ã€ŠI shall seek revengeã€‹


 Prologue

    The pain was almost unbearable. He dredged up the effort and managed to open his eyes. A soft blue light flared for a moment and for a moment the pain receded before it slammed back into him again forcing him to almost groan. Almost. He wasn¡¯t going to let those bastards get the satisfaction of his agony from him. When his sight finally focused he saw the five of them standing before him ¨C Tera, Sols, Kaban, Dreal and Kava - smug looks on their faces, and on looking down he saw why. All of their swords were stabbed into him at various points, all holding him up on the wall and essentially immobilizing him. He finally looked back up at one of them and with a weary look of acceptance shook his head.

    ¡°Why Tera?¡± he asked before he started coughing up blood. It took a few moments before he was finally able to stop coughing.

    ¡°Of all the things he asks us is ¡®why?¡¯¡± she replied with a disgusted look on her face. ¡°It¡¯s simple, we are the heroes and you are the Demon lord we were sent to kill.¡±

    With that everything fell into place in his head. The looks he had gotten from them when he was summoned. The disgust he thought he saw on their faces when they thought that he wasn¡¯t looking. He had passed it off as just him over thinking something but now he saw their true colors.

    ¡°I¡¯m no Demon lord. I even sacrificed everything to kill him,¡± I replied as I used the last of my energy to keep focused. The loss of blood was starting to affect me now.

    ¡°Hell, heal him before we lose him. I have yet to gloat over him enough.¡± Tera smirked as Dreal moved forward to start healing him. As Dreal began healing him, Tera spat in his face. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know I detest everything about you. We never needed you but the alliance insisted on summoning a *hero* from another world. We were the strongest and then all of a sudden we were nothing. Now we will be the heros and you will be the Demon Lord. We all came here to defeat the Demon Lord, only to realize that it was already dead and had been for some time. Instead we came to realize that there was someone in the background giving all the orders, a new Demon Lord if you will. And on the throne we found your mana imprint, linking the new Demon lord to you. Oh don¡¯t worry, the throne was destroyed by our fight so there¡¯s no way that anyone can dispute our version of events.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    I just stared at them and then slowly a smile appeared on my face. Sols frowned and started mumbling under his breath.

    ¡°Ha, Ha Ha ha!!!¡± I started laughing until tears started rolling down my eyes.

    ¡°And what are you laughing about?¡± Tera said as she grabbed my hair to pull up my head.

    ¡°Thanks for healing me,¡± I smirked, ¡°hope you enjoy my last moments. It¡¯s been a blast.¡± I replied as my eyes started glowing

    ¡°Shit!!! Run, he¡¯s blowing his mana core!!¡± she screamed as she turned to start running.

    The explosion decimated the Demon Lord¡¯s mountain and essentially leveled the ground. It was heard around the world and many countries felt the earth tremble at the blast. As for me, Hiro (yes my name was essentially *hero* - laugh it up if you will) I was now sent into oblivion. Or so I thought. One moment I saw the beginnings of the blast and then the next I was in a white room, seated before two men and two women. I scratched my head as I pondered what went wrong.

    ¡°No, nothing went wrong. At least you blowing your mana core up didn¡¯t go wrong.¡± Said one of the guys with a laugh.

    ¡°Zero, quit teasing him.¡± Said one of the women as she tweaked the guy¡¯s nose.

    ¡°Ahh, ouch that hurts. Who the hell tweaks a god¡¯s nose like a child¡¯s?¡±

    ¡°Then grow up Zero.¡± She laughed as she moved to stand before me. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Astra, he¡¯s Zero, she¡¯s Oris and he¡¯s ¡­¡±

    ¡°Tavs,¡± I cut in.

    ¡°Oh you¡¯ve heard of us?¡± she smiled.

    ¡°The four Gods of Revastia. Yes, I¡¯m familiar with the folklore.¡± I replied as I looked them over.

    ¡°Folklore!! We¡¯ve been relegated to folklore?!!¡± yelled Tavs.

    I just shrugged. ¡°You have no temples or churches and knowledge of you is only spread by word of mouth. What did you really expect to happen?¡±

    Oris huffed and slumped in her chair, ¡°Damn when you¡¯re right, you¡¯re right. I told you that we should have put more effort into this planet.¡±

    ¡°Yes well, I wasn¡¯t the one who kept insisting on free will and all that. Damned hippy mentality if you ask me.¡± Blurted Zero.

    ¡°What¡¯s done is done. Now we have a chance to fix it¡± replied Astra as she looked at me. Soon enough the others started looking my way. A shiver ran down my back as I saw four smiles directed at me. This was not going to be pretty.

 Chapter 1 - Rebirth

    ¡°Good news Hiro, we¡¯re sending you back!¡± exclaimed Astra.

    ¡°I¡¯m thrilled,¡± I deadpanned while look at the four of them, ¡°it¡¯s a great idea, oh wait, I got my ass kicked by the former heroes of the five kingdoms of the alliance. That¡¯s going to be a shitty deal since I¡¯m certain that they can wipe my ass all over the floor once again. Sorry, no. I¡¯m no masochist and pain isn¡¯t my thing.¡±

    ¡°Good, because we intend to fix that problem.¡± Astra replied, ¡°When you were summoned, a certain someone somehow managed to convince us that we shouldn¡¯t interfere. Isn¡¯t that right Tavs?¡±

    My head swiveled until I was staring down Tavs who seemed to see something interesting on the ceiling ¨C not that there was one.

    ¡°So you¡¯re the reason I was allowed to come to this shitty world with nothing to help me out.¡±

    It really was a shitty deal. I was thrust from a world with no swords, magic or wars into one with all that plus a supposed Demon Lord. Now I¡¯ve played those sort of games before and even read a book or two on the concept and always without fail the MC gets a boost or some form of advantage. Me? I got nothing. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that my determination probably outstrips nations and it was only by that determination that I was able to master all types of weaponry, martial arts and magic.

    ¡°Well yeah, that boat¡¯s sailed, so we¡¯re fixing all our mistakes now and then some. However we still can¡¯t interfere directly in this world¡¯s evolution but since you¡¯re not from this world we can interfere with you.¡± Astra smiled.

    ¡°So what do you need then? This had better be good too.¡± I replied as I leaned back in my chair.

    Oris stepped forward, ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked,¡± she chuckled, ¡°this time we¡¯re going to give you what we should have given you before and then some.¡±

    ¡°Yup, from me you¡¯re going to have almost unlimited mana,¡± smiled Zero from his seat, ¡°though you¡¯re going to have to keep practicing so that you¡¯re body can get acclimated to such levels of mana. No no, that¡¯s not something that I can change. Simply put your body is the conduit for the mana and if it¡¯s not strong enough you¡¯ll basically explode.¡±

    ¡°Enough enough, my turn.¡± Astra said, ¡°I¡¯m going to up you one. I¡¯m going to let you keep all your memories, skills and spells. But pretty much like Zero said, your body can¡¯t handle the strain of those high level spells and arts so you¡¯ll have to take it easy until it can handle them.¡±

    ¡°Ok, my turn,¡± said Oris as she touched my forehead. ¡°I¡¯m granting you the heal spells and high regeneration and physical stats. Of course, not god level high but definitely high enough to get you by. Oh and some spacial magic as well. You¡¯ll have a 50¡¯ x 50¡¯ x 50¡¯ space that will be linked to your soul. A ring or bracelet is nice and all that however a bit hard to explain in the body we¡¯re sending you to. Ok, your turn now Tavs.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    The three other gods stared down Tavs until he finally relented.

    ¡°Fine fine fine, I¡¯m giving you a divine sword,¡± he said as he reached into a void space and pulled out a black edged sword. ¡°It¡¯s called Void Breaker.¡± He said as he tossed it over to me.

    I caught it with one hand and hefted it to see how it felt. Oddly enough it was heavy at first then it became lighter until it was just right. Then the blade started to reform, becoming a black haze before finally condensing into a Japanese katana and sheath.

    ¡°Nice, this will do.¡± I nodded as I put it into my spacial storage.

    ¡°It¡¯s tuned to your soul so you can even call it back should you have to throw it.¡±

    ¡°Ok, we¡¯re all done so it¡¯s time for you to be on your way.¡± Said Astra as she skipped back to her chair followed by the other three gods.

    ¡°Any questions before we send you back?¡± asked Oris.

    ¡°Yeah, how about you explain what you meant by ¨C my body won¡¯t be able to handle it?¡±

    ¡°Ooohhh caught that didn¡¯t you? You¡¯ll find out, needless to say you¡¯ll appreciate it ¨C I think.¡± She replied.

    Suddenly a runic circle filled with countless runes appeared on the floor with me at the center. ¡®Well I guess reincarnation wasn¡¯t so bad after all¡¯ I thought as the light became unbearably bright.

    Suddenly the light disappeared and I was staring up at a beautiful woman. Oddly enough she seemed huge. Then I was passed to a gruff, but smiling man who took me out of the room and into what seemed to be a great hall. He held me out over his head and yelled, ¡°Behold my son and heir. He is to be called Hiro!¡±

    ¡®Well shit. There goes my chances of living a peaceful life. Who the hell goes and names their son Hiro. Is he trying to get me killed?? I can see it already, the next time I wake up I¡¯m going to be in front of those four gods trying to explain how come I¡¯m back already.¡¯

    I expected to be blown to smithereens and cast back into the dust but instead I heard the roaring of a full hall of people.

    ¡°To Hiro Ventris! Son of Duke Ventris!¡±

    ¡°To Hiro Ventris! Son of Duke Ventris!¡±

    ¡®Wait, what? Ventris? That name was rather familiar but I just couldn¡¯t place it yet.¡¯

    I was then waltzed away back to my mother who immediately put me to her breast.

    ¡°Caden, are you sure naming our son Hiro is a good idea?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Yes Alina, I¡¯m sure. Hiro was the greatest man I knew, I didn¡¯t like him much but he was as honest as the day is long.¡±

    ¡°But what of all those rumors that he was the Demon Lord and that the five heroes almost died to defeat him!¡±

    ¡°A load of Bull. Hiro a Demon Lord? Bah your mother is more of a Demon Lord than he¡¯ll ever be! He was the true Hero and somehow those five did something and now he¡¯s gone and I just can¡¯t prove it.¡±

    ¡°Caden, you promised me!¡±

    ¡°Shh, I know I know. I may have given up the search but that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t give him his due by naming our son after him.¡± He replied with a smile.

    ¡°Ok, ok. Just keep your promise. It¡¯s bad enough you named our son after him, but don¡¯t give them anything else to come sniffing around and causing problems.¡± Alina said as she looked down at me. ¡°You¡¯re quite the attentive one aren¡¯t you little Hiro?¡±

    ¡®Hmph, if only you knew.¡¯ I thought as I finished eating and sleep began to encroach on my mind. Soon I was completely asleep and life went on.

