The first two years of my life went by slowly since there wasn't much that I could with my body at its current state. But it was in this two years that I managed to gain a lot of knowledge of the world that I was reborn. I came to know that magic existed in this world at it was regarded as the most important thing in this world and those that didn't poses magical abilities didn't have much rights in the society of this world. But there was a way to compensate the lake of magical abilities through skills in weaponry such as in swordsmanship, archery and skills in the use of other weapons and also in divination which was an ability which was like magic but not magic since it didn't require one to absorb magic particles from the air but it is derived from within the body of the caster. I mostly learned it in much more depth once I was able to move around the house which was located at the more quite part of the capital where there were several residential households. It was during my several hours of crawling around the house that I came across my fathers and mothers study rooms. In my mother's study, the books that were there were mostly about magic and how to effectively use it, books on divination and holy magic and books on research conducted on magic spells. While in my father's study, the books that were there were mainly about combat magic, martial arts, swordsmanship and many other books related to combat. It was in my father's study that I learnt more about him. My father was known as Julian Leonhard, he was the head of one of the most powerful families in the empire. The continent where we lived had two empires, the Eastern and Western empire. The kingdom where we lived was in the Eastern Empire where there were several kingdoms in it. The empire was ruled by the supreme dragon emperor who was named as the strongest in the whole continent. The family my father lead was the Leonhard family which was said to be more powerful than any of the royal families in the empire since the family was part of the emperor's imperial noble council which consisted of nine families. The surname that my sisters and I bared was that of our father's family, the Leonhard. The family had the symbol of the lion on the family crest, it is one of the ancient families that have existed for centuries have been in existence after the downfall of the ancient divine civilization. The family is reputable for its talented members in swordsmanship, magi, martial arts and the arts such as music and painting and as scholars but the family had something that very many other noble families didn't have, a unique power that was on a different level than magic or divination. This power was different in the sense that in was a single ability unlike magic where one can have affinity of more than one element or ability. And those that had this power were known as the enlightened or awakened. This power was so great that those that had it were praised by people like supreme beings in the past but only a small population of people had this unique power especial some of the old or ancient families, and it was this that caused the number of people who had this power to reduce in number because of the church who claimed that the power was demonic. When the people questioned the archbishop of that time why he said that, he asked the people how it that only a small number of people had this power is. This was the beginning of the persecution of the enlightened. The church killed so many enlightened claiming they were possessed and that they were the cause of disasters in the world. The killing happened through out the world causing the enlightened to stop using their powers publicly and other going into hiding, it seemed had seemed as though they vanished from existence and this is the exact thing the church wanted. Years later a war broke out and the kingdom and its allies were losing the war. The church which was serving at the front-line of the war suffered a great loss losing so many of its members. And so the king of that time the father of the current king called the major enlightened families that lived in the kingdom and begged them for help. The heads of the families at that time rejected him saying why should they help the kingdom that lead to the death of so many of there kind. The king went down in his knees and even removed his crown and continued begging for their help. The leaders still rejected still holding on to the pain of losing so many of their kind. It was then that just before they left the kings presence that the archbishop of that time went down on his knees and bowed his head asking for their assistance. Those that were their tried to stop him saying he was committing a sin by bowing before men but he told them that all that is happening is due to the sin they committed many years ago by persecuting innocent people who did nothing wrong. The clan heads were hesitant and so the archbishop chopped of his whole left arm as a way to show the sincerity of his words. The leaders seeing this said they will help but only once. The clan heads rounded up the rest of the other awakened families and organizations. There were those that followed them and others refused saying they will not help the people that lead to the death of their kind. With the awakened now in the war, the kingdom had hope of winning the war. The war lasted for twelve whole years before it ended. But the end was not what hopped it would be. During the last months of the war my father went up against one of the world class warlords who supported the Astnide kingdom which the kingdom was at war with. It was a fierce battle that lead to the defeat of the warlord but the death of my father who was terribly injured during the fight. The church who was in charge of helping in aiding the wounded didn't help him, when asked why they said that they were far away from where they battled since he told them to stay far from them so they won't be swept by the fight. The major awakener families were infuriated with this and said they declared that they would destroy the kingdom. The emperors wife the empress was the most infuriated and was about to kill the king due to my father's death but was stopped by the emperor. The emperor knew how much my father meant to her, the two were like siblings who were willing to die for the other. The emperor gave the king one week to atone for their sin. On the five day the king and the archbishop both stepped down from power as a way to atone for what happened. Other members of the church especially those that were with father left the church and promised to never use their powers ever again. This was how both the church and the royal family did in order to atone for what happened two years ago. The now former king lives in the Xihe kingdom while the archbishop lives at the Tiberius kingdom. With head of the family now dead the title of patriarch was fought over by my father's siblings especially those that were not related to him by his mother. My father's younger brother, Raul Leonhard, the second child given birth by my grandmother stepped up and took the title of patriarch. He was supported by his direct siblings, mother and even his father. This caused most of my uncles and aunts who were not directly related to my father to be infuriated but there was nothing they could do since my grandfather supported him. This lead to me questioning why my mother didn't receive any support from the royal family or from the main household of the family. It was then that I started to resent the main household and even the family as a whole since they left me, my siblings and our mother without any form of assistance. But the day I turned two years old, all that changed when both my uncles came to visit us.
On that day my mother was in her study while me and my sister, were busy doing our own things when a knock was heard coming from the front door. When the servant went to check who it was she announced that the patriarch and his younger brother came.
Our mother left her study to go and welcome them.
"Hello Lily, how have you been?" my uncle Hugo Leonhard, who is the youngest child that my grandmother gave birth to, asked her.
"I have been doing well, and what of you?" she asks him.
"Never better!" he says with a smile on his face.
"I was surprised to hear that you two came especially after my son has turned two years old." Lily say to Hugo.
"And that we are sorry, we should have been here to celebrate the birthday of your son." Hugo says in an apologetic way, bowing his slightly.
"There is no need to apologies, I know how busy you are trying to manage the family and its businesses." Lily says while placing her palm on her chest and bowing slightly.
My uncle Raul who was quit all this time walked past them and went straight up to me.
"You have grown into such a strong and healthy child my nephew." He says while on one knee.
"I just wish that my brother was here to see you." He says while showing a bit of guilt and sorrow in his speech.
Both my mother and Uncle Hugo turned to look at the patriarch.
"What happened happened Raul, there is no need to keep on blaming yourself for something that wasn't your fault." Hugo says as he walks up to him and tries to comfort him.
"You are right." Raul says and calms down.
"Lily I would like we talk for a bit." He says looking at Gray.
"Very well. Sarah could you go with the kids?" she says and asks the servant.
"Yes my lady." She says and asks the two girls to go with her up to their room.
Just as was about to pick up Gary…
"Gray can remain here there is no need to go with him." Raul says to Sarah.
"Yes your lordship." She says and leaves the room with the two girls.
"Let's all seat down now" Raul says and the three sit down on opposite chairs, Raul and Hugo on one side and lily on the other.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" Lily asks looking at the two guests.
"No need to give us since we are only here for a short period of time.
"Okay, very well." She says halfheartedly.
"We only came here to tell you that the family will be holding the trials and we would like Gray to be part of it." Hugo says in much more serious voice.