The Bones of the Ancient God

"Aahhh ... it hurts."

A middle-aged man grimaced in pain. He held his hand, which was swollen as if it had been stung by a venomous snake.

"Uncle, what happened to your hand, Uncle?" asked a teenager who was around thirteen years old. He stared at the man in front of him and looked confused, because the man had suddenly grimaced in pain.

"It's nothing, Uncle's hand is fine." The man lied as he hid his hand behind his back. A few moments earlier, he had shaken the teenager's hand, but when they touched, his hand suddenly felt crushed as if it had been struck by a hammer.

The teenager's name was Kaelan, he was the prince of the Kingdom of Aetherion. A kingdom that was respected by the world in this modern era.

"Are you sure Uncle's hand is fine?" Kaelan asked with an innocent face.

He had forgotten, he was very different from children his age, even among adults there was no one who could touch him except his Father and Mother.

His body possessed tremendous strength, he had once tried to strike a gong with his bare hand, the gong made of copper metal was immediately shattered into pieces with just one punch.

Kaelan had possessed that strength since birth. He was not only born with tremendous physical strength, but also a very genius mind. However, that power was not a blessing for him, instead it had become a calamity.

"Young Master, it seems that this lesson will have to be postponed for now. Uncle forgot that there was something important that had not been done," said the man who was commonly called Master Aldric, the Grand Master at the Royal Palace.

"Yes, Uncle. It's okay, it can be done another time," Kaelan replied calmly. However, not his heart. "Damn, what is wrong with my body? Because of my strange body, I have to study outside the kingdom. Even now, I cannot even hold a pen!" he grumbled, because every time he held a pen, it immediately shattered into tiny fragments.

From the window of the upper floor of the Palace, two people stood watching Kaelan, who was looking down sadly in the courtyard. They were King Alaric and Queen Seraphina, Kaelan's parents.

"Husband, it seems our child’s condition is getting worse," said Queen Seraphina, a beautiful woman dressed in silk with golden patterns and a crown decorated with diamonds. Queen Seraphina was deeply saddened, her only son, who would be crowned the Crown Prince, was getting worse.

King Alaric nodded, his face also looked worried. "The power continues to consume our child's body. I have tried discussing it with the Palace physicians, they all agreed, Kaelan possesses the body of an Ancient God. Unfortunately, I have not yet found a way to train that body perfectly. So the power of the Ancient God Body is rebelling, and we can see the effects ourselves."

"Husband, is there no way to overcome it?" Queen Seraphina asked anxiously, she knew that her husband had recently continued staying in the library, opening every book left behind by the ancestors of the Kingdom of Aetherion.

"There is, I found records from the ancestors' books about the Ancient God Body problem. But it is risky."

"What is the risk, Husband?" Queen Seraphina asked, who had been staring at Kaelan worriedly.

KRAK

"Damn, why can't this work either?" Kaelan held a fairly large tree branch, but as expected, the branch immediately broke as well.

"I don't have any friends from childhood, and now this condition is getting worse! Does the universe hate me? What sin did I commit, for the universe to isolate me like this? I HATE ITTT!!"

Kaelan shouted angrily at the sky, as if he was protesting against his fate. He had a very intelligent mind. Various lessons that were considered difficult by others, but for him … everything was very easy. With the intelligence he possessed, he should have become someone admired by many people. Not lived in solitude, staying away from people.

Many people had thought that Kaelan was an arrogant prince who did not want to associate with other children, but all of that was wrong. Kaelan also wanted to freely associate with the other children in the palace, he also wanted to study like the others. But because of the mark on the nape of his neck, a power that could not be controlled, Kaelan chose to stay away.

The Queen, who had been watching Kaelan all this time, suddenly turned her gaze away, looking at King Alaric with a pleading expression. "Husband, what is the risk?" She was still curious about the words her husband had not continued.

"The risk is that our son's memories will also be sealed. Although temporarily, can you bear it?" King Alaric deeply understood his wife's feelings. Perhaps for him, his child temporarily losing his memory was not a big matter, but for his wife it was different. A mother's feelings were much stronger than a father's feelings.

"Young Master…"

While Kaelan was still lost in thought with a gloomy face, suddenly a woman's voice was heard. The woman was named Evelyn. She was around 35 years old, she was the one who had taken care of Kaelan since he was a baby.

"Evelyn, what is it?" Kaelan asked without turning around.

"Young Master, why are you so gloomy? Did something like this happen again?" Evelyn asked.

"Worse, now it is much worse!"

Evelyn already understood Kaelan's strange body, after all she had taken care of Kaelan since birth.

"Instead of being sad, how about we go to the market, take a walk and look for some delicious snacks. Didn't Young Master like that fruit that looks like candy on a stick?"

"You mean tanghulu?"

"That's right. Evelyn heard that there is a snack festival at the market now. Let's go, Young Master. Maybe the atmosphere there can improve Young Master's mood."

"Okay, let's go. I'm also a little bored staying in the palace all the time."

They hurried to the market. After only a few minutes, Kaelan and Evelyn finally arrived. Their eyes were amazed to see colorful lanterns swaying in the wind. The aroma of food filled the air, making Kaelan's eyes sparkle as he looked around, confused about what food he should buy.

"Young Master, there's the tanghulu." Evelyn pointed at one of the vendors. Kaelan followed Evelyn's finger, seeing several people standing in line.

