Little Songbird

Inside a small bedroom in the Draken Clan estate a young boy, no older than 6 could be seen making his bed hurriedly. He had soft purple eyes and short black hair, a stark contrast to the Draken blue hair and sharp green eyes.

"Kai! Hurry up or you won't be able to eat in time!" A man's voice could be heard from the door to Kai's room.

"I know, I'll down in a sec dad!" Kai responded before moving to his bedside table, picking up a necklace. It was a silver chain-link necklace with a simple black ring hanging from it. The ring was the only thing his mother left behind when she left a few years ago. Since he couldn't wear it, his father had given him the chain so Kai could wear the ring around his neck.

Kai quickly left his room, ran down the stairs and made a b-line towards the kitchen. At the stove was a middle-aged man fixing up some pancakes and bacon. He had long blue hair reaching his shoulder blades, his eyes a forest green. The trace of time leaving a few wrinkles on his face, his blue hair showing hints of silver a man of 32 years should never have.

Kai quickly sat down at the table, staring at his father's back, lost in thought. William Draken, his father, had been taking care of him by himself since he was two years old, when his mother suddenly disappeared.

Of course, the Clan did their best to search for her, at least for a while. His father, William, may be an elder but it was more of an honorary title. A title given to him after he had his cultivation crippled. His father never wanted to talk about what happened, all Kai knew was that it happened shortly before he was born.

William placed a couple pancakes and some bacon on a plate before putting the plate on the table in front of Kai.

"You should have gone to bed earlier last night, now you look like a raccoon with those rings around your eyes!"

Shaken from his train of thought by his father's sly remark, Kai shook his head before pouting slightly.

"I was too nervous last night; I couldn't sleep properly."

The door suddenly burst open, producing a pot-bellied, middle-aged man. Kai turned to face the door before a smile spread across his face.

"Uncle Wang!"

Kai quickly jumped from his seat before rushing over to hug the sphere-shaped man. Uncle Wang was a branch member of the clan and had brown hair and blue eyes. Looking back up towards the large man, kai couldn't help but ask.

"Is Nicole here too?"

Before Wang could respond a girls voice could be heard from outside.

"Of course, I am! It's just my dad is too fat, you just can't see me"

"Nicole, how many times have I told you: I'm pleasantly plump, not fat" Uncle Wang squinted his eyes before letting go of Kai.

Straining his neck to look around Uncle Wang, Kai could finally see his childhood friend. She had the same brown hair and blue eyes as the father, except her hair was tied up in a pony tail behind her head. She had a large smile across her face, clearly looking forward to the awakening ceremony later.

"C'mon I've got something to show you, I wrote it last night!"

Grabbing Nicole's hand, the duo quickly made their way into Kai's room, leaving the two middle aged men alone. The two men smiled at each other for a moment before Williams expression became extremely serious.

"Almost everything is ready, are you?"

Uncle Wang's smile quickly disappeared before he nodded resolutely.

"I purchased the tickets weeks ago, no problems on my side."

William sighed before taking out an envelope and handing it over to Wang.

"Good" he paused for a moment as he looked towards his son's room, tears welling up in his eyes. "I just hope it doesn't go that far…"

The pot-bellied man placed his hand on his friends' shoulder, hoping to reassure his long-time friend.

"He's Alice's son, he'll be fine no matter what happens"

The two men sat in silence as they waited for time to tick by, neither of the two in the mood to speak. After about a half hour, the two kids emerged from Kai's room, this time with instruments in hand. Nicole with a guitar and Kai with a small portable keyboard.

"Another show from the little Songbird I see" laughed Uncle Wang when he saw the two begin to set up.

After a minute or two of tuning and silence, the duo began to play. A refreshing tune began to circulate around the house. The two men smiled softly as they listened silently. Partway through the song, Kai began to sing, his voice harmonizing well and creating a cheerful atmosphere.

After Kai's mother left, Will searched for anything to have Kai feel connected with her. From sports to reading, but nothing seemed to stick until he showed Kai the piano. It was the perfect outlet for him, allowing him to express his emotions when he felt like he couldn't talk to anyone.

As Kai continued to learn and play instruments, other members of the clan took notice of him as well. While he was average at best in martial arts, when it came to music few people in the clan were more talented than him. Impressed by his skill and his young age, people began to call him the Clan's Little Songbird.

Time passed as the group continued to listen to Kai's music through the afternoon until it was finally time for the awakening ceremony. Leaving his house, Kai began to think back on what his father had told him regarding the awakening ceremony.

The awakening ceremony. Every human had some type of Martial Soul hidden deep within them. After their sixth birthday, one can go through the awakening ceremony to awaken their spirit in hopes of becoming a Spirit Master. Depending on the awakened soul and the persons talent, they may be able to become a soul master.

A spirit essence generally decides the specialty of a person, guiding them down a certain path of life. Someone who awakened a Sword Spirit, for example, is much more suited for fighting then a someone with a Hoe Spirit.

This ceremony has existed for tens of thousands of years, dating back to the time before Tang San. Soul Masters who are of at least rank 20 would help children awaken their spirit essence before measuring their Innate Spirit Power.

