Chapter 2: Fate
On that fateful day, Cain was told to pack his bags. He was confused, but was also excited thinking he was going on a trip. It would just be him and his mother, which was disappointing but grandpa assured him that he would be just fine.
Someone still needed to tend to their personal garden and help out Nula when it needed the help.
Cain waved eagerly at his grandpa, saying he will bring back a present and all sorts of candies. Although the little boy couldn't see due to the distance between grandpa and the flying ship they were departing on, the old man was crying.
Little did the child know that he wouldn't see his grandfather for a long time, or maybe never again...
His mother was quiet during the trip, making him concerned and bored, but he was careful about asking too many questions. He knew his mother's temperament and knew she would get angry if he started bothering her too much when she was like this.
The trip was long and boring, making the hyperactive child frustrated. To make it worse, his mother couldn't entertain him since she would be gone for several hours each day to talk to other people on the ship.
Cain wasn't sure what his mother was doing, but he was more concerned with finding something to do. While he tried to play with whatever he could get his hands on, his mother was currently on the bridge with other important people.
"Estimated time of arrival Captain Clark?" Cain's mother asked a man dressed in a navy uniform of all white.
"High Priestess Vala," He bowed politely before raising himself, "We are about a week away from the capital of the Carven Empire, Carvfall."
Cain's mother, Vala, nodded and turned to others.
"Then we can continue on course at this speed. If there is nothing else I will be in my quarters with my son. Please do not bother me unless it is an emergency."
She began getting up as this was the same conclusion to their meetings every day. Everyone else also started getting up to leave and go rest or go back to their duties.
"Um..." a very quiet mumble almost went unnoticed if it wasn't for Vala being right next to the woman who spoke.
She paused her footsteps, making everyone else pause since she had the highest authority in the room.
"Yes, Margret?" Vala asked with a smile.
The quiet girl felt apprehensive now that the woman she admired was looking down on her like a predator after prey. She knew she was taking away precious time from the High Priestess's son, but she felt it was important for the High Priestess's mental health.
"A-Are you sure you are alright with this H-High Priestess?"
Her words were soft and full of concern but her voice was shaky. Many people who were still there and heard, held their breaths in fear and wonder. The young woman with glasses and slightly messy shoulder-length black hair spoke the thoughts of everyone there, they just weren't brave enough to say it.
They all knew how much of a burden this would be on their High Priestess, considering she was basically abandoning her child for the unseeable future. It had the potential to ruin their mother-son relationship but it only made them more proud to serve such a righteous woman.
One who was willing to sacrifice her livelihood if it meant providing others with a new chance at life.
Vala sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. She was fighting not to explode because, in reality, she was ready to kill anyone here who might take away anymore of her time with her son. Cain really should have come on his own, but she was being selfish by accompanying him.
She smiled at Margret, making the girl turn pale and others in the room shutter.
"I'm fine. Thank you for asking. As a mother, it hurts, but as a High Priestess of the Lailan Council, I know that this is the best and probably only chance we have at saving hundreds of thousands of species."
There was a bit of awkward silence as Margret nodded before asking one last thing.
"I-Is this something L-Lord Cain is willing to do?" She hesitated again but got a much softer response from Vala.
*sigh* "My son has always been helping people when he can, from working on the farms a little to helping the neighborhood kids clean out a scrape. My father, *sigh* explained to him what he would be doing as a 'Breeder'.
"Although I'm sure my little boy isn't aware of what he is actually getting into, I know full well as his mother, that he wouldn't hesitate to help those in need. He is too kind for this world and while I'm not sure this is what he wants to do with his life, as his mother, I will be there for him as much as I can."
Everyone in the room sighed or smiled, knowing that their High Priestess was in a much better mood after talking about her son a bit. She was an amazing mother in their eyes and could only imagine how hard this mission was for her.
Vala then patted Margaret's shoulder, thanking her for asking about her feelings, before she excused herself to spend time with her son. Margaret blushed a bit and some of the other priests and priestesses of the council she and Vala were a part of, gathered to her to commend her on her bravery.
The Lailan Council was a body of diverse species gathered together to dedicate their lives to preserving life and peace around the world. They were not connected to one kingdom or another, and Vala and these people just happened to live in the Carven Kingdom.
There were dozens of other branches spread all throughout every beastman and human kingdom, with a handful of High Priests and Priestesses running each. Vala was one such person, a high-ranking official who managed the Carven territory.
Her job was basically to ensure the equality of life and provide assistance when needed. When she was younger, it was usually just her offering counseling to troubled people but when she became a High Priestess, she found out just how troubled this world was.
The concentration of mana dropped all around the world as highly dangerous monsters who roamed the skies, land, and seas all became increasingly aggressive to people. To top it all off, she had her hands tied a bit, as the Carven Kingdom was currently at war with the Sorvent Kingdom, another human kingdom that recently faced a coop after the regional High Priests and Priestesses of that area were murdered.
It was still an ongoing investigation but Sorvent apparently thought that it was Carven's fault. It only made Vala and the other members of the Council more frustrated since Vala, the head High Priestess didn't even live in the capital.
She lived in the remote parts of the region after she gave birth to her special child. She could tell instantly that her child would be someone who could change the world and it pained her that she would one day have to part with him.
She used birth complications as her excuse to avoid moving back to the capital where the leaders there would surely separate her from her son as an infant. The many things that went on in the world led to the severe drop in kinsmen of hundreds of thousands of different beastmen races.
While humans had a relatively high birthrate, beastmen did not. It was much harder to birth a pureblood beastman and each one lost through war, disease, starvation, and other complications was another huge hit to their species.
Several Clans had already been lost for good, which was a great loss for most kingdoms and the Council especially who lost important members. Each species had at least one representative with a high ranking like Vala, while a smaller group made of the most populous species in the world were overseeing everything High Priests and Priestesses were doing.
They also had the final say on more important matters, one of them being Cain and his special abilities. As a mother, her first instinct was to flee with her family, hoping to be able to live out her life with her son in peace.
However, she was a rational woman. The state of the world was bigger than just her and her son. While no mother wanted to think this way, the High Priestess in her slowly affected her thinking. She would do whatever she could to stay with her son, even if it meant being in the hellhole that was the capital.
While Vala spend all of her free time with her son, the other members of the crew and council talked about the mission, some commenting on how wonderful of a mother their High Priestess was or how great of a Priestess Vala was.
Many also joked about how rude and crass General Alderman, Vala's father, was to tell his own grandson about the birds and the bees when he was only 5.
Cain's grandpa was also a special person to the empire, but he had long since retired to raise a family so he was just grandpa through and through now.
Time quickly passed as the destination of the Skyship reached the capital of Carven, Carvfall.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone