Chapter 88 - Reunion

To claim that Vega and Balrog were not disappointed would be a complete and utter lie. The clenched fists of Vega had made his hands go pale, however, you would not be able to tell from the slight smile on his face.

Many people approached Elijah to congratulate him. Some were quite sincere, some were only trying to get to know him better and ingratiate themselves with him. Elijah had really stepped through the Dragon Gate and become one of the most important and influential people in the Kingdom of Ansem, as well as the entire continent. Although this ceremony was held only for the high nobility of Ansem, soon the news would spread throughout the continent, and the birth of a new Dragon General of the Kingdom of Ansem would probably be a hot topic for the masses.

The King personally stepped down and approached Elijah. Elijah went on one knee and bowed towards the King that had allowed him to take this important step.

"You're a good lad. Be strong, be brave, be irreproachable. We are expecting many things from you. Do remember. It's not me, nor the royal family that's important. It's Ansem as a whole. The kingdom and its people. You are the shield that guards them. The sword that slays its enemies. You're the mighty dragon that devours those who want to harm Ansem."

After His Majesty said these words, Elijah felt boundless pride. Pride to be a subject of this King, pride of being a member of Ansem, pride of being able to somewhat repay what he had been given. Also, the opportunity to change for the better the future of his brothers and sisters.

"Yes your Majesty. I will not disappoint you. My blood will be spilled for Ansem's honor. HONOR BE TO THE KINGDOM!" shouted Elijah.

The King smiled, and after saluting several of his ministers and officers, he quickly left towards the Golden Palace.

Vega went towards his father, and whispered things to each other. Balrog then left in a taciturn mood, with cold, flickering eyes that were inscrutable. Vega approached the rest of the Generals present. After all he was also the youngest member of the Council of Generals and he also had a lot of support among them.

One of the generals, an old, stern looking man, with grey sideburns, and scars on the left side of his face spoke with a cold and hard tone. "Don't take it to heart Vega. Most of us in the Council supported your candidacy. We're not sure of the reason for His Majesty's choice, but the future is still unknown. I will not deny that Elijah, I mean, Dragon General Elijah is a young and talented man, however I fear that he is much too inexperienced. You never know. There might still be a chance."

Three of the generals next to him were in agreement. The rest remained silent. Although they were also slightly biased towards Vega, in the end they were soldiers of the Kingdom, and fiercely loyal to the King. They would not voice their disagreement or agreement to a decision made by the King.

Vega limited himself to say, "It's ok. We need to trust in the King's decision. For now, what we must do is support Elijah in his future endeavours. After all, part of the Kingdom's welfare will rest upon his shoulders." He sounded magnanimous and open-minded. Whether these were his true thoughts or not, that was another matter altogether. The generals saluted Elijah, some of them a bit perfunctorily, and then prepared to leave towards their quarters inside the Martial Temple.

Rafal Sen Buran smiled and nodded towards Elijah. Elijah limited himself to also make a deep bow. He then heard a voice that went straight to his head. "We can talk later. There are many people that want to talk to you right now. After everything is done, come see me at my quarters."

After Elijah heard Rafal's voice transmission he simply nodded.

Abraham Dai Baruna and Santiago Dai Renata, the patriarch of House Renata, approached Elijah and congratulated him. Elijah had a very good relationship with them so he did not dare to slight them, and was quite humble when talking to them.

"Thanks a lot for your support uncle Abraham. It was greatly due to your help that I could also achieve this position."

"Hahahahaha… I'll be the first to admit that first appearances can be misleading. I wasn't completely on board when Elizabeth brought you home and told me she had taken you as her disciple, but you have proven me wrong. And I have to say that I'm quite glad about that. Come, let's celebrate, we have prepared a small celebratory party. There are many ministers and officers that want to make your acquaintance. This will be of benefit for you."

Elijah was about to refuse, however Santiago was quick to chip in, "Don't refuse Elijah. This will be good for your future, as well as for your future plans. You need to be approachable, trust us on this one."

In the end, after some rounds of persuasion, Elijah accepted to go to the party. Many officers, members of the House of Lords, and their families were invited. Houses Baruna, Renata, and even some representatives from House Corena went to the party, including steward Menke and Julieth Dai Corena.

They were advancing merrily towards the Quarter area meeting hall, which was located in the eastern part of the Martial Temple. The entrance of the Martial Temple was similar to a Cloister with a great central courtyard. Originally they were located in the Ceremonial Hall, in the western aisle, so right now they were crossing the courtyard, as they were being watched by many soldiers in the vicinity who looked at the man with leonine hair with a great deal of respect. After all, he was the new Dragon General of the Army, and he had truly stepped though the Dragon Gate.

Next to Julieth was a young man with elegant features and red hair. He was quite handsome and had a certain air to himself that made him look even more refined. This was the young man originally seated next to Abraham Dai Baruna, and was actually his youngest son, Hernani Dai Baruna. He was a young 14 year old man, a year younger than Julieth, however he was hopelessly in love with her. There were also many other suitors and noble men, surrounding her like stars to the moon.

