《Rise To Glory》 R2G Prologue- Eldred, this is a world where humanity was constantly at war with the beasts that inhabited it over supremacy of the world. These creatures possessed natural bodies that were naturally more formidable, stronger and much larger than a human making ordinary swords or arrows completely ineffective. The God that created this world was fair to a degree and as such in order to combat these creatures, God gifted humanity the power of Soul Force. Humans imbued with this power, would summon the elements of Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light and Darkness. They would fight against the creatures of Eldred and protect humanity from complete destruction with these talents. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. As things had progressed this way, naturally humans who possessed Soul Force would become the center of attention and be treated with more dignity than others. This is the story of a young man who was born without a shred of Soul Force in his body, making him akin to a leaf of grass or a pebble on the street in the eyes of inhabitants of this world. R2G- Chapter 1- Mr Fuzzy Chapter 1 - Mr Fuzzy A warm breeze blew across the face of a pale-skinned youth seemingly about 7 or 8 years old, making his messy rich black hair dance around his head in a disorderly manner. His eyes resembled jewels the color of the ocean as they were a clear bright blue and had a natural attractive aura about them. Despite having such beautiful eyes, they seemed to be void of life and unable to focus on anything. His nervous demeanor showed he seemed to be worrying about something as he sat on a balcony and peered at the light of the silvery moon. "Why does father not like me...? Is it because of that crystal?" The young boy muttered quietly to himself as his eyes became red and teary-eyed. He thought back to when he was asked by his father, the king, to come to his chambers. There he was told to place his hand on a crystal, which showed no reaction. He remembered clearly the look of disappointment in the King''s eyes and the snide comments from the generals who were in the room at the time. "Why can''t I produce Soul Force like everyone else?" "Why does everyone be so mean to me?" "Why am I so different from my brothers and sisters?" The young boy continued to torture himself with these questions, his hushed voice indicated it was only for himself to hear as if afraid someone would hear it. He had no one to answer these questions for him, so he had to think hard and put the pieces together slowly and it broke his heart when he found out what he had learned. He continued to silently cry and stared at the moon as he asked these questions, still no one answered him. This young boy was Alexei, son of the current King of Isalia, Alexander Isalias. This Kingdom was called the Isalias Kingdom and was one of the average sized territories that were under the rule of the Imperial Kingdom, who were rulers of this entire Continent called Falcrest. ** The next morning, Alexei woke up and as usual begun to ready himself to face his day ahead. He brushed his teeth, took a shower, and found himself his favorite attire which consisted of a dark black cotton shirt and breeches. The fabric didn''t look expensive nor did it stand out and that was precisely the reason it was his favorite. Alexei always knew standing out for him was never a good thing, especially now that he was born with a rare condition and couldn''t produce Soul Force. Even before this knowledge came to surface, Alexei was still mistreated as he was the bastard son of a concubine and as such his status as a legitimate noble was originally in the grey area in the first place. As Alexei gave himself a quick look in the mirror, he made sure his appearance was well kept and tidy and then he slowly and quietly made his way out of his room. Alexei, unlike his brothers and sisters, slept in a custom made room near the servant''s quarters outside of the Royal Palace. "Look, it''s that trash" A servant nudged another servant next to him as he pointed at Alexei and let out laugh. "Indeed, I can use Soul Force, but here I am sweeping the floor. Why don''t I get to live like him? Why doesn''t he sweep the floor? Bahaha" The other servant nodded and laughed as he made fun of Alexei. As Alexei left his room, he kept his head low and passed the servants quietly who snickered and made ill comments about him. Whether they thought he couldn''t hear them or if they just didn''t care, Alexei heard them all but he said nothing. This type of humiliation Alexei had grown accustomed to and as such carried on as if he had not heard it, but his tightly knit fist showed how disturbed he was. As a child who had these unfortunate circumstances, Alexei started to mentally mature faster than other children his age as he became a running joke in the eyes of the nobles, and even his own servants. Alexei ignored them and made his way over to the Royal Garden which was his most favorite area in the entire Palace. As a bastard child, no one taught him swordsmanship or military knowledge or anything at all a noble should know, and as such his days he could spend leisurely to his own discretion. This was the only upside Alexei had as a bastard child, however he would always know deep inside it was because no one cared for him. However, he shrugged off those thoughts as happily rushed into the forest to sate his curious young desires. The dark-haired youth scampered around the garden and explored the trees and rocks and he loved to immerse himself in his own world within the gardens. He skipped rocks across the small pond, and played with a few smaller animals as he chased them throughout the tiny forest. Sometimes, Alexei would pretend to be a legendary Soul Force user and summon all the elements and defeat the ever so domineering Death Hamster Lord. This Death Hamster Lord in question was a fuzzy brown hamster he had found within this garden that would always patiently wait for him to come feed it. After a while the two had bonded and he became Alexei''s best friend and companion. Mr Fuzzy slept in Alexei''s room in an open cage as he was allowed to go and come as he pleased. "Mr Fuzzy! I have a special menu today! I have your favorite! Roasted boar strips, hehe" Alexei spoke to the little hamster who cutely twitched his whiskers and greedily stared at the strips. Alexei teased him a bit by bringing it closer and then moving it further away, seeing Mr Fuzzy''s disturbed look he eventually gave it to him. As the little hamster dug into his meal, Alexei stared at him childishly and let out a few laughs. Suddenly Alexei lifted his head and turned toward the direction of the entrance of the forest, he heard voices coming from that direction. With Mr Fuzzy in hand, he walked to exit out of the forest as he knew only certain people were allowed to enter this forest. Alexei knew whoever had the authority to enter this forest was someone he couldn''t afford to offend, so he quickly decided it was time to leave. Alexei peered out from the forest, and noticed two familiar figures. There stood a tall, slender and beautiful woman dressed in an extremely magnificent white dress. She wore a silk white veil on her face that was slightly transparent, showing the outline and color of her rosy red lips. Her long black graceful hair rested on her back, and her gentle green eyes made one feel calm and tranquil. This woman was the Queen, Ariadne Isalias. In her arms, a tiny cute chubby girl that seemed to be about 5 years old wriggled uncontrollably as her lively eyes flashed around. She seemed to look like an extremely young version of the Queen, this little girl was one of Alexei''s siblings and was the princess of Isalias, Avia Isalia. Alexei stood from within the bushes as he watched the two, a painful feeling emerged from his heart as he watched the mother and daughter duo. He always wondered what happened to his mother and why she wasn''t here with him, but Alexei was never brave enough to ask anyone because he knew that would only spell doom for him. A few tears couldn''t help but leak out as he had a bit of longing in his heart for a family. As he looked at the Queen, he wondered if his mother once looked like that. As he thought these things, he was always grateful to the Queen as she never made life hard for him even though she knew his status well. She would never look at him or acknowledge his presence and pretended as if he did not exist, this in itself Alexei saw as a blessing because he knew how cruel adults could be. "-Ahh!" As he became conflicted with these thoughts, a sudden pain throbbed in his finger and he noticed Mr Fuzzy had actually bitten his finger by accident as he was chewing on the roasted boar strips. This noise gave away Alexei''s position, and he looked up and noticed the Queen staring towards his direction. Luckily the forest provided a decent amount of cover and he wasn''t noticed. Alexei''s heart throbbed in fear as he immediately fled and took a different route out the forest, a trail of tears glistened behind him as he made his way to his room. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The Queen continued to look in the direction of the sound, a troubled light flickered in her eyes. "Mommy! Mommy! Look!" The troublesome little girl called to her mother and broke the tension, the Queen smiled and continued to play with the girl after taking one more long glance at the forest. .. Later that night, Alexei awoke to the sound of people bustling and he noticed the servants moving about frantically. He tried to recall back in his memory what would cause such a stir and remembered that today was the princess Avia''s birthday. Thinking about this, he got up and he left his room as he walked around the outside of the Palace and pressed his face against the windows so he could see inside. The event was being held within the Palace as this was an extremely grand occasion and nothing was more suitable. The Ground Floor of the palace was an extremely huge dining room that was elegantly decorated and it''s grandeur surpassed anything else with the entire Isalia Kingdom. As he peered inside, Alexei could see the various nobles as well as the Queen Ariadne, Princess Avia, his elder sister Princess Alea Isalia and the oldest of them all, his brother Prince Avalon Isalia. His elder brother had short silver hair and dark blue eyes, he possessed a valiant aura and dressed extremely lavishly. However, he possessed a cold demeanor and was as sharp as knives. From time to time he would let out a rare smile and it made him seem a lot more amiable. His sister on the other hand, was like the sweetest rose. She smiled quite often and laughed loudly but with such grace that others did not find it repulsive or annoying and instead loved hearing it. She had long silver hair and dark green eyes that were shaped like exquisite tiny jewels. She wore a long gorgeous white dress that matched the Queen''s and her little sister''s and a pretty necklace that was made of a rare and precious emerald colored ore. As Alexei looked at them, he felt as though they were worlds apart from him and they possessed the aura of a true noble. They were all seated on a separate table far from the others at the head of the Dining Room elevated on a platform to show their status. Avia was the only exception as the mischievous little girl sat on the Queen''s lap, she touched and grabbed at everything in sight, people endlessly showered the little girl with praises and gave endless gifts which made her grin wide with happiness. As he looked at this scene, even more pain barraged his poor young heart and he stifled his tears and looked around for the King but noticed he was nowhere in sight. Suddenly a voice came from behind him. "What are you doing?" This voice surprised Alexei who turned around and to his horror the King was standing right before him. At his sides were two Generals who were present at his Soul Force testing, sneers written all over their faces as they looked at Alexei. The King Alexander, had rich black long hair and deep fierce blue eyes. Alexei seemed to be the exact splitting image of a King Alexander in his younger days and everyone knew for sure that he was indeed the King''s son. The King wore a black leather armor with outlines of blue, it was embedded all over with symbols, gold and jewels. This armor gave off an aura of magnificence especially when worn on King Alexander who gave off a mighty stifling aura. He also noted another approaching silhouette, a sense of fear welled up in his heart because Alexei knew this man extremely well. This man was his uncle and his father''s brother, Lukias Isalias. One of the people who Alexei tried to steer clear of the most was precisely this Lukias and his son Luwin Isalias Lukias Isalias, had messy brown hair and blue malevolent eyes. The wretched smile that hung around his lips would make anyone look away in disgust. Even though he was the King''s brother, they were not alike in anyway. Their auras were entirely different as the moon and the sun, one possessed a powerful and valiant aura while the other gave off an uneasy feeling while it also possessed a sinister vibe. It seems the King was only just entering and had matters elsewhere, this totally caught Alexei off guard and he immediately bowed his head toward the floor as he spoke in a hushed tone. As the King''s eyes landed on him, this made Alexei shudder under the pressure as he could feel the weight of his gaze. "Y-Your majesty, I was just curious. I-I''m sorry" Alexei replied as he timidly avoided the King''s stare. The eyes of his father, King Alexander always made him shiver. As a man who was powerful and gifted with Soul Force, he carried a majestic and confident aura about him, Alexei always felt like an ant in front of this man''s eyes. He would always remember the disappointment in his father''s eyes when he failed to produce Soul Force. King Alexander looked down at Alexei, a strange glint flashed in his eyes but it was soon covered up. "Go to your room" The King immediately commanded. "Y-Yes, your majesty" Alexei bowed his head a few times and walked away quickly as his heart pounded in fear. "Hahaha! Brother! Why do you even bother putting up with that trash? Is it not better to give him a few gold coins and send him on his way? It''s better to dig out trash at the roots!" Lukias immediately roared out in laughter as he gazed at the timid departing back of Alexei, a malicious light glinting in his eyes. This man''s tone clearly showed his disregard for the crown, the soldiers beside him laughed as they knew all to well the hidden meaning behind Lukias'' words and was jabbing at the King. However, the King gave him a glance and then proceeded towards Princess Avia''s birthday ignoring the comment. This infuriated Lukias as he didn''t get the reaction he wanted, for a split second a hatred boiled in his eyes but it quickly dissipated and he returned to his laughing carefree demeanor. ''Well, my son will take care of it anyway, haha'' ** Alexei was extremely depressed and as such he quickly ran towards his room, panting heavily as he slammed the door shut behind him. His breathing was ragged and his face a complete mess, he slid down his back against the door as he cried silently. Suddenly- *Knock* *Knock* "Open up trash! It''s me! Hahaha" Suddenly Alexei''s entire body shivered, he knew this voice. ''Luwen!'' *Knock* *Knock* Luwen continued to bang the door but Alexei wouldn''t dare open it, he pushed several pieces of furniture to block the door and placed his back against it. His teary eyes alert with fear as he covered his ears. Suddenly the banging stopped and Alexei uncovered his ears, he began to hope Luwen was gone but he wasn''t too hopeful as he knew what sort of person Luwen was. He was the complete worse of them all. "Hehehe! You don''t want to come out and play with your cousin! That''s okay trash! I''ll play with Mr Fuzzy instead!" Alexei quickly looked towards the cage in his room, he noticed it Mr Fuzzy was missing. Mr Fuzzy was always in Alexei''s room at night, no matter where he scampered through the day he would always return to Alexei''s room to sleep. A terrible premonition suddenly came over Alexei. R2G- Chapter 2- Sheep becomes wolf Chapter 2- Sheep becomes wolf "Hahaha, ~if you change your mind you know where to meet me~" Luwin''s voice echoed in his mind as a look of panic emerged on young Alexei''s face, he hurriedly moved the furniture blocking the door. In a rushing manner he swung open the door, beads of sweat poured on his forehead as his lips became dry and his fingers cold. Alexei hurriedly made his way to the Palace Garden as he was sure that is where Luwin would be. He had bullied and humiliated Alexei several times, so he knew exactly which spot Luwin referred to. As Luwin had Soul Force, he had used it''s power quite a few times to overpower and humiliate Alexei. No one noticed the tiny silhouette running into the darkness of the forest, and even if they did they probably wouldn''t care. Little Alexei finally made his way to a clearing in the forest where he saw a brown haired youth about 12 years old and two other silhouettes kicking something around with sneers on their faces. Alexei recognized these two companions of Luwin as his accomplices, Regis was a red-haired youth who was slightly handsome dressed in lavish clothes. The other was Ignatius, an ugly, fat, black-haired youth with pimples covering over his entire face. Alexei felt as if his heart had become numb, a horrible thought came into mind as he ran over at his fastest speed. He was different from Luwin, he couldn''t practice Soul Force and by now his breathing had become ragged and legs numb but he didn''t notice these things as the adrenaline in his body had affected his thinking. Luwin and the two other silhouettes noticed Alexei, with a sneer they stopped kicking around so Alexei could see the damage they had done. Sure enough, Alexei saw a bloodied familiar silhouette shaking on the floor, it seemed to be close to death''s door and it''s eyes couldn''t see who was holding it but it seemed to have an idea by the tenderness displayed. "No....No...