SON OF THE HERO KING

The air shimmered and the space warped as Sol seemed to slowly walk out of a rippling portal.

“You are really going all out. What if I decided to not become someone strong and just relied on you?”

Tiamat simply shrugged, “Then I would happily take care of you. I have hundreds of grandsons and great-grandsons. For me, taking care of one more wouldn’t matter.”

Sol looked deeply at Tiamat. He wasn’t the best at reading emotions and he doubted he could crack the facade of a ten thousand years old being.

His instincts were telling him to believe in her, that she was honest.

“Well, forget about this. What I am really curious about is your Dimension. It’s more powerful than I thought.”

Standing up, Tiamat appeared next to him and began to walk in circles around him, observing him closely.

Earlier, she had opened the dimensional wall in this room to allow Sol to access his dimension. She initially thought that it was just a minor dimension, but it was clear that she had been wrong.

“What did it look like on the other side? Did it look like the mortal realm or this place?”

“This place.”

“Ohoh…”

‘The mirror dimension, was it?’

It seemed that his dimension was a reflection of whatever place he was in.

‘Then, does he have the ability to create a reflection of whatever pace he is in or…does he only have access to a small part of his dimension depending on the place he is in?’

This was a very important question. If it turned out to be the former, it would be a powerful ability — a very powerful one.

But the latter?

It would be downright scary.

It would mean that Sol’s dimension was essentially the reflection of the whole universe. Even if he could only access a limited part initially, the more he grew the larger that part would be.

Once he became a demi-god, he could easily become the strongest ever.

‘No…why stop at simply being a demigod?’

She understood that the goddesses had always wished to create a true god. They had tried with the divine beasts, but it was impossible.

Becoming a god meant embracing a concept and fusing with it. In essence, there could be only one god for whatever concept.

Then what about divine beasts?

From the get to go, they were born with a fixed concept. Tiamat, as the Beast of Pride, already had the concept of Pride and her only path to godhood was to become the Goddess of Pride, which was impossible as long as Superbia was alive.

The problem lies here though — gods could not die.

‘What a shame.’

[Tiamat!]

Ignoring the cry of outrage in her head, Tiamat focused on Sol again.

“Sol, do you know what you are now?”

“What?”

“A rough jewel.”

“...”

“No. Simply calling you a rough jewel is an insult to your talent. You are like an entire mine full of the most precious metal in the world. But—That’s all you are.”

Tiamat said as she looked straight into his eyes.

“Thankfully, from the way you walk and the flow of your energy, I can tell you have encountered skilled people who were able to excavate some of your talents. Sadly this isn’t enough. Not enough at all. You should be much more powerful than you are now if you could use your talents to their fullest.”

The look in her eyes grew harder, “Sol, I can accept many things. But what I hate the most are people who take back their words. If you choose to stand back behind me, I promise to protect you with all my strength. No matter how many rules I have to break or how many enemies I have to face, I will keep you safe. This is my vow to you.

But, if you want to stand on your own. If you want to truly become strong. Then, I will invest my knowledge and resources into shaping you as the strongest there is — even stronger than me.”

“...”

“Then Sol, let me ask you. Do you wish to become strong?”

Sol smiled. In the first place, there had never been another choice. If he only wished to be taken care of, he would have just stayed in the mortal realm.

“I wish to become strong.”

“Even though it will hurt? Even though you might face death multiple times?”

“Yes.”

“I see…” Tiamat closed her eyes. It was hard to tell whether she was sad or happy at his choice. But one thing was clear…

“Then, I will realize your wish.”

When she opened her eyes again, all coldness vanished and was replaced by infinite warmth.

“Go down to the 8th Heaven and rest. For the remainder of your time here, Kiyohime will take care of you and train you back on the basics until I judge that you have reached a satisfactory level. Then, it will be my turn to take care of you. Remember—No quitting.”

For some reason, Sol couldn’t help but shiver at the slight sadistic smile Tiamat was showing.

…

…

…

Now alone in her room, Tiamat walked back to her throne and sat with a pensive expression. In her hand was a beautiful and small pearl that Sol had shown her before leaving.

“So…This is all that is left of my daughter.”

Tiamat showed a bitter smile as she looked at the pearl that was seemingly created from the core and horns of her daughter. Closing her eyes, and gripping the pearl tightly, she could feel a violent but warm flow of energy in the pearl, making her remember the strong-headed violent girl.

Thinking about how much a headache Blaze had been, Tiamat couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

She gave another glance at the pearl and shook her head.

‘No. This isn’t her legacy.’

Her daughter’s legacy was something much more — Her son, Sol.

“The blaze went out and left the Sun.”

‘It was oh so poetic and oh so ironic.’

She had given her last daughter an ordinary name because she had hoped that she would be free from the constraints of Fate. But did she in fact doom her?

She didn’t know and she would most likely never do.

But that did not matter.

She had been helpless in protecting her beloved daughter. Had she been awake during those events she would have entered the mortal world, rules be damned. Sadly she had been in hibernation and only awoke way after everything had settled down.

If it was possible, since he was her last legacy, she would have wanted for nothing more than keeping Sol under her wings and away from all harm.

But it was obviously impossible and the boy was clearly unwilling.

This was why she was going to make him stronger, stronger than anyone so that he never had to fear or bow to anyone in this world.

Closing her eyes, the world around her shimmered as she entered a world filled with stars.

Looking in the direction of Sol’s star, Tiamat focused, and even as blood began to drip from her eyes, she did not stop.

Her perspective shifted and suddenly it was like she was standing in one road that advanced in front of her before branching into two possibilities.

Two became four.

Four became sixteen.

Again and again, until there were more close to a hundred different possibilities branching in front of her.

‘This is going to hurt.’

Her foresight generally only allowed her to observe the most likely future of dragons. The one with the highest probability of happening.

What she was doing now though was different. She was openly observing the different possible paths available.

Even though it was only hundreds out of a nearly infinite amount of possibilities, it was something that should not be possible for someone who wasn’t a god.

Of course, the price for such a thing could never be low. She would be somewhat weakened for a time.

But it didn't matter. She wasn’t lying when she said that she was ready to pay the price necessary.

----

"Welcome back. I hope your discussion with mother was fruitful."

When the elevator opened on the eighth Heaven, the one who welcomed him was none other than Kiyohime.

"Thanks and well... It's hard to describe."

"Haha. She always has that effect on people she meets."

Kiyohime gave a slight smile before walking away,

"Follow me. You will live in my palace for a while."

Leaving the tower, Sol looked at large islands that were floating all around the tower.

"Nine Island."

"Indeed. Each island belongs to one of the Nine Children."

Sol looked at them curiously, and couldn't help but ask.

"Could I visit the one belonging to my mother?"

Kiyohime stopped and looked at one island in particular. Even though it was quite far, the island was by far the largest and was even floating a little higher than the rest.

Looking at it, Sol couldn't help but feel a little awkward. He had already remarked on it, but Tiamat had been favoring Blaze a great deal.

"Don't you have any resentments?"

He blurted out but immediately regretted doing so. He had just met Kiyohime today and they weren't remotely close enough to share such worries.

"I am sorry."

"Haha. I don’t mind. As for your previous question…I was envious of her, from the bottom of my heart."

Her back as she uttered those words seemed awfully lonely.

In the end, Sol never received the answer about visiting his mother's palace.