 Chapter 2 - Busted

    Six months later.

    Life went on, but for me it was a bit more full than most. I could already read and write but only recently was able to begin vocalize words. I also managed to start walking, yup no crawling for me, out the door and off running with a start. For starters I was able to sneak out the door of the nursery and down to my father¡¯s study.

    I had to climb up on a chair to reach his mana ball. A mana ball is just a crystal ball but it has the unique ability to read how much mana a person has. The average person has about a thousand, really powerful people tend to be in the range of ten to twenty thousand. Meh, as far as mine goes, I saw the number reach up to a million before the crystal cracked in half and then fell to the floor and shattered. Hmm, looks like those Gods weren¡¯t lying.

    Well I¡¯m much too young to start practicing magic so I¡¯ll stick to some basic martial arts. It¡¯s never too early to start some basic breathing techniques and exercises. A short time later, my father came in the room to see me looking through one of his books.

    ¡°Hiro, that seems a bit advanced for you, no? Let¡¯s look at some picture books instead?¡± he said as he reached down to close the book but stopped when he noticed the shattered mana ball. ¡°Whaaaaa!!! What happened?¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Sorry Dad, I broke it by mistake,¡± I replied with a shake of my head.

    Suddenly his head swiveled sharply and he stared at me with a his jaw on the proverbial floor.

    ¡®Eh oops?¡¯ I forgot that six month old babies don¡¯t talk, walk perhaps but talk no. ¡°Uh, Gaga goo goo??¡±

    Dad stood there like a mannequin for a few moments before rushing to the door.

    ¡°ALICIA!!!!¡± he shouted at the top of his lungs. Soon there was a pattering of feet and Mom appeared at the door followed by a group of soldiers. The soldiers upon seeing that it was just the Duke and his son in the room and no one else, they stepped back out and closed the door.

    ¡°Caden, what are you bellowing my name for? Are you trying to wake the dead?¡±

    ¡°Alicia, cast an anti-surveillance spell for this room please.¡±

    Mom looked at him with a frown before turning to mutter some words and then wave her hand. A film of mana coated everything in the room before shimmering once and disappearing.

    ¡°Ok, it¡¯s done. Now what¡¯s this all about?¡±

    Dad turned to me and grinned. ¡°Go ahead Hiro and show your Mother.¡±

    ¡®Well the cat was out of the bag and I figured that if anyone was to know a bit of my secret my parents would probably be the safest.¡¯

    I looked at Mother and grinned, ¡°Uh, hi Mama?¡±

    My mother¡¯s jaw hit the ground as well. It was going to be interesting.

 Chapter 3 - Training demon 1

    5 years later.

    Life went on and all was well. Well almost. It¡¯s kinda funny watching your parents scratch their heads over how to deal with a genius among geniuses. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I enjoyed life to its fullest however now I was doing things no normal five year old would do. After all, which five year old would already start cultivating and physical tempering. Every morning I would awaken, go for breakfast and then proceed to do laps around the manor. At first it started off as just me running the laps, but a year ago when I started to hit the thirty lap range the, some of the household guards started joining in. Soon even Christof the head guard was running with us. Then not too long after since he noticed that those joining in the training seemed to be more alert and had better stamina this became standardized for household guard training.

    Eventually I even included different obstacle courses ¨C yeah I filched it from my former world Earth ¨C I used to be a bit of a military otaku and I¡¯m still proud of it. Needless to say, the household guard didn¡¯t even complete the course even once. Even Christof only made it two thirds of the way through. I managed to complete the course at least three times before I noticed everyone on the ground groaning in agony.

    ¡°Eh, shouldn¡¯t you guys be better than this?¡± I asked Christof who was the only one still on his feet, albeit barely.

    Christof dropped to his knees in front of me when he noticed that I was barely sweating even after going thru my obstacle course over three times.

    ¡°Young Master Hiro, we have shamed you. We the household guard can¡¯t even keep up with you.¡± said Christof with tears running down his eyes. ¡°I beg you to please guide us.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    I looked him over and frowned. ¡°Christof, when are the next war games to be held?¡±

    ¡°Three months young Master.¡±

    ¡°And how many times has the household guard won these war games?¡± I asked as I tapped my chin with my finger.

    ¡°Never, young Master.¡± Came the reply so softly that if it wasn¡¯t for my advanced hearing I wouldn¡¯t have heard it.

    ¡°Speak up man! I can¡¯t hear you!¡± I yelled at him.

    ¡°NEVER YOUNG MASTER!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Good!¡± I replied to see his jaw drop, but I didn¡¯t stop there. ¡°Now do you want to win?¡±

    ¡°Y..yes?¡± he stuttered.

    ¡°I CAN¡¯T HEAR YOU!!! DO YOU WANT TO WIN?¡± I shouted down at him. It was a lucky thing that he was on his knees and essentially sitting in *seiza*, otherwise with my five year old height I would never have been able to pull off that *Sergeant* mode on him.

    ¡°YES YOUNG MASTER!¡±

    I looked around at the rest of the household guards who by now had managed to pull themselves together and were all standing while looking on.

    ¡°And what do the rest of you feel about this? No, don¡¯t answer yet. Ask yourselves first, do you want to win and what are you willing to do to win? Then if you¡¯re willing to have me train you, then everyone in formation NOW!¡±

    It took a bit since as household guards they had never done military training before but after a few minutes I had a twenty by twenty grouping of guards all standing at attention.

    ¡°Christof, a large box for me to stand please. I¡¯m going to need to see everyone.¡±

    He ran off and soon returned with a 4x3 box which allowed me to stand over everyone there.

    ¡°All right, this is your last chance. If anyone doesn¡¯t want to listen to a five year old child then please feel free to leave now and cross over to the tree over to your right. There will be no repercussions; you will keep your job and your wages. But understand this, anyone who stays will have to listen to everything I say.¡± I waited for about ten minutes but no one left the formation. ¡°All right times up! Welcome to hell!¡± I smiled

    Suddenly all four hundred of the household guards felt a shiver run down their spine when they saw the smiling face of the young master. Even Christof swallowed as he felt that he¡¯d gotten them all in way over their heads.

 Chapter 4 - Training demon 2

    Well since they were already in formation I was going to start training immediately.

    ¡°First thing first, you are no longer to refer to me as ¡®Young Master¡¯. ¡®Sir¡¯ will suffice. Do you hear me??¡±

    They all looked confused and Christof was the first to ask a question, ¡°Young Master we don¡¯t¡­¡±

    I got up straight into his face since he was still sitting in *seiza* and yelled, ¡°All I want to hear from you is ¡®Sir, yes Sir!¡¯¡± He looked shocked to his bones. So I yelled again, ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you!!!¡± and he finally caught on.

    ¡°SIR YES SIR!¡± he replied.

    ¡°WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF YOU MAGGOTS? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO HEAR?¡± I yelled again at the formation. Luckily they caught on quick enough otherwise this was going to be a painfully long three months.

    ¡°SIR, YES SIR!!!¡±

    ¡°GOOD! YOU TITTY SUCKERS CAN ACTUALLY LEARN! NOW UNDERSTAND THIS, FROM HERE ON IN, I OWN YOU PATHETIC SLIMES! I AM YOUR WORLD, YOUR SAVIOR, YOUR GOD. WHEN I SAY DO SOMETHING, I EXPECT IT TO BE DONE. WHEN I POINT SOMEWHERE YOU¡¯D BETTER BE RUNNING LIKE THE SHITS YOU ARE! IF I SAY JUMP, THE ONLY POSSIBLE QUESTION YOU SHOULD HAVE FOR ME IS ¡®HOW HIGH?¡¯ AS OF RIGHT NOW, YOU ARE ALL MAGGOTS AND WORMS, BUT YOU¡¯RE MY MAGGOTS AND WORMS. SO MAGGOTS YOU ARE TO RUN THIS OBSTACLE COURSE ANOTHER FIVE TIMES AND EVERYONE IS TO COMPLETE IT. AFTERWARDS YOU WILL EAT YOUR DINNER AND THEN IT¡¯S TO THE BARACKS AND LIGHTS OUT! YOU¡¯D BETTER ENJOY YOUR MEAL BECAUSE IT¡¯LL BE THE LAST GOOD ONE FOR A WHILE.¡± I shouted to them before I felt a pair of eyes drilling holes in my back.

    I slowly turned to see my mother with a look on her face that could topple kingdoms while her finger beckoned to me to follow her. Crap, I can go up against armies, kings and immortals but my mother can slap me down with a look and a finger.

    We ended up in my father¡¯s office where my mother ended up raining down hell on me and my father. Needless to say my father was stumped because he had no idea what was going on. So I ended up explaining the whole situation to him. Surprisingly he took it well and even went one step further.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°So, Hiro. What do you need?¡± he asked as he watched me over his crossed fingers.

    ¡°Wha!!! You¡¯re encouraging this?!!¡± yelled my mother at father. ¡°Why the hell would you do such a thing?¡±

    ¡°A man¡¯s pride.¡± Both my father and I replied at the same time.

    ¡°Alicia, our guard has never won the war games before because we¡¯ve always gotten the leftovers from the regular army. So if Hiro thinks that he can take these rejects and temper them into blades then he has my blessing. Just remember we¡¯ve been lucky for the last decade since we¡¯re situated away from the border but things aren¡¯t always going to be peaceful so I¡¯d rather we have something should the day ever arrive that we need it. So Hiro, what will you need?¡±

    ¡°How far away is the location of the war games to be held?¡±

    ¡°One week¡¯s march.¡±

    ¡°Good, then we will be training in the Liren Mountains for two months. When we return I will need some other items but for now tell me about the competition.¡±

    ¡°There are five other families who partake in these war games. The Jorans, Killians, Restav, Goodard & Dracos. The Jorans are an archery family; highly mobile and accurate. The Killians specialize in sneak attacks. The Restavs are the ultimate defense. The Goodards have the best blade dancers/swordsmen and the Dracos are the most powerful. They tend to beat down everything with power.¡±

    Hiro, frowned as he thought through this information, eventually a smile crept on his face. Caden saw this smile and wondered what was going through his son¡¯s head.

    ¡°Dad, of the five, who¡¯s the strongest or rather who won the games the past few times?¡±

    ¡°The Dracos won it for the past five times in a row.¡± Caden replied as he frowned at the grin that popped up on Hiro¡¯s face.

    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m going to need bow and arrows, knives, swords, shield material and as many blacksmiths and tailors you can spare. Oh what type of staging areas will there be? Fields, forests or plains and will it be green from rain or brown as the earth?¡±

    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem. But what do you need all that for?¡± Caden asked Hiro.

