Chapitre 16: Going Into This Blind
Rukelion fiercely continued to spar against the mercenaries right up until they left. He managed to beat two of the four within three days but it took nearly a week to beat Eagor.
At that point, he had lost against Barry an additional five times and was beginning to doubt his goal of beating all of them at least once before he left would be possible. The man was too strong.
But if Rukelion couldn't beat a simple mercenary, how was he ever supposed to beat the entire royal guard and those pesky plant powers the Mirean royal family wielded? Especially if they still had those water mages around.
He wanted to believe it was only a temporary alliance—water powers were prevalent in a small province to the north of Mirea called Aveleen—but what if it wasn't? If the water mages were still in the palace, his fire powers would need to be much, much stronger.
His father had always been more concerned with ruling the kingdom than practicing magic. He knew what Rukelion's grandfather had taught him but didn't devote much time to increasing his skills.
Even so, he had been a powerful fire mage. Those water mages had outnumbered them and that wasn't even including the Mirean royals and their strongest soldiers involved in the invasion. All of them would have to pay!
To avenge his family, people, and homeland, he needed to destroy everyone involved in what happened. The Mirean royals. Those soldiers. The Aveleenians.
Rukelion didn't care about the state of his soul after taking his revenge. Retribution was necessary for such a one-sided, pointless slaughter. Daisy would realize he had taken over the kingdom eventually but, since she wasn't Mirean, she shouldn't care too much as long as she never found out how bloodthirsty he truly was.
She was so sweet and wouldn't hurt a fly. Would she still care about him if she knew about the rage that had been festering since the day he lost everything? He wasn't sure and the thought made him uneasy.
He couldn't think like that though. As much as he loved Daisy, his revenge came first. Otherwise he would stay at the farm with her for the rest of his life without a care in the world.
Rukelion would need to spend the next several months after the mercenaries left honing his fire magic more so he became a weapon of mass destruction. He hadn't used them during any of his fights because he had to keep them a secret but he was beginning to suspect he wouldn't be able to beat Barry without them.
This was problematic. He had wanted to do this fair and square but he also really needed to beat him…What was he supposed to do? He couldn't let anyone find out about his powers! He didn't know how aware the common people were of the history of Katalya but even if Barry and the mercenaries didn't know now, there was no guarantee they wouldn't find out later and potentially tell someone.
If Rukelion was going to pull this off, it would have to be done very sneakily. To the point that no one would realize fire magic had been used. But how could he make that happen?
He continued trying to beat Barry every single day until the mercenaries broke camp but hadn't succeeded when the time for them to go arrived. This was his last chance. He had been practicing a technique that might work in secret so he had to try!
"You won't beat me, kid," Barry said confidently as he picked up his sword.
His confidence wasn't entirely unwarranted. He was strong—stronger than anyone Rukelion had ever met who wasn't a mage—but he didn't know he was going up against one. Hopefully that would be an advantage.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Rukelion replied lightly. "I've been practicing and I'm determined to win."
He got into the proper sword fighting stance and prepared to defend Barry's first attack. After watching him for so long, it was apparent that his true strength was defense rather than offense so it wouldn't be wise to attack first only for Rukelion to have his sword flipped out of his hand in an instant.
If he was going to win this, he would need to take advantage of a moment where Barry was attacking and heat up the sword's handle briefly so his grip would loosen. Then he would use the sword-flipping move himself.
The trick would be not doing it too soon. As Rukelion had improved, their fights lasted at least a few minutes instead of ending instantly. He couldn't make things suspicious.
He parried more than he attacked and was sure to keep a tight hold on his sword counting down the time until he would be able to make his move. He had always been observant but had honed those skills so they were useful in the heat of battle throughout his training. Analyzing where the best opening would be was how he ended up beating the other three strongest mercenaries.
Rukelion slowly began heating the sword handle so Barry's hand would get sweaty. It would seem more natural for it to happen the longer he drew the fight out. All he needed to do was hold onto his sword as his opponent's hand became more and more slippery.
Fire mages could control more than flames. They could control heat in general. They could raise their body temperatures in the winter and lower them in the summer by dispelling the heat around them.
He continued blocking Barry's attacks as the handle got progressively more sweaty. Finally, he saw it. An opening!
As his opponent attacked, he used the sword flipping move and managed to be successful. He did it! He beat the strongest swordsman he had ever met without exposing his secret! A slow, triumphant grin made its way across his face as the others stared on in disbelief.
"He actually beat Barry!"
"No way! No one here has been able to do that!"
"How did he do it? He's just a kid!"
"A kid who managed to beat Barry. Show some respect, you moron."
"Who are you calling a moron, moron?"
Barry was every bit as stunned as the others but he ended up laughing when he recovered. "Very impressive, kid! If you can beat me, you'll be able to protect your pretty little fiancée from just about anything."
Rukelion was relieved. He could use that trick again if he had to since no one had caught on. As long as there were no visible signs of flames, who would suspect he was a fire mage?
He was currently hiding his distinctive Katalyan characteristics. His hair was dyed. His eye was covered. Though it might be a good idea to get an eye patch and pretend he lost one in a training accident since hair could move around too easily.
All fire mages had bright red hair but he, his father, and Kessia had been the only ones with heterochromia. It was a well-known fact that the king of Katalya had two different eyes so it would be too much of a giveaway. No one else he ever met either here or back home did.
Rukelion would need to learn how to dye his own hair. Daisy had been helping him with it all this time to make sure they didn't miss any spots.
"Good," he said simply in response to what Barry said.
He couldn't let his mind wander just because he had experienced victory. He had to be meticulous if he wanted his ultimate plan to succeed. Every tiny detail had to be accounted for so he didn't run into trouble.
Rukelion said his final goodbyes to everyone and they told him that they would give him a discount for their services if he ever needed them. That was good to know since he would definitely require allies in order to take over this kingdom. Strong ones.
Granted, he would also need money. That would only happen if he managed to get a high-paying position in the army, which he fully intended to do. There were no guarantees though.
He was largely going into this blind since he hadn't been able to do much research on the Mirean Royal Army. Nobody out here knew anything about them aside from the mercenaries since they had more than a few run-ins over the years.
He sincerely hoped what he knew would be enough. He absolutely had to advance through the ranks as quickly as possible to take his revenge so he could return to Daisy and live happily with her.
Rukelion headed back to the farm with a lot on his mind. There was so much to do and he was running out of time. Having an expiration date both on his time to integrate his swordsmanship with his fire magic and on being able to stay with Daisy was stressful.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone