"Heh, your daughter is one nasty bitch...cough!"

In the far borders of the Draventhar continent, in the middle of an unassuming forest, there was a large tree.

Leaning against it was a handsome but seemingly unassuming man. His face was bloodied and beaten. It wasn’t just his face. His entire body had countless wounds...wounds that were more than enough to kill a mortal.

But despite those wounds, his eyes were as brilliant and willful as ever. He refused to look up.

"...I-I–!!"

Sling!

"Come any closer," he said, still not looking up, "and this blade goes straight through my head."

"...Emperal"

Standing before him was a woman whose age could not be determined or placed. Not young nor old, she was beyond those petty categories. But...the most distinct thing about this woman was her looks, which could only be said to be ’country toppling’. Her aura wasn’t soft or gentle; it was overwhelming.

But she wasn’t your standard beauty. From her forehead extended two long, obsidian horns, curving upwards like those of a demonic goat.

Her mere presence caused disturbances in the space around her. Even beasts capable of annihilating cities...strayed as far away from this woman as possible.

"It was honestly my mistake to think that I, Emperal, would rely on another person entirely."

Emperal, the bloodied youth, shook his head. The woman just gritted her teeth but didn’t dare speak.

"My hands were tied, Emperal, you have to understand—"

"Enough. Give me my promised art, and my secret shall remain buried. That’s the least you could do."

Seeing his attitude, the Dragon Empress sighed. Despite her entire body disagreeing with her, she made up her mind.

"I...just have to wait for him to calm down. And this shall be the punishment for my actions as well." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

She raised her hand. A jade materialized in her hand. It had a quiet, ancient aura surrounding it. There were intricate carvings on the jade, so complex that even she couldn’t decipher them.

Looking at his body one more time, "You know your existence more than anyone, please...be careful. Also, please take this."

She etched his image into her entire existence. In the next second, she vanished, leaving the jade and a small bottle beside Emperal.

Without hesitation, he picked them up.

...

The world of Verandis was vast and untamed, filled with mystical creatures and unimaginable terrors that walked the land.

It was divided into four continents, with each one ruled by a specific race. But the main power generator, or the primary source of energy, was called...Verth.

Verth is the by-product of existence itself, spread across thousands of different realms. To access the almighty Verth, one needs to have a Spirit Root. All living beings are born with a Spirit Root, enabling them to access Verth.

But it wasn’t as colorful as it seemed. The Spirit Root was further divided into five stages.

Dormant, Awakened, Bloomed, Resonant, and Sovereign. The higher the stage, the purer one’s access to Verth, and the further one could walk on the path of cultivation. Most common folk never saw beyond the second stage; a rare few touched the third. The fourth and fifth were the stuff of legacy and myths.

And as if the world decided to be more cruel, Emperal sat at the very bottom of that hierarchy.

Tier One. Dormant Spirit Root.

But this wasn’t even the worst part. He was a half-blood!

In his veins, two vastly different bloods flowed together. One of the mighty Dragons and the other of the Eternal Elves.

Despite such pompous names, the reality was far too harsh. Not a single ability from either race was bestowed upon him. Instead, it even slowed his speed of cultivation!

Since he was an orphan with unknown parents, from a very young age, he was forcefully made to see the ugly side of the world.

Despite countless challenges and hardships, Emperal never once faltered. He learned the way of the sword and mastered it to a terrifying degree.

Coming out of his thoughts, Emperal stared at the empty space where she had stood.

Vraelyn Storm.

The Supreme Empress of the dragons, one of the top existences, second only to the Dragon Emperor.

Of all the things he had gambled on in his miserable life, she had been the one bet he had made with something other than calculation and self-interest.

Despite being born with the lowest Spirit Root, she had never once looked at him in a negative way. Maybe it was because of that that he was enamoured by her.

It was precisely because of this—his sword, his will, Vraelyn, and nothing else...that he dared to enter the Dragon Lord’s tournament.

The Dragon Lord of Draven had announced it across the entire continent. A tournament for the youth.

His daughter was the ultimate prize of the tournament.

The hand of his daughter, the Dragon Princess. The moment this news broke out, countless young talents flocked.

That was the moment it all began. Recollecting all of this, Emperal’s eyes flashed with a cold light. Unbeknownst to either of them, from somewhere deep within the treeline, where even the shadows didn’t dare move, a pair of cold eyes watched them.

She had been there from the moment Vraelyn arrived. Her eyes once again landed on the bloodied youth, and the jade closed around his fingers.

Something inside her shifted. The air, which had almost returned to normal when Vraelyn had left...once again started to stir.

Her eyes returned to Emperal. He hadn’t moved yet. Just sitting there, bleeding quietly.

The Phoenix Empress watched him for a long moment. Her face, which was as cold as ice, twitched.

"That woman...I will kill her."

She muttered under her breath. For a single second, a hint of killing intent leaked from her eyes. The moment it did, the sky darkened and shifted.

The beasts in the vicinity dropped dead without a sound. She didn’t notice, or perhaps she simply didn’t care.

"Vraelyn Storm."

The venom in her tone didn’t match her cold expression one bit. Her eyes darkened and shifted to something far more dangerous than the killing intent she had just released.

"Not satisfied with snatching him from me, you even dare betray him? Good. Very good."

Her figure vanished as silently as Emperal was unaware. His gaze dropped down to the bottle beside the jade. It had two glowing pills inside.

Standing up, he failed to realize the gravity of his situation. Two of the most dangerous women in Verandis had decided he belonged to them.

And he...had more than enough problems already.