《Sins of the Heavens》


 prologue: the bell tolls for thee

    The problem with being a smart ass is that they are too many people willing to put you in your place. For all my plans and schemes my death was turning out to be one of the biggest cliches in history. The butler did it. I say this with all seriousness it was my butler who finally did me in, not my money loving family or my revenge seeking ex-fiancee, it was the butler.


    The bastard didn''t even have the decency to watch me die , no evil master mind monologue, no reminiscing on how I had wronged him, just a feeling of pain as Jonathan stabbed me in the back¡­¡­.repeatedly.


    ¡°Talk to me boss, were just ten minutes from the hospital¡± Toby screamed at me from the driver¡¯s seat of my sports car but his words of encouragement were ultimately words of doom for me, I wasn''t going to last ten minutes. I glanced at Toby as he forced the high performance engine of the ridiculously expensive car to its limits, blazing through stop signs and red lights, with one hand one pressing one of those new age phones to his head I chuckled at the amazing degree of multitasking I was witnessing. Toby¡¯s normally stoic expression was gone and a furious one had replaced it. ¡°I am going to kill Jonathan!¡± he swore deftly twirling the steering wheel forcing the car around a tight corner at impossible speeds.


    ¡°you shouldn''t threaten to kill someone while you¡¯re on the phone with the police¡± I weakly stated as we tore down another street, I tried to remember the name of the familiar street but my brain refused to send information out anymore and my vision was beginning to go dark. I definitely wasn''t going to last 10 minute.


    I got out my phone, a normal one with buttons and everything, and speed dialed my back up plan as Toby yelled at the police operator for a shorter route to the hospital. As the line began to ring on my phone I linked it up to the car speakers before letting my phone drop to the floor, it seemed unusually heavy. ¡° do you know what time it is Philip?¡± a soothing calm voice asked from the surround system of the car, the voice belonged to Matthias, my best friend and over priced lawyer.


    ¡°They got to Jonathan Matt, I have been stabbed¡± I weakly stated, I had never been much for words, Matthias had always been the eloquent one; it was mostly his corny pick up lines I had used to get Toby to go out with me.


    ¡°Oh my God, oh my God, how bad is it? Where are you?¡± he screamed at me as if somehow getting stabbed was my fault¡­¡­¡­.well technically it sort of was but that¡¯s beside the point.


    ¡°hey listen to me buddy, I need you to hold the fort, I need you over there right now, the second I die they are going to come gunning for grandma and Toby, so when that happens I need to know you¡¯re going to be there to protect them¡± I said softly, my logic was cold, hard and brutal but I needed Matthias the shark right now not my warm fuzzy buddy, ¡°Toby connect us via video¡± was his only reply. Toby instantly hung up handing over his sci-fi looking phone, first making weird swiping motions before letting me take it.


    I stared at the blank screen wondering what I was supposed to do with it, there were no buttons to press it was just one massive piece of glass and plastic, when the screen suddenly blinked to life showing Matthias¡¯s face.


    ¡°Hey there white boy¡± I said jokingly as I stared at the red eyed and runny nose image of my friend. The fact that he didn''t immediately tell me not to call him that was a testament to how bad I must look. Matthias had always been the more handsome of the two of us, while my olive skin from my Nigerian grandfather and slanted eyes from my Asian grandmother gave me the exotic look, Matthias blue eye and blonde locks with flawless skin was a finishing blow most ladies never recovered from, come hail, sleet or snow Matthias was always handsome, except when he cried, and right now he was balling up a storm.


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    ¡°what do you need me to do?¡± he asked through sobs with a determined face, ¡°just protect yourself , grandma and Toby, if you can keep them from overturning my will that should make things easier for you¡± I said ¡°find out who got to Jonathan and make them pay¡±. As the conversation had gone on, my hand holding the phone had come to rest on my thigh as strength left my body, the only thing keeping me up right was the seat-belt and blood had pooled on the leather seat leaving me sitting in a puddle of my own blood. Even though I was in this deplorable state my mind turned to revenge, yes I was quite a stoic person but I was also a malicious bastard, a maliciousness that Matthias shared with me.


    ¡°I swear ill make them pay, ill make them all pay¡± Matthias said with a grim determination as I leaned back into the chair with some effort glancing sadly at Toby who had began to cry in the last few minutes. ¡°Its okay Toby, at least I smoked my entire stash¡± I said jokingly. ¡°Shut up old man¡± Toby swore at me applying more pressure to the accelerator taking us up a hill and suddenly we could see massive neon green cross.


    ¡°Matthias we are almost at the hospital¡± Toby screamed at my crotch where his phone with Matthias¡¯s face currently were. A hundred jokes and puns flashed through my mind but I was actually relieved, maybe I was going to die, Toby and I were the same blood type and the hospital looked pretty decent, but sitting in a pool of your own blood would make any hospital look decent.


    The car swerved into the parking lot and came to a halt at the entrance.


    ¡°Help me! Somebody help me!¡± Toby screamed as he raced round to my side of the car to pull me out, the white towels that we used to apply pressure to the wounds fell out to the concrete as I lost the strength to keep them against my wounds, my hands were cold and had slight tremors running through them, my legs were weak and my knees shaking but dam it I survived, I thought to myself as Toby yanked me out of the car.


    But faith had one more hand to deal in my very eventful night. It was the engine that gave it away, low yet aggressive like a wild jungle cats silent growl, it had reminded me of my then fiancee Cassandra that was why I bought it for her, beautiful to behold and deadly to offend. That was why even in my diminished state I spared a glance to see the car that had such a similar sounding engine. What I saw was a red convertible barreling towards us, as I watched it became painfully obvious that the driver had no intention of stopping. With the last of my strength I heaved Toby out of the way, then pain like I have never felt before slammed through my very being.


    The last few things I remembered was flying car parts, the sound of Toby¡¯s agonized wailing and lastly the two occupants of the car, my loyal butler Jonathan and my snarling ex fiancee Cassandra.


    Damn bitches be crazy.

 Book 1 Chapter 1 : becoming another person

    Dying was a bit trippy, first there was the darkness, then suddenly a bright light and the sensation of been pulled towards it. As all this was happening I could hear voices shouting ¡°stat!¡± and ¡°clear!¡± very importantly, then came the out of body experience. I slowly rose gently into the air as all the pain faded away, I saw my body crushed between two cars, I saw Toby been restrained by men in green scrubs while he screamed profanities at the prone figures of Jonathan and Cassandra who were being held down by hospital security. As I watched, the scene grew smaller and smaller as I drew further away from it. I briefly wondered how it could be so bright when it was so late at night but promptly ceased to care after all I was dead and not been a religious person had no idea where my eternal soul was headed, should have gone to church more, I was going to just enjoy the ride, but like a bad joke everything went pear shaped real fast.


    A piercing pain shot through my chest and quickly jerked me sideways at incredible speeds, I tried to identify the source of the pain but my head refused to move and suddenly one more time everything went black.


    To say I woke up would be an illegitimate use of the word, when my vision went black it wasn¡¯t that I passed out; it was just that I could no longer see. I could somewhat sense myself still moving for a long time and the pain that I initially felt faded away, then suddenly I stopped.


    ¡°Ooh, you brought another one, I thought we had closed shop and were moving on¡± a voice called out slightly to the left of me in a mocking tone.


    ¡° I was tying up loose ends when I came upon this soul ascending, it has some potential¡± another said with a dead pan voice from behind me, from what I¡¯ve gathered so far my soul had been abducted and  this voice  belonged to my abductor.


    ¡°I thought we weren¡¯t testing anymore souls?¡± a third voice asked in a puzzled manner, apparently missing the previous conversation. I was just about to start assigning nicknames to the voices when I heard the mocking voice ask, ¡°Why are his eyes closed?¡±


    The newest addition to the party had noticed that my eyes were tightly shut, even though originally my lack of eyesight wasn¡¯t voluntary, I had shut my eyes to avoid seeing the face of my kidnappers, I had read somewhere that was the appropriate thing to do.


    ¡°He has adequate potential for our needs¡± the voice of my abductor said emotionlessly, ¡°what harm could there be in trying one last time¡±


    ¡°ha-ha, he has a point, even though this species has lost its touch with the flow there soul is still highly resilient, I guess we can modify the rest of him to fit, there is really no harm in trying lets be done with it and leave this accursed dimension¡± the mocking voice said


    At this point I realized there was no immediate danger so I opened my eyes and I immediately wished I hadn¡¯t.


    A massive monstrosity stood before me, its head towered far above me, it was humanoid in shape but that was where all similarity with humanity ended. Its skin was lobster red in color and stretched tightly across budging muscle, he had completely black eyes and instead of eyebrows had crab like antennae and horns on each side of its fore head.


    I had just opened my mouth to scream when I caught site of the second monster, because yes I had decided that whatever these things were they were certainly monsters, and the second being fell neatly into that category.


    It stood fifteen feet tall with a muscular body and thick scaled skin, spikes protruded along its spine, its knees and elbows and on the outside border of its limbs, on its shoulders was a reptilian head with a mouth filled with rows and rows of shark like teeth.


    ¡°Careful!, his soul is becoming unstable¡± the crustacean like monster warned in an emotionless voice and a yellow light flashed towards me. Instantly all of my fears melted away and on closer inspection so did most of my other emotions.


    ¡°By the stars what did you to him Shikubu?¡± the demon with the scales asked in surprise as the yellow light faded away.


    I turned in the direction the scaled one was facing to see yet another monster. Shikubu was squat compared to the other two, his skin was a deep orange in color and he had bright blue hair and a full beard of the same color, with piercing green eyes.


    ¡°It was a calm spell, the whelp was so terrified his soul was moments away from shattering¡± Shikubu said scratching his protruding belly.


    As all this happened I floated in their middle not scared, just simply curious. My thoughts organized themselves at an alarming rate, question after question popped into my head then organized themselves in term of relevance. It was like someone finally opened a window in a stuffy house to let the cool breeze in. my mind was unfettered and my thought processes were clear.


    ¡°Can you teach me that spell?¡± I asked Shikubu, the blue dwarf giant, staring straight into the piercing green eyes. My only reply was silence from all three monsters.


    As the silence stretched out the thought that I might have offended them briefly crossed my mind but that thought was soon disproved as a thunderous laugh bellowed from the scaled one.


    ¡°Do you see that Yakamo, you finally brought us a good one¡± the scaled one said jovially slapping the crablike creature on his back.


    ¡°Tell me young one, why do you wish to learn this spell?¡± Shikubu asked.


    I was briefly surprised at been called young one at the age of 65, but who knew how long these monsters had been in existence. ¡°It makes thinking extremely easy and stops emotion from clouding my judgment¡± I replied frankly.


    ¡°*Humph*, what do you say to that lady Kyoso?¡± Shikubu asked, ¡°Do you see it in yourself to perform one more reincarnation?¡±.


    ¡°Why should we stretch ourselves to perform a reincarnation? Yakomo has brought this soul in to late, he can destroy it or throw it into the grate river, I will have nothing to do with it¡±, she said in an offhand manner and this one was undoubtedly a she. From her head to her thighs she had the body of a woman, not the food starved waspish figure we had come to idolize in our era but a full blown voluptuous figure with a large bosom, nonexistent waist and wide toned hips, and like Yakomo her skin was red, in a slightly deeper shade. On her head instead of hair she had a great rack of horns, and below her thighs fused together to become the body of a great snake. Her arms were like that of a monsters ending in claws instead of fingers and she gave off the most deadly of auras.


    ¡°Even thought the reincarnation sigil for this planet is not present we have others, if you are tired and no longer capable say so, do not give childish excuses. I Yakomo will participate in this reincarnation¡± Yakomo said throwing a barb in the direction of the new arrival, lady Kyoso.


    ¡°ha-ha, well said Yakomo, it is good to see you youngsters having such a friendly competition, but lady Kyoso is right we benefit nothing from manually performing a reincarnation and at the closest system whose sovereign owes a favor is Arethama do you want to waist that favor on him, his potential is high but we have seen higher, I Nikoma will not participate in this reincarnation¡± the jovial scaled monster said at last given his name.


    ¡°so its two votes for two votes against, I Shikubu will be supporting young Yakomo in the reincarnation, he may not be the highest potential we have ever seen, but we have never seen an individual who was compatible with so many of us, I would like to see how far he would carry the knowledge we would give him¡± the blue dwarf said.


    ¡°Compatible or not our gifts are ours to bestow and from what I can sense, of the both of you only you, Shikubu, are compatible with him so your plans are for nothing¡± lady Kyoso hissed at him the end of her tail rattling in anger.


    Like a spectator at a tennis match I watched as these beasts verbally spared with one another arguing and counter arguing each other as each side tried to sway the other to their side and slowly a part of the general picture began to unfold. These beasts were part of a group that traveled round the galaxy searching for souls with potential and reincarnating them after giving them gifts of power. What they gained from these divine acts I do not know but I was a firm believer in no meal came free.


    ¡°There is no point in this his majesty is not present to give his consent and without one more vote you can do nothing¡± lady Kyoso screamed across the room.


    ¡°and without one more vote you cannot stop us from doing as we wish you upstart¡± Yakomo coldly stated a broad sword that reminded me of  king Arthur, made entirely of black steel, dropped into his hand from thin air. Instantly I backed away from the screaming monstrosities as lady Kyoso screeched in indignation purple light encasing her to hands and her body moved into a tight coil ready to spring.


    ¡° *sigh*, I Tsuburu support this reincarnation¡± a tired voice echoed across the empty space, freezing everyone where they stood, ¡°this is my contribution to the reincarnation¡± the voice said and a bright light flashed into existence At the center of the glowing light was a black liquid. I looked around for the owner of the voice but saw no one but then again I hadn¡¯t even seen the Kyoso lady till she had chosen to reveal herself.


    ¡°With his majesty and general Akuma absent we have gathered the necessary members to carry out the reincarnation of this soul, this is I, Shikubu, contribution to this reincarnation¡± Shikubu stated as another light flashed into existence this time a golden liquid in its center.


    ¡°Sorry to intrude but what if I do not want to be reincarnated?¡± I asked, slightly peeved that no one had asked my opinion in this monumental decision, lady Kyoso¡¯s reply was instant and ruthless, ¡°we will kill everyone and thing you have ever known or loved¡± she said her voice filled with venom.


    It was a classic case of transferred aggression, she had not been able to outmaneuver the other beasts so she picked on the defenseless soul and Yakomo said as much, ¡°how long will you continue to shame his majesty acting so foolishly in front of a mere mortal, have you no dignity left¡± he growled at her and with a flick of his wrist his sword disappeared.


    Lady Kyoso hissed with indignation but soon calmed down as she noticed the look of disappointment on Shikubu¡¯s and Nikoma¡¯s faces.


    ¡°we will add ten extra years of life to five people of your choice and ensure they live the rest of their lives in good fortune¡± Yakomo said turning towards me, but I had also caught the underlying threat, say no and they would leave the snake lady to wreck havoc with my loved ones say yes and they would protect them, I had no choice. ¡°I accept your gracious over ¡°I replied mockery heavy in my voice.


    ¡°you should not antagonize an asset with this much potential lady Kyoso¡± Nikoma said in a lecturing tone as he and the snake lady watched Tsuburu and Yakomo grab the balls of liquid and light and approach me placing both of them besides my head. ¡°It matters not after the reincarnation he will remember none of it¡± she said and with that last sentence the balls of light flew into my head and my vision went white¡­¡­.


    =============================================================================================


    ........... As lightning flashed across the sky and pain pulsed through my head. Where was I, I thought to myself as I raised a hand to my head feeling for the cause of pain, on inspection, my hand was covered in blood.


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    ¡°Young master¡­ young master look at me, you must flee this place, abandon me and flee¡± a voice barely above a whisper said to me. I turned to see who it was and gasped in shock a beautiful young lady lay shattered on the rocky floor beside a cliff, her injuries where extensive and only one side of her chest rose and fell shakily in her efforts to breathe. ¡°Young master, please listen to me, her ladyship is on her way, you must run, follow the river¡±.


    Her sentences came rapidly and in short burst, determined to get her message across before she died. Even though she put up a brave front I could see it in her eyes, the same look I had seen in the eyes of my friends as they lay in the street riddled with bullets from drive by shootings and trigger happy police officers, she was brave but she was also scared.


    I moved over to her side and picked up the least damaged hand, cupping it between my hands, and silently waited. A brief smile of gratitude was given even though I could tell she wanted me to run she also did not want to die alone. As we waited for the inevitable to happen a barrage of questions flew though my mind, where was i?, who was she?, how were we related?, who was the lady ? who had attacked us? So many questions and the only person capable of answering the question was waiting for her death, the last thing she needed is for the person she apparently gave her life to protect asking questions that would lead her to question his sanity. I sighed mentally in frustration but silently waited beside the dying lady.


    Suddenly she drew in a ragged breath and held my gaze, ¡° forgive this useless servant my lord, I am sure in the future you will be remembered as one of the greatest elf lords so you must prevail lord Tal Van Rost¡± she said as her eyes closed and she breathed her last.


    Like a hot knife her last sentence tore through me, elf lord? Was I not human?, my hand shot to my ears and sure enough my   ears were not rounded but pointed, the universal symbol of the Elvin race that all true fantasy enthusiast identified with, as i reeled from the shock of it all memories flooded out of my mind.


    I was Philip Yang, I had been killed, my soul was stolen, I was reincarnated, and almost like in a dream I was born and had lived the first six years of my life as a normal spoilt Elvin child ignorant of the world and all that it entails.


    I leapt to my feet as I rapidly reviewed my memories of my elfish childhood but not as a spoilt noble but a wizened sixty-five year old man, and very quickly I came to the realization, this was an assassination attempt.


    I quickly searched Aiya¡¯s dead body; yes I remembered her name, my ever faithful ever loving handmaid Aiya. I knew she kept a dagger on her at all times and soon found it. I shoved the nine inch blade into my belt and sprinted away from the cliff.


    My name is Tal Van Rost, first and only child of the head of the house Marcion Van Rost and his life mate Erulasse Van Rost, this by itself was not enough to put me in danger but add on the fact that Marcion Van Rost had been missing for 7 years and his younger sister Vanlathriel Rost had desired the house seat even when her brother was around made me an inconvenient obstacle, and it seems she had moved to remove me.


    I sprinted downhill and into the woods, listening for the sound of water. I pulled memory after memory from the recesses of my mind and wanted to cry blood. My mother had tried to teach me sword play but I had refused, she had tried to hire tutors to teach me military strategy and maneuvers I had thrown a tantrum, all I had was a sub par movement technique and the memories of my past life, things were not looking good.


    Just as I decided that I was lost and was about to double back I burst into a clearing. It was a tranquil setting with green grass littered here and there with wild flowers and through the middle ran a small river. I staggered over and repeatedly scooped water into my mouth between gasps for air when I caught site of my reflection. It seemed I was the male version of snow white, my skin was ridiculously pale and I had raven black hair that fell to my waist, my youthful face and chubby cheeks drove home more than anything that I was now I child, but my golden eyes sent a shiver down my spine, it seemed unnatural.


    I stood back up and was about to continue my escape along the river when I felt it. If not for the that I had recently retrieved my memories I am sure the five year old Tal would have lain on the ground in a fetal position and cried until death came for him, but with the memories of the terrifying aura of the monstrosities that had flung me into this strange world still fresh in my mind, I simply crouched to the ground and unsheathed my dagger.


    Five auras were racing towards me, not meandering or searching but racing towards me. As a child elf I wasn¡¯t exactly the pinnacle of elfish physique but this elf body was quite energetic and would put my old body to shame in a foot race, and I had just spent the last forty-five minutes running away from my previous position, there was no way they could find me so easily and with the speed they were moving they weren¡¯t tracking my footprint. I came to single conclusion, I had been tagged somehow.


    I bolted down the river following it back into the woods as it looped and curved about. Could they have put some sort of magical tracking seal on me? If that was the case I was screwed because I had no knowledge of how to find or remove it, the best case scenario for me was if they had used an object. As that thought crossed my mind my hand shot to the single golden hair pin that held my hair out of my face, it was a gift from my conniving aunt, formerly my second favorite person in my naive state of mind, and sure enough the single red gem on the body of the pin was softly glowing.


    I flung the pin into the woods and dove into the river letting the current carry me forward for a while before swimming across to the other side. Even though I had lost the tracking device, I was now cold and wet in the middle of a lightning storm, if it started raining this fragile body would succumb to hypothermia, not a good way to die.


    I had bought myself thirty minutes at best five at worst, I shrugged of my wet over coat and continued my jog along the river, just this time at the other side. To escape these individuals with my current capabilities was impossible, all I could do was buy time for mother to arrive.


    Erulasse Van Rost, the white swords woman of the black sword clan. the once in a generation genius of the sword, my mother. Often viewed as simple and unrefined, her marriage to Marcion Van Rost had caused a stir among the noble houses. At the time the marriage had been viewed as a power hungry move of an elfish woman, when it was later discovered that it was the head of the Van Rost house that had proposed the nobility of the elf kingdom were left baffled. Her intentions and goals were unknown to all but there was one indisputable fact, she was strong.


    There was no one in the employ of aunt Vanlathriel that could stand against my mother this I was sure of, if I could survive until mother got here I would be safe.


    The five auras that had been rapidly approaching suddenly slowed down drastically, thinking my plan had worked, I continued forward in relief when I felt twenty fierce auras surrounding me. Like a wild animal I had been led into a trap.


    As if from the very shadow itself the assassins stepped into my line of sight, each clocked from head to toe in black with only slits that where their eyes should be.


    For a moment we stood there in silence, me in shock of how I was so easily led along and the folly that I albeit a sixty five years old soul in a six year old elf body had been so foolish to believe that I could evade professional assassins, and they waiting to see what ¡°the child¡± would do next.


    As one they moved towards me, drawing their blades as they approached. As death approached me one more time I am ashamed to say this time I panicked. ¡°I can offer you ten times what Vanlathriel is going to pay you, all you have to do is look away and let me escape¡± I said for the first time using my voice. Even in the dire situation I was in my voice stood out to me, it came out on a high note, maybe because of my age, but it also had a singing quality to it like a singer in the introductory part of a song.


    The auras of the twenty before me suddenly intensified and took on an angry note, it seemed I had pissed off the assassins, one of the cloaked figures quickened his steps and raised his blade as he approached me, it seemed he would be the one to deliver the finishing blow.


    I closed my eyes as the blade dropped towards me. I was surrounded and outmatched, death was inevitable. That was when I felt it. The two orbs of light that I had been gifted before my reincarnation. They floated gently in my consciousness, one a black liquid encased in an orb of light, the other golden and similarly encased, instinctively I plunged my consciousness into the golden orb and knowledge flooded my brain.


    It was like my mind was smashed open and a library was shoved in ,no, that did not do it justice, it was more like someone had downloaded the entire Wikipedia website into my brain. From what I could deduce, Shikubu had bestowed somehow manage to give me a massive amount of knowledge of all things arcane, alchemy, enchanting, spells and runes, I was a living breathing encyclopedia for magic.


    All this happened in an instant, I desperately searched for some knowledge to help my current situation as a blade was still currently racing towards my head. Finding the necessary runes, I mentally invoked it and the effect was instant both the assassins and to me.


    ¡°Mage!¡± the assassin closest to me hissed in surprise as he sprung backwards trying to warn his comrades, but it was too late. A massive amount of energy was building up around me making the very air ripple and increasing the gravity in my vicinity. All twenty assassins were smashed to the ground as their bodies weight first tripled and then quadrupled. Sickening pops echoed through the air as their bones shattered under the weight and one by one they each coughed up mouthful of blood then died, I however fearing just as bad.


    As soon as I had invoked the runes I knew I had made a terrible mistake, while the drastic change in gravity had affected the assassin, the energy build up around me had turned inwards and had begun to permeate my skin. Almost like someone had poured molten lava into my veins, a crawling pain hit me; I sank to my knees as the pain spread through my body crippling me. I convulsed on the ground as my very blood vessels burst and energy and blood began leaking from every orifice in my body. Mage backlash, the two words that sprung to my mind from the wealth of information Shikubu had given me, my immature magical pathways were in no way prepared for the advanced spell I had just invoked and they were shattering under the pressure, the insignificant amount of magic I had been forced to cultivate had been shattered, I had just become a cripple.


    Slowly the pain faded away and I lay on the ground amidst the shattered corpses gasping for air. I spat out the blood that had gathered in my mouth and attempted to stand but all my muscle only groaned in response, this body was done. Though healthy I was currently a child, the forced marathon and then the crippling of my magical pathways had driven my body into the ground. I lay silently amongst the trees as my labored breath slowly calmed down and I lost consciousness.

 book 1 chapter 2: birth of a tyrant

    ¡°Lord Tal if we are to make it to the ceremony on time we have to leave soon¡± an elfish soldier dressed completely in armor said to me as I stood on the side of a cliff, The very cliff that Aiya had flung us over while protecting me with her very body and sacrificing her life in the process.


    I clenched my fist in anger as I remembered my first moments in this world, how I had been like a defenseless calf in the middle of starved wolfs. With a nod to the soldier I gazed off the cliff into cloud valley where I had faced death for the second time before entering the waiting carriage.


    It had been ten years, a decade, since my aunts schemes had nearly cost me my life. My mother with a platoon from the black sword clan had found me in the woods surrounded by corpses and had carried me back, wisely not to the Van Rost city but to the black sword castle. There they had contacted a healer to help me, but all he could do was confirm what I already knew, my cultivation was shattered.


    The news spread through the house like wild fire in the dry season, the next head of the house had lost his cultivation. Former allies jumped ship and became Vanlathriel supporters, parents who had pushed their children to become friends with me now warned them to avoid me, in all I was soundly abandoned. If not for the fact that my mother was the daughter of the head of the black sword clan and a prodigy in her own right, even they would have abandoned me.


    As my reputation went to shit, I on the other hand was having a massive mental break down. My death then reincarnation, then attempted assassination had occurred in rapid succession, given me little time to realize what had happened to me, in hind sight I suspect I went slightly mad. For eight months I secluded myself in my room within black sword castle screaming at the ceiling for Yakomo or Shikubu to show themselves. When that didn¡¯t work I went into a depression for an entire year only eating and sleeping and doing nothing else. Through all this the person that had been firmly by my side had been lady Erulasse, my mother.


    She visited me every day to console and grieve with me even though she did not know what I was anguished about. When she had heard that my magic pathways had been crippled she had shown a relieved expression, when I had asked why she seemed relieved her reply had endeared her to me, ¡°the world of mages and sword saints is a treacherous one, maybe now that you are no longer a part of it you can live in peace¡± she had said.


    That had shaken me out of my one and a half year depression, that and along with the fact that I had a psychopath as an aunt trying to do me in and a bunch of god like creatures that would probably come to collect on the loan I had never wanted, nobody needed power more than I did.


    I dove whole heartedly into the knowledge given to me by Shikubu and searched for a remedy to my ailment, mage backlash, and began to re-cultivate my magic wells from scratch discarding my destroyed ones. But the damage had been done, along with the news that my cultivation had been crippled and my year and a half seclusion, Vanlathriel had swayed the remaining elders over to her side and I had only one family of the twelve that made house Van Rost supporting me and that was the family Aiya had come from.


    The Loft family line were nothing if not loyal, and as soon as they heard that I was injured and would not be coming back to the Van Rost family manor they had packed their things and headed over to the black sword castle, of course there were still spies embedded by my aunt but the majority had come in loyalty to me, however misplaced that was.


    For five years after that I threw myself into magical cultivation and reviewing the information that was now swimming around in my head. I dove into alchemy to re-grow my ruined pathways, memorized all the runes and their various combination to invoke various spells, learned the language of power to invoke the elements and unlocked methods of enchanting that would make most mages piss themselves in terror.


    Not knowing who to trust I had embraced my title as the secluded cripple and for those five years most people outside black sword castle did not lay a single eye on me, and slowly but surely to everyone but my mother I became a passing memory.


    As my magical prowess grew by leaps and bounds one glaring weakness became apparent, magicians were physically weak. As an elf some of that weakness had been mitigated due to the natural talent the elf body gave but if I met a halfway decent knight who somehow by skill, tactics or luck managed to get pass my magical defense I was done for. I wasn¡¯t particularly worried at the time, my mother was the most decorated swords woman on the Elvin continents some of her genes must have trickled down to me, is what I thought at the time but that proved to be a misconception.


    My mother willingly revealed all her secret techniques to me, her forms, her exercise regiments, her movement and martial cultivation techniques, everything was revealed, however one thing became painfully obvious, I lacked talent. Don¡¯t misunderstand in terms of ability within two years I was confident in defeating anybody in my generation in a duel, and based on my movement techniques, if not win against then escape from anyone in the generation immediately ahead of mine, however that was due to meticulous training and hard work.


    In terms of magical aptitude I was a once in a millennium genius that would overturn the world of magic and shake the very foundation of the earth but my skills as a swordsman was only so and so, and this became very apparent within the first month of training with mother. We brainstormed briefly on how to overcome this deficit in my otherwise meteoric rise to power when the novel idea in form of experience from my past life gave us a new direction, unarmed combat.


    To the eternal shame of my grandmother in my past life I had not studied the family branch of judo but had been really into the mixed martial arts scene, especially when I had amassed enough wealth to hire the coaches of former champions I had trained in famous gyms and done floor routines with the best of them. After seeing me perform my various floor routines, katas and exercises, mother called of the training for the remainder of the day and disappeared into her chambers staring at various notes and diagrams she had drawn while watching me, the next day was hell. My mother had taking what we had affectionately dubbed the hell gate program in my old gym and managed to evolve it. Gymnastic regimens were added, floor routines were intensified, submission holds were examined discarded or modified, and she took mixed martial arts and turned it into something from an old kung-fu movie.


    For two years we trained, for two years I forged my body into a living breathing weapon but more importantly bonded with my mother. It was bliss, I woke then ate, cultivated my magical pathways and magical wells for six hours, then let my mother kick the snot out of me for another six hours after which we simply rested bloodied and sweaty on the wooden floor and talked about anything and everything under the sun, but all things had to come to an end. My mother had been away from the capital for nine years, on the day of my attempted assassination she was meant to have been returning to the main branch of the black sword clan in the capital continent, but upon hearing of the attack she had returned from the harbor with her full battalion, but now that it was public knowledge that I was safe and enough time had passed since the ordeal, her father was demanding she return.


    So with my heavy encouragement, mother boarded a ship and headed back to the homeland of the elves and once more I was left alone. I dove back into my training with zeal fully expecting to continue this trend for the next two decades, but signs of my dearest aunt¡¯s treachery had reached my mother.


    A single letter was all it took to shatter my peaceful life, lady Vanlathriel had written a letter to the capital requesting they acknowledge her son as the next head of house Van Rost stating that the current head candidate having become a cripple and a recluse was no longer qualified to lead the house, this would prove to be Vanlathriel undoing. Having grown accustomed to having the backing of a noble house the black sword clan was unwilling to lose their link to true political power. Mother along with twelve political advocates marched on the royal palace demanding to know why the crown family was involved with the affairs of a royal house, grandfather rallied his old war buddies to make a united front, now normally the royal family would not be moved by this but however at this time we were at war with the human kingdom of Doncu and the generals defending against the army were my grandfather and his war buddies with their various clans. With the threat of a boycott by all the mercenaries that were currently fighting on the front line, lady Vanlathriel suddenly stopped receiving responses to her letters, this was when I made my move.


    I had thanked the current acting head at the black sword manor for his hospitality for the last ten years instructed the loft clan to pack up their stuff and started making my way towards the Van Rost family manor. Where mother¡¯s spies had informed me my aunt was trying to have a small party where the elders would secretly acknowledge her son as the house head. the opportunity to crash a party and catch my treacherous aunt and her conniving husband along with the arrogant elders of my house red handed in actions that would lawfully allow me call for their heads, a better invitation could not have been written by fate itself.


    I sunk into the expensive cushion that lined the seats of the spacious carriage giving a nod to the soldier who stood at the door indicating I was settled, with a sharp salute he closed the door and the carriage lurched forward continuing our journey.


    ¡°Is everything alright Lord Tal?¡± a voice filled with disdain asked from across the carriage. I raise my head to see a female elf, faced composed but eyes filled with malice. Without responding I pulled the small table I had been working on before requesting the carriage to stop and continued my writings. It had been that way since Vareyen had been appointed as my new hand maiden from the loft clan. While the elders of the loft family revered me for reasons unknown, I was despised by the younger generation, seen as the reason for their fall from grace, they obeyed my instructions but did not let it remain hidden that they hoped I would fall and choke on horse shit.


    This did not bother me much for I had fully intended to use the loft clan as long as they remained useful and discard them the moment they weren¡¯t anymore, I did not have time to waist on petty elves when monsters had me on the mind. We continued to ride in silence over the next twelve hours, as I occupied myself with the manuscript I was creating and Vareyen did whatever elves did when they were bored.


    ¡°My lord, we approach the Van Rost mansion, I will dispatch a messenger to the mansion to inform them of your arrival¡± a deep voice belonging to a Loft clan member called Hauser drifted through the carriage door. Deep jealousy spread through my body as his voice registered in my mind, the last ten years had been good to me in terms of my growth both in magic and in martial arts, I had grown into a fine young man. As Phillip yang my height had maxed out at five-eleven, six feet if the person asking me was particularly attractive, but as Tal I was already at six-three which believe it or not was average among elfin youth, despite my extremely rigorous training regimen I had grown into a swimmers build, but to my ever growing despair my voice did not lose its melodic sound, it had dropped from a treble to a tenor but still had an annoying rhythm to it.


    ¡°That would not be necessary Hauser, I will be going directly to the main house¡± I said and instantly Vareyen froze across from me. Her shock was understandable, normally I would arrive at an inn and send a messenger to the main house so I could be appropriately received, so all things been normal I would arrive at the main house tomorrow morning, or that was the information Vareyen had fed to Vanlathriel. ¡°My lord you cannot, it is against tradition!¡± she yelped at me, her terror clearly displayed on her face.


    I had learned one thing very early on even before I had awakened my previous lives memory, the members of my house were terrified of my golden eyes, it was unnatural the maids would whisper or it was as if he could see into my soul the stable hands might say, It was these eyes I fixed onto Vareyen.


    ¡°You presume to tell your lord what he can and cannot do?¡± I asked in a low deadly voice as my killing aura filled the inside of the carriage. Instantly Vareyen wilted into her seat her face filled with shock, after all this was meant to be the crippled young lord, yet here I was clearly showing martial prowess. The fact that I had regained my magical pathways was a secret to everyone but my mother, but as I was about to go on a rampage in the main house it won¡¯t be a secret for long, so finally putting one of Vanlathriel spies in her place a few moments early wasn¡¯t a problem, especially as I planned to eradicate her entire information network.


    ¡°Forgive me my lord, I did not think before I spoke¡± Vareyen said dropping her eyes to the floor of the carriage, I let the silence carry for awhile before dropping my gaze back to the recently completed manuscript. Anything worth doing was worth doing well and that applied particularly to overthrowing the leading sect of a clan, I must cripple the source of their power and quickly garner favor from the powers that be to be able to establish a threshold as the clan leader, unfortunately Vanlathriel was too well connected to be eradicated at this moment but the elders were prime targets.


    The carriage lurched to a stop, it was show time. The door of the carriage swung open and I emerged as gracefully as I could, letting my silk cloak trail behind me. Everything had been set up to make a powerful first impression, my attire was made entirely of black silk a long  sleeved tunic, the lady who had dressed me had almost lost her head when I had called it a shirt, black breeches, not trousers, knee high black leather boots, I had then added my own touches, steel tips to the boots steel knuckles on the black gloves and an ornamental shoulder guard with the house of Van Rost emblem welded unto it, to finish the look I had the black silk wide sleeved cloak covering everything. It was intimidating to behold.


    With the gold engraved ivory colored carriage as a backdrop I began to ascend the stairs to the main house, on my left a panicking Vareyen and on my right the hundred man commander of the black sword clan Beinon, I would need him to remove a thorn that might become a problem later on.


    As we ascended the steps a lone elf rushed out to meet us, despair clearly on his face, ¡°Eeth Rahn greets Lord Tal Van Rost¡± the male elf said smoothly his left fist to his right chest. It was an extremely formal greeting and an extremely formal salute, probably intended to placate me, fool. ¡°Since when does the branch family not come out to greet the head of the clan?¡± I asked coldly as I strode past him, ¡°ah, forgive me my lord, lady Vanlathriel is receiving guests she could not leave without notice¡± he said trying to maneuver the fault to me for not announcing my presence, ¡°oh!, since when has the head of the branch family have the authority to receive guest in the main house?¡± I asked in mock surprise changing my direction to where honored guest were usually received, the despair that was on his face changed to terror as he realized where I was going.


    The tension in our small group reached its pinnacle as I strolled into the receiving hall and I soon saw why, I could not have cut it any closer. On a massive throne made of what looked like a fusion between wood and steel sat a young elf with black hair reaching his shoulder and green eyes, he bore remarkable similarity to Eeth Rahn and since Eeth Rahn was consort to lady Vanlathriel it would be safe to assume that was my cousin and Vanlathriel¡¯s son Glander Rost. On his left was Vanlathriel and on his right were the five elders of house Van Rost, if this was a wedding I had walked in at the part where the priest just proclaimed ¡®speak now or forever hold your peace¡¯.


    ¡°Hahahahah, is this why you were so flustered dearest Eeth?¡± I asked with a boisterous laugh as I strode forward. The sudden outburst had drawn every eye in the hall to me, as my gaze swept the room I grudgingly gave my aunt some respect, she had gone all out. Littering the hall were various merchant houses that frequently traded with and for the Van Rost house some mercenary clans although none as prominent as the black sword, but the precious gem in the set was the eight representatives of the house Van Flotina, one of the three royal houses that were based outside the capital territory. If they had succeeded in naming Glander the head of the house with them as witnesses, it would have been extremely difficult to have it overturned.


    Without breaking stride I kept moving towards the throne until I stood directly in front of Glander staring down at him. ¡°Get out of my seat you upstart¡± I said letting venom into my voice. Glander¡¯s faced flushed in embarrassment as my voice carried through the room, been a year younger than me Glander had once looked up to me as an older brother but after years of Vanlathriel dripping venom into his ear he truly believed the house seat was rightfully his, he slowly stood up and retreated to his mother¡¯s side who was currently shooting a death stare at me.


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    With an exaggerated sigh I flopped unto the throne and let my gaze bore into the elders who were currently sweating buckets, ¡°Minima, Kahl, Durion, Melda, Uranion, explain yourselves¡± I simply stated and they collectively wilted under my gaze. I let a small smile emerge as I processed the scenario before me, five elves all over eight centuries old were about to piss themselves under the gaze of a sixteen year old, normally someone like me with the title of cripple would not evoke such fear in the elders but the witnesses surrounding the throne, witnesses who they themselves had taken great pains to invite, were all members of the higher nobility and more powerful merchant houses in the Elvin community, if they misspoke and blatantly broke any more laws not just their position their lives would be forfeit.


    As if sensing all her plans going down the toilet Lady Vanlathriel stepped forward smiling benevolently at me, ¡°young Tal, I do not understand why you are angry we were merely¡­..¡± she began but a raised hand from me cut her of mid sentence. ¡°Who gave the branch head permission to speak?¡± I asked staring pointedly at my aunt and instantly her faced filled with fury. Turning back to the elders I began the shit storm that would infamously become to be known as the culling.


    ¡°elders Minima, Kahl, Durion, Melda and Uranion, you have been found guilty of treachery and insubordination and are stripped of your titles as the elders of the house of Van Rost, all properties bestowed by this house are hereby reclaimed¡± I stated and the room burst into an uproar. Five elders stripped of their position simultaneously, it was unheard of. If not for the fact I had caught them trying to install a different house head the repercussions would have been brutal, and the elders knew it.


    I waited for them to overcome the shock and begin the political maneuvering to save their hides but I had given them no escape route, well almost no escape route and it seemed that Eeth Rahn, my aunt¡¯s consort had also realized it as he stepped towards my aunt and whispered frantically into her ear.


    ¡°We challenge the decision of the house¡± my aunt said, her voice ringing through the hall and instantly the hall went quite, this was too easy. ¡°On what grounds?¡± I asked in a bored tone, ¡°on the grounds of incompetence, the proud house of Van Rost cannot be lead by a cripple¡± Vanlathriel said in a malice laden voice. A shocked gasp echoed through the hall, this bitch didn¡¯t, I thought to myself, she had gone too far. I smiled as I rose from the throne and turned to the now ex-elders, ¡°only the house head may acknowledge this challenge¡± I stated simply raising an eyebrow. These old coots hadn¡¯t become elders for no reason, recognizing the olive branch I was extending to them, they reacted instantly. Sinking to one knee with their left hand over their right chest, ¡°WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE HOUSE LEADER!!¡± they loudly proclaimed.


    Flawless, I thought to myself and finally I let a broad smile spread across my face as I turned to face my aunt. Before that proclamation I was heir apparent to the house seat, but there are any number of stories where the crown prince or heir to the throne, either by crook or by the book, is robbed of his position, but been acknowledged by the elders, though through vague coercion, had solidified my claim, all that remained was for the capital to acknowledge me, and with mother on my side that was simply a matter of time, which I had just bought enough off.


    ¡°And who from the branch family presents this challenge?¡± I asked turning back to my aunt and her fuming family. ¡°I Glander Rost present the challenge¡± my younger cousin boldly proclaimed stepping towards me. Apparently still furious about my earlier insult, Glander had taken it upon himself to redeem his lost honor¡­..or something like that.


    I sighed, glancing to the left of the hall, my gaze fell on the figure I hoped would take up the challenge, sword knight Kratel. In any other clan Kratel would have been hailed as a genius, however been born in the black sword clan he had spent his entire life in the shadow of my mother, this was a fact that had not gone unnoticed by Lady Vanlathriel. With constant promises of his own battalion and a noble status he had finally abandoned the black sword clan name and pledged allegiance to my aunt, normally this wouldn¡¯t have bothered the black sword clan but information had been received that Kratel had been teaching black sword techniques to the mercenaries hired by my aunt, mother was most unhappy.


    ¡°Very well as the house head I accept this challenge¡±, I said and with a wave of my hands the servants rushed forward and began ushering the guest away from the center of the room. ¡°Do not think because you are crippled I will go easy on you Tal¡± Glander said as his hand maid handed him a sheathed broad sword as he proceeded to the center of the recently cleared space. I guess there is no time like the present I thought to myself as I followed after him.


    ¡°Dearest cousin, something has been bothering me for awhile, why do you and your mother call me a cripple?¡± I asked letting a confused expression show on my face. ¡°What else should we call someone who foolishly destroyed his own pathways but a cripple¡± he stated as he unsheathed his sword, at thirty-two inches long, the elf forged blade was a beauty to behold.


    A cold smile covered my face as Glander¡¯s named sword had already emerged, at least he isn¡¯t under estimating me I thought then took my most basic stance. Confusion was clear on Glander¡¯s face as he saw me produce no weapon, ¡°you wish to fight me unarmed Tal?¡± he asked in derision, his lips curled in outrage at the insinuation. The members of the house who were present also had smiles of contempt hidden behind their hand fans or sleeves, before my ¡°incident¡±, in terms of cultivation Glander had far outstripped me, always diligent in his training and meditation everyone had nothing but praise for him, it¡¯s a pity we had to be enemies.


    ¡°You may begin when you are ready¡± I said with a cold unconcerned smile on my face and instantly he lunged forward his sword chopping towards my shoulder. As soon as I saw where he was aiming for I realized Glander wasn¡¯t trying to kill me but injure me sufficiently enough so I would be unable to continue the fight, on realizing this, my smile became slightly less cold and I decided not to kill Glander. I side stepped his slash effortlessly, bringing me inside his swing range, his eyes bulged open in surprise. I raised a single finger and tapped the side of his head, ¡°do you think its okay to remain so vulnerable in a duel?¡± I asked and instantly he sprang away from me creating a distance of twenty five meters between us.


    With a slight chuckle I turned away from Glander to face the stunned audience, the cripple had just effortlessly dodged a perfectly executed sword strike it was a given that they would be shocked. ¡°dearest guest, as you can clearly see myself and Glander are about to engage in a duel, being as young and inexperienced as I am it shames to have to ask those who cannot magically protect themselves to leave and those who can to do so immediately¡± I said delivering the announcement like a well trained air hostess in a pleasant tone.


    Whether because I had delivered the request so suddenly or they were still reeling from the fact that Glander¡¯s preemptive strike had been evaded but most of the guest reacted by just staring at me, however there were a few sharp knives in the bunch. A blonde female elf with the emblem of the crimson trading faction stepped forward swiftly and slammed an open palm into the ground, instantly a shining light burst forth and formed into a dome covering a large number of the guest most of which belonged to the crimson faction. Another elf threw glittering black powder into the air and as it dropped towards the ground a magic circle emerged. One by one those with magic ability evoked the magical defenses that they could, protecting those that belonged to their factions and nearby guests.


    As soon as I was sure everyone was protected, and nobody tried to sneak in an attack spell in the confusion, I turned back to Glander with a smile. ¡°Sorry about that dear cousin, let us truly begin¡± I said and with a thought began to channel my energy through my magical pathways. It started three feet in front of me, the air began to ripple as the magical energy at that point began to build and suddenly a ball of fire flashed into existence, then two others flashed into existence beside it and two more, soon there were twelve fire balls floating round me. ¡°Now dearest cousin who exactly was the cripple?¡± I asked.


    Glander stared in shock and horror as the balls of fire orbited me in random independent patterns letting my question go unanswered, I glanced over to Vanlathriel and her consort who wore a matching look of despair as finally they realized that their one and only son might very well die. I leapt lightly to the side as Shatter Thorn, Glander¡¯s blade, swung through the spot I previously was, mistaken my moment of gloating as an opening he had launched a sneak attack, as I slid away from the sneak attack I launched one of the twelve fireballs in a counter attack. Glander¡¯s face paled as he saw the approaching fireball but in an uncharacteristically ungraceful move he dropped to the ground and rolled away from me as the fireball smashed into his previous position.


    Glander shakily got up to his feet and slid back into a stance, sweat fell in waves down his fore head. his first and most reasonable line of attack was to cut the distance between us and strike up close, after all a mage¡¯s weakness was close combat, but seeing that this had failed twice I wondered what he would do next. Slowly I began to increase the speed of the floating fireballs round me and the temperature of the room continued to rise. ¡°surrender cousin, do not bring unnecessary harm to yourself¡± I said offering the branch of peace to my cousin, a moment of silence extended over the entire hall before Glander gritted his teeth and dashed towards me sword raised.


    I smiled inside as I leapt backwards away from the sword strike. I knew Glander would never accept my peace offer, power corrupted absolutely, he had been moments away from being named house head, he was already sitting on the throne when I had ruined everything, even though he was not willing to kill me he at the very least wanted to see me bleed, besides i would never had let him accept it. I could have ended this fight moments after it had stared, after all the gap between my abilities and Glander¡¯s was like the heaven and the earth, the reason I was prolonging this fight was for my aunt to grow desperate. For the next ten minutes Glander and I covered most of the floor of the receiving hall, me ducking and dodging then occasionally sending a fireball each time missing on a more narrow margin, while Glander chased me swinging Shatter Torn more and more wildly as fatigued forced him to lose his form, we spun around each other twisting and turning as he desperately tried to gain an advantage while I patiently waited for Vanlathriel to f*** up, until she finally did.


    For all my vigilance I almost missed the signal, in my defense it was given when Glander delivered a particularly difficult to deal with combo of sword strikes that had me clapping in praise mentally, however lady luck seemed to be smiling down on me so I saw the two tells that led up to the attack, giving me adequate time to prepare. The first tell was the sudden movement of Eeth Rahn to comfort Vanlathriel, the noble lady had been watching the entire time with a calculating face when suddenly she had let out a loud sob causing Eeth to comfort her. The second more obvious sign was when Kratel launched himself from the middle of the guest at me his sword unsheathed, needless to say I was prepared. I disengaged from Glander and dashed towards my new opponent, much to his obvious surprise, who had heard of a mage that willingly engaged in close combat.


