Chapter 342 - The New Elders

Lorien Universe

It had been ten years since Alice's, Zeel's, and Elizabeth's exile from the Planet of Lorien.

Whether or not it could be called an exile was still up for debate since Zeel's paranoia more than likely would not have allowed anything to happen that he didn't approve of.

At first, John spent an entire year worrying about Zeel's possible retaliation, but as time passed, so did his cautiousness.

'After all, Zeel wouldn't be that petty, right?' he thought on a daily, but could never come to an adequate answer.

Still, to put everyone's mind at ease, he made thorough preparations to defend the planet should Zeel, Alice, or Elizabeth ever return.

Everyone doubt that the defenses would ever be required since they all considered Alice and Elizabeth as allies, with Zeel being just an add-on for convenience's sake.

Nobody was sure what to think of Zeel since they always remained in his good graces more or less. Fortunately, they would never know what it was like to see him as an enemy.

As much as he loathes Zeel for his heartlessness, John had to admit that many of the lessons he learned from Zeel were what made him a great leader of his people today.

Today, ten years later, he was known as 'John The Great', 'Emperor John', 'The Great Elder' and 'Honored combatant'.

John (Number Four), Ella (Number Ten), Sam, Sarah, Cindy (Number One), Henri, Lexa, Vishnu (Number Eight), and Marina (Number Seven) had come together to form a New Garde of sorts called 'The New Elders'.

A governing structure was necessary because Lorien had managed to preserve the DNA of fallen Loriens, and create clones, or New Loriens, to populate the planet.

While the new Loriens were created from the DNA of the old, the new Loriens could not be mistaken for the same type as the old Loriens who were, in part, descendants of Felians.

John was, of course, voted leader because when push came to shove, he ultimately decided to destroy Mogador in favor of his people, even if he wasn't the person to complete the deed in the end.

Everyone had to admit, despite all of Zeel's flaws, the destruction of Mogador had benefitted Lorien beyond what they could have ever imagined.

In the past ten years, Lorien had already returned to the haven it previously was, with substantial growth in environmentally-friendly technology.

The atmosphere of Lorien was so saturated with energy that everything was reinforced to ten times normal levels… from trees to rocks, and especially Loriens.

Achieving all the goals he could on Lorien, John even went so far as to foster a stable, mutually beneficial, relationship with certain governing bodies on Earth.

Now, Lorien had a population of roughly two million Pure Loriens, and the remaining ten million was made up of Earthlings who had been given the blessings of Lorien, leading to them developing legacies as well.

Of course, The abilities of Earthlings would pale in comparison to that of pure-bred Loriens, but Earthlings usually had unique ways of utilizing their powers and leveled the playing field.

With Mogador gone, Lorien was able to grow without its power being siphoned, hence every one that spent an extended period of time on the Planet would receive a Legacy of their own.

Though, only The Elders could retain their legacies while off the Planet of Lorien. Unlike everyone else who drew power from Lorien, John and the others had made Lorien's power their own through their Felian heritage.

All in all, everything was going perfectly, and in John's mind, today would be another perfect day like all those before it.

Opening his eyes, John was greeted to the familiar sight of his two wives, Cindy and Sarah, naked on his king-sized bed with looks of absolute satisfaction on their faces.

It was a bit difficult at first, managing the emotional wellbeing of two women, but through time, persistence, and a lot of therapy, he was able to keep his relationship with both women stable.

Of course, he had a couple of scars on his chest from the moments Cindy or Sarah, and sometimes both would try to kill him when things got too emotional.

It didn't help that Sarah was new to her abilities and hence had little control during emotional outbursts, but their relationships pulled through at the end.

Actually, things had only mellowed out when both girls became pregnant around the same time five years ago, causing them to lean on each other for support.

That was the ice breaker that ensured his mini-harem didn't turn into a scenario where he had nothing left.

John dreaded the thought of how Zeel managed to tame two powerful women like Elizabeth and Alice all on his own without any children tying them down.

John rose from his bed and with a mere thought, flashed through countless walls to arrive inside the room of his three children.

A golden cloak draped over his fit figure as if it was alive. Over time, John had grown his legacies to the point of near-god-like capabilities.

Staring at his children, John had a gentle smile on his face.

Erin and Nero were twin girls, five years old, with blonde hair and blue eyes that made them the cutest two beings on Lorien.

They were children of Sarah, though John didn't make the distinction between their parents much since everyone took care of everyone in his family.

Sarah and Cindy treated each other kids as their own, and often times it was confusing to remember who was which's mother.

Halo was six years old, with similar blonde hair and blue eyes, male, but also the only one to inherit John's unique legacy that allowed him to copy all other legacies - Ximic.

Even better was the fact that Halo, at his young age, could utilize Ximic better than John could at this point in time.

It was only the mere volume of his ability that kept John from being surpassed by his son.

Just watching his children asleep made John puff his chest with pride… and today, he knew he was bound to grow even more proud since it was the first-ever National Academies Competition.

All Garde Academies from across Lorien would allow the younger generation to showcase their talents for The New Elders.

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A couple of hours later, John found himself floating alongside the other New Elders above a massive stadium where the National Academies Competition would be held.

All the seats in the stadium were made from anti-gravity technology, though the Elder's seats floated in the air higher than everyone else's to show their distinguished status.

When everyone was gathered in the stadium, Sam was the first to float down into the stadium.

He proceeded to perform the motions of The Loric National Anthem, prayers to Lorien, and a host of other technicalities that was required before the tournament could begin in earnest.

It was John's idea to keep most of their previous traditions intact despite the fact that almost all their past cultural knowledge had been erased during the invasion of the Mogadorians.

During the final moments of his speech, there was a certain whisper in the crowd and Sam did something completely unexpected.

"Given that everyone is here to witness a tournament that measures intellect, combat, and the Loric Ideal… I believe it will be better suited that, we, The New Elders, demonstrate our prowess to inspire everyone here to new heights…"

John was about to disagree but Sarah and Cindy had already floated down into the stadium, a bit excited to showcase their abilities for the first time since giving birth.

Actually, John knew that Sarah and Cindy were only excited to show their children in the crowd just how strong their mothers were.

Ella, Marina, and Lexa also floated into the stadium with helpless smiles on their faces, while Henri, Vishnu, and John were the last to float down, reluctant to participate in any battles of any kind.

Ella, Marina, and Lexa never had children, though, there were rumors about Marina and Vishnu finally ready to give it a try, while Lexa and Henri were expecting.

Landing on the stadium, John thought back to his time fighting alongside Zeel, Alice, and Elizabeth, and he couldn't help but feel a little sad that they weren't here to witness all that he had built.

Even more so than John, Vishnu felt the greatest nostalgia since he was the one closest to Zeel.

Vishnu understood Zeel better than anyone, and that was why he and Marina never planned to have children.

Anyone who knew Zeel even a little knew that he was unpredictable with everything he did, so Vishnu made it his personal mission to cover all his bases in case Zeel decided to return one day.

With John and all the New Elders inside the stadium, the crowd made an uproar, with many utilizing their legacies to create beautiful fireworks in the air.

"Okay…" John whispered softly but everyone in the stadium felt as if he had whispered directly into their ear.

John paused until everyone had quieted down and raised his hand to manifest a screen above the stadium "We will be engaging in combat for five minutes… We will be showcasing our skill for everyone gathered here…

However, to make this a learning experience and not just showing off…" John stated, casting a look at Cindy and Sarah "Every member of The New Elders will be restricting our combat ability to one legacy and whatever techniques we choose… those legacies will be selected at random by the screen above…"

--WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!!!—

Everyone cheered at stared at the screen to find what legacies will be showcased in the mock battle, and the results were soon clear for everyone to see.

Sam Goode – Technopathy

Sarah Hart – Struma

Henri – Forcefields

Lexa – Glacen

Ella – Antigravity

John Smith – Lumen

Marina – Precognition

Vishnu – Object Manipulation

Cindy – Earthquake Generation

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Author's Name: The_Young_Flash

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