The crushing presence of Cal vanished, and Murd could finally breathe normally again.
"That was fun, wasn't it?" Cal said, offering a charming smile. "Sorry if it was a bit too much. I wanted to measure your level, so I hope you can forgive me," the Emperor added.
Contrary to how he had felt moments ago, a strange sensation now washed over Murd. His body was breaking out in a sweat, but his face showed absolutely no fear. Instead, a massive grin spread across his face, and his eyes—his eyes looked like those of a madman. They held a terrifying mix of madness, excitement, and sheer curiosity, without a single hint of dread.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck... That was so incredible. I want it", Murd thought. He covered his face, desperately trying to calm his racing heart. After a few seconds, he finally managed to squeeze some words out.
"Ple... please, do it again. Ple... please."
Cal caught his strained words and replied, "Well, it seems someone actually liked the feeling," letting out a hearty laugh.
"I want to be able to do that. Please, exert it on me again—and please, don't use double entendres," Murd spoke, his voice growing steadier.
Cal continued to laugh, shifting his amused gaze over to Cynthia.
Cynthia shrugged.
Cal shifted his gaze back to Murd. "Okay, why not?" He reactivated his presence as he continued speaking. "It's incredible, really. You've known me for less than five minutes, and you're already asking for my help with your training."
"I am not judging you, of course. In fact, I believe the younger generation should speak up to their superiors. If you truly wish to learn how to control your presence the way I do, you will need a mountain of training. Ah, the memories... The exact moment I finally mastered my presence was probably one of the best moments of my life."
"It was literally two years ago," Cynthia interjected, her face completely flat.
"Ugh, but I remember it with so much love," Cal retorted, shooting her a look before turning back to his speech. "Well, you probably think, 'Oh, the Emperor is an incredible person with unmatched power and talent,' and you wouldn't be wrong..."
"Uh, Cal? Look down," Cynthia interrupted.
Cal finally looked over at Murd.
Murd was flat on the floor, his muscles straining as he desperately tried to stay conscious under the crushing weight.
"Oh, fuck. I am so sorry!" Cal gasped, instantly snapping out of his ego trip.
The instant Cal tried to pull away, he felt a slight counterpressure. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Shit… Yeah. Yeah, something like that!" Cal murmured.
Murd gritted his teeth, his mind racing. More, more, more… I'm almost getting it.
Suddenly, the weight pressing down on Murd's body vanished. "I love how quickly you grasp the concept, but I have a presentation in twenty minutes, and I don't need one of my colleagues looking half-dead up there," Cal said, scratching his head.
"Shit, shit… So close," Murd groaned, collapsing completely to the floor.
Seeing his frustration, Cal spoke. "You don't have to regret anything. When you're older, you'll probably master it easily."
"Ahhh…" Murd couldn't even speak; he was too exhausted.
Just then, the sound of a door opening echoed through the room. A blonde beauty with warm brown eyes entered. The contrast of her features made her seem otherworldly. She was quite tall for a woman, but the word that best described her aura was tenderness.
"Cyn! It's been so long! You have no idea how much I missed you!" the beauty exclaimed, running toward Cynthia and throwing herself at her.
Cynthia, facing a girl much taller than herself, instinctively tried to dodge her, but she stood no chance against Asalina.
"Oh, my! My beautiful Cynthia, how have you been?" Asalina said sweetly, hugging her tightly and gently stroking her head.
Cynthia groaned, but managed to reply, "I'm fine, but please stop petting me."
"Oh, Cynthia, Cynthia... You'll never admit that you actually like it when I pet your head, will you? Hahaha," Asalina laughed, covering her mouth.
"Shut up..." Cynthia muttered, annoyed but visibly blushing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Cal exclaimed, laughing uncontrollably while clutching his stomach.
"H... he... lp..." Murd, still lying on the floor, managed to utter the only word he could.
"Oh, crap, sorry. Not again. Asa, help him, please," Cal said, turning back to look at Murd.
Asalina looked away. "Oh, okay. But what happened to him?"
"A training session that got a little out of hand," Cal replied.
"If you say so..." Asalina looked at Cal in disbelief.
She raised her hand, and a sequence of shimmering words began to swirl and float above her palm. As the spell completed, a warm feeling of well-being enveloped Murd. His body began to regain energy, and the lingering pain from the crushing pressure vanished completely. Asalina had healed him.
"Thank you so much, Asa," Cal said. "So, Murd, how are you feeling? I think I went a little overboard, but I hoped you could learn something from it."
"Ohhh... Is this the boy you were talking about, Cynthia?" Asalina asked, stepping closer to examine Murd.
"Yes," Cynthia replied.
"Ahhh, he's so cute! Maybe I can..."
Cynthia interrupted her immediately. "No, no, no, no, and no." Don't even think about touching him.
"Huh?" Murd looked at Asalina, confused. Her perception of both her and Cal was changing rapidly.
"I know exactly what you're thinking," Cal interrupted, noticing Murd's expression. "She's not my wife. Our marriage is just a sham; she's my friend, but I could never feel anything for her."
"I wasn't really thinking that, but... well," Murd said, raising an eyebrow.
"Which means I can do whatever I want, Cynthia!" Asalina laughed mischievously, teasing Cynthia.
"No," Cynthia interrupted Asalina firmly.
"Huhuhuuhuhuu," Asalina giggled, playfully mocking Cynthia's protectiveness.