    ¡°Oh we¡¯re going to beat them all at their own game¡± he replied as he skipped out the door while whistling a tune. Suddenly he was poking his head back in the doorway, ¡°Oh who are we allies with?¡±

    ¡°Uh, the Jorans and the Killians. The Goodards tend to be neutral. Why?¡±

    ¡°Well we can¡¯t be completely decimating our own allies can we. Not good for relations.¡± Hiro replied as he headed back on his way.

    Caden and Alicia looked at each other blankly. ¡°Definitely your son.¡± They said as they pointed to each other.

 Chapter 5 - The War Games - Dracos Demise 1

    3 months later at the war games.

    ¡°Caden! Good to see you, it¡¯s been far too long!¡± came a voice as the Ventris family entered the temporary tent city on the hill overlooking the forest and plains which were to be used for the war games.

    ¡°Alric, how¡¯s everything with you and your family,¡± replied Caden with a smile as he greeted the head of the Joran family. ¡°Ah here comes Edward with his family as well.¡± He said as he greeted the head of the Killian family.

    ¡°Caden, Alric good to see you two!¡± bellowed Edward as he greeted the two. ¡°It¡¯s been a while. A bit too long I think.¡± He beamed as he smiled at his friends. Soon they were chatting when another family entered the tent city.

    ¡°Lord Goodard, good to see you again.¡± Called out Caden. Like always, he didn¡¯t get a reply however he get a courteous small bow.

    Then from behind him came a voice, ¡°What have we here, it looks like the Ventris family and company.¡± Two men stepped forward to snicker at Caden. Alric and Edwards stepped forward to say something but Caden stopped them with a hand on their shoulders, Goodard frowned but didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you to Lords Restav and Draco.¡± Replied Caden as he patted his friends¡¯ shoulders to get them to back him up. ¡°Best of luck to you on the field.¡±

    ¡°Best of luck? Hahaha! You must be joking.¡± Lord Draco laughed as he led Lord Restav away.

    When they were far enough away Alric grimaced. ¡°He¡¯s never learned the concept of sportsmanship. Someone should take him down a notch or two.¡±

    ¡°So where¡¯s your son Caden? I hear he¡¯s growing up to be a fine lad!¡± Edward slapped Caden on the back as they walked off to the nearest restaurant to catch up on old times over some hot food and drinks. But before they took more than two steps Caden stopped and turned.

    ¡°Goodard, you coming or not?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps next time. There is much too still prepare for.¡± Lord Goodard gave a slight bow before heading off to his area.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    ¡°Next time then,¡± smiled Caden as he turned to follow his friends.

    The next morning found all six of the families in the main tent overlooking the field. Today¡¯s exercise was between the Ventris and the Draco families. As always it consisted of one hundred per side meeting on a field where they would meet in combat. All weapons were blunted so that casualties were kept to a minimum with only leather armor allowed. The hundred Draco guards faced off against the hundred Ventris guards. Soon the two appointed leaders of the troops met in the middle of the field. Although a bit odd, it had become a test of strength for the Draco guards who would send their leader to face off against the opponent¡¯s leader before the two sides actually met in combat. The two looked over each other as they waited for the signal to start.

    ¡°Hmm, who do you think will win this little bout?¡± asked Alric as he looked over the two men from where they sat.

    ¡°Commander Christof will,¡± came the reply from a boy sitting to the right of Caden.

    ¡°Ooohhh, if it isn¡¯t young Master Hiro!¡± smiled Edward as he looked over at him, ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°Three hits, that¡¯s all he¡¯s going to need. A knee to the chest, an elbow to his cheek and an uppercut to his chin.¡±

    ¡°Ah the certainty of youth,¡± chuckled Alric before he heard the cry of the game overseer to start. But what happened next stunned everyone into standing in disbelief ¨C all except for Caden and Hiro. The leader of Draco¡¯s guards was down on the ground after exactly three hits.

    "Che...dammit he''s still able to twitch so that means he''s still alive," Christof spat as he swatted away some imaginary lint on his shoulder.

    All exactly as Hiro said before; a knee to the chest and an elbow to the cheek followed by an uppercut to his chin. The overseer shook his head at this before he sent out some men to check. Sure enough the Draco leader was unconscious; they grabbed his legs and unceremoniously dragged him off the field to the healers. This had never happened before so the Draco guards looked at each other before someone finally came forward as the temporary leader. He and Christof said a few words before they both went back to their respective groups.

    A few minutes later both sides faced off and charged at each other. It was mass chaos¡­no rather it was mass genocide, followed by a sprinkling of mass destruction with a garnish of mass devastation. Within fifteen minutes all of the guards from Draco were on the floor. Some were still vomiting, some were groaning in pain, some were unconscious and some had even soiled themselves.

    Christof and his men formed up in front of the group on the floor in various states.

    ¡°GODS ALMIGHTY, THIS SMELLS RANK! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT WHITE SHIT YOU MAGGOT?!! IS THAT MILK FROM YOUR MAMA¡¯S TITTIES??!! YOU¡¯RE STILL DRINKING FROM THAT FLOPPY SACK? GET UP LIKE REAL MEN, WE ONLY TAPPED YOU A FEW TIMES!!! YOU GOD DAMNED WORMS! ARE YOU ALL PUSSIES WITH NO BALLS??!!!¡±

    Needless to say, what spewed forth from their mouths had people in awe.

 Chapter 6 - The War Games - Dracos Demise 2

    This vocal subjugation went on for a few minutes before a horn was heard and the Ventris guards fell back to their temporary barracks. The overseer waved his hand and men streamed out to clear the field of the fallen guards. It took a while as they were all incapacitated in one form or another. As they moved them off the field the stench that wafted from them had some grimacing and holding their noses. Lord Draco could be seen almost crushing the arms of his chair in anger.

    ¡°The next game will commence in an hour. This will be a contest of arrows. Once again between house Draco and house Ventris. House Draco will have red tipped arrows and house Ventris will have black.¡± He then bowed to the audience and went over to the official¡¯s tent.

    ¡°What the hell Caden, when did you get such brutal men?¡± Edward asked with wide eyes

    ¡°Yes, please do tell, I¡¯ve never seen such sheer brutality and destruction.¡± Chirped in Alric.

    ¡°Oh we have a new instructor for the guards who seems to be working out quite nicely,¡± smiled Caden as he winked at Hiro.

    Hiro rolled his eyes and took a sip of his juice from his cup while he waited for the next game to start. Things were going as planned.

    Soon it was time for the archery game to start. It was going to be a war of arrows. Essentially both sides had blunt tipped arrows with different colored powder on them. If you were hit you¡¯d get coated with the powder and you were out. This battle would be held in the forest area so the audience was provided with crystals which would allow them to see through the dense foliage from above to see the fighting. Soon everyone could see Draco¡¯s guards had taken positions by the white uniforms which they all wore. However not a single of the Ventris¡¯ guards could be seen anywhere.

    ¡°Lord Ventris, are your men in place already?¡± asked the overseer.

    ¡°Yes they are, you may sound the horn to start the game if you wish.¡± Replied Caden.

    The overseer simply shrugged his shoulders and sounded the horn for the game to start. The two sides faced off against each other; or rather it was one side looking around at the trees trying to spot their quarry. They lay in wait, looking for a sign of the opponent. Five minutes turned to ten, ten to fifteen and yet nothing moved.

    ¡°Nothing is happening.¡± Frowned Alric as he peered into his crystal. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything moving at all.¡±

    ¡°Patience is King. He who moves first, loses.¡± came a boy¡¯s voice from besides Caden.

    ¡°Indeed young Master Hiro, you are correct,¡± nodded Edward as he looked over Hiro, seeming to see something that he didn¡¯t see before.

    ¡°Hmm, it begins.¡± Replied Hiro as he peered into the crystal.

    The Draco¡¯s guards had begun to peek out of their hiding places to see where their opponents was when suddenly there was a flurry of arrows from places where there was nobody. In an instant more than half of Draco¡¯s guards were out in a puff of black. Then from to the side of the remaining guards a flurry of arrows appeared, cutting down more than half the remaining archers. The remaining archers quickly fired back from their cover however they were firing blindly as they had no idea where the enemy was. Then from in front of them came some long distance shots which arced down towards them. They quickly moved out of the way only to realize their error as they were once again picked off by the enemy archers who had seen them dodge. Eventually only a handful was left and they were only able to put up a token fight before arrows from all directions sniped at them. When the last one of them was hit the overseer sounded the end of the game with his horn and the Draco guards began heading back out the forest. As for the Ventris guards, slowly they began to step forward from their hiding places. The Draco archers were dumbfounded by their attire, or rather their greenery. From where bushes and grasses grew men stood with all sorts of plants hanging off their spotted clothing. One of them was even a bush that just got up and walked forward. Soon both sets of guards were facing each other. One set clothed with vegetation the other in black with blue spots from where the arrows hit them. The leader of the Ventris archers stepped forward and grinned.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°What happened to you, you maggoty excuse for a cow? Oh we get it, you¡¯re the maggots feeding those pussy bitches the titty milk they¡¯ve been spewing up! You gotta stop feeding them like that, they¡¯re going to get spots like you plus they smell like they just came off their momma¡¯s milk. By the way who the hell milks you cows to feed them?¡± he asked as he looked southward at their crotches. ¡°Well if you maggots swing that way who am I to complain about your vile tendencies.¡±

    It was at this point the leader of the Draco archers collapsed and began frothing at the mouth.

    Meanwhile in the audience tent several sets of eyes glared over at Caden as he hummed a ditty while ignoring Draco and Restav. By now Lord Draco¡¯s armrests on his chair were starting to crumble under the crushing grip that he was exerting on them.

    The overseer was beginning to feel the starting of a headache coming on now. Never in twenty years of officiating a war game had he come across such vile language coupled with such savage attacks which left their opponents reeling in fear and anger. ¡°The winners of this game are the House Ventris. The next game will also be between Draco and Ventris and will conclude their matches against each other in one hour.¡± He said as he walked off to the official¡¯s tent.

    The audience tent was now in a flurry of activity and noise as everyone talked about the two previous games and what they meant. House Ventris had completely dominated both games and now it was the final match.

    ¡°Caden, who is your new instructor? Such brilliant tactics but he¡¯s so vulgar!¡± exclaimed Alric.

    ¡°Hmm, yes quite vulgar,¡± grunted Caden as he looked at Hiro who pretended not to hear him.

