Chapter 678 Desire

Even though Nial lost his memories of the past, his mind was already further developed than anyone his age.

He had still the usual spurts of a child, cried often, and played around with Rex and the familiars of the servants in the palace, but he was also very diligent.

Even before he could walk properly, Nial began to learn how to read the language of the Lacardian Empyrean Void. It was not too different from the ancient universal language, which made it much easier for him to learn the alphabet and learn how to read.

His memories of the past might have dispersed but his muscle memories and the distant blurry memories that couldn't be grasped anymore, helped him to learn to read. Expanding his knowledge about the history of the Lacardian Empyrean Void and the powers of the Creatoran was important.

He was the Crown Prince and would have to rule the Lacardian Empyrean Void in the future. That was his fate, and not something he could escape just like that.

Because his father was usually at the borders of the Lacardian Empyrean Void, fighting against other Empires, deviants, mutants, and heretics, he was not able to spend much time with his son. This left his father with great regret, which was also why the Emperor ended up sending Nial presents whenever he found something that could interest Nial.

The Emperor was always up to date about his son's interests and he sent over more presents than others would receive in their whole life.

The Emperor was a doting father, who felt guilty about his absence. However, if his son would have been anyone else but Nial Lacardian, they would have ended up as spoiled brats. After all, the presents his father sent over were not only high in quantity but their value was also something that couldn't be underestimated.

Upon learning how to walk, Nial quickly started to nag the royal guards to help him train with the sword, and other weapons. As the Crown Prince, he would have to learn to fight either way. However, education was usually the most important factor for the children of the royal family.

Nial's lessons were supposed to start with learning how to read, write, simple mathematics, what Mana is, and the basics of Summoning Magic.

Once the basics had been covered completely, the Emperor would hire a renowned Swordsmaster to train Nial. However, Nial didn't want to waste his time that long. He knew most of the basics and he could use his puppy eyes to convince the royal guards as well. Showing that he was serious and diligent should be enough to convince every hot-blooded guard to train him sincerely.

Furthermore, his mother had returned to her sect for the time being because something had happened to her family over there. Nial was not told what exactly happened because his mother didn't want to worry him. Thus, he was by himself, if one ignored the servants who followed him wherever he went.

They were a little annoying but Nial knew that their intentions were good.

It was their job to tend to his needs, after all.

After he spend a whole week convincing the captain of the royal guards to teach him some basic movement sequences to learn how to wield the sword properly, Nial got his hands on a small wooden sword. It was extremely heavy for young Nial but he was not someone who gave up that easily just because something was a little bit difficult.

With some effort, he was able to wield the small wooden sword and his training arc began.

There were three reasons why Nial wanted to start learning swordsmanship at such a young age.

First, he heard that it would require years to actually become good with the sword. Becoming a proper Swordmaster might require decades. Thus, the earlier he started, the better the results ought to be. It was much easier to learn a lot when one was young since the brain was still developing.

Second, Nial felt like he had to create a proper foundation from a young age. He was not sure why he felt the need to do so, but he wanted to create a good physique by diligently working out.

As for the third and last reason why he wanted to start training with the sword so early was the exhaustion that would follow after every training session, or work-out session. For others, the period after a workout, or training with the sword might be considered amongst the worst. One wouldn't be able to move properly because every movement would ache. The entire body would be sore and one wouldn't look pleasant in the eyes of the people who saw this.

However, Nial didn't really care about that. He had read that the exhausted body could sense and absorb Mana more easily. Nial could already see mana but it was not easy for him to actually absorb it. His first few attempts had failed because the necessary stimulus was missing.

One had to know that by actively absorbing mana, one would be able to awaken their Summoning talent. Adding that one would usually awaken their talent as Summoner at the age of 14, Nial was way too young to be able to control the highly potent mana in the Lacardian Empyren Void. Even heavenly prodigies would be six or seven years old before they would awaken their Summoning talent, and they were the cream of the crop.

As for the youngest age at which one awoke their Summoning talent, it was at the age of five. Nial was trying to break this record, and he knew that it wouldn't be easy. Thus, using his exhaustion as an amplification, he was trying to get closer to awakening as Summoner!

If he had to think of a fourth reason, Nial would probably say that studying the whole day was simply too boring. Playing around with the familiars of the people around him was fun, but it was also the cause for his increasing desire to get hold of his own Familiar.

As for his worries about the Advocate of the Pryard…who was that even?