81 Visit from the Becketts

Four Weeks Later,

Capital City Palace Training Arena,

"Let's try this again," The 9-foot tall man said to his three opponents, and each of them took a fighting stance of their fitting to weapons they carried. Three men are armed with Space Marine power armor, and each is holding a chainsword, power hammer, and power sword (Without power or chainsword engine on).

As for a 9-foot tall man, he was shirtless and wasn't wearing any power armor except for his ordinary pants and iron gauntlets. He was holding a black power sword without power turned on in his hand. With two fully armored Space Marine in front and the third one in his back, an average person doesn't have a chance to survive this fight, but the man they are fighting isn't ordinary.

Outside the training arena, a small group of nobles and ladies watch the entire event while knights stand behind them as their guard. But due to the strange and astonishing scene, they all forgot and watched closely, just like everyone else.

The fight started with one of the Space Marine charging head-on with his chainsword. Aiming for the head, the chainsword came down fast and powerful, but the man moved aside and used his weapon's handguard to twist his opponent's hand and attempt to disarm the Space Marine. Seeing this, the second and third Space Marine jumped in a second later to overwhelm the enemy but foreseeing the incoming attack, the man used the first Space Marine's body as a shield and blocked the second attacker.

Kicking both Space Marines with incredible strength, the man pushes two opponents out of his way and immediately ready himself with a third attacker. Using his black sword to parry the third Space Marine, the man uses all his strength to push the Space Marine and attempt to trip him with his right leg, but before he could do that, the first and second Space Marines recovered quickly and rushed towards the man.

This time, two Space Marines were going for a combo attack to hinder their opponent, but to everyone's surprise, the man simply grabbed the third Space Marine and tossed him like he was lumber. Weighing nearly a ton, the one of the Space Marine went down after catching an incoming battle brother. The one still standing, wielding a power hammer, swings his weapon left and right with precision. Each hit from the hammer would have killed any man, but his opponent countered with his sword and blocked a few incoming attacks with ease, even without the power field.

Feeling the extension of time within this fight, the man blocks the incoming attack with his own and deflects the entire weight of the hammer back at the Space Marine. With the enemy's hammer pulled back, the man quickly turns his sword another way around and uses the sword's hilt to grab the Space Marine's neck. With a slight pull from the man, Space Marine's neck is pulled, and with it, his entire body as his upper and lower body loses balance as his neck, the middle is being pulled in the opposite direction.

With his enemy's face approaching him, the man makes the small jump and uses his right leg to kick the Space Marine's helmet. The man wasn't wearing any fancy metal boots or his signature power armor, but his brutal strength was enough to put down the last Space Marine into the ground.

Seeing this, everyone, including knights, was speechless and unable to process what they saw. A man, a 9-foot giant of a man without his armor, managed to defeat three of his warriors who were armed and equipped with armor, lost so quickly. An inexperienced and average man would say the man got lucky or had his speed thanks to not wearing his heavy armor, and his swordsmanship is simple for others to copy. Unfortunately, they wouldn't realize how much precision and timing it requires to fight three opponents without seriously hurting them.

The quick reaction after recognizing which enemy is making the first move, anticipating the second and third enemy, and making a quick decision to counter the incoming enemy while instinctively using his strength to measure the amount it requires to make the attack successfully. Use of large greatsword to counter heavy weapon attacks and swiftly change the weapon to make a situation where the man has the advantage. Finally, doing all this without seriously hurting his men or himself this entire time. It requires a calm mind, battle experience, and years of practice to understand what his own and opponents' weapons are capable of. The man has shown masterful demonstration and a small piece of what the Chapter Master of the Blacksouls can do.

William, putting away his black sword, helped his battle brothers and gave a few quickie key points when it comes to fighting an experienced warrior in melee combat. Since the 40K universe is full of named characters who is master of blades and combat, this is a perfect demonstration of how to fight them when needed. This will require years or maybe half of Space Marine's life to master it, but one day this would save their lives when faced with one of the named characters in the future.