    With a cold glint in his eyes Kratel stabbed the tip of his broad sword forward forcing me to slide to the side as we sprinted towards each other, but half way through the stab, when I was well within his kill range, his stab turned into a swing. Right of the bat a high level sword skill I thought to myself and immediately began circulating my internal energy in preparation for lightning fall.


    A high profile movement technique developed by my mother only three people had this technique in there arsenal, my missing father, my absent mother and me. I swayed my upper body backwards, bending my upper body into an almost ninety degree angle, as the blade cut through the air above me I let my torso spring forward like an uncoiled spring my head shot forward and smashed into his nose, as his eyes closed in pain I stepped forward to deal the finishing blow only to receive a foot firmly planted in the middle of my chest.


    As we sprang away from each other, him trying to stem the flow of blood from his nose while I nursed my badly bruise chest, I cursed internally. I had missed the optimum chance to eradicate a bothersome individual, he had been unaware of my abilities and had been under estimating me, I could already feel mother disappointingly shaking her head as if she were here herself. ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± I asked throwing a withering glance at Lady Vanlathriel, but for the first time to my knowledge she was speechless. Staring open mouthed at me, Vanlathriel looked like she was at the brink of insanity, attempting to forcefully acquire the house head seat and now she had just ordered the assassination of the recently acknowledged head of house Van Rost, she was finished. On the other hand Kratel¡¯s decision was obvious, escape.


    History is written by the victor, with me dead Glander would have become the next house head since there was no one else with the qualification to challenge him, Vanlathriel would have her son the house seat and all the support she needed, to silence the current witnesses all she would have to do was offer various exclusive trading privileges in the van Rost territories to the merchant houses and swear allegiances to the house of van Flotina and all here would have been willing to look the other way, after all what was better?, an enemy who you could blackmail later on or a house head who just caught you witnessing an illegal coronation. But with Vanlathriel¡¯s power disappearing in front of everyone¡¯s eyes, and Vanlathriel and her former supporters adopting an every man for themselves strategy, Kratel found himself in a terrible situation, no one was protecting him.


    It would take Vanlathriel all the political pull and favors she had in her arsenal to avoid the headman¡¯s blade but that was still within her grasp, combine that with Eeth Rahn¡¯s connections they were safe, for now, and the elders had chosen to acknowledge me as house leader, hoping this act would reduce whatever punishment I have for them but Kratel had no such cards to play. Having abandoned the black sword clan and backed the wrong side in the Van Rost battle for the house seat he had truly burnt all his bridges, to top it all off he had just interfered in a duel of a younger generation, death would not be quick for him if caught.


    I wonder if he will try to take a hostage or attempt to fight his way out, I thought to myself as I watched Kratel¡¯s eyes flash wildly across the hall desperately searching for an escape route, before firmly settling on me.  I chuckled to myself as the desperate elf launched himself at me, it would seem I would get to use lightning fall today. In his desperation Kratel had decided to hold someone hostage to escape, but the hostage he had chosen was me. I increase the circulation of energy in my feet to reach the barest minimum for lightning fall first step before executing the movement technique. Kratel quickly closed the distance between the both of us desperately reaching out to seize me, at the same time I moved sideways away from his clutches. Spontaneously six fireballs blazed into existence and shot towards him each one smashing into his undefended side before going off in a mini explosion.


    As Kratel staggered away from the assault struggling to keep his defenses as his robes melted into his burning skin, Beinon made his move. The hundred man commander had received specific instructions to not strike until he was hundred percent sure he could kill Kratel, betrayer or not he was the genius of the generation ahead of mine, we could not underestimate him. As Kratel clutched his burning face Beinon stepped in behind him and shoved his sword to the hilt through his chest, the black sword clan had reclaimed their rouge member.


    Unable to help myself, I raised my arms in the air and loudly declared, ¡°PLOT TWISSSSSST!¡±.

 Book 1 chapter 3 : Games that nobles play

    Even though I had won the succession battle for the house seat it somehow felt like I had lost. It had been three months since I had become house head, despite my immediate and decisive actions it had been an uphill battle, I had immediately dispatched hundred elf commander Beinon and his squad to patrol the outskirts of the Van Rost territories to ensure our neighbors didn¡¯t choose this time of instability to strike. I then called all the house forces back from wherever they had been sent so I could have an idea of the might and size of my forces, then finally I had requested for all the house financial books to be brought to me to see how badly we were doing.


    As the days flew by the people that had been in power had covertly fought me with all their might slowing procedures that would have taken days to weeks instead. The former elders, now advisers, had stated that using the black sword clan to patrol the borders of our territory would send a bad message to the two neighboring noble houses, it would have them believe I was a puppet head for the black sword clan and sow distrust among our own forces. I ignored the old geezers on this one, if they expected me to send Van Rost house forces when I had yet to certify where everyone¡¯s allegiance lie, they were joking.


    When I had issued the decree for all Van Rost forces to return back to the main house, some squad commanders had deemed me unfit to obey, I immediately moved to rectify this problem. I seized the family members of every captain whose squad had yet to return and locked them in the deepest dungeons I could find. On hearing this soldiers rushed back in mass, gathering at the front of the main house in anger. After I was sure most of the squads had returned I then gathered the captains who had out right rejected my authority and them along with their family twice removed, I exiled them from the Van Rost territories and place kill orders on their heads if they were ever seen within our borders.


    This harsh and drastic action not only served on weeding out those who weren¡¯t loyal to me, it also put the fear of whatever deity they believed in into them. My final master piece on the military end was the organization of the tournament and the establishment of the tower. The tournament was held two months after my acknowledgment as house head.


    As Beinon carried his hundred man squad on patrol of the Van Rost territory, they were informed to place notices on every inn wall and town board that they find announcing a martial tournament at the Van Rost city, the price being for third place five hundred gold coins, second place one thousand gold coins and finally for first place a thousand five hundred gold coins and a sword technique manuscript, the very one I had been making on the carriage ride from the black sword mansion to the Van Rost main house. The gold would attract the masses while the sword manuscript would attract the experts. Needles to say it was a smashing success, with the locals only having to pay one copper to watch the fights, we made most of the prize money back, but the real windfall came when I gathered the Loft clan members I trusted the most and went on a recruiting spree. All fighters that made it into the final two hundred and did not have a clan or house emblem were immediately poached into my forces, with those who actually made it into the top fifty been offered squad captain positions.


    The tower, on the other end of the spectrum, was meant to attract mages who had yet to swear fealty to a house or a clan. immediately After wrestling the house leadership from Vanlathriel¡¯s grasp and through successfully hosting the tournament I had been madly writing, producing a mid level sword manuscript and a low level movement technique that would serve as the technique of my special forces, I then dedicated the rest of my time in writing instruction manuals for first tier elemental spells. Fireball, water cage, earth spike, lightning spark and wind blade, to the nobles these were paltry spells that they could acquire easily, but to those without political backing it was slightly more difficult, but this was only to get their attention. Once they came to the tower to see these spells, after a small donation for the up keep of the tower of course, they would quickly find out that the tower had spells from all the basic elemental affinities all the way up to the third tier, this was what truly stirred chaos on the continent.


    Among the mages not born into nobility, this was like gold falling from the skies, they sprinted down to Van Rost city to find out what they had to do to see these scrolls, that¡¯s where things got tricky. To see all the spell scrolls till the third tier they would have to pledge themselves in service to me for three hundred years. For the young elf that had yet to see his first century this would be considered entrapment of the highest order, but it was because they were elves that the mages instantly snapped up this offer. To the elves, the most honorable way of life was with a sword on your hip, mages were considered at best second class citizens and that was only because they helped the sword clans be more effective. The mages lucky enough to be born into nobility were given the support of the clan so that one day they would march into battle, short of that even if beams of light split the heavens and divine beings descended on a mage instructing the entire elfendom to hail him as a hero, people would promptly ignore the light show and go about their daily business, but that was only while they were without skill. As soon as a mage does something of some repute or displays a measure of skill, the usually docile clans transform into ravenous beast and ripped themselves apart to lay claim to them. Instead of throwing my shaky house into various bids for prominent mages and loose out, I decided that like any decent sport franchise I¡¯d rob the cradle. I went after the young, all below the age of twenty, I offered to test their potential for magic for free, something that would have cost them a whole silver coin and a long trip to the learning grounds, which was the only place outside the capital territories that could test ones potential for magic. I offered boarding, for those whose children decided to stay, at a reduce price of course, and then offered them employment as soon as they had mastered the third tier spells.


    On the other hand the nobles were in an uproar. The other clans that made up house Van Rost demanded to see the scrolls I had put into the tower, stating I was using the house property for my own benefits. The black sword clan scrambled to inform their patriarch, my grandfather, that his grandson was throwing pearls to swine and finally from the elfin capital across the ocean the minister of magic, yes you heard me, more officially known as the second war minister sent a strongly worded letter demanding I hand over the scrolls in my possession or the royal palace would not be pleased.


    I politely informed the clans of Van Rost that since I had never been within their libraries they had no right to ask to be in mine, slightly hinting that the next time they demanded something from me I would behead everyone who signed the petition. I then sent an empty box to the second war minister with a note stating in summary you can¡¯t eat what you don¡¯t cook. What bothered me however was the black sword clan was yet to make a move, which did not bode well.


    Three months of suffering and beating of political nobles with a stick and what would finally bring me down was our finances. I sat on the cold stone floor of the main hall my eyes going over line after line of words and numbers detailing the financial history of the house for the last twenty years, if I had left Vanlathriel for another year the clans would have been broke. Things were not as bad as I thought they¡¯d be but they were way worse than I hoped. Thinking rationally, cousin Glander having a named sword, managing to convince the crimson merchant house among others to witness an illegal coronation, having all five elders go along with her plans. Vanlathriel had spared no expense in her quest to put her son in power, unfortunately for me the expenses were mine to bear. At first the other clans within the house tried to conspire to hide this from me, I instantly withdrew all trading rights to any clan that didn¡¯t have cohesive documentation and like all nobility whose gold is threatened they folded like a pack of cards. But their most recent escapade had gotten on my last nerve. Two of the former elders had packed up their entire clan and attempted to leave, what had pissed me of was the gold, secret scrolls and military secrets that they had attempted to leave with. Along with Beinon and his hundred man squad I rode them down, quickly catching up to the two clans, I had them searched from top to bottom stripping them of any documents or things of value before I had the two elders beheaded in front of their clan members and then issued an edict stripping the two clans of their given last names, relegating them from noble clans to commoners as they all stared at me in horror I banished them from the house territory on pain of death. On my return, silence greeted me, the other clans were waiting to see how I would handle the matter, if I had shown weakness or leniency they would have torn me apart, but they had gone too far in probing my patients. I had summoned all the leaders for each clan to the main hall, ready to go on a beheading spree when my eyes had fallen on the weird throne I had seen Glander on, more out of curiosity than any other thing I placed my hand on it and sent a spiral of neutral energy into it the reaction was more than I ever imagined.


    So now I sat on the floor of the main hall facing the strange throne and going over the financial figures of the house while waiting for all the clan leaders to gather but my temper was much improved. ¡°my lord all the clan heads are present¡±, Vareyen said from the entrance of the hall, her tone had lost its mocking ring since I had thrashed Glander but it was too late, I had already noted those that were loyal to me when I pretended to be weak and also those that had spat on me. ¡°Show them in, I will speak to them all at once¡± I said and began to roll up the scrolls I had been scrutinizing but did not get up from the floor.


    ¡°WE GREET THE HOUSE LEADER!¡± the three advisers and five clan leaders shouted as soon as they had all entered the hall. I studied the carefully schooled faces of the older elves in front of me, it seemed that they had finally learnt not to underestimate me. ¡°What? Nobody has any objection of me beheading your dearest friends and then banishing their clans after stripping them of everything of value in their possession¡±, I asked in a deadpanned voice and straight face. Most of them cringed at this proclamation but none of them took the bait. ¡°I called you all here to make the future of this house clear to you and also to see if there is a place for any of you in this future¡± I said as I glanced over each and every one of them, ¡°but first if there is any clan that wishes to break away from the house of Van Rost let them speak now and after they are searched thoroughly for any property of the house they will be escorted safely to the border. However if any clan member is seen sneaking away in the dead of night like a common thief with clan property without permission or reasonable explanation I WILL CUT OFF THEIR FUCKING HEADS!¡± I bellowed at them and they all collectively winced. I exhaled loudly while jumping to my feet and dusting my rump exaggeratingly, ¡°you must all forgive my manners, it¡¯s been a trying period for me, I have discovered some disturbing financial trends that Vanlathriel carried out with the clans treasury even though she wasn¡¯t the clan head¡± I said letting my gaze wonder over to the remaining three former elders, ¡°however if I try to accuse any of you of misdoings you will all blame it on your dead friends wont you?¡± I asked and with another sigh I turned back to the throne.


    ¡°from today onward ten percent of all trades exceeding twenty thousand gold coins will be paid to the main house, request for security escorts for business or personal use will be filled in a month in advance and five percent of the cost of feeding and housing the soldiers requested will be footed by the requesting party¡± I said and began to walk towards the throne, as I gave each proclamation the face of the various clan leaders became more and more pale but I was far from done. ¡°each clan is only allowed five hundred clan guards standing in the main house the rest will be sent to their various clan houses, large scale movement of troupes is prohibited apart from when the clan leader says so, hmm is that everything? Oh one more thing if by the end of this month you all decide to stay, you will each send one child below the age of five to the main house as a hostage¡± I said before turning round to face them and adding, ¡°apart from the Loft clan they are exempted from this all¡±.


    The look of disbelief was almost worth all the hassle they put me through for the last month, the protest however came from an unexpected source. ¡°Is this the sort of leadership we can expect from you young Tal, such blatant favoritism might need to be brought to the attention of the royal families¡± Vanlathriel said as she waltzed into the hall, it seemed she had yet to learn her lesson in crossing me. I unleashed my killing aura across the room encasing everyone present, tyrannical, oppressive, soul shaking, these were words my mother, a sword saint who was a few centuries from becoming a sage of the sword, used to describe my killing aura, what hope did they have. Instantly everyone in the hall fell to their knees, I moved with the lightning fall step crossing the room in the blink of an eye and appearing before Vanlathriel as she gasped for breath. ¡°The next time you address me you would do so as your lord or you will not have a tongue to address me with again dearest aunt, do I make myself clear?¡± I asked, she nodded vigorously and I withdrew my aura from the room. ¡°as for the accusation tell the royal families anything you want as of two weeks ago they acknowledged me as the official head of the Van Rost house¡± I said leaning into my aunts personal space, her eyes widened in shock, I am assuming she thought she would have more time to petition the royal family and she probably would have if I hadn¡¯t been intercepting her letters to the capital for the last three months. ¡°Forgive me my lord, I spoke out of place¡± she said lowering her eyes, it was the best course of action, act compliant until I let my guard down then stab me in the back, but having actually been stabbed in the back already I was more than up to the task of foiling all her attempts.


    ¡°in a week¡¯s time, I will hold a banquet to celebrate me becoming the head of this once great house¡± I said as I walked back to the pile of documents i had been studying and picked up a scroll, ¡°we will be using both the receiving hall and the main hall, you may invite whoever you wish to this celebration, but only my guest will be allowed into the main hall, clan Loft will be in charge of this ceremony¡± I said throwing the scroll to the newly appointed adviser from clan Loft. The atmosphere in the room became slightly tense before one of the advisers stepped forward, ¡°adviser Taust from the Kahl clan Lord Tal, forgive my forwardness but the celebratory banquet is meant to be held by Lady Vanlathriel as is our custom¡±, the green haired elf said. I scanned the room once more, looking at the hidden look of joy as the nobles before me plotted to have the organizing of the event transferred to Vanlathriel so that they could trade invitations to the event for political favors, ¡°after the way she ran the house in my father¡¯s absence I wouldn¡¯t thrust her to organize a children¡¯s party¡± I simply stated, and every elf in the hall gasped in surprise. In Elvin society insults and barbs were hidden in compliments and simple gestures, a silver necklace  instead of a gold one at a daughters introduction to society ball, a fan instead of a sword at a sons first hunt, implying that a noble ladies dress seems familiar when at a ball, these were the usual slights that they would receive, so my statement was like a bull rampaging in a china shop. My hand swept downwards gathering a pile of financial document, ¡°a named sword for her son, two villas in our southern territory, gold bridles for the first son of house Van Flint¡¯s first hunt, these ridiculous expenses where paid from the main house¡¯s purse and you all let her do as she wished¡±, as I had stated each expenditure I flung the corresponding document at them and they collectively winced on each count, I turned to face my aunt to see hatred in her eyes. ¡°Such insults flung at me Lord Tal, if you give me a chance I will regain your thrust¡± she said putting on what I assume she thought was a sincere face.


    ¡°Hahaha, my days you have no shame woman¡±, I laughed explosively as I gazed at her in shock. I dipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out a hair pin, a golden hair pin with a single red gem embedded into it. As soon as Vanlathriel saw the pin her face became quite something to behold, it had taken a lot of begging for my mother to let me go back and look for it, but I had found it and kept it on me at all times to remind me how deadly these tree buggers were. ¡°Tell me again how I should trust you dear aunt¡± I asked displaying the golden hair pin in my hand, Vanlathriel had become extremely quite before bowing slightly and backing away, ¡°that¡¯s what I thought¡±.


    After that things went a little more smoothly, the clans reported the trades they would like to initiate with other clans both here and in the capital, some put in requests for protection as their families moved out of the main house while Vanlathriel sulked as the meeting of the house leaders came to a close and they all left and I continued to study the weirdly shaped throne.


    ¡°My lord, your supper¡± a female voice said from outside the door jerking me out of my thoughts, with a grunt of acknowledgment from me a familiar maid walked in. Felina, which to me sounded surprisingly close to feline, reminded me strongly of my personal assistant back in my old world, unassuming and easily forgotten on first glance Patrice was my eyes and ears in my company often able to tell when the partners were conniving and giving me heads up when she heard any juicy office gossip, Felicia had smoothly stepped in to fill this void. After suffering under the unreasonable regime of Vanlathriel, the maids were pleased at her fall from grace but cautious about how to approach the new lord of the Rost mansion. I had swiftly re-assigned those who had tried to get into my bed to another noble and instead brought the ones who were more world savvy closer to me, leading the pack in this group was Felina. Nothing happened within the mansion without Felina knowing about it, if you needed something obtained Felina could either get it for you, knew somebody who could or knew how to get it, needless to say I had immediately recruited her into my camp.


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    ¡°Felina, what is this chair made of?¡± I asked fixing my gaze back on the weirdly shaped throne at the same time giving her permission to enter. She swiftly stepped into the hall, holding the door open for three maids behind her to enter carrying trays laden with food, before she answered. ¡°forgive me my lord, I do not know what metal that is, however I am aware that lord Marcion¡¯s father was the one that discovered it¡± Felina said as she ushered the remaining maids out of the hall.


    As soon as my father¡¯s name came up I felt palpable rage swell within me. When I awakened as the elf Tal, I had immediate and instant access to my mother, but my father was nowhere to be found, but with everyone from the Loft clan to the black sword clan singing his praises I assumed he was a good person. Marcion Van Rost was the other half of the swords men that made up the pair that was him and my mother, the white swords saint and the crimson blade saint, the prodigies of the black sword clan and the Van Rost house had been lauded as the future generals of their generation, even though their statuses were like heaven and earth their union was met with criticism at first eventually the whole elfendom had nodded in support of the match, then I heard mothers side of the story.


    I suppressed the rage building within me and instead sat down in front of the feast laid out before me. Fun fact elves aren¡¯t vegetarians, on the steaming pile of food in front of me was wild pig, deer, hare and fresh water fish along with a few bowls of soup and freshly baked bread. The elves, while loving meat in all forms and states did not however rare livestock for the sole purpose of eating them, intriguing really, all the meat found on an elfish dinner table was usually bought from hunters who went into the wild to hunt game. ¡°Report your findings¡± I said to Felina as I began to dig into the meal.


    Removing a tightly sealed scroll from the folds of her robe and handing it over to me, Felina began to speak. ¡°After your announcement this afternoon, three of the clans reached out to other houses requesting sanctuary, one of the captains of the clan guards is offering clan secrets to the house of Van Fin in exchange for a similar position in their guard core and Lady Vanlathriel has ordered more jade poison¡± she said, the last part as my hand reached for the wine pitcher on one of the trays, as jade poison was best served with wine I decided to forgo this pleasure until further notice. I wiped my hands on a cleaning cloth before breaking the seal on the scroll my eyes glancing through its content before sighing in praise.


    Along with the tidbits she had just stated, there was various other information written down, not only that beside each one was a detailed description of how the information was obtained be it from the chamber maid, stable boy or mistress listening to her lover sleep talk, everything was written down. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should be proud or terrified¡± I said partly to myself as I looked up from the scroll to gaze at Felina, ¡°the lord praises me too much¡± she simply replied. I rolled the scroll back up to pursue it later on and resumed demolishing the feast before me as Felina looked on in amazement, ¡°Where does all the food go?¡± she asked, her gaze filled with wonder as I tore through the second tray and began on the third, I raised a single eyebrow before I responded, ¡°mage or warrior, all those who walk down the path of cultivation have increased appetite, you will soon experience this¡±.


    ¡°What!¡± Felina exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock. On discovering Felina¡¯s gift of ferreting out information I had immediately written out a manuscript for a movement technique from the stock pile of information that Shikubu had left me, so if she should ever get in trouble she would have the ability to escape but it seemed she was unaware of the side effect of increased metabolism that all cultivators suffered. ¡°At least you won¡¯t have to ever worry your weight¡± I stated simply as various emotions flashed across Felina¡¯s face. I drained the bowl of soup in one go before rising to my feet, rubbing my none existent belly in satisfaction, ¡°show me how far along your fairy flight is¡± I said giving her my full attention for the first time since she entered, with a sigh she began.


    She took a deep breath to calm herself then her body began to sway from side to side, like a pendulum defying gravity, slowly increasing in momentum until her body blurred and she flashed across the hall to stand besides the large windows, then again she blurred to stand besides the throne and finally one more time to stand besides the door before, with a gasp, she fell to her knees. For three months of practice three fairy steps was impressive but to tell her that might give her an unnecessary inflated sense of herself, ¡°three steps is impressive but I won¡¯t send you into the field until you can do a hundred steps consecutively¡± I simply stated and watched her face rise with the praise and fall with the follow up statement. I let a strand of energy run through my pathways and my body swayed to the right once before I launched myself to the windows, then the door back to the throne and across the other side of the hall repeatedly, ¡°the trick with fairy flight is not power but technique, don¡¯t pause between steps, see everything as one continuous gentle motion, like a fairy in flight¡± I stated as I increased the pace before abruptly coming to a stop in front of the throne, ¡°minimize the energy used, eliminated excessive movement and remember the breathing technique¡±.


    After a couple of hours discussing who I wanted her to gather information on and general instructions on various things I wanted monitored for the upcoming feast, we went our separate ways, her with the empty trays towards the kitchen and me towards my chamber on the topmost floor of the manor.


    As the days flew past the activities around the manor intensified, as tables were brought in, curtains and carpets were put in place and barrels of wine were rolled out of the cellar. The general attitude in the manor was celebratory as the locals realized that once again the house of Van Rost was having a party. I tried my hardest to stay out of the commotion but that soon proved futile as Vareyen arrived with the tailor the Loft clan had chosen to make my attire for the event and found out we had very different ideas on what that attire would be. While elves normally wore robes that were earth toned or dull in color, for festivities they went all out. When I stated I would be wearing a blood red robe with no gems or rings whatsoever the tailor almost fainted, but after given her creative freedom on the robe as long as it remained one color, she reluctantly backed down. The second tribulation came when it was time to respond to the various request by the various clans and dignitaries that wished to ¡®celebrate this joyous occasion with me¡¯, while some of the advisers would approve one dignitary, the others would refuse and eventually it would be up to me to decide who. As all good things come in threes, the final tribulation was seating arrangement and that was the real pain as the advisers and clan leaders almost came to blows as they fought over the most favorable seating for their various allies, I suddenly regretted mocking Matthias when he was planning for his wedding.


    It was the evening before the celebrations were to commence and I was hiding in a corner of the private gardens reading various scrolls I had pilfered from the main houses library. After my acknowledgement by the royal family I was now legally clan head even though I didn¡¯t have it in writing, so I had access to the main house library and the clan¡¯s library even though I refused to enter the library of the clans. As I sat among the roses, I felt two energy signatures approach me, one I recognized one I didn¡¯t. ¡°Lord Tal you have a guest¡± Vareyen simply stated before stepping aside revealing a black haired elf behind her. I rose to my feet with a welcoming smile as I felt a twinge of annoyance, I had left specific instructions not to disturb me under any circumstance in case I was practicing some of my hidden techniques, ¡°you may leave Vareyen, I have no need of you¡± I dismissed Vareyen at the same time throwing a slightly veiled barb her way, You could almost see a vein explode in her forehead as she gave a slight bow before exiting the garden. The little exchange had not gone unnoticed by my guest, who I was now give the full brunt of my stare, not allowing Vareyen to introduce him was a power move, without a title to stand on he would start from a position he was most unfamiliar with, for a few seconds we simply stared at each other before he started talking, ¡°greetings Lord Tal, I am Angrod of the clan Leronde belonging to the house of Van Linterg, we are the merchant clan of the great house of Linterg¡± he stated pausing for a bit, when I neither responded or reacted in any way he coughed awkwardly and continued, ¡°lady Vanlathriel was kind enough to point me in your direction, I hope I have found you in a favorable mood¡±.


    I sighed in frustration as I realized what this was, Vanlathriel was trying to shove this person into my good graces. I sat back down on the garden bench and was about to continue with the manuscript I was previously reading but as if realizing he was losing my attention he hurriedly took a step forward and switched tactics. ¡°Our house head, lord Madilhan had the good fortune to speak with lady Erulasse¡± he said with slight panic in his voice, I slowly lifted my head back up, his house head had spoken with my mom who was currently at the capital city, ¡°speak¡± I simply stated closing the manuscript before me.


    ¡°yes, ha-ha, during the course of the evening your Lady Erulasse made it known that you showed interest in war beast, on hearing the royal family approved you appointment as house head my lord immediately ordered us to presents ourselves bearing his congratulations and gifts¡± Angrod said bowing as he finished explaining. In translation, his lord on hearing I had managed to fight of Vanlathriel for the house seat, remembered hearing somewhere that my mom had hinted that I was interested in the strange animals of this world, so he sent this fellow to suck up to me. ¡°I thank you and your lord for his consideration, come you will stay within castle Rost for tomorrows celebration and I will send you on your way with an escort the day after¡± I said, since there was no way I was weaseling out of this I might as well make myself out to be the good guy. ¡°my lord we would not dare to impose ourselves on you in such a way, and we have to escort young master to the harbor so he can meet our lord in the capital city¡± Angrod said hoping I would extend my protection of security because without my consent another house could not freely ride through my territory but with it, their journey would be cut in half and they would journey under my protection, he was good. ¡°Nonsense, you will stay with us and I will have you escorted all the way the harbor, I will even place you on a ship to the capital myself¡± I said jovially and began leading Angrod out of the rose garden, ¡°you said the young master was with you?¡± I coxed after I had pressured the elf into promising he would attend the celebration, but as soon as the question left my lips, I saw him visibly wince.


    Ooh, I wonder what¡¯s wrong with the young master that would cause such a reaction, I thought to myself. As I waited for the reply we walked towards the front of the Rost estate, fire flies buzzed around us as the cool breeze of the evening swept across the entrance of the garden, just as Angrod opened his mouth to reply my earlier question a fierce roar rose from the front yard of the estate. I raised an eyebrow in question to Angrod but he merely chuckled and indicated for me to see for myself, as I took the last turn that would bring the entrance of the estate into view, what appeared before me was a massive cage made of black steel bars, within that cage paced a saber tooth tiger, a saber tooth tiger that had been overdosing on steroids since the moment it was born.


    The beast must have measured from its highest point, which was its shoulders, to the ground at least six feet, but its most impressive part was not its height it was its width, it was broad in every sense of the word, I could stand on its back my feet spread shoulder length apart and still not be in danger of falling off, It was black in color with green thick stripes and from nose to rump it was eighteen feet long, its claws and massive teeth were blue in color and its wild eyes were golden surrounded by a black circle.


    ¡°I take it lord Tal approves of this gift¡± Angrod said, a hint of amusement in his voice. From his tone I¡¯m guessing my desire to posses this magnificent beast was written all over my face but just as I was about to respond I felt something probe me. It wasn¡¯t the quick jab that I had come to attribute to an enemy mage trying to assess his opponent¡¯s strength, it was a primal grasp as something tried to preemptively dissuade me from coming forward. I visually scanned the yard looking for the fool who had dared challenge me to a mages duel when my eyes settled on the beast within the cage. ¡°this¡­¡­ this is a mana beast¡± I softly said almost disbelievingly, I turned to face Angrod who had a shocked look on his face but on seeing I was facing him he immediately schooled his expression to a calm one. ¡°Yes my lord, we came across this at the human port city of Ranthum were it was been auctioned as war mount so we bought it, it was until much later that one of our top mages realized it was of the mana beast variety, it was meant for the youngest daughter of house Linterg but our lord thought it would be most appropriate if you had it instead¡± Angrod said casting a gaze on the beautiful beast. I had long since left Angrod¡¯s side and approached the steel cage gaze locked with the beast as it followed my every move ignoring the elves that had been pushing the cage previously, it narrowed its eyes and once again sent out a pulse of energy, this time it was no longer exploratory but meant to instill fear in me. The beast aura slowly began to rise in waves out of its body as it crouched low to the ground and bared its claws and fangs at me, a deep growl radiated from deep within its chest and suddenly I was surrounded by a primal killing aura. the beast had recognized me as a threat and immediately sort to dissuade me from attempting to tame it, I smirked at the flimsy aura randomly barraging me, it was without form or focus, meaning the beast was still quite young, probably raised in captivity, I let my aura storm out of my body before building it to a fine point which I used to pierce straight through the aura around me and straight at the massive cat, its eye lids began to droop and his growls ceased immediately as his aura clashed with mine and immediately capsized, right about now it would seem to the big cat that there was not enough air for it to breath as my aura flooded over every inch of it.


    As I continued to pressure the big cat, it began to crawl backwards in the cage trying to get as far away from me as it could, but with a wave of my hand the metal bars of the cage closest to me began to bend and twist until there was a hole large enough for me to step through. As I walked into the cage I heard the gasps of the cage handlers and the beginning of a warning from Angrod, the big cat seeing its chance prepared to leap at me but with a thought I summoned a ball of fire besides me and instantly the beast froze. Since the beginning of time all creature have had a healthy respect for fire and in connection to that a healthy respect for anyone or thing that controlled it, the beast eyes darted between me and the floating ball of fire and wisely decided it was not in its best interest to attack me. Slowly but surely it withdrew its aura and adopted a much less aggressive stance, I slowly placed a palm in the middle of its head, allowing my fingers to run through its amazingly soft fur, before slowly backing out of the cage and restoring the bars to their previous form.


    As I allowed myself to relax I noticed that the little scenario had drawn a small crowd from both the manor and its surrounding, up to fifty elves were gazing at me from various positions in the front yard, ¡°have the beast brought up to my chambers¡± I commanded a vaguely familiar elf, at the same time dispelling the fireball floating besides me. ¡°Once again Angrod you have my thanks for this wonderful g¡­¡­¡± I began turning towards Angrod to thank him but beside him stood another brown haired male elf, with pure white eyes. ¡°lord Tal, allow me to introduce you to the second son of the house of Van Linterg, young master Lairden¡± Angrod said, in way of introduction, gesturing to the elf besides him but by that time I wasn¡¯t listening anymore, I was too busy throwing every form of magical defense between my soul and the individual beside me as horror coursed through my veins, after all its best to hide your secret from the eyes of a god.

 Book 1 chapter 4 : family feud

    I lay in my chambers staring at the ceiling, my mind pondering about what had occurred in the last few hours. The elves were a live and let live kind of people, not caring about peoples personal preferences or choices for example currently the moon goddess was in vogue, most of her followers being faithful because of the silver pendant that they were required to wear on all their attire, before that it was the goddess of the hunt because of the midnight feast and orgies in the wild that happened periodically and were invitation only, however one thing elves did not mess with was matters of the soul. Once an issue rose up affecting their souls elves got as nervous as a virgin facing her first penis, this was partly why mages were looked down upon after all some spells affected the soul, as soon as I discovered this about the elfin culture I had immediately began to research two things, how to conceal or protect my soul and second techniques to observe the soul and how to counter them. Among all of Shikubu¡¯s memories and all the books, scrolls and manuscript in both the black sword and Rost castle one technique stood supreme, the celestial god eye.


    The celestial god eye was a heaven tier technique requiring three things, an immortal body, durable mana pathways and five hundred years of refinement. The young master of the Van Linterg house had obviously two of the three things, all elves are born immortal even though it was an imperfect immortality and all elves in one form or the other could wield energy making our energy pathways very durable, however Lairden Van Linterg was not up to five hundred years old and that was the fact that had stopped me from bringing hellfire and brimstone down on him, and yes It was within my capabilities to do that, what had me on my back staring at the ceiling wasn¡¯t all this however, it was the fact that no one seemed aware of what Linterg was in possession of in fact for all twenty seven years of his life he had been ostracized because of it. Feeling like I had dodged a bullet after all if it was found out that my soul wasn¡¯t elfish in nature it won¡¯t be a matter of me being exiled, it would be more like me being hunted down, dismembered, placed on a stake and burnt to death, all in all not a good experience, the fact of the matter was that in slightly less than five hundred years from now a pair of celestial god eyes would emerge that would be a threat to me and that was why I was currently laying on my bed pondering what to do.


    After I had managed to stop myself from nuking the hell out of Lairden, I had invited them to dine with me before offering him and his retainers beds for the night, during the course of the dinner I discovered a few interesting things, Lairden for one wasn¡¯t actually the son of the current head of the house of Van Linterg, his mother Reina Fallen the current consort to the head of the house, had a son from a previous union which was Lairden, on becoming the consort to the head of the house Van Linterg he had adopted him into the main branch, thinking about it with a clear head it was a win-win situation, the house of Van Linterg gained a son and Lady Reina had secured the future of her child. But the lord of the Linterg house already had a son from a previous marriage and in the twenty years they had been married they had managed to produce a female child as well, making Lairden¡¯s existence more of an inconvenience than anything else.


    For someone who had spent the last twelve years of his life being shuffled from one clan to the other with no place to call home and been all but abandoned, Lairden was surprisingly upbeat. Over the course of the dinner he had expressed sincere admiration in my ability to suppress the rebellious elements in my house, and had spoken none stop praise about how I easily subdued the mana war beast, even letting it slip that it was originally meant for his younger sister, who was a mage, but she had been unable to tame it for up to six month. Lairden¡¯s straightforward nature was like a refreshing breeze on a hot summer¡¯s day, we spoke late into the night before turning in.


    I sighed despondently to myself, my original plan was to ambush them on their way to the elfin port city and exterminate everyone, but I was having second thoughts about the entire matter, i mean he wasn¡¯t even refining the eyes he was a swords man not a mage, he posses absolutely zero threat to me¡­.right now, and there in laid the problem, even though he wasn¡¯t a threat now he might be in the future. I sat up on my bead as I came to a final decision, I would not judge him on what he might do in the future, but still I would have to seal those eyes, he had complained about the eyes been sensitive to sudden surges of energy even going so far as to say that they sometimes blinded him which for a swords man was crippling. You could just imagine two swords men duking it out in the rain when suddenly one prepares his ultimate attack and launches it at his opponent when some douche bag decides to shine a flood light into the opponents eyes is what I got from his description, because his god¡¯s eyes where unrefined they had yet to desensitized to energy surges so to him surges of energy where like salt on a fresh wound. The easy method would be to use runes of power from Shikubu¡¯s to enchant some sort of head gear to cover his eyes with, but releasing such powerful runes to a noble house who five hundred years from now might be hunting me was the very definition of folly, I believed in the goodness of people¡¯s hearts as much as the next elf but handing over such powerful magic was like gifting them a ship full of smart missiles. The second more complex and pain in the ass way was to use the less powerful elfish runes of power to make the seal, with the first one I could be done in a night maybe a day if I really took my time but with the second it would require a week maybe two and I would be pushing things and won¡¯t have time to go over my work.


    I stared into the empty space that was my chambers or should I say chamber because I had all the walls knocked down making it one massive space the size of an American football field, it served as my private training grounds with my massive bed taking a tiny corner of the space. Staring back at me was the second big event which had been massively over shadowed by the discovery of the unrefined god¡¯s eyes, the mana war beast. I had decided to call him Raijin, which was the Japanese god of thunder, I briefly toyed with the thought of calling him kaminari-chan, little thunder, which was the nick name my grandmother often called me in my first life because of my large size and teddy bear ways around her leading her to believe despite my large size and imposing demeanor I was harmless, but him being a war beast I was meant to ride into battle with I decided Raijin would be more appropriate. The reason I had decided to name him after thunder was because it turned out he was all bark and very little bite. Raijin was currently lying on a bed of pillows with his feet in the air, as soon as his cage had been brought up   to my chamber and I had released him into the massive space that was my room he had bolted to the other side of the chamber, me still worried about what to do about the god¡¯s eye had then proceeded to completely ignore him, three hours later as I lay on the bed thinking of the various method of dealing with Leander when I had felt a slight nudge at my feet, glancing down I had seen the most comical and yet disturbing thing in my short elfish life. Raijin was crouched low on the ground his tail tucked between his legs in submission however, the hairs on his neck and shoulder were standing in aggression and he had all his teeth bared, it was like he couldn¡¯t decide whether to be submissive or aggressive and had decided to go for a bit of both, after staring at each other for a while I¡¯m guessing hunger must have won out, because he let out a meow so heart retching that if anyone else had heard it the RSPCA would have been battering my door down. After having lots of raw meat delivered, the big cat had inhaled the massive serving and then promptly went to sleep right beside my bed as if it had been doing that all its life.


    I combed my fingers through my hair sighing in frustration as I watched the sun rise through my window, after all this I would still have to deal with the bickering nobles and conniving delegates later in the day, I swear if not for the fact that Vanlathriel had tried to have me assassinated and also planned on evicting myself and mother from the Van Rost lands I won¡¯t even have bothered to stop Glander from being named house head. it would be wise to get some sleep so I could face the dangers that lay ahead with a sharp mind and with that I lay my head down to sleep expecting to wake up well rested.


    Is what I thought, it seemed more like I blinked slightly before I heard a knock on my door. Rising groggily from the bed I was about to scream profanities at whoever was knocking when I noticed I could no longer see the sun from my window which faced the east, meaning it was at the earliest mid noon. I staggered over towards the door as the person continued to knock insistently, I glanced over at Raijin who hadn¡¯t even bothered to get up but was watching the door intently. With a wave of my hand I dismissed the wards protecting my door, don¡¯t trust these bastards, and raised an eyebrow at Felina.


    ¡°Lord Tal it¡¯s time for the final fittings of your robes for this evening¡± Felina said and behind her stood three elves, two male and one female, staring at me with inquisitive eyes. ¡°give me a moment¡± I said to Felina before closing the door and turning to face Raijin, ¡°in your cage¡± I commanded the big cat, if it was Felina alone that had come to visit me I won¡¯t be so worried after all against the  young war beast she was more than able to take care of herself, but she was bringing three other people who I was unsure of their level of adeptness, coming from a world where if your dog bit somebody it would most likely be put down and you would face a barrage of legal drama I wasn¡¯t taking any chances. Raijin first resisted, baring teeth at me and a low growl emitting from his chest, but after I barraged him with killing intent he wisely retreated to his cage.


    ¡°Come in¡± I said to the elves standing outside my door as I opened it for the second time, ¡°Lord Tal it is an honor that my small shop has been chosen for this auspicious event¡± the female elf said bowing in gratitude, ¡°Felina have the delegates begun to arrive?¡± I asked after nodding in acknowledgment of the tailor¡¯s thanks, ¡°yes my lord, four of the royal houses from the capital territory have sent delegates, five if you include my lords guest lord Lairden Van Linterg, but¡­..¡± she began before pausing slightly a look of worry flashing across her face, suddenly I had a bad premonition, Felina took in a deep breath and looked me in the eye ¡°both of the royal houses present in the new lands sent delegates as well¡­¡­both of them¡± she finished emphasizing on the last part. Suddenly I felt a wave of tiredness washed over me as I realized from her words the evening celebrations were going to be much more stressful that I had originally thought.


    When I was four, the various leaders of the clans associated with the house of Van Rost decided to form a coalition with the house of Van Flotina, another of the three royal houses that had made the new lands their home, in support of this deal myself and the daughter of the head of Flotina were formerly engaged to each other and were promised to be married once I turned sixty. Vanlathriel who before my awakening was my favorite person in the world had instructed me to be very nice to Lamlen Van Flotina seeing as she would be my future wife, I had taken this mission to heart going above and beyond to get close to the little elf child, Lamlen had taken full advantage of that turning me into a door mat, after news that I had been crippled spread, the house of Flotina sent a formal letter of divorce and immediately distanced themselves from me Lamlen herself often denying to any who asked if we were ever engaged, three months ago after I had reclaimed the title of house head I had suddenly started receiving letters with the house of Van Flotina¡¯s emblem and I immediately knew what it was pertaining to, I refused to open even one of them, burning them all, but it seems not hearing from me had not discouraged the head of house Flotina now he had sent someone in person, the problem was I knew even though it hadn¡¯t been formal, they had promised the hand of Lamlen to Glander.


    ¡°damned if I do damned if I don¡¯t¡± I murmured to myself before firming my resolve, ¡°Felina after we are done here tell the captain of the guard in charge of security to triple the soldiers charged with guarding this night, inform him to put green sashes on the soldiers guarding the inner hall, orange on those guarding the outer hall and red on those guarding the perimeter of castle Rost, anyone out of their place and not wearing the appropriate sash should be detained¡±. Felina¡¯s eyes bulged as I rattled of instruction pertaining to the security of this night¡¯s event as the tailor pulled out a red robe with black and gold lining, I slid out of the dress shirt I was wearing and pulled on the red robe, it hung on my body perfectly.


    After an hour of trying various red robes along with some other robes, tunics and breeches the tailor had made in way of thanks in endorsing her shop, I saw a certain trend begin to arise, all the clothes were styled after what I wore on the failed coronation of my cousin Glander, I sighed internally promising myself to set the tailor straight on my fashion preferences but for now I let it slide, ¡°once again thank you for choosing our shop Lord Tal¡± the tailor said as Felina escorted out and five elves carrying a massive tub filled with hot water walked in next, I started stripping as they added various scented oils, leaves and powders into the tub before they exited as well and shut the door.


    I stripped till I was bare and climbed into the tub allowing the warm water soothe me, no matter if I was in an elfin body or a human, there is nothing like a hot bath to reduce stress, I thought to myself. After soaking in the tub for thirty minutes, in all honesty I think I dozed off, I climbed out and toweled myself dry before beginning the long arduous process of combing my hair, it had grown to reach the middle of my thigh and I was beginning to think I should cut it, but every time the thought crossed my mind, I remembered my elf mother combing it back at black sword castle as I soaked in healing salves and pastes recovering from bruises she had inflicted on me moments ago. With another sigh I began the combing procedure and an hour and half later I had wrestled my hair into a warrior¡¯s knot.


    As I was about to begin dressing up for the big event Felina came to talk to me but more intriguingly she had a deep blue robe in her possession. ¡°My lord one of the two aids of the tailor was seen talking to members of the Van Flotina delegate¡± she simply stated and instantly I understood taking the blue robe from her, ¡°I still informed the soldiers of your security wishes but changed the colors to white for the outer perimeter, black for the outer hall and purple for the inner hall¡± she continued as she discretely turned away as I began to dress. ¡°Thank you Felina, you did well, also have Vanlathriel and the other leaders of clan loft along with their immediate family moved into the inner hall, we might need them to weather the political storm that is coming¡± I said as I pulled on the black silk tunic and breeches that went under the blue wide sleeved robe. As I turned to look for my boots as I saw the conflicting look that flashed across Felina¡¯s face, ¡°what is it?¡± I asked testily as I fully knew what had her bothered it was an argument we¡¯ve had before, ¡°my lord at least one piece of jewelry should be allowed in this most joyous of occasions, it is only proper¡± she begged but I only waved her protest aside and began pulling on my knee high boots. Sighing in defeat Felina sank to the ground and began helping me lace up one leg of my boots while I did the other all the while muttering ¡°first he doesn¡¯t want a bed servant then he dismisses his personal convoy but no that wasn¡¯t enough, he then asks for all the walls in the chamber to be knocked down turning it into a well lit cave, is he some kind of bat?, then he asks us to release a barely tamed war beast into his room then sleeps through the night like that is the norm¡± she stated before viciously yanking the last loop of shoe lace into place and tying it up, ¡°at least I¡¯m wearing this ring¡± I said indicating a black ring, with the house emblem on it, on my fore finger but Felina only sneered at me before replying ¡°that is the house emblem worn by the head of the house, if by house law you weren¡¯t required to wear it at all times you would have thrown it away long time ago¡±.


    I made sure food would be brought up for Raijin before heading towards the guest wing where Lairden and his retinue would probably be, since I had decided not to kill the young master of The Van Linterg clan I intended to use him as a shield this evening. As I turned down the hall leading to the guest quarters, Lairden, Angrod and the rest of the Van Linterg entourage were already walking down the hall towards me. A shiver ran down my spine as the pure white eyes fixed their gaze on me, I forced a smile and strode forward to meet him, ¡°lord Lairden, it seems you are already prepared to weather this bothersome event with me¡± I called out jovially as we met grasping each other¡¯s mid forearm in a show of friendship, ¡°it would be my honor Lord Tal, it is I who is rather worried that my reputation would tarnish this event for you, my condition is well known in some circles¡± he replied a look of anxiety on his face,  I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture to put him at ease as we fell in line with each other and began heading to the main wing, ¡°anyone who discriminates against my friends discriminates against me¡± I stated firmly. It was like this we bantered back and forth until we finally arrived at the main hall.


    As soon as I came into view a black haired elf with vivid green eyes stepped forward and loudly proclaimed, ¡°the new lord of house Van Rost Lord Tal Van Rost and the young master of house Van Linterg Lord Lairden Van Linterg!¡± he loudly proclaimed and all eyes immediately swiveled to meet us at the entrance. The festivities had started since morning and the party was well on its way when I made my entrance, alliances been formed and enemies made already, from the corner of my eye I could see the look of surprise on both Lairden and Angrod¡¯s faces, normally my name would have been announced first to give me time to bask in the attention of the invited guest then after a respectable amount of time had passed they would be ushered in but instead they had announced us together making him the honored guest of the event. ¡°Come Lord Lairden let us go sit so these people may enjoy the rest of their evening¡± I said to the startled elf beside me with a nod to Felina who escorted everyone else to the Van Linterg table, as Lairden made to follow them I placed a hand on his shoulder causing him to pause mid step, ¡°where are you going Lord Lairden?¡± I asked fixing a look of confusion on my face even though I already knew what the misunderstanding was about, he simply gawked at me making vague indicating motion towards where his envoy was seating, ¡°no no lord Lairden you are seating at the head table with me or I fear I will die from boredom in this dreary event, regale me with tails from the proving grounds and all the adventures you¡¯ve had in it¡± I said firmly directing him towards the inner hall where the main table stood. Like a dear in the headlight Leander eyes were opened wide as I directed us to the high table before seating down and firmly sitting him by my right side.


    Elfin banquets were not like I thought it would be, I mean I wasn¡¯t expecting champagne towers and caviar but I thought it would be more formal, I was expecting a long table with formal seating and a dance space where people waltzed to classical music like in the days of queen Victoria, instead each ¡®table¡¯ was actually a low table piled high with all kinds of food and there was no formal seating instead they had these sofa like low chairs where one could seat comfortably or recline fully if one chose, various entertainments such as jugglers, or gymnasts or dancers meandered from table to table entertaining guest and a flurry of maids and butlers scampered with trays making sure no table lacked for anything for any period of time, it had a very ancient Persian feel to it, I quite enjoyed it. It was also at this point I understood why fighting for seating was so fierce, when the advisers had said seating they had meant space or position, the best space was as close as you could get to the main table signifying your importance to the person who was hosting the event, between the main table which sat the host and the next table which usually had the elders and advisers of the house was a wide open space meant for plays and dance numbers and acrobatic acts so the further away you were the poorer the show.