*sob*" Alexei felt his heart break into a million pieces as he looked at the hamster, his brown fuzzy fur was now died in blood and completely cold. He knew for sure that Mr Fuzzy wouldn''t be able live. "Haha! That''s what you get for consorting with the enemy!" Luwin laughed loudly as he sneered over and over again, his two friends also followed his lead and laughed coldly as they peered down at Alexei in disgust. "Why...?..Why did you have to do this to him?" Alexei''s face darkened as looked at the hamster who held on to life by a bitter thread, blood flowed from his eyes as he gently gazed at his most valued friend. This was his one and only friend in this entire world, a companion whom he spent all of his time with and shared all of his joy. "Why? You think this is over? Those guys are our enemies! You''re consorting with the enemy! Hahaha. Guys, Take it from him and bring it over here, let me be kind enough to cremate him for you trash, Hahaha we''re family after all!" "Cremate?" Alexei looked at the dying hamster, and he knew by cremate Luwin meant burn him alive. As he thought of this, his hands shivered. Right before Luwin''s friends could move, a sound that made their hairs stand stopped them in their tracks- *Snap* An ear-catching snapping sound echoed out, as Alexei''s hands released from around the hamster''s neck. It''s lifeless body laid silently in his palm. Alexei got up, and he turned to leave the forest. Luwin didn''t expect that Alexei would out right kill the hamster as he knew how much Alexei loved the hamster, a fear had appeared in his heart. He then laughed and brushed it off as he found it stupid he would fear trash with no Soul Force. "Oye! Where do you think you''re going?" Luwin coldly barked as he walked up toward Alexei, A ball of fire appeared in his hand that illuminated the Dark Forest. As he reached to grab Alexei, Alexei turned around as his gaze met Luwin''s eyes and moved his hand. Luwin had stopped dead in his tracks. ''My...throat'' Luwin looked down, a knife had pierced his throat! "Boss?" One of the nobles questioned him in shock as they noticed the pause in his tracks. Luwin shifted his gaze downward, to see if he was dreaming and noticed the knife was indeed real. Luwin didn''t think Alexei would kill him, in fact he never believed Alexei was courageous enough or strong enough. By the time it took for him to register everything, he was already dead. A look of wonder plastered on his cold, pale and lifeless face. "You....You really killed him! You killed him for a rat!" Regis was the first one to notice as his height was generally a bit taller than them all and he saw the blade enter through the back of his Luwin''s throat. "Hahaha....he did what?" The fatty seemed not to understand as he questioned Regis, abruptly afterward Luwin''s body fell from it''s standing position onto the floor. Fatty looked into the lifeless eyes of Luwin and saw the expression of wonder and horror and fell cleanly on his butt as he became unable to speak. With a flash, Alexei sped towards the two! Running as fast as he could, an expression of utter madness distorted his once pure face and raw blood lust emerged from the depths of his soul and displayed itself through his eyes as he ran toward them with the knife tightly clenched in his fingers. The blood dripping from the blade to the handle of the knife made the two understand that this wasn''t a joke! "AHHHHH!!" This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Fatty was the first to scream! Regis tried to calm his nerves to summon his Earth Element, but it was no use. His legs were shaking as the fear crippled him and altered his thought process with unnecessary things. Fatty was too scared to even think about summoning his element and could only watch on in horror. Regis gave up on trying to summon the element as he stiffened himself and decided to fight, he stepped forward and threw a punch straight towards Alexei''s face which kept closing in! *Hack* *Puchi* "Guh!" The first sound was the sound of Regis'' fist being bitten! The second was the sound of a knife entering Regis'' lower abdomen! The third came from Regis as he uttered his dying cry! One of Alexei''s tooth went flying into the sky as blood leaked from his mouth. Alexei picked up the tooth, looked at it and nodded as if he remembered something. "It was coming out anyway" He looked down at Fatty who had terror written all over his face, the moon shun down on Alexei''s eyes and his knife as both gave off a terrifying blue gleam. His disheveled shoulder length hair covered in blood gave one a ghastly feeling. "This knife, was supposed to be used to cut up food for Mr Fuzzy" "Mr Fuzzy....will have his last meal" Alexei uttered these words softly as he looked at Fatty, Alexei himself was unaware he said these words. He was also unaware, that at some point a smile had crept it''s way unto his face. A smile twisted in sadness, insanity and happiness. As Fatty had seen this smile, a trickle of yellow liquid ran down his leg and he immediately got up and ran away screaming at the top of his lungs! "Ahhhh!" Alexei immediately prepared to give chase, but was stopped in his tracks as he noticed someone running towards Fatty! The sound of armor moving around reached Alexei''s ears as he realized the guards were coming towards their location! Alexei bit his lips till it bled as he watched the fatty''s back getting further and further away. Suddenly fatty stopped, a few guards appeared from the bushes. Alexei could see fatty''s excited expression and him speaking with them in an urgent manner, he knew this was the end of the road for him. He could kill both Regis and Luwin because he had caught them off guard and they weren''t expecting him to be ruthless, even Alexei hadn''t expected himself to be so cold-blooded with his revenge as he hadn''t thought it through. Although he could kill these two, he could not kill a fully armored and grown soldier. *Rustle* Alexei immediately sped off! He knew that now was his best chance to escape and as he knew this forest like the back of his hand, he also knew a secret way out! Alexei could hear the armor clinking from behind him and he knew that they were getting closer and closer as they were much faster than him. Luckily, he was close to the secret exit and sped through the forest trying to shake off the guards. Just when the exit had come into sight, Alexei saw a silhouette appear. A silhouette that he absolutely did not want to meet no matter what! The King Alexander! Alexei stopped in his tracks as his breathing became ragged, his legs were already tired to the extreme and now escape had seemed impossible. *Rustle* Alexei turned around, and noticed a few guards had appeared to the side of him, along with Fatty. The King on one side and the guards on the other, Alexei knew for sure if he were to be captured he would be publicly executed.He was a bastard, and his cousin Luwin was a legitimate noble! He didn''t want to give these people the satisfaction of seeing his death, he didn''t want them to enjoy it all. "I won''t let them enjoy it! No matter what, they won''t take from me again!" Alexei retreated to the only other direction he could think of, and madly rushed over. Not before long a cliff appeared in his eyes, Alexei stood at the edge of the cliff as he peered down he could see the forests and the huge lake below. This Palace was built on a mountain, this view was one of it''s marvels. Alexei loved this view ever since he played here he had loved this place the most. He turned around and saw both the guards and the King running over, he also saw Fatty who hid behind one of the guards. However even though the King was in his presence, his eyes remained on Fatty the entire time, who had a sneer on his face. Despite his both friends dying Fatty could still make such a face and forget about how he had urinated himself. "Trash" A single word had left Alexei''s mouth as his lips crept into a smile. "It''s a pity, truly a pity I couldn''t get the fat one! Hahahaha" Alexei laughed madly as he jumped off the cliff with his back facing the ground and allowed his body to free fall. His voiced echoed in the wind, a storm seemed to stir as the clouds which were already dark became grey and lightning flashed madly throughout the clouds. As Alexei opened his eyes, once more he could have sworn he had seen the King making a fearful expression with one of horror as Alexei fell off the cliff. However, he knew that it was wishful thinking. R2G- Chapter 3- Palace of the Gods Chapter 3- Fall into Oblivion Alexei''s body continued to fall at an incredible speed, his closed eyes opened in astonishment as he knew he should have hit the floor by now as he had been falling for about two minutes. Unsure of what to think, he opened his eyes and noticed all he could see around him was darkness, not a single light; but complete and utter darkness. The one thing he noticed was that it started becoming increasingly hotter, he begun sweating and this was proof that he was still alive. However he did not feel scared at all when faced with this strange phenomenon, he had already made up his mind to die when he had decided to jump off of the cliff. If anything he was completely bewildered and was even a bit excited. ''Where is this place?'' Suddenly a light flashed from below him, which immediately caught his attention as it was the only source of light within the darkness. Alexei''s falling body rapidly closed in on this light. As the young boy continued to go closer to the light, the temperature blazed even more and a trace of worry finally worked it''s way on his brows. Finally the light came within view and seemed to be a door covered in flames. Alexei instinctively braced! "Ahh!" *Thud* As he uttered this cry, he didn''t collide into the door as expected and instead fell plainly and gently on his butt. He opened his eyes and was completely shocked at what he saw! A young girl about 20 years old stood before him, however she did not look human in the least. Her entire complexion was dark, she had two devilish horns poking from her head, her curvaceous body covered in black armor with golden outlines. Her crimson colored eyes, as dark as blood were shaped like precious gems and seemed to be smiling. Her lips were red and full and would draw any man who was old enough to understand his biology excited. Above her right brow, he noticed the outline of a tattoo. It depicted something resembling an eye, only the drawing itself seemed archaic. Seeing this weird, demon-like figure before him, Alexei pinched his cheeks wondering if he had really died and went to hell. The woman seemed to understand what he was thinking as her lips cracked into a smile. "You''re coming with me, hehe" The dark-skinned demon-like general firmly gripped onto his hands and dragged him away before he could catch his senses or utter a single word. Alexei looked around him as followed the girl down the corridor, he heard terrible screams and the sounds of torture filled his ears coming from the rooms on both sides of him. Strange enough Alexei felt nothing towards these horrible screams, neither fear nor pity and his only thought was about the identity of this girl who grabbed his hand. The girl took a glance behind her and noticed Alexei''s curious gaze, she let out a cold graceful laugh as her nose twitched mischievously at Alexei. "What? You want to make me your wife?" As she teased the tiny Alexei, his face became red and he could no longer meet her gaze. The unknown girl, lowered her head and looked at Alexei seriously as her voice became cold and she stopped smiling completely. "Aren''t you worried about where I''m taking you? Are you scared?" Alexei shook his head, as he lifted his head up a few times and stole glances at her. The most beautiful people he had ever seen was the Queen and his eldest half sister, he had never seen someone like this who had seemed to come out from a painting and completely surpass them both. Also the amount of attention she paid to him was also something new to him as he had never spoken to a female before. Alexei was extremely shy in the face of this girl with overpowering confidence and a magnificent aura who was older than him, yet he still calmed himself and spoke slowly in a low voice. "I was supposed to die already and I have no where to return to, wherever you take me doesn''t matter. It''s your right to decide where I should go" His reply was rather quite simple, Alexei wasn''t a young man and only a boy so his thoughts never went behind her pretty complexion and they were rather pure and innocent thoughts. The young black-armored girl seemed to be satisfied with this reply as her smile returned in full bloom and much more elegant than before. "Good, hehe what a likeable rascal, last time I brought a kid here he wouldn''t stop crying and I''m not too good at consoling kids hehe. Follow me and I will make it worth your while, I''ll give you the opportunity to square off against those that wronged you and complete your vengeance" The beautiful armored girl led him by his hand and continued to walk down the hall, suddenly Alexei curiosity couldn''t be contained any longer and asked a few questions as they walked along the halls where they ignored the screams that constantly filled the air. Alexei could tell the girl didn''t mind him asking questions, so he fired away. "Miss, what is your name?" "Hmm? Hehe, call me Ares" "Miss Ares?....are you a God?" "Hehe, just Ares is fine. Hmm...Well I guess you could say that" "Ares, What''s at the end of this hall?" "Curious now are we? You''ll know when we get there" "Ares? Who are those people in the chambers that are screaming?" "Hehe those are prisoners of war...wait....What?!" Suddenly Ares spun around with a wild look of disbelief in her eyes. "Child...what did you say? You...You can hear them?" Ares asked cautiously as she gazed deep into Alexei''s eyes. "The screams from in the room...Of course I can hear them, can''t you hear them too?" Alexei''s blue eyes showed a clear reflection and hadn''t wavered in the slightest showing he was telling the truth. Ares looked at him for a bit and then smiled. "Ok seems you''re more attuned to the War-Realm than I thought, haha this is good! Follow me!" Ares cheerfully quickened her pace as she tugged Alexei''s hands like she would treat her younger brother. Alexei didn''t know what to think, no one had ever been so intimate with him before so he couldn''t help but ask- "Why are you being so nice to me? I''m a bastard son of--" "That doesn''t matter here! Hehe, in this place you are my little brother and will always be my little brother" Ares gave him a mischievous smile as she rustled his hair and continued walking down the halls. Suddenly a thought popped into her head that made her shiver. ''Wait...why did he only ask this now?....If he can hear the screams that means he''s been hearing it since he arrived here...How did such screams not bother him? Was he too scared?'' Suddenly Ares felt a strange feeling as she turned back to look at Alexei who was looking around curiously. She felt that there was something missing in him, something that should be there but wasn''t, but no matter how hard she thought about it she couldn''t quite put her finger on it. ''Maybe I''m just be imagining things, I''ve seen his entire childhood it was sad but there were no strange events and this kid isn''t a reincarnation of anything. Yet why do I get the weirdest