"How in the world did he do that? It seems impossible to fight and survive one warrior, but he managed to do this himself. Not to mention this was his fourth demonstration. Isn't he tired at this point?" One of the noblemen from the Alderim spoke what everyone was thinking. Others acknowledge the nobleman's comment, and while young ladies stare, some blush behind their fans due to William's physical appearance. Rana was the only person who wasn't hiding behind the fan or overwhelmed by his physical strength.

Giving deadly stares and being unable to do anything as noblewomen are her family members, she invited them to meet William in person. Rana's father and her brothers are high-ranking noblemen who rule Rana's home region under Alderim's royal family. After realizing William's campaign in Legellan was taking longer than expected, Rana invited her family members to visit her so she could introduce William to them.

The whole thing turned into a combat demonstration when they saw William's military might. William, who wants to show off what he is capable of to Rana's family members, decided to show grand entertainment by introducing vital senior members of the chapter and officers, including Lord Creed. Eventually, this formal meeting turned into a combat exhibition after one of Rana's brothers asked William if his achievements were true, including the slaying of the vampire lord.

"Sir William, every story and rumor about you is true. I couldn't believe there is a man who accomplished all those deeds and didn't receive proper recognition from King Benton." Rana's father and close relative of King Benton said to William as he is officially impressed with William. Even after witnessing William's military forces and the new capital city construction, Rana's father didn't approve of this William until he saw for himself. Now, he is certain Rana chose the right man for herself and the Alderim.

"That is certainly true, father. When I heard that my dear sister was following a paladin of different religion, I couldn't believe why and for what purpose. Now, I see why Rana decided to become an advisor and representative of the Alderim in this conflict." Rana's oldest brother, the heir of the Beckett family line, said with an approving sound while others node to their agreement.

"Well, he is more than just a paladin, you see. William is…" Before Rana could finish her sentence, a newly upgraded dreadnought, Brother Raduriel, spoke with a clear and loud mechanical voice for everyone to hear.

"Chapter Master William is one of the Emperor's chosen. We will follow his footsteps to the end of the known worlds, and from his commands, we will destroy the Emperor's enemy. In the era of dark times, we serve the Imperium and Emperor's servants as he has given us tools to do so. Emperor protects!" The moment Brother Raduriel finish his sentence, every Blacksouls shouts, 'Emperor protects!' which startled everyone who isn't familiar with 40k.

"By the creator and gods! The statue spoke!" One of the ladies who was introduced as Rana's youngest sister screamed and fainted after realizing the giant metal statue she thought turned out to be alive.

"Medic!" Lord Commissar Cain called one of the medics standing by to help the poor lady. Men and women of the Beckett family's faces turn blue as they also were shocked and unable to believe that the fancy statue was a working construct. This gave a cold realization that William hasve not only the manpower and potential knowledge to craft some kind of golem.

"My apologies for Brother Raduriel's direct approach. He didn't mean to harm any of you. After all, you are Rana's family, and I hope to build a close relationship in the future." William said apologetically and did his best to show diplomatic guile. Medic and a few knights helped the fainted woman and took her to the palace.

"Why don't we go back to the palace and enjoy a refreshment since dinner time is almost here? I will have one of my brothers care for the lady until she can join us." William signal one of the servants to show the way while Null Marines escort everyone into the palace. The servants were hired locals who previously had experience with high-class work. Everyone was screened for potential spies or assassins and their loyalty to the new ruling government ruler.

Inside the palace, the masterwork of arts replaced marble stone statues and other decorations of the previous owners. The palace of the Blacksouls is designed close to a classic gothic theme as an entire palace is built to show an artistic feeling of grimdark and a somewhat villain-like feel of it.

Looking from the outside, a person can tell the palace is more than just a fancy place where royals live. The entire exterior of the palace is now built to survive orbital bombardment and the last line of defense against anyone who decided to siege the fortress.

Yes, the palace is now a fortress, and it is twice the size of the previous building, and the massive size of the defensive walls can withstand the artillery bombardment (This William knows because Null Marines who were former members of the Imperial Fists and Black Templars tested it). After a rigorous two days of testing, the palace defense was set to build, and everything else was added like some massive lego set. The entire project to build the fortress took many weeks and many raw materials from the other areas, but the effort was worth it.