    As the sky darkened and Lairden finally relaxed, beginning to tell me about the various rules and customs of the proving grounds and in particular a prank they had played on one of the particularly over bearing seniors, Felina approached me to indicate that the guest would like to start presenting their gifts, I groaned loudly knowing that presenting gifts would also include me having to listen them rant for awhile, ¡° my mother always said give them time equivalent to the gifts they bring, if the gift is good let them rant for awhile if it is poor cut them off early¡± Lairden said chuckling beside me, it was sound advice and with that I indicated for Felina to start letting them present themselves.


    First were the independent merchant houses, each coming forward with a variation of the same gift, a dozen or upwards large barrels of exotic wine followed by X amount of gold bars or gems and jewelry, then an item unique to their trading company, maybe a leather cuirass made from some exotic mana beast or a bottle of medicine with unbelievable healing properties, all at the end would hint about how it would benefit me to enfold their merchant house into my clan. Then came the merchant houses who were affiliated to one royal house or the other already, they were the heavy hitters gifting bastard swords made purely from mitral or shields made with heavily infused ebony, the blue wind merchant house affiliated with the Van Dowen house brought me a war beast saddle specifically fitted to accommodate Raijin¡¯s growth for the next year, how they got that information was a sharp reminder on how poor my internal security was, then came the independent clans, usually with necklaces and rings set with diamond and pearls but all with some variation of a precious metal decked out with rare stones. After the last independent clan was received and the gifts were carted away under the watchful eye of Felina, there was a short interlude where a theater troupe came on to perform a play about a young elf who went about challenging all the great elfin warriors to duel until there was no one else to challenge anymore, in her arrogance she cried to the heavens that there was no one who could defeat her under the sky, the gods in order to teach her humility breathed life into her reflection who promptly challenged her to a duel, because they were so evenly matched it is said that till this day they still fought on a distant hill in a far away land, the gods allowing no one to approach so that the punishment would last for eternity.


    After the theater troupe cleared of the space the royal houses geared up to do war through their gifts, not putting in it boxes or partially covering it up like the merchant houses or independent clans had done but putting them on platforms carried by four elves, the five royal houses from the main land didn¡¯t pull punches. The first house brought copies of ancient magical texts from all across the elfin lands along with precious magical ingredients and gilded bows with a mountain of quivers, the second house brought towering jars of expensive perfume and roll after roll of precious silk. As the gifts kept on coming each time I stood with a smile and graciously accepted the gifts on the other hand I could feel Felina smoldering besides me as every gift had its hidden insult or mockery within it, archery was considered a hobby within commoner circles, because it was used by commoners to hunt for food it wasn¡¯t considered dignified for a noble elf to hunt for himself, of the precious magical materials twelve of them were meant to treat invalids and the badly injured most likely in reference to the fact that I was crippled, each and every gift though extravagant contained a well aimed insult all disguised in gold and precious gems.


    Finally the house of Dowen deposited their gift which, it seemed, was the only one that was just that a gift or maybe I had yet to grasp in which way I was insulted. I sank down into the comfortable sofa and was about to continue eating when a soft voice called out to me ¡°greetings Lord Tal¡±. I raised my head to identify the individual and what greeted me was a stunning sight, clad in a red dress with gold and black embroidery was a female elf, the dress caressed her body flowing along her curves showing just enough cleavage to peak ones interest but hiding enough to desire more a dress that if I had worn the robes I had intended to would have made us seem suspiciously like an intended couple , her skin looked like living silk and her lips were luscious and pink her brown eyes were clear and alluring and her black hair reflected the light from the torches that lit the hall. As I gazed upon this vision of beauty I felt a sharp stab of intense emotion, in any other elf you would have said love on first sight or maybe the more common but lesser acknowledged lust but the emotion I felt was a deep seated hate for the person before me, after all it was Lamlen that stood there.


    Even though deep loathing coursed through every fiber of my being, I kept a plane face as I observed the female elf in front of me before raising a single eyebrow in question. ¡°it is I lord Tal, Lamlen¡± she said mistaken my gesture for an inability to identify her, ¡°oh Lamlen¡± I declared jovially and I could see the relief wash over her face briefly before she heard my next words, ¡°what can I do for the house of Van Flotina¡± I said my eyes sweeping the space beside her, indicating to all who were watching that she had come for a favor and yet brought no gift. As the interaction between Lamlen and I started the entire hall became more quite as it was quite known that when news of my¡­.situation spread the house of Van Flotina had not bother to send an envoy to annul the formal engagement between our houses but had sent a simple letter instead, this act had been frowned upon, but with my future looking bleak nobody had bothered to speak out against it. Suddenly from a corner of the outer hall came a forced laugh ¡°ha-ha, lord Tal I know it has been a few years since you and the lady Lamlen have seen each other but didn¡¯t you both use to be close friends¡± a male elf spoke out walking out towards the front of the hall to join Lamlen in the open, from the familial appearance they shared I¡¯m guessing he was also from the house of Van Flotina, Lamlen being an only child and her father and mother already approaching there first millennium, so the individual before me must be the Lady Giber Van Flotina¡¯s younger brother, Indwe Flotina. ¡°Yes we use to be friends¡± I stated and left it at that letting the silence drag on, sensing that whatever ploy they had schemed up was not working Indwe hastily bowed before stating ¡°we just came to wish the new lord of the Van Rost house happiness on this joyous day¡± and placed a hand on Lamlen¡¯s sleeve attempting to steer her away from the main table, but who was I if not a malicious bastard, if you were to kick a person while there down you better do it until you are satisfied because retribution will come either way. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to see your fiance? My cousin Glander is just over there¡± I stated loudly pointing towards a table where Vanlathriel and her son Glander sat, my statement caused both Lamlen and Indwe to freeze mid stride and the hall to erupt in whispers, the fact I had been dumped by letter was well known but the bit of gossip about her trying to marry my cousin who attempted to usurp my position was news to the audience.


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    Vanlathriel who had received news that she had been upgraded to the inner chamber instead of feeling joyful had been largely suspicious, my recent antiques had shown I was not one to easily forgive, but as the night had gone on I had seen her begin to let her guard down and enjoy basking in the glory of the event. As every eye in the hall swung to Vanlathriel¡¯s table her eyes narrowed in hate as she looked my way, Glander on the other hand was looking devastated, his eyes stared longingly at the back of Lamlen, the poor sap must have actually been in love with the tramp, but it was time for me to press my advantage no room for pity. ¡°after I received my letter of divorce I was devastated¡± I said showing a sad face and wiping a false tear from the corner of my eye, ¡°but when I heard that Lamlen and Glander were to be married I was joyful no two people deserve each other more¡± I continued looking back and forth between Lamlen and Glander. Indwe turned to face me with a frown on his face, as he opened his mouth to speak Vanlathriel cut in, ¡°careful elder of Van Flotina for every agreement there is some form of proof¡± she said her face looking as calm as the resting sea but the knuckles on her hand gripping the table had turned white. Indwe¡¯s mouth snapped shut as Vanlathriel had countered his claim of the rumor been false before it had even left his mouth. Lamlen and Indwe stood in the middle of the hall under the scrutiny of the entire crowd, there escape route cut off because to flee know was to say Lamlen had wronged both Glander and i. just as I was about to let them retreat with some pride Lamlen turned to face me as well, the beautiful calm face was gone and instead a vicious sneer had taken its place, ¡°it will do Lord Tal well to remember to show mercy to others after all it wasn¡¯t not long ago that you were in a position of weakness, you been a cripple and all¡± she stated loudly for the entire hall to hear, absolute silence followed her words.


    Most elves when offending others, especially in public, used veiled barbs and insinuations, for her to so directly and loudly proclaim this slight was shocking to those present but was more to my style of doing things. ¡°hahaha, the true colour of the rose has shown itself, after drinking my wine and eating my food you deem it fit to insult me because I point out your loose ways, the house of Van Flotina is indeed bold, parading a harlot as a maiden and promising her to every eligible young noble with a cock between his legs, tell me in this brief period before you desperately crawled back to me on your knees how many elves have you bedded Lamlen, or has the house of Van Flotina fallen so low that they have sunk to prostitution¡± I asked with a smile no longer mincing words. If Lamlen¡¯s statement had silenced the crowd with surprise mine did with absolute shock, Indwe who had been trying to physically drag Lamlen away face had gone red with rage and Lamlen stood there mouth open and eyes dazed as if she had been struck physically, Indwe stepped forward furiously ¡°do you think the house Van Flotina would let such a slight be, you¡¯ll regret this boy¡± he yelled at me while jabbing his finger at me in fury, ¡°and the slight of breaking two engagements to the house of Van Rost, attending my ceremony without gift and insulting me under my roof should be what? Ignored, forgiven. The house of Van Rost does not fear Flotina do your worst and I shall do mine we will see which house remains standing at the end¡± I replied calmly. The tension in the hall shut up to the roof as I had all but declared war between our two families and things had gone from juicily entertaining to dead serious in a heartbeat, as if realizing the direction all this was heading and also seeing Lairden by my side, indicating that house Van Linterg might be supporting me, Indwe took a step back before ceasing Lamlen¡¯s elbow and storming out of the hall loudly saying ¡°remember this slight lord Tal for the house of Van Flotina shall not forget it¡±, with a smile I calmly replied ¡°I forget no one who has wronged my house¡± I said then shifting my gaze from the back of the retreating couple to fall on the main houses that had come from the mainland ¡°no one¡± I restated this time locking gazes with each of them, it was a simple statement meant to drive a point home, I had acknowledged there insults and will pay them back in time. Lamlen and Indwe, needless to say, left the celebrations early but there sudden departure did not sully the festivities and instead the celebrations carried well into the early morning of the next day before the guest grudgingly began to leave and after a respectable amount of time from the first guest leaving I and Lairden retired for the night.


    ¡°that wasn¡¯t too bad¡± I said to Felina as I threw myself into my oversized bed, ¡°Van Flotina will not let this insult go unanswered¡± she tiredly replied picking up the robe I had discarded and folding it neatly, ¡°if I had answered them with caution they would have still found a way to take offense, either way the outcome would have remained the same¡± I replied rolling around on the bed trying to find the most comfortable spot to fall asleep in, ¡°damned if you do damned if you don¡¯t¡± she softly said restating a quote I had previously said earlier that very day, ¡°you knew that this was going to happen, all of it¡± she said her face going slightly pale in horror. It would be very easy to let her believe I was all seeing and all knowing, but whether it was fatigue or just being tired of all the scheming and plotting I answered her honestly, ¡°all of it no, but the fact that I would never agree to marry Lamlen was a given from there it was easy to predict the rest of it, finding a way to capitalize on the situation that was the tricky part¡± I told her while sitting up and glancing over at Raijin who was currently gnawing on a thigh bone of some creature. My respect for Raijin as a wild animal was rapidly declining, once it realized that with some slight showing of obedience it could leave in extreme decadence it had not so much as sent a growl of defiance in my direction when I returned to my chamber. With a sigh I turned back to Felina before putting my thoughts in order and beginning to plan ahead, ¡°I am going to escort the Lairden to the port so he can board a ship to the capital, while am gone I need you to do a few things so bring me ink, quill and paper so I can give you necessary authority, then I¡¯ll send some proclamations through you to the head of the Loft clan, the fact that we haven¡¯t heard from grandfather is leaving me uneasy¡± I instructed while gathering the last of my energy to power through. With a nod Felina left to follow my instructions, leaving a detailed least of all the gifts I had been presented this night. After writing instructions, proclamations and various decrees I simply fell back and let exhaustion take me.


    I woke up mid noon again the next day and had to saddle Raijin within my chambers to avoid any incident outside, luckily the saddle also came with a muzzle, then headed to the front of the estate where Lairden and his envoy along with three hundred of my soldiers were preparing to depart, on seeing me the courtyard instantly went silent and Angrod rushed forward along with Lairden. ¡°Lord Tal you are dressed as if you were to travel with us¡± Angrod said letting out a false chuckle as if he couldn¡¯t believe the absurdity of the statement he just uttered but indeed from my attire it looked like I was set to travel. I had abandoned my usual plain silk tunic and breeches for a dirt brown leather trousers and a sleeveless leather cuirass of the same color, strapped to each thigh were three daggers and on my hands were dirt brown riding gloves, behind me trailed a sulking Raijin who had not taken kindly to being muzzled. ¡°Indeed I am coming with you lord Lairden, as I pondered yesterday I realized I might have the solution to your eye problem¡± I said directing my answer to Lairden while smiling benignly. Lairden¡¯s eyes opened wide in shock as a slight trace of hope appeared on his face, ¡°do not jest lord Tal I have long since reconciled myself with living with this curse do not offer me false hope for I could not bear another disappointment¡± he said fear joining the hope on his face, I laughed softly placing my hand on his shoulder, ¡°the reason I am coming with you is because I cannot invoke the enchantment with the little time you are gracing me with your presence, I hope to complete the item we will use to suppress the curse by the time we get to the port city of Letharen, though I do not promise to cure your condition but I can make it more bearable¡± I simply stated.


    Suddenly Lairden sprang  towards me, sweeping me into a hug and lifting me bodily from the ground, as he placed me back on the ground a look of absolute joy was on his face, ¡°I swear to you Lord Tal even though I am nothing but a burden to my house and my clan if what you say is true you have earned a friend who will lay down his life for you no matter the situation¡± he said while grabbing both my forearms firmly, and so the recruitment begins, I thought to myself ¡°as long as you stop calling me Lord Tal and simply refer to me as Tal I would consider all debts paid¡± I said grasping his forearms in return. The entire time this interaction was taken place Angrod stood to the side a complex expression on his face but his silence also confirmed my suspicion, Angrod was not here to see to Lairden¡¯s need but to closely monitor his every move, ¡°this is truly wonderful news, lord Madilhan would be most pleased to hear this¡± Angrod said finally recovering from his stupor.


    ¡°Lord Tal I have carried out your instructions¡± Felina¡¯s voice said coming from behind me, I swung round to face her only to see my latest acquisition sulking beside her. Mablung Tulcan, the winner of the martial competition three months ago and an unwilling recruit into the we support Lord Tal faction, in the best of times he was quite and withdrawn on bad days he was downright hostile, fortunately for me and unfortunately for him I had very quickly discovered what made him tick, like my mother he desired nothing more than to improve his strength and train in peace and like my mother I played him like a fiddle. ¡° I answer your call Lord Tal¡± Mablung gruffly stated irritation in his voice, I chuckled loudly letting an annoying grin spread across my face ¡°come now Mal, I intend to have you leading my entire army one day, you have to start somewhere¡± I jovially said gesturing to the three hundred soldiers preparing to depart in the courtyard, his face showed slight irritation at the nickname I had christened him with before he let out a sigh and walked towards the stable to have a horse saddled. ¡°Lord Tal if you are to leave without incident you might have to depart soon, Vareyen somehow got wind of your intentions and the leaders of the various clans are gathering to stop you¡± she said while she handed me a medium sized sac, filled with the ingredients necessary to make the sealing item for Leander¡¯s god eyes, an exquisitely made bow and two quivers filled with arrows. After accepting the items from Felina I turned to face Leander with an embarrassed smile ¡°it seems I will depart before you and meet up later at the first checkpoint¡± I said before promptly turning and sprinting out the gates of the estate Raijin closely behind me.


    =============================================================================================


    It had been eleven days since I had departed from castle Rost, and life couldn¡¯t be any sweeter, by day I roamed the thickly wooded forest with Raijin hunting or simply traveling at high speeds, or finding a cave where I practiced my various techniques without fear of been spied on, at night I raced to catch up with the heavily guarded procession of wagons and soldiers heading towards the elf port city of Letharen where Mablung would have a tent set up and I could continue the process of creating the seal for Leander¡¯s god eyes. I was currently balanced on a tree branch high in the canopy of the forest, arrow knocked and breath silent as I gazed down at a vacant river bed twenty yards in front of me, or so it seemed. Raijin crouched form was down below to my left slowly inching towards a river bed where it looked like a mountain of red clay was standing, in actuality the red clay was a wild pig who was currently in a stare down contest with Raijin, since the first day we took off from castle Rost it had become painfully apparent that like I had suspected Raijin was raised in captivity, the way he moved through the forest was amateurish at best making loud noises and pouncing at every bird or mouse he saw, but as the days had gone by he had begun to improve even managing to sneak within twenty feet of the current wild pig before he had unluckily stepped on a dry branch leading to the situation below. The wild pig snorted in warning as Raijin tried to inch forward once more, the reason the pig hadn¡¯t run away yet was because its piglets were currently crossing the river behind it, the pig was just keeping Raijin at bay until it could cross itself, I was simply there in case things took a turn for the worse for Raijin I would put the pig down. After the last piglet waded across the river the wild pig promptly turned round and unceremoniously leapt into the deepest part of the river furiously paddling across, Raijin sprang forward to give chase but to my disbelieve as soon as he got to the edge of the river he came to an abrupt halt before dipping a single paw into the water, like a person testing for the temperature before plunging into the bathtub, with a chuckle I let the tension out of the string of my bow before returning the arrow back to one of the two quivers that hung behind me.  Bow firmly in hand, I let myself fall to the forest floor, rapidly circulating energy in the pathways of my feet so I could land softly, ¡°hey you, you¡¯re a war beast you know, if other war beast saw that shameful display what they would say¡± I mocked the big cat who was currently sitting at the edge of the river staring forlornly at the disappearing figure of the wild pig, ¡°let¡¯s go big guy I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get them next time¡± I said consolingly and began heading to the next camp site we had agreed upon before we set out that morning.


    As the sun set and darkness began to encroach, Raijin and I approached a cluster of tents in a field that had music playing and large fire in its center, ¡°greetings Lord Tal¡± a guard at the perimeter stopped his patrol to greet me before carrying on after I nodded in acknowledgement, I walked into the clearing at the center of the tents to see a large moose like creature roasting over the open fire, and a multitude of elves drinking ale while sitting on fallen logs surrounding it, among them was Lairden who in the last week had become extremely friendly. ¡°Lord Tal you have returned!¡± Lairden shouted in drunken joy as soon as his pupiless white eyes landed on me, ¡°yes I have¡± I replied with a smile trying not to flinch as those eyes landed on me once more, i walked over to the fire where an elf sliced of a large chunk of meat for me another shoved a mug of ale into my hand, as we had traveled from Rost town the soldiers under my banner had not known the way to behave around me, should they bow and scrape their knees on the ground like most nobles demanded of soldiers in their employ, or would I rather have them ignore me and do their jobs, like some clan heads preferred, I soon rendered their worries useless as I promptly disappeared with Raijin for the entire day only returning at night upon which I instructed the elves in charge of the wagon to reveal the barrels of ale, to their delight that very fast night they were allowed to drink to their hearts content and the meat we had roasted that evening had been a wild buck which I had personally hunted, on the morning of the next day I had instructed Mablung to divide the three hundred elf squad into two, the first half would ride close to the Van Linterg envoy and the wagons protecting them at all times while the other half would ride in two sections one in front and one in the back both two hundred yards away from the main procession, the guards on the outside of the procession who had the harder job of protecting the perimeter and remaining vigilant at all times would be allowed to drink till their hearts content that evening while the guards on the inside could participate in the feast but were not allowed to drink wine or ale, they were also take shifts in protecting the perimeter of wherever we decided to camp, the groups alternated roles so that each had sufficient chance to drink till their hearts content, as we continued to travel together the soldiers soon realized if they perfumed their duties to the best of their abilities they would have nothing to fear from me.


    I sat down besides Lairden while Raijin slunk of to my tent, not a fan of loud noises, where he knew he would be left alone, ¡°forgive the slow procession lord Lairden, I am just trying to buy time to finish the item I promised you¡± I said putting an apologetic smile on my  face, ¡°it is fine Lord Tal, I can¡¯t remember the last time I had so much fun while traveling¡± he replied with a laugh swinging the mug of ale in his hand energetically, I stayed in the festivities for a brief while before retiring to my tent where Mablung came to brief me before I was finally left alone. My tent was large by any estimation, as it stood I was certain it was the size of a two bedroom apartment back in my first life but there was a reason for this. I picked up a stick which I had carved various runes of power into and drew a large circle which had a radius of three feet then a smaller one inside it with a radius of two feet, within the smaller circle I drew a five point pentagram making sure each point touched the boundary of the inner circle at those points, between the larger and smaller circle, I drew smaller circles with a pentagram in each one before stepping out of the entire construct and drawing one more circled pentagram this one with a one foot radius then linking it with the larger construct with three lines. I stepped away from my work and appraised it silently on the signs looking for any wobbly or broken lines, for what I needed it for it was overkill but this was the aspect of magic I was least proficient in so I was least proficient in so I was taken no chances on backlash, the arcane arts unlike its mage craft counterpart did not use emotion or feeling to work , it was based in precise placement and manipulation of symbols, runes and energy following a predetermined and secure path to reach a predefined outcome, it was as sciency as magic got on this world and science had never been my strong point. I brought over the sac that Felina had given me on my esc¡­.exit from castle Rost and began to place each major ingredient at the points of the pentagram within the smaller circles at its boundaries before finally placing twelve cups worth of sand at the center of the biggest pentagram, all branches of the arcane art had the pentagram involved one way or the other be it, alchemy, animation, binding, summoning, transfiguration or enchantments, the pentagram was essential to its working which was why it was the symbol of the arcane and any practitioner who desired to be proficient in it had to learn to pull off a perfect pentagram. I sat in front of the one foot radius encircled pentagram, stick in hand, and began channeling energy into it, the smaller pentagram lit up with a faint glow before the light started flowing up the three lines connecting the smaller and bigger constructs and lighting up the larger encircled pentagram, I swiftly brought the point of the engraved stick into the pentagram in front of me and scribbled the elfish rune for fire in the middle of the pentagram, the rune flashed briefly before disappearing, I glanced at the corresponding space in the larger pentagram to see all the particles of sand floating in the air and a white flame blazing underneath it, I fixed my gaze back down on the pentagram in front of me on the highest point scribbled the runes used for refinement on the next point on the left the rune for water on the one below that the rune for extraction on the point on the right side the runes responsible for purification and on the last point the runes responsible for endurance and stability.


    As I scribbled each of these runes into the pentagram each of them flashed briefly before disappearing and the ingredients in the corresponding space where each of the runes were written slowly rose into the air and began to be processed, at the apex of the pentagram the tiger grass was being shredded into fine powder and all impurities were being flung out of the pentagram, on the left a cube of solid chalk like substance was being dissolved in a bubble of water turning it green and a femur of a seventh tier mana beast was having the bone marrow extracted from it, on the other side the same thing was happening to the last two ingredients as the runes I inscribed had their respective effects on the various ingredients. I shifted my gaze back to the center of the pentagram where the grains of sand had turned a bright red and were more liquid than solid, I stabbed the point of the engraved stick into the middle of the pentagram before me channeling energy through it but this time instead of inscribing a rune I sent a clear imprint of my will along with the energy and the liquid sand began to converge before twisting and turning to take the final form I had in mind for it, as the sands final form emerged, the processed ingredients floating at the outskirts of the pentagram began converging at its center, blending into the molten sand one by one before finally the pentagrams glow faded and I withdrew my energy from it staring silently at the finished product. If an elf had seen the finished product of my labor they would have assumed it was a glass visor of some sort, but if anyone from earth had seen it only one would have come to mind, sunglasses. I picked up the wrap around shades that were slightly translucent with a hint of blue and slid them unto my face, I had blunted the surrounding edges so they would not cut into skin when worn, they weren¡¯t heavy more of a comfortable weight so the wearer won¡¯t forget that they had them on, ¡°now comes the hard part¡± I said out loud to myself placing the glasses back in the center of the pentagram and picking up the engraved stick. For the next week after roaming the forest with Raijin by the day, I spent my evenings reinforcing the glasses with runes of power aimed to both suppress the god¡¯s eye and shield the glasses from interference from other mages, I never did like strangers touching my stuff, until finally a day before we were to reach Letharen I set the last rune of power into place just before the sun rose.


    I stood up from the pentagram stretching my aching body, I would have normally broken the work I had done the previous night into two parts but after working so long on a project when the end becomes visible you turned to try and finish in one go. I picked up the glasses trying to see if I had messed up in my rune work in anyway, wishing one more time I had more time to scan through I let out a sigh of regret before heading out of my tent where the workers had already begun to make breakfast and take down some tents. I strode over to the cluster of tents meant for the Van Linterg envoy and flagged down one of the maids assigned to help them, ¡°please go in and inform Lord Lairden that I would like to see him¡± was my simple request then I moved slightly further away, after ten minutes a sleepy Lairden emerged from his tent closely followed by two elves who I had not been introduced to, ¡°greetings lord Tal, I was told you wished to see me¡± Lairden said as his gaze fell on me, without replying I simply raised the item in my hand into his line of sight, ¡°is that the item you have been making?¡± he asked swiftly closing the distance separating us his eyes shining with reluctant hope, once again instead of replying I simply handed the glasses over to him gesticulating how he should wear them. As soon as he put on the glasses, silenced spread through the camp as even the workers who were packing away empty barrels and folding collapsed tents paused in their work and held their breaths after all tales of the partially blind adopted son of the Linterg house had been around before I was born, as the silence stretched on Lairden swung his head to face me and to my horror to streams of tears flowed down from his eyes, ¡°I can see!¡± he loudly proclaimed joy evident in his voice, ¡°things aren¡¯t fuzzy anymore, everything is sharp and clear, by the heavens Tal, I CAN SEE!¡± he bellowed and sprung away from me grabbing the sword from one of the elves that had followed him from out of his tent as he swept past and swinging it around with a wide grin on his face. ¡°It might take some getting used to but give it time and  you will adjust¡± I said with a chuckle as a sense of relief settled into me, Lairden, barely acknowledging my statement, was still busy balancing on the logs that we had used as chairs near the burnt out fire pit as he swung the sword in his hand in increasingly complicated patterns before suddenly coming to  a stop, ¡°lord Tal, on this day you have given me a gift more precious than the stars in the sky, I swear I shall dedicate the rest of my life to repay you¡± he said leaping down from the logs and approaching me before firmly grasping my forearm, ¡°if you count me as one of your friends Lord Lairden I will consider all debts repaid, and drop this Lord Tal nonsense call me Tal like you just did a moment ago¡± I said jovially grasping his forearm in return, only to see Lairden face blush a deep red, we spent the remainder of the journey with me trying to convince Lairden to call me without any titles and him obstinately refusing. As the journey came to an end and Letharen came into view along with the smell of the sea, I felt a wave of accomplishments wash through me, this was the first problem I had resolved without beheading someone, maybe there was hope for me yet, I thought to myself with a smile which soon froze on my face as I saw an elf on a horse riding furiously from Letharen towards our procession, my frown only deepened when on being halted by Mablung the two of them shot towards me at an even faster pace. ¡°report¡± I stated coldly when they both came to halt in front of me, the terrified elf simply stretched out a folded piece of parchment in his hand which I plucked swiftly unfolding it, as my eyes ran over the words written down on the parchment anger soared through my veins, it seemed my grandfather had finally made his move.


    ¡°inform Lord Lairden of my regret in not sending him of personally tell him unforeseen circumstances have hastened my return to Rost town, ensure he receives the gift sword I planned to surprise him with¡± I said to Mablung as the parchment caught fire in my grip and was soon reduced to ashes, ¡°I shall return alone, head straight back to the manor and aid the Loft clan in restoring order I shall join you soon¡± I said pulling on Raijin¡¯s reigns to turn him around, as if sensing my anger he did not so much as grunt in protest as I spurred him into a sprint back down the road where we had just come from Felina¡¯s message still burning in my head, lord Rumil Tuwele of the black sword clan has raided the tower of mages and seized all the scrolls, was the single line that had adorned the parchment and for the first time since I awakened in my second life I regretted the promise I made to my elfin mother, the promise not to kill my grandfather.

 Book 1 chapter 5 : Anothers perspective

    Mablung Tulcan¡¯s POV


    Things were going to get messy, I just know it, I thought to myself as I stood a bit apart from the rest of the elfish nobility that currently loitered about in the main hall of castle Rost. It had been a week since Lord Tal had hurriedly left us at Letharen, a week since anyone had seen or heard from him, but in the two hundred years I had been alive I had never seen such a soul shaking look of anger in an elf¡¯s eyes than I had seen in the young lord as he took off on his war mount.


    I sighed despondently to myself simultaneously glancing over my shoulder at the three hundred soldiers that stood at ram rod attention lining one side of the great hall, these were the three hundred that lord Tal had left me in charge of, to my left was the leader of the Loft clan and to my right standing slightly behind us was the lord¡¯s personal maid her name didn¡¯t readily come to mind.


    on our return to Rost town a week ago it was truly a case of while the tiger is away the foxes will play, the other clans had conspired together to undermine the authority of the loft leaders and affairs of the clan had ground to a halt, to make matters worse when the black sword clan had marched into town immediately breaking down the gates of the mages tower they had hindered all efforts made by the loft clan to either recover the scroll or punish lord Rumil of the black sword clan for his action, if not for our timely arrival most of the members of the loft clan would have either been dead or in chains and true anarchy would have taken hold, two days ago some form of organization has been restored and trade had just begun again when a single letter had been announced to the elders, by order of lord Tal all clan leaders were to gather in the main hall today, all this however was not the reason I had a twisting sensation in my gut, the reason stood across the hall smiling smugly at us.


    After the theft of the scrolls lord Rumil had not fallen back to black sword castle to fortify his defenses for a siege or immediately returned to the capital, he was currently standing besides Lady Vanlathriel and the other elders that had rebelled looking to all the world extremely pleased with himself, if my guess was correct he had been sent by the capital to put the young lord in his place after all why would a clan associated with the house of Van Rost suddenly lash out against it, unless they had appropriate backing but giving the little I knew about the young lord this was going to end up extremely badly for both sides.


    We had already been waiting for an hour when all of a sudden a loud commotion was heard on the other side of the main hall doors before they were violently flung open revealing lord Tal.  Long black shiny hair that even though it was currently tied in a warriors knot still reached below his waist, skin so white it almost seemed unnatural, golden colored eyes that seemed to see nothing and everything all at once, the young lord of the Van Rost house could be summed up in one word, imposing. Lord Tal strode forward with broad steps neither glancing to the left or right as he approached the raised platform that had a simple chair a stark difference to the massive oddly shaped throne that used to be in its place, behind him strode his war beast with an object clasped firmly in his mouth but something was off, he still wore the clothes that I had last seen him in when we parted ways but one thing had changed, he had substituted his brown archery gloves for a pair of gauntlets that were black in color.


    ¡°Young Tal, if you call a meeting of your clan elders it is only proper etiquette to show up on time yourself, or did my daughter teach you nothing¡± lord Rumil said as Lord Tal reached his position but without so much as a pause in his step the young lord simply strode past him climbing unto the raised platform and sitting on the simple chair then with a sharp gesture he uttered a simple command to the war beast that had been trailing behind him ,¡°drop it¡± and with that a small chest fell from the beasts mouth and a heavy silence filled the hall. I glanced in confusion as the look of shock and awe that had appeared on the faces on both side of the hall, I turned to the elder from the Loft clan my eyebrows raised in question, ¡°that was the chest that Lord Rumil put the scrolls that were seized from the tower into, he sent it to castle black sword¡± he said leaning forward to whisper in my ear, I glanced across the hall to see Lord Rumil¡¯s face had become extremely ugly in fury, ¡°the men I sent along with the chest?¡± he asked his tone low with fury and every head in the hall immediately swung to lord Tal who fixed Lord Rumil with a cold gaze before replying, ¡°dead, to the last elf¡±.


    A wave of hushed voices swept through the hall as the news sent a jolt through all present, according to the report there had been twenty elf knights in the convoy escorting the stolen scrolls to the black sword castle, and Lord Tal had just claimed to have killed them all. As Lord Rumil¡¯s face was reddening in fury Lord Tal¡¯s voice rang out across the hall, ¡°adviser Galfin present yourself¡± he stated, the insult in abruptly dismissing his grandfather not going unnoticed the faces of the elfin nobility in the hall had begun to pale as they slowly came to realize that things might not turn out the way they had planned.


    As soon as his name was called the clan leader besides me jerked to attention before quickly striding forward and falling to one knee in front of Lord Tal, ¡°tell me adviser Galfin, did I not leave you in charge of running the house¡¯s affair while I was gone?, if that is so why do I return to find the house in such a state?¡± he asked. A look of confusion flashed through the advisers eyes and I could understand why, it was both adviser Galfin and the young lord¡¯s personal maid that had decided to send the message that warned the young lord about Lord Rumil¡¯s actions so why was the lord pretending to be angry with him, the adviser firmed his gaze and began to loudly report the happenings of the last four weeks. As soon as the adviser gave the report a heavy silence descended over the entire hall and the clan leaders at the side of Lord Rumil began to shift uncomfortably, the adviser¡¯s report had not painted them in a very good light, as the silence continued to stretch out Lord Tal¡¯s voice rang out once more, ¡°captain Mablung present yourself¡± he stated, as soon as my name was called I barely suppressed the urge to jump in surprise, I instantly felt ashamed for internally mocking the adviser when his name had been called before me.


    With sharp steps I strode forward before turning to face lord Tal and sinking to one knee making sure to keep a space of three steps behind the adviser from the loft clan to indicate my position below him, ¡°does the report of adviser Galfin contain any false hood?¡± he asked his golden eyes landing on me, ¡°the advisers report are true my lord, on returning to castle Rost I found the other advisers and some of the clan leaders actively preventing the Loft clan from carrying out your orders my lord, on further investigation and after interviewing the injured guards of the tower and all present witnesses it was indeed members of the black sword clan that forced their way into the tower and stole the scrolls within killing three guards and injuring twelve in the process¡± I stated loudly and instantly cries out of outrage filled the hall as each of the accused noble denounced me and vigorously defended themselves, lord Tal calmly raised his hand and the entire hall fell silent only then did his voice ring out for the third time ¡°Felina present yourself¡± lord Tal stated, I heard a rustling of robes as someone approached from behind me, but instead of passing me as I expected the person stopped two or more steps away from me.


    A commoner, I thought to myself in confusion, the only commoner in the hall was the young lord¡¯s personal maid but what could she possibly say that could impact the situation, ¡°did you make the necessary inquiries that I asked of you?¡± Lord Tal asked the maid behind me and a soft voice floated forward in reply, ¡°yes Lord Tal, in the matter of the clan leaders that escorted lord Rumil into town Rost they are the leader of the Kahl clan, the Helayanwe clan, the Elensar clan, the Losselhelm clan, the Anarion clan and the head of the branch clan Rost my lord, and the clan advisers that signed the order for the house forces to ignore the word of adviser Galfin were adviser Minima and adviser Melda¡± she loudly stated, ¡°how dare you!¡± an elf with green short hair roared at the maid in fury, I¡¯m guessing he was one of the accused, I thought to myself, ¡°how dare a commoner like you accuse me of such crimes without any evidence!¡± he screamed at the maid but to my surprise lord Tal did not reprimand the elf but instead his gaze continued to stay on the maid who had not so much as twitched when the elf screamed at her, instantly I knew there was more to this maid that met the eye, ¡°well Felina, where is the evidence supporting these accusations?¡± lord Tal asked.


    A feeling of slight joy was going through the hall, not a few elves felt that through some devious means this newly appointed head maid had managed to put Lord Tal under her control, so when the lord asked her for proof of her accusations many felt that she was finally been put in her rightful place, but before the gazes of contempt could fully settle on the faces of the nobles present the maid rose up and strode towards the throne at the same time pulling out two scrolls and a page of green parchment which every soldier who saw it could immediately tell what it was, a patrol report.


    At any given time there were at least twenty squads of soldiers randomly patrolling the Rost territory, anything they observed is written down at the end of the day and sent to castle Rost, journeying from the port city to Rost town no matter what route you took, it wouldn¡¯t be unusual for you to run into one of the patrols on the way, and apparently Lord Rumil had. The maid dropped to her knees in front of the raised platform and laid the scroll and the parchment down on it. The silence was deafening, for the few months since I had joined the house of Van Rost the advisers and clan leaders had done everything in their power to interfere with the smooth running of the house and lady Vanlathriel had lead the charge on this cause but she had always ensured that everyone on her side either barely stayed within the clan laws, covered her tracks so well there was no evidence of her wrong doing or ensured any evidence or witnesses were eradicated but she had finally slipped.


    ¡°Minyator of the Kahl clan, Lolinder of the Helayanwe clan, Baren of the Elensar clan, Orophin of clan Losselhelm, Nellas of clan Anarion, adviser Minima, adviser Melda and Vanlathriel present yourselves¡± Lord Tal coldly stated and I was sure a chill went down every spine present in the hall because his voice was filled with barely contained fury, seven hasty footsteps echoed behind me as the various advisers and clan leaders rushed past me and fell to one knee as if their rapid obedience of his order would somehow save them from what everyone knew was coming however the eight footstep was unhurried and filled with confidence and without bothering to look back I instantly knew who it was.


    Lady Vanlathriel strode past me as if on casual walk through the garden, her demeanor un-bothered and her face schooled to perfection before coming to a stop beside the adviser Galfin, after a pause everyone realized she had no intention to kneel to Lord Tal. Almost as if he was un-bothered by Vanlathriel¡¯s show of rebellion Lord Tal¡¯s gaze fell on the nobility behind her, ¡°you seven are found guilty of treason to the house of Van Rost, Advisers Minima and Melda you are stripped of your position as Advisers of the House of Van Rost and because of your interference with the successful running of the clan you are banned from any financial or military support of the clan and placed under house arrest for one month in your clan manors effective immediately, if seen outside your clan manor you will be executed¡± lord Tal said suddenly without warning and chaos erupted in the hall as members from the clans of the disgraced elders screamed at the perceived injustice or called out for mercy for their clan member, the sentence was far more than I expected, a slight tap on the wrist was the norm when nobles misbehaved but in hind sight when had Lord Tal ever settled for such mediocre punishment.


    ¡°Clan leaders Minyator, Lolinder, Baren, Orophin and Nellas, the fact that you escorted the head of the black sword clan through house territory means that he is your guest, all actions of the guests while in clan territory is the responsibility of the host, this is our law. For the deaths of the three guards and in compensation of the injuries sustained by the twelve other guards five thousand gold coins will be subtracted from each of the five offending clans, military support to these clans will be cancelled for three months and the clan heads will be imprisoned in the isolation caves for six months¡±.


    If the first sentencing had shocked the audience in the main hall into various forms of protest, the second one shocked them back into silence, the lord was holding the leaders involved directly responsible for the deaths of the guards and not only was he forcing them to pay compensation to the families and spouses of the guards he was imposing the military punishment of the isolation caves on them.


    The isolation caves, when seen at first seemed extremely simple and most civilians often wondered why whenever they were mentioned every soldier in the vicinity suddenly paled slightly, on a mountain three days horse ride south east of the town Rost, multiple caves had been dug into the side of the mountain, each independent of the other and contained nothing more than a simple bed, a chair and table, and enough water to last the period of imprisonment. This method of punishment was the norm for most, if not all, clans in the elfin kingdom, though not all clans use an entire mountain for it, some settling for stone dungeons or a sealed room, the terrifying factor about the isolation caves however was the fact that it was magically drained of all natural energy, and for elves who partially thrived on natural energy this turned an annoying inconvenience into a mentally harrowing life trauma, this punishment was reserved for deserters and those who committed acts of insubordination and many elves had walked away not completely mentally intact at the end of their sentence.


    The elves in the main hall were still reeling from Lord Tal¡¯s announcement when almost simultaneously everyone¡¯s gaze fell on lady Vanlathriel simultaneously. Her once proud and arrogant form standing alone in front of Lord Tal suddenly looked fragile and alone like driftwood in the middle of an empty sea shore, ¡°Vanlathriel¡± lord Tal began his voice suddenly losing its coldness and taking on a very tired tone, ¡°you conspired to seize the house seat through nefarious means, spent the house funds for personal gain  and have actively interfered with the running of the house since I took this seat but because of your direct link to the clans lineage I have tried to turn a blind eye to your various crimes, this time you have gone too far¡±.


    As soon as these words left Lord Tal¡¯s mouth everyone realized that Lady Vanlathriel was not going to get out of this unscathed as usual, ¡°my lord Tal, please see reason¡± a voice rang out from behind me, ¡°indeed young Tal you must see reason¡± Lord Rumil carried the cry,  his footsteps indicating he was stepping closer to me, ¡°the fact that you claimed to have killed the escort guarding the scrolls is already problematic after all they were carrying out the orders of the second war minister¡± Lord Rumil said with barely concealed fury and suddenly I understood why he had not fled after assaulting the mages tower.


    The second war minister or his less acknowledged title as the minister of magic, was not as powerful as the first war minister who was in charge of regulating the generals acknowledged by the crown and their armies but wielded massive political power inside and outside of the capital territories in everything apart from military affairs, to put it simply in terms of status outside of war times the second war minister outranked the first, so even though it was strange that an acknowledged general like Lord Rumil was taken orders from the second war minister one could see why he was so confident. Lady Vanlathriel, who had turned to listen to Lord Rumil, face sudden lit up in joy, until a moment ago she had seemed like a condemned criminal bravely going to the heads man suddenly got her second wind, her head tilted up in pride and look of contempt spread across her face as she swung round to face lord Tal gloatingly, until lord Tal opened his mouth once more, ¡°so?¡¯ was his simple statement.


    ¡°¡­..what?¡± lord Rumil¡¯s voice was filled with confusion and uncertainty at Lord Tal¡¯s simple statement. ¡°So what if the second minister ordered you to seize the scrolls from my tower? How does that mitigate the crimes you have committed or Vanlathriel¡¯s part in them?¡± Lord Tal said slowly rising from his simple throne his gaze fixed on lord Rumil behind me. In hind sight many things should have warned me about the impending explosion that was about to take place, the fact that Lord Rumil was still allowed to remain armed in the presence of a house lord, the fact that he had ten personal guards who were also armed, but all this warnings were made vague by my foolish belief that a grandfather would never hurt his grandson, after all he had sheltered him for ten years, how naive I was.


    Lord Tal¡¯s war mount felt the disturbance first, rising from where it had been laying beside the throne its golden eyes flashed to where lord Rumil¡¯s personal guards were standing before letting loose a low rumbling growl from deep in its chest, instantly I was on my guard, my hand flashing to the handle of my sword as I spun to face lord Rumil and his retinue. A loud metallic ring resounded through the hall as the three hundred soldiers seeing my actions instantly drew their swords and took ready stances ready to pounce on my command, ¡°what is the meaning of this?!¡± Lady Vanlathriel¡¯s voice rang out in the hall, ¡°how dear you treat the house guests in such a manner¡± she bellowed from behind me, I swore internally as I realized she was trying to frighten the soldiers on our side to lower their weapons but shockingly none so much as blinked in response.


    The three weeks we had spent under the direct command of Lord Tal had been a shocking eye opener for most of the guards, it was the first time that they had been treated with any form of respect by a noble, that same noble was now currently fighting to have their fallen brethren avenged and some random elf lady without an ounce of martial prowess was trying to sway them, Vanlathriel had lost the battle before it had even started.


    ¡°Since when was the head of the black sword clan leader a guest of the house?, I have no memory of welcoming him¡± lord Tal spoke out once more adding more flame to a volatile situation, ¡°or is the branch family once again trying to usurp the authority of the clan head?¡± the simple statement had turned what was a family dispute that might become violent into an attempted coup.


    The silence that filled the hall was pregnant with so many emotions, fear from the nobles that somehow found themselves between two hostile armed groups, confusion from lady Vanlathriel as all her well laid plans of glory crumbled before her very eyes and horror from the five clan leaders and two advisers as they realized the lady they had supported was about to lead them to political ruin, but as all these hidden emotions danced across various elves faces my gaze was firmly fixed on Lord Rumil who was staring with a furious look at lord Tal, ¡°it seems letting my daughter raise you without interference was a mistake, you were not taught how to differ to your betters¡± he said in a voice that even though seemed calm caused every inch of my skin to tighten in fear. Lord Rumil¡¯s aura suddenly roared out from within him encasing the entire hall, it was vast and terrifying seeping through my skin and into my bone shaking my very core, ¡°thank goodness none here are my betters¡± lord Tal simply replied.


    I don¡¯t know what or why but instantly I knew my life was in danger, my hand that had been resting on the pummel of my sword suddenly tightened around it swinging the sword out of the scabbard and up to my left in a blocking motion, embarrassment coursed through me as the thought that I might have reacted prematurely because of nerves flashed through my mind but that thought had barely settled when I felt a smashing pain erupt on the left side of my body and I was lifted bodily of the ground and flung through the air across the room. I spread my legs mid air and braced myself as I fell back to the ground, my body doing instinctively what it had been trained to do for decades while my mind struggled to figure out what had just happened, my sword shook fiercely in my hand giving out a low piercing ring, my left hand was numb and I clenched it repeatedly trying to get feeling back into it.


    I swept the hall quickly and began to deduce what had happened, where I had been previously standing now stood Lord Rumil, his sword drawn and his gaze fixed on me with slight surprise, it appears as though I had been attacked by Lord Rumil, ¡°you dare raise your blade to me a messenger of the second minister, KILL HIM!¡± he roared at me or rather behind me. Even though it had been lord Rumil who had struck first and I had barely reacted on time, more on instinct that skill I¡¯m ashamed to say, he still accused me of showing hostilities first, the story they would spread after this was all over was suddenly brought to light. Ten swords leaving their scabbards rang out behind me; it seemed the direction I had been flung in had not been coincidental because I had slid to a stop on the opposite end of the hall from where my three hundred man squad stood and right in front of Lord Rumil¡¯s personal guards. The faces of my men were filled with horror as they watched the ten men behind me raise their blades to cut me down.


    with a flick of my slightly numb wrist I twirled my sword so that the point was facing backwards and thrust with all my strength into the enemy behind me, at the same time I tilted forward into a roll trying to evade the nine other swords that were currently cutting down towards me, it was undignified and if somehow I survived this I would be the butt of more than a few jokes but it was effective.


    As my undignified roll came to a stop I swiftly sprang to my feet and swept my blade out behind me to hinder the three Guards that had managed to keep up with me, as I stepped back my men swarmed to me, even though each and every one of the ten elves that Lord Rumil had brought were at the rank of elf knight, but they were outnumbered thirty to one even they had to retreat. As my men pressured Lord Rumil¡¯s guards I swung round to race towards Lord Tal¡¯s side, if lord Rumil decides to attack lord Tal as a novice mage he would be defenseless, but as my gaze settled in front of me my heart skipped a beat as I tried to raise my sword to defend once more, in the half a second where I had evaded his personal guards lord Rumil had crossed the space between us and the tip of his sword was currently piercing towards my chest.


    His movements this time were sharp and direct, even though I could see the attack coming there was nothing I could do, as death approached me I felt deep regret, was this how I would die, I thought to myself but just as I thought my life was coming to an end lord Rumil¡¯s eyes widened in shock and he rapidly retreated yanking his sword arm back and an instant later Lord Tal landed where lord Rumil had been standing moments ago.


    He had descended like a feather no longer supported by the wind, landing so lightly that the single foot he descended on didn¡¯t make a sound as it came in contact with the stone floor but as soon as his foot finished touching the ground a violent vibration rang throughout  the hall like an earthquake of great proportion was shaking the entire hall with lord Tal as its center, cracks radiated from Lord Tal¡¯s foot spreading out across the floors and up the walls, blue runes that had been used to fortify the castle walls emerged before trembling violently and dispersing with a shattering sound and in the middle of it all stood lord Tal his face bearing a furious expression.


