《War, Honor and Vengeance》 Calendar Month of First Snow ¨C January Month of Snow Break ¨C February Month of Vitality ¨C March Month of Hailstorm ¨C April Month of Sun ¨C MayThis tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Month of Moon ¨C June Month of Rain ¨C August Month of Festivities ¨C September Month of Fall ¨C October Month of Stars ¨C November Month of Snowflakes ¨C December Another point, the scale of the calendar is set as per the Catholic Church, therefore even if there is a huge disaster on a empire-scale it wont be mentioned in a date unless it is recognized by the Church. It also proves that if some disaster happens to a empire who is one the bad side of the Church, it would be forgotten easily or it wont be that ''advertised'' because in the midieval ages of Audenia, common people remember events by dates. Prologue: Father Prologue: Son, do you know what¡¯s the most precious thing in one man¡¯s life? Hmmm¡­ Is it Power? Prestige? Honor? No, my son. Think harder. Ummm¡­ I don¡¯t know what you are talking about, dad? Think harder. Every question has an answer, every puzzle has a solution, every tunnel has a way in and a way out. Find your way out. Well, think it this way, what is your most precious thing? Umu¡­ I think that¡¯s mom¡­ and you too. Haha! Now, you get it, you idiot. The most precious thing in a man or a woman¡¯s life isn¡¯t wealth, fortune, fame or power. Its family and honor.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Wrong dad! you just said that honor isn¡¯t the correct option, so, how come you''re telling me that honor is precious? Well, honor is ¡­ a bit complicated. You see, it¡¯s a bit like emotions. Humans stick to their honor when they feel like it and don¡¯t when they don¡¯t like it. But, it goes without asking that a man must stick to his honor at all times. But, if you''re asking about what¡¯s most precious, I would say, that it comes second, after family. Hmmm¡­ I don¡¯t understand dad. What is it, son? You always said that honor is a man¡¯s pride and that one must protect it at the cost of his life, so how come you''re saying that it¡¯s not more precious than his family? Haha son, you got me there. Indeed, I mentioned it, but ¡­ well, let¡¯s just say that I made a mistake there, son. Always, remember that family is the most precious thing in this world. Never lose it, son. Never lose it, never lose it¡­. Dad! Dad! What is happening? W-what is ¨C dad!!! dad!! DAD!!! ¡­ Felix Dean Cainhorn Ch-1 Month of Snowflakes, Year 3034 of Catholic calendar. Cainhorn Castle, Cainhorn Province, Ryre District, Xerith Empire, Central Continent, Audenia. The Cainhorn Castle was situated on the banks of the Grey Canal and backed by the Enning Mountains, an extinct volcanic mountain filled with great ores, beasts and treasures. The Grey Canal is a tributary of the Grey River, is a large river filled with grey silt which is very high-quality material to make buildings, especially garrison and defensive buildings. Around the Cainhorn Castle is Cainshire, a pretty big settlement of traders, slaves and merchants who came with the hope of making a fortune in the wildlands around Cainhorn Castle. The Cainhorn Castle is a large Castle with two sections basically, the Inner Section, which housed the Lord and his family, and the Outer Section, which housed the various miscellaneous stuffs like armory, stables and various others. There are 9 massive stone towers, with 5 inside and 4 in the outside section making the outer edge of the Castle a perfect square, while the inner section a perfect pentagon. The tip of the pentagon of the Inner Section formed by the towers was pointed towards the Grey Canal on the east and was filled with various artillery spots and the huge Dawson Cannon, measuring almost 10meters in total length and the muzzle almost 1meter long. The lip, or the place from where the cannon ball comes out, is as wide as the girth of a 200-year old tree and the cannon ball used is a 32pound or 15kg hard steel, capable of destroying frigates and even damage Man¡¯o¡¯Wars tremendously. Gifted by the Late Duke of Seas, Lord Stephen Hendrickson, this cannon has protected the Dean family naval territories for centuries. The Castle is also surrounded by a heavy fortification of walls made from grey granite, with outermost wall having a radius of around 500m, height of 6meters and thickness of at least 2meters and had humongous gate laced with wooden spikes. There are generally two walls, but in actuality, there is three with the last two walls merging together to form a tough garrison of soldiers, if needs be, but it posed a danger of infiltration given the relative lax patrols. The inner garrison on the other hand, housed a lot less troops but was a lot more secure and tight. Its walls are almost 3-4meters in thickness and 9meters tall, making it almost impossible for the invaders to climb up. Even the gate of the Inner garrison was steel plated, ? meter thick and 6meters tall, rendering most battering rams useless. The granite walls of the Castle were rough and seemed a bit barbaric with rusted torch-handles, oil pots and wooden spikes, but it proved to be effective time and time again. The wall generally had almost no windows and even if there were, all of them were rimmed by the most hardened of the steels and barricaded. And lastly, the moat outside the Castle was filled with fishes most of the time, which are cultivated by the troops of the garrison during their leisure time, but during wartimes, massive crocodiles, at least 5meters in length is released, making it a game-over spot for the enemies. All in all, the Cainhorn Castle was more than enough to take on enemies¡¯ multiple times it¡¯s troop size. The Cainhorn Castle is ruled by Earl Dean and the Dean family, also called as the Black Wolfe family, the males of the Dean household are known for their greatswordmanship, chivalry and valor in battles in leading charges. The history of the Dean family runs deep and is said that they were once a part of the Xerith Blades, a council of noble families whose only task was to protect the Emperor of Xerith, but only when the Wardens were in power and prominence. But most modern nobles don¡¯t agree on it, given the statement that the family only had a small patch of land and only a title of Baron for all these years. It was only during the leadership of Sir Aston Dean, the current head of the family, did the household had a double rank-up and attained the title of Earl. For centuries, the Dean household ruled the wild forests of the Enning Mountains peacefully without much conflict or power struggles for this uninhabited land. The reason why the other nobles didn¡¯t aim for this patch of land was because of the apparent invincibility of the Cainhorn Castle and the huge amount of woods and wild forests on the way, making it immensely hard for any incoming army to remain undetected for long. Given that the woods around the Cainhorn Castle was haunted by spirits of the forests and the various monsters who inhabit the forests, makes it extremely dangerous and highly open to ambushes by the monsters or soldiers. Contradictorily, it is impossible to sneak upon Cainshire through the forests, due to the relatively less knowledge about the terrain and due to monsters, again.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Along the river, there is the immensely large Dawson Cannon at the edge of the Cainhorn Castle, making it almost impossible for ships smaller than frigates to deal damage to the mighty fortress. Frigates aren¡¯t totally safe from the Dawson Cannon and will still be wreaked by one of its shot, but it did possess some fire power against the Castle. But then there are the hundreds of schooner-turned-fishing boats docked along the long fishing docks, who can assist during a naval battle. Along with the various other factors, like the length of the Grey Canal, depth and various meanders, make it almost impossible for bigger ships like Man¡¯o¡¯War or frigates to breach the Cainhorn Castle naval defense, as well as Cainshire. The other heads of the household understood this very well and did the other nobles. And so, to prevent a deadly party who is invincible at home to bite off other people¡¯s land, there was a silent pact between the Dean family and the various other families, which literally meant that if other nobles didn¡¯t made things hard for the Dean household, they wouldn¡¯t join the fray of this chaos. But it was only until the Wardens were in power. The Wardens, an order of knights known for their greatswordmanship and charisma in leading sieges and battles. With their honor on line, they fought to their last breadth for their subordinates and their masters. Their chivalry and valor gained them the favor of the Emperor of Xerith, granting them immense amounts of lands and titles, but this is where they started to fail. The Wardens, other than being great at leading charges, were also known for their honor and kindness, both to the enemy civilians and their own. But when they gained huge amounts of wealth, lands and fortune, their mentality changed and they started to deviate from their honorable self. Twisted and corrupted by greed, they started plundering and slaughtering innocents, much like the other nobles did, invoking the wrath of the Grandmaster of the order. With more and more Wardens becoming corrupted and leaving, the order grew more and more weaker and finally, when the string was twanged by the other nobles, the Emperor of Xerith abolished the Wardens as His protectors and they were replaced by the Sisters of Silence, a cult of the Emperor¡¯s own concubines and various other females who protect the Emperor from the shadows. But unlike most Wardens, the Dean family didn¡¯t fall. It was partly because they were bordered by the war-mongering Earl Roderick and Viscount Clovers and partly because they regarded their secluded land sacred and didn¡¯t want to wager it in the games of power. And another more less-regarded fact is that the Dean family wasn¡¯t as greedy as others, but not much people believe it because nobles are synonymous to greed. And so, even after the Wardens had fallen into dust and was now only a small brotherhood of Knights, the Dean household prospered slightly and even helped the order of Wardens by supplying them armors and weapons as frequently, letting them stay afloat in the sea of competition of power. In the Central Continent ruled by the Knights, Kings and Emperors, people increased their fighting strength by practicing Battle Techniques, a set of techniques, move-set, combos and various other forms of fighting which creates a Battle Will and increases Battle Qi, a special type of inner energy which increases the strength, vitality, dexterity, agility and various other abilities of the user exponentially. There are different ranks and realms of Battle Technique and strengths of an individual. The heirloom Battle Technique of the Dean household is the Black Wolfe Technique, a technique which deals with endurance, strength, vitality and most important of all, teamwork. The Black Wolfe technique is one of the very rare techniques which deals with teamwork and morale and the technique strengthens as more and more people uses it simultaneously. Just like how real wolfs work. In teamwork. Lastly, the Dean family. The Dean family currently only has Sir Aston Dean, the head of the family, Lady Faye and their only child, Felix. Sir Aston Dean, regarded as the most righteous and honorable Lord of all the Dean family head, is well accepted as the ruler of the Cainhorn province, his Earldom, along with his wife. His wife, being once a priestess of the Temple of Earth, is considered as one of the kindest and brightest persons in all of Cainshire. Sir Aston, unlike his other father and grandfathers, didn¡¯t stay cooped in his territory all the time, instead, he made a name for himself in the Imperial wars to the barbaric tribes of the north and the eastern cultivators, while keeping his distance to all the major nobles. His valor and chivalry in battle earned him the title of Earl and he also became friends with Prince Hendrickson, the Duke of Eastern Seas. During the heydays of the Wardens, the Dean family was only a small noble with no solid background. Their first head, Lord Cain distinguished himself in the Battle Royales and earned the favor of Late Duke of Seas, Lord Stephen granted him Hereditary title of Nobles and made him his vassal. During later years, Sir Cain was distinguished in battles for his strong brotherhood and fellow-feeling and was incorporated into the ranks of Warden and later into the Xerith Blades. Along with that he was granted the title of Baron and the land of Consby of the Grey Canal, which was later titled as Cainshire and Cainhorn province, under his name. The Castle too, wasn¡¯t always this strong but was made strong by his successors. ¡­ Ch-2 The Dean Household 26th of Month of Snowflakes Inner Courtyard, Inner Section, Cainhorn Castle, Cainshire ¡°Yap!!¡± ¡°Higher!¡± ¡°Yap!!¡± ¡°Faster!¡± ¡°Yap!!¡± ¡°Stronger!¡± ¡°Yap!!¡± ¡°To the right! To the heart!¡± ¡°YAWP!!!¡± Clannnnng! ¡­ The Inner section of the Cainhorn Castle housed the Lord¡¯s Keep, a three-storied concrete house along with the huge orchards, a small altar of prayer to Goddess Mithra, the Goddess of Earth and the great courtyard. The great courtyard was more of a training ground than a courtyard with various stone pillars with cracks and chips, jutting out like ugly grey hair at an abnormal pattern and dummy target at almost every corners of the courtyard. On one side of the courtyard, there was a small smithy spewing black fog constantly and a pretty big arsenal beside, with a variety of weapons shining with cold glare. On the courtyard, there were six people, four adult and two young boys of about 6yrs old. Two of the adults, one of them was a young adult of twenties with a lean stature and the other slightly older and a lot stouter and more humongous, of about forties sat observing a duel between one of the adults and a kid. There was another adult watching the duel from only a few paces away from the duel with folded arms and a frowning face. He always moved with the duelers to keep a certain distance from them as well as to observer it as closely as possible. The last kid, looked at the duel behind a stone pillar with a face full of awe and reverence towards the two duelers. The adult dueler was a relatively young man, approximately in thirties, with long wavy black hair tied in a small pony tail and brown eyes sparkling with vigor. He was a bit tanned and dark, but his face was oval-triangular shaped with a broad jawline, long nose, a perfect French-cut moustache and thin lips. The man was fairly tall, at about 6? feet and by normal standards his body was humongous. He was wearing a titanium-alloyed steel scale armor without sleeves and long brown-rugged trousers, through which his taut and strong muscles were clearly visible. On the other side, the kid seemed to be only 6yrs old and was about half the size of the man, which is also quite humongous comparable to normal standards of his age. He too had a tanned skin like the man, though not quite that dark and looked surprisingly similar to the man. He had the same nose, brown eyes and long wavy hair, but in addition to that, he also had a bit of his baby-fat on his cheek and brown hairs instead of black. The boy held a long wooden sword made of Hardwood and was 1.5 times the length of his torso, which is a bit smaller than a regular one, but nearly the same weight as a regular one. He also wore a similar scale armor like the man, but the height definitely didn¡¯t suit him, as the armor was dangling beyond his torso making clacking sounds constantly. The man had a steel dagger with him, with which he parried most of the strikes of the kid. Even though being a real steel dagger, its edge was blunted so as to not damage either the kid or the wooden Greatsword. The man stood leisurely and always had a slight smile on his face, a smile of happiness and amusement and would always avoid striking at the kid at obvious openings. The man was none other than Lord Aston, while the kid was his son, Felix and they were having a greatswordmanship training. Young Felix, just like his father, had tremendous amounts of strengths for his age to wield the heavy Hardwood sword, but not quite enough strength to fight with ease. He would regularly step-in to launch an attack, which was generally a horizontal-slash, followed by another slash and then a thrust. The first two consecutive attacks would deplete Felix¡¯s stamina tremendously and his last thrust would go a lot sloppy, which would be immediately knocked back by Aston. ¡°Damn!¡± cursed Felix under his breath. His breathing has already turned rugged and his limbs turned wobbly. Extreme fatigue was hitting him like Warhammer¡¯s blows and sweat has already drenched his back completely.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡®Why are these scale armors so damn hot!¡¯ cursed Felix in his mind. But right then, his muscles started to twitch and like an involuntary movement, he jumped back. Not a moment too late, his father Aston had done a perfect thrust right at the place where his heart should¡¯ve been, making it an insta-kill. Previously, he had always been pinned by this attack because his reaction speed was too small, but after repeated practice it has become a muscle-memory, which is exactly what he needs. ¡°Nice dodge, son!¡± remarked his father, brightly, but Felix didn¡¯t have a single ounce of strength to speak. His throat was already as parched as a dry desert. He was barely able to stand and it was all due to his strong will, which he has inherited from his dad. His limbs started to shake but even then, he didn¡¯t call a stop. His father smiled proudly at him but he was not a man to go easy on training. He flipped his dagger back, such a way that the he held the blade so that the pommel hits Felix and was about to ¡®pierce¡¯ Felix¡¯s shoulder to secure the victory and Felix, like a lamb for slaughter couldn¡¯t do anything other than flitch and try not to fall down due to fatigue. ¡°Ha!!¡± cried his father. The dagger made a beautiful arc and was about to hit Felix¡¯s shoulder, when in fright Felix closed his eyes. He waited for the strike to arrive, but it never did. Felix opened his eye slightly to see what has happened to make his father stop and was shocked to find the edge of a real blade infront of him. His father¡¯s wrist carrying the dagger was only a few inches away from his shoulders, when it was stopped by a heavy Cavalry Sword. He looked up and found, the man who was watching the duel from a few paces away from them, holding the sword right at a critical point with his other hand behind his back. The man looked Felix with a gaze of a Gorgon, petrifying Felix and said coldly, ¡°Fool! Hmph!¡± The man withdrew his sword and sheathed it. Bump! ¡°Ha¡­ ha¡­ ha¡­¡± The moment the cold gaze was removed, Felix dropped to his knees and started to huff for breath as he held onto his blade for support. Even his father, who was the Lord of the region, withdrew his blade silently and didn¡¯t dare to utter a peep. The man turned around and said coldly, ¡°Both of you have passed the assessment. Report this afternoon to start your Battle Technique training. Dismissed!!!!¡± saying that, the man started walking towards the smithy. ¡°Yes¡­ sir¡­¡± replied Felix tiredly. The man stopped in his tracks and glanced back at Felix, emotionlessly at first but then turned to the other kid and growled, ¡°What about you?!!!¡± The other kid jumped out from the cover of the pillar, stood straight, closed his eyes and said, banging his chest, ¡°H-ha¡ªyes! Yessir! Yessir! Yessir!!¡± ¡°Hmph!¡± the man didn¡¯t give another glance and marched off to the smithy and shut himself inside. ¡°Fue!¡± sighed Aston. ¡°Terrible, isn¡¯t he?¡± replied the other young guy sitting on the bench. ¡°Yep, yep. Loann has been in a bad mood for quite a few days, Julian. Don¡¯t pick on him now or else you will get one hack to your stomach.¡± Julian, the young guy sitting on the bench, was the official Castle Garrison Commander and Aston¡¯s best friend. Being a master of archery and longbow, he was Aston¡¯s constant companion in all of his campaigns and even though he is the Garrison Commander, the garrison is mainly commanded by his Captain, Peder Ruen. Considered as Aston¡¯s true brother, Julian lives with his timid son, Aslak, the kid hiding behind the pillar, in the Cainhorn Keep. ¡°Aye, aye. He certainly is, but why is it that I¡¯ve to tackle him. Ha¡­¡± said the last person. Aston waved his hand and said merrily, ¡°No probs, no probs. He will listen to you, so just talk him out, ¡®kay, Torgeir.!¡± ¡°Sigh¡­¡± the man named Torgeir sighed dismally. Torgeir is the Keep¡¯s armorsmith. Originally being a Highlander from The Fractured Highlands bordering the Northern Continent and Central Continent, he has the characteristics of both the northern and central cultures. With a height of about 7feets and a waist as wide a tree trunk, his bear hug is enough to squeeze a normal soldier to death. With his steel-like palms, bulging muscles and robust arms, he can melt the strongest and toughest of steel into fabulous armors. He is the head armorsmith of the garrison troops, but due to the relative rarity of armorsmith compared to weaponsmiths, makes it immensely hard for him to supply the troops efficiently. Along with other various reasons like armors breaking, flaws, weak steel and such, makes it very hard for the Cainhorn soldiers to be sufficiently armed, but it doesn¡¯t quite make a difference with the mammoth Cainhorn Castle. Lastly, Loann. Loann is Aston¡¯s another friend. Recruited by Aston¡¯s father and Felix¡¯s grandfather from the ranks of the Wardens, Loann is master of many weapons and is currently, the teacher of Felix and Aslak, teaching them the art of swordsmanship and virtues of Knighthood. Other than teaching Felix and Aslak, he is also the Commander of Cainhorn troops and the part-time instructor. He also lives in the Cainhorn Keep with the Dean family, but separately and more remotely, mostly in the Keep Library. With no family to speak of, Loann is a lonely man with eccentric and conservative behaviors, distinguishing from the crowds with his cold demeanor. Aston looked at his tired son and patted his head. ¡°Good job out there, son. You just need to increase your stamina a bit.¡± ¡°Yep! Yep!¡± cried Julian from the side. ¡°Unlike my son, you¡¯ve got the spines, kiddo. All you need to do is run a bit and wham! Haha! Infact, why don¡¯t you use the half-blade techniques. It would be easier.¡± ¡°Idiot! Loann hasn¡¯t taught them that. Say another word about it and I bet Loann would come charging at you with a zweihander.¡± ¡°Ah! God dammit! I''m running.¡± ¡°Do whatever you want, but don¡¯t make a mess. Both of you, go inside and take a bath and you, Julian! Julian stop climbing the walls, there¡¯s spikes beyond. Hey! Hey!!!!!¡± ¡­ Ch-3 Lady Faye Aslak, like Felix was a 6yrs old boy with a more rounded face, lean body and timid stature. Born on almost the same time as Felix, they are practically brothers, with Felix being younger to Aslak by only a week, but even if Aslak was elder, he was much more timid and more submissive than Felix. Aslak, just like his father Julian, has a head full of blonde hair, pale whitish skin and bluish-green eyes, making him a perfect foreigner to Cainshire, where people tend to be more skin or dark-colored. The only odd thing about Aslak was that he didn¡¯t know anything about his mother. It is a well-known fact that Julian, his father is a famous womanizer with many lovers and admirers in various cities and towns and it is speculated that Aslak is a result of one of his ¡®adventures of night,¡¯ you know what I''m speaking about, as Julian often states. But it never quite affect Aslak¡¯s life much, because Felix¡¯s mother, Lady Faye took care both of them simultaneously just like her own son. Infact, being a priestess of the Temple of Earth, she has served as a mother to many orphaned and disabled children in almost the same way she treated Felix, with love and care and Aslak was no exception. Being brothers almost since births, Aslak was Felix¡¯s constant companion just like how Julian was to Aston. Starting from sleeping, bathing, playing and training, Aslak has always been with Felix. They did most of their achievements simultaneously, starting from walking, toddling, writing and even talking with Aslak leading the tables by only a few days. But this was completely reversed when their training began under Master Loann, with Aslak being in the losing end of the stick while Felix progressed quickly. Actually, it was wrong to say that Aslak didn¡¯t improve. He improved tremendously in archery and was on the level of a normal professional archer, with his only fault being too timid. After Aston went after Julian, who was apparently trying to climb a stone wall and Torgeir to his smithy, it was only Felix and Aslak. Aslak looked around for a bit, as if checking whether Master Loann, The Demon, as he refers to him, and then dashed towards Felix. ¡°Felix! Felix! Are you okay?!!¡± ¡°Huff¡­ yea¡­ I think so¡­ damn¡­my legs¡­cough!¡± coughed Felix as he leaned on his Greatsword. The fight with the wooden Greatsword was extremely tiring for Felix and had nearly made him pass out. If it wasn¡¯t for the extreme determination he has inherited from his family, he would¡¯ve long fell to the ground and started whining in pain and this fact was understood quite well by Aslak. He immediately swung his arms around Felix¡¯s shoulder and took one of his arms to support him but he was then greeted by the tremendous weight of Felix¡¯s bones. ¡°Damn! You are heavy!!!¡± grumped Aslak but was only teased as ¡®Too weak¡¯ by Felix. He adjusted Felix¡¯s correctly and precisely, as taught by Loann on how to support a wounded soldier, and took extra care on not to hurt or press too tightly, even though there wasn¡¯t any real wounds or injuries. ¡°Heap! Heap! Hurrah!!!