The patriarch did not care at all about his sons; to him, they existed only to fulfill the social function of perpetuating the family. His eldest son had no talent and was cast aside after only a few years. In the days that followed, Kayden’s life changed considerably. First, he was given a dozen guards from the fourth kingdom and fed the best food that money could buy.
The patriarch came daily to check on Kayden’s health and strength. Although his strength hadn’t changed much, as he was still in the first realm and didn’t seem to be evolving, it didn’t matter. He was already light years ahead of his peers. No one could figure out exactly what had happened to Kayden, and no trace of the kidnappers had been found. Kayden’s kidnapping was kept a top-secret, shared only among the most powerful members of the family.
The family was easily among the three most powerful in the city, and showing weakness would be a laughingstock for most people. Maintaining Kayden’s status as the first kingdom’s mage would be a more difficult task, but it would be done for a few years. The other local leaders would only find out when the boy had already developed into a great warrior and created emotional bonds with the family, thus eliminating the chance of being kidnapped again.
In the blink of an eye, five years had passed. At that time, Kayden had not advanced to another realm and appeared to be just another normal child to most people, at least in public.
"Stop using force to suppress your lack of ability," someone said. Kayden was training with the teenagers of the previous generation; each generation had a twenty-year age gap, and this was his older brother’s generation. At this point, he was practically the teacher of about six teenagers from the third realm, a pretty high level for their age, but also relatively low considering the amount of resources they had received.
At first, Kayden simply accompanied his brother to training until he could stand out. He would not make the same mistake as in his previous life. Kayden would be extremely sneaky and would grow up in the shadows, like a lion. The patriarch practically jumped for joy when he saw his son destroying the decades-older mages as if they were nothing more than sacks of potatoes. At this point, rumors began to spread.
The legend of Kayden began to spread throughout the city, and soon the fame of a child born with a sword in his hand spread. Everyone believed that this was his greatest talent. No one even considered that he could be even more talented in other areas. The patriarch practically idolized Kayden, while the rest of the family members were treated like dirt by him. Many times, he even beat Kayden and his brother for silly mistakes.
It was a common case of abuse of power by a higher authority, nothing more. Kayden didn’t care enough to interfere, but at times, he would assert himself and ask his father to stop.
The first time was extremely awkward for everyone in the family. During dinner, the patriarch, his wife, and their two children were present. For some silly reason, Kayden’s brother started getting beaten.
"Dad, could you stop?" Kayden, just 3 years old, asked in an extremely calm voice that didn’t match his age or the situation.
Even the servants were silent. The last time Luana had interfered with one of the patriarch’s "life lessons" she had received, she had suffered injuries similar to those of a military beating. Kayden’s interruption had been so spontaneous and without any emotion that the patriarch stared at him for a few seconds, unsure of what to do.
"You hitting him won’t fix the problem. If it were that easy, it would already be solved," Kayden’s tone and words were something Keiren hadn’t heard in many years. But that wasn’t what made him stop his actions. It was Kayden’s eyes—the eyes of a predator, ready to react and kill his prey at the slightest sign of movement. While Keiren was a true mage of the fifth realm, Kayden was only a mage of the first realm.
The difference in strength was simply surreal, and yet one of them was feeling cornered, without any show of strength from the other side. This only made the patriarch smile and become even happier for his son.
"Of course, anything for my heir," his words took everyone by surprise, but the final part was even worse: "But... it’s your responsibility to solve this problem." And that was how Kayden became his brother’s sword teacher.
It took about three more years for Kayden to turn eight and finally advance to the second realm. The opportunity arose when he was once again kidnapped by a rival family. This time, one of the mages was in the fourth realm, but that didn’t mean much compared to Kayden’s strength. This time, he didn’t even need to blow his brains out, because the crown that resonated with all its strength didn’t come from within him.
The advancement process once again went extremely smoothly, and once again, everything was covered up by a mysterious figure. When Kayden returned home, the patriarch practically cried on his knees, even more so when he saw that Kayden had returned with another realm of strength. This time, he brought with him a guard from the fifth realm, who would not part with the boy under any circumstances. Kayden was the greatest genius the patriarch had ever seen.
The years began to pass and, in the blink of an eye, Kayden turned ten years old, old enough to participate in the empire’s tournament, a specific tournament where only the most powerful geniuses could compete.
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Kayden received an invitation directly from the emperor, his talent and genius were absurd, logically there were already wizards from the second kingdom his age, but none of them had reached the first kingdom in less time than Kayden.
Author’s note: I’ll start a slightly lighter arc where Kayden will just cause a bit of chaos, suggestions and requests are free to be made