    ¡°Rumil, you ordered your men to kill a captain of my guard, explain yourself?¡± lord Tal stated his voice filled with barely controlled fury. Every elf in the hall had a shocked look firmly fixed on their faces, the technique the young lord had just displayed was truly vicious and if lord Rumil had been any slower he would have lost his life. Lord Rumil look of shock quickly changed to fury ¡°you will address me properly boy¡± he sneered at Lord Tal firming his grip on his sword and sliding into a sword stance facing him squarely, ¡°I am addressing you properly Rumil, the lord attached to your name was due to the acknowledgement of this house, after attacking a captain, which I personally appointed and consorting with Vanlathriel to undermine me did you think that I would not strip you of said title?¡± lord Tal asked in a mocking voice, ¡°who are you to attempt to strip me of my title, do not overstep your boundary boy!¡± lord Rumil spat at Lord Tal however Lady Vanlathriel¡¯s face had gone extremely pale, ¡°according to the laws of the crown, titles bestowed on a person can only be removed by an individual who bears the same noble title as the one who gave it, in your case your title was bestowed on you by my father the previous head of the house of Van Rost, so that would mean it can only be removed by the current head of the Van Rost house, I wonder who that could be?¡± he said with a mocking tone.


    Was there such a law? If so I had never heard of it, all the elves in the hall began muttering to themselves as people tried to confirm the validity of Lord Tal¡¯s statement; however the only person who had studied elfin law to any depth was Lady Vanlathriel and one by one all the eyes in the hall fell on her. Once again standing by herself in the middle of the hall lady Vanlathriel slowly turned to face lord Rumil before slowly and with the utmost reluctance slightly nodded her head. even though I was sure she was sorely tempted to lie, doing so could seen as defamation of elfish law and if that was discovered by the capital they could dispatch an executioner to claim her head.


    A vicious glint appeared in Lord Rumil¡¯s eyes as he drifted his gaze back to lord Tal, ¡°that only applies if you remain house head¡± he stated coldly before sweeping the room with his gaze taking in his subdued soldiers, the standing guards loyal to lord Tal and the terrified nobles that filled the hall. ¡°My esteemed elders of the Van Rost house, Tal Van Rost since taking the house seat has been nothing but disrespectful to the nobility of this great house, stripping you of your elder positions, forcing unjust regulations and embargoes on your businesses and showing unfair favor to the Loft clan, how long will you continue to tolerate this child as your leader, or will you wait until he unjustly calls for your heads like he did two of the previous elders¡± Lord Rumil said stabbing his sword into the ground and addressing advisers and nobles like he was a great scholar teaching his students, the murmurs that arose from the crowd had a distinctly mutinous note to it as the nobles began to discus among themselves.


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    Since lord Tal had taken over as the head of the house he had ruled with an iron fist, treating all acts of insubordination and dissent with extremely ruthlessness he had made more enemies than friends during his short rule, it was not surprising that the nobles found lord Rumil¡¯s words extremely enticing, what was strange however was the fact that lord Tal looked extremely unconcerned by the turn of events. ¡°are you done with your little speech?¡± lord Tal asked coldly, his golden eyes swept the room causing everyone in the hall to go silent, ¡° I care little about any of you present but that is not something I have kept a secret, I have given you numerous opportunities to leave the house peacefully but yet most of you remain, in my foolishness I had begun to believe that it was possible to tolerate your presence but the chain of events that have occurred while I was away have shown how foolish I was to hope for that¡± lord Tal  said his voice emotionless and each word he spoke crisp and clear like a judge passing a sentence to a condemned man, ¡°I have a vision for this clan and it has become abundantly clear that some of you present here have no place in it, rest assured I will punish all those who seek to hinder that vision and put down all those who wish to destroy it¡±.


    The silence was spell binding, Lord Rumil¡¯s speech had been superfluous and pretentious only taking root because there were many who already harbored great hatred for the young lord but lord Tal¡¯s simple statement had struck the crowd to its core leaving behind one simple emotion, fear. ¡°head of the branch clan Vanlathriel Rost, you are found guilty of conspiring against the house of Van Rost and are stripped of all your rights as branch head, your son will take over your duties as the branch head and you will go  to the capital territories to oversee our manor there, serving as the house ambassador to the capital territory¡± lord Tal said and this time even I gasped in shock, this was a heavy punishment by any standard and by the way Lady Vanlathriel was clenching her teeth and balling her fist she would not take it lying down.


    ¡°we stand here trying to decide if you will remain house head and once again you show your tyrannical ways, have you not given substance to the accusation Lord Rumil has put forward¡± she said barely managing to contain her furry, ¡°it does not matter what Rumil says or thinks he has no standing in clan matters¡± was lord Tal¡¯s simple rebuttal, ¡° and what right do you have to strip me of my privileges and my titles, even for a clan head this is to heavy handed, the crown will demand you renege this decision¡± she shot back at the young lord who finally turned to face her fully. ¡°the crown has no right to interfere with clan matters and even if they did I think they would say the killing of three guards the theft of the clan leaders personal property and the carrying out of actions that directly opposed the instructions I left behind will be more than enough to justify the punishment, let¡¯s not even mention the attempt to force your son into the clan head position illegally¡±  lord Tal said and suddenly let out a smile, it was a simple smile that immediately sent a chill down my spine, ¡°you cannot use the laws to out maneuver me Vanlathriel I have studied them far more extensively than you have dear aunt, you have lost¡±.


    A heavy silence washed over the hall as Lady Vanlathriel¡¯s breath quickened in her anger and lord Rumil¡¯s fist tightened around his sword, I could tell that the pause was not a sign of acceptance but rather the calm before the storm, ¡°vice captains secure the condemned advisers and clan leaders the house head has spoken¡± I said trying to move my men into favorable positions before all hell broke loose, as my men were about to step forward lord Rumil¡¯s killing aura flooded the hall once more, ¡°you will do no such thing¡± he spat at me lifting his blade preparing to strike but  just as he was about to execute the sword strike an even more terrifying aura filled the room, I let out a gasp as I staggered backwards as the aura slammed into me, it was not a killing aura it was simply a declaration of intent, while most of the soldiers fell to their knees some of the nobles had their eyes rolling to the back of their heads and passing out, everyone who was still conscious had their gaze pulled to lord Tal.


    ¡°you are beginning to annoy me grandfather¡± lord Tal quietly said  his voice carrying more venom than anyone his age should, ¡°carry out captain Mablung order, if anyone interferes¡­¡­..kill them¡± was his simple order, after a slight pause the soldiers sprung into action binding the advisers and clan leaders, picking up the unconscious nobles but none approached Vanlathriel who was standing behind Lord Rumil. As all this was going on Lady Vanlathriel¡¯s and Lord Rumil¡¯s gaze were firmly locked on Lord Tal their face losing color. ¡°boy who has been teaching you techniques¡± Lord Rumil asked cautiously, lord Tal raised an eyebrow in amusement ¡° you honestly think I¡¯ll tell you that?¡± he asked the head of the black sword clan as my men escorted the seven condemned nobility to carry out their punishment and lead the rest out until only myself, the Loft clan leader, Lord Tal¡¯s personal maid who had somehow in all the confusion secured the chest of scrolls, Lord Tal¡¯s war beast, lord Rumil and Lady Vanlathriel remained in the hall.


    ¡°Rumil Tuwele you have killed three of my house guards, conspired with the second war minister to still my personal property and broken your oath to support this house I will know carry out judgment¡± lord Tal proclaimed, ¡°you are too inexperienced to rule a house yet, the clan elders have called for your removal and I will do so¡± Lord Rumil said lowering his stance and gripping the handle of his sword with both hands before pointing it at lord Tal, ¡°is that the story you will give mother when you kill me, he had gone insane with rage and had to be stopped, ha-ha-ha your grip on mother is slipping and you don¡¯t even realize it, I long for the day she is completely free of you, the day I will finally be allowed to kill you and that man¡± lord Tal said and for the first time I saw anger in his gaze, anger and¡­¡­pain?.


    Lord Tal lifted both his hands with his palms facing forward, his left arm stretched in front of his chest and his right hand brought back at level with it, a white encircled pentagram appeared on the palm of the black gauntlets he was wearing and blue flames emerged from its center enshrouding the gauntlets completely, ¡°be careful grandfather, I do not know how to hold back¡± he said his face becoming expressionless once more, just as lord Rumil was about to answer lord Tal¡¯s body shot forward rapidly closing the space between him and lord Rumil. As lord Tal approached, lord Rumil raised his sword quickly swinging it down towards lord Tal¡¯s approaching head, I gritted my teeth and clenched my sword preparing to launch an attack to give him an opening when a soft hand landed on my wrist restraining me, a glance to the left showed it was lord Tal¡¯s personal maid, Arena I think she was called. My body froze immediately, how she had got so close to me without my notice I would never know, I had instinctively picked up on lord Rumil¡¯s attack and this civilian had effortlessly by passed my defenses, there was more to this maid than met the eye.


    ¡°Lord Tal will be most displeased if we interfere with this fight¡± she said her gaze fixed on lord Tal who with a careless gesture flicked an arm at the sword approaching his head, a loud metal bang echoed through the hall as sword met gauntlet and his arm and lord Rumil¡¯s sword were flung back from each other, lord Tal pressed the attack, his free hand shooting towards the opening he had forcefully created, the flame wreathed palm slammed into lord Rumil¡¯s chest and with a boom lord Rumil was sent smashing into one of the many pillars lining the side of the hall. With a chuckle the maid let go of my wrist, ¡°it¡¯s well and okay to stand here with your mouth open captain Mablung but I need some of your soldiers to escort me as I return these scrolls to lord Tal¡¯s tower¡± she said her demeanor calm and collected not an ounce of fear that her lord will fall. ¡°tell lieutenant Thorin to take ten soldiers and escort you to the tower, also inform her stay and guard the tower until this is over but take  two soldiers to guard you¡± I said removing my captains insignia and handing it to her.


    With a quick bow the maid that was not a maid departed. I swung my gaze back to the fight that was happening before me to see lord Rumil staggering back to his feet and lord Tal looking at his palm with a frown, ¡°enchanted chain mail, what grade is it?¡± lord Tal asked looking over at Lord Rumil, lord Rumil simply frowned before shooting towards lord Tal his sword piercing through the air towards him, it was the same technique he had tried to use on me before lord Tal interfered and he knew lord Tal had countered it with little effort, so why was he using it again?, unless he was simply testing lord Tal.


    An ominous feeling flooded the pit of my stomach as that though crossed my mind. ¡°You are still trying to probe me instead of facing me seriously? Then don¡¯t blame me for being rude Rumil¡± Lord Tal coldly said then his body blurred shooting towards lord Rumil at incredible speeds. Lord Rumil¡¯s eyes widened and he twisted his sword, rotating the broadside to face lord Tal, the young lord appeared in front of him his right open palm cutting tearing through the air releasing a harsh sound before slamming into lord Rumil¡¯s sword. With a thunderous boom lord Rumil was picked up bodily from the ground and flung towards the wall of the great hall, but this time lord Rumil was prepared. Using the momentum of the blow lord Rumil spun in the air bringing his feet under him and landed on the wall but before he could descend to the ground Lord Tal had appeared in front of him once more.


    Lord Rumil darted to the left swinging out his sword as he rapidly retreated and lord Tal gave chase, they shot deeper into the hall bouncing between the walls and pillars like a pair of tumblers at a circus lord Rumil¡¯s sword flashing and Lord Tal¡¯s flame enshrouded palm descending over and over again until finally lord Rumil¡¯s back touched the wall at the other end of the hall, he was cornered.


    Lord Rumil¡¯s face suddenly took on a more deadly appearance and his sword began to glow, with a slash, his sword sent out a crescent ray of light from its tip and shot towards the approaching lord Tal. While the mages had their various energies for their spells, we warriors all looked to battle essence to manifest our energies outside our body; it was only through this we could hope to fight on par with mages. I gasped slightly in indignation that an acknowledged general would unleash his battle essence on a child who had not even seen his second decade but one glance at Lord Tal as the attack approached him gave me pause. Lord Tal¡¯s face was indifferent as ever, racing towards lord Rumil he waved his hand and fire erupted from his gesture in a crescent shape as well slamming into lord Rumil¡¯s attack before they both exploded, without the slightest of pauses the young lord side stepped the explosion and continued towards lord Rumil where they clashed again, this time lord Rumil¡¯s battle essence was leaking out of him in waves.


    Punches and stabs, kicks and slashes the two elves tore at each other, until finally they sprang apart both of them with pale faces. ¡°To have so much trouble against you Rumil, even though you aren¡¯t using your named swords, it seems that I still have much to learn. But that enchanted chain mail is something else not so much the enchantment than the chain mail itself¡± lord Tal said staring at his gauntlets, which to my shock had cracks running through them. With a sigh lord Tal flicked both his hands and instantly the black gauntlets shattered the encircled pentagram disappearing but the blue flame remaining, lord Tal moved into a squatting stance before his left hand shot forward  in an open palm strike, a massive chunk of blue flames roared out of lord Tal¡¯s palm taking the form of an open palm as it shot towards lord Rumil, eyes suddenly widening and diving to the left as the stone pillar behind him shattered lord Rumil leapt back to his feet and began sprinting towards lord Tal emitting battle essence through his sword strikes at lord Tal but instead of countering with a strike of his own like before lord Tal began to take half steps to the right or left dodging the strikes with barely a hairs breath at the same time he kept on firing palm strikes at the approaching sword elf.


    As the two elves approached each other once more and the few people left in the hall held our breaths as we braced for some more deadly combat, lord Rumil¡¯s leg suddenly sank all the way to his shin into the floor. The confusion on his face was understandable as him and Lord Tal were fighting in the middle of a stone hall not some swamp where sinking into a bog could be expected, however the fact that his left leg was currently trapped in solid stone was there for everyone to see. As all these things were happening lord Tal was already sprinting towards Lord Rumil and as he slid to a stop beside him, he drew back his foot before unleashing a vicious kicks at his head. a sickening thud filled the hall as foot made contact with head lifting the trapped lord clear from the sink hole and carrying him smashing into the wall but once again the impossible happened as instead of lord Rumil¡¯s body falling back to the ground tentacles made of stone sprung from the wall and began to entrap lord Rumil¡¯s arms and legs until he was firmly held in place.


    ¡°*sigh*, I finally caught you¡± lord Tal said with a sigh and suddenly the sinking hole and the walls that had grown tentacles made sense, the young lord also had command over earth energy. All this time we had believed he was a novice mage with some control over fire because all we had ever seen him wield was flames but he had never said that, we had just assumed. From the first exchange of blows till lord Rumil hung trapped in the wall it had only taken five minutes, the young lord had defeated an acknowledged general in five minutes, my heart tightened as my breath left me in heaves like I had just run a great distance. How was this possible, wasn¡¯t he meant to be a cripple just a while ago, had he been pretending, did some hidden master truly take him under his wings as lord Rumil had suggested but if so when?. Question after question flooded through me as Lord Tal placed his hands on his waist and began to bend forward and backward. The most pitiful sight however was lady Vanlathriel, lord Rumil had been her last hope, if he had succeeded, with his support, she could have seized the house seat for herself and eventually passed it on to her son, but it would now be a miracle for her to escape with her head.


    Just as relief at it all being over washed through me, a boisterous laugh exploded from the entrapped lord Rumil, ¡°impressive to think that I underestimated you this badly, it¡¯s a pity you cannot kill me¡± he said voice filled with gloating, to my surprise the usually calm lord Tal had his jaw clenched in frustration and eyes red with anger, why can he not kill lord Rumil?, is it because they are related by blood?, I thought to myself but looking at lord Tal¡¯s character that was not likely. The young lord stared with a hate filled gaze at his trapped grandfather fist clenched at his side before his face became expressionless once more and It seemed he had come to a decision, ¡°it is true I cannot kill you grandfather¡­.¡± The young lord said and a look of relief appeared on lady Vanlathriel¡¯s face, ¡°¡­..but I can push you as close to death¡¯s door as possible and if you so happened to crossover by yourself I cannot really be blamed¡± lord Tal finished and a pin drop would have been heard in the hall.


    ¡°Rumil Tuwele, for the crime of breaching a military contract between the black sword clan and the house of Van Rost, for theft of property of the house leader and for the deaths and the assault of house guards, I, Tal van Rost, leader of the house of van Rost sentence you to forty lashes of the whip to be carried out immediately¡± lord Tal declared, and suddenly I felt disappointed. Forty whip lashes to someone at the level of Lord Rumil was nothing, he could negate the damage with the battle essence he produced naturally from his body, I guess it goes to show no matter the hate there was still familial love between them.


    The stone wall surrounding lord Rumil¡¯s arms and legs began to ripple then extend outwards carrying lord Rumil¡¯s trapped form forward, lord Tal made a grasping motion with both hands and all the flames enshrouding his hands suddenly coalesced within his fist before beginning to extend finally forming two twelve foot long whips made of blue flames.


    ¡°Tal you must not!¡± lady Vanlathriel shouted as she raced towards the young lord, but as I prepared to tackle her to the ground, a black shadow shot past me ramming into her, as she tumbled head over heel a massive paw descended on her chest effectively trapping her in place, the young lord¡¯s war mount was ruthless. The entire incident had gone unnoticed by lord Tal, the grandfather and grandson stared into each other¡¯s eyes, in another setting maybe in another place it could have been mistaken for looks of love or compassion, but put in context it terrified me how to people who wanted nothing more than to rip each other apart could stare so calmly into the others eyes, then It began.


    With a wave lord Tal lifted his left arm and the whip responded like it was a part of him, arching into the air viciously, ¡°I refuse to believe my flame magic cannot breach that chain mail of yours¡± lord Tal coldly said and his hand swung down bringing the fire whip down with it. The first strike let out a boom that rang out across the hall and caused lady Vanlathriel and I¡¯s face to change, unlike the normal crack of the whip we were expecting this sound was vastly different from the norm; the young lord raised his other arm and brought it crashing down again and again.


    BOOM


    BOOM


    BOOM


    BOOM


    The sound was deafening and caused me to flinch as each blow struck. On the tenth strike a brilliant green light suddenly flashed from lord Rumil¡¯s chest and formed into a magical character floating in the air, with a triumphant sneer across his face, lord Tal brought both whips crashing down on the sigil shattering it into a thousand pieces. ¡°And now we truly begin¡± Lord Tal stated his voice as cold as ice as raised both hand into the air.


    As the whips struck lord Rumil over and over again, each blow ripped into lord Rumil¡¯s clothes and his now useless chain mail, tearing through them like a hot knife through butter, blood dripped down the battered lord¡¯s body until finally he screamed out in pain. As if spurred on by his grandfather¡¯s cries the blows from the young lord came quicker and quicker as the flame whip seemed to glow more intensely as it drew more blood from its victim.


    Finally Lord Rumil¡¯s head rolled forward and hung loosely as if it was no longer supported by his neck. Fear gripped me as lord Tal showed no sign of stopping, even though he had stated he intended to drive lord Rumil to the brink of death I had taken it as a threat and not a promise, finally as the smell of burning flesh grew too much for me to bear I hesitantly stepped forward.


    ¡°m m my lord¡± I lightly said, shame passing through me at the stutter in my voice, lord Tal raised his head and turned back to stare at me an eyebrow raised in question, I turned my gaze to stare pointedly at Lady Vanlathriel, if he carried out his plan to let lord Rumil to die from the wounds he inflicted her being a witness would be a problem. A moment of silence that seemed to last forever extended over the hall before lord Tal let out a sigh and with a great reluctance waved his hand dissipating the fire whips and letting the tentacles made of stone crumble to dust releasing lord Rumil from their grasp.


    ¡°take him to the healers and come see me afterwards¡± lord Tal said to me in a voice that seemed too heavy for someone his age, ¡°yes my lord¡± I declared before sprinting over to Lord Rumil¡¯s side as the war beast let lady Vanlathriel off of the floor. Her being closer to lord Rumil reached him first her eyes opening wide and hand flying to her mouth in horror, as I approached I could see why.


    Lord Rumil¡¯s robes and chain mail weren¡¯t the only things that had suffered, given the amount of blood I had expected to see some wounds, but what I hadn¡¯t expected to see was bone. The whips had torn through the flesh and muscles on lord Rumil¡¯s back to expose the bone, the only reason he was alive was because the flames that had made the whip had burnt his flesh stopping most of the bleeding.


    ¡°you monster!¡± lady Vanlathriel roared at him producing a dagger from the folds of her dress and sprinting at lord Tal, before I could move to subdue her lord Tal¡¯s arm flashed towards her and a golden pin with a red gem at the top flashed through the air and embedded itself deeply in her shoulder, she screamed in pain, dropping the dagger and falling to the ground clutching her injured shoulder. ¡°someone who hired assassins to assassinate a six year old child shouldn¡¯t be so quick to judgment, this would be the second time you¡¯ve tried to kill me Vanlathriel, I hope for your sake you succeed on the third attempt because if I somehow survive I will wipe out your entire family from Glander to your husband¡¯s entire clan¡± lord Tal proclaimed as walked out of the hall his war beast padding along behind him.


    As gently as I possibly could I placed lord Rumil in my arms and sprinted out of the hall, with lady Vanlathriel in front of me using her good arm to open the doors until we exited castle Rost and arrived at the healer¡¯s house that had to be awakened to attend to us. Three hours later when the healer had labored extensively to pull lord Rumil from the brink of death and had patched up lady Vanlathriel¡¯s shoulder I exited the healer¡¯s house. I stood  briefly with my eyes closed allowing the cool breeze of the night to wash over me before letting out a breath  and turning to start my trek back to castle Rost, or so I had hoped.


    ¡°A moment of your time captain Mablung¡± a lady Vanlathriel called out from behind me and I winced internally, ¡°yes lady Vanlathriel?¡± I asked turning round and bowing slightly. ¡°I just felt it would be my duty to warn you about the young lord, he is mentally unstable and is prone to lash out at those around him as you clearly saw today¡± she said gesturing to the healers house indicating lord Rumil who currently lay unconscious inside and then to her bandaged shoulder.


    I stared at her in disbelief, I had witnessed everything that had transpired from beginning to the end and she thought to sway my allegiance with such falsehoods, disgust coursed through me and it must have showed because her eyebrows dipped in displeasure, ¡°I thank you for your consideration¡± I said in attempt to cut the conversation short but as I turned to leave her hand shot out to grab my sleeve, ¡°here my warning Mablung, aid me and you would be rewarded obstruct me and prepare to bear the consequences¡±, I couldn¡¯t help but notice how the title of  captain had somehow disappeared.


    ¡°is it true you tried to have the young lord assassinated when he was six years old?¡± I asked, the question sent her into a deep silence that was filled with answers in of itself, I stepped back wards and dipped my head in a slight bow, ¡°by your leave lady Vanlathriel¡± I politely said and left towards the castle.


    As I strode back into the castle I saw through the hall doors that the fiasco of the afternoon had already been cleaned up by the staff so I turned my steps to carry me up to the lord¡¯s chamber. as I approached the massive door they swung open and the maid who was not a maid exited the lord¡¯s chamber with a pile of scrolls and parchments in her arms, with a smile that said she knew nothing and at the same time claimed to know everything she dipped in a courtesy to me then walked towards the stairs leading her to the lower levels of the castle.


    ¡°You may enter Mablung¡± the young lord¡¯s voice said from the other side of the door as I raised my fist to knock on the door, I pushed the massive doors and slid into the room. In all honesty I didn¡¯t know what I was expecting, a room paved with marble with silk curtains and a ivory holstered bed, or ornate rugs  made from the skins of the young of some wild exotic beast. However what I didn¡¯t expect was the wide open and desolate space.


    Floating in the air were hundreds if not a thousand balls of light, faintly illuminating the entire space making it appear larger that it really was, and standing seventy meters from the door was a simple yet massive bed which held the lords mount who appeared to be asleep with its feet in the air and right next to it was the young lord himself with his feet folded under him and numerous scrolls and parchments spread out on what little space remained on the bed.


    ¡°thank you for your assistance in this entire matter captain Mablung, I appreciate it¡± the young lord said glancing up from the various scrolls he was pursuing, ¡°I was merely performing the duties you set aside for me my lord¡± I said falling to one knee and placing my fist against my left chest, he raised a questioning eyebrow at my formal display but who could blame me, after all I just watched him trash an acclaimed general.


    ¡°so Mal, did Vanlathriel try to lure you over to her side?¡± the lord asked lowering and raising his eyebrow in a lewd manner and using the nickname he had designated me that I found infuriating, ¡°yes my lord, she offered me untold riches to support her and said you were mentally unstable¡± I replied hiding nothing all the while terrified of the fact that he had guessed what had transpired during his absence.


    ¡°it is a good offer you know, though she has made many mistakes in recent years she possesses massive political power, with her backing you could reach places I could never carry you to¡± lord Tal said as he began to roll up the scrolls around him. It was not a test, I could tell that immediately, it was more like he was simply stating what he would have done if he was in my position but instead of replying I asked a question that had been on my mind, a question that had driven me to swear undying loyalty to the young lord, ¡°my lord, where you the one that wrote the sword manuscript that I won in the tournament?¡±.


    The lord¡¯s head snapped up his eyes widened in surprise, then a sly smile crawled across his face making him look younger than his already young age, ¡°it seems I have under estimated your observation skills Mablung Tulcan¡±. The voice coming from the young lord wasn¡¯t the usual emotionless one but one laden with approval, but somehow it felt like I had caught the eye of a dangerous beast, no more like a dangerous monster who fully intended to play with its meal before eaten it.

 authors rant {edt}

    just trying to give a sense of the power structure as portrayed in the story so far


    1) body tempering stage: basically they just go through grueling exercise, intense meditation or recite mantra over and over again in order to strengthen their body enough to receive the energy of the world that would be stored in them when they start cultivation proper.


    2)path forming stage: this is where what is normally called the meridian in most wuxia novel is formed. these pathways act as the road through which battle essence is circulated through the cultivators body in specific sequences to initiate techniques and battle skills


    3)core formation stage: this is the point where the paths/meridians that were formed earlier are used to draw the energy of the world as battle essence into the body and through the pores or gates and condensed at each gate for as many as the individual can. at this stage the practitioner can condense an armor made of battle essence around their body and use it as a line of defense.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    4)pillar formation stage: the first true bottle neck of cultivation, this is where most nobles stop because of the pain involved. all the cores condensed till this point are forcefully drawn to the pubic area and fused into a pillar. the pillar acts as both a purifier and a pump, rapidly increasing the rate at which an individual can draw in battle essence and rapidly purifying the essence for them as well. another round of core formation and fusion continues until the cultivator can either not bear the pain of core fusion anymore or feel they would not survive if they attempt to fuse to many pillars into a realm.

 Book 1 chapter 6 : A Red Herring

    It had been eleven months since Rumil and I had our now infamous throw down in the main hall, and I was getting worried.  It takes four months to get  from the new lands to the capital territory through the port city of Letharen, factor in the two weeks for Rumil to get healthy enough to travel and the three weeks it took for him to go from Rost town to the harbor, it would have taken just over five months for Rumil to reach the capital territory, after reporting the entire incident to the second war minister it would take them one to two months to get the political backing they would need to write a letter signed by the people with enough authority to summon a house head to the capital to stand before the elfin high council, then the letter would have to be sent back to the new lands  all in all around eleven months, but I heard nothing.


    News from mother was nothing but admonition for my rash behavior and her tripling the intensity of the sword katas she had me doing. The spies I had managed to plant in Vanlathriel¡¯s envoy on her banishment to the capital had sent no messages about unusual movements. The lack of reaction from the second war minister had me nervous since the fifth month and I was sure I was developing an ulcer.


    Immediately after Rumil and Vanlathriel had departed for the capital territory I had launched my campaign to renovate the entire Rost territory, the first month had been dedicated to two things, eradicating Vanlathriel¡¯s extensive spy network, which Felina took to with disturbing gusto, converting agents where she could and delivering the ones she couldn¡¯t or mistrusted to me for interrogation and exile or execution. The second was the ejection of the black sword clan from the Rost territory, because they had harbored me during my ten year exile I allowed them safe passage till Letharen under heavy guard but still placed a kill on sight order if any member of the black sword clan was caught on house territory.


    The second month was dedicated to finding a merchant clan to support the house financially and also a mercenary clan to bear the house name in battle. The various noble houses of the elves didn¡¯t often ride to war themselves, whether they thought their soldiers t o valuable or their royal lineage to noble to be spilled in battle I don¡¯t know, but most noble houses usually had two or three mercenary clans in their employ to bear the house sigil and ride to war for them, I found it a quick and easy way to acquire soldiers , but I didn¡¯t want the pay as you go package, I wanted a mercenary clan who were going to cater to only house Rost, this proved to be difficult.


    When the various un-affiliated mercenary clans heard of the black sword clan¡¯s fall from glory they immediately sent representatives down to Rost town, but when they heard I was seeking to assimilate the mercenary clan into house Rost and not on a job by job basis, their interest quickly waned, I ended up picking three mercenary clans, the king snake clan, the wind wolf clan and the red sun clan who I picked because their emblem reminded me of the Japanese national flag. Of the three mercenary clans the king snake clan was the most prominent and were to be the mercenaries used by all the Rost territories for requests and bandit or rampaging magical beast subjugation, the lower acclaimed wind wolf clan was there for support while the even less acknowledged red sun clan sole duty was the protection of the Rost town and Rost castle.


    Picking of the merchant clans on the other hand was an enjoyable affair, all Felina had to do was hint at the port city that Lord Tal Van Rost was looking for merchant clans and houses to nurture under the house Van Rost banner  and a bidding war erupted among the merchant houses present. Giving preference to the unaffiliated merchant houses that attended my announcement feast I selected the blue curtain merchant house as the main supplier to the clans of the house of Van Rost but also picked up a new merchant clan called the silver ship merchant house to cater exclusively to the Rost castle.


    On the third month the new clan heads had finally been selected and their first order of business had been to send the hostages, I mean children that I had instructed their predecessors  to hand over into the care of the Rost castle, all under the age of five and all the direct descendant of the current clan head, the terrified children on arrival had stared at me with fearful eyes their heads , I am sure, been previously filled with tales of the golden eyed demon who would steal their souls and their chastity the moment they let their guard down, I immediately promised to not steal their souls.


    The third month was also when I launched my construction phase, I began recruiting black smiths, stone workers, architects, anybody who had anything to do with construction and had a reputation was pulled in, the blue curtain and the silver ship with their new found political backing were instructed to gather construction material in bulk and then  we started building.


    First was the arena, I intended to have the tournament take place this year in an arena to maximize seating profits, it would be able to handle thirty seven thousand in the standard seats, eight hundred in the exclusive seats and would have nineteen VIP boots that would sit ten comfortably, the arena would also serve to draw in people to patronize the various businesses in Rost town making me a rich elf.


    As construction began on the arena, I also had them begin with a wall around Rost town, the it would be the outer wall for now, I planned to build three more walls as the town expanded, turning it into a four layered city. As the construction commenced and the town became extremely busy, I designated the next set of workers into three teams, they were each to build a road, one would extend from town Rost to the harbor city, and the other two would build roads to the boarders shared by Van Flotina and Van Fin respectively, assigning a thousand elves as their guards  I detailed five of my mages to each battalion and they swiftly set of.


    The construction carried well into the fourth month so I had Felina reach out to the farming villages within the Rost territory and propose a deal, financial aid for first pick of their crops at a reduced ten percent rate, if they had apples they would offer to sell it to us first at a certain price, if we didn¡¯t want it then they could sell it for themselves, some refused but we got a decent amount of them to agree to it and instantly provided them with a enough seeds and manual labor to ensure a good crop the next year.


    When the fifth month came about I began to worry, Mablung had been put in charge of one of the road crew and was half way to the border between Van Flotina and Van Rost territory, Felina was of convincing farmers about the high profit low risk opportunity I was offering them, right now was when I was most vulnerable as all my trusted agents were in the field, yet no attack or provocation came, no whisper of a conspiracy or rumbles of rebellion, no movement in the neighboring territories or warnings in mothers letters, all was silent.


    Not wanting my nervousness to make me unproductive I began a pet project to take my mind of things. Felina had constantly complained about my chamber, she had called the yawning cavern a desolate cave, my attempts to appease her by filling the stadium sized room with balls of light had instead made it seem more sinister.


    Procuring the necessary ingredients I divided the roof of the chamber into tiles and inscribed in each tile a magic circle encasing a square, within the square were runes of correspondence, relativity and transparency. At the end of the fifth month I had completely enchanted the entire ceiling and on evoking the runes, the ceiling became transparent and began to reflect the sky above, this of course was a big hit with the kids and served to go a long way in breaking the ice between us, but my plans were not yet done, contacting the head of the silver ship merchant clan I told him I would like to turn my chamber into some sort of indoor garden, expecting  him to be shocked or impressed he simply bowed and asked me to leave the matter in his hands.


    Now living in the guest wing and having my pet project hijacked, with no word of movements from the capital, I was forced to associate with the children to reduce my boredom. Elvin children, especially those under the age of ten are universally cute, with bright eyes, chubby cheeks and an endless amount of energy, they had a black and white view of the world, either they hated you or they liked you, there was no in-between. By the beginning of the sixth month their boredom had tempered the hate they had towards me, instilled in them by their parents I am sure and it was more now a feeling of curiosity they had, I had not tortured them or interrogated them for information as they were told I would, in fact since they had arrived I had thoroughly ignored their existence only reading the monthly reports from their various tutors about their progress, this all changed on the second week of the sixth month.


    Sitting on a window seat in one of the corridors of the guest wing, I had been reading a journal of a famous mage who was studying the effects of replacing the rune responsible for strengthening in a shielding ward with one for repelling, his writings were broken down so a novice enchanter could easily grasp it and he didn¡¯t take himself too seriously, he was fast becoming my favorite author on this planet, when from the corner of my eye I saw a yellow haired, blue eyed female elf child skipping along the hall towards me, when the poor thing realized who I was she simply froze staring at me, after  a full minute of her starring and me ignoring her, she asked what I was reading, on hearing the complex title of the book and guessing the pile of books beside me were equally boring she requested a story, and so it began.


    The first time a modified the tale of  Rapunzel a bit and told it to her, immediately after she had snorted and declared she would have cut of her hair and climbed down by herself before slipping away, me thinking this would be the last of our interactions continued to read my journals in peace. The next day while I was in the great hall supervising the installment of a new throne, said girl showed up with  a brown haired elf boy with black eyes in tow demanding another story, this time it was a modified tale of Cinderella, when I was done the boy coldly stated he would have had the step mother and sisters executed on the spot before him and his friend left, by the end of the week a pattern was beginning to emerge as now I had all nine children seeking me out for a story before declaring what they would have done different, so I arranged for a period to be cleared in my schedule once a week where in the  great hall I would tell them a story.


    Two months later the wall of Rost town was almost completed, all that remained was the three gates that would be the starting point for the three major roads but that was vastly over shadowed by the completion of the arena. Elves from far and near flocked to see the massive building, even the members of groups under my house that had whispered about how the young lord was wasting money suddenly emerged emphasizing on how they had whole heartedly supported their lord¡¯s decision.


    As soon as the arena was completed it was announced that this years tournament would be held in four months time, fast riders were sent to all the corners of Rost territory and I diverted the workers that had been working in the stadium to start building inns and shops along the road leading to the arena.


    All this came to an end around the eight month, by this time my worry was beginning to turn into frustration, I had predicted that Rumil would return to the capital to inform the second minister of my actions, he would then have me summoned to the high council accusing me of treason or some other crime, my well laid plans had been constructed to counter that particular scenario but nothing was going as I wished it.


    The ninth month was when everyone returned back from their various assignments, the road construction crews had only been able to extend the road a week¡¯s journey by horse ride in all directions with the materials they were given, anymore and even the mighty vaults of the Van Rost clan would begin to feel it. I offered those among the construction workers permanent jobs in Rost town and a good chunk of them accepted, they would be needed for all the plans I had.


    Felina returned shortly after with a mountain of documents and contracts from all the farmers  who had agreed to my offer, that alone promised to keep me behind a desk for at least two weeks, then the secret assignment that I had given Mablung, to observe the captains of the king snake¡¯s mercenary clan that I had assigned to his construction crew had yielded its own small hill of reports, the killing blow was when clans started sending formal request to have some of their acknowledged captains or promising youths to be allowed into the tournament.


    A room at the back of the castle was cleared and a chair and desk were placed within to become my office, there Felina, Mablung, Galfin and I worked to hurriedly reply to the various request and also finalize the contracts with the contracts between the farmers and Town Rost, by the time we emerged from our self imposed exile, the road leading up to the arena had been lined with shops and inns and people had already started requesting for permission to use them, it slowly dawned on me that I would need to expand my inner circle if I was to keep up with the demands of running house Rost the way I planned to, I instructed Mablung, Felina and Galfin to find an aid that they could trust and begin to train them , while they would be the A team their under studies would be team B.


    It was also around this period that Raijin decided to have his growth spurt, having finally clocked a year old he had reached the age of maturity of his species, the distance from the ground to his shoulder had increased by a foot and his length from nose to rump was now an impressive twenty one feet in length, this planted the thought for me to get in contact with Lairden to figure out where he obtained Raijin from so I could procure more for my mages tower.


    As the last two of the eleven months came to an end I had to accept that the second minister though arrogant and over bearing was intelligent and tactical, instead of responding in rage to the actions of the young upstart lord who had insulted him not just once but twice, he had withdrawn and gathered his forces instead, I would have to put more effort into leading this matter into a quick conclusion because I was falling behind in my cultivation.


    The reason I had fought Vanlathriel and Glander for the house seat, the reason I put up with the schemes and plots of the associate clans wasn¡¯t for the glory of house Van Rost as I had convinced some of the house members to believe, it was because as head of a strong house I had access to manuscripts, documents, elixirs, weapons and information that would aid me greatly in my quest for power, after all I had not forgotten how I came to be on this planet.


    As I developed as an elf mage I began to realize just how much potential this body had, the more convinced I became that Shikubu and his comrades would come back to demand something in return for it. The elfin body by itself was already amazing as it was but they had gone ahead to give me two powerful gifts, a vast amount of magical knowledge that put the combined wisdom of our elfin empire that had been in existence for over forty nine thousand years to shame and I haven¡¯t even yet opened the black sphere that had been a present from the one they called Tsuburu, what mind knumbing ability or forbidden knowledge would be bestowed on me I had no idea.


    ¡°My lord?¡±


    I lifted my head to see Felina and Mablung standing in front of me, I gazed back down at the document in  my hand that told me Lamlen of house Flotina and Glander had been communicating secretly for the past three months , I was not bothered by the fact that my ex-fianc¨¦e and my cousin who she broke of our engagement to marry had seemingly repaired their relationship as the look on Felina¡¯s face indicated, but something at the back of my mind was telling me there was more to this than met the eye, but convincing Felina and Mablung that this was out of genuine concern and not hidden jealousy seemed more trouble than it was worth .


    ¡°Sorry children, it seems we will have to cut our story time short¡± the cries of discontent were instant.


    ¡°Lord Tal you promised this evening was for us, the whole evening, you said, as long as we left you alone during the week¡± the originator of my current obligation spoke out, I had finally gotten her name, Darneth of clan Anarion, the blonde elf child was currently pouting at me with her arms folded across her chest and the other children littered on the floor of the office quickly followed suit


    ¡°it¡¯s not my fault, mean Felina and Mablung won¡¯t let me finish the story¡±, Mablung who it seemed wasn¡¯t good with children  quickly paled as nine young faces swung round to face him and Felina, eyes filled with accusation, Felina however was un-phased.


    ¡°The lord will be able to finish the current tale he is telling but after that it would be time for bed everyone¡± Felina said bowing slightly.


    They all cried out in joy and quickly settled back down, ¡°*sigh*, where was i?¡± I asked my young audience.


    ¡°The hero and the black night were fighting in front of the evil emperor and the hero seemed to be losing¡± Darneth responded breaking down my tale of the last two hours into a single sentence.


    ¡°Yes, as our hero fought the black knight, anger filled his eyes and his hatred towards the black knight grew by leaps and bounds making him take risks in his swordsmanship that he would not normally take, it was one of these risks that backfired on our hero. As they fought on, the hero pressed for an advantage where he had none and instantly the black knight mad him pay, with a strike of his sword the black knight severed the heroes hand causing him to fall to the floor in pain and defeat, as our hero lay on the ground, grasping the stump that was his hand, the black knight stepped towards him and as the black knight gazed into our fallen heroes eyes he issued one sentence, one sentence that shook the hero to his very core¡±.


    At this point the entire room was completely silent, from the children on the floor to the soldiers who were pretending to guard the door so that they could listen in on my stories I had everyone waiting with bathed breaths, and it was to this audience that I delivered the line that was arguably the greatest cinematic shocker of its age. ¡°Luke, I am your father¡±.


    Pandemonium ensued.


    The children let out horrified shrieks as they leapt to their feat, ¡°lies¡± Felina whispered placing a hand on her stomach like she would suddenly faint, Mablung¡¯s eye had widened to the size of saucers and one of the soldiers had abandoned all pretenses of guarding the door and had sprinted out to go and inform the rest of the barracks of the ending of my latest tale.


    When I had started telling stories to the children I had used the normal classics, Rapunzel, goldilocks, snow white and such, the children had torn through the plots of this tales like a hot knife through butter. Why did the children follow the old woman into the house made of sweets, why did t he young girl stay with seven strange men was she addled, how did the queen know the mirror wasn¡¯t just lying when it said she was the fairest of them all. These sort of questions were what would follow as soon as I was done telling a tale.


    I moved on to telling the original stories of the grim brothers, like the version of little mermaid where they did not live happily ever after and instead the female protagonist unable to kill her unfaithful lover chose to fling herself into the ocean sinking to the bottom and turning into foam, even though one of the children expressed his displeasure of Ariel going to such a shady character for help, these were more readily accepted by the children. My current dilemma began when I ran out of fairy tales to tell, after all been abandoned by my earth mother at a young age I had not exactly experienced many myself.


    On earth I was found in a hospital waiting room at the age of six, three years after my father¡¯s death, my mother had told me that she was here for a doctor¡¯s appointment and I should wait quietly for her. At that point in time I was aware that my earth mother was under a great deal of pressure so I had obediently sat at a corner waiting for her return, I was there for eighteen hours. A nurse eventually walked up to me ask if I needed assistance, when I said I was waiting for my mother the nurse took me in hand and we searched the hospital from top to bottom looking for my mother, after two hours the nurse was beginning to look worried.


    We soon returned to the front desk where the nurse used my last name to search his in-patient list were he found a medical form that was not filled up but instead had a long note written at the back in my mother¡¯s hand writing. In hind sight I should have known something was wrong when the male nurse came round the desk and crushed me in a bear hug while sobbing into my hair, the only thought that crossed my mind however was how he smelled like mint, when I told Matthias this story later in the future he claimed he know realized where my love of mint sweets and fetish for medical scrubs came from.


    At the orphanage with over three hundred and fifty children to take care of there wasn¡¯t time to read fairy tales to kids, our orphanage though in a rough part of town had a dedicated staff that took personal pride in their wards, we were clean, healthy and well fed and quite frankly I felt sister Margaret deserved an award for that, but she had to split her time between so many children so she raised enough money to buy a wide screen TV and a DVD player, soon it came to be that at any point in time a movie could be found playing on the big screen, and it was to this media I turned to.


    It began with the Lord of the Rings, being the only movie that I had watched that had elves in it I felt it was a natural choice given the circumstances, the children were spell bound from the get go, as I narrated tales from the shire to the mines of Moria they listened in raptured silence once every week to my tale, it was then I caught the attention of the adults in the castle. A maid had brought in some snacks because the story time had gone on longer than usual, and she was instantly drawn in, loitering around under the pretense she was waiting to return with the dishes she stayed till the end. Soon word spread and I found something that elves adored above respect, stories.


    Soon the position of guarding my office door on the evenings I told stories to the children became a coveted one, soldiers bent over backwards to please their captains so that they would be assigned this position, they stopped standing outside the door and instead stood within the room claiming it was to ensure a greater level of protection for me and the children.


    As Frodo¡¯s tale came to an end, I turned to my personal favorite movie franchise, Star Wars. Now the concept of light sabers and space ships proved a bit difficult to explain to the kids (and covertly listening adults) but with a bit of modification and the infringement of multiple copy right laws I managed to get my point across leading to the chaos before me.


    ¡°Okay children this is where we will end our tale this week¡± I laughingly said rising from my seat and heading towards Felina and Mablung, ¡°report¡±.


    ¡°the farmers and hunters are more than willing to join in your plans Lord Tal, even though they are skeptical on your true intentions they have more to gain and little to lose, but some of the noble clans have caught wind of this and may cause trouble out of spite in the future¡± Felina started as we all strode out of the office, the children protesting the sudden ending of the tale in the background.


    ¡°As expected, they are a petty lot aren¡¯t they, but I have given them sufficient warning, if they hinder my plans only death awaits them, my patience has run dry¡± I replied then turned to face Mablung.


    ¡°The creation of the roads went as we expected, if your aunt had not drained our coffers so badly we would have been able to finish it in one go. The enchanting part slowed us down a bit but they should add durability to the roads reducing the amount we would spend in the future for maintenance¡± he quickly replied.


    Recently Mablung had began to behave oddly around me, he had always been respectful to me despite my age, but now he was like a robot, if I said jump he asked how high, it was a bit unnerving to be honest.


    ¡°And you sure there were no assassination attempts, sabotage or spies the entire time?¡± I asked hopefully but as they both shook their heads in the negative the unease in my stomach grew once more. Even if the second war minister was a benevolent individual, which he was not, the fact that I had harmed an individual sent to do his bidding was an act he could not let go unpunished or it would be seen as a sign of weakness by those who coveted his position, and weakness was not tolerated amongst the elfish elite.


    I paused in the middle of the hallway head bent in thought, where would they strike from, and why was it taking so long for them to respond, I thought to myself. If they were gathering a subjugation force the first war minister would squash their attempts as this would be the second minister infringing on his territory, but if it were just mages he was bringing I was unworried this also been the reason why I had been more than willing to insult the second minister in the first place.


    ¡°Increase the number of guards on patrol duty with emphasis on the port city, also add individuals to monitor the communication between the clan leaders, something is off ¡°I said to the two beside and me and continued my journey to find Galfin.


    After the other clan heads had risen to oppress Galfin¡¯s influence while I escorted Linterg to the port city, all thoughts of working together with them had left the elf¡¯s head, he had become more firm in his decisions and did not hesitate to punish all those who obstructed him from carrying out his duties. He worked closely with the head of the rising sun mercenary clan and the silver ship merchant clan, using the attention drawn to town Rost by the completion of the arena he had established shops and businesses across the entire town and slowly gold was beginning to flow back into the house vaults, it was for this very reason I was currently seeking him out.


    We eventually found Galfin at the entrance of the castle beside him was the head of the red sun, wind wolf and king snake mercenary clans, the two other captains of the house guards and a haunted looking female elf who it appeared had seen better days. On my approach their already grim faces hardened, I had a feeling I wasn¡¯t going to like whatever was happening.


    ¡°adviser Galfin greets the house leader¡± Galfin said bowing slightly to me, he in particular had been firm in observing protocols in the hopes that the leaders in the newly recruited clans would not treat me like a child but as the a house head, what most did not know was he did not do this in difference to me but he was terrified I would go on a beheading spree and we would lose the few allies we had managed to gather making his job infinitely harder than it already was.


    ¡°My lord we have a problem, a small town north-east of us has been sacked and occupied by bandits, she managed to escape during the attack two weeks ago and made her way here for aid¡± Galfin said but his frown told me there was more to the story than it seemed.


    ¡°I thank you for your effort fair lady, for your service to the house of Van Rost for alerting us to this event I will prepare a house and work if you desire it here in Rost town or anywhere in our territory¡± I said bowing slightly towards the female elf, but not before noticing the look of shock on the faces of all present.


    ¡°my lord please do not bow to one so lowly as i!¡± the elf woman exclaimed in a  panicky voice, hurriedly dropping to a low curtsey as if somehow her more exaggerated show of difference would make up for the fact a lord had bowed to her.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Let us not argue about what praise you deserve, you must be weary from the harsh trek you endured to warn us of this hidden threat. Come, I will entrust you to the capable hands of my maid, Felina, who will see you bathed, fed and rested. You will be the guest of castle Rost while I take some soldiers to liberate your town¡±, on cue Felina strode forward and ushered her into the depths of the castle.


