ATTRIBUTELESS
Henndar had received news that some visitors from The Bone Kingdom had arrived and was on his way to meet them when the explosion sounded loud.
He wanted to go find out what it was, but duty came first.
He decided to go check it out after the meeting but asked someone to hurry and get him the news on what it was that had caused that explosion.
Just before he arrived, the person came running to him, telling him what had happened.
He wanted to go there immediately to know if all the children were alright, but he chose not to.
They would be cared for so he didn't have to worry much.
The place they had allocated for those from the Bone Kingdom to lodge at was within the castle walls but separated from the castle.
He was escorted by two of his guards as he entered, at least that's what the eye and perception would tell one, but he had about five more others close at hand.
The door was opened and he entered to find eight people in the room, but only two were seated, the rest were guards.
The pair looked a bit odd to him; a small boy looking either a year or two younger than Aramith and an old man that sat hunched.
The boy looked a bit pale and sat stiffly, but something about his eyes and the way they moved around interested him.
The old man on the other hand looked nothing short of ugly. His face looked like it had been sucked in and it was hard to tell whether he was frowning, smiling, smirking, or whatever expression it was he held.
Henndar immediately recognized him when he noticed a white ring on his hand.
He was the one they called the backbone of the Bones. It was rather interesting that they were the first among the five main Kingdoms to appear.
Other people from the smaller kingdoms had appeared, but they were nothing compared to the great five ruling powers.
Hordin sat there feeling nervous but he forced himself not to look awkward.
Something about the King made him feel uncomfortable, but he had no idea that was all in his head.
Henndar was a King and a father, and he reminded Hordin of his father which scared him.
He looked at the two guards that followed him and realized they were guards.
That startled him, why would he come with guards? Is there anyone dangerous here or something is going to happen?
Suddenly, his attention was drawn to the corner of the room. He saw a faint outline of a person there but couldn't see anyone and the figure he saw was so still. It didn't move in the slightest and the face was what he wondered about.
He couldn't tell where or who the person was looking. He kept staring at it and suddenly as if noticing his gaze, the figure just turned and looked at him.
That scared Hordin and he jerked his head back in shock.
That movement caught the attention of all the others in the room. He realized his mistake and apologized but Henndar smiled at him, quite the opposite of what he expected to receive.
"There's nothing to apologize about young man. I'm Henndar if you don't already know, what's your name?"
He reached out his hand to shake his', but Hordin noticed Henndar glance where he'd seen the person.
He was quick to avert his eyes but Hordin didn't miss that.
"H-Jordin, my name is Hordin,"
Hordin spoke stiffly and reached out to shake Henndar's hand. Henndar took his hand and smiled
"That's a nice name. I suppose you're here because?"
Henndar asked him, wanting to know his identity but before he could reply, the old man spoke up instead.
"He's the crown prince of the Bone Kingdom, very few people outside the kingdom know of his existence." He said.
Henndar looked at the boy in a new light,
"I see, we over here know of your king's predicament; not having a single son amongst his eight children. No wonder you would like to keep him a secret from the world, he's much too valuable! Well, Hordin, since you have the pure bloodline, I suppose at this age, you should have unlocked your abilities?"
Hordin's mood went down the moment Henndar said that.
He hung his head low and shifted in his seat.
That was the main reason why his father hated him so much.
The bloodline in the Bone Kingdom's royal family made them able to unlock their abilities at the early age of eight, but he was already twelve, the age normal ids would unlock their abilities and no signs were showing in him.
Henndar immediately understood the reason why Hordin was sad and didn't press the matter anymore. He refocused his attention on the old man and sat opposite the two.
"So, you two are the main people here on behalf of your kingdom I see. I expected a much larger group from you but I guess this will have to do."
"We wouldn't want to burden your kingdom taking care of a large group from us."
"Of course, I understand your concern, but you don't have to worry next time. We can take great care of whichever number you send our way."
"We will try to consider that the next time such an occasion arises." Henndar nodded and continued.
"But I have to inform you the invite was not just for the celebration.
"There is a more urgent matter that needs to be discussed for it poses a threat to all of us. I believe you would stand in instead of the crown prince?"
The old man wanted to ask more about what it was that was so urgent that needed to be discussed but restrained himself. "Yes, I believe so," he agreed.
Henndar nodded then got up.
"I shall be taking my leave then, I have some matters to attend to," and with that, he left the room.
He was away from earshot and out of sight when Deadlock one appeared beside him.
"Send two of your men to keep an eye on those, especially the kid, keep a close eye on him. He was able to spot one of the concealed soldiers in the room even though no one else could. He may not have any abilities yet but he has a very interesting ability in perception."
Deadlock said nothing and disappeared.
Hordin went to his room after everything that had happened. He just couldn't shake off the uncomfortable feeling he felt when that king was inside with them.
To make matters worse, he found out about his uselessness on their first encounter. Hordin hated feeling useless and helpless.
He had read everything there was to know about all attributes and cultivation.
There were ten known attributes in the world; Alchemy which deals with runes and alchemy formations, Curse, which is more like hexing, Space which deals with the manipulation of dimensions, Damned which gives people the ability to turn into certain beasts and manipulate abilities the beasts had, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Blood, and Plant.
In cultivation, the levels were in the form of gates with steps between.
The first stage was called the genesis and involved one step to the bronze gate, three steps to the silver gate then three again to the gold gate, five steps then Platinum, one step then Crystal, five steps, then the Dark gate then Five steps again to the Transcending gate, then the Dragon's gate, then three steps to Heaven's gate, then twelve steps to the Divine gate, then the gate of origins.
Of all the gates, the dragon's gate was the most difficult to reach and for that matter, there were no known people who had attained the dragon's gate and beyond.
For that gate, the steps vary from person to person, taking some a step, and others one thousand steps.
The trouble with that gate was that when one failed to break through to it, one would be thrown back to the first step of the Transcending gate.
The Bone Kingdom's royal family had the special ability to control bones instead of the normal attributes. Theirs was a different version of the blood attribute. Their ancestors had studied the blood and found out it was made from bone marrow.
This led them to experiment until they were able to control bones at will. They used them as weapons, shields, appendages, disguises, and a whole lot more.
He was supposed to unlock that ability four years ago but that never got to him. All his sisters were able to but he wasn't that made him tagged as useless and he felt the throne would be handed to one of his sisters if he was not able to get strong.
Who would let a weakling rule a Kingdom? But recently, he had started to feel differently, like a strange force was within him. He wondered whether it was real or just his mind doing all that to him, but he had no way of finding answers.
Tomorrow, the celebration to commemorate a princess breaking through was to be held, a successful child was to be celebrated and he would be among those who would watch.
He felt sad, but that was not the reason why that man who claimed to be his father sent him there.
He was to learn more about people, that was that, and no room for feeling bad.
That was what he thought about as he went to sleep, knowing nothing about a little figure that had slipped into his room.