The Monarch

"Lucius gave me full control over your training," Kayden was once again, sitting down, sipping tea while talking to the two of them. "The training I offer is a direct bond between master and apprentice. If you accept, there's no going back, no middle ground."

The two were caught off guard by Kayden's statement, especially considering they were the only ones in this place. This short time of training with Kayden had already managed to raise their strength by a few percentage points—it was too little time for such a considerable increase.

"What would we have to give in return? What are our obligations? Would we have to carry your surname?" Kayden smiled at the mortals' questions—it was amusing, but…

"Not even gods are worthy of bearing my surname at this moment." The purest arrogance—but also the purest truth. "Your only obligation is to kill me." Kayden's sentence left both of them somewhat at a loss.

"To… kill you?" Neither of them quite understood Kayden's objective—and they weren't meant to.

"Yes, that is your final goal." That had always been the final goal for every apprentice Kayden had ever trained in his life.

Since his first disciple, when he was still a pathetic mortal in a sad world where five lightning marks were considered legendary, up until the time when he was a ninth-realm mage with ten marks of lightning, all of his apprentices had the same objective.

"Why?" Kayden didn't answer—he merely waited. The dragon spoke first.

"I appreciate it, but I'll have to decline, God Kayden." For him, it wasn't worth having a master as errant as Kayden.

Aphelios was a very rare dragon—his lineage was absurd. He was only with Lucius to gain more knowledge and life experience. He wasn't there to gain power directly.

His wings were too broad for him to stand under Kayden's willingly. It was a difference that wasn't worth it, and dragons didn't take the master-apprentice relationship lightly. A master should be someone far superior to a disciple's expected peak for a dragon to humble himself to that role.

"No problem, Aphelios. You can come see me whenever you need something." The dragon didn't even have time to respond before Kayden and Kayn vanished before his eyes. They were still there, but now in a parallel spatial world.

Kayden said nothing while allowing Kayn to think. The first phrase Kayden spoke weighed heavily on the boy's mind—either Kayden was a lunatic with an ego beyond measure, or he truly was someone superior, someone capable of placing his surname on an absolute pedestal.

Kayn was a genius. Not just any genius—an absolute one. His power was low, but his potential was overwhelming. He'd made it this far with his own hands alone. He had no family, no present parents—not even a surname. He had nothing but raw, pure talent.

Lucius recognized that and recruited him. But the only thing the god truly offered him was opportunity and protection. Aside from that, Kayn gained nothing directly. All his power had been earned on his own. Having a master was something he had never expected.

While it was a life-changing decision for him, for Kayden it was just a way to plant one more seed of possibility—and pass the time with new opportunities.

"I accept." Kayden smiled and cast an oath to the heavens on the boy's behalf.

"You must not share anything I've taught you or spread my secrets." That was all. Kayn accepted instantly. It was a precaution Kayden hadn't even taken with Lucius—but this time, he wanted to be sure.

"I swear before the heavens." A lightning bolt struck, symbolizing the completion of the agreement.

"Very well. Your first task will be… not to die." Kayden smiled and began to freely manipulate the boy's soul. The pain of having one's soul altered had always been present for all mages.

Regardless of the world or the mage, their soul would hurt intensely when touched—especially when significantly altered as Kayden was doing now. At first, he would only make basic adjustments.

Some things were always present, especially remnants of past lives. That was something Kayden would have to destroy to fully unlock Kayn's potential. His abilities allowed him to do that in minutes—but that would be too much for Kayn to bear. It had to be done in stages.

The first torture session lasted only a few minutes—but it was the worst pain Kayn had ever experienced in his life. His mind was in chaos. He needed several hours just to recover to a stable state.

"What was that?" Kayn looked at Kayden in fear.

"A soul cleansing. Your strength won't grow, but your potential will." Kayden was once again drinking tea. "I don't create ordinary mages, Kayn—I create monarchs and ten-mark gods."

Kayn could somewhat grasp the magnitude of what Kayden was saying. It wasn't a light matter. Kayden didn't expect Kayn to become anything below his expectations. It would be the top—or nothing. The boy wasn't sure if he could reach that level.

"I don't raise ordinary disciples, Kayn. That'll become clear to you in time." Kayden didn't wait for the boy's reply and launched into another soul-altering session.

Along with his modifications, there were also additions of memories and things like that. Kayden had changed a lot in how he dealt with souls over his lifetime. In the beginning, he would force himself into his disciples' souls. That gave them a drastic increase in talent—but in return, it lowered their potential to break the barrier from common to extraordinary.

That's why now Kayden only edits the person's memories to help them better understand how to think and what mentality to adopt. That wasn't hard for him at this stage.

It took only a few years for Kayn's strength to undergo an absurd transformation. His potential grew frighteningly. His clones could wield more and more of his power—each time more, it felt like Kayden was facing multiple mages at the same peak of strength.