The wind calmed.
"What did you say?"
Asher took a deep breath. "Most rulers have been under the fame and glory of the four great dukes of centuries. In the world, you four are remembered. I don't want to always be glorified because of the things done in the past."
These were words from his heart.
As a man from earth who knew a lot about Boundless, Asher knew he had to go through the Ashbourne ways but he wanted to be more than that. Players had the right to build their own nations and he wanted that for himself.
He wanted to grow beyond the level the great dukes achieved. His unspoken goal was to surpass the unsurpassed Zenas and to be known by his own name. To be the one that surpassed the legendary Zenas and opened up new doors for the Ashbourne name.
"Such great ambition with such little willpower." Ariel said it in a tone that was neither insulting nor appreciative. It was calm and almost emotionless.
"I gave you a response."
Asher replied with a similar tone.
Ariel cocked her head. "You want to surpass the great dukes. You want to be more than you are... well, you must first be an Ashbourne lord of our level."
"I know."
When Asher was expecting to be ejected out of her space since their conversation seemed to have reached an end, Ariel suddenly removed her helmet, revealing her beautiful face that was graced with a little smile.
"You did well."
Asher was taken aback. He couldn't come up with any words as he watched Ariel float toward him and place her right hand on his shoulder.
"I have seen your military officers and those capable of standing in your court and I am impressed. I was furious at you for heading into the desolatelands but not even our first ancestor Zenas expected the appearance of Ashkelon."
She pursed her lips.
"Building your domain in a land that has never been conquered by any high plain lord wasn't a plan I nor any of your relatives might have thought about. But I am more impressed with your ability to instantly take things to the next level. Such a talent must be at its peak."
Asher smiled. He didn't plan on making her know it was the work of the system.
"You have several diamond-ranked knights and over a hundred gold-ranked knights. Such might should make you a viscount but there is one thing about Lord's that you fail to understand. You might not have known about it because of how you grew but it's not too late."
Swoosh!
A fierce gale blew and the environment changed. Asher found himself standing alongside Ariel on a hill, looking at the great battle in the valley below.
It was a battle that involved hundreds of thousands.
"Look over there."
Asher looked at where she pointed and saw a female red knight dancing on the battlefield. A swing of her blade took a life and not once did she miss a kill. Right behind her was a huge wolf that did a dozen times worse.
Asher saw a cavalry led by a black armored knight heading toward the red knight. When they were close, the eyes of the wolf and that of the red-armored knight turned white and she stomped her right foot on the ground and then swung the other one like she was about to deliver a kick.
Asher saw air come together to become visible. The fierce coalesced wind slammed downward, splitting the cavalry and slaying a hundred in an instant!
As if that wasn't enough, she leaned forward and breathed out a burst of wind, so large that men and their horses were disorganized; some fell off their horse, some fell with their horse, but though no one was killed, their charge in shambles.
The red armored knight brandished her swords and clashed with the black armored knight, who had grown to 12 feet! Strangely, his armor and great sword increased along with his size.
Such a gigantic man made Asher suck in a breath of cold air but the small, less than 6-foot-tall woman clashed with the 12-foot-tall black armored knight.
A visible ripple blasted outward, sweeping away thousands of soldiers! The fact that the red armored knight could clash swords with the black armored knight stunned Asher greatly.
She was swift while the black armored knight was quite slow but still, the red armored knight couldn't move past his defenses.
Their battle force pulsing in their veins produced the catastrophic might both lords' unleashed.
Asher was sure only one of them could bring down the walls of his stronghold and slaughter everyone within.
"That was my battle against a marquise, a vassal of Duke Nubis the III. He was a fearsome knight, known as the Monster Knight, while I was known as the Dread Knight. Our battle was told off throughout the continent but while I got to hear it, he was 6 feet under."
Asher blinked.
"You killed him."
"My pet did. I was just nourishing my battle experience."
Her half-hearted tone made Asher grow cold. Such a fearsome warrior and she didn't seem to take him seriously.
"The fact that you did not kill your opponent with one strike or two doesn't make you weak or at the same level. A good warrior takes his time to learn and improve at every chance he has because you shall one day meet near death and only your experience can save you. Killing instantly narrows your battle experience."
"How did you know what I was thinking in this direction?" Asher turned to face her.
"Your question said it all."
Asher turned back to the battlefield and saw when the marquise plunged his sword into the ground and the earth split open. The rift swallowed thousands but she simply blew her men away, only allowing the marquise men to fall.
"That was a knight skill he got from a magic scroll. It's called Earth Divider and it's a saint-ranked skill."
As she spoke, Asher saw that the entire valley was destroyed by the skill, and many, even some soldiers from the Ashbourne side, fell to their deaths.
The scene vanished and they reappeared in a desolate valley.
"Now, boy, how good are you with the sword?"
Before Asher could reply, Ariel's swords had left her scabbards.
Clang!
