Rise Of The Dragon Emperor

Chapter 16 Rough childhood (2)

At age 6 , Ronan was in the final year of his homestay before he would enroll in the state academy . Percy had already entered the academy and was learning various subjects and practicing under the guidance of state teachers.

The children of Avalon started their educational journey at age 7 . For most kids they would enroll with power levels 1 – level 5 , with level 5 considered geniuses groomed by the big families.

However at age 6 , Ronan was already level 22 incomparable to these kids , as his life was not at all like that of a prince of Avalon.

Ronan was not even fed at home anymore , he was dressed in ragged clothes and not even allowed to bath. making him look like a street vermin more than a prince.

Alexander had forced him to steal food from the streets to survive , and he was supposed to do it cleanly without being caught or suffer punishment from both the shop owner and back at the palace.

If he did not steal , he had to beg on the streets as people gave the prince of Avalon leftovers with worms as food._.

Only being allowed at the royal mansion to sleep at night and train in the morning , Ronan was living a life far from what a child his age should be living.

Ronan went from a well fed glutton to a skinny young boy within a month , a change that caused heartbreak for grandmother Luna to see her boy grow soo weak.

However there was a reason as to why Alexander forced Ronan to live in such a way at such an tender age.

Firstly it was for Ronan to understand that he was a human , just like everyone else living in Avalon . He was not special because he was born a prince. He ate the same food , drank the same water and had to sh** the same way.

For the sheltered palace prince , this was a shattering reality as it ensured that Ronan never grew conceited from his privileges. Or feel that he was above others because he was a highborn noble.

The second purpose was to teach him the importance of information gathering from a young age. Stealing was an art , as the theif had to collect information , wait for the right time and have a clean execution as to not get caught.

All of which were invaluable skills for a warrior and learning them early on was doing a world of good for Ronan. Who slowly but surely grew proficient in the way of the thieves.

Associating with street gangsters, and getting plumetted by shop owners angry at catching a little rat stealing their goods . Ronan saw the harsh reality of the street life.

Should he ever become a king , this experience would allow him to connect to the bottom dwellers of the society , giving perspective that most noble borns never had.

Alexander’s way of raising his sons was brutal . As every single day at training there would be no mercy shown , broken bones and torn muscles were a common occurence.

Naturally being a royal , the prince’s were given the best possible healing afterwards , making sure that no permanent damage occured. However that did not take away the fact that the will of the six year old Ronan was tempered more than most adults .

Alexander even went a step ahead with Ronan than with Percy , as he would tie him to the palace pillar and whip him with belts whenever he lost a match against a considerably stronger opponent . However never once did Ronan let a shril cry of pain , as he endured it all with a straight face.

‘ Draco men never cry ‘

This is what big brother Percy had taught him , and Ronan lived by that principle every single day.

Alexander’s means though extreme , were necessary as he knew that for these two genius sons of his to survive . Someday they would be forced to face conditions even worse than the ones he was subjecting them through.

In such situations , a sheltered prince royally born,  having being fed only the most exquisite dishes , never suffering pain and never seeing the difficulties of life would most likely die.

However if they could survive with the bare minimum. With having nothing , as street vermins. They could survive anywhere anytime.

Alexander knew that if Ronan even after being battered and bruised and having his bones broken , could muster enough strength to fight back , or try run away. His chances to survive were higher than if he would go blank and chicken out infront of his opponent.

‘ We don’t raise cowards at the house of Draco’

Alexander  said to Luna and Sierra when they complained too much about the young boys training regime.

The incident at the fire god’s temple had left a deep scar on the mind of Alexander , as he steeled his hearts to allow the children suffer and learn things that a royal born was never expected to learn .Especially not when their milk teeth were still falling off.

The joy of getting a single loaf of bread by the kindness of a stranger gave incredible amounts of joy to Ronan , while being judged for his ragged clothes and bruised appearance taught while being called mean names , showed him how ‘ Fake ‘ respect was in this world.

Respect was given to anyone with nice clothes and money , even if they were the most blackhearted individuals and greedy bas****. Living on the street taught him a template of society before he would eventually enter the academy.

After continuous complains by Sierra , Ronan’s training finally came to an end when he turned 7 and had one month before he would be enrolled into the academy. As she wanted to spend quality time with her son before he went away to study.

Ronan was level 27 at age 7 , as his eyes that once shined of naughtiness and mischief were now much more calm and mature. Ronan was still a child at heart , however his demeanor became more reserved as he was able to discern truth from lie much better.

In the one month he was continuously fed by grandmother Luna , as he did not reject her love and lovingly ate everything. But this time it was not for the love of food , but to make his grandmother happy .

Living on the streets had taught Ronan the true value of family , the only people who loved him selflessly , without expecting a return . He knew now that most people who used to flatter him , were expecting to get into his good books for personal favours and did not mean much of what they said ,  and he also understood the weight of the name Draco in Avalon.

Ronan undoubtedly had a rough childhood , but it was pressure that made the rough diamond more polished , as his journey had not even started.