Chapter 18

Princess Rayna sat in her room, feeling anxious, as this would be the first time she feeds her child. Cultivators have strong bodies so she had already mostly recovered from the side effects of childbirth. She held Nathan lovingly, her gentle smile never going away. The euphoria of holding your child in your arms is something only a Mother would understand.

Bringing him closer, she started breastfeeding Nathan. The moment he started drinking milk from her breasts brought Princess Rayna to tears. She was feeling so happy she couldn't stop herself from crying.

Prince Elric also entered the room and when he saw this moment of pure innocence, he felt like he could sit there and watch this scene for an eternity…

Feeling the comforting presence of his Mother, Nathan forgot about everything and relaxed. He didn't even seem to notice the system notifications.

[EXP gained!]

[EXP gained!]

[EXP gained!]

[Congratulation! You have reached Level 1! Stat Points +10 Skill Points +3]

As he kept drinking milk, as he was starving after being born, he unintentionally leveled up. A pleasant surprise that he didn't know of, yet.

As everyone was enjoying their peaceful moment, a knock was heard on the door.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Your Highness, we are summoned to The Royal Palace. The King wishes to meet you as soon as possible." A maid informed them without entering the room.

"Hmm… you may leave."Prince Elric went deep in thought, 'This is suspicious. We get called back as soon as the child is born… have they discovered the phenomenon of his birth…?'

Princess Rayna seemed to know of her husband's worries, "What should we do?"

"There is nothing to be done here. We have to return to The Royal Palace one way or another. Even if the news of his birth were leaked, they shouldn't have received the news yet, so it must be different matters. Besides, Father would not ostracize his grandchild for such petty reasons. Let's see what they have to say. The Queen is also rather fond of children so we should be fine." Prince Elric was trying to convince his wife that there were no problems, but deep down, he knew. He knew something was wrong…

Meanwhile, Nathan was excitedly looking at his status.

[Name: Nathan Netherstar]

[Species: Wyrmling]

[Title: Crown Prince of Darkness]

[Level 1]

Energy Cultivation Technique: None

Soul Cultivation Technique: None

Divine Abilities: [Eighteen Gates of Hell](Locked)

[Stats]

HP: 30/30

Strength: 1

Agility: 1

Stamina: 3

Toughness: 0

[Skills: None]

[Passive Skills: Blessing of Darkness (Lv Max)]

Stat Points: 10

Skill Points: 3

[Items: Moon Rock Necklace]

[Soul Bound Items: Sigil of Authority(Crown Prince), Mark of Inheritance(???)]

'YES! Finally level 1! It seems like I gained some Stat Points and Skill Points too… I'll check them later… but why is my species a Wyrmling? I am clearly Human… also it seems like I gained some stats while growing up.'

'Now what is this…'

[Blessing of Darkness: A blessing granted by a higher being of The Path of Darkness.]

Effect 1: Grants 500% increased affinity to Darkness.

Effect 2: Locked

Effect 3: Locked

Effect 4: Locked

Effect 5: Locked

'500%! That's almost too much! This blessing is too powerful!'

[Crown Prince of Darkness: Individual too weak to activate this title.]

'Eeeeh? I mean that is to be expected but still!'

[Strength]

Effect 1: Increase muscle power

'Simple and straightforward, I guess…'

[Agility]

Effect 1: Increase movement speed

Effect 2: Decrease reaction time

Effect 3: Increase dexterity

'Pretty handy, I should focus on my speed for now…'

[Stamina]

Effect 1: Improve blood circulation and tissue regeneration speed

Effect 2: Increase endurance and Vitality

Effect 3: Increase resistance against foreign energies and substances

Effect 4: Improve Inner Organ performance

'Hmm… Stamina should be pretty important for survival, I think if I increase it enough, it would make me immune against poison.'

[Toughness]

Effect 1: Increase the defensive power of the flesh and bones

Effect 2: Temper the body to withstand backlashes better

'Withstand more backlash… this seems like a godly stat although it doesn't sound like much. I think with enough toughness I can finally unlock my Divine Ability! Although that is not happening anytime soon…'

'Stat Points are for increasing my Stats then what about Skill Points?'

[Skill Points]

Can be used to Buy, Upgrade and Evolve various Skills.

'… WHAT! That's broken! Skill Points are very important it seems… They will be very crucial to me so let's not touch them for now.'

