Ascension of the last Celestial

Valerian made his way through the sprawling corridors of the royal palace, the place he had called home for the past ten years. He had never once left the estate during his entire time here, opting instead to stay within its walls. But that wasn’t truly an issue, because the royal palace of the Solaria Kingdom was fucking massive. It was so colossal that even after a decade of running around and exploring, he still hadn’t managed to see every corner.

On his way to the dining room where his family was waiting, he passed multiple maids, knights, and other palace workers. The moment they spotted him walking past, they performed a respectful bow, placing their right fists firmly over their hearts. They showed him unwavering, genuine respect, completely unbothered by the fact that he was only the adopted son of the king and queen.

After a ten-minute walk from his quarters, he finally reached a pair of grand double doors. The heightened spatial awareness he had developed from his absolute mastery over Space magic informed him that two people were currently sitting at the table inside, while a third was hiding directly beside the threshold. Already knowing exactly who was waiting to ambush him, he pushed the doors open without a shred of hesitation.

The dining room itself wasn’t as dripping in gold and luxury as one might expect considering the rest of the castle. It was kept rather simple and intimate, designed strictly for the inner family’s personal use. A large, rustic wooden table dominated the room, surrounded by plenty of chairs and a few tasteful decorations. Off to the side, a discreet door led to the kitchens, where the servants would bring in the food.

Seated at the table was his adoptive father, Helias Solaria. He sat at the head of the table, having seemingly not aged a single day over the last ten years, still looking like a handsome young man in his early thirties. The other person present was his little step-sister, Elara Solaria. She had inherited the beautiful silver hair of her mother and the piercing, ocean-blue eyes of her father. She sat to Helias’s left, leaving a single empty seat between them.

The moment her childish eyes landed on him, her face lit up, and she practically screamed in sheer excitement.

"Val! You’re finally here!"

Her reaction caused Valerian to let out a light chuckle. She had always been like this. Elara never cared that they didn’t share a single drop of biological blood; to her, he was simply her older brother, Val.

Before Valerian could even take a step toward the table, the figure hiding behind the door lunged out, throwing her arms around his neck in a bone-crushing embrace.

"Happy Birthday, my sweet little boy!"

Predicting this exact reaction, Valerian had preemptively reinforced his body with a tight layer of mana, ensuring he wouldn’t leave the hug with shattered bones. Even though Valerian was already an S-rank powerhouse whose hybrid race and divine bloodline granted him an incredibly durable physique, an Ascendant Rank being like his mother could still easily crush him by accident.

"Thank you, Mom," Valerian gasped between short, strained breaths, frantically tapping her arm. "So... please don’t accidentally kill me on my birthday."

Hearing his strained voice, Queen Freya Solaria finally let go and stepped back. Standing in front of him was a breathtakingly beautiful woman who, like Helias, appeared to be in her early thirties. She possessed shining silver hair and mesmerizing crimson eyes. With a smile that could easily topple empires, she hugged him a second time, though with significantly less crushing force.

Once they separated, everyone took their respective seats. Freya sat to Helias’s right, while Valerian claimed the empty chair on his left, bridging the space between his father and Elara.

"Happy birthday, my son," Helias said, offering a dry cough to ground his wife’s antics.

"Yeah, happy birthday, Val!" Elara chimed in merrily.

Soon, the servants filtered in, bearing large trays of breakfast. Within moments, the table was filled with delicious food, ranging from perfectly roasted meats and seasoned, steamed vegetables to simple, flawless fried eggs. Everyone began filling their plates with their favorites, initiating a light, casual conversation.

"Valerian," Helias spoke up between bites, "do you plan on attending the academy? The entrance exams begin in two months."

At the mention of the school, the extensive lectures Valerian had received from his private tutors flashed across his mind.

