As beautiful hymns drifted down from the skies, a pillar of light descended from the sun, piercing through the roof of the home. It enveloped Alexander in blinding white light. Surprisingly, the light beam was not accompanied by blazing heat. Rather, the pillar of light felt as warm and gentle as a loving parent's gaze towards their newborn child.

  The pillar persisted for less than a minute before disappearing with a flash. When the light subsided, two black markings took shape on baby Alexander's shoulders. On his right arm, an arrow, and on his left, the sun.

  When the Sun's light descended on Alexander, every descendant of Apollo could feel a tugging sensation coming from deep within themselves.

  This sensation, now known as Bloodline Resonance, alerted the myriad Apollonic clans of Alexander's birth.

  Indeed, as the resonance subsided, the humble home of Claire and Hadrian Blacksun had been surrounded by their clan members. In a trance, they had followed the pulling of their bloodline and found themselves on the doorstep of a lowly outer clan couple.

  Inside the small home, Claire and Hadrian had been overcome with joy...at first. However, knowing their son was destined for greatness, the couple could not help but feel anxious. Alexander would have to endure much and carry the weight of the entire Blacksun clan on his shoulders from a young age. He would be the focus of the other demigod clans and have to bear the envious and greedy gazes of countless others.

  They worried and worried the more they discussed it. That is, until they heard Alexander start babbling nonsensically from Claire's arms. For some reason, his nonsense exuded confidence. He lifted his tiny baby hand and gave his parents a thumbs up. Stunned, Claire and Hadrian looked at their child and found a big toothless grin on his face. Suddenly, all their worries were washed away. They knew he would be fine.

  Alexander's parents were right to be worried. Indeed, even within their own clan, there were already those with designs on Alexander's pure bloodline. They cared not for the child, spending more time thinking of ways to take his birthright for themselves.

  Despite just giving birth, Claire was full of energy. The resonance she had experienced was not a pulling sensation, rather it reinvigorated her and allowed her body to recover to peak condition instantly.

  With Alexander bundled up in her arms, Claire walked with Hadrian outside to greet the Blacksun clan.

  When the massive crowd caught sight of Alexander they erupted. The family was met by a cacophony of cheering from thousands of members of their clan. Looking throughout the massive crowd, everyone in the clan bore expressions of veneration and joy.

  Suddenly and subtly, a golden eye symbol appeared on Alexander's forehead for an instant. With the eye's appearance, the inner feelings of the clansmen were laid bare. While the majority were genuinely happy and continued to cheer, there were some whose facial expressions instantly became nasty and instead of cheering, began to vocalize their malicious thoughts.

  As more and more people stopped to listen to what these nefarious few were ranting about, the excitement of the crowd came to a screeching halt. Looks of horror spread amongst them like wildfire.

  Among the malicious, there were those who planned to somehow steal the baby and eat him in the hopes that it would grant them power. There were those who wanted to sacrifice him in a dark ritual and gain his inheritance. The more straight-forward were those envious few who wanted to rush forward and kill the baby as he laid in his mother's arms. Plans of violence and evil were spat out in a seemingly never-ending stream.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The crowd was so stunned that no one thought to interrupt them. Regardless, it wouldn't have done any good to try. The exposed seemed to be caught up in their own world as they revealed their intentions. They could not hear anyone else, nor could they stop the words from flowing.

  As if he could understand them, a look of focus appeared on Alexander's face as he concentrated on the exposed clansmen. He ignored those who bore ill will towards himself and focused on those who wished to harm his parents.

  Baby Alexander could not yet understand languages but he could read hearts. His chubby face contorted with anger as he zeroed in on those who would cause harm to his mother. As his rage grew, the black markings on his shoulders gradually turned crimson.

  Unable to bear it any longer he cried out, "BAH AH!"

  Thirty arrows of light shot down from the sky, instantly incinerating those unlucky few whose black hearts targeted Claire. The already silent crowd did not know how to react as ashes were carried away by the wind.

  In an instant, 30 demigods were destroyed. Their bloodlines were incredibly diluted but they were strong individuals nonetheless. Regardless, a baby had taken their lives with ease.

  Seemingly satisfied, baby Alexander raised his head and nodded with a content expression.

  "Ahh ba," he said.

  He fell asleep as he lowered his head into his mother's arms. He was exhausted after exerting himself to that degree. Those who still bore ill will towards him would not dare try anything after that display.

  Clearly, Alexander had inherited Apollo's Eye of Truth and could already exert some control over the sun. He had even inherited Apollo's (over)defensiveness of his mother.

  Gods are born with inherent understanding of their ability. To trigger their powers is as natural as breathing. Demigods are the same, albeit to a much lesser extent. Alexander was a special case, being the most pureblooded descendant of Apollo to appeaer since the Age of Mythology.

  While Alexander slept, elders of the clan recovered from their shock and made arrangements with Claire and Hadrian. Since Alexander's attack had cleared out quite a few of the elder seats, the clan needed to fill those spots. His parents would be elevated to fill two of those seats. The culprit himself would be groomed to be the next clan head and the Blacksun would use all the resources at their disposal in helping to raise him.

  They believed the Heir of Apollo would lead them into a glorious future.

  By no means would the clan dare to separate Alexander from Claire and Hadrian. They had just seen what he had done to those who had yet to act on their evil desires towards his family.

  Thus Alexander grew up smoothly in the Blacksun clan. He was taught everything under the sun and he took to learning with endless enthusiasm. While he was unbelievably gifted, his affinity for hard work left no room for complaints.

  A truly warm and cheerful kid, Alexander was loved by Blacksun and the majority of the other demigod clans. He truly had inherited Apollo's personality along with the god's abilities.

  With a seemingly permanent but genuine smile, he befriended others with ease, bypassing the walls created out of their inherent fear and jealousy towards him.

  The golden haired youth was a prodigy, mastering many fields of academia, nine schools of martial arts, and seventeen languages before he turned 16.

  He taught himself blacksmithing and carpentry, all for the sake of creating his own bows and arrows. Without the guidance of a teacher he rose to the peak of musical talent. He wrote masterful poems and delivered accurate prophecies. He experienced much and rarely found things he was unskilled at.

  While he excelled in almost all areas, his true strength came out with a bow in hand and arrows in his quiver. At 17, he decimated thousands upon thousands of monsters that had escaped from Tartarus without even touching his solar abilities. With impossible precision and the strength of a demigod, he sniped creatures from miles away.

  On his 18th birthday, Alexander happily sat amongst friends and family as they celebrated his coming of age. Soon, he would be able to take on the mantle of Clan Head and the Blacksun clan would continue their shockingly rapid rise to prominence. However, this was never meant to be.

  In the middle of the dinner, a beautiful, harp-like voice cut through the large hall.

  "Ah, it's you? Wonderful."

  As everyone turned to look towards the source of the voice, they were puzzled to find that there was no one there. When they turned back to look at Alexander, he was gone.