¡± shouted Aslak as he picked Felix up with an impulse, but the moment he did the wooden Greatsword slipped Felix¡¯s hand. Oblivious to this fact, Felix gritted his teeth in pain, but then laughed out, ¡°You sure are weird, Aslak.¡± Aslak, who was apparently having a hard time with carrying Felix, was getting red all over the face and was making a funny face. ¡°Pfffft!!¡± laughed Felix but it was ignored by Aslak. He walked step-by-step and pulled Felix with a great effort, but not half a score away, Felix realized that he has made a mistake. His Greatsword. ¡°Ah! My Greatsword. I think it slipped my hand!!¡± cried Felix. ¡°What does it matter now?!! Gragh!!¡± cried Aslak in extreme pressure. ¡°Idiot! If Master Loann sees the blade, he is going to kick my a*s and yours too.¡± ¡°Damn!¡± cried Aslak and the moment he did, his grip came loose and Felix, who was even more wobbly now, fell with a shout. ¡°Ahh!!¡± Bam! ¡°F*ck!!!¡± ¡­ After almost 15 minutes, the pair reached the Keep with the Greatsword and the first place they barged in, was the kitchen. They barged into the kitchen because it was the only place where they could Lady Faye, Felix¡¯s mother, the place where she always experiments on new foods and improves existing ones. ¡°Mother! Mother!!!!¡± shouted Felix with a fatigued voice, instead of Aslak, because he had already become a red tomato while carrying both Felix and his Greatsword. ¡°Coming!¡± came a shout from one end of the big kitchen.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Bam! Badump! Felix and Aslak crumpled down in a heap in fatigue and started huffing and breathing heavily, especially Aslak, who looked as if he had come straight home after doing a 25miles hike and slaying a huge boar. He was bright as tomato and was sweating even more than Felix. Felix glanced at Aslak, smirked a bit and teased, ¡°So weak¡­ ha¡­¡± Aslak looked weakly at Felix and made some vague gestures of which the only understandable gesture was a slicing neck. Felix laughed weakly and turned towards his wooden Greatsword, which was lying silently beside him. ¡°You are such a badass ¡­.¡± After a few minutes, a woman in her late-twenties came out from the far reaches of the kitchen and walked briskly towards the pair. She had long flowing brown hair, pale-blue eyes and a light skin-color, a typical of Cainhorn resident. Her face was triangular-shaped with her hair tied in a long pony-tail. She didn¡¯t look all that dashing and beautiful but her positive-attitude and clear personality was clearly radiating from herself. Her bright eyes and large laugh lines were a clear sign of it. She wore a long white linen flowing gown which covered her entirely with a leather strap binding it tightly to her waist. Her long sleeves had a triangular ending at the end and was slit right from her elbow displaying her almost flawless skin and the only jewelry on her, was a wedding ring on her ring finger and a diamond necklace on her neck. She looked curiously at the pair and asked, ¡°What the hell were you two devils upto? And why is that Aslak is more tired that you, Felix. Did you go stealing or something?¡± ¡°Ha¡­ ha¡­ like we would ¡­ do something like that¡­ mother¡­¡± replied Felix. ¡°Whatever! Go take a hot water bath and remember to dry your heads after bathing. Be wet and you will catch a cold, got that?!¡± ¡°Awwww!¡± cried out Aslak from the side. He was just too tired to go and take a bath, but Lady Faye wasn¡¯t someone to kid on the subject of hygiene. She glared at them for a moment and then pulled them by their collars. ¡°Wah!! Wah!! Mom! Mom! Stop it, stop it! We get it, so please stop pulling us!!!¡± cried Felix in fright. Felix¡¯s fear wasn¡¯t unbounded, because unlike most women, his mother was quite trained in battle and has enough strength to pull two 6yrs olds to bath. Infact, she has done it a few times in the past, when Master Loann training knocked both them out cold. There was another reason and that was, given that they were 6yrs old, Felix was kinda embarrassed about standing naked infront of her. It wasn¡¯t a natural embarrassment shown by teenagers or adults, but the induced embarrassment or in simple fact, he was told that naked equals embarrassment. It was all due to his father, Sir Aston, who told many tales of lunatics embarrassing themselves and others by barging onto the public naked. All in all, it wasn¡¯t really an embarrassment, but a state of his mind. Lady Faye frowned at them for a minute and asked, ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t need my help?¡± To which Felix nodded vigorously. ¡°Very well then!¡± replied Lady Faye and dropped both of them like papers. Lady Faye, then walked briskly off to her own work, without sparing a simple glance at the pairs. She had very accurately judged the reason for Felix¡¯s refusal and she was going to take action on it. Basically, have a spat with her husband for telling weird tales to her sons. But with her gone, the pair now had to walk to the bath by themselves which was on the other side of the Keep. Another perilous journey for their legs. Aslak, who looked blankly at Lady Faye¡¯s back said to Felix in a blank voice, ¡°I''m not gonna help you ever, dumba*s.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡­ Eventually, the pairs made their way to the bathhouse, which had already been filled with hot water and not only by simple water, it also contained some local herbs meant for rejuvenating the body and cells. It was probably arranged by Lady Faye to help their weak selves as much as possible, before going into war with her husband. As for Felix and Aslak, with the hot water ready and set, they didn¡¯t wait a single moment. They unwrap their clothing and Felix¡¯s scale-armor and jumped into the mediumly hot water without a delay. ¡°Fue!!!!!¡± cried Aslak in joy as the herbal hot water rejuvenated his weak and tired muscles. Felix on the otherhand, had to take more caution because he was still carrying the wooden Greatsword. This was a part of his Greatsword training, whereby he was ordered to get accustomed to holding a Greatsword by constantly carrying a Greatsword with him at all times. This, in reality, wasn¡¯t much favored by common knights or lords, but according to his father and Master Loann, veterans with experience would always carry at least a Shortsword or some kind of weapon with them, at all times. Even then, Greatsword isn¡¯t much preferred because of its immense weight, but for the Wardens, Greatsword is their life and they protect it at all times and at all costs. Aslak pouted at the big Greatsword Felix was carrying and asked, mockingly, ¡°Is it really necessary to carry such a biga*s weapon with you all the time. I know. I know about Master Loann, but even then. Don¡¯t you find it ¡­ tiring?¡± Felix shrugged his shoulders and replied, ¡°Yea, I do find it tiring but I¡¯ve got no choice. If I don¡¯t carry it around, I bet Master Loann would kick my a*s.¡± ¡°Whoa! Mind what you say, man. I hear that walls have ears and with a person like Master Loann, it won''t be strange if he suddenly appears behind you.¡± Almost immediately as Aslak said it, Felix turned around in fright, but obviously there was no one. He looked sharply through the mist which had covered the bathroom and finally, when he couldn¡¯t even find a single shadow, he sighed in relief. He turned back and said, ¡°Don¡¯t scare me like that, dude.¡± ¡°Hahaha¡­. I ¡­ actually get what you say¡­¡± ¡°Uh huh¡­¡± After discussing a few more general knowledge, silence spread around them, as Felix tried to catch a little wink of sleep, while Aslak did his free-swimming. But after almost five or so minutes, Aslak springs up with new vitality, ¡°Lets go to the town!!!!¡± ¡­ Ch-4 Leaving the Castle Ch-4 Leaving the Castle ¡°Mom! Mom! We¡¯re going outside and don¡¯t make food for us. We¡¯ll eat at Master Lobsters¡¯¡± cried Felix as he dashed about in the kitchen. The long bath had completely regenerated his stamina and even though, he was a bit sore, it wasn¡¯t a huge problem to take a tour outside. ¡°WHAT! But I just made food for both of you!!!¡± came Lady Faye¡¯s shout from the depths of the kitchen. ¡°Thank you, mom!!!!!¡± Felix shouted back ignoring his mother¡¯s cries. He ran out and rendezvoused with Aslak, who was carrying two scale-armors and his Greatsword. ¡°Thanks man!¡± said Felix, as he took the armors from him. ¡°Damn! All of your things are so heavy!!¡± commented Aslak as he wore his own scale-armor on top of his tunic. Felix too wore his scale armor on top of his tunic and strapped the belt to adjust the weight. Felix and Aslak had changed their trousers into smooth woolen trousers and were wearing long-woolen boots. It was the Month of Snowflakes and unlike when training, the temperature outside is quite low to go in simple trousers. They didn¡¯t wear any sweater or stuffs, partly because scale-armors were hot enough and partly because they would need to go around the Keep to retrieve their woolen jackets, which was an unnecessary work on their already tired legs. ¡°All ready?!!¡± ¡°Aye, aye, sir!!¡± ¡°So, let¡¯s go ¡ª ¡°And where would that be?!¡± Suddenly, a cold voice erupted behind Aslak and Felix¡¯s back, shocking them. They turned back to see a maid, in a typical maid uniform of a white tunic, a long red skirt, but unlike other maids, her red skirt was actually slit from the middle, from where her black leggings were quite easily visible. Along with her black strappings on her waist, she made for quite an unusual maid. The maid was a young girl of about 18yrs, named Yvette and was Lady Faye¡¯s one of the most trusted aide, not as an influential figure in court, but instead in managing Felix and Aslak. She had shoulder-length pitch-black hair with a thin eyebrow, sharp and elongated green eyes. Her cold demeanor, pale skin and zero-makeup, along with her voluminous chest, thin waist and gorgeous face made her the most perfect ice-beauty among all the women of Cainshire. She was recruited a few months before Felix was born to take care of pregnant Lady Faye and has ever since been in-charge of Felix. The same goes for Aslak, too, and was brought up by Yvette, more than even his father ever since he could remember. In short, she was their attendant and big sister. ¡°Haha, sister Yvette, we¡¯re just going outside to take a walk. I already asked for mother¡¯s permission, so there¡¯s no problem, okay.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± said Yvette coldly. She clearly knows how the conversation between them went, because like a ghost she always follows the pair, allegedly even to their bathrooms. ¡°Yes!¡± replied Felix with a shaky voice. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± she sighed and shook her head. ¡°Stop lying.¡± She said and handed them two big woolen coats. ¡°These?¡± asked Aslak curiously. She glared at him and replied, ¡°I fetched it for you. If you¡¯re not gonna, give it back.¡± ¡°Ah! No, no. I''m wearing, I''m wearing.¡± Stuttered Aslak as he wore the heavy and stuffy coat onto his scale-armor, but unlike him, Felix stared at the coat for a moment and replied, ¡°Nah! It¡¯s too hot!¡± He gave it back to Yvette, but she only glared at him and walked away without taking it. Felix looked confusedly at her when Aslak patted his shoulder and said, ¡°You should learn to appreciate kindness and to read the situation.¡± ¡°The f*ck!!¡± ¡­ The three of them walked out of the Keep and headed towards the Outer section, where the stables were. It seemed that Yvette, as Felix and Aslak¡¯s attendant was also going with them. The Cainhorn Castle, being backed by the rocky Enning Mountains had a superb advantage of terrain and the engineers used it quite efficiently. The Castle wasn¡¯t made in complete flatlands, instead, only a small part of the Outer section was on the flatland, while the rest of the Castle was on the slopes of the mountain. The towers of the Castle were erected on the steeps protrudes in such preciseness that if looked with an eagle-view, it would give a perfect pentagon and square, but this was only for the tallest towers of the Castle. The other smaller towers, which were more like outposts compared to those towers and the walls were made on artificial slopes, extending the edges. As for the gorges, they were mostly filled with water to farm fishes, but there were also spikes hidden underneath the calm waters. Only the outer moat was free of spikes because the Great Crocodiles resided there. All the parts of the Castle were connected by long drawbridges, instead of concrete bridges with an added measure of defense and deterrence. With the grey walls of the Castle, the natural elevations and deadly waters, the insides of the Cainhorn Castle were as deadly to the enemies as it was to the defenders.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Felix, Aslak and Yvette went through various gates, drawbridges and checkpoints to reach the Outer section stables. On the way, they saw many empty towers and walls, with only a few soldiers lazing around. Even the checkpoints had one or two Sergeant, who were goofing off. It clearly showed that even though the Cainhorn Castle had superb defenses, the man power in it was disastrously small. Instead, all the soldiers of garrison were either stationed in the Outer walls or patrolling the streets of Cainshire. Felix had heard several tales about heroes defending a Castle from invaders and monster with few numbers, but he never understood why they needed few people. Generally, more people meant more firepower and combat-strength, but according to his father, it wasn¡¯t all that great in the cases of castles. In reality, the reason for having small numbers was because of the food supply of the Lord, but in Cainhorn perspective, all the soldiers patrolling outside the Castle still had to be paid and fed, because they are still garrison soldiers. Talk about foolishness. ¡­ Reaching the Outer wall took some time due to the various distractions like the spikes protruding out of the waters or the fishes which played between these spikes and many more and when they did reach, the sun was already up on their heads. The heat of the sun forced Aslak to open his woolen jacket. The garrison chief of the Outer wall was none other than, Peder Ruen, the Second-in-Command of garrison. He, unlike most other soldiers, was a Warden, even though a low ranking one and was recruited during Felix¡¯s grandfather, Sir Curtis. Peder Ruen wore his full suit of armor, but unlike other Wardens, he didn¡¯t use a Greatsword. He used a Svarstav, generally a swordstaff with a moderately sized sword fitted at the end of the pole. Half polearm, half sword, the Svarstav is a common weapon among the sergeants and commanders, who have served in the frontlines and understand the advantage of spears more than swords. Peder Ruen, as a man was amiable and was aged between late thirties and early forties, a height of about 6ft 8inches, making him considerably taller than normal foot soldiers. With a brunette hair, hazel-eyes and greyish hair make him more northerner than central. His usual place of comfort was on the protruding edge of the front gates of the Outer wall from where he overlooks most of the town of Cainshire. ¡°Ho there, little Lord!! How do you do?!!¡± Peder spotted Felix and his company from a gate away and his shout was as loud as warcry, shocking the sergeants on their patrol duties beside him. ¡°Wee-hoo!!¡± Both Felix and Aslak jumped up and waved their hands towards the distant Peder. ¡°Open The Gates, YOU MORONS!!!¡± was the reply from Peder further shocking the lazy soldiers on the checkpoints. They pulled down the lever and the drawbridge as quickly as possible, in order to not anger Peder, rather than the Lord¡¯s son. With the drawbridge drawn, the two parts were connected and on the other side, Peder was waiting for them with his hands akimbo and a broad smile on his large face. ¡°Hello there, Sir Peder, how do you do?!!!¡± said Felix walking briskly along the bridge. ¡°Fine, fine, Milord. Infact, you should worry about your own health, now. With the tough training of Sir Loann, it would be unusual if you don¡¯t catch a cold.¡± ¡°Like hell he would catch one.¡± Commented Aslak from the side. ¡°After all, if he did Master would make him do the Therapy Exercises.¡± ¡°Hahaha!! That¡¯s true, after all its Sir Loann, we are talking about. Anyway, again out for a walk, aren¡¯t you guys?¡± ¡°Yep, yep! We gotta taste Master Lobsters¡¯ lobsters once again or else my tummy would be upset for the next couple of days.¡± Replied Aslak. ¡°Hahaha!!¡± Sir Peder rubbed Aslak¡¯s blonde hair and shouted at the soldiers on the ramparts of the Outer gate. ¡°Open the gates!!!!!!!!!¡± The Cainhorn Outer Castle gate wasn¡¯t only a simple wooden door or portcullis[1]. The front gateway was guarded by three layers of gates, the very first being a steel-wood combination portcullis, then came a steel plated door which was pulled up like the portcullis and lastly another portcullis completely made of the hardest and thickest steel available. Along with the protruding rampart, ballistaes and several other stuffs, made the gateway resilient and difficult to breach from outside. ¡°Yessir!!¡± came the reply, as the soldiers on the ramparts ran to the guard room. Soon, the sounds of huge gears rotating started resounding and one by one the portcullis and gates started to rise up. Peder turned to Felix and company and asked, ¡°Won''t you be taking horses, sire?¡± Felix pondered a little because his feets were still hurting a bit but sister Yvette replied faster, ¡°Thank you, Sir Peder.¡± ¡°Hahaha!!¡± Peder laughed out and issued orders to bring the best three horses. ¡­ Ch-5 Cainshire ... With the horses and the gates open, Felix, Aslak and Yvette mounted and rode outside. After crossing the moat by a drawbridge, only the first wood-steel portcullis closed down, leaving the Castle defenses weak but it wasn¡¯t a problem since they were not in a siege. The town of Cainshire was very close to the Cainhorn Castle. It only took them a few minutes to reach the Residency area, the place where the few permanent residents of Cainshire lived. Beyond this, was the market and then the outer barracks and the gates of Cainshire. In reality, Cainshire isn¡¯t really a town of such, but was more of a settlement of seasonal traders. It thrived on the in-land river trade of the Grey Canal and the herbal trade of the forests around it. Unlike most towns, Cainshire didn¡¯t house any hunters, herders, farmers or such people and there were practically no farmlands or livestock outside the walls. The only permanent residents were fishermen, herb-gatherers and slave traders and even they were slowly moving out. In short, the town of Cainshire was filled with more degenerates than honest people, but most of the crimes weren¡¯t reported because of one reason. Lax governance. The Dean Household, for centuries has been lax and generally didn¡¯t care about the Cainshire town other than imposing a reasonably low monthly tax. The only piece of buildings in the town on which the household actually spent money was the barracks and the outer town walls and that was centuries ago and haven¡¯t been improved much. The barracks, too are moderately furnished and old-fashioned, but it was only used as a place for the veterans to live and train, rather than for training. It was simply the lack of warfare and conflicts that made the soldiers of Cainshire meek. Other than that, the markets are the only interesting place in the whole of Cainshire. With new commodities coming and going every day, it is filled with new slaves, oddities and spices, but it was also only a checkpoint in a rather big trade route. Not many people in Cainshire can actually buy the stuffs which are sold there. All in all, the town of Cainshire was nothing special. As for the reason why there are no hunters or farmers when there are big, wild forests around, is due to certain believes of the residents. It is believed that the forests around Cainshire is haunted by the Spirits of the Woods, or commonly called Dryads. They are immensely powerful monsters who gain strength from the nature around them and can utilize nature to ambush, sneak and annihilate any invading force. With the huge the forests around Cainshire, it is believed that the Dryads have become immensely powerful, powerful enough to deal with any simple army. And with a lazy and untrained army as the Cainhorn army, it is highly unlikely to kill the Dryads, instead it is highly likely to be killed. The next option is the simplest one and that is to burn the forest but it is a bad and tiresome option. Burning the forest might kill the Dryads, but with new forests growing, new Dryads will also be born and the Cainshire army needs to constantly deal with these monsters and various others to keep its wilds safe, but it was a no-no for the lazy Dean family. Along with that, it would destroy the natural livelihood of the many herb-gatherers, who were just keeping them afloat in the town of Cainshire. And to add it, the Lords of the Cainhorn Castle forbade any burning of forests or massive lumbering. The reason is never spoken openly and it is believed that only the closest attendants or perhaps on the Lord of the Castle knows the reason why. ¡­ Felix and company rode through the Resident¡¯s area into market and browsed the various side stalls, occasionally ordering one or two side-dishes and candies. The stall-owners, even though poor, readily gave them a serving, without asking for any money, partly because of flattery and partly because of obligations. They didn¡¯t really care about the Dean family or their lordship, but still put on a bright smile. The reflex of peasants, if you would call it and to the young Felix and Aslak, the smiles of flattery seemed true and honest. But to the experienced Yvette, it wasn¡¯t. She looked coldly at the all the people, men or women, old or young, who would serve without asking for anything other than to remember their names. Infact, she held more regards to those people who would ask for a fee, no matter how small the task was or even when knowing that the person infront was the Lord¡¯s son. And they were going to meet one such person, Master Lobster.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. They rode through the market and entered the barracks compound. Over there, they had a small talk with the garrison Commander and the many veterans, who fought with Sir Aston on battlefield. It wasn¡¯t really a talk, it was more like spectating a gladiator show between two gladiators in an arena and occasionally asking a few questions about swordsmanship. Other than them, there weren¡¯t any spectators around. The barracks were usually empty. From there, they visited the outer gates of the town, which unlike the Castle walls were only three meters tall and half that wide. The gate of the outer town wall was a portcullis but it was only made of Hardwood, but even that was rotting and eroding. Felix and Aslak ignored such stuffs, because they believed the myths of the family, which said that the Cainshire town to be impregnable and the Cainshire army invincible. They only stayed there for a small amount of time before moving on to the Master Lobsters¡¯ tavern. Master Lobsters¡¯ tavern was located around the docks, like all other taverns. It had a huge dining hall where most of the traders, merchants and fishermen would goof around and Felix liked to stay there and listen to ramblings of common people. The other reason he liked it, was because most of the people who visited these taverns, didn¡¯t much visit the town and wouldn¡¯t know that the young guy sitting beside them was actually the Lord¡¯s son. But it was only what Felix and Aslak thought. The regulars of the tavern and even the most recent traders and merchants could easily understand the real identity of Felix and Aslak right away, because, firstly they were too young to come to a tavern, secondly, they never ever tasted ale and thirdly, they always ordered a lobster dish, which Master Lobsters¡¯ best dish and was the most expensive. Only a noble or someone as rich as that can afford it and in the rural Cainshire, only the Lord and his family was that rich. This was the reason why Yvette always travelled with them, even if they didn¡¯t like it. Felix and Aslak reached it right at the time of lunch, perhaps a bit late, but still quite on time. They dismounted their horses and dashed into the tavern crying, ¡°Lobsters! Lobsters!¡± Yvette behind them, sighed tiredly and followed. She unlike her first time, was wearing a black cloak around her and a mask to hide her face. She hid her face so that no lusty men would eye her and make troubles for the little kids. She entered the tavern and looked around to find Felix and Aslak sitting on the last few tables, with Felix waving his free hand at her. She gestured them to sit down and went to the counter to order for food. She paid for the bill and returned to the seat which Felix and Aslak had chosen. ¡°You guys really love lobsters, don¡¯t you?!¡± said Yvette. ¡°Yea, of course,¡± replied Aslak, ¡°Nothing beats the soft meat of the inside and the juice of the head, oh! My goodness that is legendary. Isn¡¯t it, Felix?¡± Felix, who was fidgeting in excitement and because his new back-strapped scabbard, replied, ¡°Oh! Yea and not only that. The spices which is used is also awesome. I would like to buy a ton of lobsters but if I do, mom would scold me and dad steal them. Oh! He also likes to eat lobsters, you know.¡± Yvette shook her head and sighed. ¡°You are incorrigible.