feeling that something is fundamentally wrong with this kid?'' *Clink* *Clink* Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.Ares decided to push aside the thought for now as they had finally gotten to their destination. A huge golden door stood in their way, yet with a touch of her finger tips they opened almost as if they had done so themselves. A blinding light spilled through and caught Alexei''s attention as he put up his tiny hands to block the rays of light that followed through. The noise of chatter filled the air as they entered and the door abruptly closed right after they entered. *Doom* The closing door made a heavy sound and the chatter abruptly stopped. When Alexei opened his eyes he noticed the entire place was like a golden forest filled with all sorts of golden trees with fruits that shined like diamonds. In the distance and directly in front of him was a clearing with the most beautiful pond with lively fishes that seemed almost like gems jumping up and down, Alexei stared at the fishes till something else caught his attention in the background and he lifted his gaze outward. Right after the pond he saw a placed paved in archaic like stone tiles, this place had chairs that resembled thrones that seemed to be grown from the floor like a plant as it came directly from the Earth and were made of twigs and branches. The branches and twigs were made of a type of material Alexei had never seen before as they glowed brightly and gave off a golden color of splendor as well as an otherworldly feel. The air here was tasty and fresh and was not polluted in the slightest by anything, Alexei couldn''t help but take a few deep breaths. This place was definitely not man-made and even young Alexei understood that much. What was more shocking than this place, were the people who occupied these natural thrones. Some were not entirely human, some had six arms, horns, some seemed to be made from trees and some even wore divine armor and had wings on their backs like in the stories that most children had read about, Alexei included. "A Palace...of Gods" Alexei muttered as he gazed upon the inhabitants of this God-like world with curiosity and wonder. *Pock* "Ouch!" Ares gently knocked on Alexei''s head with one knuckle and showed a face of displeasure. "Don''t go fawning over other Gods! Remember your mine!" "Yes, Yes sorry master" *Pock* "Ouch!" "Don''t be rude!" "Sorry, big sister Ares" Alexei showed a face of being wronged as he gripped his head, Ares had hit the same exact spot without even looking. Alexei didn''t know why, but the second he had stepped through the door he felt an instant connection with Ares that could never be broken and his intimacy had risen with her unknowingly. ** Back in the Isalia Kingdom, The King Alexander stood at the edge of the cliff where Alexei had jumped, Lukias had arrived shortly after his son''s death and Alexei''s jump and exploded about the death of his son after leaving in a belly full of rage. He had only calmed down to some degree after hearing Alexei had jumped off and left to try and find his corpse or whatever remained of it to satisfy his anger or whatever perverted desires he needed. It had to be said this incident had garnered quite a bit of attention and quite a few people had shown up and gossiped, the King hadn''t said a single word since nor did his expression change; he merely stared at the cliff. After a while all of the people had left except the Queen, the little Princess that slept soundly in her arms, the Prince and the eldest Princess. Their expressions however, shockingly was one filled with resentment and sadness. The opposite of what the entire Isalia Kingdom would expect. "Little brother....I knew we waited too long...I knew it...*Sob*" The eldest Princess had a face full of tears as she heard the news and could no longer contain her grief as she slumped down on her knees and lost her graceful composure. The Prince''s face was cold as stone and his hands seemed to be itching uncontrollably. "Father.....the Marshall''s son must die. I do not care for his business no matter how much our Kingdom needs it, his fat useless son must die and if his family resists, so should they!" Fatty''s parents were extremely well connected rich merchants who''s services were depended on greatly in Isalia. This was precisely the reason why Lukias told Luwin to make the Fatty his friend, Lukias was a man of many schemes and this was simply one of them, it was no secret that Lukias wanted the crown but it was something no one spoke of. The Queen said absolutely nothing as she covered her mouth with one of her hands and gently rocked the little girl with the other as if afraid of waking her up. Her eyes spoke of her horror as they opened wide and flowed liquid uncontrollably on the young sleeping girl. All throughout this the King said nothing, finally as if a volcano had erupted he lifted his head to the sky and let out a terrifying howl that shook the entire forest. Shortly afterward footsteps could be heard rushing towards the King''s position, several of the guards who had came rushing over with swords drawn when Fatty had screamed for help came dashing over. "My Lord?" As they came over they realized the King was absolutely fine and didn''t understand why he would scream in such agony. "...Come here" The guards meekly and obediently walked over to the King and formed a military line. "Wait...no my Lord...what are you doing?!" "Ahhh!!" "Please...no!" "Uwaa...Mommy? What''s happening?" One by one the King had thrown them off of the cliff to their deaths. Seeing the little girl wake up, the King became quiet once more and sat down gloomily on a rock as he stared at the cliff. "....Don''t worry, I swear it. Every single one of them who made you jump will join you, even if I am also one of those people. For now I''ll play this game and root out all of the enemies of Isalia and all of the enemies of you my dear son and I will throw them off of this cliff to join you, otherwise I would never be able to face your mother for failing to do as I promised" The King silently made this vow to himself as his reddened eyes peered over the cliff. Alexei had no idea that everyday this man looked at him, everyday he played in this forest his father looked over him. Everytime he had been bullied, the King looked on with a burning face but was unable to do anything. Alexei''s background was so terrifying, that he would have been killed in his sleep if it wasn''t hidden careful enough. The day Alexei couldn''t produce Soul Force, the King wasn''t disappointed; he was heart-broken. He had wanted Alexei to one day be able to have the power to break his shackles and get rid of his name as trash without revealing his background. When Alexei failed to produce Soul Force, Alexander was heart broken because he knew his son would have to endure more. There were too many spies in Isalia that worked for his enemies for him to reveal any chinks in his armor. Were he to reveal affection for Alexei while they were alone but treat him indifferently when others were around, eventually someone would figure it out. He couldn''t be sure that a servant or a guard would not see these abnormalities. He had to take all things into consideration, but this was the only way to keep his son safe. His son who''s identity could cause a war between several great Kingdoms and even make the Imperial Kingdom antsy. It had become obvious at this point, that Alexei seemed to have a terrifying background which had to be concealed at all costs. R2G- Chapter 4- Blessings of the Gods Chapter 4- Blessings of the Gods While Ares playfully clenched young Alexei under her arms, they both noticed a few silhouettes walking over towards them. Alexei lifted his head and gazed at the approaching silhouettes in curiosity as he tilted his head cutely. One was a beautiful lady who seemed to be about 30 years and wore a dark green dress that hugged her curvaceous body, parts of the dress were exposed around the stomach and back area giving her a seductive aura so effective, it made even young Alexei look down in embarrassment. Her beautiful spring colored hair were like fresh blades of grass as they gave off a natural sweet smell and it''s color matched her dress perfectly. The beautiful woman''s eyes were exquisitely shaped and her gentle, deep green pupils reminded Alexei of his Step-mother. The other was an extremely burly man about 40 years with golden colored hair and fierce golden pupils, anyone could tell by his fearsome aura and the way he carried himself that he was clearly incredibly strong. He wore a full-body silver armor and precious looking golden armored shoulder pad that matched his hair color. The sheer size of this shoulder-pad would look exaggerated on anyone else but fit this burly man''s huge size perfectly. One one hand he wore a strange ancient looking golden gauntlet with strange black patterns, and in the other hand a leg of roasted meat. The strange thing was, no matter how many times he took a bite from the leg of meat in his hand, it never got smaller. One word to describe this man - Dauntless. The man made Alexei a bit nervous as he seemed to be like a fierce lion, his overall aura was stifling and domineering and sweats broke out from his tiny body almost instantly. While Alexei was struggling to cope with the pressure from the burly man, the beautiful woman stepped forward as she leaned forward to meet Alexei''s height. Her beautiful chest seem to bring in a mesmerizing aroma which confused little Alexei for a bit and made him slightly dizzy, Alexei felt a hand stabilize him from behind and he could tell it was Ares as he had gotten accustomed to her touch. "Ares, who is this cute little guy?" Alexei dropped his gaze even lower as the woman''s eyes seemed to see straight into to his soul...that was also not the only reason as the woman seemed to not notice her cleavage was within his view, or rather she had done it on purpose. Originally she had intended on teasing him a little, but seeing that her gaze made him a bit uncomfortable, the woman leaned backward as she let out a graceful chuckle and brought Alexei into a hug. "You''ve suffered much, haven''t you? Let this big sister take care of you for a while. Hehehe" *Smack* "Hands off Freya!" Ares coldly retorted as she slapped the woman''s hand away, the look in her eye was incomparably serious as she looked at the woman in the green dress. "Ohh! You know I''m just fooling around! Ha ha ha!" Alexei''s nose twitched as he didn''t understand what was going on and the pleasant scent of Freya still lingered on him. The burly man took a step forward as he stepped in between the two and gave Freya a displeased look. "Freya, you know how she feels about that kind of stuff" Even though he scolded her seriously and his eyes were fierce as a beast, he still lifted his hand to take a bite of the roasted leg as if everything else was his second priority and the leg of meat took precedence. "...Fine fine....I was wondering where you went, it seems you went to try and find another champion. This little guy looks much better than that sniveling brat you had to send back" Ares laughed as she smiled widely and took a proud stance as if she were the one being complimented. "Hehe! I thought so myself! This kid is much more easy for me to get along with! He''s my kind of people!" From start to finish Alexei had his eyes on the burly man as his disposition had reminded him of his father, King Alexander. The burly man seemed to notice Alexei''s fear-filled gaze, he misinterpreted this fearful gaze in his own way and surprisingly looked rather offended. "You must think I''m fat don''t you!! I''m not fat all! This leg of meat is special, it dissolves the second it gets in my stomach!" "Behold! My true, great and awesome self" As the burly man spoke, he flexed his muscles and his full-body armor shattered into dust in an instant. Alexei stared at the burly man with starry eyes as he saw the burly man''s body expand and grow taller right before his eyes. His muscles flexed and bulged, it seemed like coils of the most hardest and precious steel. They were extremely exaggerated and seemed as if they had been carved by the hands of a God, his golden colored skin gave off the feeling of an ancient statue of a Deity carved in bronze. "....Woah! I bet you can lift an entire mountain! No...maybe even two!" Alexei was surprised by this display and clapped with starry -eyes, his eyes showed how much he thought of those muscles. "Hahahaha" The burly man was quite pleased with this reaction as he placed his huge hands on his waist and let out a happy, embarrassed laugh. Alexei found the scary, burly man to actually be quite funny and this display of his quirky personality tickled a reaction from Alexei''s child heart as he too laughed along with the burly man. Strange enough, Alexei continued to laugh after the initial joke, although the burly man''s reaction was indeed funny it did not warrant this amount of praise. "Hahahaha" Alexei continued to laugh as he fell on his back and held his stomach, at some point in time a few dry tears had came from his eyes. It wasn''t tears of sadness and hatred that he was accustomed to, but these were tears that were new to him, they were tears of happiness and joy that came from his soul. This was the first time he had been around people who treated him like the child he was, people who didn''t seem to care about his origins or what his status was. Ares smiled warmly and just looked at him gently as she would her little brother, Freya who seemed to have an idea of his past immediately took this opportunity to tickle him with a leaf of grass that sprouted from her hands. The burly man said nothing as he stopped gazing at Alexei and turned his back to give the young man his privacy. "A man shouldn''t show another man his tears! Hmph! Well your not a man yet, so you can be forgiven!" The burly man took another bite of the roasted leg as his gaze rested on the beautiful suns in the sky, a hint of a smile on his face. ''It seems Ares finally found her champion huh. Good! Good! That girl needed some family! Still it was unexpected he would come from such a small world, well it matters not anyway'' At some point in time, the leaf of grass in Freya''s hand put Alexei to sleep as she decided to let the young one have some rest. A stream of water came from the pond nearby and flowed into Freya''s palm who washed the blood off the young boy from his previous encounters, Freya''s gaze was gentle and kind as she washed his body and whispered something in his ears. The grass around Alexei''s body seemed to come alive as they gently rubbed against his body and cushioned him gently. The wind blew and with it so did Alexei''s hair, as well as the grass and for a moment they had seemed to be one in the same. "...Freya...you" Ares was speechless, the burly man uttered these words as he looked at Freya in disbelief. "..What? Relax Heracles, this is Ares'' first champion so I want him to be something special" "Freya....you didn''t have to go as far as giving him your Blessing..." Ares looked at her in shock but Freya only smiled and gave the sleeping Alexei a kiss on his forehead. The tattoo of a shining green rose appeared and then shortly disappeared as fast as it had appeared. "Many of us can have many champions Ares, but you as the God of War can only have one; so why not make him special? The old man said you could only have one Champion, but he didn''t say what quality of champion. Besides this only costs me a single champion spot, as the Goddess of Fertility and Love have you forgotten how many champions I''ve already sired? I don''t mind giving one to my best friend''s Champion" "Hehe, ya know that actually doesn''t sound too bad. I like this kid a lot and he understands what it means to be a man!" As Heracles spoke, he walked toward the unconscious boy and knelt at his side. With a flick of his wrist, the strange-looking gauntlet disappeared showing his both bare hands. *Boom* Heracles slapped his both palms together resulting in an intense shock wave of golden light, surprisingly the unconscious boy before him was virtually untouched. He rubbed his palms together and created a whirring sound as his hands were covered in a golden fire. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "Prepare yourself boy, this isn''t as gentle as Freya''s!" *Doom* Heracles slammed his both palms on Alexei''s unconscious body covering him in eternal golden flames as his clothes instantly disintegrated, the flames burned like the sun as they covered his body in a golden luster. Alexei''s unconscious face twisted in agony as his forehead became drenched in sweat, finally as if he could no longer bear the pain his eyes opened widely as he released a loud howl! "Ahhhh!" The golden fire seemed to temper his body as his once pale face, became full of life and his weak and frail body gained an intense vitality that directly affected his entire constitution. He became a tad taller and a bit more robust, but the most shocking noticeable change was the color of his skin. It became shades darker as it''s color started shifting closer and closer towards Heracles'' skin tone. His muscles started showing and they took a perfect structuring similar to Heracles, however they were not too defined as Alexei was still only 8 years old and needed time for his body to expand and grow. The tattoo of a golden gauntlet appeared on Alexei''s chest and then disappeared without a trace of a mark. The already unconscious Alexei got up as he stared at his hands first and noticed his complexion change. As he lowered his head he noticed muscles forming in his abdomen that weren''t there before, Alexei showed a joyous smile as he stared at his own body shocked at what it had become. "....This is really my body?...I can feel power rushing through my body!" Alexei understood the Gods may have done these things and not forgetting his manners he made sure to thank them first. "Thank you....I-I don''t know what to say" Alexei lowered his head in embarrassment as he stole glances at the three Gods, Ares laughed joyously as she pulled him under her arms and gave him a kiss on his head. "Such a spoiled brat! Huh? Aren''t you glad you became my champion? Well? Well? Now you look like a certified lady-killer, Hehehe!" Ares jokingly bombarded him with embarrassing statements as she hugged him tightly and rubbed her head on his silky black hair playfully. "Why are you taking credit for our work? Kid, just so you know it''s Freya and I that gave you your blessings. This cheap War God has yet to give you a single thing!" Heracles wasn''t one for holding his thoughts and immediately destroyed Ares'' bubble. Ares sent him a cold glare, however this burly man had quite the thick skin as he took a bit of the roasted leg in his hand and pretended not to notice. "Why doesn''t big sister want to give me her blessing?" Alexei suddenly turned towards Ares, a confusing look in his eyes. Ares'' seemed to know what he was thinking and looked at him calmly. " I know what you''re thinking....but since you have a choice now, you should re-think if you want my blessing Alexei. First I''ll tell you what it entails and then I''ll let you decide if you want it. My blessing doesn''t come easy, with the current you; if you work hard enough you should be able to live a comfortable life in your world" "....My blessing isn''t much of a blessing and it cannot give you a peaceful life. If I were you I''d--" Alexei nodded at her words, and without waiting for her to finish speaking, he declared. "I want it" "Huh?" "I want it" "You didn''t even let me fini--" "I want it" "...Why?" "If I become afraid of being your family, how can I be your family?....Isn''t this how a family should be?....I think" As far as Alexei knew, this was indeed what it sounded life. Although the words sounded casual, to Alexei these words had came from a longing desire in his heart. The desire to have a family. This answer, along with it''s resolute stature had made the three Gods speechless! The first to recover was Heracles. "....Bwahahahaha! That''s how a man should be! A fire in his belly and not a care for the world! I was right giving you my blessing boy! The sniveling rats who came before you couldn''t hold a candle to ya!" "Indeed...such a little man, Ares? Well how are you going to respond to this young man''s most sincerest wishes?" Freya smiled brilliantly as she tilted her head and glanced at Ares. "...Y-You...You have no idea what you''re going to get yourself into" Alexei looked down at the floor for a second, thought for a bit and then looked at her in the eyes. "You gave me an opportunity to be your family, that is something I''ve always wanted. A family shouldn''t be where only one person gives and the other receives. I''m not an expert on families, but I think I''m at least right about this point. Big sister is a God, so far you''ve saved me from death and brought me to this place. You offered me a family and I got to meet big sister''s friends who gave me these great gifts. I cannot be someone who walks over these things and clings onto big sister, whatever it may be I will definitely accomplish it for big sister" Alexei clenched his tiny fists as he spoke declaring his determination, upon seeing this cute face Ares couldn''t stand it anymore as she flew over and hugged him tightly as she smiled elegantly, obviously extremely pleased with his determination. "Stop talking.....if you continue talking like a dependable old man, I''m afraid I won''t be able to take you seriously, Hehehe!" Ares playfully grabbed his cheeks and pulled them at different angles making funny faces as she thought his serious appearance was quite funny. Alexei suddenly remembered something, he pulled away her hands from his cheeks gently , looked upwards toward her and stared at her eyes. "....There''s one more thing, ever since I woke I''ve found that I understand things easier. I don''t know...I-I can''t explain it good...uhh...I get things I didn''t usually understand" "Since then, I''ve had a feeling for a little while now...that this is a place meant for Gods, I probably aren''t meant to stay here for too long right?" Alexei looked at Ares'' expression carefully and noticed at first astonishment, then almost abruptly afterward she tried to hide it with a fake smile, but the sadness in her eyes showed her true feelings. "....mm" "...Say if I die again...will I come back here?" "NO! Definitely not! What are you thinking?!" Upon hearing his crazy question, Ares immediately became angry at this careless inquiry as she remembered Alexei had tried to commit suicide before. "..Bwahahahaha, kid maybe you should''ve become the God of Death''s champion instead. A good man indeed, completely unafraid of death. Your the first champion I''ve met that probably ever thought of suicide right after almost committing suicide and ending up here.. Kid, is this going to be a recurring thing? Ah yes lad, you made my day today, that''s for damn sure! No! Perhaps war might suit you best after all, only suicidal crazies enjoy war anyway." Heracles suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as he noticed Ares'' face become dark and the sound of a sword unsheathing was heard. "Oh? Will you look at the time! It''s skin past bones, quarter to flesh! Bwahaha! Time to go deal with that "thing" at "that" place!" Heracles leapt and in a golden flash he was no where to be seen! The scent of roasted meat lingered in the air as it further irritated Ares'' nose. "I hate that stupid line, what does that even mean? Skin past bones...quarter to flesh?...Freya is he talking about meat? "Ohh that? He found a world where there''s no supernatural forces, it was called Earth I think. Apparently they have something called technology over there and he says their food is unparalleled . He wanted to "descend upon it" and "make it his homeland" or something to that degree....I don''t usually keep up with that idiot''s antics. I feel sorry for the poor souls over there though." ** R2G- Chapter 5- Mars Romulus RisingWarrior; Hi to my very small and unknown but loyal readers hehe, Thank you for reading. Figured I would give my thanks *bow* Chapter 5 - Mars Romulus "Ha!" *Cling* *Clang* The sound of swords crashing against one another permeated the air, two silhouettes could be seen engaged in a steamy duel. One a woman about 20 years old, the other a young boy seemingly about 10 years old. A smile ever present on the young woman''s face as she easily deflected the blows of the hot and sweaty youth that constantly heaved for breathes of air. These two were God and champion, but by the intimacy shown in the woman''s eyes and the determined look in the young man''s eyes to impress her made it seem as though they were brother and sister. When they were finished with swords, they moved on to spears, then on to staves and then axes. Alexei never seemed to notice the seasons going by or the fact that he never got tired, hungry or sleepy, for days on end the two would battle with different weapons and a smile would be plastered on both their faces. Summer the sound of swords clashing filled the air, autumn the grunts of shield-training, winter the spear pierced the snowflakes and the two continued to battle one another valiantly whether it they were bathed in the sun or rain. Every so often the woman would correct his posture, or trip him on his butt with a laugh. Sometimes she would scold him and sometimes she would praise him, but all in all the love in her eyes never dissipated for a moment when she did either. The boy seemed to enjoy being both praised and scolded as this was something he never had before, the other Gods and their champions at some point started stealing glances at the two as they were all too familiar with Ares'' champion requirements. They were pleasantly surprised she had managed to find someone to become her progeny, they also knew that Ares had always wanted one but her requirements were too harsh for most people and she could only watch on as other Gods sired one after another. Now this beautiful young woman was finally smiling as she passed on her blessings to this young boy. From sword to spear, from bow to throwing knives, she taught him about every single weapon under the heavens. The reason why they were made, who made them and how to use them. Though it had felt like a life-time living together with Ares, learning from her and being in her presence; in truth it had only been 5 years. Within these 5 years, Freya and Heracles had also dropped by frequently and also taught Alexei quite a few things. The other Gods were hesitant to engage with Alexei as they knew too much help could indeed have the opposite effect and decided to mind their own business and leave Ares to her first champion. After all, she was much different than them. They could sire many champions, but as the God of War she could only have one and if that wasn''t bad enough; she would soon have to depart from him unlike the other Gods who could live along with their champions in the Palace of the Gods. This strange rule may sound harsh towards the God of War but it was not without reason. This was mainly due to the fact that the last God of War had attempted to seize the Palace of the Gods and had been raising an army of champions to rebel with. He had failed, was banished to the underworld and all of his champions killed. This event had remained clearly within the minds of the Gods, and they could say nothing because the last War God......had nearly succeeded. Ever since that affair, the throne of the God of War had come with restrictions. It was also the only throne a God had ever been replaced on. No one had objections to this as the one who replaced the previous God of War, was his daughter - Ares. Mainly because of this fact, most Gods kept their distance from Ares, with the odd exception of Heracles who feared no one and Freya who simply didn''t care about anyone else''s opinion. Some of the Gods who didn''t have any particular opinion about these events looked over at the two, they had their own reasons not to interfere and thus kept their neutral distance. Naturally there were also other Gods who were displeased, some who had lost loved ones on that fateful day; whether it be a fellow God or a champion a lot of them had died that day. Still, they couldn''t act as they pleased and were given strict orders never to interfere with the young God of War from the higher ups so they could only watch on in annoyance or pretend not to notice. ** "What are you thinking about?" Alexei sleepily asked Ares who had allowed him to fall asleep on her lap, although Alexei never got sleepy or tired in this otherworldly place whenever Ares called him over to sit under the stars he would always catch himself dozing away. He didn''t know why, nor did he care as long as Ares was there when he woke up. The young boy noticed her distant gaze as she looked up at the sky and was curious about her expression. "...This sky is incredibly beautiful...no matter how many times I see it" Alexei looked up at the sky, took a long glance and then nodded his head slowly at her acknowledging the comment. Ares waved her hand, surprisingly the pattern of the stars in the sky had changed and this didn''t seem to astonish Alexei as he had seen her do it a few times before. It had become a usual thing for the two to sit down together at this spot after training and Ares would always show him patterns of the stars in the sky. He would always feel strange as he looked at these stars, but it wasn''t an unpleasant feeling and after a while he had memorized the patterns subconsciously which was Ares'' original goal. Suddenly, Alexei furrowed his brows as he seemed to notice something strange this time but couldn''t quite put his finger on it. Ares restarted the combination as she smiled and then called out to him. "Mars?" "Yes big sister?" "Tell me, do you see anything strange this time?" Alexei wasn''t sure when Ares had started calling him "Mars", but he knew he didn''t dislike it as his beloved God was the one who gave him this name. He had gotten accustomed to it and unknowingly came to accept it as his true name and replied on instinct. Mars looked at the stars as his blue eye''s shone, the image of a golden sword appeared in his pupils unknowingly as his eyes swept over the stars in an experienced manner as if confirming their positions. The appearance of the sword in his pupils seemed to startle Ares for a bit but she quickly retained her smile. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ''Wrath?...A "Deadly Sin"?...I thought for sure he would have "Humility"...or at least one of the "Seven Virtues" like me...surprisingly...he''s just like father. Well it definitely could have been worse, hehe, like "Lust" or "Greed" " Ares seemed to notice something and quietly noted it as she laughed quietly to herself. The young boy on the other hand wasn''t aware at all that an anomaly was happening in his body as he focused intently on the stars in the sky. As far as Alexei knew, he was simply looking for something that wasn''t there before. He searched and searched as Ares continued to shift the stars with a wave of her hand. "Mhhm..something is strange for sure.. but I can''t quite tell...Wait!....I''ve never seen that pattern before! That star is new! The one next to the sword star constellation big sister told me to pay attention to!" "Ohh so you noticed! Hehe, do you know who that sword star constellation is?." Mars pretended to think for a bit, then he seemed to understand something and smiled brilliantly. "That''s big sister Ares!" *Smash* "Ouch!" "Hehe, Oh what a smart little brother! Yeah right! Don''t pretend like you didn''t know, I heard when Freya told you!" Ares scolded as she smiled radiantly and knocked his forehead to teach him a lesson for lying. "Then what about the new star...do you know who it is?" Mars shook his head as he looked at her in curiosity. This time his face showed true confusion and a longing to know. "Hehe, now that''s more like you" "...Big sister, that''s mean..though it might be a bit true" Alexei mumbled with a wronged expression, his eyes showing his obvious displeasure. The dark-skinned War God couldn''t help but laugh as she enjoyed teasing this rascal. Ares knew the intelligence that Mars had acquired after waking up was a different sort of intelligence. It would be more accurate to call it a higher level of instinct as opposed to intelligence, and she also knew that it came from Freya''s blessing and was quite acquainted with it. "Hehe, take no offense my bronze colored child, this big sister will always love you even if you can''t even count to ten" Mars drooped his head as his face became red with embarrassment, seeing this Ares no longer decided to poke fun at him as she let out a last giggle and then planted a kiss on top of his head. Her face became solemn as she gazed up at the night sky. Mars could feel the change in mood and stopped playing around. "That new star..." Mars looked up at Ares'' face who had brought him into an embrace as her smile was comparable to the star she gazed at. "That little star......is you!" Mars opened his mouth wide as he was shocked, he couldn''t believe it at all and stared at the tiny star, but he knew Ares wasn''t lying to him or teasing him. When it came to things like these, Mars always knew she would be serious and he had come to understand his big sister''s ways. Mars looked at the star in wonder and disbelief, Ares once more continued to speak and the former could feel a tinge of sadness as well as joy in her following words. "No matter whatever happens, that star will always remain there right next to mine as a sign that we will always be family" "Mhhm, big sister will always be my most precious family" After agreeing, Mars didn''t say anything more as he had a feeling he shouldn''t, Ares wanted to hug him for a while longer today and was in an extremely fragile mood. He wasn''t sure what it was, but he knew sometimes she would have this sadness appear every now and then and it was better for him to be a pillow at times, an extremely quiet pillow. Freya had told him a little about the previous God of War and that Ares missed her father greatly, Freya seemed to strongly hint that the previous God of War was wrongly condemned but she would never come right out and say anything. The green-dressed woman believed that Ares should be the one to tell Mars and didn''t want to overstep her bounds. Even Gods had rules they had to obey and certain lines they couldn''t cross when dealing with other people''s champions. Freya was never concerned with other people''s champions and even she was confused when she decided to give Mars her blessing. She had never been too intimate with other people''s champions, but there was something different about Mars that she had found extremely likeable. As for what that was, only Freya knew but Heracles had his suspicions. After a few hours of star-gazing, the mood had been settled and Mars felt it was a good time to ask the question he had wanted to ask. ".....I''m going to have to leave soon aren''t I?" Mars asked as he gazed at Ares'' face, her eyes visibly shook and her red full lips quivered slightly. *Smack* "Ouch!" "Now why''d you have to go and ask that...