28] Breakthrough

Next morning. Arius, Kage, Boaz, along with 600 men and 2 kids were standing in well disciplined rows, waiting for Daren.

They didn't have to wait long. Daren appeared with his shadow leech technique within few moments.

They all bowed as he appeared. He waved at them and took the center stage. He was ready to recite the same speech he gave to The Guardian squad.

"Why are you here? Who am I? What is this gathering for? You may have many questions. And I'll answer them all today. And you are eligible for the answers because, they deemed you worthy."

Daren started the speech with vigour and a air of dominance. He pointed to Arius, Boaz and Kage, when speaking the last part. He then continued.

"You will be trained, you will be fed, you will be sheltered, and even paid, all I ask in return is that you be loyal to me. Believe me when I say that you will regret it even in the afterlife, if you ever betray me. I, Daren Martinos, 3rd prince of Astina will make sure of it. "

Daren said while emitting slight pressure and killing intent, which was enough to scare those men. They were afraid, as well as shocked by the power and identity of the man standing in front of them.

"As you must have already been told, you all are to be split in 3 groups. The first one is composed of warriors who will be my strongest known force. Their task would be to assist any other squad when need be, or to do those missions that others are incapable of doing. Your presence shall bring fear to the enemies and hope to your allies. This group of warriors shall be known as, "The Blood Knights"."

"Remember, if you do not want to be in the squad you are chosen for, you have 2 hours to change it. Whatever squad you want to chose, you can chose as long as the squad leader approves of you."

"Now for the 2nd group, They will be responsible for collecting information and executing people in my name. These men will be the Judge, Jury and Executioner. Make sure no innocent is punished and no guilty is pardoned. They will work under the name of "The Judgement Tower"."

" And 3rd is a group of assassins, who unlike the 2nd group would not be in the limelight and would work from the shadows. They would be responsible for killing people in other nations, or those people who cannot be killed by the second group due to various reasons. These assassins will be collectively known as "The Reapers"."

Daren explained to them The function of each group in details.

"Arius, Boaz, kage, I leave the rest to you."

" When you are done instructing them, come meet me Arius."

"Yes Lord" Arius cupped his fists as Daren left.

"You two, follow me." Daren said while pointing at the only 2 kids among the group. He didn't stop and kept walking. The kids took a moment before they ran to catch up with Daren. Then they walked behind him quietly.

Daren stopped beside a small rock near the corner and sat on it. Both kids stood in front of him.

"What's your name?" Asked Daren as he analysed the two of them.

"I.. I am Ray. And she is Ren. We wish to follow you Lord. " The older kid spoke with a tinge of nervousness.

"I do not care what your reasons for joining us are, as long as you remain loyal to me, you can stay here. But know that if you ever betray me, I'll kill you myself."

Daren said with a still calm but cold gaze that sent shivers down the spine of Ray and Ren. Both hastily nodded.

" That's good. You can ask Boaz to give you a cultivation technique. You can now go join the others."

Daren said and then he waved his hand signalling both kids to leave. The kids did a quick bow and ran away quickly.

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Days passed by. Everyone was immersed in their training. Some willingly others were forced into it.

Daren's schedule included practicing sword skills in the morning, practicing his other skills in the afternoon. In the evening he would temper his body and in the night he would temper his mental sphere.

He would fight occasionally with Arius, Boaz, Kage and Morgan. The thing he realised through the fights was, that the 2nd most troublesome person to deal with after Arius was not Kage as he thought, but Boaz.

It is difficult to sense Kage, thus one falls for his attacks if one is not ready. One the other hand Boaz is visible, but is too fast and sneaky. He would dodge every time an attack is cast towards him. To see him yet unable to hit him frustrated Daren to no end.

Today is the 9th day from the day the training program was initiated. There was a unique silence on the hill today. It was not that no one was present. But all those present had their eyes glued at the sky.

A vortex was being formed at the center of the hill. The vortex kept expanding till it reached an area of 150 meters. Though the vortex seemed to be made of air and looked like a whirlwind , any one with enough knowledge could tell that that vortex is an energy vortex.

An energy vortex is formed when a person is about to make breakthrough to a major realm. That is, while breaking through from human realm to spiritual realm, from spiritual realm to immoral realm, and so on.

"He is breaking through...!" Daren murmured as he looked at the sky.

Yes, this phenomenon was caused by Arius who was in middle of a breakthrough. The vortex expanded as it gathered energy and when it reached a diameter of 200 meters it shrinked and descended downwards towards the place where Arius was in seclusion.

The vortex vanished. After few minutes an energy wave swept pass through the entire hill. It originated from the body of Arius, signifying that he has successfully broken through.

Arius ended his seclusion and walked over. He was congratulated by everyone that he saw in his path. Arius saw Daren and move towards him.

"Lord" Arius said while cupped his fists and performed a courtesy bow.

"Congratulations Arius. You finally reached the spiritual realm." Daren said with a smile. He checked Arius status while he talked.

[NAME : Arius

TITLE : The First General of King Daren

AGE : 23

Element : Sun-flame

Bloodline : Unawakened

Cultivation : Lesser Spiritual Adept

SKILLS : Elemental mastery (lvl 1)

Sword mastery (lvl 3)(18%)

Crowd control (lvl 2)(29%)

Bloodthirsty aura(lvl 1)(72%)

??? (In process of formation). ]

"Thank you Lord". Arius replied for a smile.

"You should go consolidate your gains." Daren said with a gentle smile on his face.

'Sun-flame!! interesting.' Daren smiled while looking at the receding back of Arius

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___ ___ ___ ___ ___

FORCE:

ARIUS , BOAZ , KAGE , NHI , BLEIZ

SUBORDINATE (others)

Morgan , Ray , Ren

__ __ __

THE BLOOD KNIGHTS:

Leader : Arius

Members: 400

__ __ __

THE JUDGEMENT TOWER:

Leader: Boaz

Members: 150

__ __ __

THE GUARDIAN SQUAD:

Leader : Morgan

members: 500

__ __ __

THE REAPERS:

Leader : Kage

Members: 50

__ __ __

Army : 900

___ ___ ___ ___ ___