¡± She didn¡¯t talk much after that. After half an hour or so, the dishes arrived and Felix and Aslak dug into. Yvette didn¡¯t eat anything and only stared at them, occasionally tasting the soup or vegetables. The lobster dish was called Master Lobster¡¯s Lobsters, a weird name, but no one seemed to care about it. I mean, who would care about 1 Gold a serving of a dish which is only eaten by two noble kids and no one else. Felix and Aslak ate 3 servings and were ready for more when Yvette interrupted them with the threat of the evening practices. Disappointed, they agreed to leave the tavern and headed back, after Yvette paid for the extras. She also had a talk with the attendant on the counter, who handed her some letter of sorts, but the pair didn¡¯t quite notice it. On the way, they still browsed a little of the spice market, but due to it being the Month of Snowflakes, not many of the spice traders had arrived yet. They walked back to the Castle a little before 4pm. Yvette guided them back to Keep before taking her leave. Felix and Aslak entered the Castle Keep with a light mind and filled tummy, but unknown to them, inside a war was raging on between Lady Faye and Sir Aston. Actually, it was not even a war, it was a one-sided slaughter of Sir Aston by his wife, who was berating and scolding him constantly with a wooden stick, while the other maids and butlers were trying to calm her down in vain. It was a funny situation and surprising to find the mighty Sir Aston, the Wolf of The Battlefield to cower infront of his wife. Felix and Aslak had seen this situation many times and were intelligent enough to not poke their nose into. They slipped away silently from the back without heeding to any of the pleas of Sir Aston. On the way, the encountered Sir Torgeir who told them that Master Loann was waiting for them and was quite angry. The moment they heard the word ¡®angry¡¯ along with ¡®Loann,¡¯ they rushed to the Great Courtyard. ¡­ Ch-6 Training ... In the Great Courtyard, Sir Loann was sitting silently on the bench. His face was completely emotionless and under the waning sunlight, it looked a bit melancholy. He sat there silently like a statue, but then, he spotted the pairs and his face became colder and stricter. "You are late!" he spat the first moment he laid eyes on the huffing pairs. Felix and Aslak had ran all the way from the Great Halls to the courtyard at the fastest speed possible, which made them all sweaty and gruffy even before the training had begun. "S-sorry¡­ Master¡­" huffed Felix as he bent over to catch his breath. "Sigh¡­" Sir Loann sighed and stood up. "Come," he said without even waiting for the pair to catch their breaths and started walking towards another side of the courtyard which was quite shady, beside the arsenal. Felix and Aslak were quite surprised and confused because in normal times, they would be awarded with a punishment for arriving late, not to mention the mistakes they made earlier that morning in the duels. But who would question this? Like obedient lambs they followed him to the shady region of the courtyard which was much colder during winter times. On the way, they spotted an weirdly fitted Knight armor lying at the corner of the courtyard, but since they could figure out any of it''s uses, they ignored it for now. Sir Loann picked up a large wooden Greatsword, which was kept in the arsenal and stood facing the pairs, without leaning on the white pillars which was behind him. He held the Greatsword in his two hands and said, "First and foremost, the mistakes of your previous duel with Aston. They are quite a few flaws in your dueling, some fatal and some minors. The most eye-catching fault is closing your eyes, but that can be ignored for now. The other fatal flaw is that, you don''t slash using a Greatsword against an opponent wearing scale-armor. A scale-armor protects its user from downward slashes so you should do a pierce-attack. I''m still wondering how you couldn''t figure it out after slashing so many times. Anyway, the minor flaws are your stances and footwork. I already taught you that you should move your feets in such a way that it reinforces your attack rather than flawing it. Look, I''m demonstrating it again." Sir Loann held the Greatsword in two hands and Hap!! Sir Loann did a slash-attack by moving his right forward with a slight bend and the back feet supporting him. The pierce was clean and neat and there were no possible flaws in it, with the blade slashing diagonally, which is the most fatal slash one can aim for. It was followed by a pierce attack, which was quite sudden but the strength behind the attack was great. Even though Felix or Aslak weren''t facing Sir Loann, they could clearly feel the air being punctured by the sudden impulse. It was vastly different than the crappy pierces Felix tried on earlier in the deal. Sir Loann turned back and said, "Another point of note, you don''t usually use a Greatsword to slash. A Greatsword is used to pierce and bash your enemies to a pulp without a morsel of regret. The armors of a Knight are too strong to be breached by simple arrows or swords, so you need something heavy enough to cripple the opponent in the armor. And that is the reason why Warhammers were created. But in the case of Greatsword, it can be used both to pierce an armored enemy in their weakpoints or kill them by internal hemorrhage." "But they can be used for slashing, can''t we?" asked Felix. "Of course, you can, but what''s the use to slash with it? The Greatswords are made very heavy to simply bash people to death, not to kill them by bleeding. You can obviously slash but the weight of the blade will make it too difficult and believe me, people who go about carrying Greatswords as big as doors in one-hand to slash people are nothing but idiots living in fantasy. It''s futile to slash with it, even more so for heavier Greatswords." "Then why are the edges of Greatswords made sharp? I saw uncle Aston use a Greatsword which was very sharp. Why is it so?" asked Aslak from the sides, while adjusting a bow, which kind of looked like a replica of a longbow but of much smaller size. He picked up from the arsenal and was already tweaking it. Sir Loann took his wooden blade and pointed at Aslak with it''s sharp tip right under his chin to catch his attention. He replied, "Because without a sharp edge, its no sword. A sword without an edge is no sword instead it would be called an iron stick or iron pole to bash people. But it''s not and so it needs to have one. But on the view of practicality and objective, the real use of a Greatsword is to bash people. But then again, if you think from other points of view, only the bladed part of the Greatsword can slash INTO the skin of unguarded opponents, so its not completely useless. It''s completely useless against Knights, but for people with weak armors, the sheer force of the Greatsword can penetrate deep into their bodies and deliver a fatal bow. Here, have a look at this." Sir Loann picked up a big Greatsword, which had a super smooth blade edge with a bit of thickness in the middle of the blade. It looked sleek and light at first glance, but its sheer size, which was almost the 1.5 times the full size of Felix, made it seem deadly and ferocious. He picked it up in one-hand and threw it like a stick at Felix. Felix tried to catch it with both of his hands without underestimating the weight, but the moment his hands touched the blade, a heavy gravity pulled him down and almost made him trip forward. "Help me, Aslak!!!" cried Felix, but before Aslak could do anything, he tripped forward. Thang!!!! "Ouch!" cried Felix. "Was that heavy?" Aslak asked midway and was replied with a glare. Felix picked himself up and tried to pick the blade too, but it was simply too heavy for him. "Just don''t stand there idiot!!!" cursed Felix at Aslak, who immediately strode forward to help. With the joint effort of Felix and Aslak, they were finally able to pick it up, but it seriously looked like a polearm rather than a sword at their heights. "That is a real Greatsword. Made for battle. Made to kill. Not a weapon for the weak-hearted, not to show mercy to others. Made to execute. With impunity. Remember it, both of you!!" he said seriously and took the blade back from their hands. Felix and Aslak looked attentively at him, because they knew that their teacher has entered his super-teaching mode and this is not a time to waste. Sir Loann flung the Greatsword over his shoulders, took a pair of gauntlets but instead of wearing it, threw it at Felix, who caught it awkwardly. Sir Loann indicated him to wear it and he did so, but the gauntlets seemed a lot loose and were making terrible clacking sound. This was because there wasn''t a chainmail glove or even a leather glove underneath it. Sir Loann pointed at the gauntlets and said, "You see these pieces of hand guard? These are called gauntlets and like I said earlier, they are there to protect your hand. Other than protecting your hand, though, these gauntlets have many other uses. One such use for gauntlets to us is that we can hold the blade of the Greatsword without harming ourselves. Well, you can hold the blade without gauntlets but for now, it can protect your palm. Anyway, this has led to the development of the Half-blade Technique." "Ah! That''s the one dad was telling about!!" cried Aslak from the side, but he was stopped by Felix who poked him from the side. "Ahem! I don''t know what that idiot of your father has told you, but listen carefully now, even though you are not going to learn swordsmanship later. Okay, the Half-blade Technique," he held the Greatsword in both of his hands, basically the blade in both his hands and continued, "The Half-blade Technique is a technique used to poke or pierce your enemies. Before you say anything, let me finish, Felix. Yes, it''s true that you can do a pierce-attack without using the Half-blade Technique, but the main objective of this technique is to increase your accuracy. As you can see, the Greatswords are very heavy to be accurately pierce your opponent''s weakness, given they are wearing full-suit armor, which means that the weakpoints are much more guarded or hidden. So, instead of holding your greatsword by the hilt, its always better to hold it in two hands. There are advantages and disadvantages, but mostly advantages. The advantages are more accuracy and you can bash people with the pommel or the hand-guard of the sword. The disadvantage is that, an unskilled warrior is going to cut his hands on the blade. And if you consider it further, the reach of the sword decreases a bit, or in better terms, you need to become more personal with your opponent. You get it?!" If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement."Um¡­ yea, but I wonder won''t the hilt or pommel break if I bash with it?" asked Felix. "Not at all. The hilt or the downward portion of any sword is always made strong, much stronger than the blade itself and it is quite common to use them to bash, instead the actual blade. The real problem with bashing with a blade is that, you can''t dent the armor quite effectively with the bladed part and there is a chance that the sword might bend if its not forged properly. But with the pommel or guard, it can pretty much work like a Warhammer. Give it a try." Sir Loann showed him a few piercings with the Half-blade Technique and then bashed using the guard. What was most important with this technique, wasn''t how to pierce or bash, it was how to grip. Sir Loann griped the blade with both his hands by pinching the blade between his fingers and palm. This was the most easiest way to do the Half-blade Technique, with the other, more dangerous being gripping the blade. A far more dangerous option. After demonstrating a few times, he handed the blade to Felix. Felix looked astonished at the blade being offered. He involuntarily took the blade but then said with a shaky voice, "M-Master¡­ d-do you mean t-to p-practice with this s-sword¡­" "Yea," replied Sir Loann quite frankly. "After all, from today this is going to be your primary blade for the next few months. You can''t change it, unequip it or even ''forget'' it. Along with that you need to carry it everywhere, like you did for the wooden Greatsword or else¡­" "But I got the wooden sword just a few months ago!" retorted Felix in indignation. He wasn''t unreasonable to be angry because the wooden Greatsword was issued only one or two months ago and at that time, it felt the same as this Greatsword was feeling now. Heavy! Extremely heavy and clumsy. But Felix didn''t argue like other noble kids and trained diligently, only to have the blade changed to an even harder. A Heavier, deadlier and harder blade right when he had only mastered its weight, which was not even a tenth of all the things he could learn. "Your blade will keep getting bigger, heavier and harder the more the time passes. These Greatswords aren''t meant to train your REAL skill. They are only meant to get yourself accustomed to swords, Greatswords and how to use them at the most basic levels. When the time comes, I will give you your REAL sword, the sword which will accompany you for your entire life. And with that sword, you are going to learn the secret techniques of the Wardens, just like your father did, and his father and so on." Sir Loann didn''t pay any heed to Felix after that. He went to the armory and took another weapon, which was a longbow. He turned to Aslak and said in harsh tone, "Now, you piece of sh*t! Listen well or else I will put an arrow right through your head. You get it!!!!!" "Yessir!!!!!" replied Aslak with a straight posture and with his fist to his chest. This was the usual greeting of a Knight to his superior and he has learnt it from his father, in order to flatter Sir Loann, but to vain. Felix observed them for a while, smiled at Aslak''s cowardliness and then turned to his own sword. He felt very bad to leave the wooden Greatsword which he has just started mastered, but alas, he has no choice. He must do what his Master teaches and commands him to do. ¡­ "Now, listen good soldier!! You are an archer! A longbowman! And your duty is to shoot! To shoot at your enemies. Shoot to kill! Once and for all. Remember! You''re an archer and your job is to support the vanguard as much as you can. You shoot to kill the enemy, not the friends. You don''t shoot to impale others to surrender. You don''t shoot to subjugate. Only the King, the general and the Lord has the authority to show mercy. It is the honor of the ruling and the commanding to forgive the sins of the enemies, even if there aren''t any. On the other hand, you are a simple Knight, a simple archer, a simple pawn of the battlefield. Your honor and duty commands you to follow the orders of your superiors to do whatever he says to do. It is not in your duty or in your honor to forgive the enemy, it''s ¡­ the Commander''s. Remember. It''s. Not. You!! So, you shoot. To kill! You understand that!!!!" "Sir yessir!!" "Good! Now, look. This is a longbow. As you can see, the length of the bow is near about my total length and this, fortunately for you, this is one of the biggest longbows. Not the biggest, but one of the. There are much shorter but whatever! This longbow over here is made completely from Hardwood. The string is made from twisting linen and hemp together and you will notice this later, but it will elongate if it gets wet and will become completely useless. Avoid this. Other than the string, the elasticity of the bow is due to animal sinews and can bend pretty good." He placed the bow on the ground and applied pressure on the upped limb, to just show how much it can bend. He then picked it up again and continued, "In order to use a longbow, you hold your hand here, it''s called the grip, place the arrow neatly and pull the string. You must pull the string upto your ears to pack a good punch. An archer who can''t pull his strings properly is no archer at all. You get it?!" "Yessir!!" "Good! Other than this, there''s nothing to tell other than practice. But in addition to that, I will tell you that an expert archer can pack a punch of about 180pounds or 81kg impact, a moderate archer can about 140-150pounds or 63-68kgs and an amateur can do about 100pounds or 45kgs. In layman''s terms, an expert longbowman can pierce common Knight armor, a moderate man can dent and an amateur¡­ well, he doesn''t count. Infact, considering your age, I will give you a handicap¡ª" "For real!!!" shouted out Aslak excitedly, but contrary to his expectation, he was about to be disappointed. "Hmhm!" replied Sir Loann, "All you need to do is master shooting 80pounds or 36kgs of impact damage." "In simple terms?" "In simple terms, eh! You see that armor over there," Loann pointed at the armor which was approximately located a 100paces away, the same odd armor we spotted at the beginning. It was an old Knight armor, a bit rusty but was fully equipped. It was made of purely steel and with a bit of polishing, would resume its former glow. Sir Loann pointed to this armor and said, "All you need to do is pierce this. Simple, isn''t it?!" Aslak looked at the pointed armor dumbly for a few moments and it wasn''t only him. Even Felix was looking dumbly at the situation. Aslak shook himself awake and then cried, "Impossible¡ª" "No argument!!!" Sir Loann interrupted him. "There is nothing impossible in this world, kid. All you need to do is practice harder and grow a backbone. And it''s not like I''m telling you to master archery in one night. And don''t forget that I haven''t yet punished for all the mistakes both of you made this morning duel. Consider this as punishment and move on. Now! Onto your work!!!" Sir Loann patted his head, turned back and walked away. Behind him, Aslak and Felix looked baffled and stood in silence. Long after he was gone, Aslak asked Felix with a blank tone, "Do you think Demon Loann hates me to the bones, dude?" "More like love you to the bones." Replied Felix after thinking for a while. "Go to hell¡ª" "I CAN''T HEAR ANY CRIES!! PRACTICE HARDER YOU IDIOTS!!!!!" "YESSIR!!" ¡­ CH-7 The First Disaster With new determination, vitality and indignation, Felix and Aslak started training overtime, in order to master the new weapons, they have been handed. As days passed, this year came to an end and the pretty snowflakes descending from the firmament changed into a heavy downpour of snow. The temperature of Cainhorn decreased tremendously and everything, even the humongous Grey Canal started to freeze. The seasonal trade had been ended and the petty settlement of Cainshire has become even more deserted than it was. Most trading, training, shipment and transactions have ended as people relaxed in their houses waiting for the new year to arrive. But, even now, the duos were training diligently in the Great Courtyard after clearing the snow which were constantly piling up. But unfortunately, this new year wasn¡¯t a good one. Three days after New Year, news came that a Crusade has begun, shocking not only Cainhorn or Xerith but the entire Central Continent. News reported that the Sultans under the leadership of Gazel, The Warmonger. The attack was swift and they swept the Tribulation Tower and the territories around the Jasper Pass, inflicting great damage to the Catholic kingdoms and trade routes to Sindhu. In retaliation, the Catholic Pope has commanded a Crusade and issued the Call of Heroes. The Call of Heroes is the only command which can be issued by the Pope and not the Papacy League and which demands all the Catholic rulers to send their knights and armies to the Southern Highlands to assemble and march onto the Heathen Lands. A massive battle was going to erupt. The Tower of Tribulation and the Jasper Pass are both strategical locations to the Catholic Alliance of empires and kingdoms. The Tower of Tribulation, also called the Tower of Crusaders, is the tower erected to commemorate the deaths of all the Knights who died in all the previous Holy Crusades. As a tower of prestige and pride of the Knights and the Catholic, it was a must to regain it, even though it was already decimated by the invading Persians. As for the Jasper Pass, it is purely a strategical location. The Central and the Southern Continent are not very close and the sea between them, called the Holy Sea by the Catholic or The Devil¡¯s Sea by the Sultans and Persians, is a partition between the two regions of different cultures. But there are regions and sharp points on both the continents which through artificial means can connect the two continents. One such pass is the Jasper Pass. Beyond the Jasper Pass are the fickle kingdoms of Sindhu and the Alliance of Indu. These kingdoms with a culture which is a mixture of its indigenous culture, eastern culture, Persian culture and even the Catholic culture, is a hybrid country. Being at the crossroads of three continents, mainly the central, southern and Eastern Continent, this Alliance of Indu and the country of Sindhu is a bustling trading center and a golden goose. Accepting the rule of supreme, these kingdoms have changed sided many times but after the ascension of Maharajadhiraja Kumbh, the Alliance of Indu made a pact with the Catholic Church to side permanently with the Catholics. But with the successful siege of Jasper Pass, it alienated the Alliance from the direct support of the Catholics, thus increasing the chances for the Alliance to break the pact and side with Persian Sultans. The Catholics fought hard and tough to gain the trust of the Sindhu rulers and they were not going to lose all of it to some puny Persian Warlord. ¡­ With the news of the Crusade, it was obvious that Sir Aston and his small legion of veteran Cainhorn troops were to join. With the honor of the Cross on line, Sir Aston, Julian and all the veterans left on the end of first week of the Month of First Snow by the waterways of Grey Canal to meet with Sir Hendrickson, The Lord of the Seas. The already lonely Cainhorn Castle has become lonelier. The only veterans who stayed back were Sir Loann and Peder Ruen. Felix and Aslak were quite sad by the fact that their fathers were going to war with a possibility of never returning, but they weren¡¯t allowed to feel sad for long. The Demon Loann didn¡¯t go to war and therefore, their training went on at a much faster pace than usual and this fast-paced training soon made them forget about their sorrows and to aim higher. As months passed, the duos¡¯ training regimen changed considerably with their weapons becoming more and more heavier, deadlier and new skills, stances and combos entering their fray of training. Everytime their weapons would be changed or new skills be taught, both of them will be filled with renewed vigor and enthusiasm and a burning desire to prove it to Sir Loann that they can learn whatever is thrown at them, even faster than he can imagine. And just like this, 2 years passed. ¡­ In these two years, the situation of the Crusade changed multiple times, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Rumors and reports say that the Alliance of Sindhu was forced to change side at least three times during these 2-years-war, from Catholics to Persian, back to Catholics and then again to Persia. Finally, unable to withstand this constant changing and reversing, the Catholic army laid a massive siege to the City of Indu, defeating their ruler, Maharajadhiraja Kumbh and replacing him by his brother, Yambhu, solidifying Catholic dominance.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. From there, the Catholic army marched to kingdom of Erke and Esin, followed by Eylul, Kazakisthan and Yasmin. The Catholic army was finally stopped on the Aysal Canal, where an elongated battle was fought between the Catholic armies and the Alliance of Sultans of Persia and the Caliph, the Heathen Religion¡¯s Leader. Finally, on the year of 3037, the Catholic armies retreated from the Persian lands due to lack of supplies and manpower. This ended the 2-years-war, also known the Fifth Sindhu war or the 36th Holy Crusade. The 36th Holy Crusade saw the rise and fall of many heroes and knights, but there is one Knight who made a name for himself in the entire Crusade Theatre and that was Sir Aston, the Wolf of Xerith. Sir Aston with his small squad of veterans were initially not looked upon by his colleagues and infact, was ordered to go on a suicide mission by Sir Hendrickson. But instead of dying, Sir Aston¡¯s squad returned victorious from their mission without a single loss. Later, they were deployed in the siege of City of Indu, where they defeated the Sindhu King, Kumbh and captured the throne and the Fabled Crown, a crown made of White Diamonds. Along with that, he was also rewarded by the new King, Yambhu, by giving the hands of his daughter to Sir Aston. Later, he also participated on the siege of Erke on the command of His Highness the Pope, where he again distinguished himself by slaying the Persian Sultan Gayuk Erke. Delighted, the Pope handed him large amounts of Gold and jewels. The last siege where Sir Aston participated was the siege of Yasmin, where he led a meagre 20, 000 troops to defeat the Persian Warlord Mustafa of 80, 000. He was again handed Prince Mustafa¡¯s daughter, Princess Yasmina, as an object of surrender and apology. But unfortunately, on the battle of Aysal, Sir Aston¡¯s forces were cornered by the Caliph¡¯s forces and executed. It marked the rise and fall of Sir Aston, the Wolf of Xerith. ¡­ The news of Sir Aston¡¯s death rocked the entire Cainhorn, more than his achievement. The entire valley of Enning fell into complete silence and a mourning was organized for 13 days. At the end of the 13th day, the large ships of Sir Hendrickson arrived on the small docks of Cainshire. All the members of the remaining Dean Household, mainly Lady Faye, Felix, Aslak, Sir Loann, Sir Peder Ruen and the remaining few veterans arrived at the docks to welcome the procession of Sir Hendrickson and other delegates. They were informed that other than Sir Hendrickson, the Grandmaster of the Wardens and the Arch-Bishop of Xerith were arriving to give their condolence to the Dean family and for this event, all of them were dressed up specially. Lady Faye, being the newly widow of Late Sir Aston, was meant to wear only white garment, so she wore the pure-white silk garment with a flower-embroidery finish and a crown made of olive leaves. Felix, on the other hand, wore a full suit of armor, the smallest suit of armor that Master Torgeir ever made. He had a Longsword by his side, but it was mostly blunt. Aslak also wore a suit of armor but after two years, he had become much taller than Felix, tall enough to wear a normal sized armor. Armed with a longbow, he stood beside Felix, like a loyal brother and friend. Sir Loann and Sir Peder wore their usual dresses because they didn¡¯t care much of tradition and stood behind Lady Faye, like bodyguards. The huge Man¡¯O¡¯Wars of Hendrickson docked on the small docks and a huge plank was laid with a downward slope. From there, long lines of treasures, silk, Gold-inlaid weapons and treasures and finally women descended. The usually empty docks were crowded by all the people of Cainshire, who looked greedily at the golden treasures being carried to the castle, but to the Dean family, they meant nothing. They were waiting for their veterans who went to war. Felix glanced at the women who were descending the ramp and found them to be Persian in appearance. He understood immediately that they were the rumored Princesses of the Heathen Lands, his father defeated and captured. They were a total of 11 women who descended the ramp, 6 of whom wore black garments and covered their face, while the other 5 wore white garments, similarly covering their faces by a cloth, with only a narrow slit from which a small part of their skin and eyes were visible. He noticed that most of the women were very small and looked like they were all girls of 15 or 16s, with only two of them elder than the rest. The unusual thing he noticed about these two out-of-ordinary women were that, they wore golden jewelries which the other women didn¡¯t and secondly, their bellies were a bit inflated than normal. In this world, children were taught to take responsibilities from a very young age and therefore, they were taught about everything about the human bodies, even sexual organs and reproduction at an age of 7 or 8 and the duos were no exception. Felix already knew about sexual intercourse and was more shocked to learn that the man, whom he called his father, the man who never touched a single woman other than his mother, had impregnated two foreigners, not to mention, two Persians, followers of the Heathen God. This was astonishing and this fact wasn¡¯t only noticed by him, others, even his mother noticed it, but she didn¡¯t have a single change in expression. The two women and their retinue of followers looked curiously at the new lands around them and it was then, that the gazes of the two women met with the gaze of Lady Faye, but unlike what Felix and others had imagined, nothing happened. The two women bowed towards Lady Faye, who similarly bowed back, returning the respect the two noble women gave her. The women were soon followed by a long line of war-beaten soldiers, the veterans of Cainhorn, carrying a casket. ¡°Father!!!