    As soon as they were well out of ear shot my false smile vanished and I turned to face the captains of my guard and the head of the mercenary guilds I had put the safety of my territory in.


    ¡°How did this happen?¡± I asked in barely repressed fury, we had over twenty-seven squads of elves randomly patrolling the entire territory on fixed routes, fifty squads patrolling on random routes, and three battalions of elves, each assigned to supervise and protect the newly constructed roads but also geared to investigate any large scale confrontations, this was asides from the three mercenary clans who were told that at every point in time a certain number of their soldiers must be patrolling our province. If a band of bandits somehow managed to get all the way up to a town, siege it and then taken control somebody had to be deliberately looking the other way.


    ¡°We do not understand what the young lord is trying to imply¡± the leader of the King Snake mercenary clan, Edwandis, indifferently said, not bothering to look in my direction. Of the three mercenary clan heads he was the most vocal about his displeasure in taken orders from a child, he had assumed that the rumors of a sixteen year old elf being the head of an entire house and given orders was a ruse of the Van Rost house and Galfin was who was secretly controlling the house from the shadows. on integrating into the clan he had discovered that nothing happened without my personal approval and Galfin had very little leeway in matters of the house, since this discovery he had gone out of his way to make it known he did not approve of me, me ignoring him only seemed to infuriate him more but the prestige of his mercenary clan was needed for the house during this shaky times.


    ¡°Edwandis does not speak for the Wind Wolf clan, none crossed through the sector we were in charge off¡± Rodwen the leader of the wind wolf clan spoke out, throwing a dirty glance at Edwandis who paid him no mind. Rodwin was below five hundred which by elf standard was a man in his youth, so even though his mercenary clan rivaled the King Snake¡¯s in size they were not taken seriously and had suffered because of it. He appeared amicable and listened to opinions of others before he made a decision, he however reminded me of those students who would convince their friends to party before a test and then stay up late into the night studying, hiding under a blanket torch in hand.


    I turned towards Ardreth the leader of the Red Sun mercenary clan who as usual remained silent. He had been recommended by mother, which had gotten his unrecognized mercenary clan a meeting, with me already leaning heavily towards acquiring them, when I had seen they¡¯re emblem I had hired them on the spot. Ardreth was a stoic individual who did not speak unless spoken to, he and Mablung seemed to get along often standing side by side in silence for long periods of time.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you have nothing to add since I had your entire force stationed here¡± I rhetorically said rubbing the bridge of my nose in frustration. ¡°Edwandis and Rodwen gather two thousand soldiers each by this evening and have them equipped and horsed so we can leave at first light, we will liberate this town, you are dismissed¡± I instructed, Edwandis snorted and stalked off while Rodwen bowed and left. Who to thrust, the openly hostile individual or the quietly conniving one, I thought to myself.


    ¡°Captain Mablung and adviser Galfin will remain in Rost town to ensure the smooth running of the house while Felina, captain Ena and captain Tlerist along with my personal squad of three hundred will go with the soldiers to eradicate these bandits¡± I declared.


    ¡°my lord are you sure it is wise to personally oversee this expedition¡± Ena, the only captain of the guard that had managed to keep her position from before I was appointed house head, she was petite in size and was soft spoken which often made her opponents underestimate her, it was the last mistake they ever made. It was only after I closely observed her that I realized that the fragile image she portrayed was one she had painstakingly cultivated, her swordsmanship was based on speed and all she really needed to strike a fatal blow was a moment of weakness from her opponent and the fight would be over.


    ¡°I agree with Captain Ena, the mercenaries and our house soldiers are more than sufficient to see to this bandit problem¡± captain Tlerist said stepping forward, he had been a vice captain that Mablung had recommended for promotion based on his skill, his attitude on the other hand left much to be desired, the fact that he was a member of one of the two clans that I had exiled didn¡¯t help matters.


    ¡°I will take your words under advisement, you may leave¡±, from the corner of my eye I could see Tlerist face spasm in outrage at a child dismissing him but he marshaled his emotions, dipped his head in a tiny bow and left.


    ¡°My lord¡± Galfin called to me, his expressionless face now filled with worry now that we were alone, I raised my hand to silence him, casting a gaze across the busy courtyard before motioning him to follow as I headed towards the rose garden.


    I could understand his cause for worry, the size of the forces described by the survivor didn¡¯t seem to be that of a bandit group, it was more like a mercenary clan. Mercenary clans in the elfish community were created in two ways, a group of commoners with varying degree of skill, that banded together to form a sort of community, usually started by a group of friends who wished to better themselves they earned their money by being hired swords or merchant escorts, after a certain amount of time and jobs carried out they would gain enough trust and respect to be noticed by the lower noble clans or even the noble houses.


    The second way was if a clan had committed a crime in a noble house they were exiled, to proud to beg other clans to take them in so they operated independently of any house, this was what the two clans that try to flee from the house of van Rost were aiming for before I stripped them of their last name relegating them to commoners and making their claim to royalty null and void.


    Mercenary clans rarely lowered themselves to outright burglary, usually relying on pressuring independent elfish villages for protection money in hard times but the problem was these weren¡¯t hard times, there was currently a war being waged on the eastern border of the new lands and Van Fin and Van Flotina had hired five mercenary clans each, the capital had also issued a bounty for every human officer above the rank of lieutenant, so why was a mercenary clan attacking a village under the protection of a major, even though declining noble house.


    As we strolled through the rose garden, I let a suppressed aura roll out from me, spreading to every corner, seeking out spies and eaves droppers, to cast a privacy spell would be to draw attention to me so I settled for just being super attentive.


    ¡°I am more worried about how they entered my territory without our forces knowledge¡±, cutting in before Galfin had a chance to start I stated the fact that bothered me, it was apparent that he had already realized these were not ordinary bandits.


    ¡°I will immediately look into it my lord¡± with that I dismissed him as well and sank onto a nearby bench. This lord thing was turn out to be very annoying , it was a thankless job that painted a big target and your back and with mothers new exercise regiment, it was turning out to be a bother.


    ---------------------------------------


    The next day started early. As I stood in front of Rost manor, I watched as three stable  hands and two soldiers struggled to put on Raijin¡¯s travelling equipment and his saddle, the fact that the big cat refused to stand up making it infinitely more difficult than it had to be, further down the road my private squad of three hundred soldiers and twenty five mages loitered around, their horses saddled and provisions packed, they had been informed that we were on a mission to liberate a town slightly outside our eastern borders from bandits and they should expect some complications.


    ¡°my lord, the king snakes and the wind wolfs along with the house captains have gathered their forces  outside the town walls and are ready to move, they wait for your command¡± Felina said as she rode up to me. She had abandoned her maid outfit for riding clothes and road on a brown horse.


    I nodded in acknowledgement towards her, I strode towards where the stable hands and the soldiers had finally secured Raijin¡¯s saddle, walking round him once to make sure everything was firmly in place; I leapt onto the big cat and secured myself. As soon as Raijin felt my weight on him I felt a slight magical aura wash over me before he rose to his feet, this was his method to check that it was me on his back and not someone else, some youths from the Loft clan had tried to mount Raijin and let¡¯s just say we had to invite a highly ranked healer to re-attach his arm.


    I nodded towards the two soldiers and the stable hands in thanks, after bowing in acknowledgment the three stable hands raced off to fulfill other duties while the soldiers mounted their horses and took in hand the house banners that were been held by maids in waiting. These two were my flag bearers, they rode beside me bearing the house emblem raised high on poles along with my personal emblem.


    I urged Raijin forward, and we began to move towards the central street that led out of town Rost falling in behind me was Felina, then Ena and Tlerist the two captains of my house guards who would follow me on this mission along with fifty of their personal soldiers each, then came my three hundred .


    I had offered the soldiers that followed Linterg and i to the port city a position in my personal squad, answering only to me, most of them had jumped at the opportunity while the remaining spots had been taken by people Mablung had recommended. These three hundred soldiers had been personally groomed by me, I had handpicked their blades, armor, horses and even training regimens, I often took them out into the hills on my rare free occasions and drilled military formations into them, but in exchange for this boos tin prestige I had warned them all, any offence they committed would be punished three folds in comparison to a normal soldier, if they were caught fighting in public instead of the normal ten lashes they would get thirty, crimes that would require time in the isolation caves would be extended three folds as well, this was what drove of the few that did not join from the original three hundred.


    As we moved through the town, many of the local people came to the streets to see the commotion, some of them had seen the standing army outside the walls and had guessed something was a foot, but most had just risen from bed and were greeted with the impressive sigh of over four hundred soldiers fully armored marching through their street.


    As we exited Rost town I was greeted with the view of an immense army, half of them had a blue cloth belt around their waste, in front of the belt draped a cloth that covered their groin area on it was a white wolf, head raised in a howling motion. The other half of them wore a red belt with a cloth also draped over their groin, on it was a snake coiled around a dagger, in front of each half were Edwandis and Rodwen mounted on magnificent war horses.


    I heard Felina let out a hiss beside me and a small smile appeared on my face, normally the moment I exited the city, the two clan leaders were meant to come forward and greet me, but them staying at the front of their respective army was a slight aimed at me.


    I raised a fist in the air, and the reaction was instant, instead of integrating into the two armies as I had planned my three hundred formed ranks of fives with the supply wagons in the middle and we began to move round the Wind wolves and the King snakes. The look of surprise on the two clan leaders faces wasn¡¯t lost on me, but it was way to early in the morning for me to get into a pissing contest with people who were meant to be in my employ.


    For two weeks we traveled south like this, a clear distinction between the two mercenary armies and my squad always present, at night when we set up camp we did so away from them, we did not share supplies nor did I call to the two mercenary leaders to my side, all present realized something was wrong and Ena and Tlerist wisely decided to stay out of it. A day before we arrived at the outskirt town I called my two captains to me.


    ¡°we will arrive at the town tomorrow afternoon, give or take a few hours, however we will not be assisting the mercenaries in liberating the town¡±, the two captains within my tent glanced at each other then at me, ¡°instead the moment we arrive your job is to find an easily defendable position that can contain our squad in its entirety along with carts and¡±.


    The first part of my statement had been understandable since, the mercenary clan leaders and I haven¡¯t met even once in our two week journey but the second part was what had caught the attention of my two captains.


    ¡°Do you think that they would turn on us my lord¡± Ena asked me making the obvious assumption, asking for a defendable location was already saying I expected an attack.


    ¡°No, I want to show these mercenaries the power of the house of Van Rost so that the next time they feel like been arrogant they will rethink it¡±, I simply said and began outlining plans for the next day.


    --------------------------------


    As we crested a hill the next day, the town we were seeking came into view and at first glance one could tell something was wrong. The fields were empty, the roads to and from the town were devoid of traffic, the gate to the town itself was shut tight and there were no guards on the wall of it.


    With a nod from me Ena and Tlerist took their private guards and headed west and east on their assignment while I sent word for the rest of the soldiers to begin setting up camp, this didn¡¯t go unnoticed however and soon a soldier rode up to me indicating that the two mercenary leaders wished to have an audience with me, I informed the soldier to tell them I would come to them instead.


    As I rode towards the soldiers of the wind wolfs and the king snakes, Edwandis and Rodwin trotted their steeds forward to stand in front of their men, it was a repeat of the day we departed from town Rost but unfortunately for them this time I was prepared for them.


    ¡°I was informed you wished to see me¡± I said, bringing Raijin to a halt in between the two mercenary clan leaders.


    ¡°We have already agreed on a plan of assault and wanted to inform you of your place¡±, it did not escape my notice the words used by Edwandis in his sentence but i stamped down my anger and instead placed a mask of confusion on my face.


    ¡°Why would I have a place in your plans? You speak as if you wish for me to participate in the upcoming battle¡± I said pretending to misunderstand the entire situation. While Edwandis openly smirked at my apparent naivety but Rodwin eyes had already narrowed in suspicion.


    ¡°In a town of this size it is best if all force co-ordinate so the walls can be more easily breeched, do not worry just hand over your captains and forces and we will take care of it, no need to worry yourself about the issue¡±, it once again did not escape my notice the wordings used by Edwandis or the fact that Rodwin was remaining silent to escape any backlash that might occur if this power play fell through. I widened my eyes suddenly as if I suddenly realized something and let loose a long peel of laughter.


    ¡°Forgive me, I have just realized there has been a misunderstanding¡± I said while a wipe nonexistent tears of laughter from the corner of my eyes. ¡°The forces of the house of Van Rost are not here to assist you in the liberation of the elves in this town. The town even though within the border of the Rost territory does not pay taxes or has not openly declared its loyalty to the house of van Rost, no this is a test¡±.


    The looks of confusion on their faces were almost worth the two weeks of snubbing I had endured from these two mercenaries.


    ¡°Your two mercenary clans will lay siege, breach, and capture this town, you will take into custody all the bandits within and offer aid to the citizens, when all is said and done, the house of van Rost will, based on your performance, decide which one of the two clans present here it will show the most favor to in postings and resource designation¡±.


    I could see the collective sphincters of the two mercenary clan leaders and their nearby advisers clench violently. They weren¡¯t fools; everyone present knew that this topic had come about due to their recent behavior.


    ¡°One thing has me upset though, the fact that either of you thought you had the right to order my captains is disturbing, even more so to dispense orders to me¡± I said letting a frown grace my face.


    Fury radiated from Edwandis, here he was a war veteran of five hundred years been reprimanded by a child of sixteen, his hand griped the hilt of his sword and he gently urged his sword towards me, a vicious glint in his eye, but the moment his horse took its third step Raijin¡¯s massive head swung in its direction and he let lose a low rumbling growl. The horse reared in fear and Edwandis struggled to bring it under control, war horse or not it was still prey in front of Raijin.


    As all this was going on I quickly weaved a flashy yet dangerous fire spell all the while cursing myself for coming alone, they¡¯re anger I expected, but the thought they would try to attack me never crossed my mind, was I becoming complacent, or was the fact everyone called me lord beginning to cloud my judgment and inflate my ego.


    As Edwandis brought his horse under control, two large pillars of fire erupted in the air above me, the blue flames that had become somewhat of an identifier for me began to twist and turn becoming more solid and taking a more definitive shape until two snakes made of blue flames stretching fifty meters long slowly swam through the air floating down gently until they circled me lazily.


    ¡°Did you just try to attack me?¡± the question though a simple one carried the weight of the future of his entire clan, after all it was public knowledge that the last mercenary clan leader that attacked me had stayed in the care of the Rost town healer for two weeks before the entire clan was expelled from the Rost territory and that was my grandfather.


    ¡°My lord please do not take offense, Edwandis just worried about the welfare of his men¡± Rodwin spurred his horse forward trying to intercede, but the flame snake on the lefts head snapped in his direction and coiled up prepared to strike all the while letting out a vicious hiss. The tier five fire spell, flame serpent, was a particularly powerful spell not because of its destructive ability, even though it was very destructive, it was its adaptability that made it a frequently used spell amongst mages who favored the school of fire, it could be used defensively by having the snakes circled the mage, it could be sent in as a kamikaze attack and its apparent sentience made it seem like the snake was indeed alive.


    ¡°Do you think that remaining silent through all that has occurred will somehow spear you from the backlash Rodwin? For the two weeks we rode here none of you once came to meet me to plan for this liberation, in your two forces not a single flag of the house of Van Rost has been raised even though you are meant to be carrying this mission out in the name of the house as well as on the house territory, I might be young but I am no fool, the house has already decided to focus our resources on the red sun mercenary guild, the reason you are both been giving a chance is because  we already have a hundred year agreement or else I would have had you ousted from my lands¡±


    My statement along with my cold gaze sweeping both forces were met with silence, Edwandis and Rodwin¡¯s faces had turned pale, understandably who would have expected the young lord to notice the insult that none of my house flags had been hoisted throughout this military march, or me making it the fault of their mercenary leaders for not planning ahead for the assault on the so called bandits in the town, their inadequacies and foolishness had been publicly laid bare and the fact that one of them had wanted to attack me was still pending.


    ¡°You are mercenaries, hired swords¡± I said urging Raijin forward past the mercenary leaders so that I could speak to their soldiers directly, ¡°you are a weapon for the house of Van Rost nothing more nothing less, during the hundred years that you have bound yourself to this house, banish all thoughts of glory from your mind, you live at the behest of the house and if the need is sufficient will die by it, this was what was agreed upon by your leaders this was the oath that was sworn, if you cannot live up to it the house will discard you like a rusted blade¡±.


    The speech was brutal but honest, the mercenaries believed because the house of Van Rost was declining their leaders could coerce a strong position for their clans in it, their attitude from the get go had been demeaning and condescending but because I had been carrying out multiple projects at the same time I had swallowed my anger and borne with it, now even though the house still needed them it wasn¡¯t to the point that I would tolerate such blatant disregard from my own employees.


    The soldiers from both sides were silent, a variety of emotions played across all their faces, anger, shame, outrage, hate, they had watched a child cut down the collective pride of both their clans and there was nothing they could do, I swung Raijin round and began to make my exit but the route I had chosen would take me in between the mercenary leaders. I brought Raijin to halt between the both of them and they struggled to marshal their warhorses as Raijin was letting out Growls every now and then.


    ¡°I had initially wanted to foster both of your clans to become long term members of the house of Van Rost, with the same rights as the clans already within our house, but once again the arrogance of elves has shown me how na?ve I still am. From now on you two are to report to captain Mablung and seek his approval for any military activity that requires over five hundred soldiers to move, failure to do so will be seen as a violation of the contract between our two houses and will lead to the eradication of your two clans and its associates as agreed in our contract¡±.


    As I delivered this final proclamation even the usually calm Rodwin¡¯s face became a shade lighter. I urged Raijin forward and we trotted back towards my squad not letting my guard down until the crest of the hill carried me out of their direct line of sight.


    I rode back into the camp set up by the squad in a furious mood, why were elves so arrogant and stubborn, give them an inch and they would try to steal the entire rope from you. I let out a sigh as slid of Raijin in front of a massive tent that bore the emblem of the house of Van Rost but as I was about to enter I noticed all eye were on me, in particular twenty five eyes which had a particularly covetous nature to them.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked the group of twenty five mages that were staring at me from across the clearing that housed my personal tent. They were the mages that I was currently nurturing in my mages tower, three were spies from other houses, five had been approached by various clans for them to leak information of the training methods I used for the mages, and one had started initiating talks among the younger elves to band together and abandon the mages tower to form an independent group with him as the leader, all in all a hot mess.


    ¡°Forgive us my lord we shocked by the sight of the spell none of us had seen or heard of before¡± the spy from Van Malrin an elfish noble house from the main land stepped forward and spoke for the group while bowing, her name did not readily come to mind and to be honest I didn¡¯t really care however on glancing back I realized I had two massive snakes made entirely of fire were hovering behind me, lazily coiling through the air and sometimes flicking out a flame tongue to seemingly taste the air. The part I had not missed however was the accusatory tone the spy had taken with her statement, as if every single spell in my arsenal should immediately be accessible to them just because they decided to cultivate under the protection of my tower.


    ¡°*sigh* Seriously you fucking elves, and so what if I know spells that you do not, will you require me to hand over my cultivation techniques next or how about unrestrained access to the house of Van Rost archives, will that satisfy you?¡±, I was perfectly aware that my heated response was disproportionate to the statement of the female spy before me but I was having a really bad day and she just so happened to have made herself an easy target.


    Three sets of eyes, two artificial and one organic swung to face the lone elf mage standing in front of the group from the tower, the fire snakes behind me let out a bone chilling hiss as they went into a tight coil an began to rattle their tails in warning. Raijin beside me let loose a piercing growl beside me and  a beastly aura raged out from him engulfing the poor elf spy.


    So there we were, me taking out my frustration on a partially innocent elf when I heard the thundering of hooves coming in my direction, as we all waited for the rider to come into view, the terrified elf still firmly in the view of Raijin and the fire snakes, Felina burst round the corner of a tent, handling the horse with surprising skill, what gave me pause however was the look of fury on her face.


    ¡°My lord I have just received news from Town Rost¡± she proclaimed as she leapt of the horse and slid into the elfish formal salute in one motion, I gestured for her to continue while applauding the particularly difficult stunt internally. ¡°Lord Glander has gone to interrupt Lady Lamlen¡¯s engagement ceremony and demand she be married to him¡±.


    This was problematic but it did not give cause for the amount of anger Felina was clearly displaying. Glander upon reaching the location of the celebration would be given a trashing and sent back that would be that, to kill him would be tantamount to declaring war between the two houses, a situation that the capital would not stand for, the reason Felina was furious must be linked to something else.


    ¡°He took one of the house emblems and left as your representative to the event my lord¡± Felina said and an explosion went off in my head. Him going and getting trashed was well and okay, even favorable to me as it would cause the branch family to lose face, but if he was my representative it would not be Glander taken a beating it would be me.


    ¡°Oh come on!¡±


    ===============================


    Author: this chapter was difficult to write because i was trying to apply all the sound advice you guys gave me all at once, i think that threw me off my non existent game.


    I have decided to slowly incorporate all the new pointers i got from my helpful readers over a long period of time, with that said i am already five pages into the next chapter and i believe it would be significantly better that this one writing wise.


    Please bear with me as i develop.

 Book 1 Chapter 7 : Trampled Pride

    The house of Van Rost had four official emblems three of which were recognized by the crown, the first emblem was the hideous ring I currently had on my left forefinger, it was always on the head of the house at all times, given it away was tantamount to given away leadership of the house and it was enchanted so that only if it was willingly given away could it be worn by another.


    The second official emblem was a badge usually given to the elf in charge of running the daily affairs of the house; this gave him the capacity to make critical decisions in the absence of the lord of the house. This was the emblem I usually gave to Galfin or Felina.


    The third emblem had vanished along with the previous house leader, but the fourth was meant to be given to Mablung as soon as he rose to the level of a great knight which was one step below the level of a sword saint, the very same emblem that was currently in the hands of Glander who was riding furiously south to the Van Flotina territory.


    I immediately instructed Felina to inform captains Erna and Tlerist that they were in charge of the liberation of the town till I returned, before changing into a black sleeveless leather cuirass, a pair of black trousers with leather leg guards, the finishing touches were steel plated boots and gauntlets of my very own design.


    After the fight with my grandfather Rumil, I had lamented about how badly my enchanted gauntlets had done against the assault of his battle essence, my enchanting work being of the highest order in my biased opinion I felt the fault lay solely in the shoddy workmanship of the gauntlets used. I had searched through auction houses and weapons shops across my territory to find a suitable replacement when I had stumbled across the current pair of boots and gauntlets I currently wore in my private armory.


    The boots and gauntlets had been gifted to me during the feast celebrating me been acknowledged by the crown as head of house Van Rost. They were exquisitely crafted and proudly bore the mark of their creator, a green hammer with a purple ribbon wrapped around the handle. The fact that their creator had placed their sign on it allowed me to track their origin to a smith who lived within the capital territory, one letter to mother later and I had secured an order of a pair of boots and gauntlets as well as two swords.


    Now that a suitable base material had been found, it was left to me to enchant the shit out it. Compared to the rush job that I did with Leander¡¯s glasses or even more shoddy work I displayed with the gauntlets I made while rushing to intercept Rumil¡¯s soldiers as they carried the stolen scrolls, this one in comparison was a work of art. I spent three months infusing the steel with pure magical energy, and using moonlight as a catalyst, engraved sixty four Runes into the gloves and ninety seven into the boots, in summary this baby could dish it out and could take it as well.


    I sprinted along the forest path at a frightening speed as I raced towards the border, each step propelling me up to thirty meters forward at a time as I circulated my magical energy through the required pathways for lightning fall stage four. My top speed was actually lightning fall stage six but running at those speeds over an extended period of time would leave me completely exhausted and at the mercy of any riff raff who happened to stumble across me.


    It was day three of my sprint across the southern territories; I had decided to take the journey alone for two reasons. One Galfin and Mablung had wisely sent a squad of a hundred elves to the Van Flotina territory, there purpose was to detain Glander if they could but if it was too late they were to obtain the house emblem and abandon the little twerp. They would provide security for me once I met up with them.


    The second reason was that the full extent of my strength was known to no one, even mother who had the best idea what I was capable of wasn¡¯t aware of some of my darker abilities, after all no one wanted their mother to think them a monster. So if the slightly talented lord who was a mage of unknown strength began to sprint at speed that exceeded the capabilities of anyone ranked below a sword saint, I am sure more than a few eyebrows would be raised in question.


    As I vaulted across a river I felt a slight pulse and instantly came to a halt, normally I would have ignored it because pulses both of the magical and battle kind occur naturally in nature, but this was the sixth one I felt today, and I was miles from the location of the places I felt each of the previous ones, it seemed I was being hunted.


    With a grunt I moved, sending more energy into the magical pathways of my legs to increase my speed into lightning fall stage five and shot of deeper into the forest. If it was a group of bandits with a quack mage who happened to be in possession of a detection spell I didn¡¯t have time for that, but just to be safe I decided to put some distance between us.


    As the sun began to descend and I was starting to feel the early onset of fatigue another pulse swept across the terrain, this one three times as strong indicating that they were three time as close to me as the last time I felt a pulse. This isn¡¯t good, the only ones who should be able to keep up with are those at the level of the elf saint and there were no elf saints in the service of the house. As this thought crossed my mind I circulated even more energy into the magical pathways in my lower extremities taking me to my maximum speed, but instead of heading even deeper into the forest I began to search for a place I could easily defend, the folly of travelling alone was suddenly becoming more apparent to me.


    I came to a halt in a clearing, my sudden arrival sending the deer that were grazing scattering in all directions. I immediately began invoking runes and preparing multiple spells for the upcoming confrontation, imbuing my will into the earth and directing the wind as I wished I soon had six greater Runes in place and was rapidly completing the process for three more.


    I sent a pulse out with me at the epicenter, paying close attention I counted three disturbances in my magical pulse quickly heading towards me, however what put me on guard was not their speed but the depth of their aura, they were all at grandfather¡¯s level, their auras were at the level of a general.


    My heart quickened, I had not deceived myself to believe my victory over Rumil was of my own doing, he did not have his enchanted blade with him and was only lightly armored, even the sword he had used had been one meant for ceremony and not for battle, there was no doubt in my mind that if Rumil had even been partially ready for me a year ago, I would be either dead or locked away somewhere no longer a thorn in his side. Now I had three of the same caliber of warriors racing towards me, with no support in sight. It seemed the second war minister¡¯s response to my slight had finally arrived.


    I firmed my resolve and quickened my chants and invocation completing the three runes and preparing a plan b just in case. Finally everything was settled and I waited patiently for them to catch up. the irony of the situation did not escape me, here I was in the very same situation that I swore to myself I would never allow, in the middle of the forest, alone with hostile individuals racing towards me.


    As I reminisced about the errors of my ways, four individuals stepped out of the tree line surrounding the clearing. I was surprised that I had not sensed the fourth individual but on examination I could tell why.


    The elf who I had been unable to sense was a male with a closely shaved head, his eyes were sunken and his cheeks were hollow, he looked like a horse who had been run ragged, from the minuscule amount of magical energy I could feel coming of him, I could safely guess he was the mage whose magical pulse I had been sensing, most likely his companions had him working overtime to pinpoint my location while they physically carried him, explaining his diminished state and the fact that a mage could keep up with me.


    My gaze swung to the three other individuals that made up the party, they each wore a full set of elfish armor, one green, one red and one a deep purple with dark lines running around it.


    A gentle breeze blew through the clearing as we stared at each other. I remained silent because I did not see the point in speaking, they could not lie and say they were here by accident, because I had changed speeds twice and directions once and they had still determinedly chased me.


    ¡°Greetings Tal Van Rost of the house of Van Rost, we have heard much about you¡±. Pretending to be courteous after waylaying somebody doesn¡¯t make you a better person I thought to myself as the one in green finally broke the silence.


    I did not reply and continued to simply stare, every second I could get before the fight started increase my odds by leaps and bounds. The magical energy I used to weave the greater Runes were all but restored, my spells were slowly accumulating power, and plan b was coming along nicely, if they continued to try and dialogue with me I would probably have a plan c and d by the time they decide to strike, the only person who might have been able to detect my traps was currently on his hand and knees desperately trying to restore his magical energy.


    As we all stood in our respective positions, the warriors in red and purple armor head constantly swiveled about as if searching for something, it was obvious that they did not believe a mage of my perceived caliber would be able to move at the speed at which I was moving in.


    ¡°where is the one that supports you, the one that has been teaching you fighting techniques¡± the simple statement from the purple armored individual was not as eloquent as that of his green clad companion but it allowed me to understand the mentality of my enemy over the last year.


    The question Rumil had asked me in passing seemed to have been given life and fostered. Before the fight between Rumil and I in the great hall he had demanded to know who my master was, after all to him I had gotten stronger with far too little effort leading to the thought that I was been tutored from the shadow by a mysterious individual.


    A smile graced my lips as I remained silent letting the questions go un-answered, the more they feared me or the individual they perceived behind me the more wiggle room I had.


    Seeing the smirk on my face, the demeanor of my armored stalker instantly became more hostile.


    ¡°Enough, grab the child and let us be on our way, he will either brake in interrogation or the one who supports him will show their hand¡± red said and instantly he flashed forward towards me his hand stretched forward to seize me.


    The moment he stepped forward I invoke the first of my nine greater Runes, the Rune of fire.  With me at its center a pillar of blue fire shot into the air surrounding me and obscuring me from sight, I crouched down and swept to pebbles


    into my hand bringing them to my lips and whispering a simple incantation before letting one fall.


    ¡°You cannot hide forever little one¡± a voice drifted from the outside of my fire wall and one side began to bulge inwards as they attempted to breach it.


    I waited patiently within the circle of flames circulating my magical energy within my pathways calmly. My eyes flashed around observing everything that I could, creating contingency plan and counter measures until finally a green gauntlet breached the fire wall and an arm followed, I struck instantly.


    Leaping into the air above the intruder I descended as light as a feather and invoked my personally created battle magic, Ten Ton Step. Using the pull of Arethama¡¯s gravity as a catalyst and earth magic to amplify the effect my weight was multiplied many times over and my simple step was turned into a deadly blunt weapon.


    I descended on my assailant like a judgment from heaven, making contact as their head breached the fire wall smashing it into the ground, a tremor shook the surrounding area as the ground yielded to the power of my attack but to my surprise the helmet did not cave in, I silently praised the prowess of the maker of this armor.


    As I prepared to repeat the attack with my other foot, the tip of a clay-more ripped through the fire wall and pierced towards me forcing me to flip backwards as the warrior in red armor stepped through the flames through the opening he had cut for himself, but I had not stayed stationary after my retreat, I fled at high speed out of the fire circle and with a thought it violently exploded with the two warriors within it.


    ¡°You are a vicious little shit aren¡¯t you¡± the Purple armored warrior, who had so far stayed out of the skirmish stated as he raced towards me broad sword in both hands.


    ¡°That would be lord shit to you¡± I spoke for the first time thrusting forward and launching a fire attack in the shape of a palm at him.


    With a simple swipe he cut the attack to bits then using his second sword launched a sword strike in my direction.


    A translucent crescent shaped energy shot towards me, a whistling sound following it as it sliced through the air towards me, I swayed to the left leaning back on the heel of my feet and like a figure skater skating backwards I quickly retreated in an S shaped pattern.


    Even as I fled I brought my gauntlet encased hand in front of me and my fingers began to rapidly form hand seals.


    Hand seals were the sign language of arcane magic, with every Rune having a corresponding hand seal it was quicker than casting the actual rune itself but only applied to lesser runes and with half its power.


    As my seal work completed itself, fifty balls of fire burst into existence around me and shot towards the purple armored warrior slamming into him one after the other, even though his enchanted armor protected him from all of the damage the bright balls of fire served its purpose, to temporary blind him.


    I stepped forward, instantly cutting the distance between me and the purple warrior in an instant, with a flick of my wrist a five inch hidden blade appeared in my hands and I thrust it towards the space between his shoulder and neck, but even as I internally rejoiced I felt danger approach from my left, I immediately withdrew my hand and rapidly retreated as a bolt of lightning pierced through the area I was a moment ago.


    Both myself and the purple warrior¡¯s gaze swung to the origin of the lightning spell, the previously exhausted mage had rapidly recovered his expended energy at a rate that left even me impressed and had decided to join the fray, why I was surprised that the second war minister had talented mages in his employ was somewhat foolish after all he was the minister in charge of magic.


    ¡°The fire wall Rune, a hidden battle skill and high proficiency in hand seals. It is as we suspected he should have a hidden backer¡±.


    Casting a glance over to the area my exploding fire wall had decimated, the red armored warrior stepped through the bellowing smoke that engulfed that area looking for better or worse unharmed, emerging beside him was the warrior clad in green, his story however was a different one.


    Either because he was knocked unconscious by my vicious blow to the head or he was too enraged to the threat that an exploding pillar of fire would do to him, the green warrior had not been able to defend against the explosion in time and it showed.


    His armor was undamaged but from the gaps between his joints and neck area thin streams of blood trailed down to the ground, he held his helmeted head with his left hand and a long thin elfish blade in his right, killing intent came of him in waves and his eyes were firmly fixed on me.


    ¡°YOU ARROGANT BRAT, I WILL CUT OF YOUR ARMS THEN YOUR LEGS, I WILL SEAR THE WOUNDS CLOSE TO PRESERVE YOUR LIFE THEN FLAY THE SKIN FROM YOUR BODY BIT BY BIT WHILE FORCING YOU TO EAT EVERY LAST PIECE!¡± he bellowed at me, then shot forward like a bullet.


    I barely had enough time to guard against the attack but it proved futile as his kick connected firmly with the left side of my torso shattering my ribs and flinging me into the air and into a massive tree. I bounced of the tree surface slamming into the ground where I immediately forced myself to go into a roll even though all I wanted to do right there and then was curl into a ball and cry.


    An instant after I rolled away from that spot, a blade pieced through sinking into the ground till it reached its hilt, I kept on rolling till before leaping to my feet and racing into the forest shamelessly retreating.


    ¡°Now, now, we need him alive to answer questions¡± a voice echoed out directly to my left and I glanced over to see the elf in the purple armor sprinting alongside me easily keeping pace.


    ¡°screw that he only needs a head and a body to answer questions, the rest is mine¡± another voice this time filled with hate echoed out directly behind me, instinctively I ducked and a blade whistled through where my head used to be. I leapt from squatting position catapulting myself into the tree tops where I leapt from branch to branch sprinting through the forest canopy.


    ¡°If you claim he needs his head why are you trying to behead him¡± the third armored warrior asked as the flat side of a clay-more swung down towards me. I lifted my arms in a cross guard as the attack approached, but my shattered ribs made my left hand a step slow ruining the effectiveness of my block, the blow sent me crashing back down to the forest floor.


    As my body raced to the ground and enemies closed in on all sides, I cast aside any hope of keeping my strength hidden. It had taken the element of surprise against an unprepared Rumil for me to claim victory, but against even one of these generals it would take all my strength to keep my life, but with the three of them working in concert standing my ground was proving immensely difficulty.


    With a twirl of my waist I landed hand first on the ground immediately channeling magical energy into it to resonate with the earth, numerous spikes, eight inches thick and five feet long shot out of the ground racing to meet red and green, with barely a though they bated the missiles away but that was to be expected, after all that was merely a stalling tactic.


    As soon as my magical energy completely synchronized with the earth beneath me, I flung myself backwards allowing my three assailants to continue pursuing me, however the moment they crossed over the patch of land that I had synchronized with, the earth literally opened its jaws and swallowed them whole.


    Without as much as a moment to be proud of myself I turned and raced back towards the clearing. The seventh tier spell earth beast entrapment was a restraining spell with no offensive capabilities; it was yet another stalling tactic to buy me enough time to home in on my true target.


    I burst back into the clearing, much to the shock of its only inhabitant, the three armored assailants supporting mage. Even thought I had up to eight greater runes hidden all over the forest clearing, it would take only a word of warning from this mage to give the three armored indiiduals sufficient time to evade any attack I throw at them, so the most dangerous person to me wasn¡¯t the three powerful general level opponents  seeking to dismember me but this magician who could destroy all my well laid plans.


    Gritting my teeth against the pain of my shifting ribs, I rotated all the energy in my body pushing me all the way up to lightning fall step 6 and shot towards my target. The terrified mage hastily chanted a lightning spell but a well placed fire ball forced him to defend himself instead of attack me and I rapidly closed the distance between us.


    With a flick of my wrists two hidden blades fell into my hands and coating them with magical energy I struck, one for the head and one for the heart. A look of regret flashed across the nameless magicians face as blood trailed down his face and chest before his body slumped over lifelessly.


    As my heart surged with joy, an impending sense of doom raced up my spine and I hastily tried to retreat   but this time I wasn¡¯t quick enough.


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    A hand slammed against my throat crushing my wind pipe and wrapping around my neck like a metal vice. My lungs which where halfway through inhaling at the time suddenly was unable to draw in air, as horror gripped my heart my eyes wrested on the elf general encased in green who had dirt falling of him.


    ¡°So the little lord can use earth as well, it seems we severely underestimated him¡± a voice sounded out to my left, unable to turn my head on my own accord I could only guess it was the ever calm red clad elf.


    ¡°If the others ever find out the amount of trouble this little shit put us through we will never here the end of it¡± the last of the three voices said indicating all three generals had easily escaped my trap.


    As I was dangled above the ground by my neck, my most prominent emission wasn¡¯t pain from my broken ribs or crushed vocal cords, or horror that I was at the mercy of three individual one of which wanted to turn me into a quadriplegic, no my most prominent emotion was relief.


    Back on earth it was so commonly used in movies that it was given a title, the monologing.  The hero is finally at the mercy of the villain and instead of putting a bullet between the eyes of the man who had been a thorn in your side for the last two hours the villain decides to gloat over the fact he has caught the hero, giving him just enough time to cause a distraction leading to his escape.


    With a though I released a stream of magical energy into my gauntlets causing three Runes on each glove to burst into a blazing flash of light, my captures reaction was a natural reflex, he instantly brought his free hand forward to protect his face fearing it was a spell, and in that moment he loosened his grip slightly on my neck and I struck.


    My metal gauntlets, apart from being enchanted to the hilt also housed six hidden knives, three in each glove. The first one had been destroyed in my failed attempt to assassinate the purple  armored knight, the second and third one were still firmly lodged in the head and heart of the enemy mage, now the fourth blade plunged through the gaps in the visor of the blue knight and into his left eye.


    ¡°AAHHH, YOU BASTARD!¡±


    The second his hand loosened slightly, I yanked myself free and rapidly retreated, simultaneously invoking three of the eight remaining greater runes I had laid down earlier at the same time my last two hidden knives fell into my hands, and I flung one into the ground while the second pierced directly into my throat.


    For the last minute and a half I was the captive of the blue armored elf with my wind pipe crushed, I had been unable to breathe. The edges of my vision had begun to dim and my thoughts had become sluggish, so the instant I broke free only one thought was prevalent in my mind, clear my airways.


    The second the blade pieced through my trachea I inhaled deeply, though it was a bit weird not breathing through my face my lungs didn¡¯t complain about where the air passed through to get to it.


    All this happened in an instant, but still to experts an instant was enough time to exchange ten blows each of them potentially life ending, the red and purple armored elves did not take advantage of this however, not because of their sudden feelings of compassion towards me, but because of the rapidly darkening skies and the increasing fury of the winds surrounding us, two of the three runes had begun to manifest themselves and I could finally begin to counter attack.


    Boiling fury rolled through my veins as I channeled magical energy into the three spells currently manifesting themselves, all my inadequacies had been laid bare as I had been chased round the forest like a vagrant, I had six broken ribs, a crushed wind pipe and bruises all over my body and all I had managed to inflict on my opponents was one blinded eye, I had grown complacent in luxury and that was going to change.


    I lifted my left hand into the sky then clenched my fists and instantly the dark clouds that had been gathering above began to spiral, picking up speed the air soon became turbulent as the wind in the surrounding area soon began to be affected by the spiraling clouds.


    My right hand pointed down to the earth and instantly the ground began to tremor and fragment, pieces of rock and dirt of various sizes began to protrude from the ground before taking the form of spikes, twenty seven feet in height and eight feet in diameter.


    After all this time, it was at this point that the three armored elves finally turned serious.  When I had fled through the forest they had been confident of catching me, when I had killed their supporting mage they had simply scoffed after all to general level combatants acknowledged by the crown what was a single mage but an existence they could cut down at any time. But now in the face of the looming destruction I had conjured they unrestrainedly released their battle essence but it was far too late.


    The tier ten spell from the wind school Tempest Descent and the tier ten spell from the earth school Field of Thorns when cast simultaneously was quite deadly even against those with the title of general, but against two of them it was only problematic and against three merely a hindrance, but the story completely changed when the two spells were fused.


    Even as my three opponents flung themselves at me, my left hand descended and my right hand rose until the heel of both palms touched, and the world shook.


    An earthquake of immense proportion seized the clearing and the clouds that had been spinning furiously in the sky suddenly descended in a funnel shape smashing into the ground and separating me from the rapidly approaching armored elves.


    As the earth continued to tremble, the massive spikes that littered the clearing began to come loose from the ground and were swept by the wind, rising steadily into the sky. I lifted my right foot and stamped firmly into the earth beneath me forming a platform made of earth which slowly started rising as well.


    Even though I could not speak my cold gaze said it all, ¡®if you dare come and face me¡¯, and like lambs sprinting towards the slaughter they charged through the twister and rushed at me.


    ¡°*hmm*, No matter how you posture you are but a child before us¡± the purple armored elf proudly proclaimed before all three of them sprung forward, and leaping from one floating piece of rock to the other, they rapidly approached me.


    The very second there feet left the ground I removed all restraint I had on the fused spell and let nature take its course, and like a religious fanatic condemning a sinner the elements responded vigorously to its newly gained freedom.


    The already destructive wind became apocalyptic as even the great and majestic trees at the edge of the forest clearing were ripped up by their roots and sucked into the ever increasing vortex that was the storm.


    the rock spikes now joined by the massive trees, served as a deadly grinder, smashing into each other and careening of at new more complex angles making every second within the storm a hundred times more dangerous than the last, and in the middle of it all I stood on my piece of earth unbothered and silently watching as I unleashed the third greater Rune.


    Blue flames began to consume the wind tunnel both from the bottom and the top, rapidly progressing until a twister composed of fire wind and debris took up the majority of the forest clearing.


    I had watched a documentary back on earth about naturally occurring flame tornadoes and the images I had seen inspired this technique and even though the flame twister stood three skyscrapers high I had named it LITTLE DEVIL.


    One of the armored elf finally reached me, swinging his blade straight to my head, but I was not worried anymore, they had given me far too much time to prepare and prepare I had.


    With a thought I reduced my hold on the earth platforms hovering within the twister and they also began to spin within the flame twister joining the trees and other loose debris within it.


    I leapt slightly into the air and instantly the windswept me away from my approaching assailant, angling myself towards an approaching platform I touched down briefly before taking off again towards a higher platform leaving my three assailants no choice but to chase me.


    I rose higher and higher, leaping from platform within the flame encased twister, and the armored elves gave chase occasionally sending out battle essence from their swords in an effort to hinder me, none of them aware that the rock platforms had begun to spin even faster than the twister should propel them to.


    *CRUNCH*


    A sickening sound rang out from behind me and with and evil smile I turned to look. The green armored elf who had been the most eager to chase me down had let down his guard and leapt after me, only to be intercepted halfway by one of the earthen platforms, in this brief battle between nature and elf, nature had clearly come out victorious. The impact of the collision sent the stunned elf careening through the air where he discovered the second danger of the little devil entrapment.


    The twister¡¯s outward rotation of gale force wind seized upon the air borne elf, with my encouragement of course, and sent him straight into the blue flamed wall which promptly exploded as soon as his armor came in contact with it. The explosion sent the dazed elf back into the path of oncoming debris and after getting smashed about for a bit his battered form landed heavily on a floating earth platform.


    The entire incident had frozen the other two armored elves and I where we stood, before we slowly turned to face each other, a condescending smile on my face. Even though I could not verbally gloat because of my crushed wind pipe the smile was enough for me, I turned and continued my upward journey to the only earthen platform that remained stagnant in the eye of the twister.


    On finally reaching my destination, I turned to survey the havoc I had wrecked on the previously pristine forest clearing. The dark clouds loomed over head and the tree tops were bathed in a sinister blue light as the pillar of wind and flame stood touching the sky and I stood on top of it all.


    I let out a sigh as even the stolen moment of pride and arrogance had to be short lived, gazing downwards I noticed the remaining two armored individuals had abandoned their attempts of chasing me down and were now focused on reducing the amount of debris been flung around within the twister, they were already adapting to the situation.


    This would have been the optimum time to escape, the green armored elf was barely conscious, still having difficulty staggering to his feet, while the purple and red armored elves were busy shattering  any platform or tree that came within their range. In this confusion no one had eyes on me and escaping would only take some effort, but this was also the optimum time to strike and I had already separated one from the herd.


    I flung myself of the safety of my perch, and like a falcon I shot towards the blue armored elf. The rune on my gauntlets and metal plated boots were the only warning he received as my fist came into contact with his helmet. I forced the runes on the gauntlet in contact with his helmet to vibrate wildly similarly affecting the protective rune on his helmet thus directly transferring damage to his head.


    The force of the blow caused my opponent to stagger while the direct shock to his head made his feet unsteady, I pressed my advantage but the technique I had used to bypass his defensive Runes had a cost. Even as I stepped forward to follow up the attack, I felt my left gauntlet grow heavy as all the runes I had painstakingly engraved into it over three months faded away. Forcing the runes to vibrate like that had warped the metal, making the foundation of the enchantment unstable and causing the enchantment itself to fall apart.


    Ignoring the extra weight my left leg shot forward in a low sweep smashing into his unbalanced feet and lifting him clear of the ground, and with a slight shove my air borne opponent was sent towards the flame walls once more.


    ¡°Vaklein!¡±


    ¡°Vaklein!¡±


    Two voices tinged with worry rang out from above me as they watched their companion heading towards danger once more, but it was already too late to intervene and I was far from done.


    I watched with satisfaction as the one called Vaklein smashed into the wall once more and instantly it exploded again, sending his body spinning back into the twister. With my eyes firmly fixed on the green armored elf, I calculated his path of trajectory and once I confirmed where he was going to be I took a running start of the platform and sailed to intercept him mid air.


    ¡°STAY YOUR HAND!¡±, a furious voice roared from behind me, but I gave it no notice as I shot through the air towards the defenseless elf, where was the compassion when they chased me through the forest loudly discussing how they would dismember me before taking me prisoner, no, the time to stay one hand had long past.


    I smashed into the green armored elf and  instantly began maneuvering for my final move I grasped his left and right leg in my corresponding hands while placing both of my feet on the helmet of my opponent and then finally I initiated my ten ton step technique, the effects was instant.


    We immediately began sinking as the force of the winds could no longer sustain our weight, as we picked up momentum the air resistance had less and less of an effect, soon we were hurtling towards the ground with the speed of a falling star and positioned in such a way for my new friend Vaklein to receive the brunt of it all.


    As we finally approached the forest floor, I bent my knees and shoved downwards viciously pounding my opponents head into the ground. A mighty rumble echoed out as the ground gave way and a shock wave radiated outwards only contained by the flame walls around us.


    As I executed this technique pain shot through my legs but I gritted my teeth and endured keeping my legs firm and driving my opponent even deeper into the ground.


    Suddenly bright lights shone from the helmet beneath my feet as defensive Rune emerged, they flickered in intensity as they struggled to negate the damage it was receiving from the attack before the sound of shattering glass echoed out and the runes burst into tiny particles of light and faded out of existence.


    Even after been dropped from such a high point while weighted down with ten tons, the helmet of the armor had not deformed. I stared in shock at the unconscious elf beneath me, what exactly was the armor made from and where could I get it.


    No matter, with the enchantment gone, even though the helmet could withstand my physical attacks there was nothing protecting the wearer from the impact itself, his brain would be like an egg in a jar, all I needed to do was shake it a little and it would crumble.


    I lifted my foot once more and activated the ten ton step technique, but just as I was about to thrust it downwards one more, my unconscious victim¡¯s body was suddenly jerked away.


