บท 44: Uneasy Imperial City
" Your highness! An army has entered the city, and is headed toward the castle as we speak!" An eunuch shouted in a high pitched voice.
" An army?" The king asked.
"....Who is leading them?" He asked.
" It looks like a boy around the age of 16!" The eunuch replied.
" 16...It's most likely Elias, he left 5 years ago, so by this time he would be 16." The king mumbled.
" Your highness?" The eunuch asked, confused.
" My son, the second prince." The king said.
" Wha-What?! the second prince is back?!" the eunuch shouted.
" What are you being so noisy for? Anyway, go inform the imperial guards to let him thro-"
Boom!
Before the king could finish, the door to the throne room was smashed open.
" Never mind." He said.
" Haha, i expected your imperial guard to put up more of a fight, father." The second prince waked out from the dust.
Two large soldiers clad in black armer walked behind him, as his long black hair blew in the breeze.
" It has been 5 years since we last met, couldn't you have been more quiet? Also, you didn't kill my guards, right?" The king asked with a sigh.
" Well, they were weak enough that we could stop them without killing them. Anyway, i brought you a present." The second prince signaled with a smile.
A soldier walked into the room while holding an armless man by his legs, his head dragging on the floor leaving a line of blood.
" What is this?" The king asked with a slight frown.
" He is a commander of a small group of soldiers from the divine dragon continent." The second prince said.
" What?! Divine dragon continent?! They actually stepped foot in my cloud continent?!?" The king stood, as the castle trembled.
" We took care of that group of soldiers, and brought this one back to extract information." The second prince explained.
" Oh? But, why is he being dragged like that?" The king calmed down, before asking.
" He didn't appreciate my kindness, so i'm going to make his last days a living hell." The second prince smiled.
"..Kindness..huh..." The king looked at his son as his lips twitched.
His second son, from a young age, showed talent in both martial arts and warfare.
At the age of 11, he left to train 15, 000 soldiers.
He has no interest in the throne, or anything else.
He only does what is fun to him, and when he gets bored, he moves on to something else.
" In any case, go back to your estate first, we will discuss this tomorrow." The king said with a sigh.
This son of his would be perfect for the throne, if he showed some interest in anything.
The second prince took his men and left.
..
At the clothes shop.
Levi sat, his eyes bloodshot as he read a book about inscriptions.
" Don't fall asleep. In a drawn out fight, staying awake will increase your chances of survival." Old gray stood behind him with a piece of wood.
The wood had a basic inscription, 'harden' on it.
If Old gray channelled his qi through that piece of wood, it would become as hard as metal.
For the entire day, Levi read about inscriptions.
Any time he got distracted, old gray would smash that piece of wood onto his head.
If he didn't react in time, his head would have been smashed into meat paste a long time ago.
" You...i only came to you to learn inscriptions, why do i have to do this?" Levi asked angrily.
He would have killed the old man if he could.
" Inscription master's have to be able to react in certain situations, or they will die."
" If you were constructing a high level inscription, you would most likely be unable to move."
" So you have to be able to use your qi automatically in case you find yourself in such a situation." Old gray explained.
" Also, it's so much fun when you are not the one getting hit!"
" I now see why my master enjoyed this!" Old gray said.
Pop!
A vein in Levi's eye burst.
' I will definitely kill this old man!' He thought.
...
Next morning.
The castle.
" Your majesty, you are saying that the second prince wiped out the enemy camp, leaving only one alive?"
" More alive would mean more to extract information from!" Inside the throne room, the king sat on the throne.
The different ministers stood on either side of the room.
" Not really. Since only the commander gets the order, only he would know anything of importance."
Creak!
The door opened, as the second prince's voice rang out.
" With all due respect, second prince, what do you know about anything?"
" You are just a boy!" One of the ministers snorted.
Thump!
A large wooden chair was placed right behind the second prince.
" General, please sit!" The soldier behind him said.
" You know, minister.." The second prince paused as he sat lazily in the chair, his long black hair falling over his shoulder.
" In these few years i have been gone, i learned a lot of things." He continued.
" For instance, did you know that if you apply just the right amount of qi, you could smash a head into fluffy cloud of blood mist?" He asked as he looked at the minister.
" You-" Tge minister was inturupted.
" A lot of people have looked down on me because of my age and slightly feminine appearance, but do you know what happened to them?" The second prince asked as his eyes narrowed.
" Enough. What information have you gained from the enemy commander?" The kind asked.
" Nothing yet." The second prince replied.
" Humph, acting high and mighty but can't even extract information!" The minister grumbled softly.
" Bring him out." As the second prince said this, the sound of men stepping heavily echoed out.
Baam!
4 soldiers lifted a wooden box made with 4 large wooden beams to support itself, and another 4 on the top and bottom to keep it together.
The commander was strung up by his legs with chains.
Some of his toes were missing and multiple large nails were stuck in his feet.
All over his body, patches of skin were missing, sliced off with something sharp.
" You...what did you do...." When the ministers saw this, they were shocked.
Some struggled to keep their breakfast in their stomachs.
" Well as you can see, his mouth remained sealed even after all of this, so if anyone thinks they can do what i couldn't..." The second prince paused.
" Of course not, your highness!"
" if your esteemed self cannot do it, how could this lowly one even dare to try?" The ministers instantly began making excuses.
" Is that so." the second prince said lightly.
...
In a large wooden hall, 3 old men sat at a large table, with 3 different middle aged men standing behind them.
" So the second prince has returned." An aged voice rang out, as one of the old men spoke.
" Why are you all fussing over one brat?" Another one grumbled unhappily.
" Because that one brat holds a lot of power."
" When he left the imperial city 5 years ago, no one thought anything of it."
" But now, he came back with seasoned soldiers who are extremely reverent to him."
" His return has caused the balance of power between us and the royals to shift."
" Although this shift is small, no one here should underestimate this boy." The last man explained.
" Although our Lightning fist, Llowing water and Scorching sun clans are powerful, most of the people in our clans are children, who have not seen any real fights."
" If they were to be faced with soldiers like those, they would be killed easily." The old man continued, causing the other two to remain silent.
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