Dilemma

Being born talentless took away happiness from Ghareeb's childhood, as he was opened up to different forms of abuse, even to the point of his life being threatened. His mother neglected him. She didn't raise him; she disowned Ghareeb a few weeks after it was known that the unfortunate prince was born talentless. The emperor had to nurture the prince himself because he was a good father. Unfortunately, the emperor was not always at home to ensure Prince Ghareeb was safe and well taken care of.

Except for the emperor, Ghareeb's mother, along with his two elder siblings and other members of the house of El Nino, wanted Ghareeb dead. This desire was per the law of El Ninos: a prince or princess that is born talentless and continues to be talentless should be eliminated from existence lest they bring shame to the family. But the intervention of Emperor El Nino saw that this desire and law never came to be.

To save Ghareeb's life, Emperor El Nino issued a decree that would see Prince Ghareeb banished from Grandberg at the age of fifteen, and he was never to return there or he would be put to death. Emperor El Nino's decision enraged a good number of the members of the House of El Nino, but they soon became content with it.

When Prince Ghareeb turned 15 years old, he was ceremoniously and officially banished. Before this, Emperor El Nino made sure that the prince was imbued with knowledge of politics and governance. Also, he made arrangements for Prince Ghareeb to be governor of Astro as soon as he arrived, replacing Admiral Loftus, whose tenure was deemed a failure.

Ghareeb sat down and stared blankly into the open, ruminating over the details of his earlier days at the palace. A smile crept up his face, and he burst into a chuckle, shaking his head. He looked at the ring on his left hand's ring finger, the flight ring. He recalled how he came into possession of the flight ring. It happened twenty-five years ago when he was still on Grandberg. His teacher on human relations, Mr. Adolph, was the former owner of the ring. Mr. Adolph was a pervert. He lured and raped the children of the common servants of the palace. Mr. Adolph used his position as an important staff member of the palace to intimidate his victims, killing their desire to share the stories of their plight at his hands with another person or having the will to report him for reprimandment.

Common servants of the Emperor's palace lived on Grandberg and had their children. There were amenities and resources to sustain these servants and their children.

On a fateful day, unfortunately for the scum of a teacher, Mr. Adolph, Ghareeb was passing by an unfrequented corner of the palace. At this place, Mr. Adolph was busy with his perversions, raping the daughter of one of the servants. The prince stopped and stared in disgust and fright. He was frightened of Mr. Adolph because the man regularly bullied him. The teacher noticed Ghareeb staring at him, but he wasn't bothered. He usually physically abused Ghareeb, hitting the unfortunate prince because he could escape unscathed. So, the teacher assumed that the prince would be naturally scared of him. The next thing Mr. Adolph knew was that he felt a sharp, piercing pain from his back into his abdomen, and he was breathing his last. Prince Ghareeb and the abused girl fled the scene while the lifeless body of Mr. Adolph lay on the floor of the scene. The corpse of the teacher was later discovered. Mr. Adolph's killer was never found; the flight ring he always had on his right middle finger was gone, and the girl he was abusing seconds before his death never spoke a word about the murder or what Mr. Adolph did to her to anyone else, not even Prince Ghareeb.

Prince Ghareeb had murdered Mr. Adolph and taken his flight ring. He never wore the ring in the palace, nor did he do anything that would make anyone suspicious of him possessing the ring. It was not until after he arrived on Astro that he confidently began wearing the ring.

####

Niklas found a secluded area in the forest that bordered between the outskirts of the deserted lands and the forest. He pulled up his system interface.

[NAME: Agu Niklas Vox.

AGE: 20 years old.

HEIGHT: 6'2 feet.

WEIGHT: 58 KG.

****

CLASS: Lightning-mancer.

Class level: 0.

Class evolution: 2/100

Use and perfect your proficiency in handling lightning in order to evolve.

****

RACE: Human/Demigod.

Prominent race: Human.

Level of Prominence: 10.

Next level: Demigod, level 0.

Progress towards evolution: 100/100.

Affect the world around you and obtain evolution points.

Since you are aligned with good, you have to affect the world around you with your goodness to obtain evolution points.

Extra evolution points: 167.

You have totaled the points needed for evolution. Do you wish to evolve now, yes or no?

****

PHYSICAL QUALITIES;

STRENGTH: 5+10

SPEED: 5+10

AGILITY: 5+10

STAMINA: 5+10

PERCEPTION: 1+10

VITALITY: 5+5

Free stat points: 5.

(Complete missions and stand a chance to be rewarded with stat points that can be assigned to any of the qualities.)

****

MANA AFFINITY: 11>12

MANA VOLUME: 1000>1300 MP

Complete missions and you stand a chance to be rewarded with stat points added directly to your mana affinity.

Mana affinity affects mana volume, negatively or positively.

****

SKILLS;

Buff skill name: Demigod's will.

Tier: SS rank.

Information: It allows the user to use their will to tap into powers that are beyond the natural laws. These exceptional powers help the user accomplish acts that are beyond explanation.

Availability: 0/1

Cool down: 1 month. Timer: 719:41:20

Information (2): When availability is 0, the user can use its will to affect, at most, the attacks from rank-C creatures or objects.]

Niklas considered his next level of evolution. He heard of people whose appearances changed after they evolved into demigods. They mostly changed into mad, instinctively evil, and powerful, hideous creatures. Most of the unfortunate beings were successfully detained from causing harm; some of them were effectively exterminated. Only a few were yet to be contained due to some reasons. The fact that one could become mad and hideous after they evolved into demigods made most hunters and power-seeking people not chase demigod levels of power. Instead, they preferred buff decals to provide them with such strength.

Niklas thought, 'I want to seize this opportunity. It will put me in a place of strength and importance. I won't be bullied, and I can direct my fate to a certain degree.'

He had heard stories about demigods directing their fate, and he believed it. But he didn't think that they could absolutely direct their fate. He believed that demigods could only influence their fate to a certain degree. The good and the bad of evolution put the young man in a dilemma. He wished that someone would appear and assure him that he wouldn't become mad and hideous after he evolved into a demigod.