    Hiro looked over the previous field and nodded. Things had been going to plan but he had to keep an eye on things so that everything would remain in the palm of his hand. Just then he felt a slight thump as someone sat in the seat next to him. He frowned and turned to see a little girl, probably a year or two younger than him, sitting next to him. She was looking up at him with cornflower blue eyes and sucking on her thumb. He smiled at her and pulled her finger out of her mouth. She pouted a little and then tried to put her finger back in but he stopped her.

    ¡°Not clean. Try this instead,¡± he said as he handed over a hard candy. She immediately lit up her face in delight and grabbed at the candy. She got it halfway to her mouth when she stopped.

    ¡°Thwank yew,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯m Lyra.¡±

    ¡°Hullo Lyra, I¡¯m Hiro,¡± he smiled at her as she finally plopped the candy in her mouth and looked over at the field which the podium was turning to face.

    ¡°Lyra, Lyra! Oh where has this girl gone to now?¡± came a voice from behind him.

    Hiro turned to see Lord Goodard searching through the stands looking for Lyra. He managed to catch the eye of Lord Goodard and beckoned him over. The poor man was frustrated looking for Lyra and was ready to give young Hiro a tongue lashing when he noticed Lyra sitting docilely next to Hiro. He blinked, frowned and then blinked again before finally coming in front of Lyra.

    ¡°Lyra, what are you doing here?¡± he asked with a smile.

    ¡°I¡¯m here with my new friend, Popa.¡± She replied with a smile.

    He stupidly blinked for a bit before smiling again. ¡°Ok, stay here and don¡¯t go wandering off. I¡¯ll be back in a bit.¡± He said as he moved off back to his section.

    Hiro frowned at his weird behavior but then just shrugged it off as it really didn¡¯t concern him. Little did he know that his father and his two friends were now looking at Lyra and Hiro who were sitting next to each other.

    Edward nudged Alric, ¡°Eh, I think we just got upped one by a three year old.¡±

    ¡°Speak for yourself, I don¡¯t have a daughter,¡± quipped Alric as he looked over Hiro to Lyra who now had her hand wrapped around his as she looked at the field as well. He leaned back to see Lord Goodard and his wife busy chatting up a storm while constantly looking over at Hiro and Lyra. ¡°Well shit, I think that Lady Goodard is cementing that idea right now. Well old chap, if you had any ambitions you¡¯d better give them up now.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Why?¡± Edward frowned as he looked at his friend.

    Alric, nodded towards where the Goodards were located, ¡°Lady Goodard¡¯s mind is made up. Look at the smile on her face and tell me, when was the last time you saw that smile and she didn¡¯t get what she wanted?¡±

    Edward looked back to where Alric was pointing with his chin to see Lady Goodard¡¯s smile, ¡°Well fuck me sideways, I¡¯ve lost already and I didn¡¯t even know I was playing.¡±

 Chapter 7 - The War Games - Dracos demise 3

    An hour later it was finally time for the final game between House Ventris and House Draco. This will incorporate one House leading a charge of two hundred soldiers against one hundred and fifty of the guards of the other House. The sides are to be determined by a flip of a coin. Once the coin is flipped and the results are confirmed. The winning side will choose which side they will play, the attacking or the defending and then the losing side will then choose the field on which the game will be held. The winner is determined by which team manages to keep the flag at the end of two hours.

    The two captains met in the field with the overseer who had them pick a side on the coin. The coin was flipped and the Draco captain won.

    ¡°We choose the attack.¡± He grinned.

    ¡°Very well,¡± replied the overseer, ¡°you field selection House Ventris?¡±

    ¡°We choose the section where the valley meets the plains,¡± replied Christof.

    ¡°We will take the plains. Prepare for your demise Ventris dog.¡± Sneered the Draco¡¯s guard as he turned without even bothering with the traditional handshake.

    ¡°Better a dog than a fat, white, pussycat with no balls,¡± Christof grinned.

    The overseer watched the two part ways and only shook his head. He already had an idea of what was going to happen and it was not going to be pretty. The two sides went to their respective sections on the field and stood awaiting the sound of the horn for the game to start. The overseer blew the horn and the Draco¡¯s guards started running from their end of the field. There was about three hundred yards before they reached the center of the field and then an extra two hundred before they met up with the opposing side. By the time they were almost to the Ventris¡¯ guards they finally realized something. The Ventris¡¯ guards hadn¡¯t moved forward at all, in fact they moved back into the section where the steep walls of the valley rose into the air and simply waited for them there.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    When the Draco¡¯s guards were about two hundred feet away, they finally started making a move.

    ¡°Alright men, let¡¯s show these fat, white maggots how much in a world of hurt they¡¯re going to be for banging their heads on a wall!!¡± shouted Christof. The Ventris¡¯ guards formed up ten columns by fifteen rows deep at the narrowest section of the wall and essentially hunkered down behind their shields, all packed tightly with each one behind pushing on the one in front.

    ¡°Ha ha ha, is this your idea of a fight Lord Ventris? A turtle?¡± laughed Lord Draco.

    ¡°I hope his shell is thick enough!¡± chimed in Lord Restav as they laughed. The entire audience was laughing now as they watched the Draco guards slam against the turtle shell defense of the Ventris guards. The Ventris guards formation was pushed back a few feet but then came to a stop.

    ¡°Empty pans make the most noise,¡± chirped a boy¡¯s voice from besides Lord Ventris. Oddly enough although the entire audience was laughing somehow everyone heard it and then the place became as silent as a cemetery.

    ¡°What did you say you brat?!!¡± grinded Lord Draco as veins popped out of his head.

    ¡°One push to decide it all, one push to make them fall, one push to send them rolling.¡± Replied Hiro as he pointed to the field.

    Everyone turned back to the field to see what he was pointing to.

    Christof was in the midst of his men holding back the crowd of Draco¡¯s guards.

    ¡°Alright men, let¡¯s show these maggots how to roll. Heave HO!¡±

    As one the Ventris¡¯ formed up columns pushed against the Draco¡¯s crowd of guards sending them all toppling and rolling into the dust. Then while they were down the column spew forth like a raging tide and the Ventris guards set upon the fallen opponents. They were quick in dishing out vengeance. It was short and painfully brutal as they spew forth stepping on opponents who were still lying down, knocking down opponents who were just getting to their feet and slamming against opponents who were already on their feet, thus sending them back onto the ground only to be trampled upon. Twenty minutes later it was over. All the Draco¡¯s guards were on the ground in various states of disrepair. Some were pleading for mercy, some were crying and most had soiled themselves. Christof and his men stood there around the fallen guards, shouting out curses and calling them names the likes of which had not been seen before.

 Chapter 8 - A good day...or was it?

    That valley would forever be known as the valley of insanity and the tales of the battle there would live on in the annals of history.

    Eventually, when the two hour limit was up, the overseer called a close to the games between the House Ventris and House Draco. Lord Draco was angered beyond belief and some would even swear that they saw smoke rising from his head, though it wasn¡¯t sure if it was because he was angry or because he had squeezed the chair handles so hard that they began to burn and combust.

    Soon it was time for the first day of the war games to come to an end. Tomorrow was the game between House Ventris and House Restav. Everyone was getting up and starting to head out back to their respective House tents. Hiro felt a tug on his sleeve and turned to smile at the girl still sitting next to him.

    ¡°Will you be here tomorrow?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Definitely. I¡¯ll save you a seat?¡± he said with a smile. She nodded and then hopped down and scampered off to her parents. Hiro watched her until she meet up with her mother and then nodded and left.

    Lady Goodard nodded back before he turned to leave. She watched his back until he had left the audience tent with his father.

    ¡°An interesting young man , indeed.¡± She mused.

    ¡°He¡¯s my friend, Momma.¡± Said Lyra as she looked up to her mother.

    ¡°Of course he is darling,¡± she smiled back at Lyra before she lifted her up into her arms and headed out the door. Lord Goodard joined her as they walked back to their tent surrounded by their guards. ¡°He¡¯s the one, dear.¡± She said softly to him as Lyra was beginning to fall asleep on her shoulder. ¡°Make it happen.¡±

    ¡°Yes my love,¡± he replied before he motioned to the guards to close in before they proceeded on their way.

    Back at the Ventris¡¯ tent, Caden was holding his head as he listened to Christof give a performance review to Hiro. As Christof continued onwards with the review, every word he heard kept adding to his pounding headache. Eventually, he stopped Christof with a wave of his hand and turned to Hiro.

    ¡°Explain yourself.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to win, decisively.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it? ¡®We¡¯re going to win¡¯ is your explanation??¡±

    ¡°Yes, decisively. We will leave them no quarter, and they will all be on the ground before us.¡± Hiro replied.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Ugghh, fine. You¡¯re relieved Captain. Off to bed with you as well Hiro.¡± Replied Caden as he waved off Christof and Hiro. When they had left the room, Alicia came in and poured him a drink.

    ¡°I heard that we won against House Draco, dear.¡± She smiled as she gave over the drink.

    ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m not much sure that we won or we completely decimated them.¡±

    ¡°Oh? We did that good?¡± she mused.

    ¡°Yes, the training that Hiro provided Christof and the house guard was quite effective. In fact it was probably downright brutal. Alicia, I¡¯m not sure to be happy or scared. You didn¡¯t see how painfully brutal Christof and the men were against Draco¡¯s guards. In the last battle, all of Draco¡¯s guards were put down and they were either crying out in pain, calling for their mommy or outright unconscious. Some even soiled themselves and trust me when I say that it was not pleasant the one or two times the wind changed and we were downwind.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so we were the attackers then?¡± she smiled.

    ¡°No¡­we were the defenders.¡± He sighed. In the entire history of the games, the defenders have never won in this manner. They all won by holding off the attackers until the time limit was up or even if they did attack, they usually did so to repel the attackers. This was a different scene altogether. Our guards didn¡¯t really go on defense, they only gave Draco¡¯s guards the illusion that they were defending. When in reality, they drew them into a position where they were the ones in control.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing, dear?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I¡¯ve been letting everyone think that there¡¯s a new instructor who¡¯s been training our guards. Can you imagine what an uproar there would be if someone found out that it¡¯s in fact Hiro and he¡¯s only five years old.¡± He sighed.

    ¡°Umm, what exactly did the guards do?¡± Alicia asked in a puzzled voice.

    Caden pulled out the map and showed Alicia the topography of the field the game was played on.

    ¡°See here, this is the valley where Christof held Draco¡¯s guards at. They didn¡¯t just defend they literally sat there like a turtle and allowed Draco¡¯s guards to crowd them at the mouth of the valley and slam into them. Then acting as one, they pushed the entire crowd of guards back and caused them to topple like dominos. Once they were on the ground they swarmed out like bees and trampled down all resistance.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too bad, it sounds like we won as Hiro said. Definitively.¡± She replied.

