"Apologies for interrupting you in the middle of your narration." Feeling that An'xhur had skipped quite a few hoops in his story, Valyr decided to ask the man if he could go over every part in detail. "It's just that I feel like you've missed out quite an important detail in your story. Would it be possible for you to go into more detail regarding your birth before the appearance of the other child you mentioned?"
"Ah, my apologies." Though a slight frown appeared on An'xhur's face after Valyr interrupted him, once he had finished listening to the latter's statement, the half-orc went ahead and recounted his narration of his life so far, causing him to realize that he had indeed skipped what seemed to be quite an important detail.
"I didn't want to bore you with details regarding my upbringing, so I decided to skip it," said An'xhur a couple seconds later, to which Valyr responded that there was no need for him to skip over the details, informing him that it would be better if he went into great detail to get a better idea of what he had to do.
With that, An'xhur nodded in response to Valyr's words before retracing his narration to before he had mentioned the other child that would become the cause of the situation he and Valyr were currently in. "Going back a bit, ever since I was born, I was considered a prodigy. I could engage in basic communication by the time I was only two months old, only for it to improve to being able to engage in lengthy conversations by the time I was three months old."
"Due to how I was blessed with great strength and talent, I was also quick in picking up the fighting style of the orcs, as well as the magic of humans, allowing me to wield both of them to a considerable degree by the time I was two years old," An'xhur continued.
"At that point, many people that were close to my parents considered me as someone who would grow up to become a fine prince, if not the potential heir to the throne my father occupied." At these words, An'xhur flashed a couple of images in the sphere that pertained to his youth, giving Valyr more insight to how monstrously talented the half-orc was in his early years.
"Of course, even though my intellect at that time had improved to be able to hold conversations with many people, all I aimed at the time was to make my parents happy. Thus, if they wanted me to grow up as someone who would take over father's place as emperor, then I would do so if it meant seeing the smiles on my parents' faces."
"Then again, an unstable element to achieving that dream appeared by the time I was three years old." Uttering these words, An'xhur adopted a grim expression as a faint hint of rage could be felt from the aura he emanated. "While I was furthering my proficiency in the magic arts, my father came to where I was training, holding a young baby with a smile."
"Curious, I asked him if the baby was my sibling," said An'xhur before letting out a faint sigh soon after. "In response, my father told me that he was my half-sibling. In other words, my mother and his mother were different."
"As I was still a young child, I did not really understand what father meant by him being my half-sibling. If anything, I was just glad at the time that there would be someone else who would accompany me in my goal of being the one to inherit the throne."
"For the first five or so years, him and I were considered inseparable." Saying these words, An'xhur showed Valyr a set of images through the sphere that showed two young orcs, with one being considerably taller than the other. With a hint of disgust briefly flashing through his expression, the half-orc continued.
"He would always accompany me whenever I tried in the fighting style of orcs, or whenever I was learning the magic arts, telling me from time to time that he would grow up to become someone like me someday."
"However, by the time I had reached the age of adolescence, the close relationship we've formed throughout the years gradually began to disappear."
"Out of nowhere, he started to accompany me less and less, first giving me excuses as to why he couldn't come, though he eventually began to just say that he couldn't come with me." Recalling the memories he had mentioned whilst he was in the midst of narrating, An'xhur could not stop himself from letting out a sigh as he bitterly smiled.
"As I considered him my brother-in-arms, it definitely hurt me a lot to see him distance himself from me, especially when I have no idea why he began to do so in the first place."
"Nevertheless, I remained steadfast in achieving the goal I have given myself, improving my foundation of knowledge whilst strengthening my combat and magic prowess as well."
"By the time I was around 16, I had found a way to utilize the magic arts that would make it inherently unique to the orcs."
"By the time I was 23, I had expanded upon the method of utilization I discovered and created an entirely new system of magic even normal orcs could pick up, which caused the entire empire to celebrate the achievement for over a month."
"By the time I was 36, I was finished improving the new magic system to an acceptable level. With that, I focused my sights on the fighting styles the orcs generally used in combat, wanting to achieve something similar to what I had done for magic."
"By the time I was 38, I had optimized and improved upon the general fighting styles of the orcs, allowing those who had learned of it to fight against more foes in combat compared to those who hadn't. It was also at that time I had finally become an Epic, utilizing all of my life experience at that point to form my Intent."
"By the time I was 47, I had distilled the essences of the fighting styles and used it to create a brand new fighting style that minimize the disadvantages of the fighting styles that came before it while maximizing the advantages at the same time." Going through the things he had done in his life, the smile that adorned An'xhur's face grew wider and wider as the images on the sphere changed accordingly.
"Unfortunately, unlike the new magic system I had built to be compatible with all orcs, the fighting style I created was only suitable for me to use, with only the elite of the elite amongst the orcs being able to show a fraction of the fighting style I had made after I taught them."
"Thankfully, even that small fraction they could show was far greater than the might shown by the conventional fighting styles, allowing the orc race to occupy a far greater territory due to the might we now showed."
"By the time I had approached my late fifties, I had already reached the peak of Rank 5, at that point being known as the one who would naturally inherit the throne my father continued to occupy." At those words, An'xhur showed Valyr a set of images of the half-orc interacting with the masses, all of them having an expression of awe and admiration whenever they looked at An'xhur.
"About a year or two after I had reached the peak of Rank 5, my understanding of the Intent had finally reached a qualitative breakthrough, transforming into a Force and thus making me a Legend."
"It was at that point that I put a great amount of effort to improving the magic system I had made in the past, as well as the fighting style I had created. With how much I now knew compared to before, I found a ton of flaws in both the magic system and the fighting style, which I would have not noticed back then if not for the greater understanding my Force had given me."
"Within a few years after I began my undertaking, the effectiveness and the strength of the magic system had improved multiple times, only being pushed further with the establishment of an organization solely dedicated to improving it even further." Feeling great pride at what he had done, An'xhur beamed a grin.
"At that point, even the Meltierre Empire had become envious of the magic system we had, asking our empire if a few of their people could pick up the magic arts we had created. Of course, we accepted, seeing as how the relationship between our empires were considerably close."
"As for the fighting style I made, I took it upon myself to improve it where anyone among the orcs would be able to pick it up. Though it had taken almost a decade to do so, I was successful, with my fighting style basically becoming the standard fighting style of the orcs due to its flexibility and power."
"Around that time, I was already in my seventies," said An'xhur, looking at Valyr to see if he was still listening. Seeing as the latter was still attentive, the half-orc faintly nodded before continuing. "Though I could still improve upon the two things I had given to the orc race and possibly create more things in the meantime, I've decided to focus on myself for a bit and achieve something only a select few within the orc race had done."
"Transcend mortality and become a Myth." At these words, An'xhur's eyes glistened like the stars, only for it to swiftly disappear as a wry smile appeared on his face soon after.
"Coincidentally, it was at that time that my half-sibling decided to make amends."