"Well, the show must come to an end," Cal said, standing up from his seat and stretching his limbs. "We have to head to the conference. It starts in less than five minutes."
They... they are all so strange, Murd thought, shaking out his arms as he stood back up on his feet.
Cal and Asalina left the room first.
"The conference starts in five minutes, and Cal wants to show you off to the crowd," Cynthia said, walking toward the door.
"Why??" Murd asked, his anxiety spiking.
"You think I know? He's incredibly unpredictable," Cynthia shot back.
"Right... sorry," Murd whispered.
"Well, just try to stay calm. Smile, and everything will probably be alright."
"Probably...??" Murd tried to question her, but Cynthia had already slipped out of the room.
"Fuck it", Murd thought.
Murd left the room and saw Cynthia walking toward a large set of double doors. Following closely behind her, they reached the entrance and found Cal and Asa accompanied by two other people: an old man with stark white hair, Seron Astrea, and next to him, a rather plain-looking man no more than thirty-five years old, whose only distinguishing feature was a black monocle over one eye, Clifford.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Murd Cadwell," Murd said, introducing himself as he looked at Clifford and Seron.
"Nice to meet you, young man of the Omnipotent Dawn clan. My name is Clifford, and I am the Emperor's steward," the man replied, bowing in respect. Murd panicked slightly, waving his hands in a frantic attempt to stop him from bowing.
"Hello, child. I am Seron Astrea, King of Arms."
King of Arms? Murd thought, his mind racing.
Seron closed the distance between them in an instant, aggressively examining Murd's body. His sharp gaze swept over every inch of the boy.
"Uh, hello...?" Murd stammered, feeling incredibly exposed.
"Hmm, hmm... I see," Seron muttered to himself. "Yes, yes. Much better than the idiots I have as disciples. Approved."
"Approved...?" Murd repeated blankly.
Confused, he turned his head to lock eyes with Cynthia. Why is everyone here so damn weird? Murd's eyes practically screamed the question.
Cynthia returned his look with a flat, empty stare of her own. I have absolutely no idea, she seemed to reply—or at least, that was how Murd interpreted it.
Seron finished examining Murd and patted his back firmly as a form of approval. "If at any point you want to learn the Art of Whole Arms, you can come to my clan's house. We will be more than happy to welcome you."
"Thank you, I suppose," Murd replied, offering his thanks despite his confusion.
Cal intervened: "Stop doing those weird tests and get ready to go, Seron."
"Who cares about the weird things I do? Our knights know me very well."
"It's not about the weird things you do or whether they know you. You are Seron Astrea, one of the strongest warriors in our empire—my empire. Behaving properly is the least you can do," Cal said, giving Seron a stern look.
"Ugh, fine, fine. I'll behave."
"And you, Murd, follow us and smile. That's all you have to do," Cal added, giving a thumbs-up.
"Eh, okay. If that's all I have to do, I can do it."
"That's the spirit! Let's go salute the knights of our empire!" Cal exclaimed, throwing his arms up in excitement.
The massive doors slowly creaked open. Murd, who had managed to calm herself somewhat, felt her anxiety surge again. The tension in the air shifted dramatically; it wasn't the pressure she'd felt earlier with Cal; this pressure came directly from the Emperor of Kalestrian and the weight of his title. Now, Cal, Asa, Cynthia, Seron, and Clifford were no longer just the peculiar people she'd chatted with; they were the most important figures in the entire Empire. The collective aura emanating from them made her nerves tremble.
Remember: smile and stay calm, Murd repeated to herself.
She forced a smile, though it came out incredibly awkwardly. Her nervousness almost completely prevented her from articulating a proper expression.
"Hello, new knights of the Empire," Caelus said, his resonant voice cutting through the crowd. "I suppose you all know who I am. I wanted to organize this gathering because I wished to meet you all. When I was young, I was one of the knights myself," Caelus said, a touch of nostalgia softening his expression. "Well, I suppose you already know who you are, though there is a new face among you," Caelus added, looking at Murd.
"Damn it, damn it… How did I end up here? He told me I just had to smile, but now everyone's staring at me!"
Cal, who had been watching Murd intently, momentarily abandoned his majestic Emperor-like presence and let out an almost imperceptible laugh at the boy's inner panic.
"This is Murd Cadwell, disciple of Cynthia Ferris and successor of the Clan of the All-Powerful Dawn," Cal announced, his voice booming in the great hall. "And though it pains me to admit it, he is also the greatest genius this empire has ever known."
An immediate wave of murmurs swept through the room. decens of eyes turned to the young man standing beside the Emperor, all brimming with questions.
Among the crowd, Huis bit his lip, struggling to stifle a laugh at Murd's impassive expression.
Churn looked at him, his eyes shining with pure emotion.
Kida was deeply impressed and proud, seeing one of her best friends in the place they had only dreamed of when playing their favorite game.
And then there was Verju. He gazed at Murd with bitter envy.
That dark seed that had once slumbered within him had finally taken root. He loved Murd like a brother, but the short time he had spent in this world had changed him. He wanted to grow. He wanted to be strong, to become the greatest dragon hunter the world had ever seen. But reality had dealt him a hand that was barely above average.
He knew that hating Murd was foolish. However, he couldn't help but yearn for that talent himself. He knew it was wrong, and in fact, he hated himself for envying his friend's gifts. But he simply couldn't control the crushing helplessness of not being able to fulfill the grand destinies he'd been consuming his entire life in novels, games, and manga.