"It's very crowded there, Evelyn. How about we go there instead. Over there!" Kaelan shouted, then ran away from Evelyn.

"Young Master. Wait!"

"Hurry, Evelyn, or someone will get ahead of us." Because the market was very crowded, Kaelan did not like waiting too long for his favorite food to be served.

Evelyn, who had a small body, tried to walk through the many market visitors, even though she was being squeezed between them.

"Where is Young Master?" Evelyn began looking around for Kaelan. But the woman could not see the prince at all.

Evelyn began running around with a worried face. "Young Master, where are you? What should I do?" Evelyn immediately took out the talisman given by King Alaric so she could sense Kaelan's whereabouts whenever Kaelan was out of her sight.

She held the talisman while closing her eyes, but the market atmosphere was very crowded. That made it difficult for her to concentrate enough to sense Kaelan's whereabouts.

While Evelyn was still trying to concentrate, Kaelan continued running. However, he ran too enthusiastically and searched for empty spaces so he would not bump into other people. The emptier the path, the faster he ran.

When he realized it, and stopped running. Kaelan was confused, because he was now in a narrow alley where there was no one at all.

"It seems a prey has come."

"Hahaha, judging from his clothes, he doesn't look poor. He must have a lot of money."

"We are really lucky, while the market is being tightly guarded because of the festival, a brat came alone into our lair."

Kaelan turned his body, he saw five men around 30 years old appear. Their hair was messy, their clothes were shabby and their faces were dark. In addition, their arms and even their necks were covered in tattoos. From their appearance, it was already obvious that the five men were thugs.

"Brat, hand over whatever you have! Otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?" Kaelan interrupted.

"Hahaha, otherwise, you can forget about leaving this place."

Kaelan stood with a gloomy face. "You'd better stay away from me, I'm not in a good mood. I'm afraid something might happen to you."

The five men looked at each other, then they burst into loud laughter. "Hahaha! Brat, why am I the one drinking but you're the one who's drunk?"

"Stop talking nonsense, because this little bastard refuses to obey, we'd better just restrain him!"

One of them walked casually, a lit cigarette still stuck to his lips, and he slowly inhaled it.

"Brat, there is a smooth path by handing over all your wealth, yet you choose the path leading to destruction!"

The man extended his hand, intending to grab Kaelan's collar. However, before his hand reached him, Kaelan had already grabbed his wrist first.

KRAAKK!!!

"Aahhh, my hand!"

"Gio, what's wrong with you? Don't be so dramatic by pretending to be in pain just because a child is holding you!" asked his four friends who were still standing behind him.

"I already told you I'm not in a good mood. But you refused to listen!"

Kaelan threw the man away as if throwing away trash.

BAANG!!!

The man was thrown into his four friends. They did not have time to dodge because they were stunned to see a tiny hand able to throw an adult man as if he weighed nothing at all.

"Impossible, this can't be!"

The largest man got up, because earlier he had fallen from colliding with his friend. The man pulled a dagger from his waist and played with the dagger's handle until the dagger spun around like a windmill.

"Brat, I don't know what magic you are using. But now it is time for you to die!"

Kaelan merely snorted when the person in front of him came while playing with the dagger.

When the dagger was directed to stab his heart, Kaelan clenched his fist and struck the dagger directly.

BAANG!!!

KRAAKK!!!

The dagger in the man's hand immediately shattered into metal fragments. He was still standing there, because Kaelan had only broken his dagger without continuing his punch.

However, seeing his dagger destroyed by a bare-handed punch, the man stood frozen. He was extremely frightened, even so frightened that from his crotch, cloudy liquid with a foul stench began to drip. The man wet his pants.

"Young Master."

When the atmosphere was very tense, Kaelan heard Evelyn's voice.

"You should be grateful because my servant has arrived. If not, people like you would be better off dead than alive and causing trouble!"

Kaelan walked past the five men, those who had fierce faces had turned into timid cats. The five men lowered their heads, and none of them dared to stop Kaelan from leaving the narrow alley.

After reaching the end of the alley, Kael saw Evelyn's silhouette.

"Evelyn, I'm here."

"Young Master, how could Young Master be in…"

However, before Evelyn managed to finish her words, she saw Kaelan's face suddenly turn very pale. He held his chest while enduring the pain.

"Young Master, what happened?"

Although she was very panicked, Evelyn immediately carried Kaelan and took him back to the Royal Palace. Upon arriving at the Palace, Evelyn immediately brought Kaelan to King Alaric's room.

"Your Majesty, please. Quickly save Young Master!" Evelyn shouted anxiously.

King Alaric and his wife immediately rushed over. When their two pairs of eyes fell upon Kaelan, they immediately became helpless.

"Husband, quickly save our son! If he survives, I don't mind Kaelan having to temporarily lose his memory."

King Alaric nodded. "I understand. I will begin sealing the Ancient God Body. That violent power will be sealed together with his memories." King Alaric looked at Kaelan sadly. "Kaelan, forgive Father, from now on you can play, the power within your body will be sealed for ten years. Father hopes that within that period, Father will have found a solution without having to make you lose your memory again!"

Kaelan began to be sealed, what was sealed was not only the power of the Ancient God Body, but his memories were also sealed.

"Evelyn, I entrust him to you. Take him to your village. Let him live without the luxury of the palace anymore. You do not need to worry, now he is normal. His power has been sealed by me so it will not harm anyone."