    As his body flew past me I reacted instinctively, reaching out and latching on to the closest part of the fleeing armored individual which so happened to be the recently damaged helmet. Whether it was because the elf within was unconscious or the enchantment on the helmet had been destroyed I do not know but in an almost comical manner the helmet simply popped of his head staying in my hand and the rest of the elf shot through the air and landed in the arms of the red armored elf.


    It was a steel wire, I thought to myself as I replayed the scene of the theft of my would be victim from right under my feet, literally. The red armored elf was dangerous and it seems they were about to get serious indicating my cue to exit.


    With a mocking bow I activated the fifth greater Rune I had laid in place in the little clearing, after all what I had planned next would put even my life as the caster in danger. The very ground underneath me suddenly gaped open beneath my feet.


    As gravity began to take its course and I fell through, my remaining two opponents flung themselves at me in an attempt to hinder my escape. At this point if my ability to speak wasn¡¯t impaired by my crushed larynx I would have said something witty, but simply pointing at the collapsing wall of fire behind them would have to suffice as the hole I fell through sealed itself off after me.


    As I continued to fall through the darkness a massive explosion rang out above me and the earth which had been repacking itself as I fell through shook fiercely forcing me to increase the magical energy in the rune I had set for it. I had the spell little devil to become unbalanced the minute I relinquished control of it causing it to fold in on itself but that was just the tip of the iceberg.


    The entire spells structure, which was by itself was ready to explode at the drop of a hat, was a mixture missing one ingredient, an ingredient that was contained in the hilt of all my hidden knives which currently littered the clearing above.


    Lapis, a substance that could be refined from the core of fire based magical beasts and was normally used as an accelerant in the ignition of siege torches and campfire but had a particularly vicious reaction to my blue flames.


    I had rigged the hilt of the hidden knives to release this substance once I recalled the runes on their base,  the only problem is me getting far enough away to not get caught in the explosion, hence my descent into the abyss of the earth.


    I come to a stop in a dark damp cave, as I fell through the ceiling of said cave I released over twenty orbs of light to light up the dark corners of the cave and once I was sure that I was the most sentient and also most dangerous being present I finally let my guard down.


    Collapsing unto the ground, I quickly began to rotate my magical energy through all my pathways rapidly increasing my healing factor especially around my collapsed throat, the sooner I could chant magic spells the more reassured I would feel.


    =============================================================================


    For two days I sat inside the underground cave recovering from my injuries. Two broken ribs and six fractured ones, three shattered finger bones, a crushed wind pipe and overall bruising that left me more black and purple than my original lily white skin, I was beginning to miss the chocolate skin tone I had in my previous life.


    In the two days I had felt two different parties scan for my presence, one had been merely six hours after the end of the confrontation between me and the three armored elves while the other had been a day and a half after.


    In this period of time along with barely healing most of my injuries and restoring my heavily taxed magic wells I had nothing to do but soothe my bruised ego at the embarrassing beat down I had been subjected to.


    I had recently began to gain confidence in my prowess especially after my fight with Rumil, so much so that I had begun to think that even if Shikubu and his fellow monstrosities returned I would be able to hold my own or at the very least flee from the scene with my life intact, how foolish of me.


    As soon as the last of my previous broken ribs stopped popping whenever I moved I shot out of the cave, bouncing along the tunnel I had made for my escape till I blasted out of the ground and without looking either way shot of in the direction of the Van Flotina house hold.


    I had hoped to get to the main house of the Van Flotina household well before the engagement ceremony to avoid any embarrassing public displays but the delay would see me there the evening before the grand event, but quite frankly I was in the right mood to bully those weaker than me.

 Book 1 Chapter 8 : A Lords anger

    I let loose a sigh as the herbal bath I was currently soaking in seeped into my pores speeding up my heeling rate and increasing the rate at which my magical wells replenished themselves.


    As I had predicted, it had taken me till evening to reach the main city of the Van Flotina territory, unlike what I had predicted, Hauser had been unable to reach Glander in time not because the spoilt brat had out sped them but because the forces of house Linterg had rode out to meet him.


    Unable to complete their mission, Hauser and his squad had set up camp outside the capital city of the Van Flotina territory, where I had run into them an hour ago.


    But all was not lost, while preparing the medical bath I was currently soaking in I had sent five of my soldiers into the city to procure various things, among them was information on all the generals dead or alive ever acknowledged by the crown, and standing arrogantly on page a hundred and forty seven was the arrogant blue armored Vaklein.


    Apparently the crown acknowledges generals every one thousand years and this procedure was usually overseen exclusively by the first minister, aka the minister of war, with slight supervision from the crown, but a scandalous event had occurred at the last acknowledgment ceremony.


    The scroll on which the names of the individuals been acknowledged by the crown was displayed to the nation not bearing the minister of war¡¯s seal on it but that of the second minister and the crown¡¯s. The second shock wave came when it was seen that instead of the usual four or five names the list contained twelve.


    As the elfin nation was screaming in outrage and whatever passed for a public relations department here were running about with their heads on fire the third shock wave hit, of the twelve names listed three of them were not up to five hundred years old, the circularly approved age at which an elf was considered old enough and wise enough to be a military leader, my grandfather Rumil Tuwele was one of the four names.


    The lotus generals, the name given to the group of generals acknowledged by the crown from that generation were looked down upon from the go. Even though they were given the sigil of a general and technically outranked many superior officers they were neither respected nor obeyed outside their own personal armies, it didn¡¯t help that the minister of war had all but ignored the existence of the lotus generals since their inauguration.


    What did all this mean? All acknowledged generals are issued a set of armor and a weapon of their choice from the personal armory of the crown and this served as an identification of sort for each and every general and balanced on a table in front of the bath tub I was currently soaking in was the blue helmet of Vaklein.


    The elfish societies justice system was based heavily on evidence, and me been in the possession of Vaklein¡¯s helmet was conclusively damming evidence if I ever appeared before the high council to sue for justice against the three generals that attacked me.


    ¡°My lord are you sure it¡¯s not too hot?¡± a young voice fearfully broke my internal gloating and I cast a glance at my new squire, it had not been a voluntary acquisition.


    The male elf youth that stood before me had short brown hair and eyes and average looks by elfish standards, he spoke simply and was painfully shy, not daring to meet the eye of anyone who was speaking to him, his aunt on the other hand was an entirely different tale.


    Brown eyes and hair was where the similarity between the aunt and nephew started and ended, where the nephew was shy the aunt was shrewd and where he was simple she was extraordinarily complex.


    Due to the sudden nature of my departure I had not carried any extra clothing with me not to speak of clothing suitable enough to crash the engagement ceremony of the ruling family of this territory, the job of one of the five soldiers was to get a highly reputable clothes shop to send a selection of clothes and a seamstress to dress me for tomorrows events, the seamstress had taken one look at the situation and like a shark smelt blood in the water.


    In exchange for the best robes in the shop, which by even my pampered eye was of superior quality, and the promise that no other noble would get anything remotely resembling it the seamstress had secured a place in town Rost and firmly embedded her nephew, who was eleven and meant to be learning the tailoring trade, in the position as my serf or what I understood to be a squire.


    I gestured for the towel in the young elf¡¯s hands and exited to tub while simultaneously casting my thoughts to the next day. With one of my house emblems in the hands of a family whose daughter I had publicly insulted almost a year ago, I didn¡¯t have to be present to know that my house emblem would be desecrated, the up side was that they would not be able to resist displaying the slap in the face to their enemies to all the guest that would be present tomorrow, so it was all but guaranteed that my house emblem would be there tomorrow. My current dilemma was how badly I should make them pay for this insult.


    In wartime periods noble houses were not allowed to go to war against each other, that being the case I couldn¡¯t provoke them to the point that they would be forced to sue for justice with the high council but I most retaliate sufficiently enough for it to spread shock waves across the new continent, if not all the way to the capital territory, that all been said, heads had to roll.


    ¡°Has your aunt made preparations?¡± I asked the kid in my tent, as the massacre I was going to enact the next morning would leave everyone even slightly related to me in the Van Flotina naughty least.


    ¡°Father and mother had already started packing when I left and aunt Tolin had already closed down her shop before


    we met them¡± he replied.


    ¡°What is your name?¡± I finally asked, tired of calling the individual before me boy and child. ¡°I am Erthor, son of Elthin and huntress Arndiss¡± Erthor responded sharply, instantly switching to the tone commoners used to address nobles. I frowned; imagining the amount of effort it was going to take me to drum that out of him.


    I waived for him to follow me as I headed deeper into the tent, if it could even be called that, the monstrosity stretched across twenty meters of land and was segmented into three portions one of which contained a massive bed, one of these days I will find out what the elves are compensating for with the ridiculous sizes of their beds.


    ¡°What can you do Erthor?¡± I asked the boy as I sat in front of a spread of food so massive that even cultivators would be shocked but seeing I hadn¡¯t eaten anything descent over the last five days I could be forgiven. as I was about to dig into the meal, a deep and sonorous rumbled echoed through the interior of the silent tent, if Raijin had been present I would have suspected the mana beast but as there were only two people within the tent my eyes came to rest on Erthor who looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.


    ¡°Sit and eat with me¡± I ordered the mortified elf-ling in front of me, but even as he opened his mouth to reject the proposal, his stomach let loose another silence shattering rumble.


    ¡°So what can you do?¡± I asked the kid once again who was now sitting with me in front of the spread of food.


    ¡°Ma said my needle work is okay but aunt Tolin said its rubbish, I once swallowed a rice cake whole and I¡¯m really good with animals¡± the boy said clutching unto the leg of venison I had given him not sure what to do with it even though he had unconsciously begun salivating.


    ¡°How do you know you are good with animals?¡± of the three abilities he mentioned while the first two would seem equally impressive to a child the last one was the only thing that was worth notice.


    ¡°well last year the stable of the inn down the road was filled and they asked aunt Tolin if they could house a nobles manticore in her stable, but they didn¡¯t notice that it had a barb between its claws so I removed it¡± Erthor said finally deciding that me giving him food wasn¡¯t some kind of test and began to dig in while I on the other hand froze with my hand half way to my face and a cold sweat running down my back.


    A manticore while only a three star war mount were widely known for their cruelty, it was extremely hard to tame one and even when tamed where among the few beast who often turned on their handlers in critical moments, so even though they could fly and where highly intelligent most people did not use them as mounts.


    Now the child in front of me was claiming to have gotten close to one and removed a barb from between its toes, how he was still alive was a wonder in itself.


    ¡°I imagined that didn¡¯t go over to well with your family¡± I cautiously stated trying to probe if this was a Child''s flight of fantasy or a true story.


    Erthor¡¯s head snapped up his eyes opened wide in amazement with a look on his face that plainly asked how I knew he had gotten into so much trouble.


    ¡°Ma wouldn¡¯t stop crying for weeks anytime she saw me and father and aunt Tolin took turns tanning my hide that night, they still won¡¯t tell me what I did wrong¡± the boy said a note of offence entering his voice in the last part of his statement. Either this kid was lucky or he had a talent.


    In the elfin community the line between those who could bend magical energies to their will and those who could not was extremely complicated, while all elves had a bit of magical talent, those who could control the elements and summon the arcane where extremely rare, for this to happen a certain amount of magical energy must be innately produced naturally by the body.


    So what happened to those who produced enough magical energy to be abnormal but not enough to be a mage? Well they evolved a talent. It was usually a low level skill that a mage would develop early in their training, but the talent holder would acquire it without much effort and without training. The talent would grow over time with age but the person no matter how strong the talent became would never be able to wield any other kind of magic. Till this point in my elf life I had met only one other talent holder, my mother and her terrifying control over lightning.


    As the kid and I ripped through the pile of food ahead of us the guards stationed in front of my tent announced that I had visitors.


    Hauser and two other soldiers walked in carrying various robes and items, they were the last three of the five soldiers I had sent into the city to scout the situation and acquire various things I felt I would need tomorrow.


    It is as you predicted my lord, our house sigil flies among the guest flags¡± Hauser said as he and the three other soldiers sand to their knees.


    I waved a hand dismissing the salute and indicated for them to display their purchases on the rug of my tent.


    During important elf ceremonies the amount of witnesses one had at the ceremony was very important for the prestige of the individual hosting the occasion, the real icing on the cake however was the level of nobility that one could get to attend, and this did not just add prestige but validity as well.


    So any momentous occasion held by a noble house, would have the sigil of the entire noble houses in attendance, drawn on a white flag, hung from their central masts to show that this particular noble house was in attendance.


    ¡°even though they plan to humiliate us tomorrow morning they still used our house emblem to lend strength to their daughters engagement, truly a shameless house, I approve of their methods¡± I said out loud chuckling to myself, after all I would have done the same thing in their shoes, in for a penny in for a pound.


    This slight however would grant us access into the ceremony, what remained was reacquiring the house sigil and if I had a chance reluctantly saving Glander, the last part I would not put too much effort into.


    ¡°We have procured enough war horses for the entire squad to ride into the Van Flotina city and we intend to send the tents and other implements with the seamstress and a few hired swords back to town Rost¡± Hauser said concluding the report.


    I nodded my head in approval on how he carried out my order and continued inspecting everything in front of me. There would be no room for holding back tomorrow, I would have to be pompous arrogant and generally an all round douche bag, but if I play my cards right I would exit the scuffle with minimal damage to house Van Rost¡¯s reputation.


    The sun rose splendidly into the sky the next day and we could hear the music from the celebration all the way in the clearing which the hundred soldiers and I currently stood, I gazed at my men and couldn¡¯t help but frown as I was reminded for the millionth time just how flamboyant elves were.


    The war horses had all been scrubbed and saddled, each one decorated with silk sashes and ribbons in their tails and manes, the leather on their bridles, saddles and stirrups were glistening in the sun and each of them had the emblem of the house of Van Rost proudly displayed on their chest.


    The soldiers even though not donned in full armor, as most noble armies preferred, wore high quality leather cuirasses, gauntlets, breeches and boots then covered themselves in an open white silk robes like the samurai lords of feudal Japan, the house emblem boldly printed on their left chest.


    ¡°please ensure I am nowhere in the vicinity when you give adviser Galfin the bill for all this¡± I said to Hauser as I mentally performed the calculation of the cost of this little show of force, a ghost of a smile graced Hauser¡¯s before he led me to my war horse whose reigns were in the hands of a nervous Erthor.


    ¡°we march into enemy territory today¡± I began my speech as soon I had settled into the saddle of the black war horse, ¡°be prepared to have to slaughter your way out, do not be deceived by the silk curtains or the ivory tables this is a battle field, obey all others and prepare for the worst¡±.


    My words quickly sobered up the soldiers who seemed to not put enough weigh behind the actions we were about to carry out, for all purpose and intents we were a foreign force marching into enemy territory, our lives were very much at risk.


    I marshaled my horse in the right direction before leaning down and scooping Erthor into the saddle, even thought the eleven year old elf was only five years younger than me, at least in this body, I had been raised on the finest meats and wine while he had sometimes had to go hungry when his family could not make ends meet, my six foot four inch frame dwarfed the child making the physical exertion a simple one.


    As I spurred my horse forward the squad of a hundred fell into rows of five behind me with Hauser on my right side riding slightly behind me and carrying a flag bearing the Van Rost emblem.


    While the white robes of the soldiers glistened in the sun my robes did the opposite, they were black in color made of fine silk and having gold lines that looped and swirled in mysterious shapes and patterns that were profound and yet did not distract from the beauty that was the simplicity of the robes themselves.


    The wide sleeves, collar and hem of the robes were lined with crimson fur and on the back of the robe was a massive emblem of the house of Van Rost, I wore the leather armor I had used to fight Vaklein and his two friends along with the gauntlets, which had cost me a lot of magical energy to enchant to less than ten percent of its previous power, along with the boots.


    As the eyes of the surrounding locals were drawn in by the brilliant whiteness of the robes of my guards they would eventually fall on me who stood out as a single dot of blackness in the sea of white. I inwardly applauded the ingenuity of Erthor¡¯s aunt while keeping a blank face with a slight smirk.


    We rode into the Van Flotina city entrance under the careful watch of the city guard but undisturbed and headed straight for the Villa of the head of the house. As we approached the gates of villa our first obstacle strode towards us with determined steps.


    ¡°HOLD! This is the villa of Lord Twarwen Van Flotina, head of the house of Van Flotina, who goes there?¡± an elf in full armor bearing the emblem of Van Flotina announced as we approached the opened gate.


    ¡°This is Lord Tal Van Rost, Lord of the Van Rost territory¡± Hauser replied, this simple statement caused a ripple of slight confusion to go through the guards stationed at the wall and gates of the Van Flotina villa, they had been aware that a squad of a hundred Van Rost soldiers were stationed outside the border of the Van Flotina city but they did not know that the head of the house was with them.


    ¡°Which one of you is the head of the house of Van Rost?¡± the instant the statement left the guard captains lips all hundred of my house guards unleashed their killing aura. It was a statement with a hidden barb but to overreact to it here was to give an excuse for the guards of the Van Flotina household to bar our way at the gates.


    I urged my horse forward to forestall any hostilities and raise the ring on my hand so that anyone could see.


    I first lifted my gaze to the rampart of the villa where one white flag among many bore the emblem of the house of Van Rost before lowering my gaze back to the guard captain, ¡°I am the head of the House of Van Rost, seeing my house emblem flying above your house I never thought I would not be invited to this joyous occasion¡±.


    slightly surprised that the trading of insults had already begun from the gates of the Van Flotina household I however gamely returned a hidden barb implying the flags flying above the ramparts were a false representation on the guest present, even though frowned upon this was sometimes done among the lower houses.


    The face of the guard captain turned red in fury but with visible effort he reigned in his fury, ¡°forgive this one for any perceived offence Lord Tal Van Rost I will immediately inform Lord Twarwen of your presence¡±.


    I internally applauded the guard captain for his adaptability, since he could not find a reason to block us at the gate he sought to delay us giving his lord more time to prepare for the coming confrontation, but I was not so nice to let such things happen under my nose.


    ¡°That will not be necessary good guard captain, I will simply join the rest of the masses and wish the happy young couple a happy union¡± I said urging my horse forward.


    The guard captain had no choice but to stand aside as me and my hundred house guards rode in and headed towards the sound of music.


    ¡°my lord¡± Hauser¡¯s voice drifted into my ear from my right side as multiple auras locked unto us from various hidden places, ¡°I am aware¡± was my only reply.


    Of all the auras currently examining me the most powerful was at the level of an elfin great Knight, even though the lone individual was not a threat to me I was still surprised by the fact that the house of Van Flotina had managed to obtain a great knight without the capital swooping in to steal them.


    ¡°Hauser¡±, I called lightly over my shoulder at the elf riding beside me, ¡°there are twelve elves at the level of centurions, six at the level of a knight and one great knight at the gathering ahead of us, inform the others and prepare accordingly¡±.


    ¡°Yes Lord Tal¡± Hauser replied immediately and slowly our ranks tightened together as the information made its way to the back of the ranks.


    We came round a curve and the front of the house villa lay before us, it was a chaotic scene as guest were led into the garden were the joyous occasion was being held.


    ¡°Five will stay with the horses, we won¡¯t be staying long¡± I ordered to the soldiers behind me as we all dismounted.


    ¡°Good day esteemed guests, the house of Van Flotina extends its sincerest gratitude in your attending this joyous ¡­..¡± an attendant who had stepped forward at the sight of my group began to greet us when his view landed on the emblem of Van Rost.


    His nostrils flared and pupils shrunk as beads of sweat immediately broke out on his forehead. My heart sunk as I observed all this, for the reaction to my presence to be this profound I knew the desecration of the house sigil wasn¡¯t going to be a lightly brushed aside matter, all thoughts of tempering my actions were flung out the window.


    As one we brushed past the stuttering attendant and headed down the winding garden path until we came upon the clearing filled with flamboyantly dressed elves.


    A gasp escaped from one of the house guards behind me as our eyes came to rest on a bloody Glander, he knelt in a defeated posture in the middle of a clearing in front of the table of honor that seem to have every member of the Van Flotina main branch seated behind it. His left hand was firmly pressed against a vicious wound on his right forearm in an effort to stop the bleeding and his right eye was swollen shut.


    But my eyes had barely glanced over Glander before coming to rest on the firth emblem of the house of Van Rost, the particular sigil was a banner meant to be carried into war by the forces of the house to declare it was the army of house Van Rost were currently marching.


    The rolled up banner was currently lying on the ground in front of the table of honor, on its white cloth visible for all to see where foot prints where the supporters of Van Flotina would have trampled on it while declaring their support for this union.


    I let the smirk on my face become more pronounce as magical energy roared out of my mana wells and flooded the area. The music instantly cut of as the magicians gasped for breath while every soldier reached for their sword and every mage their staffs.


    I could feel every eye in the gathering land on me, some in mockery some in fear, most in anticipation of the juicy events that was about to take place, no doubt no matter the course of the day a titillating tale would be told tomorrow.


    ¡°Greetings honorable head of the Van Flotina territory Lord Tuwele Van Flotina, I am Lord Tal Van Rost current head of the once great house of Van Rost. I must ask for forgiveness for my late arrival to this momentous occasion as I received word of it extremely late¡± I said.


    My opening speech had the entire gathering, including my house guards, reeling in shock. From the way I entered the event to the vast amount of magical energy I was releasing into my surrounding and my very body posture screamed fury and yet the words falling from my lips were that of someone who seemed oblivious to his surroundings.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    When suddenly thrust into a situation where you don¡¯t have all the facts the best thing to do is stall for time, in the time you buy for yourself you could gather more information that might impact your decision going forward.


    I was currently in the middle of the Van Flotina villa, my house emblem had been desecrated and Glander had been publicly humiliated with a public trashing. There were at least two other great houses present apart from Van Flotina and a multitude of lower noble houses all ready and eager to garner favor with the house of Van Flotina so it would be safe to assume every person here was my enemy.


    ¡°I would like to apologies for any offence that my clans man has done in this prestigious event, if you would point out the person that he directly offended on behalf of the clan of Van Rost I would like to bow my head in apology¡± I continued my diversion as I began the long winding journey to bait all present into my trap.


    ¡°Ah young Tal, there is no need for such formality among friends. I am Lord Tuwele Van Flotina, the head of the house of Van Flotina¡± an elf, that was tall even by our races standards, with long green hair that was tied back in a warriors knot, wearing a vibrant red robe with silver engraved platelets on the front, rose to his feet and greeted me.


    ¡°it is merely a case of a youth who had forgotten his place, young Glander blinded by passion came in expressing his love for my daughter but even when we tried to explain that she had been promised to another he would not listen¡± he continued lifting his hands in helplessness with a small smile.


    The little snippet about a ¡®youth who did not know his place, his refusal to call me a lord and his pretended helplessness, each one a barb aimed to tear down any face I might build up with the guest present, but I had gotten my battle scars by wading through the ferocious juggernauts of wall street I would not be humbled by fucking elves.


    ¡°the injuries that you see on Young Glander is because when he refused to leave when he was asked to, the young master of the crimson merchant house grew tired of having his brothers engagement being disturbed so he stepped in and suggested a duel where the loser and his family would leave¡± Tuwele finished stepping slightly to the side indicating another group of people who currently shared the table of honor.


    Suddenly it all became clear, the Tur clan was one of the few success stories in the entirety of the elfish kingdom, their nine hundred year old patriarch had started as a foot soldier in the royal elfin army and worked his way up to a thousand man commander after three hundred years of service when he suddenly retired and after uprooting his entire clan from the capital territory, he resettled in the new lands and established the crimson lotus merchant house. After that he simply disappeared.


    For three hundred years, as the crimson lotus merchant house slowly grew and prospered no one outside the Tur clan set eyes on Fadneth Tur and to many he was already assumed dead that was until an up and coming mercenary clan in an attempt to solidify their reputation tried to forcefully take over the crimson lotus an Fadneth Tur revealed himself.


    The cultivation of battle essence, unlike that of magical energy, dealt with quality and not quantity. As any living thing moved through life it generated energy, either through eating or breathing or any number of situations that energy came into been.


    Early martial artist discovered that certain activities such as the tempering of body with rigorous training, certain mental states of beings and/or breathing exercises increased the rate at which the body produced these energies. This was the point at which the cultivation of magical energy and battle essence separated.


    The more an individual cultivated the more energy their body would produce until it builds up fusing through the entirety  of their being and is finally guided to form a pathway through the entire body, more commonly known as a meridian. Every race had a name or title for each stage of the process but most of Arethama followed the elfish method of cultivation.


    The initiate stage, this was the point at which the body is fully tempered from exercise, meditation or soul wielding and the flesh, bone, muscle and blood has been thoroughly saturated in energy or battle essence.


    The path building stage is the point at which the cultivators compresses all the energy in their body and begins forging their meridians or battle essence pathways. This was to some experts the most important part of the cultivation process as it influenced every other aspect of it, this was also why noble elves started training so young because the meridians not only gathered energy made by the body, they also purify it and convert it to battle essence hence their name.


    The core formation stage was the point where it all started getting tricky. The individual is expected to use the battle essence pathways, or meridians, and generate vast amount of energy, purify it and convert it to battle essence then compress it into a core which could be used as a pump to double the rate at which the individual generates battle essence.


    This was also the lowest requirement for an individual to posses before they were allowed to join the elfish royal army as an elfish foot soldier, the lowest rank in the militia.


    This stage could last anywhere between a hundred and fifty to six hundred years all depending on the amount of cores an individual intended to compress and their inherent talent. The norm was anywhere between six to eleven cores compressed, but the moment a cultivator gathers all the compressed cores and fused them into one they make the leap from the core formation stage to the pillar formation stage.


    The pillar formation stage apart from instantly granting an individual in the royal elfin military the rank of elf guard who depending on the amount of the pillars condensed could rang e from anywhere between a hundred man commander to a thousand man commander, was also the point at which battle techniques could be employed, however the grade of the battle technique relied on the quality of the pillar condensed.


    Like the core formation stage, the pillar formation stage varied from individual to individual depending on their talent and the rate at which they produced energy, an individual could normally condense anywhere from five to nine pillars, but it was at this point that once again, like the cores, the pillars would be fused entering the foundation establishment stage.


    The foundation establishment stage was where the elite of the cultivation world began to emerge. The pillars been fused they would serve as the platform on which a cultivator would rise to greatness. Depending on the quantity and the quality of the battle essence condensed till this point one could go on to form a battle space, or what to me looked like their versions of a dantian.


    On emerging from his seclusion revealed himself to be at the pillar formation stage with three pillars, to put that in perspective the most powerful person in my house was Mablung who was just about to break into the ranks of the great knight by forming his first pillar.


    Fadneth Tur had gone on to decimate the mercenary clan establishing his crimson lotus as an independent power in the new lands but it seemed now his ambitions had grown and he desired to become royalty.


    At the front of the individuals from the Tur clan sat an imposing elf with hair cut close to his scalp in military fashion and simple garments, but his eyes were fierce and him just sitting there doing nothing still managed to emit a certain sense of danger into his surroundings.


    Beside him on each side were two young elves, on his left closer to the house of Van Flotina side was a young elf around the age of ten and on his right and slightly behind him was an older elf around the age of thirty three in his hand was shatter thorn, Glander¡¯s named sword.


    ¡°my sincerest apologies young master of the Tur clan for any inconvenience my cousin might have caused you, I wish your brother and lady Lamlen a happy life¡± I bowed towards the younger of the two deliberately ignoring the obvious visual cues that indicated it was the older brother who had engaged Glander in a duel at the same time sending a barb to the house of Van Flotina for marrying their daughter who was two years older than me to a ten year old.


    Light snickers rippled across the elves observing the entire incident at my apparent mistake, but the more experienced individuals had narrowed their eyes in apprehension as they saw the path my hidden attack would take and knew there was nothing they could do about it, if the older brother did not confess that it was him that fought Glander it would seem they were afraid of the house of Van Rost but if he did it would be a senior admitting to bullying his junior.


    ¡°It was not my younger brother who fought your cousin Lord Tal, it was me. I am Clorphan Tur second child of Fadneth Tur¡± the older elf youth after a pause spoke up stepping forward, in his mind he had nothing to fear doing the honorable things after all this wasn¡¯t the capital where pillar forming stage cultivators were like stones that littered the street, here a person at that stage of cultivation was a power unto themselves. In his mind as long as his father was besides him he had nothing to fear.


    I smirked internally as the naive bastard stepped into my trap, he would become the honey that would bait their entire merchant house into its destruction.


    ¡°Ooh, greetings young master Clorphan Tur, but correct me if I am not mistaken have you not passed your third decade?¡± I asked the seemingly innocent question but I could see Twarwen, the head of the house of Van Flotina, and Fadneth, the head of the crimson lotus merchant house simultaneously wince.


    ¡°yes I have¡± Clorphan replied his face showing he had begun to suspect the trap he had walked into, but it was far too late for him.


    ¡°Where there no other youths of the same generation to force my young cousin to submit that you deemed it fit for you to intervene¡± my first attack of the day was not aimed at the house of Van Flotina but at the crimson lotus house. The simple statement ridiculed all the youths in the same generation as Glander and I and at the same time condemned Clorphan for the duel against an individual half his age.


    ¡°it was not a matter of capable individuals but the fact that the Lord Glander would not leave my brothers engagement ceremony when he was no longer welcome¡± he hastily defended himself but only succeeded in sinking deeper into my trap even giving me more ammunition to use against him.


    ¡°Not welcomed here?¡± I asked in pretend confusion shifting my gaze to the ramparts once again where the symbol of house Van Rost among many of the other guest symbols fluttered in the wind. ¡°I am confused, if he was no longer welcome here why is our flag of welcome still been flown, or did you not receive him as a guest of the main house?¡±


    The follow up combo wiped the complacent smile that had been on lord Twarwen¡¯s face the entire time and caused Fadneth Tur to almost leap to his feet.


    Having a flag of welcome out for any guest was a double edged sword, while it would boost the reputation of the individuals hosting the event it also meant that the guest been invited would find safe refuge as long as they were beneath the roof of the host.


    If Glander had been assaulted while he had been an officially recognized guest of the house of Van Flotina it meant that they had breached their promise of a safe haven to their guest, however if they denied him and said he was not a guest, why was the symbol of the house of Van Rost flying over the villa of Van Flotina.


    Lord Twarwen stepped forward as Clorphan was about to respond and took over the situation smoothly, ¡°young Tal it is not that he was not recognized as an official representative from the house of Van Rost it is that even guest should know the extent that they can stretch the good graces of their hosts¡±.


    This time it was an excuse and a threat, on one hand stating that Glander had been so rambunctious that it had taken a formally offered duel to calm him down and on the other hinting that I was a guest within his territory and I should thread carefully.


    ¡°Lord Twarwen is right indeed, the fault lies with Glander¡± I said amicably and once again the entire audience reeled in shock. Up to this point even the most clueless of the elves present had realized that there was a hidden battle going on among the three leaders before them, what they were shocked about was when it seemed I had both the house of Van Flotina and the crimson lotus merchant house in a disadvantageous position I let up.


    While the spectators let loose a sigh of relief lord Twarwen and Fadneth Tur narrowed their eyes in suspicion, in their experience there was no such thing as a lucky break in situations like this and they were right.


    ¡°Come Glander let us go and get you treated we have outstayed our welcome¡± I said in a gentle voice and tossed my wide sleeve as I turned to leave.


    As I walked away from the table of honor my heart began to sink as I realized that I had played my part to well. Hauser and his fellow house guards had a blank look on their faces as I approached them, this was the part where they were meant to bring up the house emblem and I would ask for it, then seeing its tarnished state I would fly into a fury and kill the one who committed the atrocity, but my house guards in their infinite wisdom felt that since I had sued for peace they didn¡¯t want to disrupt it.


    As I calmly walked back with a benevolent smile on my face, I wept internally as my well laid plans seemed to collapse around me. Then I heard an angel speak the words that would allow me resume my evil schemes while wearing the mantle of a righteous individuals.


    ¡°where is the emblem thingy?¡± a sweet young voice which in normal situation would have gone unheard but in the silence that resulted from the conclusion of the verbal sparring of the three heads of the most powerful groups in the gathering, it rung out like a bell at midnight.


    The evening before Erthor had overheard some guards speaking about the importance of the emblem and had gone on to ask what it was, the guards who were busy breaking down the camp for the next day had told the elf child that he would see it tomorrow in order to avoid answering the barrage of questions that would surely follow. It was true this coincidence that salvation had arrived for me.


    Erthor¡¯s face had a look of pure undiluted fear on his face with his two hands clasped firmly over his mouth, the question that was directed at the guard beside him was meant to be a conversation between two people had been heard by everyone present. Adding to the comedic scene was the fact that every elf in his vicinity had their horror filled eyes strained on the child who had given two of the great noble houses a reason to go to war.


    ¡°Where is the house emblem Glander, if I recall you left Rost town with it?¡± I asked quickly before lord Twarwen could step in and spin the situation and Glander rose spectacularly to the occasion.


    ¡°after Clorphan Tur accused me of being here to disrupt his brothers ceremony he demanded a duel where the looser would leave Lamlen alone, when I lost he ceased my sword and the house emblem¡± Glander replied, making sure to paint the situation in such a way that depicted him as a concerned friend of Lamlen Van Flotina and not a spurned lover, and pointed a finger at the emblem of the house of Van Rost which currently lay on the floor in front of the table of honor.


    I let a furious frown cross my face and turned back to face the lord of the Van Flotina house hold, ¡°am I to believe that under your care a representative of the house of Van Rost was assaulted by an elf more than twice his age had my house emblem seized from his care and then desecrated while he was under your roof?¡±  I asked the lord whose face was beginning to twitch in suppressed anger.


    The very question was a loaded gun; any one of the three accusations in front of the elder council was grounds for a civil war. The fact that they let an ambassador of a house suffer an assault while in their care, the fact that the house emblem a representation of a house had been forcibly seized from said ambassador, or the desecration of said emblem were all grounds for war.


    Normally the house of Van Flotina would not fear going to war against the house of Van Rost after all we had fallen from the once lofty position we once held and were part of the great noble houses in name only but we were at war currently and any war between the noble houses during periods of war was forbidden by the crown and the instigator would be punished severely, in this case that would be Van Flotina.


    Perhaps if the lord of the Van Flotina household knew that I had just gotten into a scuffle with three of the generals that the queen had personally acknowledged he would less worried but since he didn¡¯t have that piece information the lord of the Van Flotina house hold was left with an impending war that would see him facing royal sanctions in the best case scenario.


    ¡°Young Tal, be reasonable, young Clorphan did not intentionally set out to harm Glander he was left little choice¡± Lord Twarwen began in an appeasing tone as he began to step towards me, but at this point in time I had everything I needed.


    Everything had not worked out exactly like I had planned, but I had enough to get the results I desired. Instead of the father Fadneth Tur I had gotten a son but I doubt he would continue to remain passive when his son life is in danger.


    I raised a hand causing Lord Twarwen to halt mid step and began releasing a sliver of my killing aura along with my magical energy. I have been told repeatedly that I had a particularly ferocious killing aura, that wasn¡¯t really a surprise as I had tried to model it after the killing auras of the monsters that dropped my soul into this body.


    As soon as I unleashed my killing aura, the left hands of my ninety five house guards landed on the hilt of their swords while simultaneously releasing their auras besides mine and suddenly there was a hostile force within the house Van Flotina villa.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this Lord Tal!?¡± lord Twarwen spluttered as the scene turned hostile. Behind him Fadneth Tur rose to his feet and the guards at the perimeter of the gathering stepped forward unsheathing their swords.


    I sighed internally as I gazed at the scene before me, they had expected a young lord who didn¡¯t have the backings of the elders of his house to come to the event and blunder through the proceedings while shouting demands and being generally inept. This was probably the last time I would be underestimated, soon the news of my fight with the three generals even though suppressed would be begin to circulate among the upper echelon of the elfish nobility.


    ¡°You tell me Twarwen?¡± I asked calmly finally bearing my hostility for all the world to see, ¡°my ambassador lies bleeding in your presence and my house emblem lays trampled below your feet, it is I who should ask what this all means¡±.


    ¡°I beseech you to be calm Lord Tal let us not put into play plans that cannot be undone¡± Clorphan called out from besides his father and I pounced.


    ¡°the elf who is responsible for the seizing of my emblem and injuring of my dearest cousin is the one pleading for peace, ha-ha, where was this wisdom when you challenged him in a duel, or is this the method of the crimson lotus merchant house, they rob their customers then plead for understanding when caught¡± I asked in a mocking voice, dragging the until then silent head of the merchant house into the fray.


    ¡°Caution Lord Tal, none take slander lightly¡± the former military veteran issued coldly from the spot he stood, refusing to rise to my bait. But it didn¡¯t matter the bait I would use to drag him down from his lofty perch would soon be in my grasp.


    ¡°You may feign ignorance at the events that have occurred former thousand elf commander but your son cannot¡± I spat at him letting ice enter my voice. ¡°I Tal Van Rost formally challenge Clorphan Tur to martial combat for the insults against the house of Van Rost¡±.


    If this crowd were shocked anymore today I think they would just keel over and die, I thought to myself as the spectators were sent reeling in shock for the third time today. I had just given a means of escape to the house of Van Flotina and the crimson lotus merchant.


    There were two common ways for justice to be pursued in the elfin kingdom, the first way which was more popular among the nobility was to sue for justice from the high council, here the status of both parties were weighed along with the evidence gathered and the witnesses present.


    The second method which was more popular among the mercenary houses was a duel. The confronting parties decide on a time and place and they each put forth a representative to fight each other, usually to the death.


    Why everyone was shocked was because in a duel the victor is absolved of all wrong doing, it was a literally manifestation of might is right. If I was defeated or died the Van Flotina clan would have eaten their cake and had it.


    I could almost hear Lord Twarwen¡¯s thought process as I am sure he smelt the trap but the temptation of humiliating the elf who publicly embarrassed his daughter and at the same time absolve himself of any wrong doing was just too strong. As for Fadneth Tur he would not move against a higher noble house unless he had the backing of the house of Van Flotina.


    I watched as Lord Twarwen contemplated the pros and con¡¯s and finally, with a slight nod, gave Fadneth his blessing.


    With a gesture from his father, Clorphan leapt over the table of honor landing in the clearing in front of it, all traces of cordiality gone from his face as he sneered at me, ¡°since the mighty lord Tal has deemed it fit to honor me with a duel who am I to say no¡± he mockingly said as he drew shatter thorn, Glander¡¯s named sword, from its sheath.


    The moment he spoke, given his consent for the duel a great pressure was lifted from my shoulders. Now it was an official duel if anyone was to interfere, say Fadneth Tur to save the life of his son, it would be a direct violation of the agreement leaving the offended party, aka me, the right to kill him.

 Book 1 Chapter 9 : A Red Wedding

    I stepped forward circulating my magical energy in the sequence for lightning fall step two, Clorphan¡¯s mouth was opened to deliver more mockery when I shot across the clearing instantly closing the space between us.


    The shock on his face was understandable, from the information they had gathered about me when they came to witness Glander¡¯s illegal coronation I was a fledgling mage who had just started his journey into the school of fire, I had used no advanced technique or mysterious weapons and every fight I had been in since then had been with general level opponents which had then been suppressed by the crown.


    My left foot flashed upwards, slamming into his chin, the force alone enough to pick the older elf of the ground. As my foot descended I spun on my right leg gathering momentum and driving my right elbow into my opponent who was suspended in mid air.


    As Clorphan¡¯s airborne form shot away from I registered two things in my mind. The first was that he was a core formation stage expert who had condensed his first core, this was probably why Lord Twarwen of the house of Van Flotina and the boy¡¯s father Fadneth Tur, had allowed him to beat up someone from the younger generation in public, it was a display of power to all present, a statement saying not only was the father strong but so was the son.


    Achieving The first core in the core formation stage at his apparent age was slightly above average but my assessment and opinion was biased after all the monster that trained me in all things battle essence was my mother to whom my top twenty five percentile cultivation rate was just ¡®so-so¡¯ to.


    The second thing was that he had not achieved the core forming stage through individual means. His battle aura was unstable and the essence produced by his core wasn¡¯t steady, blocking my strike to his chin had required almost all his concentration and my subsequent elbow to his mid rift had caught him completely unawares. Most likely his cultivation path had been heavily assisted with various pills and potions.


    I increased the rotation of my magical energies along my pathways taking up my speed to lightning fall step three and chased after my suspended opponent, with a leap I caught up to the airborne Clorphan and drove the heel of my foot into his chest smashing him into the ground.


    My second foot rapidly descended to deliver my ten ton step strike, but Clorphan rolled away rapidly, maybe he finally realized that in a duel one had to try to hit back at his opponent.


    A pregnant silence hung over the entire gathering. Kicks, punches and high speed movement, there was no part of this fight that said a mage was currently in battle. I calmly walked over to where Clorphan had dropped Glander¡¯s named sword, shatter thorn, scabbard.


    ¡°young master of the Tur clan I advise you to take this duel seriously, cause I don¡¯t intend to let you leave this event alive if you cannot best me¡± I lightly called out to Clorphan who was currently picking himself off of the ground. Adding fuel to the blazing mess that was this gathering was necessary as throughout the entire sequence of blows I had dealt to Clorphan his father had made no indication to move.


    It was imperative that Fadneth Tur, my true target intervened in this duel, as the addition of a grand knight to the house of Van Flotina forces would apply pressure on our shared borders. They could even use that influence to force an alliance with the reclusive Van Fin, the third higher noble house in the new territories.


    I scooped up the scabbard of shatter thorn and with a flick of my wrist sent it flying back in Hauser¡¯s direction.


    Clorphan¡¯s chest heaved as an unsightly look crossed his face; I had embarrassed him in front of some important people, and most prominent to him was most likely his father. His battle essence flooded the surface of his skin congealing into a layer of protection.


    ¡°Consider those first strikes a gift to you Lord Tal, because for now on you would not be able to touch me again¡± the Clorphan called out to me in false bravado and with a savage yell leapt towards me.


    Instead of retreating I stepped forward as if to embrace him, seeing this Clorphan viciously stabbed shatter thorn towards my chest. With a simple twist of my ankle I twirled round the point of the sword and slid along the side out of harm¡¯s way before slamming the back of my right hand into his face.


    As he staggered from the blow I thrust the heel of my palm into his nose then making a fist I smashed it against the side of his head. His layer of battle essence trembled vigorously but to my surprise still manages to remain intact, what sort of drugs did they feed this kid.


    From the corner of my eye I saw one of the crimson lotus merchant houses esteemed elder leap to her feet and begin to draw in magical energy but Fadneth Tur clamped a hand down on her shoulder preventing her from intervening.


    I let loose a snort of derision, if he wanted to see his son get beaten to badly he resembled a pig I would oblige him.


    The next three minutes were painful to watch, at least for Clorphan and the crimson lotus merchant house. I shattered his collar bone and left arm, dislocated his shoulder and left knee, with the amount of blood he had spat out there was definitely some internal damage and counting the amount of times I slammed his head into the ground I am pretty certain he had a concussion.


    With a twist of my wrist I sent Clorphan spinning through the air before he smashed back into the ground. He lay motionless the only thing indicating he had not passed on to the great beyond was the heavy rising and falling of his chest.


    ¡°This is fun and all, but if he doesn¡¯t yield soon he might die¡± I said with a smile in the direction of lord Twarwen and Fadneth Tur. On the surface it was me offering them an olive branch but the reality was quite different, them yielding was admitting all the grievances that had occurred to this point were their fault, I was certain lord Twarwen would rather have Clorphan die than admit his wrong doing especially to me but would Fadneth let his first son die.


    I slightly increased the amount of killing aura I was unleashing and visibly hardened my face, as if I had just come to a difficult decision.


    I moved beside Clorphan and plucked shatter thorn from his weakened grip, I raise the blade until its point hovered above the barely conscious elf¡¯s head and thrust downward in a decisive manner, the reaction was instant.


    A large amount of battle aura suddenly surged out of nowhere and shot towards me. With a tap of my foot I leapt into the air mid strike and floated backwards, putting ten feet between me and a furious Fadneth Tur who was standing protectively in front of his son.


    ¡°Fadneth Tur, you are interfering in a duel established between two royal houses and witnessed by all the people at this gathering, I hope you are ready to bear the consequences¡± I coldly stated internally dancing with joy as my main target had directly come out without sending anymore minions my way.


    ¡°I understand the consequences of my action and will take full responsibility for it, but I will not allow you to kill my son¡± the former army veteran nobly declared standing upright in the center of the stage. All that was left was rays of sunlight and a pop band playing in the background and I could turn the scene before me into an anime with several spin offs.


    But as these random thoughts crossed my mind, I was also aware that though Fadneth had interfered with our duel, he had done so in such a way that removed any chance of backlash falling on his clan or the house of Van Flotina, this would not do.


    With such a great favor been done for him, Lord Twarwen would be unable to annul the engagement between his daughter, Lamlen, and Fadnet¡¯s youngest son, Aen Tur. With this attachments in place, the Van Flotina household would rather absorb the crimson lotus merchant house into their ranks swelling the amount of major clans bonded to them by blood or marriage a staggering seven to my miserly five.


    With a simple flexion of my will I sent a pulse of magical energy through my body down into the ground to enact a spell that was extremely simple but in this situation extremely deadly.


    An earthen spike shot out of the ground directly beneath Clorphan, the enchantment of the shinning chain-mail he wore beneath his celebratory robes struggled futilely for a brief instant but his weak and unstable battle essence was unable to sustain the runes that were currently protecting him, ultimately the defensive runes shattered and the earth spike pierced through Clorphan¡¯s back and burst out through his chest lifting him up five feet above the ground and suspending him there for all in the gathering to see.


    I let the silence endure so that the shock and horror could fully sink into all present, they had just witnessed the death of the young master of the crimson lotus merchant house and it had happened while he was under the protection of the head of the house, an individual who some could argue was the most powerful elf present.


    ¡°you were speaking as though if I decided to kill your son you could stop me, I wanted to see if your assumption was true¡­¡­.it appears not¡± I calmly stated after letting an appropriate amount of time pass.


    Fadneth Tur simply stared into the lifeless eyes of his son as he hung suspended in front of him, he did not react when his house guards drew their weapons to charge at me or when the blonde elf mage that he restrained from intervening let loose a screech of despair and flung herself at me, he only responded when his eyes turned towards me and I placed a smirk of disdain on my face.


    Rushing towards me from the front was Fadneth Tur, a battle elf cultivator of the early pillar formation stage. To my left was a well endowed blonde female elf who I vaguely remembered seeing at Glander¡¯s illegal coronation. A mini tornado was swirling around the elf as tears streamed down her face and her teeth bared in a ferocious snarl. And finally twelve guards bearing the symbol of the crimson lotus merchant house were sprinting towards me with their swords raised, their cultivation level ranging from early to mid stage core formation.


    I finally let loose a sigh of relief, the crimson lotus merchant house for some reason had decided to vehemently oppose me from the very start. On the two major political confrontations I had met with they had been one of the major supporters of my opponent each time. It was time to remove them from the scene entirely and with the death of their patriarch and heir apparent their foundation would be shattered, hopefully never to recover again.


    As I sank into a squat my two hands smashed together quickly forming hand seals and a swarm of over thirty fireballs formed behind me before shooting towards the twelve house guards racing towards me. As my squatting motion completed I slammed my now free hands into the ground, channeling magical energy into it and weaving a spell and instantly the ground in front of a rapidly advancing Fadneth Tur rose up in the shape of a wolf head which then proceeded to open its maws and swallow him whole and finally I spun on the balls of my feet and launched myself at the approaching blonde elf mage.


    Two spells to incapacitate two groups while I took out their mage, this was a tried and trusted method that had proven effective against general level opponents. as I sprinted towards the charging female mage a minor explosion rang out behind me and shrieks of pain could be heard, the barrage of fireballs most have done their job scattering the ranks of the enemy guards and as for Fadneth Tur, I could no longer feel his battle essence meaning my earth beast entrapment spell had been effective.


    As I closed in on the blonde elf her eyes firmed in resolution as she raised her hand into the air and all the wind magical energy that had gathered around her flowed upwards, then with a cutting motion she brought her hand sharply down and a blue blade of wind erupted forward, slicing the ground as it raced towards me.