¡± cried Felix as he tried to dash towards the casket, but was gripped firmly by Aslak. ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± replied he, as he pointed to the people on the ramps. Felix looked at the where Aslak was pointing and saw two man watching them constantly from the start. Sir Hendrickson. ¡­ Ch-8 Funeral Sir Hendrickson, Gwydion Hendrickson, the Lord of Seas, the Duke of Presley and the admiral of the Xerith fleet. The Hendrickson family has been a neutral family from the beginning of Xerith empire and has never sided with any of the factions of nobles. The reasons are quite various, one of them being that Hendrickson family is a side-branch of the Imperial family and that there have been inter-marriages between them, therefore a Hendrickson has a fair chance of ascending the Throne. Another reason is the supremacy of ocean and sea-trade. With most powerful nobles¡¯ lands siding along the banks of the great Grey River, inland water trade and foreign water trade is the most profitable business without very little risks and there is also the possibility of engaging into foreign trades. But along the Grey Delta, the place where the Grey River meets the Holy Sea, is the territory of Hendrickson family, the family with one of the most powerful navies. Therefore, with trade and commerce being the main aim of all nobles, no faction dares to scuffle with the Hendrickson family, who can anytime come and destroy their fleet and due to the long years of tribute and dominance of sea-trade, has made the treasury of the family fat and the soldiers battle-hardy, making the family¡¯s rule unbreakable. For years, ever since the rise of Sir Cain, the Hendrickson family has supported the Dean family. Initially, it was due to the influence of the Wardens, of whom Sir Cain and his descendants were part of, that the Hendrickson family took care of the Dean family. But after the fall of the Wardens, it became increasingly mysterious as to why the Hendrickson family still supported the Dean family. The previous Dean family heads, aware of the cunning nature of the nobles, increasingly tried to distance themselves from the noble¡¯s supremacy wars and from the Hendrickson family¡¯s grip, but it was all broken during Sir Aston¡¯s times. During his time, he unlike all of his brothers,¡¯ was an outgoing and adventurous person and quickly became friends with the now head of the Hendrickson family, Sir Gwydion Hendrickson. He helped Sir Gwydion in many of his overseas conquests and in return, was helped in ascending ranks. That is the only publicly known deal about Sir Gwydion Hendrickson and Sir Aston. Everything else is unknown and mysterious and it was suspected by some nobles that Hendrickson is using Sir Aston for some unknown reasons. They also predicted that it was Sir Hendrickson who was behind the death of Sir Aston and that he wasn¡¯t killed in battle, but murdered. This seems very plausible but the Lady Faye believes it otherwise. ¡­ Felix first impression of Sir Hendrickson was that, he was a wily cunning fox. Sir Gwydion Hendrickson was an elderly man of about fifties with a lot of white hair flowing down his shoulders and a great white beard. With a square-face and a broad jawline, a height more than 7feets, Sir Gwydion looked massive than even the most massive person Felix had seen. He wore a full-suit of armor and a long-sailor hat, which hid a small amount of his white-hairs. He had emerald-like eyes and a broad mouth, giving a strange combination for a central man. He scratched his long white hairs as he looked at the shabby settlement of Cainshire in pure disgust and it seemed that he was not a single bit inclined to step on these dirty lands. He wasn¡¯t a single bit similar to what his father had described him about. Felix looked doubtfully at Aslak and asked, ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s Sir Hendrickson?¡± Aslak, just like Felix had a big frown on his face and he said with clear disgust for this man, ¡°Who else would it be other than him. I¡¯ve once heard about what Sir Hendrickson looked like from my father and that description matches him perfectly.¡± ¡°What description?¡± asked Felix. ¡°As poisonous as a snake.¡± Aslak¡¯s answer was right on mark. Sir Hendrickson might look humongous compared to normal people, but his eyes, those emerald-green eyes seems more like that of a snake¡¯s than human¡¯s. His answer has put Felix¡¯s own knowledge to doubt. His father¡¯s image of Sir Hendrickson was something like this: Just, kind and massive, as in size. The casket of his father was open, or rather it simply had no lid to cover. It was a tradition to not cover the lid until the burial and therefore, Felix was easily able to see the face of his now deceased father. The face of his father, calm and serene, looked peaceful, even though, there was a huge scar running diagonally across the face, which didn¡¯t exist before. Looking at the face, Felix¡¯s heart tore into pieces and tears started conglomerating. The casket was carried not only by the surviving veterans of the Cainhorn troops, but by another group of knights. These knights were characterized by their heavy full-plate armor with dents all over the place, a great cape with a picture of a great tree with its branches branching out and a great helm with a flat top. The only man who wore a circular armet helm was the Knight who was standing across Julian. These were the fabled Knights of the Order of Warden and the man at the front was the current Grandmaster, Celyn Prothero. Felix stared at the Grandmaster and was wondering what his feelings were, when a light pat startled him. He turned around and saw Sir Loann standing behind him. ¡°Go take the casket.¡± He said. It was a tradition in Xerith and many other Catholic empires that if a Knight dies overseas, his body must be handed to the son or daughter who must take him back to his Castle. Felix looked sad a bit sad but didn¡¯t refuse. He stood out of the crowd and went towards the procession. Many people, who were initially staring at either the casket or at the treasures and women, turned their gazes to the young Knight who was still fidgeting in his new suit of armor.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The silent crowd was filled with a bit of murmurs and even the Persian women, who had already landed, turned to stare at him. But Felix ignored all of them. He felt very awkward and nervous to step out of the crowd like that, but thankfully, he had a brother with him. Aslak intentionally bumped on him, waking him up from his nervous self. He winked at Felix and pulled him by the hand to the casket and the war-beaten soldiers. They stood straight, infront of the procession, banged their feets on the ground and then their hands on their chest. ¡°Hail the Cross!!¡± ¡°Hail the Cross!!¡± Both Aslak and Felix shouted it aloud, marched forward and took the casket from the second pair at the vanguard, who were Julian and Sir Celyn, respectively. Felix took the casket from Sir Celyn¡¯s hand and hauled it on his shoulders with his great strength. Sir Celyn patted Felix¡¯s pauldrons slightly and whispered with a gruffy and hoarse tone, ¡°You¡¯ve got a great brother, lad, just like your father had.¡± Felix stared at the great helm of the Grandmaster and said with a smile, ¡°Thank you, Sir ¡­ for everything you did for my father. Thank you.¡± The great helm turned around and stared at Felix for a moment before muttering, ¡°My honor.¡± Felix stared at the man, but then a silent whistle again startled him. ¡°Fweet!!¡± He looked and saw Aslak gesturing him to move forward. He nodded back and with great vigor started moving towards the Castle. The casket felt very much like the logs he used to pull with Aslak a year ago during his muscle-training with Aslak, but then it was quite fun, but now, there was nothing but sorrow. The procession carrying the casket moved a bit faster due to the addition of young blood. On their way, he saw the Grandmaster and Julian kneeling down to his mother, Lady Faye. ¡­ The muddy streets of Cainshire was, for the first time in Felix¡¯s life was cleaned thoroughly and a red mat, as wide as a meter was laid, stretching all the way from the docks to the Castle. The path was still a bit rocky and uneven even with the carpet, but it wasn¡¯t a problem for the ones carrying the casket. Felix and Aslak carried the casket without a single peep or show of weakness, and this was even more so for the war-beaten veterans. Felix was seriously shocked by the reverence and honor, these soldiers showed to his father. If he was the new Lord of Cainhorn, he would¡¯ve rewarded the men heavily for their honor, but alas, he isn¡¯t, but then again, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that they would be rewarded considering the kindness of his mother. So, instead of giving them something, he swore to learn all their names. They entered the Castle through the drawbridge, the great Castle door and Felix glanced at all the stationed soldiers. He noticed that they were far many soldiers than he has ever seen before and these new ¡®recruits¡¯ were mostly those lazy soldiers who never ever came out of their dens to either patrol or train. Felix never had a single ounce of respect for these lazy bums, but for now he didn¡¯t sneer. He simply ignored them and headed inside. The procession, was followed by the Persian women alongside his mother, Lady Faye, Grandmaster Celyn and Sir Hendrickson, after whom were the long procession of treasure-carrying Persian slaves. The procession entered the Great Hall of the Cainhorn keep, which was, even though small compared to other noble¡¯s hall, but was still massive. Inlaid with red, green and blue tinted glass and with depictions of the Catholic Gods, a great tree and a wolf, which is actually the symbol of Cainhorn Castle, it looked more like a cathedral than a Great Hall. There was only a single chair, or more correctly, a throne in the room, unadorned and simple and people called it the Lonely Throne. The hall was populated by only a few old men, whom Felix had seen seldomly. These old men were, Illec, the Keep librarian, Kadec, the treasurer, Chester, the butler and Levi, the accountant. The Dean family didn¡¯t have many such assistants or advisers because they never were quite interested in governing the area around them. The procession went near the throne, where the men carrying the casket kneeled down in unison and placed the casket silently on the floor. It was then that Felix noticed that on his father¡¯s chest, there were two things, his sword and a crown. The sword was the same sword his father used all these years, Yhorm, named after his late grandfather who taught him the sword Arts of the Wardens and later gave him this sword. It was a sleek and long sword, with its height almost being 2 times of his current size and 1.5 times the height of his father on his heydays. The other object was a crown, which was actually very small to be considered a crown. It was a magnificent crown, nonetheless, made of white jewels, which looked like diamonds but didn¡¯t shine at all. Instead, all the lights which fell on it seemed as if it was trapped within it, never able to come out, giving it a silent godly radiance. Other than the jewels, the crown was made from ivory and carved with various illegible letters. The Fabled Crown. Felix was shocked by the appearance of this crown and for the first time, a primitive desire arouses in his heart. A desire to steal. But it was quickly suppressed and when he did, he was astonished with himself. He, at once, turned his gaze away from the White Jewel Crown and didn¡¯t dare to look back. His heart was telling him to not look. Soon, his mother came infront and her gaze fell on the crown and just like Felix, she was too transfixed by the beauty. She stared at the crown for quite sometimes and only woke up when Sir Loann shook her by her shoulders. Ashamed and astonished, she hurried along her duty. She took the sword and the crown from the chest of her husband and walked slowly towards the Lonely Throne, as it¡¯s called, not daring to look at the crown even once. She muttered a small prayer to the Gods of Pantheon and placed the crown and sword gently on the seat. It was followed by an ascension ceremony of Lady Faye to the throne of Cainhorn, witnessed by Sir Hendrickson and Arch-Bishop of Xerith, who blessed her for a long rule. It was followed by the actual burial of Sir Aston in the family cremation ground at the back of the Castle, which was also the topmost part of it, since the Castle was backed by a mountain. The pit was already dug and all that was needed to do was place the casket, completely covered with a lid. It was followed by a Holy prayer by the Arch-Bishop. ¡­ Ch-9 Truth-1 The night passed silently. The whole Castle of Cainhorn was illuminated a lot more than usual with towers having big torches burning atop. Unlike normal times, the ramparts and walls of the Castle was filled with soldiers who were diligently patrolling or guarding the Castle. Sir Hendrickson, the Arch-Bishop and the Grandmaster of Wardens were all given separate rooms, while a massive room was arranged for the Persian women and their retinue of servants. Julian, who had returned from the war, had accumulated some fatal wounds and had also lost his left eye, so he was sent to medical ward, where the doctor of the Castle, Sir Doncan MacGilvorra, to be treated and medicated properly, just like the many other veterans. It was 11pm and almost everyone had already fallen to sleep, except Felix. Felix and Aslak had been living in the same room for all their lives and that was to happen until they were 10yrs old. In Felix¡¯s mind, flashbacks of his father¡¯s kind faces and memories fluttered, making it¡¯s extremely difficult to sleep. In these times, deaths aren¡¯t uncommon and Felix is well aware of it. He has seen it before that whenever his father went to battles before, the number of people that would return would always be less than the number who went. There would always be lesser number of faces. It didn¡¯t bother him then, but it does now. Whenever he thinks of all of these as lies, the face of his father would wash up and pain would erupt in his heart. Finally, unable to endure the pain and the silence of the room, he stood up. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Asked Aslak, who just like him was awake. It was just the darkness that made it seem that he was sleeping. ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­. maybe training¡­¡± ¡°Well, then I''m tagging along.¡± He said and flung himself up from his bed. Felix pursued his lips and said, ¡°¡­You don¡¯t need to¡ª¡± Bam! Aslak punched him quite hard on his chest and said, quite sternly, ¡°What kind of a brother will I be, if I''m unable to support you when you¡¯re down. C''mon, if you ain¡¯t sleeping, I''m not sleeping too. Let¡¯s go. We need to finish the regiment that Demon Loann has given us or else we will get spanked.¡± Aslak¡¯s statement brightened Felix¡¯s mood and he smiled brightly at him. ¡°Hahaha. You¡¯ve got quite close to him, haven¡¯t you.¡± Felix¡¯s joked, flinging his arms around Aslak¡¯s shoulders. Aslak rolled his eyes and replied, ¡°Like I would. He¡¯s my arch-nemesis.¡± ¡­ ¡°Yawp!!¡± ¡°Ho ho! Slow as poke!¡± joked Aslak. ¡°F*ck off!!!¡± The Great Courtyard, like other places of the Castle was completely illuminated by torches and there was even a large metal bucket in which a large fire was lit, making the place great for practice. Felix and Aslak were wearing the same suit of armor they were wearing this morning, with the only difference was the weapons. Felix was holding a Greatsword, 1.5times his current height, while Aslak was wielding a dual sword-dagger. Due to the less weight of the sword and dagger combination and with him being an archer, who generally has greater flexibility and agility than a knight, Aslak was able to dodge faster and parry quicker than Felix. The only thing which was Felix better than Aslak was punching his opponent with his steel gauntlets, but he can''t do that now, not at Aslak and Aslak was taking advantage of it quite easily by taunting him. Well, maybe the taunting would change this. ¡°Yap!!!¡± Felix did a diagonal slash-attack, which was quite easily by Aslak, but right then, Felix did a 180-degrees turn and bam! A kick right to torso of the Aslak¡¯s armor and swoosh he went. Thud!! ¡°Holy moly!!¡± cried Felix quite surprised at the strength of his own kick and how weight-less Aslak was. ¡°You alright, dud?!¡± he asked but all he got in return was a warcry! ¡°Yaaa!!¡± ¡­ The fight that ensued was quite brutal with swords clashing and clanging, but then Aslak disarmed Felix, followed by him being disarmed by Felix with his fist. Finally, in a fist fight, Aslak was beaten black and blue by Felix and forced to surrender. At the end of the fight, Aslak had a bloody nose and a bruised cheek, while Felix didn¡¯t have a single bruise other than a searing pain in his wrist where Aslak struck his blade to disarm him. Unable to bear the pain of his face, Aslak went to wash it and perhaps apply some cream if he comes across Sir Doncan, who always seems to go on midnight snack-hunting. With Aslak gone, Felix again became lonely, but not quite so as before. He rubbed his gauntlet-covered arm and did a few moves to see whether it was serious or not, and fortunately it wasn¡¯t. The darkness around the courtyard seemed as if it was trying to surround Felix and for the first time, it made him a little frightful. The darkness, which was equivalent to death, made him remember his deceased father and he didn¡¯t want to remember. So, he went to the bench beside the big fire and sat down. His armet seemed heavy to him and so he opened it, threw it on the ground and sat there silently. He waited for Aslak to come back or for sleep to arrive, but neither came.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Silence ensued as he waited. Chik¡­ chik¡­ The rhythmic burning and twitching of the flame, like a soothing sound calmed his mind and the much-desired sleep started clasping him, but then suddenly he heard a faint footstep and the moment he did, the alarms in his brain started to buzz. He had an adrenaline rush, which drove the sleepiness away. He clasped his Greatsword tightly and pointed it at the darkness, from where the footsteps seems to be coming. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!!¡± he cried at the shadows. ¡°Don¡¯t fear, child.¡± Was the reply, but Felix¡¯s grip on his Greatsword tightened. The footsteps coming from the shadows became louder and louder but then suddenly dimmed down and from within the shadow, a huge armored person came out. The person wore a heavy suit of Knight armor with a circular steel armet with a cross carved on one of its cheek. This person was none other than the Grandmaster of the Order of Wardens, Sir Celyn. Felix frowned and asked, ¡°Sir Celyn?¡± ¡°Good lad, at least you know who I am.¡± Said the armored man, Sir Celyn. He walked into the light and showed himself completely. Felix, in respect, put his blade down and put his hand on his heart and bowed slightly, the Knightly gesture shown to someone superior in rank or status. ¡°What might bring you here, Sir Celyn?¡± asked Felix, still a bit doubtful about his intention because for some reason, he was always getting the feeling that the Dean family has walked into muddy waters and that coming out of it wasn¡¯t going to be easy. Sir Celyn returned the gesture, out of pure respect and said, ¡°I know how you¡¯re feeling child and I respect it. sigh¡­. Your father was a chivalrous man and the bravest person I¡¯ve ever met on the battlefield, but there are things that you must know about his death. I suspect¡­¡± his voice trailed off to a deep silence. Felix frowned and asked, ¡°What do you mean, Sir?¡± He was doubtful of Sir Celyn and this further made him cautious. Sir Celyn sighed and replied, ¡°It¡¯s better that you hear it from someone who has been with him in that campaign. Madam Yasmina.¡± Another shadow appeared behind Sir Celyn, who also stepped forward into the light, revealing herself and Felix was considerably shocked. The new person was none other than the white-clothed Persian woman with a bit of a bulging stomach. One of the Princess of the Heathen Lands, Princess Yasmina of Yasmin. She, just like the first time, was wearing a new white gown-like cloth and still had a white face-veil over her face to hide it. ¡°You...¡± cried Felix and immediately went into alert. He pointed his sword back at them, or rather her and went into full caution-mode. Sir Celyn who was shocked by the massive change of expression, tried to calm the situation by acting the middleman. ¡°Please! kiddo, put your weapon down. She is not your enemy. She¡¯s your father¡¯s wife now, so¡ª¡± ¡°Let it be, sire.¡± Princess Yasmina interrupted Sir Celyn and walked infront, more into the light to let Felix have a clearer view of her. But instead, Felix became more cautious. He certainly didn¡¯t look upto the Heathens and had heard quite a lot of tales of their female Hassassins or Nizari Islamis, who can kill their opponents before even they know how they died. He has heard it from his father and he is never going to doubt him. But what happened next made him quite surprised. Princess Yasmina, of whom he was so cautious about, took her face veil and showed her face, seriously shocking Felix. He was shocked because he has heard from his father that only the females of the Heathens¡¯ Lands only show their faces either to their husbands or to the closest or trusted person. And this has proved that she wasn¡¯t hostile against Felix or at least she considers him to be trusted. The next thing which shocked him was her face. Unlike what he has heard from his father, that people from the Heathens¡¯ Lands are all dark-skinned and heavy beards, this Lady infront of him was in no way dark, even milk would be dark when compared to her. With a porcelain-like skin, big hazel eyes and long flowing black hair, she was a beauty through and through and that was even, when leaving her almost perfect nose and mouth. ¡°Can you believe me now?¡± she said in a small voice, which was filled with conviction. ¡°Uh¡­ wait! What? I don¡¯t!¡± said Felix but he was clearly more shocked than he previously was. ¡°Haha!¡± she giggled silently and replied, ¡°Everyone is as shocked as you when they first see my face. Your father was the same. Anyway, let me introduce myself to you. I''m Yasmina Mustafa from the principality of Yasmin. I was given to your father as a gift of apology for both his bravery, kindness and a mean of surrender, so you can deduce that this marriage was against my wish, unlike sister Aarti¡¯s.¡± ¡°Who again?¡± asked Felix. ¡°The women in black, the other woman with a bulging stomach. She¡¯s your father¡¯s first mistress and unlike mine, she voluntarily married your father. And she¡¯s quite a nice girl.¡± ¡°Um¡­ I''m sorry, but I don¡¯t quite seem where this is going. I mean¡­ uh¡­¡± Felix stuttered as he tried to dodge the subject of his father¡¯s marriage, after all the facts about marriage and reproduction was very new to him and he was exceptionally embarrassed about it. And to talk about his father ¡­ Princess Yasmina shrugged her shoulders and smiled, ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, it¡¯s not the matter anyway. What I''m about to talk about is your father¡¯s death and the circumstances surrounding it. But before that, I¡¯ve something to ask you. Do you trust Hendrickson?¡± Felix frowned and answered, ¡°I used to ¡­ but not anymore. I¡¯ve starting doubting ¡­ peoples and yes, Hendrickson is the first one.