    ¡°Ha, if that was all it would be great. However, our men then surrounded the two hundred fallen guards and proceeded to verbally bully them for the next hour and a half. Alicia, the kind of things which they said, dear Gods¡­¡±

    ¡°They bullied them verbally? With what? Wait, no¡­go back for a bit there. You said that they bullied them for an hour and a half? Isn¡¯t the game only supposed to last two hours?¡±

    ¡°Yes, they bullied them for an hour and a half. The Draco guards couldn¡¯t even surrender because both their leader and his vice were unconscious. An odd thing that, especially since they¡¯re usually the most guarded.¡± Frowned Caden as he went back over the attack in his head. He went back over everything and for a moment it almost seemed that the swarm attack was only a two pronged attack which after reaching its goals, turned back to each other to finish off the rest, but then the memory faded and with it the conviction that it was all planned.

    ¡°They won and then bullied them. Hmph, well go and speak to your son because that obviously comes from you!¡± she pouted as she huffed out the room.

    Caden watched until she finally exited the room and the door closed before saying very softly, ¡°Dear, I think it really comes from you, you know.¡±

 Chapter 9 - Another one bites the dust

    It was the second day and the audience tent was quite packed. To be honest it was bursting at the seams. It turned out that yesterday¡¯s shenanigans had been heard all round and those who had not bothered to come ¨C due to their belief that Draco would have wiped the floor with Ventris ¨C were now out in full force. Many people were greeting mother and father but forgot about little ole¡¯ me, but that was just fine with me. I wanted to stay relatively low key since I wasn¡¯t ready yet to take on those five bastards who had stabbed me in the back. I was deep in thought on how I would deal with them individually when I felt a thump next to me and then someone tugged at my sleeves.

    ¡°Hi Hiro!¡± chirped a bubbly Lyra as her hair bounced up and down. I hadn¡¯t really noticed yesterday but she had almost platinum hair, just like the lady sitting next to her.

    Wait, the lady sitting next to her. I frowned a bit, there were only six chairs to a row yesterday, so how was she there? Then I realized it, she had pulled a chair from somewhere else and had decided to extend the row. Then I looked up and was immediately floored. Holy shit!!! Milf alert! I looked up at her and then looked down at Lyra. Yup definitely related and very closely at that too. So, I ventured forth.

    ¡°Hullo Lyra, Good morning Lady Goodard,¡± I said with a smile. Her return smile was devastating to say the least. Countries have been decimated for less.

    ¡°Hello young Master Ventris. Has Lyra been behaving?¡± she asked as she continued beaming that deadly smile that way.

    ¡°Mama! I¡¯m not a baby!¡± retorted Lyra, ¡°Hiro is my friend!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s been very good.¡± I replied with a smile as I patted Lyra¡¯s head.

    ¡°Any more sweets Hiro?¡± asked Lyra as she wrapped her arms around mine.

    ¡°Just one piece, Lyra, we don¡¯t want a belly ache now, do we?¡± I replied as I handed off a piece of candy to her.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Lyra hummed as she took the candy and started sucking on it while still holding my hand.

    Lady Goodard just sat there watching us with a slight smile on her face. After a bit she sort of nodded and got up to leave. ¡°Lyra stay here with your friend Hiro and Mommy will get you when it¡¯s all over.¡±

    ¡°Yes Moma!¡± chortled Lyra with a grin.

    Lady Goodard left in a flurry and soon we were once again waiting for the overseer to begin the next game.

    ¡°Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen, we present the war games between House Ventris and House Restav. The first match will be an archery test between the two sides. It will be held on the grassy field between fifty guards from each side. The winning side is the one with the most men left at the end of an hour. Are both houses ready?¡±

    Fifty men from each house stepped forward and then met at the center of the field in front of the overseer.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to take down you upstarts here and now!¡± yelled the leader of House Restav¡¯s guards. ¡°You¡¯ve never bested us at archery and what¡¯s with that mismatch of green splotches you call a uniform?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s green isn¡¯t it? Doesn¡¯t say anywhere in the rules that it has to all be the same shade of green. Besides it¡¯s better than looking like a brown pile of shit. Or is it that you wear that color so that no one will notice when you¡¯ve shit yourself in fear. Let me let you in on a little secret, shit smells to high heaven so we won¡¯t need to see you. We¡¯d smell you long before you reached anywhere close.¡± Replied Christof with a smirk.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    My mother immediately looked my way when he said that and I shook my head. ¡°I told him to tone it down already.¡± I said feigning innocence.

    The two sides then went off to their sides of the field while the overseer sighed again. Yup he could see the slaughter coming already. Ten minutes later he sounded the horn to start the game. The Restav side spread out and took positions among the tall grass. On the other hand the Ventris side had 4 men form a pyramid with three on the bottom and one on top at the very back of their side of the field; just out of range of any arrows. Then the rest started spreading out. Soon they were all spread out and then the men in the back started calling out.

    ¡°J3, sixty by 25 degrees, fire!¡±

    One of the Ventris¡¯ men popped up quickly while facing a direction and without even taking aim fired and then dropped back down again out of sight.

    ¡°Out! Stay down and don¡¯t move!¡± shouted one of the assistant overseers to the Restav archer who had been hit.

    ¡°G6, seventy by 300 degrees, fire!¡±

    Another of the Ventris¡¯ men popped up in a different direction and fired without aiming before dropping back down out of sight.

    ¡°Out, Stay down and don¡¯t move!¡± shouted another assistant overseer to the unlucky Restav archer.

    This continued on until it was just the leader of the archers left.

    ¡°Son of a bitch you worthless dog! Come out and fight me like a man!¡± he yelled as his anger boiled over.

    ¡°Sure thing. After all I need to be certain that that¡¯s not a shit stain that I¡¯m looking at or if it¡¯s a cow turd!¡±

    That was the insult that broke the camel¡¯s back. The Restav archer didn¡¯t even wait for Christof to fully step out before he fired an arrow at him. Christof merely leaned to the side and grabbed at the arrow that was whizzing past him and in one motion, turned and fired it right back at the Restav archer. Right. Between. The. Eyes. The archer went flying back when the blunted arrow hit him causing him to land sprawled in the dusty field.

    Christof laughed, ¡°What do you say lads, that position looks like the mother lode of a cow turd!¡±

    ¡°Ha ha ha, didn¡¯t anyone ever tell them that you¡¯re supposed to keep the cow and throw out the turds, not the other way around!!!¡±

    They continued bullying the Restav guards until they finally cleared the field and the overseer declared House Ventris the winner. Try as he may, Hiro could feel his mother¡¯s eyes boring a hole at the back of his head almost demanding an explanation for the behavior of the guards. Luckily for him, Lyra was sitting next to him so he began to play with her in an effort to ignore his staring mother. Little did he know that this would only seal his fate, now his mother was looking on with an inquisitive look on her face before tugging at her husband¡¯s sleeve to get his attention.

    ¡°Caden, who is this adorable girl playing with Hiro?¡± she asked as she pointed over with her chin.

    Caden leaned back a bit to take a gander before turning back, ¡°It¡¯s the Goodard girl. I believe her name is Lyra. Why?¡±

    ¡°A Goodard girl? Lord Goodard¡¯s daughter?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t think that they have another,¡± nodded Caden as he answered absentmindedly.

    ¡°Has Eleanor seen the two of them as yet?¡±

    ¡°Sure, she saw them yesterday and brought over Lyra earlier this morning so that they could play some more.¡±

    Alicia simply sighed, ¡°Your brain is as dense as a lead stone. You¡¯ve essentially married off your son and you don¡¯t even realize it yet.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure. I¡¯ve married him off¡­wait what? I haven¡¯t married off anyone what are you talking about?¡±

    Alicia grabbed Caden¡¯s head and turned it face Hiro and Lyra as they played. ¡°Do you think that after Eleanor saw those two playing so nicely that that was all she saw?¡±

    ¡°Umm yes?¡± shrugged Caden.

    Alicia shook her head as she pinched her nose. Her husband was daft. Dense, daft and with fluff for brains.

    ¡°Caden, did Eleanor smile at the two of them before she left Lyra here with Hiro?¡±

    ¡°Uh huh,¡± nodded Caden enthusiastically as he replied.

    ¡°Now my daft dummy for a husband. What happened the last time you saw that smile?¡±

    ¡°Oh that¡¯s easy, she managed to trick the Emperor into giving her the husband that she wanted rather than the one that was supposed to be chosen for her,¡± he replied with a smile which began to fade as finally the gears in his head started moving. ¡°Oh!¡±

    ¡°Yes oh indeed.¡±

    Caden¡¯s smile faded as he looked over at the two children playing. Silently he sighed to himself, ¡®Sorry Hiro, Father¡¯s an idiot.¡±

 Hiatus! No not really just really delayed

    Work''s picking up and I''m currently working double overtime. Sorry guys, for the next month or two I''ll be lucky to get out 1-2 chapters a week. Hopefully they''ll hire someone quick so I won''t have to be working double shifts and overtime days....This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    As always comments are appreciated!

 Chapter 10 - Giving a beating then sold downriver

    An hour later the overseer was back out on the field. The next battle with be a battle between the House Ventris and House Restav upon the plains. It will be limited to spears, shields and swords. All swords and spears will be blunted. For further safety the heads of the spears will be removed. There will be a two hour time limit on this battle. The winner is the one with the most men standing at the end.

    The two sides were directed to their respective starting points on the field. This time the guards from House Restav decided to essentially turtle their defense and allow the guards from Ventris wear themselves out trying to penetrate their defense. They formed up phalanxes in a circle with three layers and at the center the leader of the guards. This was their standard defense formation which hadn¡¯t been breached in almost a hundred years.

    The guards from House Ventris began a quick walk until they were a hundred feet from the opponent. Then they suddenly began to jog and as they jogged they began to form up into an elongated pyramid.

    ¡°Hmph,¡± snorted Lord Restav as he watched the Ventris¡¯ guards start to jog. ¡°What do they plan to do? Bash their heads on our indestructible defense? Ha ha ha!¡±

    In the audience both houses Restav and Draco began laughing but the rest of the crowd simply murmured as they communicated with each other on what House Ventris¡¯ plans to beat this defense could possibly be.

    ¡°The best way to crack a turtle is with a wedge,¡± muttered Hiro under his breath so that only his father heard him.

    Luckily, Caden took the hint and smiled as he repeated loudly, ¡°The best way to crack a turtle is with a wedge!¡±

    Now the audience tent was silent as everyone immediately turned back to the field. Indeed the Ventris Guards were forming up a thin wedge, however they were all packed into this wedge very tightly and now they were running. As they ran each person was pushing forward the one in front of them. Then they slammed into the defense of the Restav guards and without even blinking an eye they penetrated that defense all the way to the leader at the center of the formation and proceeded to run him down. They didn¡¯t even bother to slash with the sword or hit him with the spear, they just simply ran him over, from the front of their wedge formation all the way to the end. Then the wedge formation didn¡¯t even stop and instead ran past the last ring and exited the Restav¡¯s defense and came to a halt over two hundred feet away when they turned and faced the Restav¡¯s guards again.

    Christof came forward while scratching his cheek, ¡°Sorry about that turds, we were supposed to stop and fight however we didn¡¯t want to have shit plastered to our feet so we keep running, hoping to wipe it off. We¡¯re coming back over now to fight so chin up!¡±

    This really pissed off the Restav guards and they quickly formed up a smaller turtle formation as a little over a third of them had been wiped out by being trampled upon. Then the Ventris guards started forward again. The Restav guards had no leader so they stuck to their tried and true method of turtling up and it turned out to be a bad choice. Not only did the defense not hold up but now the Ventris wedge was not as compact as it was before, they had spread out into an arrow and when it slammed into them it essentially bowled them over, only to then be trampled upon as the wedge passed over them. Soon all of them were on the ground in various states of disrepair and with all of them possessing shoe prints all over their bodies. They were all moaning and groaning and as expected some had soiled themselves.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Gods almighty! I think we stomped the shit out of these turds Captain!¡± shouted out one of the Ventris¡¯ men.

    ¡°Phew! I believe you¡¯re right. We¡¯d better mosey on down to our side of the field before we catch anything from these bastards. God help us all, what¡¯s with these people?? First the Dracos and now the Restavs, is there some shitting epidemic going on here? Hurry up and move along, I can¡¯t have us catching whatever gods forsaken shit problem they¡¯ve got.¡± Replied Christof.

    The overseer eventually came on the field with a cloth sash in front of his nose as he proclaimed the House Ventris as the winners of this battle. He waved his men on the field and they proceeded to assist some of the Restav¡¯s guards off to the healer tents.

    ¡°The next battle between House Ventris and House Restav will be held in an hour. This will be a¡­¡± he paused as a runner came running up to him. He took a scroll and read from it before he coughed lightly. ¡°Ahem, so it seems that the final battle between House Ventris and House Restav is already concluded. The healers at the healer tents have informed me that House Restav¡¯s guards will not be able to partake in further matches today due to injuries. That will be the end to the war games between Houses Ventris and Restav. Tomorrow will host the matches between House Ventris and House Joran.¡± He paused again as another runner came up with another three scrolls. He took the scrolls and opened them one at a time. The contents on each one made his face even more comical as varying degrees of frustration, incredulity, disbelief and finally acceptance went across his face. At the end of it all he simply threw the scrolls away with a sigh. ¡°Ahem¡­Houses Joran, Killian and Goodard have all conceded their matches against House Ventris.¡±

    The results caused an uproar amongst the audience tent. Never before in the history of the war games had three houses conceded without even a match being fought. Caden had a ridiculous smile on his face and nothing his friends teased him about could wipe it off his face.

    ¡°Ahem, I take it that the other houses will still at least take part in their remaining matches so that we can at least have something of a semblance of a war game?¡± asked the overseer.

    ¡°Oh sure! No problems there!¡± shouted Alric, Lord of the House Joran, ¡°at least we won¡¯t get our asses handed to us.¡±

    ¡°Absolutely, no problems.¡± Shouted Edward, Lord of the House Killian before he muttered under his breath, ¡°Who the hell wants to get crushed and embarrassed like that!¡±

    ¡°We agree, after all we were only conceding the matches against House Ventris. Don¡¯t want to go up against my soon to be in-laws and all that you know.¡± Replied Lord Goodard with a wave of his hand.

    That statement left the entire audience tent as silent as a mouse as hundreds of heads turned to look towards Lord Goodard and then to where his daughter was sitting playing with Hiro. Hiro, upon realizing that the tent had gone silent looked around and noticed everyone staring at him. He frowned as he went over what had been said just a few moments ago until he realized exactly what Lord Goodard implied.

    He looked over to his mother who was shaking her head wearily and subtly pointed to his father. He then looked at his father who was feigning ignorance and a pained smile on his face.

    ¡°Um, father can you explain this to me?¡± asked Hiro.

    Caden looked away and pretended that he hadn¡¯t heard anything. He even started humming a ditty.

    ¡®Shit! I¡¯ve been sold downriver by my father!¡¯ was all Hiro could think as he realized that his boat had been sunk.

 Chapter 11 - An Emperors mistake

    The Royal Capital of Ataria

    Emperor Trevor Varek the VI was contemplating the set of documents before him concerning the land taxes when one of his messengers entered the room.

    ¡°Your Majesty, I bring news of the war games between the six Dukedoms,¡± he said as he knelt before the Emperor.

    ¡°News? Didn¡¯t the games only start two days ago? What news could there possibly be?¡± Trevor asked as he checked off another spot on the land tax listing. ¡°Good god man, rise. I can¡¯t abide talking down to someone kneeling on the cold floor.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, your Majesty. As I was saying before, there is great news. House Ventris has won the games.¡±

    ¡°Won the games?¡± now here was something that was beginning to piqued his interest, ¡°Are you sure man? House Ventris, the very house which has *never* won the games, lost every single match at the last four war games and has always been at the bottom of the listing?¡± he inquired now suitably interested.

    ¡°Yes your Majesty,¡± he said nodding his head enthusiastically, ¡°the very same.¡±

    ¡°So how many matches did they win to secure this victory?¡±

    ¡°All of them, your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°All¡­wait, they couldn¡¯t have possibly have competed in all the matches against all the houses in such a short time! What happened?¡±

    ¡°In a nutshell, House Ventris decimated House Draco on the first day. On the second day House Restav only managed to get through two of their matches before the healers at the healers tent sent word that House Restav¡¯s guards would not be participating in any further matches. Originally they sent word that it would be just the next match but it looks like their injuries are worst than thought.¡± Replied the messenger.

    ¡°So how many people died?¡±

    ¡°Actually¡­none.¡±

    ¡°No one died and yet Restav¡¯s guards were that badly off?¡±

    ¡°Yes your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Hold on, that was only two days. What happened to the other three Houses?¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    ¡°They all conceded, your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°They all conceded,¡± Emperor Varek muttered, ¡°So did they happen to say why they conceded?¡±

    ¡°Ahem, not officially but I have trusted word that Lord Joran mentioned that they wouldn¡¯t get their asses handed to them. Lord Killian muttered something along the lines of ¡®who the hell wants to get crushed and embarrassed like that¡¯. And Lord Goodard mentioned that they¡¯re not going up against their future in laws.¡±

    ¡°Joran and Killian didn¡¯t want to get slaughtered, I can understand. But what¡¯s with Goodard¡¯s reply? ¡®Can¡¯t fight against future in-laws?¡¯ Who the hell does he think he is? I¡¯m the Emperor here and I make the decisions on whom my Dukes¡¯ children can marry!¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty¡­just a reminder on who is married to Lord Goodard; Lady Eleanor Goodard.¡± Intoned the messenger.

    The Emperor sat there and for a bit thought it through before he started to cough and pale a bit as realization hit him. ¡°Lady Eleanor Goodard, she¡¯s a Goodard. Ah yes, yes so they will be future in-laws. Good Good. Always good to have my subjects happy and all that. Send a betrothal gift to House Ventris and House Goodard with my blessings,¡± he said before he muttered under his breath, ¡°Like I have a choice, not when she¡¯s already decided. And I¡¯m definitely not going thru trying to deny her again.¡±

    ¡°Of course, your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Oh and prepare the Imperial guard for departure.¡±

    ¡°As you wish you Majesty¡­.um, where are they going again?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going to see just exactly what Ventris did to get these results,¡± the Emperor smirked as he contemplated how his guards would grind his Duke¡¯s into the dust.

    The messenger watched as the Emperor lost himself in his own little fantasy of how he would grind House Ventris¡¯ guards into the dust as he walked out the door. The only thing going thru the messenger¡¯s mind ¨C ¡®He wouldn¡¯t be thinking what I think he¡¯s thinking if he had bothered to ask about the vid crystal.¡¯ The messenger had looked at the vid crystal as he sat waiting in the carriage to arrive at the Royal castle and what he saw and heard was a bit terrifying. Such brutality, such bullying, just a sheer, overwhelming beat down. It wasn¡¯t surprising that the other three houses decided to concede no matter what their excuses were. He hastened after the Emperor. ¡°Your Majesty, should we prepare the standard Imperial guard or would you like for us to sound the call for the Moon squad?¡±

    The Emperor stopped for a bit as he scratched his chin in contemplation. ¡°You know what, if you¡¯re going to bully someone you may as well do it right. Summon the Moon squad.¡± Then he was off again, heading down the corridor at an fast walk but just shy of a jog.

    The messenger bowed and then walked over to a segment of the wall and opened a small door. In the recess, there was a small crystal. He leaned in and touched the crystal which began to shine. ¡°Summon the Moon squad to the assembly yard. His Majesty the Emperor would like to participate in a war game.¡± He then shut the door and headed out to the communications room, at all costs he wanted to be there to see what the outcome of the war game between House Ventris¡¯ guards and the Royal Imperial guards ¨C Moon squad was going to be like. Maybe he¡¯d even put some money down on the Ventris¡¯ guards ¨C ¡®Sorry your Majesty but I¡¯ve seen the vid crystal and things do not bode well for the Moon squad.¡¯

 Chapter 12 - The Moon Squad

    It was day five of the war games and House Joran had won two of the three games against House Goodard the day before and now House Killian was fighting against House Joran. House Joran¡¯s mobile attacks were not having the same effect as yesterday when they played against House Goodard, largely due to the fact that today¡¯s match was held on a field whereas yesterday¡¯s was in a forested area. Now House Killian¡¯s attacks were having a better effect as they could sneak around in the tree cover to hit them with quick hit and run guerrilla attacks. Soon the last guard from House Joran fell and then the overseer called an end to the match.

    ¡°House Killian is the winner of this battle. The next battle will take place in an hour when¡­¡± he broke off as a messenger approached to speak to him on the side. When the messenger was finished he nodded and then turned back to the crowd. ¡°I am pleased to announce that His Majesty, our great Emperor of Ataria, has decided to join us today. He has asked that the remaining games be paused while his guards partake in one of our games.¡±

    The crowd began to murmur before suddenly standing to attention and then bowing as the Emperor walked up to the overseer and waved.

    ¡°My people, I have decided to come today to partake in your games. No need to worry, it will not affect the outcome of your matches but it¡¯s rather than I really wanted to see how well my guards would hold up against your Champion!¡± he announced with a smile.