The average person, in recent time, could make an appointment with the spirit pagoda to have their Spirit Awakened. Though In clans like the Clan Draken, they would usually handle to awakening ceremony themselves.

Arriving at the Clan's main plaza, Kai was greeted to a large platform in the center of which was a crystal ball on a pedestal. On the far side a series of seats could be seen, where the Grand Elders and Patriarch would sit to watch the ceremony. To the right of the platform a group of children Kai's age were waiting next to a series of steps leading to the platform. The rest of the plaza was open for people to watch at their own leisure.

Under the encouragement of their parents Nicole and Kai made their way towards the other children. The waiting area was split into two sections, one of the ordinary clan members and the other for the children of elders and above. This year however, there was only one other kid into that section: Draven, the Patriarchs son.

Draven was quite large for his age, being a half head taller than the next tallest kid. Contrary to Kai, Draven was known of his talent in martial arts and fighting, he was expected to awaken something amazing today.

Kai and Nicole spoke for a moment before going to their respective areas. Approaching the VIP waiting area Draven didn't even bother looking at Kai, just silently sat awaiting the beginning of the ceremony.

Time passed slowly as Kai waited for the ceremony. Every once and a while he would steal a glance and his father who would return a simple smile before looking away. Just as the sun began to set and the last few children arrived a eunuch stepped forwards from behind the patriarch, his high-pitched voice cutting through the plaza.

"The ceremony will now begin! Please step forth when, and only when, your name is called."

One of the Grand Elders, Gary, got up from his seat before jumping onto the platform landing near the crystal ball. He gazed down at the children before speaking:

"Adrian you're first."

Nodding quickly, a plain boy stepped forward, his green eyes darting around in nervousness. Walking on the platform he approached Grand Elder Gary. The Grand Elder had a warm smile on his face as he placed his hands on the boy's back.

"Don't be nervous, regardless of what happens you are a member of the clan"

The boy gave a wry smile before focusing on the energy being sent into him. After a couple moments, a Grey Serpent-like appeared above the kid's head, releasing a deep roar before slowly disappearing back in the boy's body.

"Grey Scaled Nightfall-Wyrm, an upper-mid tier hereditary Spirit Essence."

The Elder, Gary, happily announced with a satisfied expression before guiding the boy towards the crystal ball nearby. Adrian then released his soul power, causing the ball to light up.

"An Innate soul power of 4. Oscar, you have a strong future ahead of you. Cultivate well and support the clan properly, we look forward to your achievements. Elder send the next one up." The patriarch spoke this time somewhat impatiently.

Going through a similar procedure with the rest of children the Elder continued to help the others awaken. Nothing surprising happened until his cousin Nicole awakened.

Nicole awakened the Iron Nightfall Drake, the same spirit as the Patriarch had awakened. On top of that she had an Innate Spirit Power of 7! This was an even higher level than what the Patriarch awakened, earning her sky-high praises from the Elders and Patriarch!

As she walked down back to the waiting area she looked towards Kai, giving him a big warm smile. She clearly wanted to come over and talk but had to wait until the end of the ceremony.

After the commotion caused by Nicole, the ceremony continued as it did before until they finally reached Kai and Draven. Before the Grand Elder could announce who was next, Draven stepped on to the platform.

Grand Elder Gary frowned slightly seeing this before looking towards the Patriarch, who responded with a simple nod. Sighing, the Grand Elder placed his hands on Draven's back and began his awakening ceremony.

A few moments later an oppressive aura swept through the plaza, resulting in absolute silence. A large black dragon silhouette appeared above Draven's head, it circled in the air for a few moments displaying its majestic body. Its scales were black as night, its eyes seemed to glow yellow like the sun. Just as people were recovering from the oppressive aura it let out an earth shaking roar, causing quite a few of the children in the waiting area to fall to their knee's weakly.

"Dark Steel Nightfall Dragon!" The patriarch laughed maniacally; a large grin plastered across his face for the first time during the ceremony.

The Patriarch couldn't contain his excitement seeing his son awakening a top-class combat spirit essence. It was the same essence the founder of the clan had awakened, and he had become a titled Douluo! Regardless of the innate spirit power, Draven was almost guaranteed the position as Patriarch when he got older!

With a large smile on his face he motioned for the Grand elder to continue with the awakening ceremony.

Draven gave an arrogant smile before placing his hand on the crystal ball, pushing his spirit power into it. A few moments later the ball began to shine brightly, the Patriarch's smile only grew wider seeing this.

"Level 8 Innate Spirit Power! Patriarch your son is truly a prodigy!" Elder Gary had forgotten all about Draven's disrespectful attitude as he sent a wave of praises towards Draven and his father.

"Grand Elder Gary is right! With talent like this, it looks like our clan is destined for greatness!" The Patriarch was smiling from ear to ear, barely holding himself back from laughing once more. However, his smile soon disappeared as he noticed Kai waiting impatiently next to the platform.

Following his gaze, Elder Gary quickly called Kai up to the platform with a warm smile "Kai, you're the last one. Come on up"

Kai took a deep breath before nervously stepping onto the platform. Elder Gary placed his hands on the boys back.