Considering this is the headquarters of the Blacksouls and where Chapter Master will make his critical decisions, the builders used all their knowledge and previous experiences to build a near-perfect fortress.

Aside from the superior defense, the fortress has various rooms. From massive kitchens to feed hundreds and maybe thousands of people to full strategy room with built-in equipment (Provided by the Cog boys), the fortress has rooms for everything. For the grand interior of the fortress, the builders did what they did best: decorate the whole place from top to bottom with skulls, different styles of arts of the Imperium, and more skulls.

First, the arts were created and sometimes crafted by former Blood Angels and Salamanders. From the infamous full-size portrait of the Emperor of Mankind in his golden power armor to the great battle scene dedicated to Cadia, the fortress is filled with masterwork arts and statues.

Second, the skulls weren't real but rather stone carved or painted images since William didn't want to benefit one of the Chaos gods with skulls harvesting. Still, the work was done beautifully, like skulls and a more gothic style of decoration brought forward what living in the 40k would be like. What is more surprising is that some Catachans managed to hunt big games and stuff them to show magnificent display. Some were fearsome beasts, and some were nightmarish beast monsters. William could guess that he won't have any monster issues for a while since jungle fighters went a little crazy handling unknown creatures.

Lastly, the fortress is more than a defensive structure or military headquarters for everyone. A random person can tell that the interior, from the corner of the walls to the massive pillar supporting the ceiling, tells some kind of religious message or representation. Cleverly, the fortress is also a temple to worship the Emperor of Mankind and was even blessed by the Sisters of Battle with holy water and incense from the flamers. William could guess which the previous chapter did this since he came to this world as one of them.

When Becketts enter the palace (Fortress), the iconic flag of the Imperium Aquila is the first thing to welcome the noble family, and soon their faces change direction every second to absorb the beauty of the place. Feeling much better and somewhat experienced with the fortress, Rana shows her knowledge of the place by answering any family member's questions.

Eventually, everyone arrived at the entertaining room, where the fortress staff had already prepared snacks and drinks for everyone. Entering a beautiful and overwhelming room, Becketts explores the massive room as William excuse himself to clean up and eventually join everyone until dinner is ready.

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[The story continues as one particular member of the Beckett family experience a life-changing event this day.]

Maria Beckett, age 23 and the youngest daughter of the Beckett family, finally woke up to realize she was sleeping in one of the most comfortable beds in her life. Looking around the room, Maria saw exquisite decorations and paintings of some unknown battles as she got her half of the body up from the bed. If she didn't know where she was before waking up, Maria would have guessed that this was Alderim royal palace and she was lying in the king's private room.

Before Maria could call anyone outside the room, giant golden doors opened wide, and a most beautiful man entered the room. Not tall as Lord William, but the man is still warrior built with his iron-like muscles and beautiful long blonde hair. The stranger was wearing casual clothes, but after looking closely, Maria realized the man was wearing some kind of white and golden robe.

"Who are you?" Maria carefully asked the stranger as if she was dreaming. The man's face was perfect and more beautiful than William's. Sure, Lord Willliam was indeed manly, but this man was manly and beautiful beyond anyone Maria had ever seen in her life.

The stranger responds to Maria's question just after his eyes and hers met. Approaching the bed gracefully and well mannered, the man standing next to her kneeled and answered her question at her eye level.

"My name is Leonidas Astandro, senior apothecary to the Legion of the Blacksouls and your doctor until you are well enough to rejoin your family. I'm here to serve you," The man said his name and explained his reason for being here, but the only thing Maria managed to understand was the man's name.

"Leonidas Astandro. Sir Leonidas Astandro…" Maria's voice faded away as she continued to mumble Leonidas's name as if she was infusing that very name into her mind. Meanwhile, the former Blood Angel and apothecary of the legion prepares as he grabs a simple medical device to check his patient's health.

After scanning Maria and checking her overall health, Leonidas confirms that there is no problem and Maria is in perfect health. In case of the previous loss of consciousness might come back to hurt her, Leonidas makes a small dose of medicine to boost Maria's general health and mind.