    ¡®FUCK!! Where the hell did he come from and now he¡¯s looking to pit his guards against my men?¡± though Hiro with a frown as he looked over the Emperor¡¯s guards. ¡®Well hell, he¡¯s even ready with an entire guard troop.¡¯

    Hiro quickly looked over to the Ventris temporary garrison where there was a person on lookout. He managed to catch their eye and then gave them a sign. The guard¡¯s eyes lit up big and then nodded briskly and ran into the garrison.

    The overseer now took back over the announcements as the Emperor headed over to his own personal tent which had been set up by his men as he talked to the crowd.

    ¡°His Majesty¡¯s guards will be facing the champions, House Ventris. This will be a full garrison attack where both sides use all two hundred of their guards in a mock war battle. Archery, swords, shields and spears will be supplied with His Majesty¡¯s guards using the yellow marks and House Ventris will be using their usual black marks. Both sides please form up and put forth your requests for weapons.¡±

    While the two sides went about retrieving their weapons, Hiro¡¯s father Caden, decided to have a *little* chat with him.

    ¡°Hiro, please for Gods¡¯ sakes, please don¡¯t have them overdo things!¡± he whispered under his breath as he felt the sweat roll down his back as he worried over what would happen if Christof and the guards didn¡¯t behave.

    ¡°No need to worry Father, I¡¯m sure Christof will take things as they should be.¡± Hiro replied with as innocent a smile as he could muster.

    ¡°Hiro is sure Oncle, no worries!¡± chirped in Lyra as she tugged on Hiro¡¯s hand to give her another sweet.

    ¡°Ah, from the mouth of babes!¡± lamented Caden as he sat back holding his head.

    Soon the two sides were once again facing off. The Moon squad started off by putting down a layer of arrows as their guards ran forth to shorten the distance between their two armies. However all the guards from Ventris did was hold high their shields to defend against the incoming arrows. The shields became speckled with the arrow marks of yellow however no one was hit. Then they began to form up a layer of men with shields held high with a layer of archers just behind them. Soon the two armies were only a hundred feet away when the Ventris archers began their attack. They fired one high arched volley, which forced the incoming Moon squad to raise their shields high to prevent the arrows from raining down on them from up high. It was a mistake they would not make again. As the arrows began hitting their shields, the guards at the front were hit with spears that were thrown from a short distance. The Ventris guards were throwing the spears using an under arm throw method not seen before which gave a high speed and accuracy but limited distance. These spears immediately cut down on the guards causing more than a third of their guards to be immediately out. The Moon squad, realizing that their rush was not the wisest decision, formed up a phalanx and began approaching the Ventris guards. By now the Moon squads archers were out of range due to the Moon squads guards running forth to attack the Ventris guards and they were now running forward to close the gap to provide support to their phalanx.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    The two sides were now only a mere forty feet apart when Christof shouted, ¡°Archers, another high volley if you please!¡±

    Immediately the Moon squad phalanx raised high their shields in anticipation of the falling arrows, instead they received a volley of arrows shot at an almost flat arc since they were that close. By the time they managed to figure out the deception more than half the phalanx was out of the game. The remaining phalanx was routed when the Ventris guards formed up the same formation which was used to trample the Restav¡¯s guards, a wedge. But this time there were archers at the center of the wedge and as they pushed forth, they trampled the Moon squad underfoot while the archers sniped from within the foundation based upon the signals called out by the spotters who had stayed behind. Soon it was just the archers of the Moon squad left and they had finally come into range.

    They let loose arrows without disregard, forcing the Ventris guards to turtle up. But this turtle was able to move. As one the formation ran forth, shields over their heads and a shield wall on all sides. Every now and then a shield was turn and an arrow would come flying out to hit the opponent before the shield was quickly turned back into formation. In the end, the Moon squad had fallen and all that was left was the Ventris guards who suffered only a handful of casualties. The Ventris guards fell back to their starting point and could be heard shouting out insults to the Moon squad which was in disarray due to their overwhelming loss.

    ¡°Son of a bitch! Is this the poor excuse that¡¯s supposed to be guarding our Emperor? My one eyed, one legged, one eared dog could do a better job guarding a bone than those sorry excuses for maggots could!¡± shouted a voice from within the group.

    ¡°Hey isn¡¯t that dog named Lucky?¡± came another voice.

    ¡°Yeah that it is!¡± shouted the voice again, which caused the audience to stare at the Emperor to see what his reaction was, then the voice shouted again, ¡°Yup, called him Lucky because after all that he could still lick his balls! Can¡¯t say the same for these blokes, they¡¯re like a bunch of hot farts ¨C seems deadly until the wind blows it away! Ha, ha, ha!!!¡±

    Now the audience¡¯s jaws collectively hit the ground. Hiro¡¯s father Caden was holding his head and shaking it in dismay. His mother was pinching her nose with what looked like a headache coming on. The Emperor¡¯s face was red, his best guards were beaten down and he couldn¡¯t do a thing because he had already caught Lady Goodard staring at him with a pronounced smile. Next to the Emperor stood the messenger with a ridiculous smile on his face, as he mentally counted his newly found wealth in his head. It turned out that the bookies all gave odds in favor of the Emperor winning, after all *normal* people would usually give the Emperor face and allow him to win.

    The Emperor suddenly stood and with a wave of his hand, ¡°We¡¯re going home. NOW!¡± Then as fast as he came was as fast as he left.

    Hiro watched him leave and smirked, ¡°If you want to bully someone, be prepared to be bullied yourself.¡±

    ¡®Whack!¡¯ Hiro cringed as his mother tapped the back of his head with her fan. ¡°That¡¯s not something I want to hear from you quite yet,¡± she said as she frowned down on him.

    ¡°Uh, ok.¡± Hiro replied as he thought it over. ¡°Sha yi jing bai ¨C kill one to warn a hundred.¡±

    ¡®Whack!¡¯ Hiro¡¯s mother his him again, ¡°That¡¯s no good either. Why can¡¯t you just be a normal five year old?¡±

 Chapter 13 - Milking it for what its worth plus extra

    The war games ended up being cancelled with the decision that no one wanted to partake after the demise of the Emperor¡¯s guards. It became even worst when the rumor started going around that the guards were actually the Emperor¡¯s finest Moon squad. Soon Caden, the Duke of Ventris, began getting loads of visitors. Visiting emissaries, ambassadors, earls, viscounts, barons¡­you name it, they came. There were even some who brought their daughters with the hope of cultivating a relationship between their children and Hiro, only to be met by Lady Goodard and her smile. Yes, somehow Lady Goodard came to make an extended visit with Lyra at her side and she was there to greet each and every one of the visiting families. The wives of these families could only bear with it and crush their hopes as they watched Lady Goodard¡¯s smile. Eventually even the Emperor came to visit but this time he brought his entire Moon squad. Caden was ready to cry when he saw the battalion from afar with all their banners and dust raising up in the air. But he managed to meet with the Emperor and was greatly relieved when the Emperor said that he was only visiting. Then he began sweating when the Emperor dropped the hint that he wanted his Moon squad trained by the new Ventris instructor, after all how do you tell your Emperor no??

    Luckily Hiro was passing by on his way to the kitchen when he overheard them talking. Discretely opening the door he caught his father¡¯s eye and nodded for him to reply yes to the Emperor¡¯s request. Then with a quick motion he managed to get his father to let the Emperor know that he needed to speak to the instructor before he could make a final decision. Hiro made his way over to his father¡¯s library and sat waiting for his father. It didn¡¯t take long for Caden to arrive.

    ¡°Hiro, you want to train them?¡±

    ¡°Sure why not? We just need them to take a blood oath to never reveal who the instructor is. Then there are a few things which the Emperor must understand. The first is that once he agrees, they belong to me until I have released them from training which may be from six months to a year. The second thing is that he must provide all the training equipment, food and medical supplies. The third is that your instructor will require a down payment of one million gold Suls, with a final payment of two million gold Suls upon delivery of his trained guards.¡±

    ¡°WHAT!!! Are you trying to get me killed! Who the hell will pay three million gold Suls to train a single battalion of guards?!!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll pay, don¡¯t worry. And Fourth, he will not in any fashion, directly or indirectly, try to discern who the instructor is. Those are the four conditions. Oh and let him know that once the training is complete he will even be able to have a handful of guards who will be able to further train other troops.¡±

    ¡°Um, Hiro, it¡¯s all nice and well to train the guards for the Emperor but won¡¯t that leave us on par with the Emperor?¡±

    ¡°On par? What gave you the idea that the training that I¡¯ll be doing for the Emperor¡¯s guards will be anything like our own?¡±

    ¡°Whew, for a while there I thought that you wanted to train our guards for some nefarious reason,¡± Caden replied wiping his brow.

    ¡°No, nothing like that but when I¡¯m done our four hundred guards will be able to wipe out his entire ten thousand troop guard battalion easy.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°AGHHH!!! I give up! I¡¯ll just go tell the Emperor your terms.¡± Replied Caden as he walked out the room a bit light headed.

    Hiro watched his father leave the room before heading to the window. ¡®We¡¯re going to need to get more men who will be loyal to the Ventris family. I¡¯m going to make an entire army right under the nose of the Emperor, but I¡¯ve got to do it so that *they* don¡¯t notice me until it¡¯s too late. I¡¯ll need to organize an assassination squad and an intelligence squad as well. If I remember correctly Ataria was part of the alliance however they didn¡¯t have a hero to send to defeat the Demon Lord. I¡¯m lucky that they won¡¯t notice me for now but that doesn¡¯t mean that I can be careless. I¡¯m going to have my revenge but I¡¯ll make sure that they have no place to run to. The first thing to get done is for me to grow up a bit. Then I¡¯ll start my plans, so they¡¯d better not die on me until I¡¯m ready for them to do so.¡¯

    Suddenly Hiro felt a presence in the room, it was not one with killing intent so he simply watched out the window, patiently waiting for the person to decide when they would present themselves or just leave. He stood there for over half an hour before the intruder finally stepped out of the shadows. Hiro turned and watched him for a bit, trying to figure out what they had come to him for when it hit him. This person¡¯s aura was very familiar, he frowned and then pulled a chair and gestured to the intruder to follow suit as he sat. When the two had finally sat, Hiro finally spoke.

    ¡°So Darian, you found me.¡±

    The man slowly pulled his mask down to reveal a smiling yet tear filled face. ¡°Lord Hiro, thank the Gods you survived!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t survive Darian, I died,¡± refuted Hiro with a small smile.