¡± ¡°Well, that certainly means, you¡¯re growing. You see, when you start to doubt, you start to reason and only a sane and growing person can reason, unlike your father, that is¡­¡± muttered Sir Celyn from the side. ¡°Pardon?¡± ¡°Ah! Don¡¯t listen to the old man.¡± Interjected Princess Yasmina. ¡°Your father wasn¡¯t wrong to trust Hendrickson. He has told me tales of his naval conquests and maneuvers and somethings which he said certainly shocked me a lot. And if all of those tales are true, then I¡¯ve got to say that he is far more intelligent AND cunning than us, people of Persia.¡± ¡°Cunning, eh! How so?¡± asked Felix, putting his blade down and lowering his guard for now. ¡°Cunning, like sending weaker nobles and knights to do the dirty job and to take the frontal assaults. Sending the nobles and Knights to such missions, where there is a hundred-percent guarantee of their deaths, which would mean that his forces would be fragmented and far easier to utilize for his needs and gains. Your father also went to many such battles and missions, but Lady luck always seems to favor him. Along with his faithful band of brothers, he seems to accomplish any and all missions. The man named Julian, who lost his left-eye is one of the most faithful persons I¡¯ve ever met and he is one of the reasons, why your father was alive until now. And I see that you¡¯ve a friend like that, don¡¯t you? I hope you will cherish him.¡± ¡°Aslak ¡­ yea, he¡¯s my brother and my best friend. I¡¯ve ought to support him and vice-versa.¡± ... Ch-10 Truth? -2 ¡°Well, that¡¯s good because only with brothers like them, can you protect yourself from cunning foxes like Hendrickson. There have been times when I saw your father marching into a deadzone and it was only Sir Julian¡¯s support which made it possible for him to return alive. Anyway, Sir Julian was never supportive of Hendrickson¡¯s plans and strategy and often questioned it afterwards, often in my room with your father, and frankly speaking, it was clear as day that Hendrickson was trying to kill your father by giving him those kinds of missions. One mission directed your father to take the frontlines and to charge at the Caliph¡¯s forces, nearly killing him there. Now, I don¡¯t think that you would believe every words of mine, but I will warn you for one last time, do not trust Hendrickson. And¡­ there¡¯s another thing¡­ which I think might be the cause of all of these troubles¡­¡± Felix joked, ¡°Something more dangerous than Sir Hendrickson?¡± ¡°Quite so,¡± replied Princess Yasmina. ¡°Have you seen the Fabled Crown?¡± Almost immediately, Felix¡¯s smile disappeared. He frowned deeply, but didn¡¯t say anything. She understood it immediately that he had seen it. She sighed deeply. ¡°So, you¡¯ve seen it¡­¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± Felix asked with a stern tone, quite skeptical, but it was actually quite ¡®open¡¯ to others given his expression. ¡°And first of all, how do you know about it? I¡¯ve heard that it was given to my father by the King of Sindhu and not Yasmin.¡± She sighed again and closed her eyes. After a moment, she opened her eyes and said in a strong tone, ¡°Listen carefully, because I''m not going to repeat it again. That Fabled Crown, which was gifted by the current King of Sindhu is a cursed object. I can''t speak much of it, but please believe it. We, of the Yasmin kingdom was gifted those jewels and ivory by a certain adventurer who has visited the Fabled Lands of The Origins and had ¡­ kind of forced us to make it into a crown. The adventurer was a strange and eccentric person and told us that the crown will be cursed, even before we made it. My grandfather was the ruler of the principality then and was a healthy man and a religious man. He believed that The One would protect him and so he gathered the finest jewelers and engravers to make the best crown he could. And as you can see it, that¡¯s the result. But, right after the crown was made, strange things started to happen. The engravers who made it all died of a mysterious disease, the jewelers all went insane and an extreme greed of money and jewels birthed in them. These strange sightings were reported to the Sultan, but it was already late. My grandfather had already fell in love with the crown and never seemed to be able to remove it and it wasn¡¯t only him. It went same for the people around him, the generals, the advisors even the petty soldiers, all of them stay cooped in the courtroom for days, even weeks to gaze at the crown in admiration. There have been times, when servants were needed to feed the ministers personally. The occurrence had frightened my father, the Crown Prince extremely that he started planning ways to get rid of the crown. And the most strange thing about this crown is that it chooses it¡¯s victims, like a living person. Finally, after a series of fake mishaps and incidents, the court was finally able to dismiss itself, but right after that, my grandfather turned insane. He stayed like that for 3 decades, but suddenly, he was killed mysteriously, just like those engravers the previous night of Sindhu army¡¯s siege. My father; the new Sultan was right away put incharge of the battle and saw the Sindhu army as an opportunity to get rid of the crown. The Yasmin army was quite powerful then, but my father intentionally issued some foolish and tactless commands, which led to Yasmin¡¯s eventual defeat. As a mean of surrender, my father used the Fabled Crown as a bargain and quite amazingly, the Sindhu King withdrew his army. He had also been charmed by the Fabled Crown. The generals criticized the King tremendously but he silenced them all. Later, words came that the kingdom of Sindhu was hit by a terrible plague and it was then, the Warlord of Garbu, Gazel was ordered by the Caliph to attack the Catholic empires, capture the Jasper Pass and thus, start the 36th Mucadas Antiqam or Holy Revenge. But the strings of fate are so strange. Who would¡¯ve expected that the person who defeated Sindhu and was rewarded the Fabled Crown would also defeat Yasmin. But alas, your father wasn¡¯t ¡­ anyway, that¡¯s the basic story of the Fabled Crown. A very dangerous object, which is cursed yet people try to posses it. We, of the Heathens also believed in demons and presumed that the crown was haunted by a genie, but the ¡­ curse was anything we¡¯ve seen. We tried to hide it as much as possible, but now, it has been seen by the world and I presume, a war for this single crown isn¡¯t too far away.¡± Felix listened to the story calmly and quite seriously, firstly because the story was very unbelievable and secondly, because there are instances in the story which seems so clich¨¦. He folded his arms and asked, quite logically, ¡°Well, then if you¡¯ve seen it, why aren¡¯t you affected by greed? As you say that it¡¯s been 3 decades since it was made, I wonder why you haven¡¯t fallen like the others?¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Because the crown chooses it¡¯s victims. It has some kind of ¡­ sentience within it, just like a demon or a genie and it chooses his victims. I don¡¯t know what is its true criteria to choose its victims, but I do know for sure that it has a special attraction for ¡®court-people.¡¯ I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s just the entire court or whether it¡¯s people with power, but I¡¯ve even seen useless court servants, falling into its curse almost instantly. There¡¯ve been many patterns I¡¯ve figured about its victim but I''m neither going to discuss about it nor am I tell you what it is. As for me, frankly I don¡¯t know why I''m not a victim and that goes for my father too. Other than the two of us, all the rest of the Royal family fell into its curse and died miserably.¡± ¡°Oh! That¡¯s quite sad, but how is telling me all these, going to benefit both you and me?¡± asked Felix with a prospective merchant-like view. ¡°As for benefiting me, there are none. I''m only trying to prevent a massacre from happening again and perhaps a war. As for benefitting you, there are many. One of which is that, you might be able to save your mother.¡± ¡°!!¡± the moment his mother was mentioned in the conversation, Felix was again alerted. He clutched his Greatsword and asked with a stern tone, ¡°¡­What do you mean?¡± ¡°I mean what I say. I''m pretty sure that your mother has fallen into the crown¡¯s clutches. The hesitation on today¡¯s ceremony is a clear proof of it. It may not seem like that to you, but to me, it¡¯s as clear as day that your mother has been ensnared. I¡¯ve also seen you staring at the crown and frankly, I don¡¯t know how you¡¯re able to talk to me so calmly about the crown, but I did try to talk about it with your mother once and she ¡­ she was clearly a victim. All I can say is that, please take care of your mother and try to persuade her away from the crown as much as possible.¡± Her words threw Felix¡¯s heart deeper and deeper into the Abyss. He certainly remembers the first feeling he got when he looked at the crown and the least, he could say about it is that the crown is cursed. He agrees with it completely and this is what throws him into a dilemma. Should he trust this foreign woman who has come into his life all of a sudden after his father¡¯s death? Or should he believe in his mother¡¯s iron will and dump all these talks about curses into water? He was thinking hard when Princess Yasmina bowed slightly and said, ¡°It is getting late, Felix. Now, I must return to my quarters or your mother would worry. But before that, I¡¯ve got to at least thank you for all the care that you and your mother has shown to us, Heathens.¡± ¡°Uh¡­ but I didn¡¯t do anything.¡± Felix said awkwardly, because he really didn¡¯t do anything. From morning to night, he has been either practicing with Aslak or pondering silently on the fickle matter of death and life. He has not even asked for their names or talked to them once. He only got to know about their names because he sent Aslak to gather information because he was shy. So, on the point of hospitality, he sure didn¡¯t treat them quite right. Princess Yasmina smiled and replied, ¡°It¡¯s not the fact that you didn¡¯t do anything. It¡¯s the fact that you didn¡¯t reject us, as Heathens, you treated us fairly and your mother¡­ she is a nice woman. She not only cared about us, but also about our servants, who are really just some petty girls of 15s, whom we wanted to save from their miserable fates and of our unborn child. I''m really happy that ¡­ that my unborn child wasn¡¯t killed in my belly during the entire war and ¡­ and that¡¯s all thanks to your father. Therefore, as a mother, I''m really thankful to you and your family.¡± All of a sudden, her beautiful face turned melancholy and she touched her belly gently. A loving smile blossomed on her face, as she caressed her belly. She then again faced Felix and said gently, ¡°Thank you for accepting us. I hope that you will be able to call the child born from me and my sister Aarti, as your brother or sister, with pride.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Felix chose not to answer the question, but Princess Yasmina didn¡¯t mind it. She bowed down and left the courtyard silently. Sir Celyn stared at Felix for a few second and said, ¡°Vesuvius mountains in north-western frontier of Lugrade Empire. If you ever find yourself homeless, do give a visit. Later.¡± Saying that, he also turned and walked into the darkness, leaving Felix alone. Felix wasn¡¯t sure that the last statement was an invitation or not, but it did seem like one. At least an informal one, even though it was quite a harsh one. ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Felix sighed and returned back to his seat. He sat down and picked up his helm which he has dropped and stared at it for a moment. He then looked up and stared at the moonless night and at the countless stars glittering around. The fire of the big torch was dimming, making the stars more visible and brighter. He smiled faintly and muttered, ¡°Will I be able to call my father¡¯s own child, his own blood, my brother and sister, proudly?¡± He asked the question to the firmament, quite vainly but like a miracle, a shooting star streaked through the sky. Shooting stars like these weren¡¯t quite uncommon, but for some reason Felix felt like he knew the answer of his question. ¡°What does pride have to do with family. No matter who is born into this world in my household, he or she will always be my brother or sister, regardless of color, race, ethnicity or caste. Regardless of anything, that person would be my siblings. Sigh¡­ why did I need to think about it so much¡­¡± Saying that, Felix wore his armet, closed its visor and in the complete darkness of his helm, he closed his eyes to sleep, unaware that he was still outside in the courtyard. And the result¡ª ¡­ ¡°Achoo!!!¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you get for sleeping outside in a tinsuit. What a numbskull you are, Felix!!¡± ¡°Oh! Shut up!! Sniff! First and foremost, why didn¡¯t you wake me up and secondly, why didn¡¯t you carry me?!¡± ¡°Who would in their right minds carry you in ¡­ that tinsuit of yours?¡± ¡°A*SSHOLE!!¡± ¡­ Ch-11 The Second Disaster - 1 So, just like all other kids, after sleeping one night outside in his steel armor, our MC, Felix had caught a cold and not some simple one. With a searing headache, muscle pain, running nose and burning skin, he was permanently bed-ridden for at least half-a-week according to Sir Doncan, the Castle doctor. He was also taken to a separate room, so that he doesn''t get Aslak sick too. Among all the people in the Castle, the one person who was the most annoyed with Felix, was none other than Sir Doncan. Along with 2? dozen wounded veterans, now he had to deal with another kid with fever and headache, talk about misfortune. And that''s why, Sir Doncan restricted Felix to get up from his bed for almost an entire week, not only to avoid worsening his condition but also to avoid paying more attention to him when he has other people fighting life-and-death battles. Even Felix was ashamed of himself and therefore, didn''t even as much as utter a single peep when Sir Doncan was around. It was only due to Sir Loann''s earnest request that he reduced the resting period to half-a-week, but on the hind sight, it seems that Sir Loann was pretty angry with him getting sick. A hellish training was underway. ¡­ During his resting period, other his mother, it was mostly his new step-mother''s who were taking care of him and it was also then, when he got to know more about them. The first mistress of his father was, Princess Aarti and his first step-mother, from the kingdom of Sindhu. She was a dark-skinned woman with large brown-eyes and a cheerful personality. With a height of about 5feets 11inches, she is fairly tall but not quite like my mother or Princess Yasmin, but with a perfect bosom, extra-ordinary butt and a near-perfect appearance, she was more than enough to bewitch men to stare at her. Along with her cheerful-self, she is also caring, even though she can be quite clumsy sometimes. With a strict vegetarian diet and regular exercise, she is more athletic than many other veterans in the Castle and could fight one-on-one with Sir Peder. According to Julian, she had inflicted more damage to Catholic army during the siege of Indu than any other battalions did and had one-handedly defeated half of my father''s small squad of veterans. She is also quite open to the masses and only wore the face-veil because it was ordered by Sir Hendrickson and the Arch-Bishop to do so. Princess Yasmina, the second mistress or step-mother, is a more calculative and careful person than Lady Aarti. With a devastating beauty, awe-inspiring curves and long legs and ¡­ oh¡­ let''s not talk about that. She''s no less of a curse than the Fabled Crown. Infact, she was so beautiful, that she needed to hide herself in her white long silk gown and a white face-veil and intentionally made it seem like she was fat or ugly by padding her sides, so as to not bewitch the people around her and halt all the works. She only opened her face-veil infront of the Dean household, her servants and a few other persons of authority. Felix was practically in heaven, yet was so embarrassed with a perpetual red-face and an earnest wish of digging a hole for himself to jump in. The followers of Lady Aarti and Lady Yasmina would always giggle past him and sometimes tease him, on the other hand, Aslak would always come crying to him with fake tears and complain on what a bad brother he was to not accompany him to sleep outside. Well, it was only useless talks because more than pleasure he fears Demon Loann''s hellish trainings. Felix, other than lying in his bed these three days, was also able to learn a lot about the Princesses, their retinue, loots and more. After talking a lot with the Princesses, he got to know more about the background of the 36th Crusade. Most of the information was useless or about tactics and he wasn''t quite interested in it, right now. Later, if he ever wanted to step into battlefield or seek revenge for his father, he would need to have these strategies by heart. And the perfect person to teach him those is none other than Lady Yasmina. He also got to know that Lady Aarti was pregnant for four months, while Lady Yasmina was pregnant for three months. They had been impregnated during the campaign, and quite frankly, it''s a miracle that their unborn children were able to survive through the entire campaign. He was also informed by his mother that the loots or the rewards of the campaign was at least 2.5million Gold in worth, a massive amount even in a scale of an empire and that she was in quite a paradox on where to spend it. She seriously didn''t want to keep THAT much of Gold in her treasury, lest it might bring disaster. So, with the advice of Lady Yasmina, it was decided that the money would be spent to either equipping the army or to increase the trade. She decided to go with trade and so, invested 100, 000 Gold in both the market and in docks and ordered for a large Man''O''War, a few frigates and schooners to be built by Sir Hendrickson. 50, 000 Gold was used to further upgrade the Castle defenses and to upgrade the lazy soldier''s equipment. Master Torgeir took most of the Black Iron, Chromite-Sulphur, Titanium-infused nodules and Perforated Carbon, to make the GREATEST armors of his life. He obviously took two portions and a bit extra, to make one for Felix and Aslak for their upcoming adulthood ceremony, which was to be held on their 10th birthday. Loads of arrows and steel were also ordered from renowned trading companies to make new arms and proposals from trading companies flooded the Study Room. Strangely enough though, not a single weaponsmith or armorsmith, builders, architects or people with unique profession arrived at the town of Cainshire, which was also on a complete overhaul. All of these left the treasury with 2.1million Golds. There was also another place where a bit of the money was spent and that was to build an extra spacious place for the living of the servants of the retinue, a room with three cribs and a big dorm for the Persian slaves to live. In reality, these Persian slaves were not simple. They were experienced mercenaries, most of whom were the fathers or brothers of the servant girls and were quite loyal to the Dean household, Sir Aston and the Princesses for saving their daughters and themselves from being slaughtered by the Catholic army. Loyal, trained, efficient and ruthless, they were no less of a task force for the Dean household, but the only problem is that they don''t take orders from just anyone. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.As for room with three cribs, it was so because Sir Doncan, ''magically'' had predicted that Lady Aarti was pregnant with twins and Lady Yasmina with a singlet, that''s why there are three cribs¡­. But quite frankly, it wasn''t much of a prediction because the bump of Lady Aarti''s was a LOT bigger than any normal person. ¡­ Time passed quite quickly and soon, it was Lady Aarti''s day. It was the Month of Festivities and so, the entire Castle was illuminated by candles and torches, giving it a holy feel. The entire Castle was told to be alert all the time and even though, extra care was taken, not many people were informed about it. The delivery went smooth and just like predicted, two twins, one girl and one boy were born on 23rd of Month of Festivities. The girl was named Asha Dean and the boy was named Arvind Dean. Both of them looked quite similar with a big head, tiny feets and finger and a large body. Both of them were almost the same, with no change in skin color, ears or anything, even if there are, they won''t be able to notice it right away, with the only point of difference was that the boy had a tiny, very tiny penis, while the girl didn''t. The delivery process went quite smoothly but the feat of birthing twin in these times was not something a weak-hearted lady could do. Even the most hardiest have died during giving birth, regardless of their status and there was no guarantee that Lady Aarti would survive, given the circumstances. But fortunately, she was able to and right after the babies had their first-cry, she herself started crying. It was a moment of pure bliss and happiness. Later, when Sir Doncan diagnosed the babies, he found that not only were the babies filled with incredible vitality and vigor, unlike many babies of that time, but their bodies were also much more adapted for battle. It''s seems kinda ¡­ illogical to tell whether a child is ''good'' for battle right after being born, but Sir Doncan''s assumption was on the basis that both the babies had excellent meridians and veins, a must for later phase Battle Technique training. As a matter of fact, the only reason why Felix and Aslak had delayed their Battle Technique for so long I because neither of them have excellent meridians, so they need to train harder physically to increase their so-called ''talents,'' while on the other-hand, these new born infants already have extreme talents, with the girl, Asha having the better meridians and talent than Arvind. After one month, Lady Yasmina also had her delivery and unlike Lady Aarti''s, her went considerably well and okay. She gave birth to a girl and was named Jasmine, a homonym[1] to her mother''s home land, Yasmin. She, just like her mother had porcelain-like skin and a very cute-little mouth and face, worthy of being her mother''s daughter. But after diagnosing by Sir Doncan, it was found that unlike her one-month older siblings, Jasmine had a very weak body. It wasn''t that kind of weak body which would lead to death, but it was the kind which makes one unable to practice most common and normal Battle Techniques and normal sword or spear fighting, or in better terms, a severe kind of talent. This was not a problem for two reasons, one, she is a girl and most girls aren''t much expected to learn too much Battle Techniques or fight in battles. Secondly, her mother was adamantine on making her having some kind of qualification to be in the battlefield and she decided that she would teach her all the tactics and strategy becoming the tactician of the Cainhorn troop, if it ever comes to cross swords with other nobles. Nobody quite had a problem with it, except the treasurer, who was a staunch hater of Persians, but who would listen to him. After this tough time, the happiest pairs were none other than Felix and Aslak. Felix, because he always wanted smaller siblings to take care of and not big duds like Aslak, while Aslak was happy because he finally found his guinea pigs to bully and experiment. The next were the mothers and then Lady Faye. ¡­ During these 6 months, other than the constant renewal of the town of Cainshire, there are two new things which happened. One of them being, Sir Loann teaching Felix and Aslak the family heirloom, Black Wolfe Technique. A technique which boasts of a perfect coordination of agility and strength, it focuses more on teamwork and cohesion rather than brute strength or mind-boggling agility. Strangely enough, it is not distributed among the common soldiers and is only used by the Dean family, who have been famous for their birth-control. The other strange thing which Felix noticed was his mother''s behavior. 6 months before, when mother Yasmina told him about the dangers of the Fabled Crown, he had a lengthy talk with his mother and persuaded her to get the crown away from her. Lady Faye was quite critical of it, but Felix made her promise it on his name, so whether she liked it or not, she needed to fulfill it and it did work. But lately, she started fidgeting again. Her actions became more and more strange and Felix, on his command as her son, told her to take a good rest and transferred the command of the Castle and the town to Lady Yasmina. He also had Sir Doncan diagnose her, but strangely nothing out-of-ordinary was found. But strangely, after the diagnosing she returned to normal, all of a sudden. He was still worried about her health and therefore, had a very old man transfer the crown deep into the treasury. The reason he told an old man was because of what Lady Yasmina told him 6 months ago. The crown loves ''court''-people or in better terms, people wielding power and an old man, on the verge of death doesn''t have or need any power whatsoever. Even if the old man turns insane or starts biting people, he was still ''expendable'' and Felix was heartless when protecting his family. An unrelated old man is nowhere close to his mother''s well-being. But, little did he know that the sentience inside the crown was far more intelligent. The old man died shortly after transferring the crown, partly confirming Felix and Lady Yasmina''s claims, but it definitely made Felix more critical of the Fabled Crown and its dangers. ¡­ Ch-12 The Second Disaster – 2 ¡°WHAT ARE YOU MUTTS DOING!! ARENT YOU WOLVES?!! PROVE IT TO ME THAT YOU ARE WOLVES AND NOT DOGS!! BREATHE DEEPER, BREATHE HARDER. TAKE IN MORE AND WHEN YOU RELEASE YOU BARK!!!!! I CAN''T HEAR YOU, MIDGETS!!!!¡± ¡°HAIII!!!¡± ¡°HAIII!!!