*Sob*.." Ares'' voice trembled as she continuously knocked his head a few times and complained, a few tears had managed to leak out but she quickly composed herself and pressed the young boy''s head down so that he couldn''t tell. However, he wasn''t that dense and obviously could tell. For a Goddess such as herself who had been alive for quite a long time, 5 years was like a drop in a ocean. For them, it was much much too quick. Ares wasn''t happy at all that it was already over for now, she gazed at the youth who seemed to look slightly more like a man now and a warm feeling came from her heart. This was a boy she had raised on her own...no- a man...This was her champion! Mars Romulus! Champion of the God of War!! R2G- Chapter 6- Better you than me Hello, Author here : I tried adding in a bit of comedy, please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading! Chapter 6 -....Better you than me "Put ya back into it laddy! What are ya made from?! Straw?! Bwahahah" The vulgar laughter permeated the air along with the scent of alcohol and roasted meat. The cause of this was none other than the Hero God Heracles, he provoked an extremely tired looking young boy in an elegant black robe that was sprawled out on the floor breathing heavily. This pitiful looking figure was none other than Mars after a day of Heracles'' training. Unlike when training with Ares where Mars never got tired or with Freya where he didn''t basically have to do much except follow her around, training with Heracles was worlds apart. Heracles had given him a strange thin black garment that seemed like a bathrobe, at first Mars was extremely happy as he got this gift from Heracles. However after the constant nagging by Heracles to wear it, Mars begun to suspect something suspicious. No matter how he had probed into the clothing he could find nothing strange, no weird embarrassing holes around the private areas or any disgusting smells.The more normal it appeared, the more suspicious Mars became. Mars had sadly discovered in the Palace of the Gods, that Heracles was a bit of a prankster God and his misdeeds were far too many to the point the other Gods would ignore him and set up barriers. Mars had suffered a few times already at this barbaric man''s hands and this time was no different. Every God had their own designated areas within the Palace and Mars was allowed to come and go as he pleased in the Territories of the War God, Fertility God and Hero God. So thinking of such he quickly made his way over to Freya''s territory as he had more privacy there since Ares was having a meeting with a few other Gods and Mars didn''t want to disturb her. Mars thought he would figure out the trick behind this bathrobe before Heracles stopped by again and so he made his way to a tiny river where he was accustomed. He looked around suspiciously and then finally threw on the black-robed garment- *Splash* Almost instantly Mars fell into the river! Luckily, Freya''s forest was different from the ordinary forest as it possessed a collective intelligence equal to a humans intelligence. These plants fished Mars out of the water and he escaped his early doom. A vulgar laughter rung out and Mars'' brows twitched as he saw a burly man with a head of golden hair laughing with his eyes bulged out with one hand on his stomach and the other on his mouth. "I was expecting the fall...Ahahaha..but the river was a nice touch kiddo! Ahahaha" "...You!" Mars could do nothing but raise his soaking wet fist as it shook in anger as he gently muttered out a few curses, his face angered but his young appearance made him look extremely funny inciting a few more laughs from the burly man. The contents of this exercise was extremely simple, Mars had but a single thing to do -Move Freely. The garment weight was adjustable and it didn''t have a particular setting, one could tell it was a valuable item since it would contour to it''s user. Whatever strength the body could hold, it would judge and move to suit. It would not exceed more than twice what it''s user can bear so as to never endanger the user. Obviously, the user had to be someone a bit abnormal. ''This damnable thing never feels lighter!'' However, these were Mars'' thoughts on the matter...which was indeed a bit true. As the 5 years went by, Mars had adjusted to them and even used them while fighting Ares as per her instructions. Mars noticed even though his body was almost always twice it''s pressured resistance, he surprisingly grew accustomed to it. He knew it most likely had something to do with Heracles'' blessing and it made his body extremely durable, he silently thanked the prankster God as he understood it was all for his well being. Mars got up once more from the floor as his breathing had subsided, he picked up a long and heavy rock that seemed like a club that should have weighed at least 400 kgs with one hand as he dusted his black robe with the other. Mars took a glance behind him and threw a displeased look at the burly figure before he continued running. Heracles'' eyes lit up as he picked up a rock beside him quietly and quickly, he took an exaggerated aiming position as his lips broke into a smile and threw the rock directly beside Mars! *Boom* "Ahh!" "Bwahaha! Be careful not to fall laddy! Oye!...Watch out! Bwahahahah " Heracles'' laughed as his well aimed rock throw had worked and nearly made Mars slip and fall, the latter turned around with a golden cold glare as he hopped away afterward like an enraged rabbit. The Hero God''s eyes flashed with a bit of admiration as he looked at the young back of the laddy, to have good gifts were one thing but to use them to their utmost potential wasn''t something everyone could do. He could easil guess that the reason Mars tried so hard was for Ares, and he could only simply nod in satisfaction as he believed the kid had true worth. ** The day afterward, Mars had arrived to Freya''s Domain to train with her, his face perplexed as he hadn''t seen Ares for an entire day. He made his way around Freya''s Domain with a few confused thoughts, he touched the plants with his fingers and they seemed to respond to him as they caressed it and some even spat nectar at him playfully inciting a giggle from the young lad. Finally the sound of a beautiful voice entered his ears, Mars quickly made his way over as he knew who it belonged to. He stuck his head from behind the bushes and as he peeked over, what he saw was a beautiful pale-skinned woman in a dark green dress, her curves and back showing as she washed her long leaf like hair in the river and sang a beautiful tune. Mars face became a little red as he enjoyed listening to Freya sing, his nose twitched a bit from being tickled by the branches and he let out a light cough. Although he gazed at the back of the beautiful Freya, his eyes remained pure and untainted by lust as his thoughts were of a different nature. Had this been any other man peeking, it would have been the last thing that he would see. As fearless as Heracles was, there were certain things he wouldn''t do; peeking on Freya was one of them. He knew all to well, that garden of hers could turn into a living nightmare. Whether mortal or God, all had to pay respect to Freya''s garden. Freya was the one of the very few Gods in the Palace that had created her own entire world, this spoke volumes about her power. "Are you going to continue peeking? Ha ha ha, come over here~" Freya''s voice startled Mars who quickly caught back his composure and ran towards the beautiful woman. Mars chose a place right next to Freya and sat down in an accustomed manner, the beautiful woman wrapped a hand around him and pointed across the river they both sat at. "That flower over there...can you remember what it''s called?" Freya gently asked as her slender fingers pointed toward the tiny plant, the plant seemed to wiggle around in vigor as if happy it was being showcased. "Life-root!" "Ha ha ha, good good!" "....and what about this one?" "Regal Spore!" "Nope! Close, try again!" "Ugh....the only other one I can think of is..Ahh! Radiant Spore!" "Good! Ha ha ha! ...Next is this one...." Another plant appeared right exactly where the "Life-root" and "Radiant Spore" plant appeared, it seemed as though with a flick of her wrist Freya could make whatever plant she desired appear before. She did this countless times over and over again until she drilled the names of these plants, what they were for and where they could be found into Mar''s head. The day came to an end and so did Mars'' lecture, as such he decided it was time to head to the God of War Domain and see his big sister. Freya gave him a few kisses on his head and a warm hug as she sent him off with a big smile. It only took but a single thought for Mars to change Domains and his body instantly disappeared. *** Mars appeared into the God of War Domain and noticing the Gods that were meeting with Ares earlier weren''t around he knew where Ares would be. Mars calmly made his way over to a cliff with the most magnificent view of the stars, as expected an extremely feminine silhouette covered in armor lay down gazing at the stars. Her eyes mysterious and no one could tell what she was thinking, those eyes immediately turned over to gaze at Mars; a cold chill emanating from them. "You''ve only just returned...Mars...I''m starting to think you like Freya more than me!" Ares instantly accused with a cold face which made Mars considerably pale and his body visibly shook for a second. "B-Big sister that''s not true, I stayed longer as big sister was having a meeting and I didn''t want to disturb" "Hmm....So you can still call me big sister with a straight face" Mars looked down at his feet unable to look at Ares in the face, a shade of red on his youthful face and a tinge of worry in his eyes. Ares seeing this laughed inwardly, this kid would always get considerably quiet and would have no cheeky come-backs when she accused him of liking either Freya or Heracles more than her. Mars learned a few things about Gods from Heracles and knew a God could expel his/her champion from their lineage and discard them if they were disloyal, this thought always made Mars'' blood run cold. Especially when he came back from learning from them and saw Ares all alone by herself, he would always be extremely considerate and not dare joke around. However to Ares, this was the best time to enjoy her vanity and make Mars declare his love for her. She possessed a direct link to Mars'' thoughts and she knew her position in his heart was completely unshakeable. "...That''s not true big sister Ares, I could never live without you! " "Praise me more and I might just forgive you! Now who is the absolute greatest of them a?! Who is the most prettiest and most intelligent of them all?! Who is the strongest and the most merciful of them all under the heavens?!" "Big sister! Big sister! Definitely big sister!" "Hehehe! The absolute greatest little brother! Hehehe c''mere!" Mars hurriedly sucked up as his big worried eyes looked at Ares, seeing this she could no longer contain herself as she rocked her head back in laughter and motioned Mars to come over with a hand. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Mars knew what this meant and he moved over toward Ares, a bit of red on his face as he knew he was fooled. Still, Mars always knew Ares just loved to toy with him and he had no qualms against it. He knew she had no champions before him and that her father had died countless years ago, Ares was merely happy to have a family and Mars knew what role to play. Mars walked over and grabbed the hand which she extended and removed the wrist armor from it. He continued removing her armor bit by bit, as she wore a black robe under her armor her body was mostly covered except for her soft legs and arms. This was the only time Mars would ever have any thoughts close to lust, Ares'' scent wafted through his nose as he removed her armor revealing long slender and curved legs that would give any man ill thoughts. Mars gulped a mouthful of saliva as his body became hot and quickly shook his head to clear his mind. As Mars removed her breastplate, the two mountain peaks position there seemed to push out to welcome him as the skin partially showed from behind her robe made itself known. Along with this surprise, Ares quickly grabbed him in a hug and squishes his face right between them. At this point, Mar''s eyes became circles as he babbled random nonsense and could no longer focus on anything with a face resembling a tomato. ''Crap..'' Seeing the young boy becoming dizzy and his eyes in circles, Ares figured it was enough teasing him and slapped his ears with open palms to wake him up. "Oye! Wake up! Hehehe, you got even further today! I won''t have a champion that''s easily seduced by women! Good job, Good job!" Mars'' eyes finally stopped going in circles, his face dyed in crimson red. Mars didn''t know why his body would always react this way, but he believed whatever training Ares said was necessary was absolutely irrefutable. "Big sister, why is this training necessary?" "What?! You bastard! Are you not pleased with my body! I told you, when you go back to where you''re from a boatload of women will be rushing at your door! You can''t be like a good-for-nothing fool and waste your vitality behind them or become trapped in their snares!" "If I find out that after I send you back there, your bed is filled with nameless women! I, as your sister, will send several calamities behind you!" Mars shivered as he listened to the threatening tone, his face broke out in a confusing manner. "I-I got it..no wasting vitality behind women...don''t get trapped in their snares!" "Umm...Big sister?" "What?" "How much is considered wasting vitality on women?...and how much nameless women am I allowed to have on my bed?" "...Y-You fool! Ask Heracles these questions!!" In truth, because of Heracles'' blessing Ares knew women would chase after Mars like a maelstrom. Heroes were always blessed with such things, but Mars being as innocent and kind-hearted as he was would be gobbled up by a beautiful woman with a brain in no short time at all. Not to mention, Mars wasn''t the sharpest tool in the shed. This little training of hers was to build up his resistances to beautiful women, Ares was quite confident in her body and with good reason since her base beauty was comparable to Freya''s. Most of the time her body was covered in armor and her feminine features stifled within it, even then it still couldn''t completely suppress her charms. Ares knew her figure as well as her face could surpass any woman in the tiny world of Eldred, and as such she chose herself to play this role. Even though she could have asked Freya to play this part, Ares would never let her as a matter of principle. Ares wanted Mars'' standard of beauty to be modeled after her, though this may sound a bit vain; it was her right as his God. Slowly, the way Ares spoke, walked, laughed and smiled became engraved in Mar''s mind to a degree deeper than physical means. Mars had no idea that he himself was being "Cultivated". *** After Mars settled down, he remained nestled with his head in Ares'' lap as she