    ¡°But you¡¯re here in front of me, alive! This doesn¡¯t make sense!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m alive yes, but I did die. The four Gods saw fit to reincarnate me, it will be some time before I can do much.¡±

    ¡°Then you¡¯re power, your skills?¡±

    ¡°All gone, however I do have the knowledge of the past so regaining them will only take time. Time I must have in order to grow so I¡¯m glad my friend that you managed to find me.¡±

    ¡°I kept everything, all your books and skill crystals. Even the Dragon crystal you were hatching. I managed to retrieve everything before those traitors came to loot your tower.¡±

    ¡°Thank you old friend. Did you happen to retrieve what¡¯s left of my sword Vermillion Blue?¡±

    ¡°Yes my Lord, but it¡¯s damaged beyond repair.¡±

    ¡°No worries there, I don¡¯t plan to use it. At least not as a sword but rather as a symbol. When the time is right, we will descend upon the traitors and show them exactly how cold revenge can be. But first I must regain my power and skills. Is the shadow corps still active?¡±

    ¡°In a sense my Lord. Of the six, only Night is left. They were hunted down by the traitors and their kin. The only reason Night survived was because he was here in Ataria at the time and was able to hide among the people.¡±

    ¡°So what¡¯s the old freak up to these days?¡±

    ¡°Umm,¡± hesitated Darian as he shifted from foot to foot in anxiety, ¡°He owns the Beguiling Flower House in the capital.¡±

    ¡°PPFFFTTTttt!!!! Ha ha ha ha!!!! He owns a brothel house!!!!¡± Hiro laughed till his eyes started tearing up. ¡°Night, the most obsessive compulsive must-do-right man owns a brothel house?!!!!¡±

    ¡°Yes, though I must mention that it also acts as a cover for his intelligence gathering. He¡¯s actually quite good at the spy game.¡±

    ¡°Good! Just the thing I was looking to create. This will save me some time and effort.¡± Hiro rejoiced as he smiled, ¡°Tell Night that he will be opening a branch of the Beguiling Flower House in the town of Flansbur. If he hesitates, complains or flat out denies my order, then tell him that I will find Solaria and I will provide her with his life trace.¡±

    ¡°His life trace?? But that will mean that¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, she will be able to find him no matter where he goes,¡± laughed Hiro, ¡°Sneaky and horrendous is it not?¡±

    ¡°Then with your blessings my Lord, I will be on my way.¡± Replied Darian as he faded back into the shadows, ¡°Oh and congratulations on your betrothal my Lord.¡±

    ¡°Wait what?¡± mumbled Hiro in shock as he stared at where Darian once stood. ¡°Betrothal? What betrothal?¡±

 Chapter 14 - Ten years later

    Ten years later¡­

    After being sold downriver by my own father and betrothed to Lyra, things got fairly calm. Night was skeptical at first when Darian approached him however he threw out that silly thought once Darian told him that I would give Solarian his life trace if he didn¡¯t comply. I¡¯m not sure if I should be flattered or pleased when a branch of the Beguiling Flower House opened in Flansbur within a week. Night even personally moved his office to the branch location. Soon his spy agency was implanted in every facet of the Atarian society, from beggars to Dukes, there were our spies everywhere. Darian was off on his own seeing to ¡®my interests¡¯, though I had no idea what that was supposed to be but then he had always been a resourceful and loyal follower. I imagine he must have been raging when he first found out that the other Heroes had turned on me, killed me and then blackened my name. Thankfully he decided to lay low instead.

    Lady Goodard and Lyra still come over at least two to three times a month for weekends and I can¡¯t say that I am displeased by the idea of marrying Lyra. She¡¯s blossoming into a gorgeous woman and is quite delightful at that. Things have been going nicely, the Emperor was happy with the training of the Moon squad and apart from the random ranting from the Dracos and Restavs who came in last yet again for the last two war games. The mighty do fall harder than most. I tried gathering information on the five so-called Heroes and for the most part generalized information was easy enough to get but anything more specific was nearly impossible.

    Tera and Dreal, from what Night could gather, were injured the most in the spectacular blast of my dantian. Sols, Kaban and Kava suffered only some light injuries as they were able to put up mana shields and they were further away. Dreal was the next least injured as he was able to hide behind the Demon Lord¡¯s throne. Tera, on the other hand, was the closest and was still looking at me when I blew. From what Night was able to determine from reports from his agents her face was injured the most in the blast and while Dreal was able to heal her somewhat he was unable to fix the disfigurement on her face because the blast was not an ordinary one ¨C it was a cursed blast. Now she wears a mask wherever she goes, a testament to her treachery if you ask me.

    From what Night was able to determine, Sols was somewhere here in Ataria but he was laying low. Kaban was in the Kingdom of Gildan ¨C a mostly human populated kingdom. Kava was back home in the Kingdom of the Elves, Tristera. And Dreal was still in the wind, as a healer it was obvious that he would be circulating between the allied kingdoms going where needed. He was the only one I had reservations about getting revenge on, and that was only because before I died as he healed me he mumbled ¡®sorry¡¯, before walking away after he was finished. Night found out that he had given up most of the glory of being a Hero and was now roaming the various Kingdoms helping out in hospitals and orphanages. Simply put, if he doesn¡¯t come looking for me, I doubt that I will ever go looking for him. Tera stayed in Caladan, taking up the role of Head Advisor to the King as well as the leader of the light Paladins.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    My revenge was going to have to wait a bit longer, I had started cultivating a few years ago and now I was at the 9<sup>th</sup> stage of the Ascendant¡¯s realm. Cultivation on this planet was different than the usual wuxia stories that I had read when I was still on earth before the summoning. It was greatly dependant on your frame of mind, the willpower and determination you had. Of course your meridian veins played a role as well but more along the lines of how long it would take you to cultivate rather than what your final destination would be. There were several realms you could cultivate to. The first was the Apprentice realm, followed by the Mortal, the Ascendant, the Emperor, the Saint, the Divine and then the God realm, with each realm having ten stages. Needless to say, I kept my cultivation to myself and even hid it so that I would appear to be at the beginning of the Mortal realm, having a fifteen year old at the 5<sup>th</sup> stage of the Ascendant¡¯s realm was mind boggling so I toned it down to something that was a bit more believable, albeit only if I was a genius.

    In a month my wedding to Lyra was to be held. I had grown to adore her these past few years, aaaannnnddd then there was her mother Lady Goodard and her fearsome smile. I don¡¯t think anyone has ever denied her something when that smile came out, oh she¡¯s not a violent person but somehow, someway she manages to get whatever she wants when she puts her mind to it. Well the bridal party was being held today and Lyra was running around gushing with everyone and glorious in her smiles and jubilance. There were many guests arriving, including the emperor ¨C whom I still have some reservations about by the way. Anyway, I was in the receiving line, meeting and greeting people when then Emperor arrived. The Emperor¡¯s arrival heralded the usual fanfare and bowing and smoozing but after the emperor finally left the receiving line someone came up that almost made me lose my usual calm. It was that bastard Sols.

 Chapter 15 -

    Sols greeted the entire receiving line, even taking longer than usual in greeting Lyra. I was fuming but I couldn¡¯t do anything about it, I wasn¡¯t ready, and he was a lot more powerful than me. When last I saw him he was at the late Emperor stage, I believe 8<sup>th</sup> or 9<sup>th</sup> stage, at this time he must be more powerful now so I¡¯d have to step lightly and not give him any reason to look at me too closely. Ah shit, now he was kissing Lyra¡¯s hand and she had a look on her face that said that she had no idea how to deal with this situation which was definitely not to her liking. I calmly left the line and went down to Lyra and pulled her into my embrace.

    ¡°Everything ok Lyra?¡± I smiled at her while holding her waist.

    ¡°Sure thing Hiro,¡± she replied with a smile as she realized that I was next to her now, ¡°this is the famed Hero Sols¡±

    I greeted Sols and held out my hand to shake. He gave a smile which was mixed in with a smirk and firmly grasped my hand for a bone crushing squeeze. Honestly these childish games didn¡¯t bother me a bit but I couldn¡¯t let him know that so I frowned and looked down at my hand in a sort of protest. He simply smiled even wider and held on longer before finally letting go as he was starting to border on creepy and people were all around. He winked at Lyra before heading into the reception hall. He¡¯s still a creep even after all these years; he¡¯s old enough to be her grandfather and yet he¡¯s ogling her. Disgusting lecher.

    The reset of the evening passed nicely, though I kept seeing him ogling her from afar. This pretentious bastard hasn¡¯t changed at all, and he¡¯d better not get any ideas about Lyra either. When the evening was complete I managed to get Lyra alone for a bit.

    ¡°Lyra, I need you to promise me one thing.¡± I said as I smoothed her hair back behind her ear.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    ¡°What is it Hiro?¡± she said as she looked into my worried eyes.

    ¡°Avoid Sols at all costs. If he wants to talk to you, give an excuse ¨C any excuse, but stay away from him. There¡¯s something about him that has me worried, and he¡¯s been watching you covertly all night.¡± I replied as I frowned at the thought of him watching her while I couldn¡¯t do anything about it.

    ¡°Ok, I have no problem with that. Besides there¡¯s something about him which sort of puts me off. I mean he¡¯s supposed to be a Hero who¡¯s killed the Demon Lord and supposed to be righteous and just but¡­¡± she sighed as she hugged me.

    ¡°Yeah I know but just like you, something about him just doesn¡¯t sit right. Maybe I¡¯m just jealous?¡± I smiled at her as she looked up to me. I smiled as I looked down at her, I couldn¡¯t help it. I leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. We only broke apart when we heard a coughing in the background. It was Christof.

    ¡°My Lord and Lady, the Goodard carriage is ready.¡± He said with a bow.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see you in a few weeks?¡± I said as I held her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see you Hiro,¡± she replied with a blush before she turned and headed out the door with two of her guards.

    ¡°My Lord, is there something on your mind? I happened to overhear the last part of your conversation with Lady Goodard.¡± Asked Christof with a concerned look on his face.

    ¡°Something? Yes maybe. I can¡¯t be certain, but for now execute order 66.¡± I replied with a frown.

    (**Bwha ha ha, the force is strong with this one!**)

    ¡°My Lord, are you certain?¡± Christof said as he started to worry.

    ¡°Yes, let it be done. I hope that I am wrong but I just have this feeling.¡±

    Christof looked at Hiro for a while before bowing and smartly turning and heading out the door in a hurry.

    When Christof left the door closed with a click. Then Darian stepped out from the shadows.

    ¡°We¡¯re beginning?¡±

    ¡°No, we¡¯re not ready yet. But we are going to an alert status. Hopefully it¡¯s nothing but with Sols and his demented mind who knows?¡± I replied. ¡°Something is going to happen, be ready with plan 66.¡±

    ¡°As you wish,¡± Darian replied as he faded back into the shadows.