The Festival

Aez looked at his eldest brother in a way that says, 'Are you an idiot?' before answering, "Clothes?"

His eldest brother got visibly angry, but he suppressed it and continued, "Clothes from 500,000 years ago!? What show are you trying to put now?"

Aez's other siblings could not help but either laugh or look at him with disdain. They knew just how pathetic he was, so they immediately thought that he was trying to gain attention. All of these reactions were understood by Aez since he was indeed garbage of a person, so he could only sigh in his mind. However, he did not show any of that outside.

"Just mind your own business," he said instead.

"You!" his eldest brother shouted in helplessness.

"Mind your manners, Aez!" his eldest sister reprimanded. She was the second oldest among all of the siblings, only behind his eldest brother.

Aez stopped talking entirely. He could not bother arguing with his siblings. For him, they are but mere people who are part of his life. He has no intention of showing them any respect at all. After all, he was older than all of them combined by a long shot.

Just then, the atmosphere of the room turned heavy. All of the siblings stood straight and looked at the man entering the room. He wore an imperial robe, similar to what Aez was wearing but a lot fancier. The siblings could not help but tense up. They are much more familiar with their father than Aez. There is only ever a time when their father wears this kind of clothing, and that is for official business.

Their father slowly walked before sitting on the seat in the main hall. On his right are all of his children lined up by age.

"Patriarch!" all of his children bowed and cupped their hands to salute their father, including Aez.

'He is actually a Noble Adventurer. Based on this child's memories, the quality of powerhouses did not differ that much from how it was in the past. To have a Noble Adventurer as the patriarch of the house must mean that this is a big influence for such a remote land,' Aez thought.

"I just met with a messenger from The Republic of Mersozo. They gave us three slots for the Mersozo Festival a year from now, hence the reason I called for all of you," the patriarch said in a calm and stern voice.

The eyes of the three oldest siblings immediately lit up. They knew that this is their opportunity to attend the festival. However, it quickly dimmed down after hearing what their father said next.

"I will give all of you 11 months to prepare and enhance your strengths. By then, we will host a competition that involves every member of the House of Archea who is under 30. As you know, the festival is used by the academies, sects, guilds, and various forces within The Republic of Mersozo to scout talents. Therefore, what I will be looking for is talents as well."

The younger siblings sighed in relief. In terms of power, they cannot compare to their older siblings, but they are confident that they can showcase their talents much better than them.

Aez, on the other hand, had a completely different thought. 'This is perfect. I have been aching to find a way to leave the city to accomplish my long-due plan. Now, I can say that I will train for the festival. Fate is smiling on me in this life.'

With that thought, he waited for his father to finish talking before speaking his mind. "Patriarch, this son of yours is requesting your blessing which would allow me to leave the city. I believe that it would be in my greatest interest to abandon my current academy and focus on training outside for the upcoming event."

Before the patriarch could even speak, his eldest brother already intervened, "Are you insane?! You are not even awakened yet! You will kill yourself if you get out of the city alone!"

Aez did not bother replying to his brother and instead continued looking at the patriarch. The veins on his eldest brother's forehead popped in anger after being ignored.

After a while, his father finally replied, "I will allow it on the condition that you do not bring anyone with you as well as any money from this house."

"This young one is delighted by father's approval," Aez said with a polite smile. 'This old bastard does not even care about the life of his son! His reservation was the loss I would incur if I die outside. His statement basically means that it is okay for me to die as long as I don't take anything valuable with me,' Aez sighed in his thoughts.

After the meeting, Aez went to his room and slept through the night. He never imagined that his first dream would be the last moments of his life.

He recalled the time when he was running away from more than 100 individuals whose tiers are far beyond what the people of his current house could imagine. He was one of the most powerful individuals back then. It was a time when he could annihilate an entire city with a flip of his hand.

He could vividly remember his final attack where he gathered the Law of Death in his very body. His body slowly corroded, until it turned into nothing but the remnants of the pure Law of Death which he commanded using the remaining consciousness he has left in that body. It was a state where no attacks worked on him. In that final state, he killed his pursuers one by one until his final bit of consciousness was consumed by death itself.

However, he was not someone to just foolishly kill himself. Amidst all of that, he separated his Divinity which contained the majority of his consciousness, and merged it with the Law of Life.