*Yawn*

'I'm sleepy now… I'm going to sleep a little…' And so he slept in his Mother's embrace, enjoying the feeling of security he got there…

***

3 Days later

Prince Elric stood in front of his father, The King of Netherstar, with his wife and newborn child in her arms.

They both bowed slightly in respect. The King nodded his head in approval with both The Queen and The Crown Prince being present, as the others of Royal blood were away from the capital at this time.

The Queen stood up and walked over to Princess Rayna, unable to hold her excitement, "Is this my grandson?! Quick! What's his name?"

Princess Rayna passed her son over to her Mother-in-Law. She trusted this woman who treated her better than she did to her own children.

"We decided to name him Nathan, Mother." She responded with just as much excitement. She hadn't left her son's side for a single moment for the past three days. Heck, she hadn't even stopped looking at him or slept for a single moment. As she was a powerful cultivator, she didn't need much sleep.

"Nathan… what a beautiful name… He has inherited his Mother's hair and his Father's eyes! I'm sure he would grow up to be quite a heart breaker!" Nathan still had his pitch black hair as the color of the night and obsidian black eyes, even in this life.

Everyone present laughed at The Queens mischievous remarks… but not everyone…

The King and The Crown Prince looked at each other with odd gazes, before nodding. The King started speaking for the first time since they had arrived, "We have recently received Emissaries from The Church. They have gone through many troubles to come here, and after hearing about the birth of a new Royal blood, they offered to take the child to bless him at The Holy Capital. Seeing this as an opportunity for your child, I ,of course, accepted their proposal. You may entrust the child to them while you two catch up with your already delayed duties."

Prince Elric and Princess Rayna immediately panicked. They knew of the phenomenon when their child was born! If they take him to The Church, they might never see him again…

"Father! Nathan is not even a week old yet! You cannot separate him from his Mother! It would endanger his health!" Prince Elric tried to buy some time for themselves to think of a way. He was too weak to stand against his father at this time. He was very young after all.

"My word is final. The Emissaries will be leaving within hour. Deliver the child to them before that." The King looked like a stranger to them all, even to The Queen herself, as she looked at him in disbelief!

Prince Elric turned to his beloved Elder Brother, "Brother! Say something!"

The Crown Prince seemed indifferent, "Father has issued a Royal Decree. You would do best to obey it."

Prince Elric was all but lost… Was this really his family? He felt betrayed by the world…

At that moment, the doors to The Throne Room opened and six men in holy attire entered the room. The leading Emissary being none other than the messenger!

"Your Highness, we will be taking our leave now. I presume that this is the newborn Prince?" The Emissaries paid no respect to The Royal Family, making Prince Elric all the more certain of their malicious intent!

He locked gazes with his wife for a moment, and they came to an agreement.

In the next moment, Princess Rayna burst with extreme speed, dashing out of The Throne Room, while covering Nathan in a thin layer of Energy to protect him from the wind.

In that exact moment, Prince Elric also created a barrier that trapped everyone except his wife, even himself. He knew that any aggressive action right now would mean treason against The Crown and an assassination attempt on the members of The Church. Keeping them here with him was the best choice, even for a few seconds… 

Sadly, they had been trapped the moment they entered The Throne Room.

The Emissaries raised their hands, and golden ropes materialized in the air, before binding both Prince Elric and Princess Rayna so tightly that they couldn't even move a muscle. Their Energies were also sealed, leaving them helpless.

The messenger moved over to Princess Rayna and took the child away from her. Even her voice was sealed, but the tears of blood flowing down her cheeks told a different story.

"I will make sure your son receives the highest blessing from our God. May we meet again in the future…" The messenger signaled the other Emissaries and left The Throne Room, ready to return to The Church as soon as possible.

All this while, The King and The Crown Prince were indifferent, while The Queen didn't know what to make of this situation. A blessing should be a matter of celebration, yet her son and daughter-in-law acted as if her grandson was going off to be executed, leaving her confused.

The King waved his hand, "Take them away and lock them in their Palace. No word of what happened shall leave this room."

The Guards stepped forward and gently took away the still bound Prince and Princess.

Nathan's fate would be sealed the moment he reaches The Church. The unsuspecting baby only felt the distress of his Mother and nothing else, as he was forced into slumber by the messenger…

Was he really doomed to perish as soon as he was born?