¡± Sonorous shouts of two young kids rung through the entire Castle of Cainhorn, giving headaches to all people within it. As for the kids, it was a miracle that they haven¡¯t already broken their vocal cords by shouting continuously for around 3hours. But the ruthless instructor, still had them shout louder and louder, and so, the shouts kept on echoing perpetually and continuously without a single hint of stopping anytime soon. The kids who were practicing were none other than Aslak and Felix and they were training in the Black Wolfe Battle Technique. The Battle Technique which focuses more on leadership, companionship and cohesion rather than strength and agility. With the basic precept to lead and cooperate than to attack, this technique was fairly tough to master, because it needed one to understand his partner¡¯s or the guy next to him, intentions and help him execute it. This was the Black Wolfe Battle Technique of the Dean family. ¡°Haii!¡± ¡°Yap!¡± ¡°Right!!¡± ¡°Left!!¡± The shouts and cries rung through the entire courtyard, but then suddenly, a Persian slave, wearing the lightest of armors entered the courtyard. He had long black hair, pitch-black skin and large biceps. He is one of the few Persian slaves, who chose a member of the Dean family as their master and swore to serve them. Yalcin, he is called and since he has the fastest of the feets and had the best tongues, he was ¡®recruited¡¯ by Sir Loann, to make him his ¡®errand guy.¡¯ Sir Loann didn¡¯t really have much job and therefore in his free time, he would be asked to fetch reports on his siblings¡¯ condition and more importantly, of his mother¡¯s situation. Yalcin entered the courtyard and immediately gained the attention of all of its inhabitant, especially Sir Loann. Yalcin bowed lowly to Felix and Aslak and then made his way to Sir Loann. He went really close to him and whispered some message in his ears, which instantly enraged him. ¡°What!!!¡± he cried out loud, turned to Felix and Aslak and commanded, ¡°Both of you don¡¯t stop practicing!!¡± Saying that he dashed into the Castle along with Yalcin, leaving Felix and Aslak in great confusion and bafflement. ¡°Well, that ¡­ was easy. Never knew it was so easy to get rid of him!¡± said Aslak hoarsely from the side. ¡°Shuddup! Follow!¡± replied Felix with a more broken voice. ¡°What! But he told¡ªhey! Wait up!" cried Aslak but Felix had already dashed into the Castle. ¡­ Into the Castle, everything seemed pretty normal until Felix asked one of the servants passing around. ¡°Is there something special going on?¡± he asked and the reply was quite astonishing. ¡°Oh! Yes, of course, sire. I heard that a messenger from Lord Hendrickson had arrived to exchange the big boats, Sir. And¡­ um, I think I heard something like having an Imperial meeting or something, which Lady Faye had to attend. I''m not quite sure.¡± ¡°Thanks a lot!¡± replied Felix and dashed towards the Hall Room, which is the usual place where foreign guests are attended. He was sure that that¡¯s the place where Sir Loann was headed. Behind him, Aslak was running and huffing terribly because he was already half-exhausted to death by the training. ¡­ Felix dashed into the Hall Room and pretty much like all the other places of the Castle, it was also quite ¡­ empty. He looked around a bit, but other than the old wife of the house butler, there were none. Bang! ¡°Ju-just stop there¡­ huff¡­Felix¡­ I''m dying¡­¡± cried Aslak as he banged into the room, but he and his condition was all ignored by Felix. He, instead went towards the old-woman and asked, ¡°Did the meeting with the foreign delegates happen over here, Madam?¡± ¡°Oh! No, sire, I''m afraid not. You see, the new ships have arrived. So, Milady Faye went to welcome the delegates and it seems like she was to leave along with the delegates for some¡­ for some¡­¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Imperial council?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. Imperial council. That¡¯s exactly what I heard, sire. Why? Is there a problem, sire?¡± ¡°No, thank you!!¡± replied Felix hurriedly and dashed towards the exit, but while doing so, he glanced at Aslak and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t get up, I''m gonna leave you.¡± ¡°Leave ¡­ me ¡­ alone¡­¡± cried Aslak slowly and tiredly, but instead of showing concern, Felix smiled brightly and said, ¡°Oh! Well, fine by me, but If Sir Loann asks me, I will tell that you''re lazing around. See ya!!¡± Saying that Felix dashed without looking back a single time and as for Aslak, after a moment of surprise, he kept on cursing Felix as loudly as he his broken voice could facilitate. ¡­ ¡°Heave-ho! A new ship has arrived!!¡± ¡°Look at the size, my goodness!!¡± ¡°Wah! Mom, how many guns are there? Can I destroy the Cainhorn castle with it?¡± ¡°Shush! Watch what you speak!!!¡± ¡°But mom¡ª¡± ¡°No! Not a single more word!!¡± Felix heard some very disturbing voices in his ears while getting to the docks, voices which somehow felt like a rebel¡¯s voice and he didn¡¯t like it at all. But for now, his priority was his mother and so, without a care, he dashed to the dock. He shoved and pushed the crowd which has gathered to look at the massive ships, but unfortunately, he was already too late. Right when he was 100 yards or so away, he saw the largest ship he has ever seen in his life, sail away. That ship was 150-200meters in length and was a whopping 350meters tall with a flag of the Dean household flying on the largest mast. It had long white sails with a big red cross painted on it and had 74guns in total. This was the magnificent Man''O''War of legend. The size and shape were not only shocking to commoners, it was also for Felix, who stared at it open-mouthed. And even though, the ship looked a bit wobbly in such shallow waters, it was still nothing but a beast. It was only when the boat had almost touched the horizon, that his real objective lit up in his head, but right then, two things happened. One, Aslak caught up with him and secondly, Sir Loann had found them. ¡°What are you both of you doing here?!!!!!¡± asked Sir Loann in a rather angry tone. His anger was clearly visible from his face and eyes. ¡°Huh! Eh! That¡­¡± stuttered Aslak in terror, while Felix he was already frozen solid on the side. ¡°BACK TO TRAINING!!!!¡± ¡°SIR YESSIR!!¡± ¡­ It was later that Felix was informed that his mother really went with Hendrickson¡¯s messenger to his fief to attend a dining party with other nobles. This was an unprecedent feat because the Dean family had remained neutrals for ages, living lives of hermits in mountains. This practically means that the Dean family is starting to come out of its shell and this is not what most people, at least the Dean household likes. Neither, Felix, not Aslak, Sir Loann, Sir Peder or Julian and the other veterans, who were all a part of the Dean household liked. But the deed had already been done and the ship has sailed. There was a chance to catch up with it, if it was a smaller boat, but boats like these weren¡¯t as slow or stiff, as one would think and has considerable speed than normal boats or horses could catch up to. And therefore, with a faint hope that nothing would go wrong, the Dean household and all the people of the Cainhorn Castle and Cainshire went to their normal work and schedule. Days passed and soon one month had passed and the date arrived on which Lady Faye¡¯s ship was scheduled to return. Felix, Aslak, Sir Loann and Lady Aarti were the only one present in the docks this time and there was also a barricade set up to prevent the common peasants to interfere like last time. They waited patiently and just like scheduled, the ship did return with most of it¡¯s hired crew. Almost instantly, a heave of sigh was heard from all the people present there, but their hearts stopped when the actual fact was brought upto them. Lady Faye was not there. It was informed that Lady Faye had a change of heart and that she wanted to live a few days in Sir Hendrickson¡¯s fief and that she would leave by land and do a land tour on her way back, while visiting Earl Roderick, Viscount Clovers and other nobles of the Crest faction, the faction who had eternal enmity with the Dean family. The naval captain also said that, she wanted to forge better relations with the Crest faction and to create a large trade route to boost the family¡¯s trade. It was all good from the political point of view, but this was not something that was needed or desired and had lot of risk in it. Sir Loann immediately apprehended the Captain and the crew and detained them. He even ordered all the people who heard this to keep mum, which basically included Felix, Aslak and Lady Aarti. The news was relayed to Julian and Lady Yasmin and an emergency meeting was arranged and immediately, letters and messengers were sent to Earl Roderick, Viscount Clovers and Duke Hendrickson. They waited enough, but no reply came back, neither the messengers or their horses or ships returned. It was as if nothing had happened in the first place and with the higher ups getting more and more worried, Sir Loann called for another meeting. Felix and Aslak wasn¡¯t allowed into these meeting, because of one reason: too young. They obviously didn¡¯t agree on it, but they couldn¡¯t oppose Sir Loann¡¯s orders. All they knew was that three units of veterans were organized, one led by Julian, one by Sir Loann and the last led by Princess Aarti, herself. According to the plan, Sir Loann¡¯s unit was to sneak onto Viscount Clover¡¯s territory to investigate and the places further than that, Julian of Earl Roderick¡¯s territories and Lady Aarti was to take the armed Man''O''War and two frigates and go to Sir Hendrickson¡¯s territory, to pressurize him, if possible. It was more of reconnaissance, but they had to take into count all possibilities. And so, just like that the units departed. The deadline was 1month and any later than that, it would be deemed that the unit has either died or disbanded for various reasons. The Cainhorn Castle was truly empty for the first time. ¡­ Ch-13 Aftermath One month later¡­ Felix and Aslak spent the month in absolute silence and leisure. The strangeness of the situation and the fact that neither Lady Faye nor the expeditionary squads, still returned was making it more and more difficult for them to concentrate on their works. It was only on the second week of the Month of First Snow that, Sir Loann¡¯s unit returned and they bore serious bad news. According to them, they heard rumors that Lady Faye had signed a pact of non-aggregation with Viscount Clovers and Earl Roderick of her own accord and that ¡®armies¡¯ of Cainhorn had attacked and ransacked various villages and towns in the surroundings of both the fiefs. And this was the reason why Sir Loann hastily in order to check up on the Castle. No one could make head or tails of the situation. The only one who seemed to have some kind of clue on where this situation was leading to, was Lady Yasmin, but even she wasn¡¯t sure on what is happening and therefore, they needed to wait for at least another unit to return bearing information. ¡­ It was only after the 2nd week of the 2nd month that the next unit returned and that was Lady Aarti¡¯s ship. They were exactly one month and a half late and even then, they returned quite miserably with only one frigate, which was half broken. This was shocking, not only to the Castle people, but also to the Cainhorn people, who considered those big ships to be equivalent to Gods. According to her, they were attacked by pirate-costumed soldiers of Sir Hendrickson. They had 3 Man''O''Wars and 11 frigates and vastly outnumbered, outmaneuvered and outflanked them, costing them their only Man''O''War and a frigate and 110 men. The last frigate only returned with 30men and they too bore the same bad news but with a few bits more, Lady Faye had signed a non-aggregation pact but due to the recent invasion of the Cainhorn army, she had been detained with the rest of the soldiers. Sir Loann, assumed that those ¡®soldiers¡¯ were none other than Julian¡¯s forces and therefore, wrote a lengthy letter to the Grandmaster of Order of Wardens and requested his help and also wrote letters to the Imperial court and Duke Hendrickson and other dukes to help out. After sending them, they had nothing but to wait and unfortunately, not a single reply came. The only thing which came was an Imperial verdict to appear in the Imperial court. Sir Loann and Lady Yasmina understood that they were deep sh*t and could do nothing other than to attend. They gathered the last few soldiers and went to the Imperial capital of Xerith, leaving the command of the Castle for the first time to Felix. Felix and Aslak taking this opportunity, gathered all the official soldiers of Cainhorn Castle and started garrisoning the Castle and Cainshire. It was during this time, Felix and Aslak started getting more into and into governance stuff. With the help of Aslak and Sir Peder, he completely toned down the rowdy armies and initiated what could be called the most basic and primitive form of marching and patrolling.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He also ordered the last frigate to be repaired but unfortunately there wasn¡¯t any good timber to do so. He ordered to take it from the Cainhorn Castle, but not only the advisors but even the woodcutters and sailors refused to enter the woods. Therefore, instead of repairing he ordered for heck lots of arrows and axes to be built for the soldiers from the already imported timber and steel. Axes were much economic to build compared to swords and for these unskilled soldiers, axes can be their best weapons for now. ¡­ 6 months later¡­ The contingent of Sir Loann and Lady Yasmin returned and fortunately, this time, Lady Faye was there with them. Felix immediately ordered the soldiers, who were fairly disciplined to a certain extent, to create a huge protective square around them, in order to prevent the common people to know too much. Sir Loann and Lady Yasmin were certainly shocked by the number of soldiers who were actually following command, but this wasn¡¯t the time to admire their discipline. They hurried along the rugged paths of Cainshire and quickly entered the Cainhorn Castle. They were also surprised the number of soldiers garrisoning the Castle and the amount of people training marching in the background and they sure did praise Felix and Aslak for their contribution, but what they said after shocked Felix and Aslak to the core. ¡­ According to Lady Yasmina and Sir Loann, everything was a cunning deception of Sir Hendrickson, who had joined the Crest faction in secret. He already knew about the curse of the Fabled Crown and had intentionally invited her to a banquet with highly rich dining party, inducing greed into her. Later, he utilized the curse and baited her into signing the non-aggregation pact with the Crest faction and Viscount Clover and Earl Roderick, in return promising large trade routes for the family. It was for this reason that she stayed with Sir Hendrickson for an elongated period of time, but it is not known what has happened after that. Later, Sir Hendrickson, Viscount Clovers and Earl Roderick led a puny force and ransacked the surrounding places and put the blame onto Julian¡¯s force who was also passing through that region, thus effectively violating the pact. Thus, Earl Roderick captured Julian¡¯s force. Later, on the name of Imperial verdict, Sir Loann and Lady Yasmin was actually invited to the Crest faction court, where they were forced to either submit the Fabled Crown or 2million Gold and Cainshire as ransom for Lady Faye and ironically, the decision was made to fall under Lady Faye. The result, 2million Gold and authority of Cainshire for 2 years was passed to the Sir Hendrickson. ¡­. Ch-14 3 Years Later. 12th of Month of Snowflakes. ¡°Brother! Brother! Look! Look! I can now do roundhouse kick. Here I go, brace yourself Arvind!!!¡± ¡°Stop! Stop it, right there, Asha!! You don¡¯t kick your brother!!!¡± ¡°Pftt!!!¡± ¡°Ahhh!! Brother, brother, help me!! Asha wants to kill me!!¡± ¡°Waahhh!!! Help me big bro, Aslak is hitting me!!!¡± ¡°What!!!¡± ¡°Aslak!!!¡± ¡°I''m not! Believe me!! This is cheating!!!!¡± ¡°Wauuu!!¡± ¡­ In the Great Courtyard, which was used to be a training ground for Aslak and Felix, was now almost a playground for 6 children, two of them were Aslak and Felix. Aslak was wearing a silvery scale-mail armor, while Felix was wearing a huge black Knight suit of armor and was moving quite rigidly in the crowd of children. In the part of children, there were three girls, two almost 5yrs old and the third only 2yrs old. The two five-year old were, Asha and Jasmine. Asha was the girl with a slightly darker complexion with long legs and skinny hands, granting her an extraordinary stamina and agility without reducing her strength in the least bit. Infact, her sleek hands packed quite a slap if she really wanted it and wondrously, she is almost half the size of Felix, which was almost 3feets tall. It was considerable for a girl of her age. She had the same black eyes and the cheerful personality like her mother, Lady Aarti. Jasmine, on the other hand, had black hair, pale white skin and looked very weak from a single glance, but this didn¡¯t hide her mischievous smile which she hid. She wasn¡¯t as skinny as Asha or Arvind but she was a lot shorter than all of them and would get bright red for any simple amount of work. Therefore, instead of playing, she would always either read and study the Arts of Governance or take care of her younger sister, Erika. She held another baby on her back, who surprisingly had white hair. The baby, who was 2yr old, had a large head with pure white hair, large hazel eyes and baby pink skin. She looked at everything around her with a curious gaze and always had a bright smile on her face. She is Erika, Felix¡¯s own sister. After, Lady Faye returned two years ago, she was diagnosed pregnant, giving a shock to all the inhabitants of Cainhorn Castle. Infact, she returned in a half-insane state. It was completely unimaginable what kind of torture she had gone through in that 6months and quite frankly, Felix wasn¡¯t in any mood of bringing it up. The last and only boy other than Felix and Aslak was Arvind and he was a bit of a scaredy cat. In height, he stands right in between Asha and Jasmine and he, too, is very skinny and nimble, but not quite as much as Asha. He, like Aslak had a keen interest in archery and would be the best target of Aslak¡¯s bullying during training. Infact, he is the only one who always gets bullied by Aslak in the end, because all the girls are dangerous.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Asha could very well give him a good tight slap, Jasmine could easily pile false charges on him and Erika, being just an infant could easily annoy him by either taking his cap or biting his hands. The last person on the courtyard was Sir Loann, who was sitting silently on the bench with a small smile on his face. But unlike two years ago, Sir Loann now had a lot of white hairs and he also looked quite weak and tired. He observed the blissful scene of the kids playing and fighting with each other, without interfering at all, even though it was training time for Aslak and Felix. As they were playing, Lady Yasmina entered the courtyard and tapped on the iron railing with her ring. Ting! Ting! Ting! ¡°Alright now, kids. Its now time for education. Pack your things and come to my office in exactly¡­10mins.¡± ¡°Awww!!¡± replied Asha, but even she knew that nothing can shake Lady Yasmina¡¯s iron will. Dejected, she waved goodbye to Sir Loann, Felix and Aslak. Jasmine had already hopped merrily to Felix, handed him Erika and then went to her mother, because among all of them, she is the one with the greatest love for education and knowledge. Arvind had followed beside her, afraid that his sister or Aslak might pull some dirty tricks on him. Felix and Aslak waved them goodbyes. ¡­ ¡°Alright now, you guys. Practice harder because I¡¯ve nothing more to teach you. Oh! By the way, Aslak you should try to aim a bit lower and try to exert as much force as you can, in order to penetrate Knight armor. Don¡¯t let your father¡¯s Blue Archery go to waste and also, you still haven¡¯t penetrated that old armor. How useless can you be?¡± he smiled at Aslak. ¡°Uh¡­ that¡­ the armor is too thick¡­¡± Aslak said pointing to the same armor which he had been given almost 4 years ago, the only difference between that and this armor was that this armor had a layer of white ice all over it and countless dents on its breastplate. The ice was due to Aslak¡¯s father, Julian¡¯s signature archery technique, Blue Archery, which utilizes the battle Qi of the archer and coats the tip of the arrow in a deadly frost which could potentially give frostbite to the enemies. It is marked by its signature blue hue when it crosses the battlefield and that¡¯s why it¡¯s called Blue Archery. It is an uncommon piece of archery technique and is well treasured by Julian and his predecessors. Sir Loann then turned to Felix and said, ¡°Keep practicing, kid. I¡¯ve got nothing to teach you anymore. Now, if you need to get stronger, you need to pick stronger opponents and keep practicing the basics. Seek out the monsters of the Cainhorn Wilds, if you dare. Take care of your sister.¡± He sighed weakly and silently walked back into the Castle. Aslak pouted and said to Felix, ¡°Demon Loann is seriously generous to you, siblings. By the way, was that a pass to enter the Cainhorn Wilds?¡± ¡°Boo!!¡± replied Erika from Felix¡¯s hands and waved her hands cutely at Aslak, as if trying to reprimand him. ¡°Haha! Aslak, I¡¯ve said this before, he likes you more and that¡¯s why he is still teaching you archery. He has basically given up on me. As for going into Cainhorn Wilds, I''m not so sure. I will check on it later.¡± Aslak rolled his eyes and replied, ¡°Only because, you¡¯ve mastered the Black Wolfe Technique completely. Man, I seriously wanna beat that guy who told that you are talentless. Guh! Anyway, I will give another try to beat the crap outta this piece of sh*tty armor, so, if you also wanna practice, put Erika down somewhere she won''t get hurt.¡± ¡°Yea, yea!¡± Felix rolled his eyes. Aslak smiled, gave a European bow directed towards Erika and turned towards the almost-blue armor. Twang! Twang! Twang! Felix looked at Aslak who kept on hitting the same point of the armor with his arrows, which were partially covered in a blue hue. Aslak used the concept of concentrating fire on a same point, which was the most effective way of piercing a target, but the armor was so densely made that it was simply impossible to penetrate. Even after firing almost 200-400 steel arrows the armor breastplate was still intact and Felix and Aslak doubted of what this armor was made. But Aslak was as determined and stubborn as Felix when he¡¯s practicing swordsmanship and refused to give up. ¡°Die!!!¡± With a warcry, Aslak kept on battering the worn-out armor. Felix shrugged his shoulders and smiled brightly at his sister, Erika and asked her, ¡°Wanna see the great Grey Canal, little Princess?¡± ¡°Ya!!¡± replied Erika quite intelligently at him. ¡­ Ch-15 Interlude In these three years, the Cainhorn Castle had some upgrades but not very much. After the cursed verdict, all of the Gold was taken by the hungry hyenas of Crest faction, leaving the coffers of Cainhorn empty. The division was such that, 250, 000 Gold was paid to Earl Roderick and Viscount Clovers respectively as ransom, 500, 000 Gold was given to Prince Crest, the leader of Crest Faction and also the Crown Prince of Xerith Empire. As for the last 1, 000, 000 Gold was given to Sir Hendrickson as fees for manufacturing the ships. And even though, the ransom was paid for Julian and his soldiers, they were never returned back. Sources say they had been deported to Roderick¡¯s Bastille. The usual price of the Man''O''Wars range from 300, 000 Gold to 500, 000 Gold and even for the most upgraded and improved Man''O''War, it can at most reach the mark of 800, 000 Gold, so, Hendrickson¡¯s claim of making it for 1, 000, 000 Gold was purely absurd. It was daylight robbery. But it is also true that the Cainhorn people never really checked the quality and the number of guns on the ships in the first place. The ship only docked in the Cainhorn docks for a mere 15 minutes, each time, before being deployed. So, they also couldn¡¯t accurately argue back on the amount of money actually used. Along with that, Cainhorn also had to handover the control of Cainshire to Sir Hendrickson for two years. The reason for this was that Lady Faye apparently tried to assassinate him after ¡®seducing¡¯ Sir Hendrickson. There weren¡¯t any evidence for such act other than a small cut on his face, which he claims to be the ¡®sign of aggregation.¡¯ In short, all of these were nothing lies meant to bully the weak, just that it was in the scale of an empire. And the result. Destruction of Cainshire. After the Hendrickson took control of Cainshire, he sent his spokesman, colonel Reggie to govern Cainshire and he did so, ruthlessly. The taxes of Cainshire, which was only half a Gold yearly increased to 5 Gold. Not only that, they conscripted young boys, even at the age of 9 or 10 to serve in Hendrickson¡¯s army and those who didn¡¯t were deported to somewhere far away. Colonel Reggie¡¯s soldiers regularly plundered any house they felt like it and would weekly force and abuse the girls of several households to satisfy their ¡®curiosity.