CHAPTER 181: BIRTHDAY PARTY

That night, Edian talked to Ethan until midnight.

Ethan learned many untold secrets from him too, such as the ancestor being injured by an Epic-ranked Demon King 3000 years ago. He was still not fully healed.

Edian stood up. "Okay, do you want to become the crown prince? Then there will not be any competition."

Ethan thought for a moment. He always had a bad vibe from the 1st Empress as well as the 1st Prince. So if he became crown prince, he was sure he would make things difficult for his mother and even his father, let alone himself.

"Ancestor, a crown prince is the future emperor. He should win the crown fair and square. If I get that position without competition, people will always question my competency in the future. So I want to fight for it like everyone else. Can you tell me what kind of competition it is?"

Edian instantly became happy. He also wanted Ethan to compete, but since Ethan was an unnatural prodigy, even if he chose not to, Edian would have made it happen. Now that Ethan had said this himself, he had truly won his ancestor’s favor.

So Edian sat down again.

"The so-called competition is about ruling a kingdom for two years and earning the respect of the people. The ruler not only needs to be powerful but also wise and kind.

Your score will be judged in those two years and the winner will become the next crown prince and the future emperor."

Ethan nodded.

"Thank you, ancestor, for your patience."

Edian then went to the room that had been arranged for him. But Ethan did not leave.

He took out the crimson red sword from his waist, which had been given to him by his father on his birthday. He could use this sword until the Grand Magus level. It was simply a gift Ethan asked for because he did not like casting magic with a staff, which most elemental maguses did.

He could cast without any incantation or a staff. Cadis knew this too, so he gave a sword to his son instead, to help him protect himself in close combat.

He started practicing the basic sword techniques he had learned from the Guard General.

Ethan was thinking, "Tomorrow is my 6th birthday and Father will publish the decree about which kingdom I will rule for two years. Besides, I will need to leave the castle the day after tomorrow.

Ancestor said he would pick me up from the academy when the Origin World opens."

Though he had learned space magic, he did not have the slightest idea about time magic. It would be better if he could contract a beast with the time element, then he could learn from his beast.

He felt he could now break through to the High Magus realm, now that he had created a spell on his own. Normally, High Maguses create a spell and then they become Grand Maguses, but he did it early.

The power gap between maguses was determined by manipulation and range.

A true magus could manipulate about 10% of the mana around them, with a range of 500 meters.

A High Magus could manipulate 15% of environmental mana and had a range of 2 km. That was a huge gap.

But Ethan was different. He used his own mana source from his core.

He was sure he could use 35% of mana in the environment if compared to the amount of mana he could use from his core. But if he used only environmental mana, he could also manage 15%.

Besides, his range was the game breaker. It was 2 km at the True Magus level and after the breakthrough, it would probably become even more.

So he started concentrating his will around him. He soon reached 20% mana manipulation and could now control a 5 km range to use his spells.

He was significantly stronger than normal elemental maguses. Besides, he could also fight in close combat. His knight breakthrough would need some time though.

He went to his room, freshened up, and went to bed.

In the next morning, Ethan woke up early and got ready.

He forbade the maids from entering his room. He did not like that. So always did things on his own.

Soon, he went to have his breakfast. The ancestor had still not left, and he was also at the dining table with his father and mother.

Seventy percent of the entire empire’s power was now present here,in this room.

"Good morning, ancestor. Good morning, father. Good morning, mother."

He greeted everyone.

Trina smiled.

"Come, sit. After breakfast, we will leave. The guests will start arriving soon."

Any festival in the royal family always started in the morning.

Ethan nodded and sat down to eat his breakfast. Then he asked,

"Father, will sister also compete with us?"

Cadis replied, "No, she will not."

Ethan nodded his head. If it was his sister who was going to be crowned, he would not have taken any pressure. But he did not trust any of his brothers. He had learned the art of politics from his mother in these three years.

Now he could also understand the nature of people. He was no longer a blank sheet like before.

Soon breakfast was finished and everyone left the castle together. This time, the ancestor would personally attend his birthday ceremony.

No one knew about that though.

The carriage reached the main castle and they stepped out.

Ethan saw some guests had already arrived, and in 15 minutes, everyone would be there.

Cadis looked at Ethan and said, "Ethan, come with me. Let me introduce you to the higher-ups of the empire."

Edian had already vanished. He did not want to cause a scene here. He would join the party later.

Then Cadis Etrama Di Raizel took his son, Ethan Di Raizel, to officially meet all the upper echelon. Normally, this was done by the mother of the prince.

But this time, Cadis was personally doing it. So everyone could understand his intentions. He also knew that Ethan did not want to become the crown prince without competition, but he wanted everyone to know how important Ethan was.

Because he was not blind. He could tell that the 1st Prince was a mastermind at manipulating people. If Ethan had not come into the picture, he was sure the 1st Prince would have taken the crown, and Cadis would have been happy to give him the position. But now everything had changed.

The entire fate of the empire was depending on this 6-year-old boy.