The King of Heroes: Null/Virtue

Preparations

There is some art used in this chapter, all of which was generated by Midjourney A.I.

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"Eons ago, Gods roamed the cosmos, bored and unhappy. But one day, they stumbled upon our little planet, having just been created by the Machine God, Aeic, who gave the Faded their Eternal Lord. A single immortal entity that would hopefully lead their species into its golden age." Toshinori had Izuku on his lap, sitting in the kitchen as the servants prepared some calming tea. "Aeic then proceeded to go into a deep slumber, and he hasn't woken since. Intrigued by the people, and realizing that the other species didn't have their own Lords, the Gods decided to divy up their attention between each of the races, creating Lords of their own. With the exception of the Eternal Lord and Knowledge Lord, the titles are passed on between generations, reincarnated into a lucky few, granting them immense power and importance within society."

"The Faded have the Eternal Lord. The Ivory have the Knowledge and Divine Lord. The Misshapen have the Chimera Lord. The Terran have the Titanium Lord and the Creation Lord," Rumi added.

"We Onyx have the Virtue Lord and," Toshinori tapped Izuku's chest with his index finger, "we have the NULL Lord."

"So he tried to kidnap me because I'm strong?"

"Not just that. You see, within each race, the Lords have different positions. Some are loners, some fight, some defend, and some... lead. Izuku Oric Serax, you and the Virtue Lord are the next King and Queen of the Onyx people."

"I'm... a King?" Izuku was honestly shocked. He knew that he was a 'Lord' and that obviously had some noble connotation, but with the mentions of a council and other powerful individuals, he didn't think that it was a monarchy.

"At the age of 15, you and the Virtue Lord will be married. At the age of 16, you and your Queen will take the throne officially. We were hoping to keep it all secret from you for a little longer, just so that you could lead a normal childhood, but unfortunately, the council cannot easily be placated for long."

"So it's basically an arranged marriage. Not sure I like the sound of that. But I suppose it's a small price to pay to be a King."

"But now that it's all out in the open, and clear that people will come for you, it's time to start your training as the NULL Lord for real!" Rumi shouted with a smile, excited to get down to the nitty-gritty.

"More training huh?"

"A week from now, you're going to meet the council for the first time. All five of us will be there with you, so you'll be safe." Izuku could sense the 'but,' in Toshinori's sentence, likely wanting to warn him about the council's tricky nature. "Once there, they're going to ask you some questions, offer their guidance, and then they plan on giving you and the Virtue Lord their blessing. So it'll be your first time meeting a lot of people."

"Okay..." That scared Izuku more than anything. He didn't do well under a lot of scrutiny. Half of his job as an assassin was not drawing attention. "What's training?" He asked, wanting to get a better sense of what they meant.

"All sorts," Toshinori gestured around the room. "Rumi will be your weapon and hand-to-hand combat trainer. Enji will be your Magic instructor. Ryuko will be teaching politics, social structure, and just generally teach you what a politician needs to know in our country. Kaina will teach you strategy and warfare. I will teach you philosophy and etiquette. And we have a rotating staff of teachers for subjects we do not specialize in, such as foreign languages, math, sciences, and so on. Combat training between Rumi, Enji, and Ryuko will take up a majority of your time, as the Onyx expect a powerful NULL Lord."