1 The Cripple

The Heaven Clan's Suiri was giving birth. To this news, there were two major responses within the Heaven clan.

Some wished that the child would die, while others hoped that both would die. In any case, due to the various circumstances surrounding the child's conception, very few looked fondly upon the news. However, Suiri was indifferent to these opinions. She had already promised that she would protect the child within her.

The delivery itself went well. Tein, a doctor that migrated to the nearby village, handled the delivery at the request of Suiri's best friend, Lilia. Though as much as Suiri, Lilia was also a beauty with fair skin and a sensual figure. Within the clan, Lilia was one of the few that she still trusted and so Suiri had no complaints about her bringing an unfamiliar doctor.

Though she was normally called airheaded, she knew not to trust others even if they were family.

When the baby was born, he seemed healthy but as soon as he tried to open his eyes, he developed an abnormally high fever. Frightened, despite having undergone the tiring process of childbirth, Suiri frantically grabbed at Tein.

"My, my baby! Doctor Tein, what, what's wrong with him?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure. He only seems to have a fever. I'll try my best but the rest will be up to him."

Suiri was shaken. She didn't want to accept this reality, but it was forced upon her. This baby she hadn't even named yet was dying, and she couldn't do anything about it.

After bawling her eyes out by the baby's cradle side, she stayed there without sleeping or eating. Even though she was no longer the clan's precious pearl, Suiri was still a black-haired, delicate beauty with unblemished skin, so the sight of her depressed condition would surely draw sympathy from many. Only when Lilia begged her, did she drink water so she wouldn't pass away before the child.

Three days after the child's birth, Suiri's father, the Patriarch of the clan, came to visit her.

"Sui, how long are you going to waste yourself here?"

"..."

She didn't even look at him, the middle-aged man with a beard she once worshipped as her father.

"Hmph! Fine, die along with that bastard son of yours!"

When she was younger, she used to love him, but he changed when she got pregnant with an outsider's child. No, it would be more accurate to say that he showed another side of himself.

On the fifth day after his birth, the baby's fever finally settled down. Suiri was so happy to see her baby boy healthy again, that she let out another pool of tears until she collapsed due to the accumulated fatigue.

The next day, Lilia accompanied Suiri.

"He looks like his mother."

"You think so. I hope he gets some parts from his father as well, but if he looks more like me then I can dress him up too."

"Uh, I'm suddenly worried about his future."

Lilia had already given birth a few months before Suiri so she was more familiar with the troubles of raising a baby. She even said that Suiri would need to get used to more sleepless nights.

"That's fine with me. As long as my baby is fine."

Suiri looked at her baby, since the day of his birth, he hadn't tried to open his eyes again, but as long as he was alive she would still love him with all of her heart.

"Right here."

While she was using her soft breast to feed the baby, her father came into the room with two elders. Since she became pregnant, her room became small enough to feel cramped with five adults in it. Fortunately, none of the men were people she had to be wary showing her body to.

"What do you want?"

"We're here to test the child's talent."

Having these men barge in when she was enjoying her happy time with her baby made Suiri displeased. However, she knew that she had no choice in the matter.

The child's hand was placed on a small spherical gem. The gem would measure his talent for cultivation based on how much nature energy he could attract. Normally, as the Patriarch, Nalos would hope that the child would have great talent, but in this case it was actually the opposite.

If the bastard was too talented, he might be capable of contending for the position as his successor and that would be unacceptable!

Once the baby's hand was on the gem, there was silence. This silence continued until ten seconds had passed and there was still no change to the gem.

"Hah, just a cripple."

Her father's words ignited rage in Suiri's heart but she managed to keep her mouth shut. On one side, she was disappointed that her child would remain a mere mortal, unable to stand up for his father, but on the other side she was glad that he wouldn't be in danger.

After her father left with the two elders, Lilia tried to console Suiri.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure my Kate takes care of him."

"Haha, shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"It's fine, I can already tell. That child will be such a tomboy."

"Sounds just like her mother."

"You!"

As the two had a playful exchange, Suiri looked down on her child and finally decided on his name.

"I'll name him Shui."

"That's a good name."

She named him using the word for 'fresh breeze' as inspiration, in hope that he would freely blow new life into the lives of his loved ones.

A few years later, Shui was reading a book about the Alterna Kingdom that the Heaven Clan was situated in. Though the name of their clan seemed impressive, the clan was only a minor-level mid-rank force, one rank above the lowest. In fact, if it was any higher, there would be many who would pressure them to change their name. However, instead, the name was simply said to be ironic by any force with true power and so the clan had survived so far.

Though he was just a little boy, it was easy to see that Shui would grow up to break many girls' hearts. His frail appearance and quiet demeanour with a touch of wisdom pointed to this. Since he was determined to have no talent for cultivation, his mother always kept him inside and so his skin was pale and also evoked a desire to protect in women.

When Suiri first read a fiction book to Shui, she was surprised to see that he could accurately follow along in the text. Afterwards, she tried teaching him how to write and found out that even without opening his eyes, he could recognize his environment just as well as she could.

The sight of Shui reading a book with his eyes closed, amused Kate and so she would always watch him as he read. On several occasions, he asked her if she wanted to read with him but she always refused by saying books hurt her head.

Even like that, she was still one of the most talented in the clan's young generation so many of the adults were displeased with her associating with a cripple, but Kate paid these people no attention.

"Hey, can you open your eyes?"

"Uh, I don't know. I've never tried."

"Why?"

"Because I feel more comfortable this way."

"But I want to see your eyes."

"Uh, I,"

"Please! Please! Please!"

The two of them were friends since Kate could walk, so Shui knew that once she wanted something, she would not stop until she got it. One time, she even refused to eat for an entire day until her mother made her favourite dish.

And so, though Shui had a bad feeling, he still decided to yielded to Kate's request. He slowly tried to seperate his eyelids as Kate watched in anticipation, but as soon as light reached his eyes, his mind was flooded by an unimaginable amount of information.

"Ahh!"

He shut his eyes immediately, held his head and rolled around screaming in pain.

"Shui, Shui!"

Kate shook him before quickly going to call his mother. Once Suiri saw her little boy crying in pain, she rushed to the clan's doctor with him in her arms.