CHAPTER 214: EX 214. RISE OF AN EMPEROR

The pages of the book carried the story forward with a weight that pressed into Leon’s chest.

The first emperor of the Arman Empire; Arman Julius, had a peculiar history, one unlike any other ruler’s. He never knew his family. In fact, he had never even known he was human until much later in life. All he had ever known was the pack.

Leon leaned closer, eyes narrowing.

"Haven’t I seen this somewhere before?" The thought nagged at him, the faint outline of a memory brushing the edge of his mind. He tried to catch it, but it slipped away like mist through his fingers. He sighed and muttered, "It must be my imagination." With that, he turned the page.

The book revealed what Julius himself had once written. A journal, his earliest one, detailing the strange, fragile beginning of his story.

Julius had never understood why the wolves accepted him. He was not mauled, not torn apart, not even treated as prey. Instead, he was raised as kin. Only later would he learn the truth: the mother of the pack, grieving the loss of a cub, had taken pity on the frail, abandoned child. She raised him as her own, an act made possible only because she was no ordinary beast but a Rank 9 wolf, a creature of terrifying intellect and power.

Yet despite her love, despite her protection, Julius could not ignore the cracks in the illusion. His siblings had fur, tails, fangs, and, most of all—gifts. Each cub awakened abilities that burned with the essence of their bloodline. Julius had none.

It wasn’t the claws he lacked that hurt him most. It was the difference he couldn’t bridge.

One day, unable to endure the weight pressing on his chest, Julius approached his mother. She was not only his parent but also the leader of the pack, her amber eyes carrying an authority that made even predators bow.

Julius, on the other hand was an 11-year-old boy, he had ginger-red hair and striking green eyes. His body was toned from being constantly exposed to the elements, and right now, he needed answers from his mother.

"Why am I different from the rest, Mother?" he asked.

Her gaze fixed on him, sharp and unyielding, as if staring through his very soul. For a moment, Julius felt the sting of her scrutiny, but he didn’t look away. He couldn’t. She was his mother, and the question had lived too long inside him to remain unspoken.

"Why do you feel that you are different, son?" she asked at last, her voice carrying the rumble of distant thunder.

He didn’t hesitate. "It’s the others. Each of them has awakened abilities. Even Jacob, who is a full year my junior, has already learned to twist his form into other creatures. Yet I... I am still the same, still powerless, still... useless."

That word struck her harder than a blade. Her growl thundered through the den as her voice rose for the first time, filling the air with a sharp edge.

"No son of mine is useless!"

But Julius’s sorrow wasn’t soothed. His voice cracked as he pressed on, his hands clenched at his sides.

"Then why don’t I have any power?"

For the first time, the great wolf faltered. Her breath shuddered as though weighed down by a truth she never wished to reveal. Julius, however, held her gaze. His eyes, shimmering with unshed tears, refused to let her look away.

"Please, Mother," he whispered. "Tell me."

The wolf exhaled, her massive frame trembling under the burden of honesty. When she spoke again, her voice carried both love and sorrow.

"That is because... you do not have a core."

****

The den fell into silence after her confession, the weight of her words sinking into the air like stones into water. His mother’s amber eyes softened as she spoke again, her voice low, firm, and unflinching.

"Son, unlike the rest of your siblings... you were not born with a core."

Julius blinked, his young face twisting in confusion. "Core?"

"Yes," she rumbled, her massive frame shifting in the shadows. "The core is what makes your brothers and sisters stronger than you. It is their power source. From it comes their growth, their abilities, their evolution. Without it... you cannot stand as they do."

The boy’s lips trembled, but his sharp mind, though still so young, grasped what she meant. He swallowed hard and whispered, "So... why don’t I have a core?"

This time, there was no hesitation in her tone. "Because you are human."

The words struck like a blade. His eyes widened, disbelief flashing like lightning in the storm of his thoughts.

"Human? That’s not possible," he barked out, shaking his head violently. "I am a wolf! I may be hairless, but it doesn’t change who I am. I am—" His voice cracked. "I am a wolf!"

Self-denial had always lingered at the back of his mind, gnawing at him in silence. His different shape, his strange body, the lack of claws or fur, he had ignored it all. But hearing it spoken aloud, hearing it confirmed by the only mother he had ever known, tore him open in a way he had never felt before.

His wolf mother lowered her head, her eyes filled with sorrow, yet unwavering. "That is the truth. When you were just a baby, I found you. Alone and fragile. I took you into the pack and raised you as my own. But Julius..." Her voice carried the weight of finality. "You are human."

"Liar!" Julius roared, his voice cracking under the strain of rage and grief. His small legs carried him before she could stop him, and he bolted from the den into the cold embrace of the forest.

Branches scratched against his skin, roots tugged at his ankles, but he didn’t care. He ran until the shadows grew deep and his lungs burned, until the sounds of the pack faded behind him. Only then did he collapse into the hideout he had built during his past wanderings, his secret refuge.

He sank to the floor, curling into himself. His arms wrapped tightly around his knees as silent sobs shook his body. For the first time in his life, he felt utterly alone.

But as his tears dampened his skin, something stirred in his chest. Slowly, he lifted his head. His eyes, red from crying, burned with something new, something fierce.

"If I don’t have a core..." His voice was hoarse, but the fire behind it was undeniable. "Then I will just create one myself."

The promise rolled off his tongue, a vow carved into the marrow of his bones. That night, in the shadows of the forest, Julius swore that he would seize power, no matter the cost.