Chapter 86 - Two Formidable Monsters
"What the hell do you think you are doing over there, boy? Get down right now, or I will put your ass in jail and make sure it rottens in there." yelled one of the guards that seemed to be the leader.
Nerun lowered his head and looked at the guards with a brilliant smile on his face. Having seen Eonia from the tallest point in the wall, he understood the immensity and magnificence of the city, even if what he saw was only the tip of the iceberg. He then dropped right on the walls and in front of the guards, while putting his head behind his back in an apologetic manner.
"Sorry guys, I was just excited. This is my first time in Eonia, and I just thought it was so beautiful that I could not resist climbing the tower, and looking at the city from on top." said Nerun
The guards were surprised that the "criminal" was such a young and handsome teen, and for a minute or two, they were not sure of what to do, since it was clear that the young man was simply hot-headed and not a vicious person. The captain of the group was about to tell Nerun to scamper off, when he heard Nerun muttering to himself.
"But you guys are really lousy as well, after all, I managed to climb all the way up, and you guys did not even notice. That's not the proper way to do your job. By the way, there are not many guards either, are you short-staffed?"
When the captain heard Nerun, the vein on his forehead couldn't help but twitch at being mocked by the lad, and started yelling, "What the hell do you know, brat? Most of the guards and the army are currently at the Martial Temple. But you have taken a sore spot. I was going to let you go with a reprimand, but now, you are going to come with us and you're about to spend some time thinking about what you did in jail."
"Come on, Uncle Guard, that was simply a joke, a joke. You know what, let's do this, I'll simply leave and you guys can pretend I was never here." said Nerun with a serious expression.
The captain was a bit flabbergasted from the shamelessness of this brat, and he was about to explode from the rage. The rest of the guards knew that the guard captain had an explosive temper, so they went back a bit, to not get exposed to the leader's banter. Some of them were even trying not to laugh, since they found Nerun's antics a bit amusing. They were sure Nerun was nothing more than a naughty boy, and they did not really want to make things difficult for him.
"Ok brat. Since you want to leave, let's do this. I'll attack you once. If you manage to withstand my attack then you can leave. Otherwise you will stay and clean the latrine in the whole southern wall. What do you say lad? Not like you actually have any say on the matter." The captain thought himself smart, and thought it was great punishment for this unrepentant boy.
Nerun's eyes lit up when he heard the guard, "Thank EON, we can solve it easily, otherwise I was concerned I really had to go to jail."
The captain's vein kept throbbing as he made an ugly grimace, and he then gave his spear to one of his men and stared at Nerun. "Don't say I'm bullying you kid. I'm a Qi Praetorian, and I'm not going to go easy on you. I'll have to teach you to respect your elders. Be prepared."
The guard was a muscular man, five and half feet tall, and was a bit stocky. The guard quickly went towards Nerun at great speed. However, since he was facing Nerun, he only used fifty percent of his full power. After all, he only wanted to teach Nerun a lesson, and not really hurt him.
However, this was a mistake. When he approached Nerun, this one simply disappeared from his sight, and appeared right next to him. The captain was surprised by Nerun's quick move, however, he could be considered a guard veteran, and reacted quickly enough and went right for an elbow attack. Nevertheless, Nerun seemed to know exactly what the captain was going to do and before the captain's attack reached him, Nerun had already lifted his arm and parried the captain's attack to the side and with his free hand he went for the captain's chest and knocked him to the ground while punching with the other hand and stopping one inch about the Captain's glabella.
Everything happened so fast, that the rest of the soldiers could barely blink, when the bout was already over. Their mouths were completely opened, and they were totally astonished. "This… This… The captain already lost."
They started to look at each other, and Nerun, who raised up. The captain also raised up with a gloomy look on his face, and staring daggers at Nerun. The rest of the guards also started looking at Nerun, and the captain, and when Nerun thought they were about to mob him, the soldiers started to guffaw.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…"
"Did you see that? He was right on the ground… Captain, really, against a kid, hahahahahahaha."
"You all saw the look on his face, hahahahaha. Captain, you must learn that a lion always does his best when hunting a rabbit. Especially when the rabbit can bite that hard, hahahahahahaha"
All of the soldiers were laughing their ass off, and some of them were even holding their stomach from the laughter. The captain's face was as red as a tomato, and he hollered: "STOP!". All of the soldiers then stood up and had serious faces as if nothing had happened at all. However they were looking at Nerun differently. Might is right in this world after all. Also, they and the captains were the best of friends so a little banter here and there was par for the course in their everyday life, and it was actually quite unusual that they had a reason to laugh at the captain. Besides, they had no real anger towards Nerun, and they sharply noticed that Nerun simply took the Captain by surprise. Had the Captain known of Nerun's power beforehand, his approach would have been totally different. Also, they were sure that Nerun did not want to hurt the captain, otherwise they would have gone after him even at the cost of their lives.
"There are no cowards in Ansem's Army!" is one of their main mottos. Also, "An Ansemite always pays his debts."
The captain eventually calmed down and looking at the surprised Nerun, he said, "What? It's not like I can't accept being defeated. You are good, kid. You parried my attack beautifully. However, don't be careless, nor het cocky. Even in that position I could have counterattacked with a hidden weapon into your gut." The captain showed Nerun a hidden awl, that was embedded in the man's ring.
