual contract.

That lead them to ask if he planned on other contracts, other child bearing contracts.

That, however, he was certain about.

He had enough going on.

He had just learned he would have a city to run at some point, one that the whole planet would converge on to access the world wonder.

Two wives were more than enough. So he was certain when he explained he had no intention of having children out there gnawing away at his conscience.

That led his in-laws to share another long look before informing them they had much to attend to and they excused themselves, telling them to get some rest. Tomorrow was going to be a long day for everyone.

That left them alone in the dining room of the imperial yacht.

"Should we go check on Gift and Arnella?" Kai asked.

Alicia sighed. "He is fine. The beast kin are treating him like a little god-ling. He is running around with two wolf tails and an impressive set of ears. Only issue, he is humanoid and completely naked."

Kai chuckled at Alicia's indignant expression as she led the way to where Gift was being Gift.

After a few quiet hours of watching Gift play games of challenge with the many familiars the beastkin had brought with them, it was time for them to retire for the night.

Kai had thought they were going to stay on the imperial yacht but they were instead escorted by a very well spoken goblin, in some kind of formal dress that made him look like a little butler, to rooms within the palace itself.

The room was massive, and by the smell of some kind of detergent hidden under a layer of incense, it had recently been cleaned.

All the furniture certainly seemed like it had been brought in just for the meeting. If it wasn't for spatial storage, he would have wondered how they got the massive fourposter bed into the room, unless, of course, they gave it the flat pack treatment and built it in the room.

Arnella had a more modest room by comparison, the furniture less stately. She still nodded in satisfaction when she rolled off the bed claiming it was actually better than her old bunk.

Once the five of them had nosed about their rooms, commenting on the level of opulence they had been afforded, Kai asked if they would mind a missing chamber pot when he found one. He then Kai opened a portal to the domain using the Sages Stone of Obfuscation, which he set in one of the massive wardrobes.

They all went through abandoning the rooms to use the familiar comforts of the domain. Gift immediately ran off to hide all the new forms he had earned but unfortunately lacked the energy to absorb. He then disappeared to go find Sicily and her brothers to show them all he had been able to absorb.

The next day Kai awoke early and left the others to sleep in, as he went to do some training.

He had barely started, only getting in an hour of dilated time, when he was alerted to someone trying to enter the domain using the portal back in the wardrobe of their palace quarters.

He reached the portal to see Kardain in what looked like a military uniform not too dissimilar to what was worn on the Spirit of Exploration, his chest adorned in pins, medallions, and other stones Kai didn't recognise.

The smartly dressed goblin that had shown them to the room was standing behind Kardain. He was clearly relieved to see Kai on the other side of the portal.

The first thing his brother-in-law said was, "You are not wearing that."

In his own defence, Kai knew Alea probably wasn't ready for jeans and a t-shirt, but everyone else was still sleeping and no one had told him there was going to be a dress code.

When Kai stepped out of the domain, he was promptly whisked away to another room filled with more bolts of cloth than he had ever seen in one place in his life.

Kardain explained that the enormous pile of fabric was overseen by some of Alea's most renowned seamstresses and tailors. A whole team of ancient, wrinkled craftspeople from all over the planet.

Much to Kardain's amusement, Kai was ordered to stand on a pedestal near the centre of the room.

Seeing where this was going and having no other choice, he stepped up onto the platform to be immediately swarmed, poked and prodded as the throng of some of the oldest looking people he had seen on Alea started to take measurements and notes before they quickly moved off to select fabric.

"How long will this take?" Kai asked as it dawned on him they were going to make something from nothing for a meeting that, as far as he knew, was scheduled for just hours from now.

"Hours," Kardain said with a smile from off to the side where he was leaning back in a plush chair enjoying the show, "why, do you have somewhere else to be?"

As far as he knew, there wasn't anywhere he, strictly speaking, needed to be. But that didn't mean he wanted to stand here for hours.

The thing was, he had something that could drastically shorten the time it would take for professionally tailored clothing to be made and fitted, using his raiment.

"Kardain?" Kai asked, getting the man's attention.

"What is it?"

Kai carefully shifted his clothing to what he thought was one of the smartest things he owned, while staying clear of the suit he had made for his proposal.