¡¯ After two years, there are hardly any maidens left in Cainshire. Colonel Reggie also conscripted men to cut trees and farm timber from the vast forests of Cainhorn Wilds, but unfortunately, they didn¡¯t have much of a progress there. According to reports, the forests had a hell lot of monsters and they would regularly ambush the workers, dealing quite a lot of damage to Colonel Reggie¡¯s troops. But this wasn¡¯t enough to make Colonel Reggie stop. He replaced weak soldiers with more and more of his own experienced soldiers and even brought the famed monster hunters. With their help, they not only hunted a vast number of monsters, but also farmed high quality of timber. Excited, Colonel Reggie gathered 10, 000 people, which was 2/3rd of the entire population, both old and weak and started a mass timber farming, but then, suddenly one day, a heavy mist descended down from the hills of the wilds and consumed the entire army of woodcutters. Frightened, Colonel Reggie withdrew his soldiers while sacrificing the innocent woodcutters and common soldiers of Cainshire, even the monster hunters, who were basically mercenaries. Later, when a statistic was done on the losses, it was found that the none of the 10, 000 people returned alive. The potential profit of Colonel Reggie¡¯s in this campaign was almost 15, 000 Gold of high-quality timber, but still not satisfied, he increased the tax to 10 Golds per year, the double of what he set earlier. ¡­ After the 1st year, almost all of the households of Cainshire had empty pockets, every woman abused and most men dead. All the traders and merchants had moved out and many were still abandoning Cainshire. Cainshire was dying and the Cainhorn Castle people could do nothing. Their only hope was to protect the few men they could still afford to feed. Most servants, maids and other people who once looked upto the heads of the Dean family, now look at them with harsh reality and injustice. They were only staying in the Castle because it was their only hope of surviving. The only person of the Dean family who left Cainshire was Master Torgeir. He was kinda special because unlike all other followers of Sir Aston, Master Torgeir was only staying in the Castle, infact in Cainshire because there was a certain Lady who worked in the Cainshire Tavern, whom he liked. After Colonel Reggie started his weekly rape, Master Torgeir became extremely worried about his lover, but even then, he couldn¡¯t leave Cainshire because he still had to finish making his two of the best armors for Aslak and Felix, praying to his Norse Gods to protect his lover. Unfortunately, Gods are cruel. After one such weekend, it was found that the Tavern Lady was found dead in the gutters outside the town of Cainshire. When diagnosed by the local doctor, it was found that she had committed suicide after an extended period of abuse. When the news reached Master Torgeir¡¯s ears, he flew into a rage, picked up the nearest Greatsword and was about to slaughter Colonel Reggie¡¯s soldiers, but was stopped by Sir Loann. Master Torgeir¡¯s condition detoriated and he secluded himself into the basement of the Castle to forge the armors. Even after such disasters, his sense of duty as an armorsmith compelled him to finish the armor.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He finished the armors in 1 year and 3 months. He gifted them personally to Aslak and Felix and immediately left the Castle, leaving only a single word, ¡°I curse you, Milady Faye.¡± ¡­ The other incident that devastated the Dean family was the birth of Erika. Lady Faye returned to the Cainhorn Castle with a baby in her stomach. She had already gone half-insane when she returned and it was a miracle that the child inside of her still survived. According to Sir Doncan, she was pregnant for almost 2months and that Lady Faye had been poisoned by one of the most powerful psychic poison of Audenia, Blood Rose. It was a certain kind of aphrodisiac which increases the pheromones levels of both the men and the women by almost 1000x time. In layman¡¯s terms, make them animals in drugs and if any of the partners doesn¡¯t have enough pheromones capacity to support such intense activities, the poison would forcefully convert the vitality into energy. Called the Lover¡¯s Poison, it is the end of any man or woman, no matter how heartless or toxin-resistance they have. But that isn¡¯t the end of it. After the intense s*x drive runs out, the body would experience an extreme amount of weakness with a chance of instant death. But if by chance, any one of the partners lives out, their body and mind will be completely wrecked and the Qi flow will become haphazard. That means, even after the person lives, he or she will become completely insane and their bodies would grow weaker and weaker as their vitality keeps on being drained to sustain the meagre life of their cells. This is exactly what had happened with Lady Faye. Her death was imminent, but to make matters worse, she had a baby in her stomach. The already draining vitality, drained faster and she became weaker and weaker. And so, the Dean family, or particularly, Felix had a choice to make, his mother or her unborn child. Who should die and who should live? And the choice was ¡­ the child. He didn¡¯t know why he wanted the child of someone else to live and be born in this world, but he simply couldn¡¯t bring himself to let the child die. He simply couldn¡¯t let a life, a soul, an innocent to die without even having it take a glimpse of this beautiful and cruel world. And most importantly, wasn¡¯t Arvind, Asha and Jasmine the same. They were never his OWN brother or sister, so why should he let them live if he can''t let this unborn child live? The answer was simple, it wasn¡¯t the fault of the baby and therefore, he or she shouldn¡¯t and wouldn¡¯t suffer. It was the mother¡¯s fault and it will be she, who will suffer. The child shall live. During these 7months, either Lady Aarti had to always look after her, or else there was a possibility of her killing the child. There were times when they had wished that they killed the child, because the pain and sufferings that both the child and the mother was suffering was unimaginable. The shouts and curses of insanity that rung throughout the hallways would render anyone sleep. But Felix was adamantine. There were times when she had to be drugged to keep her in control and other times, Felix would sit for days in order to not let his mother act harshly. It was only he or rather, his face which could calm her. During the childbirth, Sir Doncan had to adopt a strange technique of cutting open Lady Faye¡¯s stomach. The technique had never been done before and there was a high chance of failure, but they had no choice. An insane mother can''t push a child. But fortunately, it was a success. Both the mother and child survived, but the condition of Lady Faye had detoriated further. Previously, she could still walk with a crutch or talk sanely, but now she was permanently bed-ridden. Not many people of the household were happy with her birth, except for Felix. He was happy that the suffering the child and his mother was experiencing were finally over, but it was not. Even after giving birth, Lady Faye treated Erika harshly. The ¡®harsh treatment¡¯ extended from simple denial of milking to an act of strangling her to death. This further shocked the household and Felix took Erika away from her and handed to Lady Aarti, who was more caring and sympathetic. He rarely allowed her to see Erika and even when he did, he never left them alone. There were times when Felix had to personally go to Cainshire in bitter coldness to find one such mother, who could milk Erika and sometimes, he had to kneel and beg peasants to keep the baby alive and fit. All these accounts, made Felix colder and colder to his own mother and to the world. His pride, self-esteem and status, all had crumbled into dust, but even then, he couldn¡¯t let Erika die. But this also had it own benefits. The wrath and indignation he felt every moment, fueled his training and he already became a level 9Seeker, only a level away from the Lord stage. It was a stage which was very close to his father¡¯s at his heyday. A mammoth existence. But along with all these gloomy accounts, there were some wonderful moments too. The scenes of all of his siblings growing magnificently made Felix¡¯s gloomy mood brighter and little Erika, whom he treasured the most, was his jewel of life. Even though, her hairs were all white like a Sage¡¯s, her skin much paler, her eyes light-pinkish and many of her features not having a single resemblance with Felix¡¯s toned body, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to love her less. It was her bright smile which kept him moving on, even when he should¡¯ve hit his mark. His goal wasn¡¯t just to seek vengeance for the death of his father and abuse of his mother, his goal was to forge a better life for her and all of his siblings. He became the second-in command of the Cainhorn troop which, even though is only 500, he trained them efficiently and they too, instead of staging a rebellion, followed his commands and trained harder in hopes that one day they could outset these devilish people and free their families. Felix obviously knew of their intentions, but he neither acknowledged or denied it. A rebellion ¡­ that wasn¡¯t far away. ¡­ Ch-16 First Kill Felix placed Erika on his wide shoulders and took her to the edge of the Great Courtyard, from where the entire Cainshire and the Grey Canal was visible. It was the 12th of this month and therefore, it meant that Colonel Reggie was collecting his taxes. He does it every month, for three days from 12 to 14 and everytime, there would be one or more places which will be burnt down to show their dominance. He pointed towards the three frigates right at the center of the Grey Canal and said, ¡°You see those big ships, Erika. There are enemies. You know what enemies are?¡± ¡°Booo!¡± replied Erika, slumping down on his head. ¡°Ha! Bad bugs whom you beat. Squash them like this!!¡± Felix demonstrated by squashing a cockroach which was unlucky to pass infront of Felix¡¯s sight, but it was completely ignored by her. ¡°Boo! Boo!!¡± she said energetically and started beating his head, indicating that she wanted to get closer to the edge. She was quite a daredevil. ¡°Yea, yea, little Princess.¡± Sighed Felix and went near the very edge of the courtyard, but while he did so, he clutched her feets tightly so as to not let her fall in any chance. ¡°Weeee!!¡± cried Erika as she spread out her hands in fun. Felix let her have her fun, while he stared intently at the scene infront of him. Being a Lord had several advantages and one of them was large eyesight. He could clearly see the soldiers of Colonel Reggie plundering houses and breaking utensils. He also saw some disturbing sights like some soldiers dragging women away or beating kids. This was a usual act and everytime he sees it, it increases his hatred for Hendrickson and his urge to barge in there and slaughter them. But unfortunately, he can¡¯t. He also spotted some soldiers who were slightly hesitating while massacring and that was only because they weren¡¯t normal bad soldiers. They were betrayers who joined Colonel Reggie¡¯s army. The absolute vermins. He also spotted a man with a bald head, commanding the troops to massacre from the banks. Felix couldn¡¯t clearly see him, but he knew who he was, Colonel Reggie. ¡­ After staring at the scenes for almost 30mins, Felix withdrew. ¡°Enough now, little lioness. Do them longer and you would catch a nasty cold!¡± ¡°Booo! Booo!¡± Erika resisted and pulled his hairs but he wasn¡¯t moved. He brought her down from his shoulders and held her a bit away from her, so that she doesn¡¯t bite him. He went back and saw that Aslak was still shooting arrows at the armor intently and Felix didn¡¯t find it necessary to disturb him. He entered the Castle and handed Erika to Lady Aarti who was currently free to take care of her. He then returned to the courtyard and went to the arsenal. He chose a normal Greatsword, adjusted his armor and wore his steel visored-armet, which was a special type of helmet with a face guard and a large cheek guard. His armor, called Black Wolfe armor, was made purely with Black Iron and Perforated Carbon. The armor had a special breastplate, which was an exquisite mixture of scale and plates. It also had a special black riveted chainmail and a gamberson, which covered the entirety of the body and acted a padding between the armor and body. The gauntlets were also exquisitely created and provided fair amount of protection without disabling movement or agility. It went same for the greaves and footwears, infact the greaves were so light that it was possible to dodge and to spring back up. Normal Knight armors were to heavy to facilitate such movements. There were also some special things about this armor. Firstly, it was the hand-guards and pauldrons. The pauldrons were made asymmetrically, such that the left shoulder had a huge Wolf face and much more protection, to facilitate better protection of the left hand. The reason was that, Felix was right-handed and even though, both hands are required to weild a Greatsword, the dexterity of the right-hand is much more pronounced than the left. So, the left hand had a little bit extra weight and armor than the right hand had, but it was less dexterous. The next specialty was the pointy fingers. The gauntlets had pointy fingers, sharp enough to penetrate and rip through flesh, without damaging or reducing the defense of the hands. This was clearly sinister and was a clear example of how much hatred Master Torgeir had while creating it.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. There was also a black cape attached, fixed permanently to the pauldrons and was extremely long and torn at the end. The upper part of the cape was pitch-black but the lower part had spots of blood in it. When Felix asked what that blood was for or whether it was real blood or not. Master Torgeir never told Felix what it was, but Sir Loann later replied that it was a curse in their Norse culture. Felix had nothing much to reply to that. It was apparent that Master Torgeir hate has seeped not only into his heart, but also his works. Aslak¡¯s armor was much less complicated. It was created using Silver Veil, a special type of cloth, which had excellent defenses, extremely light weight and flexible. Along with that, it also has scales interwoven with a riveted chainmail, to cover all of it¡¯s weakness. It also had sharp fingers and the gauntlets were also made with a special fabric with extreme friction and can help him to climb walls. As for helmet, Aslak requested Master Torgeir to make a pointy Robin-hood like cap, without any mask or face guard and had it painted all white and silvery, as if trying to catch the attention of his enemies. His armor also had a cape attached which was torn and bloodied at the end, cursing Aslak too, but unlike Felix, Aslak wasn¡¯t all that affected. He took it with a glass of water and peed it away. No harm done. Felix sighed and caressed his breastplate, remembering the happy moments he spent with Master Torgeir, but as he did so, the painful and wretched faces of the townspeople and Master Torgeir floated in his mind. He turned firm and started practicing his Black Wolf techniques. ¡°Black Flames!!!¡± ¡­ Training had sped time by almost 100x times and before he knew it, night had fallen. The kid¡¯s classroom had long finished, but they still didn¡¯t go, because they didn¡¯t want to disturb their elder brothers while they were practicing. So, they instead went to play with Erika, who had again woken up. They had again skipped lunch while training, but they weren¡¯t all that hungry, after all, both of them were Seeker level 9 and leve6 1, respectively. When one reaches the stage of Seeker, he or she doesn¡¯t need to eat always, but it¡¯s still recommended to eat in order to keep the body in perfect condition. After taking a bath, they found that it was already dinner time. They went to the dining hall, when a messenger came to Felix and informed him of a certain situation. ¡­ In the Throne Hall of the Cainhorn Castle, the court was on ongoing, but there was something different about it. On the side of advisors, there were Sir Peder, the garrison Commander, Illec, Keep librarian, Kadec, Treasurer, Chester, the head butler, Levi, the accountant and with addition to them, there was another blonde fellow, almost twenty with a bright smile on his face, a fat stomach and chubby cheeks. He was Munroe, an Apprentice ranked warrior and also Colonel Reggie¡¯s most-trusted confidant. On the other side, there was Sir Doncan, Yvette, Lady Yasmin and surprisingly, Lady Faye, whose hair had turned all grey and skin all wrinkled up. Even her eyes dimmed and it seemed she was half-asleep and half-awake and she looked at everyone with a uninterested gaze. ¡­ Kadec, the treasurer, was a man in his mid-thirties and had a crooked nose, long ears and slanting eyes. He stood infront of Lady Faye and said in a raised voice, ¡°Milady, it¡¯s a time of urgency. The Five-Year Meet is coming in a few months and we need to pay a total of 100, 000 Gold as tax to the Emperor. You need to make a decision or else the Dean family¡¯s fief will be withdrawn and we would be reduced to beggars!!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± replied Lady Faye, still uninterested. ¡°Milady, please. the situation is dire. The treasury doesn¡¯t have a single Gold, please take some action!¡± ¡°You''re the treasurer. You''re the advisor. Advice me.¡± replied she. ¡°That¡­ well, I¡¯ve an idea, Milady. Would you like to listen?¡± ¡°Hmhm¡­¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we ¡­ why don¡¯t we ask Lord Hendrickson for help?¡± ¡°Blasphemous!!¡± shouted Sir Peder, interrupted the court. He glared at Kadec and said, ¡°After all that has been done, how can you still say such words!! Do you know what will become of us if we beg Lord Hendrickson for help? What will be its consequences?¡± ¡°Oh! Shut up, you mutt!!¡± replied Kadec. ¡°What do you know about consequences? Let me tell you what consequences will be¡ª¡± ¡°WHAT CONSEQUENCES?¡± barked a voice, shocking everyone in the hall. They turned to see Felix standing there, wearing his black Knight armor and holding a Greatsword. He looked sternly at Kadec and repeated, ¡°What ¡®consequences¡¯ are you talking about?¡± ¡°S-Sir¡­ that¡­¡± stuttered Kadec. The aura that Felix was releasing was too much for a simple Mortal like him to endure. ¡°Its nothing, son.¡± Replied Lady Faye, smiling at him faintly. ¡°The Five-Year Imperial Meet is dawning and we are here trying to brainstorm some viable ways to pay the taxes. Being a small noble is really hard, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Oh!¡± replied Felix, only glancing once at her. He, instead turned to Kadec and said, ¡°So, what new ¡®method¡¯ did you come up with, Sir Kadec?¡± ¡°Um¡­ that¡­ Sir Munroe will explain them to you!¡± he said hastily and backed down. Felix¡¯s eyes went to Munroe, who was smiling leisurely at him. His smile turned brighter and brighter and he said, stepping forward, ¡°Listen, oh! Listen, my dear folk of Dean household. My Lord has personally sent me to inform you that, he can pay as well as integrate the Dean family into the Hendrickson household, in return for a single item¡ª¡± ¡°NO!!¡± ¡­ Ch-17 Usurp ¡°NO!!¡± said Lady Faye with a rare emphasis. ¡°I will not hand over the crown! It¡¯s mine.¡± Felix scrounged his face but didn¡¯t reply. He was controlling his anger but it was clearly getting out of his hands. Mr. Munroe pursued his lips and said, ¡°Well that¡¯s bad but there¡¯s an alternative, Milady.¡± ¡°What alternative?¡± asked Lady Faye, relaxing down. She slumped back onto her throne and said leisurely. ¡°Well, well,¡± he said rubbing his hands, ¡°It¡¯s quite simple, you see. As long as you consent to choose to hand over every one of these ¡­ outsiders of your Dean household, except your son of course, to Lord Hendrickson¡­. Then he might protect your REAL Dean family this time. As long as your hand over ¡­ let¡¯s say, Lady Yasmina and Lady Aarti and their children to Lord Hendrickson. I think it¡­ won''t be much of a problem.¡± He said with a creepy and wretched smile on his face. ¡°WHAT!!!¡± barked Felix at Mr. Munroe, his limit breaking. He had endured too much of this shame and couldn¡¯t take any more of these acts, but unlike normal people, Mr. Munroe frowned deeply and said. ¡°Watch whom you''re talking to, sire!!¡± Grind!!!!! ¡°What! How dare you ¨C¡± ¡°STOP IT!!¡± Felix grinded his teeth and said but was interrupted by his mother. She smiled at Mr. Munroe and said, ¡°I''m ready.¡± ¡°What!¡± Felix looked shocked at his mother and said, ¡°What are you saying mother?!! She¡¯s your sister! How can you say such things!!!!¡± ¡°Sister?¡± she looked puzzled and replied, ¡°Aren¡¯t you mistaken? They are prisoners, slaves and most importantly, heathens! How can one like that be my sister? Aren¡¯t you mistaken, son?¡± she smiled at him gently. Felix looked shocked at her, just like the rest of the court. He couldn¡¯t imagine how much she has changed in these couple of years. Was it the same person who once told him that all humans are equal and that religion aren¡¯t what makes people different. Is she the same person who taught him to love the people around him? Is she really now his mother? All the court people looked shocked and dumbfounded at Lady Faye¡¯s words. Finally, Lady Yasmina sighed and replied, ¡°As you wish¡ª¡± ¡°STOP!¡± barked Felix again, but this time, small black flames were erupting out from the gaps of his armors. He glared at Lady Yasmina and all the people around him. ¡°Nobody except me will talk now.¡± His aura seeped out from his body and created a dangerous miasma of black fog around him. This was the Aura of a Lord, a stage which means power and prestige in the lands of Central Continent and Audenia. Felix was beginning to enter the ranks of Lords. Felix sighed tiredly and said looking downwards, ¡°Mother.¡± Lady Faye looked surprised at the Aura forming around her son and asked, ¡°¡­Yes?¡± ¡°Please step down.¡± ¡°!¡± The entire court looked surprised at Felix¡¯s word, even Lady Faye. She shook herself and smiled weakly at her son. ¡°What do you mean, son?¡± she asked as gently as her expression could accommodate. Felix, too smiled at her weakly, but there was coldness and hatred mixed in with it. He replied, ¡°I mean what I said. Please step down. You are not healthy and most importantly, SANE enough to rule anymore. I implore you to step down and to not make things difficult for me.¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± she said, quite amused. ¡°Are you trying to usurp the throne?¡± Felix laughed out loud, sarcastically and hysterically. ¡°Usurp the throne!! Hahaha!!¡± but suddenly, he turned silent. Deadly silent. He glared at her and replied, ¡°Call it whatever you want, but you''re no longer the ruler of Cainhorn Castle. I''m the son of Sir Aston Dean and I''m claiming what rightfully mine. Step Down!!!¡± He then turned away and said, ¡°Guards!!¡± But shockingly, none of the guards dare to come up. It wasn¡¯t that they were too loyal to Lady Faye or that Felix¡¯s Lordly Aura had frozen them, they were simply dumbfounded by the tracks where this court was going and were clearly hesitant to step forward. This further enraged him and he shouted again, ¡°GUARDS!!!!¡± ¡°Ye-yessir!!¡± 5 guards scrambled forward, but it was only because of the heat of the moment. He pointed at Lady Faye and said, ¡°Take her down!¡± ¡°S-Sir¡­¡± hesitated the guards, but Felix¡¯s anger was way off the mark. He glared at them and they scrambled towards Lady Faye with heads bowed, but then, Lady Faye said firmly, ¡°No need!¡± Felix turned and saw his mother standing weakly with the support of the handles of the throne. She glared back at Felix and then at the soldiers and said, ¡°I''m not weak enough to have soldiers assist me. Scram!¡± The guards immediately retreated. Lady Faye harrumphed coldly and slowly tried to get down, but even then, her weakened limbs couldn¡¯t support her. She slipped and fell down. ¡°Ahhh!!¡± she cried as she clutched her ankle. Her scream almost made Felix¡¯s heart leap out of his chest, but he didn¡¯t fudge. His position as the usurper and the new leader held him from helping his mother. Instead, he kept on his cold demeanor and looked at her emotionless. ¡°Sister!!¡± cried Lady Yasmina, as she dashed out to help Lady Faye. Lady Faye with her help stood up. Tears started dropping down her white-eyes as she said. ¡°Is this¡­ is this really you, Felix? I can''t¡­ I can''t believe you¡¯ve strayed so far ¡­ so far away from me¡­ what wrong have I done to deserve this? Am I ¡­ am I not doing all these for the sake of the family¡­ so why? Tell me, Felix!¡± Felix¡¯s heart tore open when he saw her tears, but still¡­ he didn¡¯t move. His expression wavered for a moment, but then he turned away from everyone¡¯s sight. He wore his black armet and said, ¡°Lady Yasmina ¡­.¡± ¡°Felix. Please. Stop this and look at her ¡­ I think¡ª¡± ¡°Please take her away!¡± ¡°But¡ª¡± ¡°PLEASE!!!¡± he barked at nothingness, shocking her. Felix was stubborn but she too was adamantine to not leave. It was only because Lady Faye tugged at her cloth silently, that she sighed and moved out of the Great Hall, taking her away.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Sigh¡­. Forgive me, father. Forgive me, mother.¡± He muttered. His Aura started increasing sharply as a specter of a Black Wolf started forming in the now dense black fog. The black flames burned darker and darker and Felix started looking more menacing and deadlier than before. The entire hall fell silent as they tried to comprehend what Felix was going to say, but Felix didn¡¯t turn around immediately. Instead, he cracked his shoulders and said, ¡°Well, well, now that the delicate person is out, we can finally have a bit of calm and weed out the weeds, shall we, gentlemen?!¡± He turned and stared intently at Mr. Munroe, almost giving him a heart-attack. Mr. Munroe¡¯s all the built-up confidence evaporated as beads of cold sweat trickled down his back. He smiled awkwardly and replied. ¡°Uh¡ªt-hat ¡­ Milord, I wish to consult my superior, Colonel Reggie on this possible change of power, before proposing any kind of deal. So, I will take my leave for tonight.¡± He said and immediately dashed towards the doors to leave, but suddenly the guards at the door blocked his way. Surprised, he barked at the guards, ¡°What are you doing!! Move aside!!