"Now, this might hurt a little bit, but please bear with me for a quick second," With that, the doctor injected Maria with medicine proscribed and produced by the scanning device. Without realizing what was going on, Maria received technologically advanced medicine that, unknown to her, is part of the collection of the STC library William acquired from the ark ship. The medicine immediately helped Maria as nanobots within liquid medicines quickly went to work, and the first thing it did was help Maria's mind to focus more clearly.

"Thank you. I didn't even feel it at all. I'm Maria Beckett, and I'm sure you know my name already." Maria quickly hides her blushed cheeks with one of her hands as she attempts to start the conversation more ladylike. She was trained to be more presentable and noble ladylike in her entire life as she represented her family name. Beckett is one of the most well-known names after the royal, and she can't jeopardize the years of training because she is in bed next to a handsome guy.

"I'm glad to hear. If you are feeling well, I can help you get back on your feet and escort you to where your family is. I assure you that I will be next to you until you are well." Leonidas's words hit directly towards Maria's heart, and her temperature went high, but thanks to the nanobots, her body readjusted to average temperature and continued its work on repairing and exterminating the hidden virus within her body.

"Yes, thank you. What a gentleman you are," Maria slowly moved her body and raised her right hand so Leonidas could gently raise her to her feet. If others saw it, this scene would mistake for a romantic scene from a novel or play, but it wasn't. For Maira, it was, but for Leonidas, this was an extra assignment given to him by Chapter Master himself.

'You can keep your knight, Rana. I now have my prince, and he is much better looking them yours.' Maria thought to herself and moved beside Leonidas as they gently walked towards the door like a newlywed couple.

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Royal Dining Hall of the Fortress,

William sat in the center of the table while a guest of honor sat next to him on the left and Rana on his right. Everyone else took their designated seats (Including Maria and Leonidas since he is high ranking member of the Astartes). This also includes officers of the Imperial Guardsmen, representatives of the Sisters, senior Tech-priests, and captains and lieutenants of the Blacksouls (Without their power armor and everyone armed with rudimentary weapons hidden).

The mood of the dining hall is lively, unlike the interior design of the hall as former Space Wolves and other easy-going personalities cheer and celebrate the deeds of the newly founded Astartes chapter. Meanwhile, Sisters, Tech-priests, and uptight Space Marines maintain their disciplines as they only spoke when certain subjects related to their interest came to light. Mostly weapons, tactics, and research of the STC, the conversation between these three types didn't last for Becketts or the officers of the Astra Militarum.

Meanwhile, servants continue to bring food after another and refill various kinds of alcohol to the guests. This didn't stop William from receiving endless questions from the head of the Beckett family, Archduke Godfrey Hodge Beckett.

Rana's father is a veteran of the battlefield and overseer of the lower-ranking nobles under his authority, asked multiple questions from military strategy to William's early history as an adventurer. Considering one of the commanders of his military forces and the first daughter to fallen for William, Archduke Godfrey is interrogating and measuring William's character.

Archduke Godfrey doesn't care if a man wields power or possesses considerable wealth. If that man failed to protect his daughter from any threat, including himself, then Archduke Godfrey will consider that man unworthy of his daughter.

"So, tell me, Lord William. What is your thought on the current event that you yourself started? According to my spy network, not only every nobles house is forming alliances, but even the former king of Legellan is on his way with a massive mercenary army backing him." Archduke Godfrey knew the typical answer he would receive, especially if they were cocky and full of themself, but to his surprise, William put down his spoon after taking the first scoop from the soup he was served with.

William then turned his head toward Rana and grabbed her hand before she could take her first sip from the same soup she had received. Unlike everyone's soup, this particular dish was given to only William as the chef's recommendation, specially made only for him. Rana received her portion of the soup because she requested hers at the last second after William's bowl was filled.

"William, what's wrong?" Rana asked William surprisedly as she dropped her spoon due to William's hand holding hers. Seeing unusual activity coming from the master of the fortress, everyone's attention went to the center of the dining table. Even Lord Creed put down his cigar as he saw something he didn't expect to see from Chapter Master. Finally, William let go of Rana's hand and took her soup bowl to his side. Everyone observes as Chapter Master finally opens his mouth to explain his action.

"I'm tasting something tingling within my tongue, and my body is reacting with an increase in body temperature. I believe I'm poisoned."