stroked his hair and they both watched the stars. "Say... Mars?" "Yes big sister?" "Do you know...what the meeting was about today?" "...mhhm, I think so...It''s time for me to leave" "...Yeah, I tried to have it extended...we''ve already long crossed the scheduled date..Now we have to send you back down...until you survive my trials and can truly be my champion" "It''s going to be dangerous..and all sorts of danger will stand in your way..a lot of people will try to use you once they discover your presence, so you have to be careful who you trust! Y-You! Are you listening?! Why are you smiling?!" Ares was quite worried as to how to break this news to Mars, seeing that he already had an idea of the meeting; a bit of panic had surfaced in her heart. As Ares spoke, she covertly lowered her gaze to see his reactions and was surprised to see the young boy smiling cheekily. "What! Are you so happy to part from me?!" "Hahaha! Big sister no, that''s not why I''m smiling!" "Oh? Why then?!" "Big sister doesn''t need to worry that much, Heracles taught me a trick how to survive. He said as long as I''m in danger and it''s a monster then not to worry and just kill it, if they are in a pack then kill them with a smile and make sure I open my eyes wide like I''m not sound of mind and make sure the blood gets in my mouth.....oh..and I have to look as though I''m enjoying it" "If the enemy is a human and he''s smarter than me and they use tricks and schemes, nothing to worry about torture and kill his subordinates until I find out his location and then kill him. Heracles said that this would definitely work!" "Heracles said if I''m not sure then no matter what just massacre every--" *Muffled sounds* Ares finally could no longer take it as she muffled his mouth with her hands, her body shaking heavily and her breathing heavy. As if she swallowed a bug, her lips distorted and asked in an extremely cold manner. "....What else did he teach you?" Mars seeing this cold atmosphere, did not tarry or withhold information and quietly sold Heracles out. ''He would do me the same'' This, was how he had comforted himself. Mars opened his mouth, and Heracles'' golden laws came pouring from it. He moved his fingers in a perverted manner as Heracles had motioned, showing it to Ares. Mars had no idea what he was doing exactly, and was merely copying what he was shown and told and as such he sugar-coated nothing and used his hands to help with the description. "...That a woman isn''t good unless she''s shaped like this...." "Wine, wine should be drunk frequently at any given time except before battle. If a battle is coming, you should drink it while in battle and not before" "...Any woman that can pluck the stem from an Apple with her tongue is definitely worth an hour or two" "...Money..money is the only thing that really matters besides strength. One should try to attain money at all times. The only time you can afford to ignore acquiring money, is when you are busy drinking wine or with women" "If there''s a woman you like, and she''s not interested in you, then a club over the head will do...She will accept you someday" "Mortal nobles should be disregarded completely, if they offend you then kill them quietly...unless they offer you women and wine" "Power and Status, one should always try to attain a high social status once there is room to attain it, methods are up to my own discretion. In case it''s too hard to come up with a clever plan, refer to rule 1 and kill without mercy" "If a man won''t answer my questions no matter how much I beat him, then I''m supposed to ask him how old is his daughter while moving my fingers as if trying to hang on to a slippery fish " The more and more Ares heard, the more and more Mars'' fingers wiggled the more terrifying the light in her eyes grew. Especially the part about moving his fingers as if trying to hang on to a slippery fish, as well as the motion that accompanied it. To the point Mars had begun shaking like a kitten soaked in water as he pretended to be an inanimate object that simply spoke words. His breathing quiet, his eyes not blinking, the sound of Ares'' finger tips tapping on her sword made his legs weak. Finally she could no longer take it as she lifted up her hands in order for Mars to stop speaking. "Mars..." "Y-yes, big sister Ares" "I''m going out for a bit..." "Y-yes, big sister Ares" Mars nodded, a look of unrivaled peace and tranquility on his face. He seemed like the God that embodied peace and harmony, as though he would never step over the line. In fact, the "line" was the only thing he knew how to walk. ''I''m sorry, I swore I would never betray you...Alas, in the end...better you than me'' Mars nodded and came to live with his decision. A short while later, the Gods within the Palace could smell the scent of several different types of meat being burned along with a few horrid male cries. There was a bit of silence afterward in the Main Domain where the Gods usually gathered but soon after the chatter continued in full bloom, strange enough no one reacted to these cries. The Gods and champions of the Palace all had warm smiles on their faces, an expression of peace and harmony appeared on their faces as the air all of a sudden tasted sweeter and sun much more brighter. An aura of tranquility emanating throughout the entire Palace, as if today all debts had been settled. R2G- Chapter 7- Nightblade Hello Guys, I''m here again. Here''s a chapter, sorry it''s late but the truth is I''ve tried to write a few novels before but failed to complete them because I got sick of writing them when people complained about my release times. I forced myself to write, made tons of mistakes and lost that wanting to share my own world with people feeling. So this is just basically a prep before I go back to my work hehe. Work, Family, Friends. Even writers have to live to :3. <3 Thanks for your support. Not a lot of talking this chapter, more or less preparing for Mars'' journey, with the introduction of a friend! Chapter 7- NightBlade Within the Palace of the Gods, Freya''s Domain. Young Mars sat beside the usual lake, a young black colt grazing beside him. This young horse was different from other horses as it''s entire body was pitch black, it''s blood red eyes shimmered with intelligence, frostiness and gave one a foreboding feeling. What was truly terrifying about this horse, was it''s facial features that seemed to be bred for war and blood. It possessed two curved devilish black horns that resembled black curved steel daggers on it''s head. Along it''s snout on both sides of it''s nose, were several much smaller red horns that were spiked shaped which lined it''s face s symmetrically. On the end of it''s snout, there was another red horn but this one was smaller than the ones on it''s head, but larger than the red spikes that decorated it''s snout and gleamed like jeweled dagger. It was shaped like a rhinoceros horn and seemed to be sharper and much more powerful that the rest of horns. This one horn was dyed in a blood red color, it''s shine was incomparably terrifying as it reflected the light at all angles and drew one''s attention. This was merely it''s face alone, it''s body was on a totally different level. The body of this horse was several folds larger than any Mars had ever seen despite it''s young age, the veins bulging near it''s hooves in it''s legs were like tiny red snakes that wrapped around it''s vital joints and organs. The color of these veins were red in color and matched it''s horns perfectly, The veins formed a sort of weird pattern on it''s body that gave it a mysterious feel. Aside from being muscular despite being young, it''s black hooves glistened and sank easily into the dirt wherever it moved. It was obvious this horse possessed a terrifying weight, like the difference between a child''s wooden toy cart and an expensive carriage. It is indeed common sense that the heavier a horse was, the more powerful it''s charge would be. This horse''s hooves crushed the rocks beneath it, leaving extra dust wherever it moved. *** Across the lake, similar horses were playing with one another except these horses were like the difference between Heaven and Earth compared to the black colt . They were white in color, a pair of white angelic-like wings and a single straight white lustrous horn that was elegantly shaped in a spiral. They also only had a single horn in the middle of it''s head and none of the smaller one''s the black one had, or the rhinoceros type horn. In the middle of it''s forehead, a tiny red diamond shaped jewel shined with a faint red bloody glow. As these white horses played, their liveliness and happiness was revealed through their eyes and the vigorous game of tag they played. They would flap their wings and gain a burst of speed, flying circles in the air as they competed with one another, however none of these horses spared a single glance at the black colt. One of the white horses in particular had a deep hole in it''s back limbs which seemed to match the black colt''s blood red horn, it lay down not participating in the game of tag and merely looked on. The wound on it''s leg was serious enough for him to not be able to move yet and only looked on helplessly. Now and then it would glance at the black colt with a ferocious look in it''s eyes. Whenever the black colt noticed this gaze, he would lift his head and stare back with unparalleled frostiness with a hint of ridicule making the white horse break his gaze. These unicorns seemed to possess a high span of intelligence as they could show these sort of emotions and understand them. Mars was sure they at the very least had human intelligence. The young black colt snorted coldly, it''s natural demeanor was cold and it''s aura aloof as it completely ignored the white horses. The only time it''s tail would sway and it''s eyes soften was whenever Mars would pass his hand on the back of it''s neck and brush it''s long black hair gently. Next to the rest of small white colts, two larger one''s who were more detailed and were clearly the adult parents were present. From time to time the female adult unicorn would throw a few worried looks at the black colt, the father on the other hand completely ignored it. There was only a single other weak looking white unicorn that would cast looks over at the black colt, it was the smallest of them all and it''s gaze was also filled with worry like it''s mother''s. This gaze disturbed the black colt, as he lightly snorted and stopped menacingly gazing at the arrogant white unicorn with the injured hind limb. The black colt would always find it hard to be mean to the arrogant unicorn sibling when his youngest sister who barely had any intelligence yet would watch him curiously at everything he did. Her big blue eyes would stare intently at him and make him lose his mood to teach the arrogant sibling a lesson. The female adult unicorn sneezed as if laughing at the black colt, Mars seeing this also laughed. The black colt lowered his head to drink water from the stream, it seemed to be trying to hide it''s embarrassment. Mars had met this young colt when he had arrived in Freya''s forest and had instantly felt a connection with him, the young black horse reminded him of himself as they both had a similar circumstance and seemed to be estranged from their family. Freya had told him that this guy was a variant species of unicorn, however in the unicorn family, this species seemed to be scorned upon as it wasn''t born with wings and because of it''s overall fierce and demon-like appearance. These black unicorns had a slight chance to grow wings, but most would never awaken them. Mars had never seen a unicorn before as they were only heard of in legends, as such he listened intently to Freya and learned about them. Unicorns were an innately proud species and as such they also had a complicated social system. No need to say that they also had their preferences and their dislikes, the young black colt obviously fell into the latter. Luckily these variant type wingless horses had an upside, instead of wings and an agile figure it was given a fortress like constitution, unrivaled strength and frightening penetrative charging power. It''s bull like horns were as solid as steel, It''s single blood red horn was sharper than any sword and certainly also more durable. If this wasn''t already unfair enough as is, it''s ground speed could only be called catastrophic. When Mars had made friends with this horse, he took it for a ride within Freya''s forest and was pleasantly surprised when he found out it was the fastest among all other grounded creatures. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. One must know this was Freya''s Domain, The Goddess of Life and Fertility. None of the creatures inside of it were ordinary or sub-par; this black colt was especially so. It''s sheer strength and jumping power was nothing to laugh at, the arrogant white unicorn had found out even though he was quite fast and could fly- the black colt could still catch him if he wasn''t careful and close to the ground. After antagonizing the black colt, it tried to fly away but was merciless knocked down from the sky with the blood red horn digging deeply into it''s hind legs. Had it not been for the fact that they were siblings, the arrogant unicorn believed it would have been killed. If the original unicorn was made for elegance, this black variant unicorn could only be described as being made for war and dominance. Mars had decided to play with it whenever he was free and found himself always in it''s company, sometimes when he hadn''t shown up it would usually come to find him of it''s own volition or would wait where he usually appears after teleporting to Freya''s Domain. This young black colt had an extremely sharp presence and it''s proud aura gave one the feeling of a drawn blade, because of the unicorn''s appearance and temperament Mars decided to name him "Nightblade". Nightblade''s height was already a bit higher than the 13 year old Mars who had an advanced physique thanks to Heracles'' blessing. As such the black colt would frequently give Mars rides, Nightblade loved charging at full speed ahead through the forest with the only person who seemed to appreciate his strong and powerful body. Mars would let out wild piercing howls filled with joy and pleasure as this black steed would trample the earth beneath it and raise enormous dust clouds, the earth would rumble under the intense speed and there was absolutely nothing to worry about in the open plain. As it''s body blurred by the other creatures, they could barely get a glance as the gust of wind assaulted their faces. *** 1 year later.... "Faster!....Go faster! Come on Night! Break your limits!" A young voice filled with valiance echoed out in the plains as a black blur could be seen speeding across the plains. The other unicorns looked on in shock as they witnessed a ground speed that they themselves knew they could never reach. The target of the focus, Nightblade along with his rider Mars. Suddenly the jewel on the black horse''s body glowed an eerie color, Nightblade''s eyes flashed a deep red under Mars'' urging responding to his orders- *Bang* The black unicorn''s speed explosively increased several folds as the blur intensified and whizzed by like an arrow shot out of the bow of a God. Nightblade''s speed was indeed unrivaled as his hooves became covered in flames leaving a trail of fire behind him, the whirring sound of his muscles moving at an intense speed gave one the feeling of power being charged. The random grass and small trees in Nightblade''s way were blown apart when it passed by, nothing seemed to hurt it''s tough steel like skin as the splinters could not pierce it''s body and ricocheted off piercing straight into the dirt. Mars broke out into a laughter filled with vitality as his black shoulder length hair fluttered in the wind behind him. A valiant and approving smile on his face, he had grown considerably more handsome as his body had become much more healthy and his maturity into a man had begun. He had lost all the baby fat on his face, which became slender and gave one the impression of a young man. "Huh?" Mars squinted his eyes and noticed a silhouette appearing, as he noticed the armor the silhouette wore he knew instantly it was Ares. Ares waved, Mars noticed a bit of an unfocused look in her eyes and he led Nightblade towards Ares, Mars'' face frowned for a bit as he thought to himself. ''Seems it''s that time...'' Mars dismounted and looked at Nightblade lovingly as he stroked it''s big head and roughly patted it''s steel like stomach. "May we see each other again soon, Night" Nightblade''s eyes softened as it looked at Mars, made a low grunt and then rubbed the side of it''s head on his hand. The black steed knew this day would