    I let loose a smirk and immediately mimed the motion slashing downwards and sending my own tier seven wind school spell, wind sword, in her direction. The very air trembled as the two attacks met each other and an explosion shook the entire garden where the gathering was being held.


    I inhaled deeply then dashed through the area the spells had just collided while holding my breath. Half the energy in that area belonged to her wind spell; it was not advisable to let mages energy enter your body that was a rookie mistake.


    I emerged on the other side of the settling dust and the instant she set eyes on me she spun her wrist in a weird way and a whip began to unfurl. The universally acknowledged weakness of mages was their fragile bodies in comparison to warriors. The path of cultivation for a mage was mostly cultivation to fill up and expand their manna wells so a mage would spend almost half of every day of their life sitting down, this left very little time to train the body.


    All mages are aware of this and most had taken steps to rectify the issue, the most common solution chosen was to pick a weapon that would be able to keep your opponent at bay while you increased the space between them and yourself. Her weapon of choice was apparently a whip.


    The long silver weapon curled through the air as it slashed towards me and I moved to evade it. First it swung low and I dove into a front flip, vaulting over the attack, with a metallic twang it changed direction mid sweep and began to rise attempting to strike my shoulder but with a twist of my hip I moved into a cartwheel and let the whip pass behind me all the while rapidly closing the distance between myself and the female mage.


    Seeing that all her techniques had failed to stall me, the female elf gritted her teeth and started to accumulate magical energy within her. I narrowed my eyes at the unexpected change in scenario; she was trying to blow herself up.


    She would stall me as long as she could then when she had circulated enough magical essence she would simply let it go wild without co ordination, killing her and anyone nearby. The only school of magic that could not pull this off was the water school of magic.


    I gathered pure magical essence within my left hand as I acrobatically tumbled and twirled after the retreating blonde mage before landing in a horse stance and thrusting my left hand forward in a punching motion.


    The magical essence launched itself from my fist swiftly crossing the area between myself and the suicidal elf before embedding within her body instantly throwing a wrench in her plans, the circulating magical energy was suddenly thrown into chaos and in an almost comical manner the flesh on her back suddenly ballooned out hideously before exploding in a shower of flesh and blood.


    As my stunned opponent sank to the ground in shock and pain, my flame covered right hand shot towards her defenseless neck but once again I was forced to retreat as the battle essence of Fadneth Tur who had been missing till now began to emit from the ground beneath my feet.


    I once again sprang backwards in the middle of my strike as a blade suddenly shot out of the ground where I stood moments ago. Upon realizing the ambush had not worked a battle essence cloaked hand emerged from the ground beneath and soon after the rest of Fadneth Tur emerged as well.


    Having managed to escape the earth beast entrapment that had dragged him underground, he must have decided to ambush me from below instead of emerging from the earth, what I found more impressive was the fact that he could pinpoint my location from beneath the ground as battle essence practitioners were notoriously famous for their lack of sensing ability.


    I alighted gently a distance away from the killing aura clouted Fadneth Tur, a slight tinge of regret resonating within me as healers from the retinue of the crimson flame mercenaries rushed towards the downed elf mage.


    She had let emotions shroud her judgment and decided that even though I was obviously more proficient in wielding magical energy than her she would attempt to kill me in a kamikaze like fashion. Pros; if it succeeded she would have managed to kill a highly skilled enemy of her clan at the same time with her death any backlash would be reduced as the culprit of the killings would be dead as well. Cons; she had to live herself open to outside influences while she had gathered the necessary magical energy to carry out the attack.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Because of the backlash, her magical cultivation would be stalled for at least six months and if there weren¡¯t any skilled healers present the damage could extend to as far as one year from now. Her death would have been the preferable outcome.


    Fadneth Tur radiated rage from his very core as his blood shot eyes shot daggers at me, the reasonable calculating elf that had once lead thousand of elves in battle was gone and what stood before me was a distraught father.


    But even as he stared at me with hate another emotion was beginning to creep in. as the patriarch of such a large clan as the crimson lotus merchant house he did not have the luxury of indulging in revenge against someone with the title of lord of a major noble house, as it stood at the very least for interfering in a duel between two noble houses was already grounds for a grievance to be brought before the council.


    Even as the hate continued to emit from him I could see reason and logic begin to flow back into his eyes, as it stood his life was already forfeit.


    ¡°Let us both take a step back lord Tal, it is obvious I am in the wrong here, I will take full responsibility before the council of elders¡± the patriarch of the clan of Tur said suddenly, closing his eyes as he physically tried to restrain himself. Instantly my respect for the retired veteran soared and I felt deep regret that I had chosen to destroy him.


    ¡°my house emblem seized, my cousin assaulted, even though I was invited to this event insults have not ceased to be thrown my way since my arrival and you want to simply let by gone be by gone. What exactly do you take the house of Van Rost for?¡±


    The simple statement sent a chill through the crowd as the slower elves among those gathered began to realize I had never intended to depart from this gathering without a significant amount of bloodshed.


    I slid into my ready stance, my feet planted shoulder width apart and hips lowered, my two arms came up, the left one curved forward in front of me while my right arm curved downwards, left palm facing him right palm facing the ground.


    With a thought I rose to lightning fall step six and instantly appeared beside Fadneth Tur, his eyes dilated in shock as I swung my flame covered hand at his face smashing him to the side. As he shot away from me, spinning through the air to stabilize himself I inhaled deeply preparing my assault.


    Of all the opponents I had faced so far, Fadneth Tur was the most suitable for me to practice my martial arts on, he posed a significant enough threat to receive my full attention but was weak enough that all I had to do was exert some effort and I could end him.


    Once again I flashed forward but this time Fadneth Tur was ready for me, with a spin his sword sliced through the air towards my head. Channeling magical energy into my left palm I brought it against the side of the approaching sword and simply diverted it from its original direction.


    Fadneth fist thrust forward as soon as his attack was foiled at the same time he raised a foot and sent it towards my knee intending to destroy my stance and forcibly reveal an opening. I slid my foot four inches to the side effectively shifting my knee out of harm¡¯s way, I shaped my hand into a claw shape and wrapped it round the wrist of Fadnet¡¯s approaching fist and with a flick of the wrist I sent him sailing through the air with a one armed judo throw.


    He spun through the air landing on his feet and with a yell sprung back towards me, his battle essence flared out from him flowing to his right hand and along the sword clasped in his left.


    The trade mark of a pillar creation stage expert was their ability to extend their battle essence not only as armor to cover their bodies but to enhance their weapons as well. This was when the might of battle essence began to catch up with the might of magical energy.


    I frowned and began to gently sway from the left to the right, my body began to blur as I implemented the marshal movement skill fairy flight. I began to glide across the floor of the stage heading towards Fadneth Tur in our final clash.


    Fadneth Tur¡¯s blade descended in a vicious cut but halfway through the motion it changed direction from its vertical descent to a horizontal swipe as I had already darted to the left to evade the blow.


    With his battle essence coating the blade and my gauntlets working at only ten percent efficiency engaging his blade directly was not a wise idea. I sank into a squat bringing my entire body beneath the blade and as I rose once more my left elbow led the charge aiming directly for my opponents chin.


    With a flick of his wrist, Fadneth Tur spun his blade bringing the flat side forward to intercept my blow at the same time his left knee explosively raced to smash into my sides. I pivoted away from the strike on my right foot twirling around and gathering momentum as I sent my left foot smashing into his side at the same time activating ten ton step.


    Fadneth Tur¡¯s eyes opened wide in shock as the kick he had planned to receive in exchange for given me an even more grievous injury lifted him bodily of the ground and sent him back through the air before landing and sliding backwards for several meters.


    My strikes were not effective against his battle essence armor, I thought to myself. With the three general level opponents I had faced previously I had time to set up effective measures to counter their high defenses and during the fight itself was too busy trying to escape to evaluate how effective my strike were, however against t Fadneth Tur I could observe every detail of the fight and eliminate unnecessary movements.


    With a thought I ignited the fire spell flame serpents and instantly two eight meter long snakes made of blue fire burst into existence, before flinging themselves at Fadneth Tur. The military veteran hopped backwards three times before letting loose a determined grunt as he gathered all his battle essence back into himself before releasing it all into his battle essence armor.


    The translucent armor instantly became more defined as the two flame serpents raced towards it, they instantly wrapped themselves round Fadneth Tur before unceremoniously exploding.


    The second the bright light from the explosion washed across the entire gathering my hands combined together to form complex symbols before I firmly gripped the elbow of my right hand with my left as lightning sparks raced around from the tip of my fingers to the point at which my left hand gripped my right forearm.


    My fourth school of elemental magic the lightning school. This unruly and difficultly mastered school of magic was not my first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth choice, but due to my mother¡¯s frightening control of the element and the plans we had put in place for our future, circumstances had forced me to pick this up. Along with the fire school of magic it was the branch of magic I was least efficient in but unlike fire which I took every opportunity to use it so I could advance my proficiency I mainly ignored it only cultivating the magical well responsible for it.


    I shot forward into the smoke and flames resulting from the kamikaze attack of my two flame serpent spells, every step I took releasing a pulse of magical energy into the ground synchronizing with the earth beneath my feet to pinpoint the location of Fadneth Tur.


    As I closed in on my opponent¡¯s position in zero visibility, a gust of wind suddenly picked up rapidly dispersing the smoke and flames, but it was already too late.


    As soon as I confirmed the location of Fadneth Tur one last time I circulated the magical energy in my body along the magical pathway in my legs for lightning fall step six, instantly appearing besides a highly cautious Fadneth Tur.


    I increased the magical energy I was feeding to the lightning spell and instantly all the bolts of lightning that had been racing up and down my right forearm coalesced in the palm of the same hand, forming a glowing ball of light and with a simple thrust I sent it towards Fadneth Tur.


    Without my magical energy to restrain the bolt of lightning, it shot towards its target like a vengeful dragon. The moment the lightning spell came in contact with Fadneth Tur¡¯s battle essence armor it shattered with an explosion that dwarfed the one generated by the two flame serpent spells.


    Undeterred by the new explosion the lightning bolt smashed into Fadneth Tur¡¯s left side disintegrating skin, flesh, muscle and organs before exiting out his right side, leaving a hole one could see through.


    It was at this point that the wind conjured by the mages of the crimson lotus merchant house finally cleared away the smoke and flames that were obstructing the duel from the view of those present and Fadneth Tur was seen staring in confusion at the hole that ran through his body.


    Somebody in the crowd gasped, another threw up as the organs that had not been disintegrated had begun to fall out of the cavity in my opponent¡¯s body. His battle essence struggled furiously to heal his body and maybe given enough time, and in the hands of a skilled healer with high grade herbs he would have eventually recovered but I needed him dead.


    With a wave of my hand a blade of wind erupted from me and shot through Fadneth Tur separating his head from his severely damaged body.


    A high pitched scream echoed through the air as Fadneth Tur¡¯s head fell to the floor with a thump. The once great head of the crimson lotus merchant house was no more and he had been killed by an elf that had not seen his second decade yet, pandemonium ensued.


    The guards of the crimson lotus merchant house let loose a vicious bellow and charged forward once more with their swords unsheathed but this time they had the guards of the Van Flotina household with them equally enraged at my impudence. The guest scrambled to get as far away from the stage as my house guards rushed to get closer; as all this events occurred simultaneously I simply cast the last spell I would require to cast today.


    From an artificial lake about twenty feet away from the once joyous event, two thick tentacles of water shot out towards the honored guest who still sat in shock from the death of such an important dignitary and before they could react engulfed two elves in massive balls of water which then proceeded to float over to me.


    ¡°HOLD!¡±


    ¡°HOLD!¡±


    The moment the balls of water came to a stop on each side of me two voices rang out causing the charging guards to freeze were they stood while Hauser and the rest of my personal guards surrounded me facing outwards in a protective circle.


    My last school of elemental magic was of course the school of water, seen in Arethama as a generally weak school of magic because of its limited number of offensive spells, the school of water attracted me because in my personal opinion it was the most malleable element, bending and conforming to my every thought and command, besides I believe I was close to gaining enlightenment into the forgotten side of the school of water, ice manipulation.


    ¡°Release them this instant¡± Twarwen Van Flotina snarled at me his voice one of the two who had ordered the charging guards to stand down the other was the badly injured but still buxom blonde elf beauty, the elder from the Tur clan.


    I turned to the water bubble on my left and sighed in understanding as I gazed as the last son of the now deceased Fadneth Tur floated in suspension his face scrounged in concentration as he struggled to hold his breath.


    The desperation of the Tur clan was understandable, their patriarch and heir apparent had just been murdered and the young lord who was the only thing they could use to gain aid from the Van Flotina clan in the turbulent future approaching them was now at the mercy of the person who had killed them both.


    I turned my head to my right and in that bubble floated Lamlen Van Flotina. With a dual casted tier seven water entrapment spell, I had seized the two people who were the purpose for the very gathering we were at, but the tone of concern in Twarwen Van Flotina¡¯s voice had indicated a level of compassion that I did not think The Lord of the Van Flotina household bore for his daughter.


    It was at this point that I decided not to kill Lamlen, she would be effective more ass a weak point I could use to strike at Twarwen Van Flotina later on than a martyr the Van Flotina house could use as a rally point for revenge later down the road.


    ¡°Glander, retrieve the house emblem¡± my voice echoed through the gathering which currently stood silent as a heavy feeling of dread permeated the air. To the nobles present that had been raised like a flower in a greenhouse, they had never seen such a gruesome sight, as at the first sign of trouble they are usually whisked away to some safe corner where they are protected till the situation has been resolved.


    A brief look of shock crossed Glander¡¯s face at this opportunity to recover some of the respect he had beaten out of him today. He quickly gathered himself then strode with his head held high towards the sullied emblem.


    Twarwen Van Flotina and the buxom elder of the Tur clan stood helplessly as Glander picked up the banner and returned to the circle of protection


    ¡°the moment I reach the exits of town Flotina I will release one bubble when we reach the main path that will lead to the exit of the Flotina territory I will release the second one¡± I replied gesturing to the bubbles containing The youngest master of the Tur clan and Lamlen respectively.


    ¡°But it will take you three hours to reach the main road out of the Van Flotina territory¡± Twarwen pleaded with me.


    ¡°she is already at the path formation stage of her essence cultivation, that would not be a problem for her¡± I replied the lord seeing through his ruse immediately, she had tried to resist the water bubble¡¯s capture by rotating her battle essence exposing the level of her cultivation. ¡°The more you delay my departure the less time they have¡±.


    My last sentence had multiplied the pressure on my two adversaries, all they had to do was delay me a bit and all the soldiers of town Flotina could gather and join the house guards to overwhelm my guards and no matter how strong I was as a mage a decapitated head was not something I could brush off.  However the longer they kept me here the longer my two captives would suffer.


    As soon as I saw the look of defeated rage cross Twarwen¡¯s face I spun with a toss of my sleeve and began my exit after casting two runes under the two floating bubbles, with the level of magical skill the buxom elder had displayed today I was sure she would correctly deduce the trap I had rigged to explode if any external force tampered with the water spells.


    ¡°This is not over young Tal¡± Twarwen called to me as I exited the garden that was now a crime scene. The parting sentence was a silent declaration of war for the embarrassment I had caused today.


    I paused at the top of the steps I was currently ascending that would lead out of the garden. The sun rays shone down on me as two majestic black iron trees grew on either side of me, even without a climatic musical sound track to identify the moment I could still identify a punch line delivery scene.


    ¡°That would be Lord Tal to you¡± I replied before resuming my exit with a smile on my face and in my imagination a group of homeboys shouting ¡®oh snap¡¯.


    ===========================================================================


    author: the mistake Tal will regret for the rest of his long life was made in this chapter

 Book 1 Chapter 10 : Be Our Guest

    ¡°THEY WHAT!¡± I bellowed in anger at the terrified elf that knelt before me. Having caught up to the sell swords and Erthor¡¯s family when darkness was just about to settle in, I was still gloating at the outcome of the Van Flotina engagement when twelve guards from my three hundred personal guards had ridden into camp to inform me of the new status of the siege.


    ¡°you are telling me that while being surrounded by two mercenary clans the raiders managed to tunnel their way out of the besieged city right under the noses of the people who were watching them¡± I asked as I fell back into the seat behind me, ¡°and all those two incompetent imbeciles could send to me is ¡®we seem to have lost them¡¯¡±.


    I inhaled deeply as I lamented on the unfairness of the universe not even allowing me a full day to gloat before sending karmic retribution my way.


    Was this an act of defiance because of the way I had handled them during our flare up on the way to the border town. My knee jerk reaction was to ride back with the personal guards and go on a beheading spree, but after the stunt I had pulled at the Van Flotina engagement party to go on a killing spree so soon after would give my enemies both the vocal and silent ones grounds to call me mentally unstable, or unfit to run a noble house.


    ¡°Summon Hauser to me¡± I commanded in the direction of the house guards standing outside my tent as I began to formulate a counter move to the latest hole I found myself in. Hauser would instruct them to fall back to town Rost and from there the house would begin to distance themselves from the two mercenary clans, using them for fringe military activity such as routine patrolling of the roads running throughout the Van Rost territories and boarder control.


    ¡°My lord¡±, Hauser saluted as he sank to a knee before me. A slight pang of guilt spread across my chest as I thought about the hot mess I was about to throw him in, but Hauser was a big boy, I was sure he would emerge relatively unharmed from the other side of this.


    ¡°Hauser, you will be going to the border town at the edge of the house territory, there you will meet with Felina and the two captain of the guards where you will inform them to fall back to town Rost¡± I stated.


    Even though I had not elaborated on the seriousness of the situation from the look in Hauser¡¯s eyes the message had been received, with a sharp salute he spun on his heels and prepared to leave but one of the five personal guards seemed like he had something more to say.


    ¡°Forgive me my lord but your hand maid insisted I give this directly to you¡± one of the newly arrived guards said fear apparent in his voice.


    Hauser collected the sealed parchment from him and placed it in my hand where I hurriedly opened it a slight bit of dread tightening my chest as I remembered the last time Felina had sent me such a note was when my grandfather had tried to steal magic scrolls from me.


    A delegate from the house of Van Linterg have come to the manor to extend their greetings to you, but they left the young master of the Linterg household in their camp outside town Rost.


    I frowned in thought as I applied logic to the simple sentence before setting the piece of parchment on fire with a thought. Felina was aware of my interest in Lairden even though she did not know why and on receiving news that a delegation from the Van Linterg household had come to see me and noticing the object of my interest absent she must have taken extra measure to insure his where about especially after the news that the ¡®bandits¡¯ had managed to escape right under their noses.


    ¡°My lord?¡± Hauser¡¯s voice jarred me from my inner thoughts, bringing me back to the present. I would have to make some modification to my return trip.


    ¡°You will take Glander along with you¡± I stated to Hauser before dismissing them all.


    I would need to move behind the scenes for a while and taken Glander along with me would be tantamount to writing a detailed letter to my aunt about my future plans.


    I sat in silence for awhile plotting and counter plotting my future maneuvers while trying to predict all future dilemmas, but I realized the futility of it all even as various disturbing thoughts rushed through my head.


    I let loose a sigh, rising from the chair I had used as an impromptu throne and walked past the curtains that divided my large tent into the receiving area and my sleeping area, there fully sprawled on my massive bed was my other headache.


    In my haste to deal with Glander¡¯s absconding with the house emblem I had forgotten a critical issue, Raijin did not take kindly too been left behind. The second the hundred house guards and I had ridden into camp Raijin had pounced dragging me of the warhorse I was ridding and laying flat on top of me determined not to let me up.


    I frowned as a stifled yet another sigh, remembering how the very same act that seemed to be becoming a habit for me had pissed me off in no small measure in my first life.


    The mana war beast lay stretched across my entire bed feet in the air and a very content expression on its face as Erthor continuously scratched his belly.


    My suspicions that Erthor was a talent holder had all been confirmed with the way Raijin treated him, up till this point the mana beast had treated anyone not within my inner circle with utmost contempt and those within with slight tolerance allowing them only to feed him or make his life better in one way or the other.


    The blatant show of favor towards my young serf would make things easier if I ever needed to move out without the company of Raijin in the future.


    ¡°My lord what is the difference between a house guard and a personal guard?¡± upon noticing my arrival Erthor immediately attempted to pick up where we left off.


    ¡°a house guard protects the head of the house of Van Rost and all the property of the house while the personal guard protects the lord exclusively¡± I replied while my gaze came to rest on the magical circle within which lay my gauntlets and my metal boots.


    Fighting a battle essence cultivator at the pillar level with just ten percent of the runes and enchantments functioning would have made any other enchanter dance with joy but having tested the gauntlets and boots earlier against three general level opponents, all the flaws of the enchantments where laid bare and this time I could not blame only the quality of the gauntlets for it.


    I let loose a sigh, sinking into a cross legged position as I began to channel magical energy into the circle once more causing the hidden runes within the gauntlets to light up and absorb the energy I was feeding it.


    Recharging enchantments, unlike inscribing them, was monotonous and tedious work and soon my mind began to wander. The fact that I had subdued the Van Rost family that had been going through tribulation for the past twelve years in just a year would testify to my political sturdiness, forcing the other houses and clans with power to test the waters but my recent display of might would also make them extremely cautious and unwilling to offend such a potentially powerful ally.


    The best case scenario for me would be for the other houses to realize my greatness and never again cross me in fear of enduring my wrath, but as that was never going to happen it would be more likely they trick an enemy or someone who had recently lost favor with them like a small clan or mercenary house to come and disrupt an event of the Van Rost clan forcing me to act in some way, if I overcome the trial I help them get rid of an irritant, if I fail they succeed in putting the young upstart lord in his place, it was a win-win situation for them.


    I internally ran through the various events of the Van Rost social calendar that I would be personally attending and only one fit the scenario I was currently thinking about, the martial tournament.


    Last year¡¯s tournament, though not widely acknowledged outside the Van Rost territory had allowed us to almost replenish the ranks of our forces after I had dismissed all the soldiers of the house who had thought they could ignore my summons, this had not gone unnoticed, and with Mablung about to fuse all his cores and acquire his first pillar, even the royal houses in the capital territories would not be able to deny the success the martial tournament had brought to our house.


    Even though not yet on the scale that it would cause the warriors under the care of other houses to break ranks and come to our side, unaffiliated warriors from as far as the capital territories were rumored to have already began the journey to the Rost territory to participate in the event.


    A wave of joy washed over me as I imagined the amount of money I would be receiving after the three day event. The elders had grumbled and mumbled when I had invested so much money in lining the road leading up to the arena with inns and shops but when I had invested my own coin to build three high end inns and several shops the wise one had invested in one or two spots while the rest had adopted a wait and see attitude.


    ¡°maybe Galfin would loosen the chains around my budget next year if this dose better than we expect it to¡± I said to myself, the thought of the event flopping not once crossing my mind, even if the shops and inns were not patronized and the seats were not filled the opportunity to recruit so many battle essence wielders would more than make up for any financial loss.


    Before the sun had risen on our camp, we had already broken up and gone our separate ways. The sell swords escorting the attendants and Erthor¡¯s family in the direction of House Van Rost, Hauser and my twelve personal guards along with a sulking Glander in the direction of the subjugation force that had failed to subjugate the bandits that had seized a town on my territory for two weeks without anyone knowing and finally my group along with the hundred house guards, Raijin and Erthor who proudly rode the war horse I previously had and headed in the direction I suspected Lairden was.


    ========================================================================


    The forest scenery quickly passed by as we rode hard in the direction of the Van Rost territory. As we drew closer and closer to the forest surrounding Rost town, we finally, after two weeks of travel, spotted a trail of smoke rising above the forest canopy.


    ¡°Set up camp here, while twenty guards follow me to engage¡± I said to the elf that had taken over Hauser¡¯s duties in his absence. The female black haired elf was a member of the loft clan, and from the moment Hauser had left she had persistently tried to curry favor with me which I had pointedly ignored.


    The reason I had let the Loft clan benefit from my rise in power wasn¡¯t because they had stayed by my side during my ten year exile, but because of the sacrifice Aiya had made to save my life, so even though her sister was currently working for Vanlathriel and their entire clan was riddled with spies, the reason I did not immediately disregard the Loft clan was simply because of the gratitude I felt towards Aiya. However recently some of the members of the clan had begun to take my allowances as favor towards them, I would warn Galfin once and after that heads would roll.


    Twenty guards were quickly chosen and we road towards the smoke rising above the forest canopy were most likely the members of the Van Linterg entourage were settled.


    As we entered the clearing I frowned at the destituteness of it all and if not for the fact that I could see Lairden sitting despondently on a fallen log I won¡¯t have believed that a member of the main branch of the Van Linterg house was here.


    The camp was a desolate scene. Two small tents stood opposite each other beside each was a horse, a small fire lay at the mid way point between both tents besides which sat Lairden on a log looking despondently into the flame.


    There were no banners or a flag indicating someone of noble birth was here, two extremely uninterested guards stood to the side eyeing my approaching group, and I was sure that if my house banner wasn¡¯t on full display they would have long since abandoned their charge and fled for their lives.


    I felt a pang of sympathetic pain in my chest for Lairden, his family had all but abandoned him and it showed starkly in the way he was treated, but that soon passed as I realized the golden opportunity I had been handed.


    The fact that Lairden had the God eye had always gnawed at the back of my mind, what if he awakened it?, what if someone realized the value of what he had? These questions danced across my subconscious every other day but now I could be his shoulder in his time of trouble giving him a safe place to find peace forever putting him in my debt in case he is ever in a position to undo everything I had done so far.


    I urged Raijin forward, making a show of taking in everything in the clearing before allowing my eyes to settle on Lairden, who had risen to his feet in shock and embarrassment of my presence.


    ¡°Good friend Lairden, I heard news of your house arriving at the Rost manor but absence your presence.¡± I started slowly dismounting Raijin and approaching Lairden allowing a confused tone to enter my voice.


    ¡°I came here first in hopes to convince you to stay awhile in Rost manor under my care. But I must ask you this good friend Lairden, have you been living in these conditions for the last two weeks?¡± my question struck at the very heart of the matter.


    ¡°Lord Tal, things are not what they seem. My family simply wished to present themselves in an honorable manner and they took most of the guards to the Rost manor¡± the effort to save force for his un-filial family would have been admirable if not for the fact I was currently trying to poach him.


    ¡°if good friend Lairden insist then I would take it as such, but was there a problem with the item I enchanted for you last time we saw each other? I couldn¡¯t help but notice that you did not have it with you¡± I said, my counter to his counter blocking his immediate path of retreat.


    Last time Lairden was here I had enchanted visor like glasses to enable him to practice his blade katas without battle essence interfering with his sight, but the fact that his milky white pupiless eyes stared into my soul without the visor on his face was obvious.


    A profound and lingering silence hung between us as Lairden¡¯s face went through a medley of embarrassed expressions. There was no excuse he could give that would be believable after all without the visor his overly sensitive eyes could not be used in battle as all it would take would be a flash or magical energy or battle essence for him to be blinded, without it he would be useless in battle.


    After letting the silence stretch for a while I stepped forward and grasped his forearms with my hands and put an understanding look on my face. ¡°It is okay good friend Lairden one day our day in the sun shall come¡±.


    The simple statement was an elf saying that simply meant that one day your enemies would see you rise to prominence. Lairden¡¯s eyes widened in surprise and appreciation, I had not forced him to embarrass his clan and yet at the same time I had given him my silent support.


    ¡°come Lairden you will camp with us tonight and tomorrow we will ride into town Rost together as good brothers should, there we will talk long into the night and you will explain to me how I offended you that you would not come to visit me for a whole year¡± I said patting his back and letting out a boisterous laugh to set him at ease.


    With that Lairden and I travelled back to the rest of my company where we settled down to a late meal and lots of merry making and laughter in which I made sure he was always by my side as the guest of honor.


    As we set off on the final stretch of our journey Lairden rode by my side as we talked about things of little importance but the difference of one night was already clear, his smiles came easier, his smile was more unrestrained and the general atmosphere of gloom that seemed to have hung around him seemed to have been dispelled.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe how big he has gotten, could he be a variant?¡± Lander asked his eyes resting on Raijin who had been suspiciously well behaved all morning.


    ¡°Yes he just keeps on growing, my stable hands have impacted on me how lucky I was to receive such a gift as him¡± I replied jovially leaning forward to tap the side of Raijin¡¯s head with affection.


    The feline war beast had kept on growing without restraint and very soon I would not be able to wrap my legs around his side, the scary part was it seemed he wasn¡¯t done yet.


    ¡°yes my sister was a little sad she would not get to tame the beast but my father has made it up to her, she would be glad to see you took good care of it¡± Lairden said a brief look of panic flashing across his face and instantly I grasped his hidden warning. Even though he did not want to disclose too much information about his family he had deemed it important enough to warn me that his younger sister was at town Rost and she wasn¡¯t there with purely good intentions.


    ¡°I see¡± I replied amicably but with enough seriousness in my voice for him to know I had received his warning.


    We continued to travel along the road to Town Rost with Lairden complimenting the newly constructed road when the new walls of the town came into view as we crested a hill.


    ¡°By the heavens lord Tal, you have been busy¡± Lairden  stated with no small amount of awe in his voice, and the first time in a long while a sliver of pride floated through my chest towards my house. Lairden was in a unique position to understand the hoops I would have had to jump through for me to get the walls built, and his appreciation showed.


    ¡°it took some doing but for the benefit of the people under our care the house decided it was for the best¡±, even as the bullshit spewed out of my mouth a large snort escaped from Lairden and he instantly looked mortified at his slip in decorum.


    ¡°It is okay good friend Lairden, even in my ears that sounded like a lie¡± I appeased him while letting out a wry chuckle. ¡°Things have been difficult with the entire house determined to brand me as a failure, but compared to you I have had it easy¡±.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Our entire journey together had been peppered by such covert attacks at Lairden, slowly dragging the fact that his family had all but abandoned him, and the pained look he had on his face was indication that it had begun to work.


    ¡°by the stars forgive me Lairden I should control my tongue!¡± i exclaimed out loud pretending to just notice Lairden¡¯s discomfort of my statement, ¡°it just that when I see someone in this situation I cannot help but feel kinship with such a person¡±.


    ¡°What do you mean Lord Tal?¡± Lairden asked in confusion. I let a long and profound silence stretch out while placing a heavy look on my face.


    ¡°Do you know that an assassination attempt was made on my life when I was six?¡± I asked as we rode leisurely down the hill towards the North West gate of Town Rost. ¡°The act in itself is not a big deal after all there are assassinations attempted on nobles at any given time, but this time I was injured badly and my cultivation was destroyed¡±.


    ¡°when I found out it was my aunt who I had loved like a second mother was the individual who orchestrated the act it was like I had been crippled a second time. My engagement was broken off, my friends abandoned me, my house shunned me I was well and truly alone¡± I continued letting loose a sigh of melancholy. ¡°Even the people that came to my side in my time o f need did not hesitate to curse me to my face and throw disdain at me¡±.


    ¡°But at that time at least I had my mother who stood beside me and protected me, you have no one¡± I stated. This was the first time since we met at the clearing till now that I directly addressed the poor treatment he had been received from his family.


    Lairden tensed up on his horse and awkwardness hung between us, but still I pressed on.


    ¡°I am sure you have wondered why since we first met I have always possessed had a good disposition towards you? It¡¯s because I have faced some of what you are currently going through, and I saw the looks the so called personal guards where giving you the first time we met¡± with I sigh as I tightened my grip and let anger show visibly on my face.


    ¡°But when I saw how they made you live in that clearing, I fear I can no longer hold my tongue¡± I said with heavy emotion. This was the selling pitch, the part that would make or break the sale. I pulled on Raijin¡¯s reigns bringing myself to a stop and soon Lairden followed suit.


    ¡°I want you to know that the doors of the Van Rost house will be forever opened to you as long as I am the head¡± I proclaimed as I locked gazes with him. A look of shock appeared on Lairden¡¯s face.


    But even as all this happened I knew he will still be reluctant to agree to this. His mother though not an original member of the Van Linterg house had gained immensely from marrying into the family and even though she had all but physically abandoned him she was after all still his mother and she depended heavily on the connection she had with the Van Linterg house. Her position might have been more cemented since the birth of Lairden little sister her authority wasn¡¯t set in stone.


    ¡°of course I am not asking you to betray your house, or swear allegiance to mine I am just asking that when things are too much for you and there seems like you have no way forward, think of me as a safe haven¡± I said and with a gentle tap on Raijin¡¯s back we resumed our journey.


    As we finally entered town Rost Lairden disposition darkened and he became more sullen, the fact that we had been discussing the entire trip would not have been lost on the two guards that had been left behind to ¡®guard¡¯ him, while they were not privy to the content of our conversation, they would surely report the fact that we both had a long and deep conversation to whoever was in charge when they re-unite with the rest of their squadron.


    It was almost too easy, they would blame Lairden when I arrive at the Rost manor and act hostilely towards him, with a way out of the depression that had been his life for heavens knows how long he would no longer tolerate the insults he had been receiving and eventually in a few months he would start leaning on me for emotional support.


    We passed through the streets as some of the locals recognized me and soon a cry began to ring out welcoming me back to town Rost. Whether this was planned or spontaneous I did not know but having giving them a more secure location to live in by building the wall and some of the farmers who had agreed to the term of my deals had already started sending their produce to the house increasing the amount of food available.


    Life had gotten better in town Rost but at the cost of the nobles losing power. Before my agricultural plan and my redistribution of power the only way some locals could eat things like salt water fish and clams was if they worked in the kitchen of a noble where they could sneakily make off with one when the head cook wasn¡¯t looking but know there was a caravan every three weeks from the port town of Letharen with fishes, crabs and oysters this had become available though expensive.


    With the advantages for working for the noble associated clans diminished and the nobles themselves apparently at logger heads with the head of the house, positions at the various clan houses were no longer eyed with envy and this had caused some of the nobles to take offense, however with my limitation of the amount of soldiers each associated clan could have in the capital there was little they could do about it.


    I sighed internally grateful in the fact that the nobles would not yet find a reason to revolt because in their various assigned fiefs they still ruled like kings.


    ¡°Welcome back my lord¡± Galfin all but screamed at me in joy as he strode towards me down the stairs of the Rost manor entrance. I didn¡¯t take his enthusiasm as his joy in seeing my safe return, most likely there was a delicate matter that he wanted me to handle or shit had hit the fan somewhere.


    ¡°Galfin, how goes the affairs of the house¡± I asked dismounting Raijin and letting two stable hands approach him with looks of resignation on their faces.


    ¡°all the plans for the tournament are going splendidly and all the orders you left have been carried out. Felina sent word, they are a three days away and have received Lord Glander¡± he said his eyes flashing briefly to Lairden by my side.


    With a wave of my sleeves Galfin fell in besides me and began to update me about everything I needed to know about the last seven weeks I had been away. Apparently the tournament had mutated into something that we had not expected.


    Various notable clans and mercenary houses had put forward their young warriors into contention and some independent cultivators had already started to arrive. A month and a half before the tournament had begun we had already begun to see revenue flow into our town.


    As I cleared the final step into the manor gate my eyes came to rest on a group of fifty elves on in colors that were not the house of van Rost¡¯s.


    ¡°we have been hosting delegates from the house of Van Linterg, they have been must eager to meet you¡± Galfin stated when he saw where my gaze landed, a tinge of annoyance in his voice I imagined from having to deal with all the expensive tastes of a noble delegation.


    I replied with a grunt and he fell back to stand two steps behind me. Lairden was about to duplicate his actions when I looped my arm around his and drew him so we were walking shoulder to shoulder. This move did not go unnoticed by the house of Van Linterg delegates and looks of confusion appeared on their faces.


    Of the elves gathered under the banner of Van Linterg in my front yard only two were not in guard uniform, one I recognized as the supposed aid to Lairden, Angrod Elendor cousin to Linterg¡¯s mother and the new face a female elf who seemed obviously below the age of fourteen which I assumed to be Linterg¡¯s sister, Riwen Van Linterg.


    ¡°Greetings lord Tal Van Rost, we previously met, I am Angrod aid to young master Lairden¡± Angrod began, stepping forward as soon as he noticed my gaze on him at the same time gesturing for Linterg¡¯s sister to move up


    beside him. ¡°and this is lady Riwen Van Linterg daughter of Madilhan Van Linterg, lord of the Van Linterg house hold¡±.


    With the introduction the little girl slightly bowed to me while casting a disdainful gaze at her half brother, but I barely noticed that as my eyes were fixed on the sword that hung on her a waist, a sword I had personally designed for Linterg myself.


    Not only had they taken the visor I had made to protect Lairden¡¯s overly sensitive eyes from battle essence and magical flashes, they had stripped him of the sword I had gifted him and handed it to his sister who then had the audacity to wear it to my home. The amount of insults and barbs hidden in all these maneuvers were too numerous to delve into but one thing was clear, I was been looked down on.


    Whether they felt that me befriending Linterg was a desperate ploy for support from another house or that they could not possibly respect a noble house of the new lands the Van Linterg house had decided to show hidden disdain from the get go, suddenly my covert acquisition of Lairden had turned to a snatch and grab.


    ¡°ooh! You are the aid to Good friend Lairden then why where you here and not beside your master when I met him in that¡­¡­¡­.camp?¡± I asked with a coy smile as I began the public shaming of the van Linterg delegates.


    A stunned looked covered Angrod¡¯s face as the simple statement put him in a very prickly situation, and a feeling of unease rippled through the Van Linterg delegates as they realized everything was not as it seemed but before they could recover I sent my second jab.


    ¡°forgive me if I am mistaken but the sword hanging on that child¡¯s waist looks extremely similar to the one I designed personally for Lairden¡± the statement that was both a question and a statement all but confirmed the suspicions of the van linter delegates, the young master which they had held in disdain was friends with the new lord of the Van Rost house.


    I could almost see the cogs spinning in Angrod¡¯s head as he tried to come up with a solution that would resolve this crisis, from my disposition it was clear that I wasn¡¯t desperate for an alliance with the Linterg house and they had clearly overplayed their hand, in addition to that I had taken some sort of interest in the young master who they had all but abandoned in the woods, things were looking bad for them.


    As I pondered if I should deliver the knockout blow and the wisdom of acquiring a new enemy so soon, out of the corner of my eye two figure emerged from the mansion.


    ¡°if you will briefly excuse me I have a pressing matter to attend to¡± I stated politely and ignoring the intense look of relief that passed over Angrod¡¯s face before turning and heading in the direction of the two female elves giving the house of Van Linterg a moment to recuperate.


    With a hidden smile I walked towards the two female elves that stood to the side of the main entrance of the Van Rost manor, the female elf on the left was the huntress that had rushed to town Rost to inform us of the dire straits her little town was in, the fact that she had carried out the journey in only a week was something I hadn¡¯t appreciated until I had undertaken the journey myself.


    The second elf was of course my aunt Vanlathriel¡¯s informant Anya. Of recent Anya had been extremely low profile trying her best to stay out of my way while ferreting out information through third and fourth hand sources even going so far as to corner some of the children I told stories to.


    The fact that she had emerged in my presence was most likely due to the fact that the beginning of the whispers of what I did at the Van Flotina territory had begun to reach town Rost, and her handler her instructed her to confirm or debunk it before reporting to Vanlathriel in the capital territory.


    ¡°Thank you for keeping our guest company, you may leave¡± I interrupted Anya as she stepped forward to speak before gesturing to the huntress to follow me a small distance away.


    ¡°rest easy your town has been liberated and as we speak the entire population is been brought to town Rost where they would be treated with utmost respect¡± I said and instantly a look of relief swept across the huntress face before she fell to her knees and started thanking me in between chest heaving sobs.


    ¡°There is a favor I would like to ask of you¡± I asked my now consoled guest. There was something that had been bothering since I had been informed that the presumed bandits that had held her town hostage had managed to escape. Surrounded by so many guards from two mercenary houses it was almost impossible without some sort of assistance. My first suspicion had been the two leaders of the mercenary houses, furious at my reprimanding them before the start of the siege had conspired to sneak them out in order to spite me, but I believed firmly that even if the act itself might have escaped the notice of my house and personal guards them acting strangely would not. My thoughts had then gone in a different direction.


    What if they had hidden themselves amongst the townspeople who were currently been led here, we would be none the wiser and they could have taken various measure to ensure the towns inhabitant¡¯s cooperation, it was a farfetched hypothesis but I had decided to take steps to guard against it.


    I gestured to a guard standing nearby, intentionally ignoring Anya who had walked a distance away not to seem disobedient but still remained close enough so that even if she couldn¡¯t here she could see what ever transpired.


    ¡°I would need you to write down everything you can about your town, the names of your friends and family and how they are related to you, where you lived which shop you visited and the name of every elf that you knew and what they did in the town¡± the look of confusion was obvious on her face but the task was relatively simple and she agreed to it then was led back into the mansion.


    With a sigh I walked back towards the Van Linterg delegates who had all but surrounded Lairden and were speaking in furious whispers but unlike before there wasn¡¯t a look of defeat or dejected acceptance but one of unprecedented fury.


    ¡°Forgive me, urgent house matters that could not be avoided called for my brief attention¡± I said lightly inserting myself back into the situation but I noticed in my absence a change had already manifested in all present.


    Riwen Van Linterg, Lairden¡¯s younger sister had removed the sword I had gifted him from her waist and taken a step back from the front of the group. Perhaps she sensed my immediate dislike of her or that there subtle insults had not been so subtle but the young mistress of the Linterg clan ad wisely withdrawn.


    Angrod stepped forward throwing worried glances at Lairden, who despite his best efforts still had a bit of fury expressed on his face before bowing slightly to me.


    ¡°Please do not worry Lord Tal Van Rost, we also come from a major house and understand that some duties cannot be delayed¡± he said with a friendly smile.


    The subtle reminder that they were from a major house was not missed, it was a warning that even if they had offended me my reprimand should not go too far. Angrod was so busy trying to spin damage control with me that he did not notice the bomb that was Lairden ready to go off right beside him.


    ¡°Lord Lairden had informed us of the offer you have extended to host us during the house of Van Rost tournament, we are most grateful for this invitation¡± Angrod said switching our verbal battle in another direction.


    If it had been any other elf lord once such a statement was issued they would find it extremely difficult to correct the situation, after inviting Lairden to my house tournament was one of the many baits I had thrown in his direction in other to convince him to stay as an honored guest in the Rost manor. However since it was me I had no problem throttling this ploy in its infancy.


    ¡°The invitation was extended to Lairden¡± I stated in a monotone voice.


    The silence that fell over our group was deafening, Angrod had been depending on the fact that as a lord I would not be so shameless as to exclude a single member of the group for favoritism while ignoring the others, he had assumed wrong.


    ¡°lllord Tal!¡± Angrod exclaimed in shock and in no small part anger. His reaction was understandable, here he was trying to maintain the goodwill between our two houses while I seemed extremely indifferent about the entire situation, his mistake was assuming I wanted anything to do with the house of Van Linterg.


    ¡°do not misunderstand Angrod, if the convoy of the house of Van Linterg wishes to stay for the tournament they are welcome to do so, I will go so far as to ensure that an entire inn and a special viewing box is reserved for your house but the invitation I extended was to Lairden and Lairden alone¡± I explained with a slight chuckle.


    I watched with no small amount of amusement as Angrod¡¯s face twisted in an unnatural manner and a large vein began to pulse in anger, but still I had to direct their frustration in the right direction, after all a rift needed to be driven between Lairden and his clan.


    ¡°An invitation which has yet to be responded to¡± I said redirecting my gaze at Lairden who was currently looking extremely delighted at the situation his aid found himself in.


    ¡°it would be my honor to accompany you Lord Tal¡± Lairden responded bowing to me in appreciation but I was far from done.


    ¡°What is this lord nonsense? Did I not ask you to call me Tal¡± I said jovially throwing my arm round Lairden¡¯s shoulder and leading him into the Rost manor under the furious glares of his clan¡¯s men.

 Book 1 Chapter 11 : The Calm Before The Storm

    Things were not going according to plan. As I walked along the deserted corridors of the fourth floor in the Rost manor I pondered when exactly I had lost my edge. Back on earth I was capable of convincing priest to do drugs and nuns into believing if it was only once it didn¡¯t count, and now a kid not even thirty yet was thwarting my every move.


    The quest to have Lairden have a row with the rest of the delegates from Van Linterg was going badly and what made it extremely frustrating was the fact that all my efforts were being thwarted not by Angrod but by the person I was trying to recruit himself.


    Lairden had proven to be not as helpless as everyone thought he was, but I suppose after been shuttled about every affiliated clan related to the Van Linterg household for most of his life he had developed a surprising knack for mitigation.


    For the last five weeks Lairden had shown impressive conflict savvy as he managed to keep the Linterg delegation at bay but at great cost to his peace of mind, an individual of particular annoyance had been his younger sister, Riwen, who had taken great offense at how little I cared about her existence. Even though he had been extremely successful in avoiding a direct confrontation Lairden was a straw away from breaking and I had prepared a sledge hammer for the final blow, a sledge hammer I would hand to Angrod to use.


    I came to a stop in front of a door I had visited frequently in the last five weeks and laid a palm on the wooden surface. Instantly a magical rune emerged casting me in a harsh red light before it flickered blue and allowed me access to the room beyond.


    As I walked in I could see Mablung¡¯s room was still as Spartan as ever, a bed, a wooden table and chair, a book shelf at the extreme corner and a standing suit of armor was all that decorated the room that Mablung called home, any effort on my part to gift him anything to spruce up the place only lead to awkward silence as he thought up more and more amusing excuses why he couldn¡¯t accept my gifts.


    The elf in question was currently sitting in the middle of a magic circle that spread across most of the room floor and a large number of glyph spun round him within the circle sucking in the energy in the very environment and rapidly converting it into battle essence.


    Mablung had been in close door training to break into the pillar formation stage since before I had set out to investigate the besieged border town, the magic circle he currently sat within was something I had been working as far back as my ten year exile in the black sword castle, it was after all it was intended to assist my mother in braking into the realm domain.


    Mablung sat cross legged, naked of any clothing apart from a loin cloth that covered his most private part. His skin was an angry red and his chest heaved in labored breaths as his jaw bone stood out in prominence as he gritted his teeth, with a sigh I was reminded why so few nobles went along the path of cultivation.


    For battle essence wielders, the path of cultivation was smooth sailing until one reached the arduous task of forming their first pillar.


    Through body tempering, pathway formation and core formation an individual could rely only on perseverance and resources to advance, but when it came time for pillar formation it was a whole other ball game.


    The human body had a hundred and eight gates through which the energy of the universe could enter through, the orc race had seventy nine, and the dwarves had ninety two while the elves had a staggering two hundred.


    While all the other races depended solely on the external energy to temper themselves and advance in the path of cultivation the elfin race could also produce energy internally. So not only did we live far longer than any other race we only required half the effort to advance twice as far as them, I had never seen a more broken system in my two lives.


    While the potential to open all two hundred gates lay within every elf the ability to do so was another matter, this depended on the talent of the elf in question.


    Once the battle essence pathways had been formed the next step was to start congealing battle essence in as many gates as possible, the condensed battle essence took the form of a sphere or a core, hence the name, and depending on the ability of the elf in question it could range from anywhere between seventy to a hundred and thirty cores, the record being a hundred and fifty but that had been reported by the royal family and the entire elfish nation had agreed not to embarrass the royal family by exposing such an obvious lie, it was a pity I had not been alive at that point in time.


    Once the cores were formed then came the first hurdle of battle essence cultivation, the fusion of the first pillar. Documentation of the process describes it as an extremely painful process which should not be done without supervision of some kind that was a lie.


    The process was mind numbing, body braking and soul shaking en-devour  and very few individuals walked away from it unscathed either emotionally or physically. This was the reason why most nobles opted out of the cultivation route and with magical energy more of luck of the draw thing it was extremely unlikely to see a noble with high cultivation.


    The process could be made easier if a steady supply of high quality battle essence was readily available to the cultivator, this was where the magical sigil I had inscribed for Mablung came in hand. Its function was simple, to convert the natural energy of the world and contain it within the magical circle. Mablung had been within it all this time and was at a critical junction in the fusion of his cores.