Nerun was a bit surprised seeing that and quickly took notice of never being overconfident. He was also amazed by the good attitude from the guards, not the pretentious type.
"Anyways, you won. So you can leave. But don't let me see you monkeying around the wall again, otherwise, next time I won't be so lenient. You hollered something about a brother of yours. Are you looking for him in Eonia? Do you know where he is?" asked the Captain with an ugly smile on his face.
"Thanks Uncle Guard. My name is Nerun, and I'm currently looking for my brother. He is a soldier in the Army as well, and I wanted to come meet him from afar. It's been many years since I last saw him. However, I have no idea where to look for him. What's your name Uncle Guard. You all are quite cool, you know." said Nerun with a sincere smile on his face. He did not leave his small victory get to his head.
"My name is Jonah. Well, if your brother is a soldier, most of the Army regulars and such are at the Martial Temple right now. There is a ceremony currently taking place there, and all the soldiers in the vicinity need to be present, save for the ones at strategic locations or the two Frontiers. I guess you could find him there." said the captain a bit absentmindedly.
"Really? He must be there, then, quick, tell me where is it? I can barely wait to go meet him." asked Nerun hurriedly.
One of the soldiers said, "It's in the western part of the city, about twenty five kilometers towards the dam. It's right in the middle of the western part, right before the Barren Field next to the dam. If you go there, you could ask…"
Hardly had the soldier said this, when Nerun quickly jumped off the wall and yelled "THANKS" to the guards. He was simply excited with what he had seen and wanted to go meet his brother quickly.
"WAIT… What's your brother's name?" asked Captain Jonah.
"ELIJAH!" said Nerun as he landed swiftly on the ground and went at great speed towards the western part of the city.
All of the soldiers opened their wyes widely, when Nerun said Elijah, and looking at each other for a minute or two, one of them eventually said, "No way, right? I mean… Are there any other Elijahs in the Army? It can't be…"
"There are no other Elijahs in the Army" said the captain in a matter of fact tone as he looked towards the disappearing Nerun. He eventually smirked while muttering to himself… "two little monsters. They could really be brothers, hehehehe."
The guards started looking funny at the captain who quickly pulled himself together and yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? Quickly, let's continue our patrol. Since we are short-staffed right now, we'll have to do double the work. Move men, move. Otherwise you'll be ones cleaning the latrine today".
…
Most of the Nobles had already arrived at the main hall, when two more young men entered the hall.
One of them was quite tall, about 6,5 feet, and had short, blond hair, and could be considered quite manly and handsome, with a pair of purplish eyes, and a stern demeanor. He was dressed in a silver armed, with two different blasons, the Royal Eagle and the Lion of the Royal House, and another with a Gryphon with a ferocious look on his back. He looked to be around 30 years old, and the power and coldness exuded from him was quite palpable. His name was Vega Dai Alaria, the young lord of House Alaria, one of the Five Great Families, and he was considered a genius only seen once every hundred years. With barely 31 years old, he was already a Qi Saint, and a General in the Royal Army.
Walking next to him was another much younger looking man, who looked to be barely 20. He was about 6 foot tall, and had long, brown, untamed hair, akin to a lion, with a handsome yet brave appearance, and dark, yet quite clear eyes. He was also dressed in a Silver Armor, however his was a lot simpler, and was the standard armor given to the Commanders of the Army. He was precisely Elijah, whose current momentum and gait was not one bit inferior to Vega next to him.
Elijah had always been talented, however, even with Maikal's training he lacked proper means to advance his strength. That vanished with Elizabeth's help, and he was now a fiercely trained and battle-hardened soldier, a war hero, and powerful Qi Emperor in his own right. Even though he was still a rank beneath Vega, no one underestimated Elijah, because Elijah was only 20 years old. He was considered a true genius in the likes of Elizabeth, her teacher and other such legendary warriors.
Many of the noble women that looked at both young men were quite infatuated. Actually, it was the dream of many of the noble women to marry someone powerful, and there were not that many that were interested in the army, like Elizabeth.
The patriarch of House Alaria, was a slim, and unassuming looking middle aged man, called Balrog Dai Alaria. He had a smile on his face, especially when looking at Vega, his son, and his pride. He himself was also a Qi Saint, and his influence in the whole of Ansem was on the top three among the Noble Houses. His eyes, however, showed a dark and cold gleam when he looked at Elijah, however, the smile on his face had not vanished at all.
Both Vega and Elijah took their seats in two chairs put right in the middle of the Main Hall.
Several men entered the hall right after the two young men. They were ten powerful looking men, some of them old, yet still vigorous. The power exuded by them was quite evident, and all of them were Generals. They were part of the Council of Generals, the top brass of the Army, and its councilors and main officers. Next to the eight there was another man, with long dark hair and a long beard that went all the way to his chest. When people looked at him, they could only see a majestic mountain, that was to stand forever to the test of time. He was none other than Rafal Sen Buran, the Titan, and the Second Dragon General.
One of the oldest looking generals then said: "All stand up, to receive His Majesty, the Grand King, Lord of the Eastern Sea, Monarch Exelcius of the Oriental Lands, Johannes Aram Dai Ansem IV, the Lion King."