¡± but the guards turned a deaf ear to his cries and instead looked at him with cold eyes. Both of them had Clap! Clap! Clap! A rhythmic clapping sound reverberated through the hall. Mr. Munroe turned around and saw Felix clapping with his steel gauntlets, while holding his Greatsword between his armpits. ¡°My! Oh! My! The might Mr. Munroe is running with his tails behind his back. What a sight for this Lord¡¯s eyes!! Tell me, Mr. Munroe, what¡¯s the hurry? The court has just started and I sincerely hope that you hear me out. I believe you will like my proposal.¡± Felix¡¯s voice behind the armet turned colder and colder. He walked steadily towards Kadec, who was frozen solid with fear. Felix glanced at him and patted his shoulders. He said, ¡°Since both of you are of the same opinion, that sending my father¡¯s mistresses, generally my step-mothers as ¡®gifts¡¯ to Hendrickson. I guess, it is indeed common for nobles to swap their women like this, isn¡¯t it?¡± Clutter¡­ ¡°I-I d-didn¡¯t s-say so¡­¡± replied Kadec, who was cluttering his teeth in fright. Felix cried, ¡°Oh!¡± but then suddenly, a black shadow swept past his neck and the next moment he was floating in the air. ¡°G-gugh¡­¡± cried Kadec as he struggled free from Felix¡¯s black fingers. Felix¡¯s black armet looked at him and said coldly, ¡°Sir Kadec, I never knew women were so ¡­ cheap. I never knew my mothers are so cheap. I never knew my siblings were so cheap. I never knew my Dean family is so ¡­ cheap. Thank you for enlightment!¡± said Felix, as his grip tightened. ¡°G-gggeeeghh!!! Gugh! Gah!!!¡± Kadec struggled harder and harder but Felix¡¯s devilish fingers tightened and tightened. Finally, after a period of struggling, Kadec¡¯seyes¡¯ dimmed down as his struggles stopped. Tears fell down Kadec¡¯s dead eyes down Felix¡¯s cold gauntlets, his arms and legs slumped down and his breathing ceased, but even then, Felix didn¡¯t leave his neck. His grip tightened to the point where blood started trickling down his orifices. When Felix did loosen his grip, Kadec¡¯s neck had been deformed beyond comprehension. This was Felix¡¯s first kill. ¡°Huff¡­ huff¡­huff¡­¡± He huffed for breath as black flames erupted out of the holes of his armet. He glanced at the dead body of Kadec, at the wretched face he made just before he died, but none of them shook him. He expected himself to be afraid or frightened, but strangely enough, he didn¡¯t feel anything. Infact, it felt more pleasurable than pain and anguish. A laugh erupted out from the black armet, filled with pure Killing Intent. ¡°Hahahahahahaha!!¡± Felix laughed out loud like a mad person, but then he suddenly turned to Mr. Munroe and said, ¡°My¡­!¡± The Killing Intent flowed from that single word and nearly froze Mr. Munroe core. But being a cultivator of Battle Techniques, he was able to endure it, but only slightly. The fear of a prey meeting its predator had completely engulfed his mind. Judging the danger of staying here, he immediately turned around and dashed to leave this cursed place but then, the guards still held their spears criss-crossed. ¡°You!¡± Munroe cried, completely enraged. He clenched his fist and a slivery light surrounded it. ¡°Ha!¡± he cried and punched right at the center of the nearest guard¡¯s breastplate. BAM! ¡°pfft!!¡± The guard, even though was prepared couldn¡¯t defend against the Qi infused punch, which hit his breastplate. The force slammed him back at the door, making a small hole right through it. Blood spurted out from his mouth and his breastplate was completely shattered. The power of the punch surprised the other guard and using it as an opportunity, Munroe dashed outside of that small hole, but right when half of his body was out of the door, a cold sensation spread on his right shoulder. His heartbeat stopped for a second, as a ghostly voice erupted under his ear, ¡°In a hurry?¡± BAMMM!! SLAMMMM!!! A tremendous amount of force pulled Munroe back into the hall and threw him across. He made a perfect arch and fell face down infront of the Throne. Sounds of bones cracking was heard, but he was least cared about it. ¡°Gah!!¡± He spurted a mouthful of blood as he clenched his rib cage, which was completely broken from being slammed. Infact, he was quite lucky that he covered most of his vitals with his battle Qi just before he fell or else he would¡¯ve surely died. He gritted his teeth and looked at Felix and saw him coming towards him with his blade drawn completely. He bit his lips and focused all of his battle Qi at his right hand. A shiny silvery bright light accumulated a this right-palm as he aimed at Felix, but then a sharp cry rang out as a blue arrow pierced his right hand. Chi! Puchi!! ¡°Ahhh!!¡± Munroe cried out aloud as his concentration was forcefully broken and all the battle Qi backfired, wrecking his right hand. It was only the numbing feel of the ice surrounding the arrow that kept his sanity intact. Felix, who clearly understood who it was, sighed and started running towards Munroe with his Greatsword in his hands. Munroe, frightened to the point of insanity, turned around and tried to scramble but then, suddenly his head felt extremely light. His vision made a complete 360 degrees before falling on the ground with a thud. He was beheaded, but just before he lost his consciousness, he saw a demon-like creature behind his headless body. ¡­ Felix had finished Munroe in a single slash of his Greatsword. After confirming, Munroe to be dead, Felix cleaned the fat and blood off his blade. ¡°Che! Betrayers! Traitors! Defectors!! How many of such rats has the Dean family been cultivating for ages? Tell me!! Stand out! Whoever still thinks of sucking on Hendrickson¡¯s feet, STAND OUT!!!¡± Felix¡¯s shout rang out through the hall, but not a single person dared to utter a single peep. ¡°Tsk!¡± Felix clicked his tongue. His anger was boiling harder and harder and he needed someone to berate or more likely, kill. He had somehow become infatuated with killing. He pointed at randomly and shouted, ¡°IF YOU PEOPLE ARE REALLY WORRIED ABOUT THE IMPERIAL MEET, THINK OF WAYS TO QUICKLY EARN MONEY, NOT OF SELLING YOUR OWN LORDS. THAT IS NOT HOW WE NOBLES DO THING!! TELL ME, HAVE WE BEEN FEEDING DOGS ALL THIS TIME!!¡± Everyone bowed their heads down in shame. This shame was not of being berated by an apparent child, but by the fact that their action today has made their Lord doubt them and their long relationship with the Dean family and in such medieval times, a spark of doubt is enough to bring down long forged families and friends. ¡°I apologize, Milord,¡± said Sir Peder as he kneeled down. ¡°I''m at fault for not being adequate enough.¡± ¡°Yes Milord,¡± said Chester, the head butler, as he too kneeled down, ¡°I''m also at fault for not being able to explain things clearly to Milady Faye and for not being able to govern the court properly. I beg you to forgive me and the rest of the court for their indecisiveness and for all the disrespect shown to the Dean family.¡± He bowed his head down further in complete servitude and shame, so did the other advisors after kneeling down in sync. The only ones who didn¡¯t kneel were Sir Doncan, Yvette and Aslak, who was looking coldly from the shadows. Strangely though, Sir Doncan and Yvette¡¯s eyes were glowing with a particular gleam in the partial darkness of the courtroom, but no one seemed to noticed it. ¡°ENOUGH!!¡± barked Felix, ignoring all of their kneeling. ¡°I''m not here to listen to your apologies. This court is dismissed. But everyone! Everyone is going to stay in the Castle.¡± He sighed and then turned to Sir Peder. He looked at him sternly and asked, ¡°Sir Peder, can I trust you?¡± Sir Peder banged his breastplate and replied, ¡°With my life, Milord, I shall protect the Dean family. You have my word and my life. I will not betray you.¡± ¡°Very well then. I want you to increase the patrols in the Castle 10x times and assign guards to each and every rooms. I don¡¯t want a word of what happened here to get out. And if it does get out¡­¡± a grinding sound came from the armet. ¡°I will skew those bastards and then personally skin you and your men and barbeque them in the courtyard. Now, Dismissed!!¡± ¡°Yessir!¡± replied Sir Peder as he turned around but was suddenly stopped by Felix. ¡°Stop!¡± he said and sighed. Pointing at the two guards who stopped Munroe and said, ¡°¡­ before you do all this, do give that injured guard some medication and some rewards to both of them. Valor is well respected.¡± ¡°Sir yessir!¡± ¡­ Ch-18 The Crown and The Curse The court dismissed in absolute silence as advisors and guard captains moved either to their rooms or posts silently. Soon, orders were passed by Sir Peder to increase the patrol and to kill anyone doing anything suspicious. The dead bodies were also cleaned up by the guards and not the maids or servants, to keep the happenings more secretive. Therefore, at the end of the day, the only information that went out of the hall was that there was a huge quarrel or something like that in the hall but only for a short amount of time. But it didn¡¯t take long for rumors to spread in the entire Castle. The rumor exactly stated that Young Lord Felix tried to usurp the throne from his mother using force and that the quarrels were a part of the argument that followed. Nobody knows who spread it or what the result was, but whenever they tried to ask someone who was inside, all they got back was a glare. A deadly glare. The night of the 12th ended with a rare silence all over the Castle of Cainhorn. ¡­ Felix had handled the court meeting a bit too roughly, but it was the best outcome that could be expected from the forsaken situation. He has killed the pest and the source of pestilence, but his job wasn¡¯t done. Not entirely. From tomorrow onward, he would need to manipulate the situation of Cainshire and Cainhorn as much as he can to make the most of the situation. But even before that, he needed some answers. From the crown itself. ¡­ Felix walked briskly towards the treasury, to the place where he had kept the crown three years ago, away from all people. The treasury was on the basement of the Castle and had the tightest of security. On the way to it, he met the last person he wanted to meet. Lady Yasmina. She had a terribly angry face on her face and she walked quickly with a broad kitchen knife in her hand. Felix couldn¡¯t possibly be afraid of a kitchen knife, but he was indeed afraid of an Angry Lady Yasmina. ¡°Stop right there, Felix Dean!!!¡± she shouted from a distance and Felix, like ordered, stopped walking and raised his hands indicating that he was harmless. ¡°Yes?¡± he replied. ¡°Don¡¯t try to act dumb!¡± she spat, closing in on him, clutching one of his arms and placing the knife right across his neck. But even then, it wasn¡¯t anything dangerous because he had a mail around his neck. ¡°How could you act like that to your mother, Felix?¡± she said angrily. Felix was still wearing his armet so she couldn¡¯t figure what his expression was. Felix shrugged his shoulders and replied, ¡°I did what was necessary.¡± ¡°What was necessary? Is your mother¡¯s life less important than all this? Wasn¡¯t it you who told me that you will fight the entire world for her sake? Just because she is your mother!!! Where is that conviction you showed me when you were eight? How could you change so much in just three years¡¯ time? Answer me, Felix!!¡± She shook him by his hand, as if trying to force an answer out from him. Annoyed, he shook his arm away from her. He pointed at her and said in an annoyed and angry tone, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that I¡¯ve changed, because I haven¡¯t!! It¡¯s her! It¡¯s simply her, who¡¯ve changed so much. I can understand that she is sick and weak! But this! This is not sickness! This is madness! Insanity! And I''m not going to let the land which my ancestors protected for years be eaten up due one woman¡¯s madness. No! No matter what happens, I''m going to take my revenge. My revenge against all those people who harmed my father, my mother and the people of Cainshire. And no one! Not you! Not her! No one can stop me. Mind it!!¡± ¡°One woman¡¯s madness? She is YOUR mother, Felix. The one woman you have looked upto and loved for all these years. She is the one who gave birth to you and you are calling her insane. S-she is just ¡­ sick. All you need to do is care for her and ¡­ and when she gets better, I''m sure she will get revenge for all of us.¡± ¡°Ha! Revenge!¡± laughed Felix. ¡°Don¡¯t bluff me, Lady Yasmina. I know well enough about mother¡¯s condition. She is going to die a-a-and there¡¯s nothing we can do. There¡¯s nothing I can do. And ¡­ grr!¡± he growled and grabbed his blade tightly in anger. He stared at her through his armet and growled, ¡°Neither a dead woman nor a maniac can help us get revenge. Love, hate, anger and revenge only apply to the sane. Insane and dead people don¡¯t know what emotions are and I''m not going to babysit a woman who is hell bent killing her own daughter and the people around her. People are dying outside due to her and I-I can''t take this anymore. Now move aside!!¡± He pushed her away from his path and walked away, but then he suddenly stopped and said, without turning around, ¡°¡­Lady Yasmina, the truth is the truth. Miracles can happen but I''m not waiting for one right now. I don¡¯t have the time. And I ¡­ really can''t trust anyone now, can I? Heh!¡± ¡°Felix¡­¡± muttered Lady Yasmina as she stared at his back. ¡­. The basement had numerous checkpoints of guards and soldiers and only a few people could pass through, one of them being Felix. He passed every checkpoint, but right before entering the treasury, he turned towards one of the shadowy corners and smiled lightly, even though, it wasn¡¯t visible from within his armet. ¡°If you¡¯ve already discovered me, say so!¡± replied a voice within the shadow. Tsst! A small matchstick lit out to reveal a man leaning on the wall, wearing a Knight armor and had a pointy musketeer hat. The man was none other than Aslak and strangely, his armor even though made very shiny and silvery, was completely dark in darkness. It was as if it could suck light into it when in darkness, almost making it invisible and very hard for his enemies to detect. Felix was only able to find Aslak because of experiences and habits. Felix folded his arms and replied, ¡°I ought to thank you for your help then, but it really wasn¡¯t needed.¡± ¡°Of course, after all, that sh*t was only an Apprentice. His attack wasn¡¯t going to hit you anyway. His hand was shaking continuously and it was tilted at an odd angle. Most importantly, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Right back at you!¡± replied Felix. Aslak shrugged his shoulders and replied, ¡°Guarding. You?¡± Felix tilted his head and replied, ¡°And you want me to believe it? Anyway, I''m not too interested in you or your guarding.¡± ¡°Uh-huh! That¡¯s why I''m not gonna tell you! What about you?¡± ¡°I''m here to ¡­ ¡®talk¡¯ to the Crown.¡± Aslak, surprised for a moment stood straight and asked, ¡°You mean the Cursed Crown? But why?¡± Felix sighed and replied, ¡°Even I don¡¯t know, but I need answer. I don¡¯t want my mother to die and I''m ready to do anything to save her.¡± Aslak frowned under his musketeer hat, seemingly unsatisfied, but then he shrugged and replied, ¡°Whatever. As long as you return safely and help me free my father, I will consider guarding you for an eternity.¡± ¡°Thanks!¡± replied Felix and went passed him, but before he entered the treasury, Aslak shouted out, ¡°Don¡¯t expect me to take care of Cainshire for you. If you also go insane, I''m leaving Cainshire to its fate and going to rescue my dad alone. So, if you wanna save those poor bastards¡¯ lives, return SANE.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Felix turned his head back to looked Aslak, who was frowning angrily at him. ¡°Didn¡¯t I say that we¡¯re gonna save uncle Julian together. Man¡­ you''re so cruel¡­¡± he muttered and opened the door. ¡­ Crumple¡­ crumple¡­ crumple¡­ Felix stepped on paper bills, Golds and such things as he made his way to the sealed space which contained the Fabled Crown. When he placed it three years ago, he made sure to lock it in an air-tight Magic chamber, before putting it in a half-a-meter thick steel space, he bought by sneaking a bit of the money from the treasury. This chamber was special and made it impossible for anyone other than Felix to open it. It was like a modern-day vault with a password code. As for the space, it was also locked and only Felix had the key. The space was as big as a room and only Felix had the key to it. He took out the key and opened the space. Clank! Creakkk! Bam! The door opened with a clank, but then a creaking sound escaped its hinges before it came off entirely. It fell with a bam, shocking Felix. Shocked, Felix brought his Greatsword up to his neck-level and took a guard-stance. He advanced slowly, but the sight infront of him completely bewildered and astonished him. The space in which the magical chamber was locked, looked as if there was a beast living in there. there were scratches, blood marks and curses written all over the steel wall. Felix examined the walls slowly, but couldn¡¯t deduce anything. A slow creep was rising up his spine and he could do nothing to suppress. Soundless voices echoed through the space, making Felix¡¯s hair stand on its end. Felix made several turns, but he couldn¡¯t find anything solid. Dismayed, he went near the magic sealed chamber, which housed the crown. To open the magical sealed chamber, he needed to draw the pattern which was the key but he seriously, didn¡¯t want to touch it. Cold air was blowing out from the cracks on it and it froze his bones, which was beneath his skin and armor. ¡°Focus and Victory!!¡± Felix cried and touched the chamber, but suddenly his vision turned dark as a creepy laughing voice replied in his mind, ¡°Welcome!!¡± ¡­ Ssszzzttttttttttt!!! Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! The moment Felix touched the box, his vision darkened. The temperature suddenly cooled down tremendously and his heart started to beat furiously in order to fight the coldness. He waited patiently in complete darkness in a faint hope that it was a petty illusion and will eventually clear. Felix¡¯s hunch was correct, the darkness did clear but when it did, he found himself on a strange dimension. The dimension was only a very thin red path, with the sides filled with complete darkness and only a faint light illuminated the red path. The path was completely frozen with hundreds of dead people, soldiers, knights and bones littered everywhere. He didn¡¯t understand what was happening or where he was, but before he could still comprehend all of this as an illusion, a heavy, icy gales filled with Killing Intent erupted from the other end of the trial. Shocked, Felix was caught unprepared and he stumbled back quite a few steps. ¡°Clutter¡­.¡± The icy winds reduced the temperature of his Knight armor and since most Knight armor make their wearer very hot, they have extremely good air-circulation ways and holes. The icy winds entered those ways and holes and chilled Felix¡¯s bones to the core. He could feel his bones and marrow freezing, but then, the thoughts of his family and people of Cainshire erupted in his mind and his heart warmed up. Clenching on that small lit fire in his heart, he steeled himself and using his Greatsword as a cane, he supported himself up. It was then, a small line of illegible letters caught his eyes. He scrounged his eyes at the letters and magically, the illegible letters started clearing up and a small voice sounded in his mind, clearly explaining what the words meant. ¡°You walk the Thin Crimson Path. Falter and insanity will consume you. The Unknown is infront but even then, you cannot falter. There is no retreat. There is no turning back ¡­ Godspeed!¡± The voice was deep and hoarse, but it was kind nonetheless. It ended with a blessing and instilled Felix¡¯s heart with confidence. It didn¡¯t say anything about what it was to be expected but Felix knew what he needed to do. Do not falter. Do not look back. And with that thought, Felix picked himself up and started moving. ¡­ The Thin Crimson Path, a path which leads to Death at both end with hallucinations everywhere. Utilizing one of the most basic emotion of humans, companionship, it tested the mettle of one¡¯s heart and destiny. Created using a millennium ancient illusion magic, it doesn¡¯t discriminate between good or bad, right or wrong, light or dark and can show both the future and the past. Felix walked slowly in the icy cold gales, while battering the millions of illusions that were striking him. Most of the illusions showed him the apparent death scenes of his parents, families and siblings. All of them were too detailed to be even true and each one of them, wrecked his heart out, but even then, he kept on repeating the words. Do not falter. Don not retreat¡­Godspeed. He didn¡¯t know who wrote the words or what that person¡¯s intentions were, but he did know that that person wasn¡¯t weak. He was powerful, immensely powerful, powerful enough for his voice to fuel his heart. That person¡¯s voice had a strange feel which naturally gave others confidence and strength to move and Felix was grateful to that unknown person. The path seemed infinite and curved at every ten minutes. Everytime the paths curved, the gales would make a weird tornado-like gale to throw him off, but everytime Felix was able to get away. After scenes, he started hallucinating live scenes and instances. Each of them also had the same theme, family, but after that many scenes and images of dead family, Felix was near immune to them, when a certain scene almost rocked him. A scene where his sister, Erika was torn open by Hendrickson. Felix knew that it was a hallucination and false, but even then, blood rushed to his head and he cried out aloud, ¡°NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!¡± Kakakakaka!!! ¡°Gugh!¡± Suddenly, the strength of the gales increased and like blades, they nearly sliced Felix¡¯s off mouth from within his armor. He spat a mouthful of blood and crumpled into a heap to shield himself. Sounds of sobbing came out, as he tried to calm his fluttering heart by flushing all his emotions through tears, but within these moments, another message caught his eyes. He frowned at it and another string of letters became visible. ¡°Use your Aura.¡± It said, but Felix wasn¡¯t a Lord. Not completely. But right now, he didn¡¯t have a choice. He fueled all of his emotions and converted them into anger. Deep red anger. Anger directed towards the world. Towards Hendrickson. Towards himself. Sszztt! A small sizzling sound escaped as deep black flames erupted out of his freezing armor, cloaking it in warm fire. Infact, the fire was terribly hot but the icy gales took away most of its warmth. ¡°Fire¡­¡± muttered Felix as he stared at the apparently small beacon of flame which was swaying calmly on his palms, seemingly unafraid of the gales outside. ¡°Fire is strength¡­ fire is power¡­ fire is hope!!¡± he muttered and clenched his fists. With renewed warmth and vigor and casting all disrupting thoughts away from his mind, Felix walked forward. To the end. To the darkness. To the Unknown. ¡­. An unknown amount of time passed since Felix started his journey. He didn¡¯t know why he was walking this path, nor was it necessary. All he remembers is the few words of instructions. Do not Falter. Do not Retreat. Use your Aura. Use your Fire. But even then, he couldn¡¯t. He couldn¡¯t walk anymore. The coldness has reached his heart and was slowing his blood flow, not to mention the tremendous amount of fatigue and hunger that was wrecking his insides and it was only his willpower which was keeping him alive. The hallucinations had all numbed down all the parts of his brain and in response, it was beginning to shut itself down. All of his thoughts started vanishing and blankness spread all around himself. Within that moment, all of his flames started coagulated into a small sigil of black fire in the shape of a snarling wolf. It sizzled proudly for a moment, apparently showing its prowess to the darkness infront of it before attaching itself right up on his breastplate, where his heart should be. This was the Sigil of Lord, the sign of someone entering the stage of Lords. And Felix¡¯s sigil was the Sigil of Wolf. Felix had successfully entered the ranks of Lords without him even realizing it. His power had increase manifold but the fatigue and coldness had numbed all of his senses, even the sense of his skin which has started bulging inside his armor. All that was left in his head was the coldness. He had cried a lot of time in this infinite time he spent here but all of his tears had frozen. They had frozen in their tracks and the frozen tear streak had even penetrated his eyes. He was starting to go blind and even though, his feets refused to move forward, it was only his will and Greatsword which was keeping his move forward. Finally, when he reached the end of the Thin Crimson Path, he wasn¡¯t met with a door to either hell or heaven. He was met with a cliff with an endless darkness infront and under it. Despair spread across his heart and he dropped on his knees. His breathing started to slow down and the darkness of cliff had started to roll in. He looked meekly at the immense darkness when he noticed something bizarre. He scrounged his eyes and pushed himself towards the edge to get a glimpse of what it and he saw something white¡­ something bizarre and ¡­ bony in nature, but very bizarre. It was particularly attention-catching in the pitch-black darkness and he pushed himself to the edges to get a clear view when suddenly, that creature turned around and an eye stared back at him. A pitch-black eye, the darkness of which even swallowed the entire darkness around it. The view rocked his entire body and it erupted out in flames. An insanely loud cry of shock and terror escaped Felix¡¯s mouth, as he felt ants digging into his skin. His armor and hair, eyes which were all brown, started turning white as if ageing. The vitality of his body and cells started to drain at an astonishing rate and it seemed that death was imminent when a loud cracking noise erupted out, followed by a landslide. ¡°AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!¡± Crack! Crackkkk¡­. ¡­