The Starlight Academy was a legendary institution located completely outside the jurisdiction of any kingdom or empire. It rested upon its own sovereign territory, maintaining absolute neutrality. It never participated in international conflicts, nor did it ever take political sides. With the immense wealth and military power the academy possessed, it could easily form its own powerhouse nation, yet throughout its thousands of years of existence, it had never done so.

The primary reason no country had ever managed to conquer or politically pressure the academy was its Principal. He was an absolute monster, a being sitting at the very peak of the Demigod Rank. While there were several other Demigod-ranked individuals scattered across the planet who might collectively think to pressure the school, doing so would only leave their nations in absolute ruin. The Principal was a high elf, meaning he possessed a naturally immense lifespan, and throughout his centuries of life, he had mastered magic on a level that no ordinary mortal could ever hope to comprehend.

Much like Valerian’s adoptive father, the Principal held the rare world-modifier [Loved by Mana]. Paired with his longevity and peak Demigod strength, he ensured that no empire dared to cross the academy’s boundaries.

Bringing his thoughts back to reality, Valerian wasn’t entirely convinced he needed to go. He was the [Child of Mana], after all. Even if the Principal was loved by the world and insanely powerful, there was practically nothing the academy’s curriculum could teach him that he couldn’t simply figure out on his own.

"I don’t think I want to go," Valerian answered honestly, leaning back. "I mean, what can they even teach me there? Besides, I’m already an S-rank. It wouldn’t exactly be fair to the other students."

Hearing his reasoning, Helias let out a tired, heavy sigh. He couldn’t help but notice his wife sporting a wildly proud expression at the mention of their son’s S-rank status. To be fair, Helias was incredibly proud too, but now was not the time to stroke the boy’s ego.

"I understand your perspective," Helias said gently, folding his hands. "But perhaps you shouldn’t view the academy solely as a place to acquire raw power."

Confused by his father’s statement, Valerian tilted his head. "What do you mean by that?"

"Relationships," Helias answered simply. "That is what I mean. Valerian, you have been holed up inside this castle since the day I brought you here. You haven’t made a single friend your own age. What I want is for you to go to the academy and build a network. Who knows? You might even meet someone you grow to like as more than just a friend."

’Friends, huh...’

Leaning back in his chair, Valerian’s gaze dropped to his plate. He began idly spinning his fork through his food, lost in thought. ’I won’t lie... it has been a little lonely.’ ’Maybe... the academy isn’t such a bad idea after all.’

While Valerian remained trapped in his own head, Helias and Freya shared a long, meaningful look across the table, holding an entire silent conversation through their eyes alone.

’Do you really think this is a good idea, honey?’ Freya’s gaze questioned anxiously. ’Don’t worry, he isn’t that fragile little boy we found in the crater anymore,’

Helias’s eyes reassured her. ’The academy is the safest, most neutral ground for him to form genuine bonds.’ ’It’s just... what if the other nobles refuse to accept him because he isn’t our biological blood?’

’As if a few arrogant noble brats from foreign kingdoms could ever hold our son down.’

’Maybe... I’m just a little scared to let him go.’

Helias reached across the table, taking Freya’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. ’It will be fine. Trust him.’

Freya let out a soft, silent sigh, shifting her fingers so they interlocked securely with her husband’s.

"Okay, I’ll do it," Valerian suddenly announced, breaking the silence.

"I will go to the academy. But under one condition: I won’t hide anything about myself. I won’t hide my rank just to make the foreign nobles feel superior, and I won’t hide the fact that I am your adopted son. That’s my condition."

Helias’s face instantly lit up with a brilliant grin.

"Of course! I wouldn’t want you to hide a damn thing. Go out there and show those noble brats who’s boss."

Elara, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the entire mature exchange, finally spoke up, her lower lip trembling. "You’re... you’re really leaving, Val? But what about me? Won’t I be completely lonely without you?"

Seeing his little sister on the verge of tears, Valerian quickly reached over and gently took her hand.

"I won’t be leaving right away, Elara. The academy semester doesn’t start for another two months. And I promise you, I will spend every single day of these next two months playing with you. How does that sound?"