come, however it still couldn''t hide it''s sadness. As soon as he approached Ares, she gripped his hand and they both disappeared. Nightblade stomped one of his hooves as he snorted, his head turned towards the unicorns flying above in the sky and after giving them a brief glance turned as he noticed a familiar silhouette. Nightblade got down on his hooves as if bowing, a green dressed seductive female appeared and rested her hands on his head stroking it gently. "You want to go right? Don''t worry...It''s already taken care of" The green-dressed woman that came out was naturally Freya. The black horse nodded it''s head a few times and then kept it lowered as if thanking Freya. "Ha Ha, make sure you take good care of him" *** Ares'' Domain Mars sat face to face toward Ares in a crossed-legged manner, her crimson colored eyes flashed as she looked at Mars gently. "....Have you prepared yourself? Well...here is a bit of advice, you should listen carefully. Firstly--" "Secondly........." "Thirdly....." "...Mhhm" Mars replied a bit absentmindedly as he didn''t know how to feel about leaving, he had prepared himself for this already but he had felt it was too soon. However, he would never say this out loud as he knew now was the time to be a man and not a spoiled child. He didn''t want to make the Gods who had taken care of him and taught him with their valuable time, disappointed in him. As such Mars steeled his heart, and prepared to part. As Mars was caught up in his own thoughts, he didn''t hear a single thing Ares had said and nodded out of timing which finally made her realize his absentmindedness. "Ugh! Dim-witted boy! Don''t just say "Mhhm"..repeat them for me!" "........." "Jeez, nevermind....Heracles and Freya are waiting let''s go. I''ll explain again on the way there!" "You worry too much big sis, haha" The two walked off, Ares took a quick glance at Mars and was shocked to see him smiling. R2G- Chapter 8-Return to Magnolia Pasture of the Gods, Palace of the Gods. Mars gazed at the sight before him, the lake which shimmered like diamonds and the first sight he had seen within the Heavens, was precisely this lake. A feeling of nostalgia warmed his chest, his hand gently passed through the shining lake cupping a bit of the water in his hands, he washed his face and soaked his long black hair that possessed a golden shine. The manner in which he had done it, was skillfully and gracefully done almost like a ritual. A few of the friendly male Gods nearby, smiled and joined him in washing their faces and hair. The manner was precisely the way in which Mars had done it, and it seemed to be a ritual among friends as they chatted and laughed for a bit and seemed almost like equals. The name of this ritual was called "Equilibrium" These proud Gods did not mind doing this with Mars, which seemed to hint at Mars'' connection with the Gods being extremely deep. They talked about Aphrodyte and her daughters, Freya''s body and about stealing her fruits to make ale, laughter filled the air as vulgar and cheap talk that didn''t suit Gods were being casually discussed as they washed their hair and beards. It was always said that even though this sort of talk was low-class and filled with debauchery, it was the kind which men bonded over. For as long as men had existed, these things have always brought them together no matter how uncivilized they may seem. Although Mars was young and didn''t have such experiences yet, the Gods treated him as their mascot and constantly teased him. They gave him all manners of advice from their countless experiences, Mars gleefully listened as his eyes shone with a radiant glow. He learned about the deeds between men and women from them. His face became red as he held his cup tightly and became drunk with wine, seeing this the elders laughed at him and made gripping motions with their hands which made him lower his head in shame. Mars had mentioned he had accidentally once gripped Ares'' breast in training making her squeal, which excited cheers from the men. It had not even registered to them, that Mars had landed a blow on Ares, the God of War. Mars laughed along with the other Gods, he listened intently as they spoke of their battles and their conquered women who were minor Goddesses. ''Heracles said I should take this pill around now....'' Suddenly, the ring on Mars'' finger lit up and a pill was produced in the palm of his hands. Mars didn''t think too much and threw the pill in his mouth as per Heracles'' instructions along with a gulp of ale. The young man along with the Gods drunk ale and mead, while they ate delicious delicacies as they sat by the river, young Mars had fallen asleep at some point with a careless smile plastered on his face. Seeing this, each of the Gods he had been talking to stepped forward and placed their hands on his chest, a globe of light entered him from each of them. They smiled, got up hastily and left the young warrior asleep beside the river. They seemed to be worried about something and their actions were hurried. Today was Mars'' last day in the realm of the Gods. *** The night before, Mars had met with Ares, Freya and Heracles. After repeatedly warning him and giving him advice, the three finally calmed down to some degree and each showed their love for him with a present. Ares had given Mars a dimensional storage ring that could hold a large quantity of objects, Freya had told Mars hers was a secret. Mars didn''t know if Heracles'' gift was from his heart, or from his twisted humor and accepted a pill from him that would make his brain use 100% of it''s power for an entire day. (Author''s note: lmao, yes NZT!!! Much respects to Brian Finch!!) Mars had accepted these gifts, and then the Gods turned around and left abruptly which shocked Mars. "...Wait.." Hearing Mars'' voice filled with worry, Ares and Freya instinctively hesitated for a bit but were pushed forward by Heracles and eventually continued walking. After biting her lips, Ares threw a quick last glance at Mars before walking ahead, Freya put her fingers on her lips making a "Shh" sound as she smiled beautifully and chased after Ares. Mars seeing this, understood they probably had their reasons and was one of the things they couldn''t talk about. "What? You want us to see you out too?! Bwahaha!" Heracles immediately responded with a response he seemed to be saving. "Well fine! Go on ahead you fat bastard!" "Y-You! Can you even spell bastard?!" "I..Uh...B, A..uh...C..TARD!" "Bwahaha! Oi Oi! He really can''t spell it! That pill is indeed the best gift I, this great lord could have given you" Mars'' face had become red and fuming as he looked at the burly Heracles and couldn''t help but feel the urge to punch him in his gut. "You were supposed to teach me how to read and write! Instead you kept going over to Miss Aphrodyte''s place and I don''t understand why! She didn''t let you in even once! By the way, what does a drowning dragon mean?! I don''t know what it means but I know it''s shameful! Want me to go around spreading it!" "Y-You! Never speak those words again! Never dare speak those words! You ungrateful bastard!" Heracles hurriedly looked around to make sure no one had heard Mars and covered his mouth. Ares and Freya had both already disappeared, his tone all of a sudden became meek and humble- "Never mention this drowning dragon again...right? We''re good friends right? I gave you my blessings and even a powerful pill! So never ever speak of this matter again, right?!" Even though his voice was calm, there was a tiny bit of insanity deep inside his eyes. Seeing the terrifying gleam in Heracles'' eyes as he held onto his collar, Mars'' eyes lit up as his lips broke out into an evil and creepy smile. Mars was sure that he had gotten his hands on a pot of gold, Heracles on the other hand felt as though a block of ice had fallen down the back of his shirt. ''Crap! He got me!'' His lips became dry, and his eyes a bit red. "Should you really be holding on to my collar like this? Hehe, I can''t breathe...It might just make my mouth slip when I try to breathe" Heracles gently placed Mars on the ground after which he proceeded to straighten his clothes and pat him on the shoulder. "Bwahaha, I was just too excited to see you Mars. Well, I have to get going now-" "Wait" *Pause* "....Where did Ares and Freya go? Why''d they leave...like that?" Heracles looked at Mars for a bit, and shook his head. "I can''t tell you" Mars understood even if he threatened him with his new found leverage he wouldn''t budge. It was just one of those things he absolutely couldn''t defy. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "....Are they angry with me? Did I overstay?" Mars'' head drooped as he thought of these possibilities. "Fool! You should know how they both feel about you! Have they not treated you as your little brother? Why would you look down on them and question it now! I also see you as my little brother!" Mars was a bit moved by Heracles'' words and watched as Heracles instantly became a golden streak in the sky. *Flash* ''We will see how long you can run away for....don''t think a few words of wisdom will make you look better in my eyes.'' Mars silently thought to himself. *** It was then, Mars had decided that to drop by the Hall of the Gods, the first place he had seen before coming here. Shortly after his arrival the ritual "Equilibrium" ensued, Mars spent some time with a few familiar faces and then fell asleep. Suddenly, Mars'' sleeping body was covered in a thick white smoke that seemed to have come from no where. It wrapped around his body several times and then it vanished along with his body. Within this smoke, three faces could be seen. Heracles, Freya and of course Ares. *** Ares'' Domain- The silhouette of a dark-skinned woman, covered in a black robe lay on a luxurious bed, her breathing ragged and her face red. She seemed to be in great pain, a light pulsing from her chest. Some of her limbs started to dry up a tiny bit, but the energy within the Realm of the Gods seemed to be replenishing her body rapidly just at a mere beat slower. ''I wanted to see you off little brother...sorry, I can''t send you off like I would like to...In your heart, I must always be your invulnerable older sister and can''t allow you to see me like this'' ''Be a man your sister can be proud of, and return to me as soon as you can. That''s my only request'' *** Freya''s Domain- A woman dressed in a seductive green dress, lay breathing silently in the palm of a huge leaf in the middle of a lake. Neither the cool breeze, nor the moist leaf seemed to help her feverish state. Another leaf constantly poured water over her head and body trying to calm her down and lower her temperature. ''Boy, look at how much this beautiful Goddess suffers for you. Even my own champions didn''t require my beautiful skin to become this weak and withered. I''ll make sure to take interest for this'' Her seductive green eyes flashed, as they half-opened revealing a bit of slyness. ''My only wish is that you slay as much of those beasts in your home world, those things are not natural and defy nature. I dislike such things, however don''t endanger your life for it. Should you fail, that is fine, run away and you can always try again. Those things aren''t worth dying for so always remember to put your life as your top priority.'' *** Heracles'' Domain- An extremely burly figure sat on a throne made of gold, his breathing extremely heavy, his eyes red. He seemed to be using all his strength just to sit on the throne, a woman to the side of him who wore a mask constantly refilled his goblet as he drank large amounts of ale. "Damn, I hate feeling this weak" "Little snot nose brat better be grateful" "When Hades sent his champion, I don''t remember him feeling this weak" "Then again, his champion wasn''t as abnormal as this brat" "Just who in the world was this brat''s mother? He seemed to have another type of power hidden within him, but somehow it''s sealed off.....How strange, I wonder why Ares told me not to mention it" "Damn this, wait...shouldn''t I have a pill I got from that old medicine fogey Asclepius to help with this" Heracles searched his stash and noticed something unsettling. ''Did I not give that kid the pill I got from Earth?.....What''s it doing here? Wait...what pill did I give him then?'' ''Well no matter, it should be something good anyway'' ''My only wish for you boy, is that you forget about the blasted drowning dragon! I don''t care what else you do!'' The burly man cursed a few times before falling asleep against his will on his throne. If this was the usual alert Heracles, then he would have noticed that the pill he had given Mars, was from his Prank set and not from his personal stash. Any one of these pills could be extremely fatal to Mars as they were designed to be used on a God and not lesser beings. The masked woman couldn''t help but let out a chuckle as she wiped the mead off his mouth and beard with a cloth, the masked woman sat down beside him and opened a book. Although she wore a mask, anyone could tell she was smiling by the look in her eyes. *** The Three Gods had to use their own power to send him back to his realm, the more powerful a champion was, the more power was required to send him back. None of them had wanted Mars to see them in this state and so they had chosen to meet him beforehand and then let him go meet the other Gods who he had made connections with. They knew for sure he would feel horrible knowing that the reason they were currently experiencing so much pain was because of Mars'' extra time in the God''s Domain. Although Mars wasn''t an incredibly intelligent person, there would be times his sharp instincts would lead to terrifying conclusions. This was Freya''s gift in full bloom, it would draw out one''s inner instincts to a frightening degree. Freya could not give him intelligence if he wasn''t her champion, but what she could do was manipulate his instincts with traits from beasts and make it a terrifying weapon. Then they would carry out the ritual needed to send Mars away. The three Gods had their own thoughts as they silently sent their little brother away. *** "Until we meet again, Mars - Champion of War" *** Suddenly, in the middle of no where, the body of a young boy about 15 years old lay floating in a stream. The boy''s eyes opened and he looked around, he then pulled himself to the bank and sat beside it. The boy looked at his reflection in the river in confusion. "Where is this place?....Better yet.....Who am I?" R2G- Chapter 9- Awakened Karnage: Leaving breadcrumbs for my loyal fans huehuehue....follow this link- http://royalroadl.com/fiction/6513 R2G Chapter 9- Awakened In the middle of a forest. Young Mars sat beside a river, in his reflection, what he saw was a youth of 15 years in age, long shoulder length black hair that gave a radiant golden glow, fierce blue eyes that resembled the ocean''s most beautiful shade and most sacred parts. A handsome face that spoke of valiance and courage, despite the confused look plastered upon it. The tattoo of a black and archaic eye tattooed beneath his right eye stood out, Mars looked at it for a bit and tried to figure out where it came from but as he had lost his memories it proved futile. He wore no clothing on his chest, his neck was decorated with a golden necklace that tightly hugged his neck, a pendant of a golden sword hanging loosely as it twinkled constantly showing it''s abnormal purity. Two golden armbands that were decorated with sword carvings in an ancient language he didn''t understood rested on both arms. A simple leather skirt on his waist, and a pair of leather sandals. A silver ring that didn''t seem special at all on his right middle finger, after fiddling around with it, he came to know when he focused on it, he could store and retrieve items which was a pleasant surprise. He could see a few items in it but decided now wasn''t the time to check them out, what he needed to find first was a safe-hold. Compared to the people of Magnolia, Mars'' sort of attire was something they would consider strange. However, Mars had no such people within view to compare it to. This boy was Mars Romulus, Champion of the God of War. *** ''Where am I?....Better yet...Who am I?'' Mars immediately begun searching his body for any clues, after finding nothing of the sort. He decided to look at the reflection of his face for a bit longer, after thinking for a while he could not remember anything. It was then Mars noticed a strange black symbol on the palm of his right hand from the corner of his eyes. "Huh?....A horse?...A black horse with a horn?" *Growl* Mars'' attention drifted as stomach growled signaling his hunger, realizing that worrying about his situation would be useless, Mars figured he should stabilize his position first before doing some thinking. He