Age of Heroes

Henry Palais

The news of the Dragon attack had finally been relayed to Henry Palais.

Arial had brought his army to the North, instilling fear and vowing to conquer all. His claws have reached farther than anyone had thought. And the rise of the Vermont could no longer be obstructed.

But that was not what preoccupied Henry at the moment.

Henry had received a letter from Arial himself asking for his cooperation to end the war in a swift manner by betraying Lord Alderam.

What should I do? Henry thought.

This was a dilemma.

If he betrayed Lord Alderam, he would be branded a turncoat, but if he resisted, he would surely be executed by the Dragon forces once they won the war.

There was no doubt in Henry's mind that the Dragon would win.

Even with the rumored help from Vern, Lord Alderam had no chance in stopping Arial's advance.

The young Vermont was committed to winning this war.

But there is also the matter of my relatives being held captive by Alderam, but I'm sure the Dragon already knows about that as it seems that my son has told him everything about our arrangement, Henry mused.

That stupid, honorable son of mine.

But Henry was a determined man and an honorable one just like his son. He knew his choice was already made.

He threw the letter in the fireplace and watched it burn to ashes.

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VERN

Zhang Liao Bao

After learning the Treading on the Wind technique, Liao Bao had practiced it every day. His body felt a little lighter, less tired and more energized.

His mind was also clearer.

What a remarkable technique, he thought.

During the day, he focused on his job as a scribe, but at night, he practiced on the palace grounds, moving stealthily like a cat as to not be spotted by anyone.

He smiles a bit as his mind wanders for a while.

Nowadays in the Forbidden City the talk of the war in the Kingdom of Alan is the hot gossip among the officials and the nobles.

And sometimes he heard it directly.

Liao Bao had not only discovered a hidden passage that led to a library under the Imperial Palace, but a whole network of tunnels that connected multiples Palaces of the noble families in the Forbidden City.

At night, he prowled the tunnels, spying on them, searching for information that might benefit him someday and listening in on secret plots behind the Emperor's back.

He was able to peek through secret openings without being caught.

The secrets he held right now could create chaos all over the government if revealed.

He knows who is cheating with who, who shortchange the Ministry of Revenue, who is embezzling the silvers and gold in the treasury and many more.

Liao Bao also believed that he had discovered the creator of this network of hidden passages.

He did investigate on the matter because he believes that whoever created this network of tunnels could not be a nobody.

And he started with Leliana.

He had gone to the Hall of Literature to learn more about Leliana and had read that the Empress had disappeared after giving birth to her son, Justinian.

It seems Leliana did disappear. The Empress that Disappeared, her title is known among the royal families.

No one knew why she had run away and why the Emperor had never searched for her.

It seemed that whatever had happened, it had been Alexander's fault or else, he wouldn't have written that poem for her, begging for her forgiveness.

There was unverified information that the passages had been created by Leliana to escape the Emperor's heavy guard and run away from the Forbidden City.

News of the war in the Kingdom of Alan had reached the Forbidden City and was the main topic of gossip among the officials and the nobles.

And Liao Bao make sure he is informed on all the news of the continent

Liao Bao had heard that House Verman had sent troops to aid Alderam and angered all the other noble houses in Vern.

Many believed that the new King Adrian with the help of House Vermont, a very influential family in the Kingdom of Alan, would win the war.

The nobles in Vern did not wish to offend King Adrian and hoped that the Verman family's disobedience would not prevent an amiable alliance between themselves and the favored winners.

While all of this is happening, Vern is also dealing with its own internal problem

In the palace, factions were being formed and plots were being concocted.

Rebellion plots are brewing under the surface. And Liao Bao knows it.

The Emperor was in a tight spot with the growing power of House Austen at the border and the threats of rebellion from the Blood Brotherhood.

Emperor of these days has only one job. Their job is not to take more lands or conquest of the other nation but their one and sole purpose is to keep the peace.

Imperial power has long diminished and in decline the moment the other Kingdoms regains their independence during the reign of Emperor Alexander the Divider.

Now, the two rising nations were the Kingdom of Alan with its trade and agriculture, and the Land of the Sun, Renasia.

Liao Bao had returned to the hidden library after learning his martial arts technique and had searched the chamber again.

This time, he had found another manual on the Devil Absorbing technique which was a dark martial art technique that is used to absorb a person's internal energy.

If an opponent's internal energy was weak, the person using Devil Absorbing could increase their own internal energy, but if the rival was stronger and could resist the absorption technique, then the user might suffer side effects.

In that sense, it was important to choose your enemies carefully, as the potential effects of that technique was really dangerous.

In order to learn the Devil Absorbing technique, Liao Bao first had to gather a few ingredients: a White Scorpion from Cori, a Black Opal Lizard, a Seven-Colored Bat, a Silver Fox from Vorthy, and a Red Serpent from Renasia.

He then had to take their venoms and mix them in one of the containers that he had found in the secret chamber which he believed had belonged to the First Emperor.

Finally, he had to add Devil Rot poison in the mixture and drink it.

After ingesting the concoction, he had to reverse the flow of his internal energy every night for two weeks without missing a day or he ran the risk of it exploding inside him and crippling him for life.

Only after a month had passed could he begin practicing the martial arts technique.

At first, Liao Bao did not want to learn Devil Absorbing, but he soon realized that the technique could be useful and would complement Treading on the Wind.

It was a hard task to search for all the venomous creatures across the continent, but Liao Bao lived in the Forbidden City, and anything could be found here.

He knew where the Emperor kept all his animals and with his nimbleness, he could easily access the menagerie undetected.

Liao Bao did not waste any time.

After gathering all his ingredients and drinking the mixture, he began the process of reversing his internal energy.

Soon, he would learn a new martial arts technique.

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You all couldnt see the importnace of Liao Bao yet right? Anyway hope you enjoy the story and leave some comments.