"Okay!" she cheered, her tears instantly vanishing.

Watching the sweet sibling exchange brought a warm, synchronized smile to Helias and Freya’s faces.

"Oh, right! Before I forget," Helias exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "Your mother and I have a proper birthday present for you!"

Valerian watched as his father channeled a localized thread of mana into one of his heavy rings. His Space Affinity hummed in immediate recognition of the spatial frequency. Helias was accessing his high grade Spatial Ring, a revolutionary invention crafted by master artificers with a Space affinity.

Those spatial rings had actually served as the original inspiration for Valerian’s own pocket dimension. If he had to estimate, his personal pocket space was currently about one and a half times larger than the rings his father wore, which was utterly insane considering Helias, as the king, possessed the most expensive, top tier spatial artifacts in existence. Each of the king’s rings could hold roughly 81,000 cubic meters of matter, the equivalent of a football field with a ceiling height of twenty meters. And Valerian’s innate pocket dimension just kept expanding effortlessly alongside his rank and mastery over Space.

With a flash of light, a breathtaking weapon materialized from the ring. It was a beautiful, sleek black longsword adorned with intricate purple markings that perfectly mirrored the exact hue of Valerian’s slitted eyes. Small, elegant silver ornaments lined the guard.

"This sword was forged by the finest blacksmiths on the planet," Helias explained proudly, placing the weapon on the table. "I personally commissioned the most prestigious dwarven blacksmiths in existence. It features the absolute highest mana conductivity known to man, and it even possesses the ability to alter its shape. However, it will only respond to your specific mana. You simply need to channel your energy into it once, and your mana signature will be permanently bound to the blade."

Valerian was left completely at a loss for words. The sword was absolutely gorgeous, perfectly catering to his distinct love for the color black and matching his eyes.

"I... I don’t even know what to say," Valerian murmured, his voice thick with genuine emotion. "Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Dad. Truly."

Hearing his earnest gratitude, Freya pushed her chair back, walking around the long table to wrap him in another warm, gentle hug. "Just think of it as a make-up gift, sweetie."

"A make-up gift?" Valerian repeated, a brow raising in suspicion. "What do you mean ’make-up gift’? You guys didn’t do anything wrong."

Getting a sudden, terrible gut feeling, Valerian quickly turned to look at his father. But Helias instantly averted his gaze, suddenly finding the wooden texture of the dining table profoundly fascinating.

"Mom... what exactly are you making up for?"

"Haah... I’m so sorry to tell you this, my boy," Freya sighed, her expression turning uncharacteristically solemn. "But something is going to happen soon that you are absolutely going to hate."

"Now you’re really scaring me," Valerian muttered, his purple eyes narrowing.

Locking her crimson eyes onto his slitted ones with a heavy, deadpan gaze, Freya delivered the news. "You, my son, are going to have to... attend a formal noble social event."

The moment the words left her mouth, Freya braced herself, fully expecting her son to wail, gasp, or cry out in absolute horror. But when she blinked her eyes open, she was met with nothing but a blank, thoroughly confused expression.

"Why... why aren’t you reacting?" she asked, bewildered.

"How did you expect me to react?" Valerian asked, blinking. "I mean, I don’t really want to go, sure, but it’s not like a simple party is going to kill me."

A completely dead, defeated expression blanked Freya’s face, while a stifled, pathetic snort echoed from her right. She slowly turned her head, spotting her husband desperately trying, and miserably failing, to choke back his explosive laughter.

With a bright red face and a massive pout, Freya immediately began lightly hammering her fists against Helias’s armored shoulder.

Sighing at his parents’ usual childish antics, Valerian focused back on the core issue. "What kind of noble event is this anyway? Why is it so incredibly important that I absolutely have to attend?"

At his question, the light hammering stopped. Freya turned back to her adopted son, a serious glint returning to her crimson eyes.

"It’s the fifteenth birthday gala of the Elven Empire’s princess."