decided to find himself some food first and a temporary safe spot. He didn''t know why, but beginning to end he had felt a bit uneasy after waking up. He had felt as though there were predators lurking around and though he had no evidence of this, it was what his instincts told him. Having nothing else to rely on but these finely tuned instincts, he decided not to betray them. *** Just as Mars had decided to search for food- *Growl* His stomach once more stated it''s demands, Mars felt as though he were being eaten from the inside out. His body froze and it felt several times heavier under this extreme hunger. The reason for his dilemma, Mars'' body had been heavily nourished in the Realm of the Gods and now that he no longer had that sort of nourishment; he needed to start eating more to make up the difference as his physique had been altered. Mars blanked out, and fell head first into the river, his body floating downstream. ... "Father! Father! Look! It''s a person!" "Hmm? Aria? Where?" "Over there in the river!" "Angus! Quickly fetch that boy!" "Yes lord!" *** ''I''m not in the river?'' This was the first thing Mars noticed as his consciousness returned, he felt a warm and cozy feeling beneath him like a bed. He also noticed that the smell of roasted meat and spice entered his nostrils, inciting yet another growl from his stomach. He also noticed that his hands and legs were bound to the bed by metal shackles that produced an absorbing effect, this was the reason he had not opened his eyes to see what was around him. He did not want to alert the people that had brought him here and remained incredibly still. Suddenly Mars felt as though there was someone right beside him, reaching for his face. *Clink* In an instant the shackles on his hands were directly shattered, his right hand already firmly reached around the other person''s neck before the person could react. Mars exerted enough force so that the person could breathe but not speak. He didn''t want to harm anyone until he got a clear understanding of his situation first. "Ahhh! Father! Father! The strange boy is doing strange things to big sister Julis!" The voice of a little girl screaming easily gained the attention of the people around the surrounding tent. Mars, who had opened his eyes couldn''t see the little girl''s features as she hid herself in a cloak and only her big blue eyes stared at Mars, a bit of fear looming in her eyes. Mars could hear footsteps rapidly approaching the tent he was in from all directions. Finally his attention moved to what he held in his hand, what he saw before him was a struggling girl about 17 years old wearing a luxurious purple cloak that covered her hair and a white silky veil that covered her face. Her blue eyes filled with fear as she looked at Mars, no matter how she struggled she couldn''t break free of Mars'' grip. As the woman struggled, her hair hidden underneath her cloak fell out revealing golden locks of hair that brought a sweet smell to the nose of Mars. Mars resisted the urge to take a deep breathe of this woman''s hair as he was not that sort of person to shame a girl in such a manner. It was then Mars noticed in her hands, she held a tray which had a bowl of food, a goblet of water and a knife and fork that rested on opposite sides of the tray. ''Food?...Could it be..the food was for me?'' "....My clothes..." The young woman''s fearful blue eyes shifted to a draw next to the bed Mars slept in. Mars used one hand to open the draw and noticed everything was there which surprised him. Thinking up to this point, Mars'' grip on the woman considerably softened. "...Sorry..." "....*Cough* *Cough*...." Mars gently released the young woman who cautiously jerked backward in fear, she released a few coughs and tried to stabilize her breathing. It was at that time a few silhouettes busted into the tent accompanied by a low and heavy voice. "What''s going on here!" An extremely burly man about 40 years old stepped forward, his black rugged hair knotted in warrior braids and his beard was also the same. His figure was like a bear as he donned pure black metal armor, he moved forward and looked coldly at the awakened Mars not hiding his intent. His gaze then shifted to the young woman who was coughing; a tender look of worry appeared in his eyes, before it changed to unbridled fury and once more rested on Mars. Behind him, a few soldiers in metal armor followed behind armed with spears, a cold look in their eyes as their helmets covered their facial features. A few other silhouettes seemed to be approaching from behind in an unhurried manner. "Little Miss Julis! What did he do to you!" The bear like man asked worriedly toward the young coughing woman, he seemed to be a bit angry as he admonished her. "I told you we should not have brought him here! No one knows who this kid is! Look how he treated his benefactor ! See little sister Julis, this is why I told you that you''re too nice!" "I''ll do what I should have done a long time ago when I saw this weird kid!" The burly man drew his double-bladed axe from his back and without warning immediately swung at Mars head! The young miss upon seeing this had a look of horror in her eyes, she wanted to tell him to stop but couldn''t as she had yet to stop coughing. The little girl pulled down the cloak to cover her eyes as she didn''t want to see such a horrible sight, a look of fear in her eyes. Mars saw the incoming axe that arrived in front of him in the blink of an eye and his expression had not changed. One of his hands shot forward without warning and grabbed the knife from off of the table. *Cling* "...Eh?" The burly man was shocked as he looked at his hands, which was not holding his axe. The axe flew across the room and embedded itself inside a shield which laid on the floor a few meters away. The burly man then looked at the knife in Mars'' hand which had a small chip and seemed to connect the dots only after a long time. "Y-You..." "..Clumsy.." Mars used his other free hand to pick up the fork and took bites of the delicious roasted meat in front of him; his eyes locked onto the burly man filled with reproach. Mars'' body subconsciously moved in a manner that protected the food as he glared at the burly man. The hand that held the knife rested comfortably in his lap, while the other hand fed his mouth constantly. The young woman Julis upon seeing this, laughed joyously at this extremely funny sight. The bear-like man glared at Mars who seemed to prioritize eating over his battle with him and instantly became enraged. "You bastard! Greedy pig! Put down the food and fight me like a man!" "*sneer*" Mars only gave a provoking sneer in return, enraging the bear-like man even more! "B-Bastard! I was careless! You caught me off guard!" "..*sneer* Sneaky old man..." "Y-You! Who''s sneaky?! O-Old man?! I''m thirty years old!" The burly man did not like Mars'' dismissive attitude at all, he had become extremely enraged as Mars had insulted his pride as a warrior by not taking him seriously. What he also hated the most, was that Mars had called him "Sneaky" implying his first strike was a cheap attack. Angus did not think that Mars was strong enough to compete with him and originally wanted to scare him into behaving as he was already ordered not to harm Mars, so he was naturally ashamed now that he noticed Mars was quite possibly more skilled than him. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Unable to bear this thought, Angus'' eye immediately fell on his axe which had become lodged in a shield across the room. The bear-like man ran across the room and brutishly yanked his axe from the shield as he stepped on it with one leg. Mars seeing this laughed inwardly, he himself was shocked that his body reacted this way. When the barbaric man had swung the axe at his head, Mars could see the movements clear as day and they seemed incredibly slow. Mars could tell what flaws the barbaric man had, the errors in the way he handled his axe and he could even tell how much mastery the man had with his axe. The burly man retrieved his axe and almost instantly he charged forward to attack Mars once more! His axe ruthlessly hacked towards Mars'' head once more but this time the speed seemed twice as fast! Mars once more lifted his hand, which left after images and sparks of light covering the entire room. No matter how the burly man aimed, his axe would be deflected off either to the left or the right! What''s more is during the clashes when the weapons collided, he could feel his weapon temporarily lose all of it''s power behind it. The bed Mars sat in, had not shaken in the slightest and all of the power from his axe swing seemed to be transferring directly to the legs of the bed into the floor. ''....How is this possible? I''m a 2nd Rank Soul apprentice! Could this kid be even higher than me?...No, this has absolutely nothing to do with Soul Force. I...I can''t feel any fluctuations coming from his body'' *Cling* *Cling* The burly man''s appearance became unsightly as he continued to swing and was not even able to harm the bed. Large droplets of sweat came pouring down his forehead, Mars on the other hand seemed extremely relaxed as he casually ate with his free hand. "...Your axe technique...is improper.." "W-What?! My axe technique was created from years of my father''s blood, sweat and tears! What does a fledgling like you know!" "....You can see why for yourself..." Just as the burly man was about to step forward and swing his axe once more, Mars who had been cutting an apple he got from who knows where, in an almost fluid and natural manner flicked the dagger towards him. The dagger flew like a gleam of light too quick to see at the burly man''s left boot, piercing it and pinning it to the ground. As the burly man stepped forward, the sole of his boots ripped out much to his surprise. His arms firmly holding the axe paused, he was shocked as he knew just how strong the boots he wore was. Mars pointed at the sole of the boots with the fork in his hand. "....Pick it up...." The burly man hesitated for a bit, despite the shame of being lectured by someone half his age he couldn''t resist the urge and picked it up. He didn''t have to look hard and instantly noticed the left sole was tragically deformed than the right. He immediately took off his left pair and compared, gradually a look of surprise and shock plastered his face as he noticed just how bad his balance was. ''The sole of the left side is completely battered, these are a new pair I bought last month! Come to think of it, it''s always my left side that always gets destroyed...Could it be? I''ve been swinging my axe the wrong way?...No..this is definitely the proof.'' ''Father said an axe is like one''s arms, it''s not supposed to weigh you down or make you imbalanced. When one can wield an axe as they would a quill, that is when an axe truly becomes an axe!'' The burly man looked strangely at Mars, he calmed the anger he felt inside and decided to ask a few questions. Just as he was about to, another voice interrupted- "Well Angus, that should be enough right?..." "...Yes, Lord" Surprisingly the black-haired bear calmed down in face of this man and showed a respectful demeanor. A tinge of regret could be seen in the bear-like man''s eyes as he seemed to have a few questions. Shifting his attention to the new voice, Mars instantly understood that this person was the one in charge and who called the shots, most likely the person who had saved him. A blonde-haired slender man that seemed to be in his thirties walked out, his facial features were handsome and he wore purple luxurious clothing similar to the young woman. A slight smile on his face as he looked at Mars, who stared back at him. On the arm of the blonde-haired slender man, an extremely curvaceous and buxom woman who possessed a face similar to both sisters albeit older accompanied him. It was easy to guess this woman was the mother of the sisters, and wife of the slender man. She seemed to have a gentle disposition as she possessed a gracious smile. The little girl who hid under the cloak immediately flew out and clung to the slender man''s leg. "Papa! Mama! The handsome big brother is strong!" "Indeed he is Aria, Hehe. Hello young man, my name is Zephyr Ainstad and this is my wife Siggy Ainstad. You''ve already met my daughters Aria and Julis, who might you be?" ".....I do not know....I can''t remember anything..." "....You don''t know? Could it be you''ve lost your memories?" Zephyr frowned a bit as he recalled Mars strange appearance, he tilted his head in a seemingly thoughtful manner. Suddenly, Mars felt a terrible sharp pain in his head. The ripping pain was cold and sharp as though a steel dagger lodged itself in his head, however it only lasted a moment.He gripped his face with one hand as his pupils constricted. A name came floating to his mind- "No!..Wait!....I..am Mars! I am...Mars Romulus! Servant of the Sword Star!" "....Sword Star?....Sword Star...Who exactly is this sword star? I''ve never heard this name before, could it perhaps be an alias?" ''This person must be quite powerful to raise a kid such as this. With power comes fame, how is it I''ve never heard of them. His clothes are certainly weird...'' ''Wait!..This river is connected to the ocean...not to mention the amnesia, could it be this kid washed up from the sea? Father once said he had seen a ship at sea...Could it be this is what he spoke about? Could there really be civilizations outside of the Nephelheim area?'' ''.....Unless they had some sort of unpredictable run in with a powerful beast, then it would certainly explain why this kid ended up here and his strange abilities. Not everyone has explored the entirety of Magnolia, this kid could very well be living proof of another civilization out there'' Zephyr seemed to be searching his brain as he tried to figure out Mars'' origins, one hand stroking the bits of golden hair on his well shaped beard. Zephyr was certain that Mars had came from another civilization outside of Nephelheim, and was slightly still in shock. No matter how much Mars thought about it, he did not know who the "Sword Star" was but knew he had to find him/her. "....I don''t know...I can''t...." Suddenly a hazy face came to mind, a dark-skinned beautiful woman with horns, who wore dark golden armor. Her body moved like a phantom as sword strokes covered the sky, her spear was imperceptibly fast, her axe ruthlessly powerful and unstoppable. Her shield covered the heavens, her arrows chased the light of the sun and the peace of the world depended on her entire being. This was the feeling Mars got from just a glance at this woman. He could tell that this woman had taught him everything he knew, the way she handled weapons was extremely familiar to him. Mars believed that she had a connection with him, and was the only face he could remember. ''It''s her I need to find!'' "...I need to find the sword star.." Mars immediately stood up as the blanket fell to the floor, ignoring the looks thrown at him. It was then he noticed that his lower region felt rather loose, a bit cool and breezy. "Fool! Wear some damn pants! Don''t assault the little misses eyes with that abnormal thing! Quickly, Quickly put it away!" Angus immediately cursed out as he pointed at Mars'' manhood, a bit of shame in his eyes. Mars looked down and noticed he wasn''t wearing any clothes. Mars quickly picked up the blanket and covered himself, strange enough he wasn''t ashamed of his body and his composure remained normal. The young woman, Julis had covered her face with both hands; her thin veil showed a slight rosy color beneath them. The strange part was that her fingers did not block her eyes at all times, now and then they would part as she stole glances at Mars'' body. The little girl had separated herself from her father''s leg and clung to her mother''s dress instead. She then looked up at her Mother, trying to sound quiet and loudly yelled. "Mother! Mother! Is the handsome big brother one of the people you warned me about!" "Well, well. Hehe, let''s not jump to any conclusions Aria. Besides.....I think your sister is the one we should be more worried about" Siggy lovingly stroked her daughter''s hair as she tried to smooth over the awkward atmosphere and threw a worried gaze at Julis. "M-Mother what exactly do you mean by that? I-I was just curious is all! I-I''ve never seen one!" The young woman Julis stormed out of the tent, leaving a smiling awkwardly Zephyr and Siggy. "Well husband, I think we should give little Mars some privacy. Come on now, Aria!" "Bye bye handsome big brother! Protect yourself from big sister well!" Siggy held Aria in one hand as she led this troublesome little daughter of hers out the tent. Zephyr seeing this gave Mars and apologetic smile as he waved his hands as if saying "Sorry".