Julieth answered him with a light smile on her face, and she was neither rejecting nor accepting his advances. Actually, it was not that Julieth had no interest whatsoever in the opposite sex, she was just currently exploring the infinite possibilities of her future. As such she had decided to leave it to fate, whether there would be a man that could both woo her and make her want to give herself in her entirety to him.

Many of the nobles had already stepped into the western area, when all of a sudden, the heard a ruckus in the entrance of the Martial Temple. 'Who could be making a scene in the Martial Temple. Are they tired of living?' thought several of them. However they did not stop, since this was the Headquarters of the Military in the Kingdom of Ansem. Not only were there many military personnel present, there were even several Saints and a true Legendary expert inside. What had they to fear? They were not interested either in who was causing the trouble, after all, they were nobility. It was beneath them to go snooping around like the riff raff. At best, they sent some of their servants to find out what was going on.

In the entrance to the Martial Temple, the soldiers in front of the entrance were stopping a young teen with quite simple clothes and a small bag that was trying to enter the building with a flimsy excuse. His tone was getting louder and louder, and the soldiers were on the verge of losing their patience. When had they been annoyed in their post before by a civilian. This was nery unprecedented, who did not know that the Martial Temple was the holy place of the military in Ansem.

"I'm telling you, I'm looking for my brother. His name is Elijah, and someone told me he could be around this area", said a very disgruntled Nerun, who had been in a discussion with the guards for at least 5 minutes. They did not want either to let him pass to look for his brother, nor had they sent someone to at least help him send a message.

"Look kid, do you think just any Tom, Dick or Harry can enter the Martial Temple whenever they please? You say your brother is called Elijah. Well my uncle is lord Falma, and I say that you have 5 seconds to either fuck off, or I'll make sure you never see the sun ever again." answered one of the soldiers. Most of the soldiers in the army were not that cocky, however there were still some that were used to their positions, power and some also accepted bribes, like Captain Apollo back in Corena. This particular soldier was used to being quite bossy, and actually had no qualms to berate Nerun with disdain, after all, he was actually a member of one of the noble clans in the Capital, and Nerun was an unknown kid, who clearly looked as if he came from an impoverished background.

Nerun was about to lose it and clobber the man, when he looked towards the Courtard and looked at a beautiful figure walking by next to a handsome red-haired young man. Nerun was pleasantly surprised and he shouted at the top of his lungs:

"UGLY GIRL!"

This scream was heard throughout all the courtyard and entrance of the wester and eastern areas of the compound. When Julieth heard this scream she almost tumbled over and the veins on her fare forehead started to twitch non-stop, and she could not help but yell back towards Nerun.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE CALLING AN UGLY GIRL, YOU LITTLE RUNT?"

Julieth quickly noticed that she had lost all her composure earlier, and quickly took her hands towards her mouth while her face got as red as a tomato. She then looked towards Nerun with great surprise in her face.

Hernani noticed Julieths's change and his countenance could not help but change a bit. Who could elicit such a natural and completely unexpected response from Julieth who was normally like a fairy that could not be bound by the natural world. Most of the nobles and important figures around also looked towards both Julieth and the kid who had hollered before, and could not help but think who had the guts to call the pearl of House Corena like that in front of her family and the many admirers she had.

The soldier that was discussing with Nerun changed his expression to one of ferocity. 'Crap… This kid. If this gets out of hand I could be killed. He actually yelled towards one of the noble guests in the Martial Temple. What's more, he yelled at Julieth Dai Corena!' He was actually also infatuated with her, but he knew his place and never thought about her in that way.

"Ok kid. You've done it. I will maim you first, cripple your meridians and feed you to the dogs" sad the man. He was about to extend his arm, when a wind current appeared right in front of him, and it was a young looking man as well.

"Fuck, who the hell is trying to stop this granddaddy here, see if I don't kill you right where…" but the words got stuck in his throat right away. He recognized the young man in front of him. The biggest genius in the army right now and the figure of the day. Elijah No Rademia. The new Dragon General. 'Did I just curse the Dragon General?'

The other soldiers quickly distanced themselves from him as if he had the plague.

Elijah was, however, not paying any attention to the so-called noble soldier with a foul mouth. He was looking at the teen in front of him, who had quite delicate features, a handsome face and looked quite slim, as if he did not eat that well regularly. His face that had hardened during training the last six years, and that barely smile was now beaming with true and sincere happiness. He could not help but reminisce about the old days and how he took care of this boy since he was a baby in diapers.

Nerun's eyes also had some tears as he looked at the young man, with heroic look and leonine and unkempt hair in front of him. He quickly noticed scars here and there and knew that his brother had gone through too much in the last years.

Elijah then extended his hand towards Nerun and fondled his hair. "You've grown little brother."

"Yes, big brother. I've missed you so much."