The Medallion novel Chapter 8

'This guy seems to be looking at me weirdly. What have I ever done to him? Did I take his woman or something?' Rocky thought to himself as he returned the man's stare.

"We have gathered here today to celebrate our thirty new-born royal spirit manipulators, who will ride dragons in the service of our country!" The emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire declared with great passion. He took a grand step forward and looked at the crowd.

Cheers and applause erupted in the Grand Dragon Hall.

"I declare the beginning of the ritual! Salute to the Holy Dragon Bead!" Priest Dean announced, standing next to the Emperor.

Everyone knelt on one leg and bowed down to a tarnished bead on a pedestal in the shape of a dragon talon.

It was a holy item of the Holy Dragon Empire with a history that stretched back hundreds of years. This Holy Dragon Bead had once been a Dragon Spirit Bead. Legend had it that when this Bead was borne by the Dragon Master Clan, the earth shook and transformed. It shone brightly and contained so much power of spiritual race within. The Elder of the Dragon Master Clan prophesized that whoever fused with this Dragon Spirit Bead would be the King of Spiritual Manipulators.

That very year, that Dragon Spirit Bead had been brought to the Holy Dragon Empire for the humans to attempt to fuse with it. Yet it was too strong and too powerful for the human body, and no one was successful. Years went by, and no one succeeded. Finally, the Holy Dragon Empire gave up and ordained this Dragon Spirit Bead as the holy item of the Empire. They changed its name to Holy Dragon Bead and enshrined it in the Grand Dragon Hall for eternity.

Rocky knelt down like everyone else. 'Do as the Romans do, ' he figured.

"Please welcome the Witch to open the door for the arrival of the messenger of the Dragon Master Clan!" Priest Dean announced next.

There came another round of warm applause.

Lena emerged and curtly nodded at everyone. She then turned and went up the stairs, all the way to the step right below the topmost one. She held up her arms and faced the round platform on the top floor. Holy light shone like sun out of her body and bathed the entire hall with a golden color. Everyone immersed in the light felt peaceful and comfortable.

Rocky stared at Lena without blinking. A look of surprise flashed through his eyes. Although he had seen her power before, he was still shocked to witness it so close.

A ball of golden light appeared in Lena's hand and slowly floated up into the sky. Suddenly, a beam light fell like rain directly onto the round platform on the top floor. Instantly, a human silhouette surrounded with thirty twirling multicolored oval light beams appeared on the platform. The light beam quickly faded and was soon gone without a trace.

"I welcome you, messenger of the Dragon Master Clan," Lena saluted, addressing the human silhouette.

The emperor of the Holy Dragon Empire, Priest Dean, and everyone else bowed to the messenger to show respect, all except for Rocky as he had no clue what was happening.

The messenger of the Dragon Master Clan slightly nodded at the formality. He then spoke to Lena in an indistinguishable voice and stepped off the platform.

"The messenger said that he had brought thirty Dragon Spirit Beads here so our ceremony may begin right away," Lena translated the message to the emperor.

The emperor nodded and then stepped aside.

Priest Dean spoke to the thirty young boys on both sides. "Our empire is proud of you all. Don't let us down! You shall succeed!"

"Yes, Sir!" They answered dutifully, with high spirits. They couldn't wait to establish their own legacy.

The first boy stepped onto the platform and stood next to Lena. She guided him, instructing him to put his hand on one of the Dragon Spirit Beads. The messenger of the Dragon Master Clan began to chant a spell and soon, the Dragon Spirit Bead began to glisten as if something was about to burst out of it.

Suddenly, it broke like an egg hatching and turned into colorful light stripes which snaked up the arm of the boy and finally became a mark. On his skin, its lines looked like a delicate embossment. It was the same symbol as Shirley's.

"This boy has the spiritual power of the second grade of Mortal Stage after acquiring the dragon spiritual power!" many exclaimed.

The royal spirit manipulators' biggest advantage was that they had the chance to fuse with Dragon Spirit Bead, which would grant them some spiritual power and put them in a leading position compared to other ordinary spirit manipulators who had to start from scratch.