That was special, and he wanted it to remain special for future private occasions, like anniversaries.

Once he was finished with the change, he stood there in a mix of clothes from Trengor's wardrobe and what he had been given on the Spirit of Exploration.

The boots didn't quite fit with the outfit, but he couldn't change them on a whim.

Still, he looked himself over in a large mirror across the room and he decided he looked smart by what he thought were Alean standards.

Satisfied, he turned back to Kardain and asked, "Will this do?"

The man slowly rose from his seat, then walked over and circled the podium before coming to stand in front of Kai. "No… it's far too fashionable. Yes ,there is a unique flair, but it's too in line with the Imperial trends. We can't have that, at least not today. And the boots alone are more function than form, and its form we need." He looked up to catch Kai's eyes. "How did you do that?"

"Change clothes? It's a dungeon item… one I'm just remembering I was told not to show off."

Kardain chuckled, "show me."

Kai looked at him suspiciously.

"Kai, I have halls full of dungeon items I don't use. I'm not going to take yours, though I might offer a trade."

"You can trade soul bound items?"

"Yeah, it's a whole process, but yes, it's possible."

Kai sighed and rolled back his sleeve to pull the mana from one of the four bracelets. It lifted from his skin and he held his arm out for Kardain to examine.

He immediately beckoned one of the tailors over, "You need to see this. You all need to see this."

Kai had performed his little stunt in the hopes of speeding things up. Instead, he unleashed chaos as he was asked to absorb material after material, design after design.

Most of the boots and shoes he was handed were just plain uncomfortable until he had a chance to absorb them and use his raiment to summon them for each of them to feel like they were made just for him.

How he was meant to keep track of any of it he didn't know, but after three hours, he had two distinct sets of clothing for the meeting.

One was subdued and functional.

The other, however, Kai thought, had far too much crammed into it for it to be considered even remotely tasteful.

Bone buttons adorned a luxurious fur-trimmed mantle, which was worn over a smooth silk undershirt, and a tailored double-breasted wool suit. The ensemble cinched with a hand-knotted sash of thick beaded cord. And that was to name but a few of the all important embellishments.

Kai's own touch was to wear his dragon scales. The recommendation coming from Alicia's brother. The effect of them erupting from his skin and a well-timed flash of his glowing eye's made Kai feel like he was being dressed up to be put on display.

Unfortunately, he learned, that was exactly the point.

The idea was to have some kind of representation of each party involved, and by the grumbling in the room, what he had on was just barely adequate.

Kardain said it was purely symbolic, and he need only wear it once, using his raiment to make the change when he received the signal. Then when the day was over, he need never don the outfit ever again unless he thought it was necessary.

He had hoped Alicia or Syl might come to his rescue at some point, but they never showed.

When he gave in and contacted them both using the party chat, they revealed they were currently perusing an assortment of jewellery in the midst of their own dress up session.

Kai kept his complaints to a minimum after both Syl and Alicia reminded him that playing along was, in fact, the easiest way to pass the commitment of managing the World Wonder onto others without causing a nightmare of diplomatic issues for himself or the world at large.

Besides, it could have been worse.

Gift apparently was not having any fun as the lack of his own raiment meant he was going through the process the old-fashioned way under the watchful eye of a rather enthusiastic Empress Sietra.

"You know, if that raiment of yours wasn't unique to you, I might have just raided the imperial coffers to find something worth trading. To think you got that in your first dungeon run," Kardain said as he escorted Kai, now wearing the more functional attire, from the room.

"You know, I almost passed on it in the dungeon. You should have seen the look Syl and Alicia gave me. Glad I listened to them."

"Did you actually complete that dungeon? I got to the forty-first room when a good friend of mine took a bad hit and we decided to retreat. May the spirit's guide his departed soul."

"Yeah, we completed it. But you have to understand, we took a side path, so I wouldn't think too much into it."

"There was a side path? How did you unlock that?"

"I think it was because of how we approached the dungeon… may have something to do with the challenge stone I got in the first reward room. Killed a big rune bear that was hinting at the location of a keystone."

Kardain spun on his heal, his eyes wide as he looked at Kai. His lips worked for a moment before he summoned a stone on a leather thong and held it out to Kai.

Challenger's stone. (Soulbound) This stone marks the wearer as a challenger. Challengers gain increased essence draw from dungeon denizens, an increased chance of rarer variants spawning, and improved dungeon rewards. However, dungeon denizens who are hostile will see you as a threat that must be destroyed.

"It's how I ended up becoming a... what was it you called it? Yes, a tank? And you say you got it in the first reward room. You are insane!" Kardain said as the stone vanished and he pulled Kai into a hug. "Finally, someones who's not a noble little shit." He broke away to hold Kai at arm's length. "The mysterious shards! What were they for?"

"Er," Kai was a little shocked by the sudden embrace, wondering what he meant by little shits.

Kardain just continued to look at him, his green eyes flashing expectantly.

"Give me a sec."

That made the man tilt his head.

'Alicia, Syl, is it okay if bring Kardain into the domain to show him the eggs?'

…

"You say these are dragon eggs?" Kardain said in a whisper. "I can't examine them."

"That's what the divine dragons who gave them to us said they were," Kai replied, realising yet again he had not tried to examine something.

"Any idea when they will hatch, what kind of dragon they will be?"

Kai shrugged, "No idea. Gift feeds them now and then. All we know is they like it in the domain and will hatch when they are ready."

Kardain held out a hand reverently, but he faltered, not daring to touch them. Not that it mattered if he did. In the domain, the older man only possessed as much power as Kai allowed.

"To think I was just nine rooms away from getting a dragon," Kardain groaned.

"Eh, not exactly Kardain. You would have needed to pass the trials on the side path we were on and then receive the approval of a rather dramatic divine dragon. I think anyone on the standard dungeon path would have been offered an appropriate companion or something like that."

"Dragon eggs, dragon scales and two divine dragons, you say. Is that everything?" Kardain said thoughtfully, "Damn, Kai. You know, it is only The Sage that's considered a friend of the dragons. Besides a few lucky dragon riders, everyone else has to keep their distance."

Kai sighed and shared his status.

Name: Kai Race: High-Human, High-Vei. ( Draconic Aspect ) Level: 12

Constitution: Amused, Apprehensive, Anxious. Health: 100% Stamina: 100% Mana: Kai-830% / 100%-Syl

Physical Core: (50.17%) [v] Mana Core: (49.83%) [v]

Total Stat Points: 434.5

Kardain stared at him, his jaw slack.

"Got the Draconic aspect when I merged with the dragon scales. Not quite sure what that means yet, but they gave me insane mana storage when they also absorbed a mana storage cuff I had."

Kardain just continued to stare at him, blinking slowly. "High-Vei…" he said in a whisper.

"And my cores are a little wonky with all the stats I have been gaining from training, but that should even itself out again when I gain another level, maybe two."

Kardain, mouth moved slowly as he tried to process something, "Level twelve with four-hundred and thirty-four fucking stat points… at level twelve!"

Kai scratched the back of his head nervously, "Have you received the information on core refinement, tiers and so on? We, I mean me, Syl and Alicia, we aim to tier up at level fifty and-"

Kardain held up a hand to stop him.

"We- we were just going to raise you up, make you a king, a figurehead to band together the nations and strike away the stain of the Shattered Kingdoms and their allies from Alea… but…"

Kardain moved before Kai could truly process what he had just said.

"Kai, so long as you remain just and a true I vow to do everything withing my means to see you come in to your power. I have seen the corruption hidden in the heart of Caradin's kingdom, and it grows stronger with each day we play politics. Trust me when I say this. We need you to grow stronger and show us the way."

With the feeling of a system notification making itself known, Kai took a step back as he watched the man that should be his superior in every way take a knee in front of him.

"Please understand this. With all that I have learned in days past of core cultivation, even if I focused every hour of every day for the next five years, I fear I could not catch up to you despite my years and current level advantage. This is the same for all our champions, seasoned warriors and ranked adventurers as well."

"Wait, did you say King?" Kai asked, his earlier concerns about running a city becoming oddly mute.

"Yes," Kardain sighed, "Let my first act be to tell you what the others have planned."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.