Asher clashed with her. He ground his teeth, took a step back and saw another sword coming down on his head. Asher inhaled and swung his sword upward. The swords clashed but he wasn't free yet.
His eyes went down, following the second sword that approached his abdomen.
Asher thought hard on what to do. Left with no other choice, he chose to go back but Ariel followed up with another powerful horizontal slash.
Left with a small space, Asher bent inward, narrowly evading the sword. All of a sudden, he felt a throb in his heart and that disorganized his internal flow.
It seemed like the world turned upside down and by the time he opened his eyes, Ariel's sword was before his neck.
"You are a lord with a great mind, one fit to rule but you forget that strength doesn't belong to your men alone. Without a strong body, you won't survive poisons and assassinations, and don't tell me you have the vanguards, the most elite troop Ashbournes had ever trained, because there are assassins that can evade them."
Ariel sheathed her swords and leaned closer.
"How do your men stop an assassin with the talent to move through shadows? They won't even see him coming but they will see your corpse."
Asher looked into her eyes.
"Again."
He brandished his sword.
Ariel smiled, unsheathed her swords, and they began another round. Sparks flew as they clashed, each time Asher failed but got back to his feet.
He could see that Ariel wasn't even serious and that pushed him to his limits with every round.
Clang!
They clashed.
Asher pushed her back only for her to spin and her sword stopped before his abdomen. Looking at it, he ground his teeth harder.
Ariel chuckled.
"Do you know the problem?"
Asher shook his head.
Ariel touched his sword and looked at his face. "It's your weapon. You don't have the same talent as me so you can never wield two swords like I do. Your physique leans more toward a longsword. This sword is too long and two big. You don't feel the weight but it affects your battles outside your knowledge."
Asher looked at the blade of his sword with furrowed brows.
"Sometimes, size doesn't mean power."
Ariel sheathed her swords.
"I see."
All it meant was that the sword the system fused was necessarily meant for him. The system was focused on his territory and the people but paid little attention to the lord. To compensate for this, the system allowed him to awaken a talent that connected him to his ancestors.
They would help him in ways the system could not.
"Secondly, you are too strong for a casual diamond-ranked knight. The strength of an average diamond-ranked knight is 8000 catties but your strength might be over 20,000 catties.
One must know that 8000 catties was about 4800 kilograms and 20,000 catties was a stunning 12000 kilograms!
"All that strength is wasted in one swing. While powerful, it's useless if the target is not hit. That should be enough for now."
Knowing she was about to leave, Asher quickly spoke up.
"Lord Atticus spoke to me about synergy. How do you think I can attain it?"
Ariel shook her head.
"A battle skill must first be born before you'll be able to master synergy."
"How is a battle skill born then?"
"By training and training and training until it becomes you. For example, I mastered mine at 31 and it was during meditation. I gained understanding of the blood and could control others, forcing them to either fight on my behalf or kill them from within."
Seeing the light in Asher's eyes, Ariel chuckled.
"This is nothing compared to uncle Toras battle skill, which allows him to move much faster than other knights in the same rank. He could move faster than the eye could see and was able to launch a thousand javelins before you could take ten steps."
Hearing this, Asher was once again reminded how lofty his goal was. When would he be able to beat these legendary figures?
It looked so far away.
"What about our first ancestor?"
Ariel looked straight into his eyes. "His battle skill has the simplest name. Stab. However, he had stabbed through an entire stronghold and disintegrated a hundred thousand strong abyssal army, of which there were 1000 imperial-ranked knights leading them."
Asher's breath ceased. His eyes narrowed till they became slits.
"That's why we don't even dare to breathe loud before his presence."
...
His spirit returned back into his body, and his eyes opened.
Fire burned brightly within his eyes. His competitive spirit was fired up.
With the strength the Ashbournes had, they should have built a strong kingdom for themselves, but their loyalty to the imperial family restrained them.
Yet, that same family betrayed them during the rebellion.
After taking a deep breath, Asher sat cross-legged, inhaling and exhaling at well-timed intervals.
.....
"Where is his Lordship?" Katarina asked Cynthia as they walked through the hallway.
"I think he should be in his room. He asked not to be disturbed."
Katarina frowned. She looked around, and the entire place was desolate; only the flickering candles gave life to the hallway.
"It's too silent."
Unbeknownst to both women, there were more than two shadows depicted by the lights from the candles!
Both women kept talking as they walked until they reached Asher's room. Cynthia pushed open the door, peeked and saw Asher meditating.
"We can't disturb him. We should return tomorrow morning."
Katarina nodded.
As they left, the shadows separated from them and entered through the gaps under the door.
The cool night breeze flowed into the room, and all of a sudden, Asher's sword, which was by the bedside, was grabbed by a black fur covered hand, and it vanished.
Creases formed on Asher's forehead. Though subtle, he could hear footsteps that almost seemed illusionary.
Was this his mind?
Suddenly, he opened his eyes and, behold, ten figures clad in black were around him, all wielding daggers.
Jackal Clan's Shadow Guards!