    I walked round the magic circle to make sure everything was in order before silently exiting the room and resealing the door. Even though the entire house knew that Mablung had gone into close door meditation they were not aware that it was to fuse his first core, that would have been problematic as he was my most staunch supporter within the house and would be seen as a larger threat for those who wished to oppose me.


    I retraced my steps back to the fifth floor only to be intercepted halfway there by Galfin who I had been trying to avoid since I had returned to the mansion.


    ¡°Lord Tal, you cannot flee for ever sooner or later you have to deal with this issue¡± Galfin called out to me as soon as I turned into the pathway that lead to my chambers on the fifth floor. Apparently he had been waiting for awhile and the look of determination on his face showed he was willing to risk my wrath to deal with the issues that had been plaguing him.


    When I had seen Galfin on my return to the Rost manor I had suspected that something was amiss, the suspicion had only grown when Hauser had reported the expenses we had to incur for the show of force at the Van Flotina stronghold and Galfin had barely twitched, since then I had steadfastly avoided Galfin at all cost being of the firm believe that ignorance was bliss but apparently it was all over.


    I sighed to myself abandoning all thoughts of escape as Galfin hurriedly closed the distance between us, as if he was terrified I would suddenly change my mind and flee the scene.


    ¡°I have been trying to keep them at bay but the other clans are still clamoring about the fact that you let your birth date pass without celebration, but somehow they have received word that you plan not to celebrate the one year anniversary of your installation as head of the clan¡± he said furiously whispering the last part as if people would pop out of the wall and scream aha!


    ¡°even worse my lord news has reached from the Flotina house hold about your action and some of the guards with you have confirmed the story that you killed the head of the crimson merchant house, you all but confirmed that one when you aided our silver ship merchant clan and the blue curtain merchant house to acquire some of the falling houses assets¡± he continued rubbing the bridge of the nose as he closed his eyes.


    I felt slight pity for Galfin but I still had no regrets for what I did, in fact I wished I had made it the method I use to slay Fadneth Tur and his son were even flashier because in the last five weeks all the back door attacks and covert operations ran by the house and clans both affiliated and non affiliated had suddenly vanished.


    A child not yet seen his second decade had killed an early stage pillar formation cultivation, a child who until very recently had been thought unable to cultivate had sent shock waves across both the new lands and the capital territory. Letters I received had suddenly contained much more politeness and respect, the head of the various clans affiliated to the Rost house were suddenly more respectful in their whining and the second war minister had gone suspiciously quite, though I suspect that had more to do with the three general level opponents I had escaped from more than anything else.


    However the reason I had cancelled all the celebrations between now and the tournament was to give Mablung time to break into the pillar formation level without interruption, the house was already riddled with spies as it is but if I started letting high numbers of strange elves into the house borders a few more would definitely slip in.


    It was also so that those willing to test my supposed strength would only have one opportunity to do so, the martial tournament.


    I had thought I had a grasp on how badly the event had mutated but apparently I had been na?ve. Covertly or openly, every faction of the elfish nation had sent some sort of representation to the occasion, either to watch the event, observe the stadium that I had built or just see the young lord that had caused the down fall of the crimson lotus merchant house. The actual participants were on a whole other level.


    The three day event had stretched to a seven day event, not because we were trying to milk the occasion for all it was worth..........well not entirely because we were trying to milk the occasion for all it was worth but because of the sheer number and range of participants we had received application from.


    It had gone from a win five bouts then enter the bracket system to steadily climb to the finals to four different tournaments in one.


    There was the under ten tournament as many noble houses had sent their young masters and mistresses to gain experience or prestige while their attendants and aides snooped around Rost town ferreting out as much information as possible.


    Then there was the under fifty which was still considered as children but these had cultivated for a sufficient enough time to have a firm foot in the door of the cultivation world and were able to display some techniques.


    The under hundred was self explanatory, and finally the open tournament was allowed to everyone but they were to sign a death waver as it was the only tournament where killing was aloud even though frowned upon.


    I had intended to ban killing of any kind in the tournament but the look of pity I had received from Felina, Galfin and Hauser in our planning sessions had brought me to a full stop. Throwing a group of powerful cultivators, some of which would have previous grudges between them, into a ring and telling them to have at it while expecting someone not to die was a bit naive.


    But after all was said and then the reality that the tournament was not going to be as low profile as we thought it would be hit us when we had to step in and stop two noble clans from fighting when one had demanded that the other relinquish the high class inn they booked to them, when asked if they would settle for another I was informed only one high class in remained and most of the normal ones were almost full to the brim and this was a month before the main tournament itself when none of the official delegates of the major houses had arrived yet apart from Van Linterg.


    After inviting the noble clan into my guest villa a little ways away from Rost town until we could sort out their accommodation problem, I summoned my now highly experienced construction squad and they began to build multiple high and standard inns while increasing the numbers of shops as well. This was the real reason the nobles of my house were mounting pressure on Galfin.


    When representatives of the Van Rost affiliated clans had gone to inquire about purchasing land along the road leading up to the arena they had found out it was all owned by the house, already regretful that they hadn¡¯t jumped in to the tournament plan from the onset, they had started angling to see me which I blatantly avoided hence they had no choice but to push for an event which I would have to be present for myself.


    ¡°What if you just gave them each a shop that wouldn¡¯t be too bad¡± Galfin almost begged, he wasn¡¯t stupid and had realized the real reason for the sudden affection my house leaders had for me.


    ¡°First and foremost I don¡¯t want to and secondly we shouldn¡¯t reward bad behavior. Inform them there would be a celebration at the end of the week where we would discuss how I would handle the distribution of the rights to the shops and inns for the tournament period¡± I conceded finally and immediately Galfin¡¯s face bloomed like a Christmas light, I decided not to tell him that the decision I had come to would cause more problems than it would solve, let him have his brief moments of joy.


    ¡°use the same sitting arrangements we used at my coronation but consult with Felina about all the clans and houses that slighted me with their gifts last time and have them moved one position back, remember exactly one, I wish to make a subtle statement¡± I began instructing as I walked towards the sealed door leading to my chambers.


    A look of embarrassment flashed across Galfin¡¯s face. As my aid he should have been at my side pointing out the insults each house had sent in my direction that fateful evening, but the Loft clan had been more of a silent supporter back then still unsure of my ability to lead.


    I lifted my hand to unseal my door, pausing slightly to see if Galfin needed anything more from me, with a sigh he bowed and departed allowing to enter my newly refurbished room.


    The pet project that had been hijacked by the head of the silver ship merchant clan had finally been completed a week ago and I was impressed. When I had said I wanted an inside garden I was thinking a few bonsai trees and some grass here and there. Orchaldin the leader of the silver ship clan had gone in a different direction.


    The entire floor of the football sized stadium was covered in soft green grass then leading away from the entrance was a stone path lined with wild roses and honey suckles, scattered intermittently throughout the chamber were red sakura trees and it all came to head in the middle where an ancient oak tree covered a wide training platform for my personal use.


    Instead of partitions tiny brooks had been used to separate the various sections of the chambers with small red bridges placed in various locations to cross over, and no elfish bedroom would be complete without a freakishly large bad.


    I had been blown away by it all, and with the spell I had enchanted into the ceiling of my chamber that reflected the scenery outside of the castle it seemed I was sleeping in the wild just without the annoying insects, or dangerous animals, and room service¡­¡­.okay it was nothing like the wild but it was still breath taking.


    Of course because of the unsupervised access they had to my chamber someone had tried to forcefully examine the spell I had enchanted on the roof and had triggered some of the multiple traps I had set for them and when that failed they had left a supervision rune in attempt to spy on me. I had swept the room from top to bottom destroying any spy spells I found and adding anti-scrying runes to all the glyphs I had already put in place.


    As I moved through my personal wonderland a small head popped out of the bushes before Erthor¡¯s small form dashed out to intercept me.


    ¡°lord Tal, my aunt says she needs your input on the clothes you will where for the tournament, and I think something is wrong with Raijin¡± the youth said as he bounced up and down in front of me. As the only person apart from me who could enter my chambers without my presence Erthor¡¯s position in the eyes of the rest of the house had taken a splendid leap.


    At the time I had simply intended to give my chambers a weak point I could supervise as the various parties that which to supervise all that went on within attempted to gain access rather than wait for them to finds a way I had yet to think of while I was busy with the tournament proceedings, I had never thought that the simple act would turn Erthor from a serf I had taken in as part of a deal into a young elf I was going to mentor personally.


    The new status had made the desperate Vareyen see young Erthor as a heaven sent opportunity and she had immediately set out to befriend the boy, either due to inexperience or desperation she had instead terrified the young elf and he would hide out in my chambers until the coast was clear, or before now bribe Raijin to escort him to his destination.


    The fact I had not seen Vareyen on my way here must mean she had fled when she saw Galfin; I made a mental note to strongly warn her to stay away from my serf.


    ¡°What do you mean something is wrong with Raijin?¡± I asked going back to the last bit of information that he had dropped.


    ¡°for the last few days he hasn¡¯t really been moving about that much and all he does is sleep¡± Erthor started, so far he had described a normal day in the life of Raijin and I lifted an eyebrow to indicate that so far he had told me nothing that was worrisome. ¡°And he hasn¡¯t been eating¡± now that was worrisome.


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    ¡°Where is he?¡± I asked scanning the area around me that I could see, for Raijin to willingly turn down food was indeed cause for concern, the big cat had acquired a taste for the finer things in life, even going so far as to become picky about the prey it hunted the few times we could break away from my hectic schedule to go hunting, once he had tuned up his nose at a deer who he had deemed did not have enough meat on it to satisfy him, the act had destroyed the last bit of respect I had for him as a wild beast.


    ¡°his on his branch¡± Erthor replied to me and darted off towards the ancient oak tree that stood over the clearing that was my training ground in the middle of my chambers.


    The raised concrete platform ring was fifty meter in radius and was extremely durable, right beside it was a massive oak three that stretched to just below the ceiling of my chambers, the lowest branch of this three which was as wide as three of me lying side by side was located seven feet above the ring and was Raijin¡¯s favorite napping spot.


    As I approached the branch all the worry that had been building up in my chest instantly dissolved as I felt the magical energy in the air trembling at odd frequencies while it raced towards Raijin. It seemed he was trying to condense his beast core.


    The thing that divided magical beast, either normal or war beast was the possession of beast cores. This was the medium through which the beast could channel their ability or their chosen element. When the beast reached full maturity and had consumed enough meat that contained high quantity of natural energy they would form their beast core in their head.


    ¡°Do not worry Erthor he is just forming his core, in a week or two he would be back to normal¡± I consoled the elf.


    ¡°Oh¡± the one word answer told me that the real reason Erthor had been anxious about Raijin¡¯s refusal to move was because of the lurking Vareyen.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we go see your aunt so she can decide what to dress us in for the coming celebration¡± I suggested feeling bad for the drastic life style changes the young elf had been plunged into.


    Over the last few weeks it had become apparent the difference in standards children of noble birth were held to compared to those of common birth. Form the age of three children from noble clans or houses were lectured in history, politics and various other topics their tutors hoped would prepare them for the covert battlefield that was the political world of the elfin kingdom in comparison unless a child of low birth found someone who was willing to take them as an apprentice they would usually end up following their father or mothers trade.


    Since Erthor arrived in Rost manor to say he was welcomed with open arms would have been a blatant lie, the children of the affiliated clan currently staying at the castle had evaluated him and found him unworthy, often sending taunting remarks his way, at least that was the situation until I stepped in.


    I stopped telling them tales and cut of all interaction with them leaving them to their own devices, but the pride of elves had already set in even though they were so young and there ring leader, the female elf who had initiated the telling of tales had rallied them together to isolate Erthor. Sadly for everyone involved Erthor could care less about the feud going on in his defense finding the fact that he was inside a mansion titillating by itself.


    We soon exited the Rost manor and walked down the central street of town Rost. Soon it would no longer be logic to call it a town, the expansion within the last year had been on an almost alarming scale and even though we regulated the building of structure they had still sprung up like weeds.


    ¡°Greetings lord Tal¡± I turned to see Lairden waving from a distance, from the direction he was coming from it would seem he was returning from the inn the Van Linterg delegates had reserved for the tournament.


    And the lion spots his prey, I thought to myself as I placed a smile on my face and halted my steps so that he could catch up with us.


    ¡°who is this lord I keep hearing about, I know my good friend Lairden would not call me lord especially after I have repeatedly asked him to call me by my name¡± I greeted him jovially as we clasped forearms.


    ¡°I thought that was while we were alone¡± Lairden asked as he laughed nervously in embarrassment, ignoring his words that would have been mistaken as a scandalous affair back in my first life I pulled him in step with Erthor and i.


    ¡°we are on our way to get something to wear for the martial tournament, and my house intends to have a feast at the end of this weak so ill need something for that as well, by the way I intend to have you seat beside me as the guest of honor at the feast¡± I threw out casually and even though he hid it well I could see Lairden¡¯s face spasm as he tried to suppress his reaction and I let out a coy chuckle.


    The more favor I showed Lairden only highlighted how completely I ignored the delegation from Van Linterg and they were taking their frustration out on the young master of their household, his younger sister Riwen had become particularly vicious of late. Use to be the center of attention because of being the only child that had the blood of both the ruling couple of the Van Linterg house the members of the house had bent over backwards for her, now this new lord wouldn¡¯t even give her the time of day because, as she felt, of her half brother with the freakish eye.


    ¡°Is there any way you could give the members of my house a table in the inner hall¡± he asked sheepishly but his face immediately fell when he saw the scowl on my face. I had long since stopped hiding the dislike I felt towards the Van Linterg delegates from Lairden, at first it was because I was trying to curry favor as I convinced him to stay as a guest of my house, but as I had gotten to know more about the last child of the Linterg main branch my dislike had only grown more sincere.


    ¡°I will not pander to the needs of people who treat you so badly¡± I stated in a firm voice. The treatment of Lairden wasn¡¯t just bad at the level of his affiliate clans, even the guards and help were brave enough to throw sneers and looks of disdain at him, something that I had never experienced at the lowest point in my elf life.


    Very soon we arrived at Erthor¡¯s aunt shop. The elfin tailor had not hesitated to make use of her nephew¡¯s connection to the main family and was perhaps the only one more upset than the noble elves of my house at the few balls, galas and feast I had hosted so far, after all the more parties held the more gowns she sold.


    ¡°My lord¡± Erthor¡¯s aunt, Tolin, bowed as I entered the shop along with her nephew and Lairden. The business savvy elf who had not found it problematic to establish herself in Town Rost, had quickly become the local tyrant of the fashion industry within the little town.


    The capital trained elf had broken away from her master in order to establish a name for herself, her master however had not taken it well. Blacklisting her to all the noble clans, Tolin had no choice but to uproot her family and move to the new lands were her masters reach wasn¡¯t as influential.


    The store wasn¡¯t at the level of the mega brands of earth but compared to the others available it had caught the attention of the nobles of the Rost territory some even having to book a week in advance before she could see them, it didn¡¯t hurt that she was heavily endorsed by the current head of the house.


    ¡°Aunt Tolin the lord is going to have a feast at the end of the week¡± Erthor informed his aunt as he raced by me excitedly.


    The polite smile, which had been on Tolin¡¯s face, transformed into a full blown grin as her eyes flashed internally calculating how much money she could ring from the event.


    ¡°yes I intend to have two balls in the upcoming weeks, one will be this weekend which is exclusively for the house and its guest then we will have an opening ceremony feast before the beginning of the martial tournament, I would need gowns for the both of them¡± I stated in response to Tolin¡¯s hopeful gaze after she heard her nephews statement.


    ¡°this way my lords this way¡± Tolin started with a creepy chuckle as she rubbed her two hands together in a maniacal fashion as she gestured for us to walk deeper into the store where different robes of various cuts and colors were hung on display.


    ¡°Will the young lord of the Linterg clan also be looking for an attire for this great occasion?¡± I cast a amused look Lairden¡¯s way as the shrewd business female elf set her sights to conquer another young lord of a different house.


    ¡°Yes, if it won¡¯t be too much trouble¡± Lairden replied politely and I could see Tolin, almost physically, in surprise. Nobility at all levels had an inherent disregards for those of low birth, for example, myself even though friendly approached the seamstress with a distant attitude allowing her to know that as long as she was honest in her dealings with me she was safe, but we were never polite to the point of subservience.


    The young master of the Linterg house self respect and pride had taken such a battering that he had reverted to a default submissive attitude in hopes he did not ever offend anyone. Even though my facial expression remained stoic I felt a pang echo through my being, after all there was a point in my life where I also had to revert to such a demeanor.


    After my mother had ¡®relinquished custody of me to the state¡¯ as my case worker like to state, and I had been placed by child protective services it had then hit me that I had been abandoned by mother.


    It¡¯s hard to go from she loves me no matter what to she doesn¡¯t want me anymore, so it could be forgiven that I took some time to adjust. Fortunately the foster home I had been placed in had a buddy system where those more experienced in the system took the newbie¡¯s under their wings for a brief period to orient them, my big brother had been Tray Willis.


    The gospel of survival according to Tray was one which emphasized heavily on tough love and the fact nothing in life was free which he then went on to demonstrate by stating for his orientation class and continued protection I would be required to handover all my snacks, the fourteen year old street savvy African American soon proved to be worth every potato chip.


    Tray¡¯s true value to me however shone through long after we had transitioned from mentor and prot¨¦g¨¦ to friend as couple after couple interviewed me and decided that I did not quite fit the vision they had for the child they wanted to adopt. No matter how politely and politically correctly you are told your being rejected a rejection was still a rejection and after a while you start making changes to yourself both subconsciously and consciously.


    I began to smile at all times when I was in view of an adult, I once went a week with an inflamed rash on my thigh brought about by a vegan diet one couple I was staying with on a trial bases stuck to in fear that It would be the reason they passed on me. Slowly and systematically I sank into depression and by age ten I had started hiding in dark corners to cry not because I was embarrassed that others would see me crying, it was so that my perfect foster credentials would not be ruined.


    It was Tray who had noticed me slipping and him that dragged me back, firmly indoctrinating me into the fuck them all school of life, it was also him who thought me to forgive but never forget.


    =========================================================================================================


    It was the day of the feast at last and the nobles had descended on the manor with a vengeance.


    Gold and ivory reinforced carriages, silk and fur lined gowns, gem embedded ornamental weapons and jewelry on every available piece of exposed skin was the theme of the day as noble after noble arrived at the Van Rost manor, all that was left was a fashion icon to stand at the door asking the nobility who are you wearing.


    I chuckled internally at my small joke as I observed it all from the second floor balcony, I had long since learnt that a feast wasn¡¯t a celebratory event but simply other method elves used to fight.


    ¡°Are you sure this is fine lord Tal¡± Lairden¡¯s voice drifted from behind me filled with uncertainty and trepidation for the upcoming night. Guest of honor at one event could be incidental but as Lairden was about to receive that same honor for the second event in a row everyone would soon know that the lord of Van Rost favored the second child of house Van Linterg.


    ¡°Our friendship isn¡¯t a secret affair Lairden, I am not ashamed to count you amongst my confidants and would be most honored if you saw me in that light as well¡±  I replied while turning to face the worried elf.


    The difference in Lairden between when I stumbled across him in that sorry excuse for a camp and now was like heaven and earth, he was currently dressed in a midnight blue robe with diamond buttons all the way down the middle, his short hair was highlighted by a silver circlet he wore on his head and he no longer tried to slouch to avoid notice but stood tall and proud. The other day I had heard him put down one of his house guards that had been getting to mouthy and I had almost cried with pride.


    At my words Lairden nearly glowed with pride and I chuckled internally at the proverbial straws I had been piling on the camel¡¯s back patiently waiting for said camel to no longer tolerate been used as a floor mat by his clan.


    ¡°come friend Lairden, our guest are seated and have started feasting we should go before all the good stuff is gone¡± I stated good naturedly and led him out into the passageway where Erthor stood with a slight frown on his face.


    ¡°If you¡¯re that worried about Raijin you can stay with him instead of going to the feast¡± I offered the little elf and instantly a constipated look crossed his face. He had watched the mana war beast become less and less responsive over the last few days spending more of its time asleep than anything else, Erthor had continued to worry over the lethargic cat despite my reassurances that it was only trying to form its core, however he had been looking forward to the feast since I granted him permission to attend.


    ¡°I will go with Lord Tal¡± the elf-ling finally replied and came over to my side. The difference between elf children of noble birth and common birth had been made apparent ever since Erthor came into my life, things I had taken for granted as the norm had left the elf starry eyed and speechless.


    Not all elves start cultivation by the tender age of three years, that practice had taken root barely seven thousand years ago among the higher noble houses, with their resources and expertise they were able to mitigate the damage the early start would cause to the children.


    Those of low birth usually didn¡¯t start cultivation until they joined a merchant or mercenary clan or were taken in as a house guard by a clan who would then give them a low level cultivation method in exchange for anywhere between five to six hundred years of service.


    The magical side of the coin was even worse some potential mages going up to a thousand years before they saved up enough money to seek the tutelage of an experience mage to guide their path. Other discrepancies existed in the level of education they received the nobility almost at the university level and the commoners barely qualified as an elementary school education, only expected to know the letters and simple additions and subtraction along with the common words used in their future profession.


    Erthor had been an exception to the rule, because of his aunts exposure in the capital she had taught him more about the geography of the world and its various history with a slight dip in our elf history, to his dismay I immediately hired a tutor to rectify this and he spent a large chunk of his day learning what he had termed ¡®fancy stuff¡¯.


    We walked together up the hall and descended down the stairs as one before the flustered faces of Galfin and Felina rushed into view.


    ¡°my lord there is grave news¡± Galfin began while Felina¡¯s eyes darted between Lairden and Erthor I am sure pondering the wisdom of discussing house affairs with these present but to ask Lairden to excuse us would undermine the sense of trust I had been trying to build between us all this time.


    ¡°I have received news from Letharen, a ship from the capital has anchored of the coast bearing the royal seal¡± Galfin continued when he realized that I wasn¡¯t going to ask the two elves with me for privacy.


    I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply as I mentally readied myself for the next bout of hostilities that were going to occur. It seems the kid gloves were coming off and the royal family had come to deal with me personally.


    =======================================================================================================


    author: tried to add more structure to the power system of the world without revealing to much of what might happen in the future. the chapter was barely edited as well as it reached the limit of words i set for myself and i thought instead of holding unto it i would release it and immediately start on the next one.


    ps: will put a brief description of the power system in authors rants this weekend.

 Book 1 Chapter 12: Return of the White Sword Elf

    ¡°thank you for honoring my house with your presence¡± I said with a smile on my face to yet another delegate from a merchant or mercenary house, after the twenty fourth one there faces had begun to blend together and if not for Felina being right there beside me whispering their names and titles in my ear I would have just stared at them until they introduced themselves to me.


    It seemed the nobles in my house had been itching for a good ball and it was showing, boisterous and exaggerated laughter echoed across the hall and broad smile displaying all their teeth were pasted on every ones face as they glided from table to table before ending up in front of me where I would repeat the above phrase.


    I would have normally put more effort into the impression that I gave a damn about anyone present but the bomb Galfin and Felina had dropped on me right before I made my entrance into the banquet had my brain spinning various strategies that would let me keep my head, but more importantly the question of why now was more prominent in my mind.


    Had they somehow found out that Mablung was about to form his pillar and were here to forcibly recruit him, or did my display of magical and martial prowess require them to come and see if the young lord of the Van Rost family would pose a threat to their rule in the future.


    They being aware of my tangle with the three general level opponents were in a unique position to have all the available knowledge of my current skill and know precisely how dangerous I was, but for the members of the royal family to come here themselves was something I had not expected.


    I would have to play a greater part in Mablung¡¯s pillar creation and the emergence of Raijin¡¯s core.


    ¡°Thank you for honoring my house with your presence¡± I said reflexively as another elf approached me only to realize that it was Galfin the head of the Loft clan.


    I smiled in embarrassment as I realized my blunder and endured Galfin¡¯s scowl.


    ¡°it would be safe to draw this feast to a close using the fact that the tournament for the first decade candidates would begin at first sunlight¡± Galfin said to me and scanning the room I agreed as the celebrations had already begun to simmer down and it had been a while since the last hidden barbs were traded between any of the nobles present.


    I let loose a sigh of relief and the smile on my face turned genuine as I realized the farce was all over, ignoring the chuckle from Lairden who was seated next to me at the joy I displayed at my imminent escape I rose to my feet and gently let a light aura exude from my mana wells to encompass the entire hall bringing everyone¡¯s attention to me.


    ¡°My most honored and esteemed guest, it brings me great sorrow to draw this feast to a close. The brief time we have spent together has been most enjoyable and enlightening but as the tournament starts tomorrow I must beg leave of you all so I might make final preparations to make the event a memorable one for all you esteemed guests¡± I said and a smattering of applause rang out across the hall.


    ¡°this however would hopefully not be the last time we meet as you are all invited to the winners feast, where the champions of four tournament as well as the most promising of the participants would be invited along with everyone present here to once again grace this house with their magnificent presence but until then I bid you all goodnight¡± I finished then bowed slightly in the general direction of the crowd before turning to Galfin.


    ¡°Did you inform the house advisers and the leaders of the various clans I would meet with them?¡± I asked Galfin while I gestured for the occupants of the table of honor to follow me.


    ¡°Yes my lord, they will gather in your office in fifteen minutes and I also informed Lord Glander that he would be standing in for the branch family¡± Galfin stated and I nodded in approval. Though gone Vanlathriel¡¯s reach still extended to the new lands and if she heard that I was mistreating her son she would try even harder to make things difficult for me, until I had destroyed all her agents within the clan I would continue to tread lightly.


    I left the hall through a side exit and headed deeper into the manor in the direction of my office while mentally preparing myself for a different kind of battle.


    The nobles of my house desired power but their lust for wealth was far greater. Most of them had not had the foresight to see the amount of business the tournament would draw to the town but now that it was here they wanted in.


    Few things could unite the nobles under the banner of the house Van Rost, even Vanlathriel had failed to get a unanimous vote when she had wanted to install Glander as the head of the house, only when she had offered the house wealth had the former elders been persuaded to stand on her behalf and they had jumped ship far to easily, if I attempted to keep the entire business venture to myself trouble would soon come my way.


    The trick was turning them against each other, and I would use the very thing that would unite them against me to do so.


    I strode into the office and immediately sank into the large chair behind the desk.


    ¡°the nobles would be angling for shops along the road to the arena as well as a cut off the proceeds of the event itself, they have been vigorously recruiting shop owners to boycott tomorrows event if you do not concede, a plan that would have been disastrous if between you and the main house you did not own more than half the shops there¡± Felina began as soon as she saw I was settled.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen them this united since your grandfather took lady Fremay as his concubine¡± Galfin said with a tired voice as Felina continued to lay out all the information she had acquired, but this was something I had expected to occur sooner rather than later.


    The strongest among them had tried to take me down and failed, they had then adopted a wait and see attitude in hopes I would prove inept at ruling or expose a crucial weakness that they may exploit but I had proven more than able and extremely guarded towards them all, the next logical step in the face of a common enemy was to unite and take me down.


    ¡°why do they hate you so lord Tal¡± Erthor who had been quite most of the night in fear of saying something he should not in the presence of powerful nobles finally spoke out seeing he more or less knew everyone present did not mind him so much.


    That Erthor had a talent related to beast taming had been firmly established in my mind as the young elf currently carried a basket that would occasionally have a soft cry emit from it once a while, this was the envoy from Van Linterg¡¯s final attempt to woo me.


    Having heard how close I was to Raijin and the care I took to raise him, Lairden¡¯s family had procured five more long tooth cubs for me, these mini Raijin¡¯s were beyond adorable and if raised right would turn into formidable war beast that would aid my forces in the future. the instant the basket filled with the cubs had been placed in Erthor¡¯s care they had all obediently curled into a ball and fixed their green eyes on the young elf as if he was the most fascinating thing in the world.


    ¡°they don¡¯t hate me Erthor, they are just unhappy that they cannot control me¡± I replied offhandedly as I strategized my approach to the coming meeting of the houses upper echelon.


    ¡°Lairden I have already inconvenienced you for the evening, I¡¯m afraid the coming meeting will force out a side of me I would not like myself to see, would you mind taking Erthor somewhere until I weather this storm¡± I smiled towards Lairden.


    Lairden been way more politically savvy than I was picked up on my hidden clue for him to run away as fast as he could, he smiled in appreciation then left with Erthor in tow.


    A silence pervaded the room as Galfin, Felina and I mentally prepared ourselves for the upcoming confrontation.


    ¡°lord Tal it has been too long since I have been blessed by your presence¡± the doors to my office swung open and the first in the door was the recently appointed head of the Trahl clan, Amrod Trahl.


    In the power vacuum that had occurred when I had demoted the elders to advisers and then the subsequent one month house arrest I had sentenced the heads of the clan to had given a crucial opportunity to the lurking nobles of the house to execute a power grab, not all the former clan leaders were able to hold onto their positions in the subsequent shake up that followed.


    Amrod Rahl had won his position through a brilliant display of the carrot and stick technique, bribing where he could and blackmailing when that didn¡¯t work out, the subsequent spree of assassinations however was something I had not thought he was capable of.


    As the new brown haired and blue eyed clan leader drifted off to claim a seat, the female elf approaching me had been a dark horse I had not seen coming.


    Lady Halnef Elensar had always been a force to be reckoned with within the house, but when the Elensar clan went silent throughout their heads house arrest and then named her his successor the evening after his release I knew something was off.


    It had taken Felina three months to insert one of her ears within the Elensar clan only to find out that the clan had not simply changed heads but had gone through a complete remodeling from top to bottom, whether this was a good or bad thing for me only time would tell.


    ¡°Lord Tal¡± Lady Halnef greeted, dipping slightly in a curtsey before she wandered away.


    The heads of the Losselhelm, Sumon and the Anarion clan had managed to hold onto their positions and had grouped together at the back of the room occasionally throwing conniving looks in my direction while the new head of the Helayanwe clan wandered from group to group.


    There were some knew cards in the deck but the game was the same, it was time to play who has the bigger stick.


    I rose from my seat and every eye in the room swiveled in my direction as everyone present fell silent waiting for me to speak.


    ¡°Galfin has informed me you wish to see me¡± I said with a smile and simply stood before them. Everything from this point on had to be with a purpose this was the new council that I had to deal with and if I did not force them into a position I was comfortable with them being in they would forever remain a thorn in my side.


    ¡°why are the elders not present in a house meeting?¡± Belrundus Losselhelm asked as she stepped forward. It would make sense that she would advocate the presence of the former elders being one of the original clan leaders and also having one of the said elders originating from her clan but that wasn¡¯t the crucial point.


    Answering my question with a question and calling them elders even though I had very publically demoted them to advisers of the house was an indirect challenge to my authority but to confront her now would unite the clan leaders against me more than they already were.


    I let my gaze linger on her for a moment before I smiled and looked away, the best method to fight against greater numbers was to divide and conquer.


    ¡°Does the head of the Losselhelm clan speak for all of you?¡± I asked and with that simple statement, there well thought out united front began to crumble after all even if the other six houses were united clan Loft was firmly in my pocket.


    ¡°the clan Losselhelm does not speak for the clan Loft, we were under the impression that this meeting was called to discuss the sales of tickets for the tournament and rental of shop space along the arena road, if clan Losselhelm wishes to advance their political agenda they should do so another time¡± Galfin promptly responded from beside me.


    Never in both my lives have I seen someone been thrown so smoothly under the bus, the female head of the Losselhelm¡¯s face became froze in fury at the blatant slap in the face delivered by Galfin. And the room became restless as people began to shift about in anxiousness as I had subvertly raised a question that they may have not been willing to face.


    If they were in an alliance who was leading it?.


    Every alliance had to have an individual who would speak as its unified voice, be that person be a simple face acknowledged by the people or a figure head manipulated from behind, an individual who could be called upon at any point in time to speak as the voice of the alliance had to exist either in title or person.


    Upside, through this person there would be no confusion concerning commands or instruction given as the person could always be sought to confirm or deny the order and if things go wrong a scapegoat to be punished was readily available.


    Downside, the other clans would be unofficially declaring that the person or clan was leading theirs or they were following his instructions and in the elfin society deferring to a noble of equal stature on too many occasions could be seen as weakness.


    Me asking who their leader was tantamount to asking whose instructions they had chosen to follow, even if there was a master mind behind this new unified clans approach they would not be willing to publicly admit that as the head of their clans they were willing to differ to others concerning events that involved their clan.


    I let the smile linger on my face as I watched the clan heads shuffle through the first hurdle I had set in place and re organize themselves for a retort.


    ¡°lord Galfin is correct we did request this meeting pertaining the ticket sales of the tournament and the rights to the shop along arena road, we should focus on these aspects instead of meandering onto various personal agenda¡± Lord Amrod spoke out from his corner of the room.


    I chuckled internally as I watched the first rift open in their internal working as Lady Belrundus threw a scowl in the direction of the lord of the Trahl clan but let the matter drop.


    ¡°so I take it you all agree that this meeting was called on the issue of the sales of seats to the tournament and the renting of shops along the arena road?¡± I rhetorically asked correcting the little twist of words the clan head of the Trahl clan had try to let slip in.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    There were positive nods around the room as the other clan heads realized the first issue raised by lady Belrundus was a lost cause and silently agreed to change battle fields.


    ¡°so whats the problem?¡± I simply asked throwing my second monkey wrench into their plans.


    A confused silence descended on the room before a dazed lady Halnef let out a puzzled ¡°what?¡±


    ¡°you called the meeting concerning the sales of seats to the tournament and the renting of shops along arena road, is there a problem with these things?¡± I asked again this time deliberately enunciating my words clearly like I was speaking to an individual who wasn¡¯t quite all there.


    ¡°Lord Tal, since the arena, the path leading to it and the shops along that path were built by house funds isn¡¯t it right that the clans associated with the house benefit from it as well¡± the head of the Elensor clan began the second assault, ignoring my earlier insult and instantly the other lords rallied behind him.


    I let a look of confusion cross my face for a moment as I bent my head in a thoughtful expression causing the room to fall silent again.


    ¡°my sincerest apologies I was not aware that the opportunity to rent space was not offered to the clan heads, or the ability to participate in the tournament organization so that you may benefit from the sales of seat was not made available as well¡± I said in my most sincere tone, but as each word fell from my lips the nobility before me face¡¯s kept getting uglier and uglier and Galfin soon showed why?


    ¡°all clan heads where approached before the construction of the arena for funds in aiding in its construction and each and every one of them claimed financial difficulty, as lord Tal instructed when hotels and shops were being planned for the road leading up to the arena every clan head was asked if they were interested in acquiring a space for their family but each replied in the negative. The Helayanwe, Losselhelm, Sumon and Anarion clan heads were asked three times because when I was making my rounds to include the new clan heads I asked them again¡± Galfin promptly responded as soon as I was done speaking delivering the killing strike to the entire thing.


    ¡°when it was time to plant the seed you were nowhere to be found but now the crop has been harvested I find you at my front door with your hands outstretched like beggars ¡° I calmly stated injecting some steel into my voice.


    There was a collective wince as each clan leader recoiled from the blatant insult I had thrown at them. A medley of emotions ran across each face present, anger, shame, indignation but before they could rally I presented the carrot.


    ¡°this situation is easily solved, since you were presented the opportunity to own a shop along arena road and rejected it that path is forever closed to you but I will put six shops up for rent and let you all bid the amount you are willing to pay the house to rent the shop for the entire tournaments duration¡± I said.


    A sigh of relief washed through the room as the lords and ladies heard my offer, after all with the clans present there were enough shops to see to everyone so they wouldn¡¯t have to fight amongst themselves. Just as that though was taken flight in their heads the door to my office swung open once more and Glander walked in.


    Realization dawned on the heads of the clan as Glander came into their view, the branch family was also a clan under the Van Rost banner and with Vanlathriel¡¯s influence and Eeth Rahn¡¯s deep pockets their son Glander was not lacking funds to get into a bidding war with the best of them.


    Suddenly two or three lords head snapped round to face me or should I say Galfin besides me realizing it wasn¡¯t six shops amongst six clan heads but six shops amongst eight clan heads.


    ¡°Forgive my tardiness my lord, I was getting sufficient funds to acquire a shop along arena road¡± Glander thrown off by the attention his arrival caused eventually apologized and stated the reason he was late. Ever since the Van Flotina incident Glander had been avoiding me and the few times he was in my presence he was extremely well mannered and polite. It would be nice to believe he had learnt his lesson and turned over a new leaf but I am not that innocent.


    Glander¡¯s words were like the final nail in a coffin to the clan heads who had realized that I had already succeeded in the dividing them.


    ¡°lord Tal! It is unjust for you to ask us to pay for these shops when you used our money to build the very shops you ask us to pay for, this is tyranny!¡± Lady Belrundus leapt to her feet exclaiming in outrage as she desperately try to keep the alliance they had shakily forged intact.


    ¡°that would be true if you all hadn¡¯t been blatantly stealing from the house under Vanlathriel¡¯s supervision¡± I stated immediately extinguishing any progress along this path.


    A noble house and its clans functioned very much like a city and the businesses within it, normally the business was independent of the city only to follow a few laws and guidelines and to pay tax for operating a business within their borders, but for the ten years that Vanlathriel was in control not a dime was given.


    Vanlathriel with the backing of her consort who belonged to the powerful Rahn clan wouldn¡¯t feel such a drop in the bucket, instead she had used the fact that she was waving taxes to draw more of the nobles over to her side, sometimes letting them draw directly from the house vaults, part of the reason they were so reluctant to show me their financial records when I first seized control.


    The statement was like a blow to the head of the Losselhelm clan and she sank dazed back into her seat her mind racing desperately trying to counter me.


    I waved Felina forward and she brought out a map showing the arena and the road leading up to it, on the map various shops and inns were marked out and truly only six remained mark less.


    ¡°we will begin the bidding form the area of least value to the prime locations like around the arena itself and the entrance to arena street, each shop has it initial rent value and at the conclusion of the tournament ownership will revert back to the house¡± I began sliding into my business mode as I gazed greedily at the money bags in front of me.


    The change was instant as each clan head leaned forward in their seats, eyes flashing like wolves watching a lamb skip merrily towards them.


    ¡°The first shop is a quaint little thing that contains a single large room, built with the intention to serve as a simple ornament shop, it has various display cases and counter tops already installed within the initial price will begin at three hundred gold¡± I stated and as soon as the rent price left my lips a vicious hiss simultaneously echoed out from every noble present but just as they were about to protest Galfin struck.


    ¡°four hundred gold for the Loft clan¡± Galfin called out beside me and I scowled internally.


    The arena was built into the inner perimeter of the wall surrounding town Rost, it was shaped as half a circle it flat half against the wall while the curved part extended into the town itself, the road followed this curve and if Galfin managed to get this little shop his house would dominate a small segment of the road there giving him a clear advantage over the other shops nearby.


    As if sensing my thoughts Lord Amrod gazed at the markings on the three other shops to the left of the shop in question and probably realized G.L. stood for Glander Loft.


    ¡°four hundred and fifty gold coins from the Trahl clan¡± Lord Amrod called out and with that the damn broke.


    ¡°Five hundred, why don¡¯t you all give me some face and let me have this little shop¡±


    ¡°five twenty, I your father wants this shop lets see who will snatch it from me¡±


    ¡°five twenty five, don¡¯t test me bro¡±


    I chuckled internally as I watched the united front crumble, by the time I was done with them they wouldn¡¯t be able to spell the word alliance let alone form one.


    ¡°Lord Tal that was to mean¡± Felina said beside me as we ascended the stairs back to my quarters. I diverted my gaze from Galfin who was chuckling maniacally as he counted the various notes of promises he had in his possession, this was what had probably prompted Felina¡¯s statement.


    As the auctioning of the shop spaces for the tournament gained momentum I had realized trusting the nobles to pay the promised sum was not in my best interest so the head of the silver ship merchant clan had been called forward to act as the banker for this auction and it had been most amusing watching them try and convince Orchaldir that they would be able to pay the sum that they were calling out to win the rent space, hence the notes of promise.


    ¡°that¡¯s what they get for approaching me with such a half baked plan¡± I snorted as I approached the door leading to my chamber, then I felt an extremely familiar energy ripple pulse through the air.


    In a flash I was beside one of the many windows that lined the hall leaning to my room as I cast my aura over the sleeping town Rost, searching for the source of the disturbance.


    Considering the time this had occurred it could be a trap to lure me out into another ambush but if it was the real thing my life would become infinitely easier.


    ¡°is something wrong lord Tal?¡± Felina called from beside me but I waved her away as climbed up to the window ledged as my aura rapidly closed in on the source of the ripple then finally I found it.


    ¡°you are all dismissed for the night, report on the movements of the various clan heads tomorrow¡± I said before leaping from the window and sailing into the night sky.


    As I fell I summoned the wind to control the speed and direction of which I fell, carrying me clear over the manor wall and into the town proper, I alighted silently on a thatched roof before leaping forward crossing over multiple houses in a single step until I descended into a darkened ally.


    ¡°if you had told me you were returning I would have ridden down to greet you at the harbor¡± I called out into the darkness joyfully as the close distance between myself and the source of the ripple left little doubt who it was that caught my attention.


    Suddenly a white streak shot out of the darkness towards me at lightening speeds, but I didn¡¯t bother to dodge instead I stretched my left hand out in the air and waited for the inevitable.


    A delicate hand appeared and gripped my forearm between the thumb and forefinger before a disgruntled grunt rang through the air.


    ¡°you are just at the peak of the body tempering stage¡± a melodic voice sounded out as my mothers black eyes rose to meet mine.


    Lady Erulasse Van Rost, once known as the white sword elf, a large part of the reason I was fighting to maintain my seat as the house head and the single thing on the entire planet I was willing to risk my life to protect, she also happened to be my mother.


    With snow white hair, that flowed all the way to her back, pearly white skin and coal black eyes though my mother wasn¡¯t an earth shaking beauty her uniquely colored hair, sharp features and proficiency with the sword made her a highly desired individual.


    ¡°forgive me for not being a cultivating genius like you, I have only been cultivating battle essence for four years, this is considered impressive in most clans¡± I defended myself while giving out an embarrassed chuckle.


    ¡°impressive, or did you mean barely acceptable¡± was the immediate retort she gave me.


    My mother Erulasse Van Rost the cultivating monster of the black sword clan did not see herself as a genius merely as a hard working individual, so anyone who did not perform as well as she did was simply not putting in enough hardwork.


    ¡°besides the noble of the house have had me on my toes since you left, cultivating is hard to do when multiple people are praying for your quick and untimely death¡± I finished before shifting my eyes back to the dark shadows that hugged the ally we currently stood in.


    ¡°Are we meant to continue to pretend that your friends aren¡¯t waiting in the shadow or should I greet them?¡± I asked


    My mother glanced back at the shadows before giving a non-committal shrug and looking me over, ¡°you lost weight¡±


    A snort escaped me before I could help myself, this was her go to statement when she wished to express how she missed me, having grown by two inches since she saw me last and also gained a significant amount of muscle mass I knew she wasn¡¯t been truthful.


    ¡°forgive us young lord Tal, when lady Erulasse told us of your proficiency in magic we all thought it was the words of a proud mother but we can all see there was some truth to it¡± an elf with a shaved head and a necklace and bracelets made of wooden beads stepped out of the shadow. He was barefoot and wore a toga like dress that exposed his left chest and fell to just below his knees.


    ¡°it could have been a bluff Daizen, he might have not known we were here and was simply testing the waters¡± a second figure emerged as well, this one was female and stood taller than Daizen. She had short brown hair and on her back was a massive bastard sword that looked just shorter than she was tall.


    ¡°The bald one is Daizen, he saw me use the fist techniques you taught me and his been following me ever since. The tall one is Kamahi, formerly of the blood flower mercenaries she is my usual sparring partner she wanted to meet the person that enchanted my sword, and she is also partially the reason I had to flee the capital¡±.


    My mother¡¯s non challant introduction of the two individuals behind her was slightly funny if not insulting, but the last part of her sentence sent my mind into a tail spin.


    ¡°You had to flee the capital!¡± I exclaimed in horror, my thoughts racing through the various offences my mother could have committed that would cause her to flee for her life.


    ¡°hmm, at first I think they just wanted to capture me alive, but when they overheard Kamahi praising my sword and also the fact that I had become a realm expert once again we had six of the more powerful lotus generals on our tails, this one joined us when Th¨¦oden van Ruwel seized my second blade and I had to result to your punching and kicking style¡± mother said letting loose a sigh at the end.


    My heart froze and blood rushed to my head as I heard each part of my mother¡¯s statement, what was going on?


    Not all the members of the lotus generals were looked at with disdain, some of them had actually been qualified to be acknowledged by the crown when they had been acknowledged but of the twelve lotus generals three of them had already been observed by the war minister to be named as general before the royal family stepped in one of those three was Th¨¦oden Van Ruwel.


    Condensing his first pillar at less than fifty and breaking into the realm state before two hundred Th¨¦oden had only one thing against him in the eyes of the elfish community and that was his age, this was the person that my mother had to deal with along with five other general level opponents and she seemed more bothered that she lost the sword she usually wielded in her left hand.


    ¡°It was extremely puzzling, one day they were trying to apprehend us the next they were hell bent on seizing your mothers swords¡± the female elf Kamahi said scratching the back of her head with a puzzled look on her face.


    I glared furiously at the collection of three powerful elves who seemed more interested in a mundane thing such as a missing sword.


    Offending the crown was only a matter of time for me, a new lord who was previously thought crippled and insane, suddenly regains his cultivation and establishes a magic guild and in one fell swoop sweeps aside all those who contested his rise to house head and stabilizes the internal affairs of his house.


    Best case scenario for them is that I found a magical relic or ancient elixir that restored my cultivation base and cleared my mental defect, worst case scenario, I had uncovered a hidden treasure trove of some ancient cultivator which I was using to rebuild my house, either way the crown would want me in their grasp for either the potential they believed that I had or the treasure throve they believed I possessed, only one thing stood in their way, my nonexistent master.


    The simple assumption that my grandfather had thrown out had apparently grown wings and was now taken as an establish fact. Looking at it objectively, one doesn¡¯t just stumble across a hidden treasure trove or ancient elixir; it was more believable if an esteemed senior cultivator had given these things to me.


    I let loose a sigh, rubbing the bridge of my nose before I faced the three realm experts before me. This manna from heaven that mother had orchestrated, this sudden rainfall in the middle of a drought that mother had brought to my doorstep how could I not recognize it for what it was.


    My mother had gone to the capital for one reason and one reason only to ensure my installment as the head of the clan, not to keep her position as everyone assumed but to ensure I would continue to have a vast amount of resources to cultivate with.


    Erulasse Van Rost was not a social individual; this was plain for all to see. Left to her own devices she would have built a hut on a secluded mountain and trained her swordsmanship till the end of time. This was part of the reason we had become so close after I had recovered most of my cultivation.


    Me being hell bent on acquiring power before the ultra powerful god like monsters that sent me here came to collect on the favor I had never asked for had transformed from my vapish young master ways to a training demon.


    My mother delighted by my new approach in life had given me her hundred percent support, using her personal wealth to buy the much needed elixirs for my magical training and when I started training my body in preparation for battle essence she had started insisting on me retaining my position as clan head. Embarrassingly enough it was because she believed with my poor talent I would surely need vast resources to break into the realm level.


    ¡°Mother I think it best we retire to the manor so we can accommodate your guest properly¡± I said as I shoved all my insecurities under the carpet


    We moved the reunion from the dark ally into my office at the back of the manor and even though I felt we had returned stealthily Galfin presented himself within minutes with servants carrying tray upon tray of food.


    ¡°Now explain yourself properly mother, how did you end up being chased out of the capital?¡± I asked once I observed all three realm experts had eaten their fill and I had observed all necessary pleasantries I felt I had readied myself for any disaster my mother was about to tell me.


    ¡°oh, it was nothing major, I broke into the royal armory¡± my mother replied.


    I changed my mind; I don¡¯t think there was anything I could have done that would have prepared me for that piece of information.