8] Resolve

"Why would I join you? And why would you want me." Morgan was stupefied.

"Before I answer your question, let me introduce myself. I am Daren Martinos, 3rd Prince of the Astina." he smiled a little and continued "nice to meet you".

Morgan was shocked. He couldn't speak for few minutes and Daren didn't force him to hurry. After it looked like Morgan digested the information, Daren continued.

"Look here, my both legs are broken. Do you know how this happened?" Daren asked calmly. He then continued before Morgan could reply.

"Well just know that I was used the same way you were, just that unlike you ,they wanted me dead. They left me to rot, after making sure that I'll eventually die. But luckily, I survived."

Morgan has seen the political struggles of nobles, but all this information was still a lot for him to digest. Before he could stabilize his thoughts, Daren spoke again.

"Also before you join me you should know, I'll eradicate the kingdom of Light. " As he came to the last part his eyes became cold.

"As for your questions, I need you because I am short on manpower. As for why should you join me..., well either you join me or die." Daren got rid of the cold expression and said while smiling.

"For your revenge, you just want to kill the culprit. For my revenge, I want to eradicate the roots of the cause. Now what would you choose." He asked calmly.

"Even though I was betrayed by my own people, even if I am willing to join you, I can't bring myself to face my country while I stand at the side of their enemies. It's my origin. I can't, I am sorry". Said Morgan firmly.

"Good haha.. Very good. One must have resolve. But do know that with or without you, I will conqueror kingdom of Light. And not just your kingdom, I'll conqueror everything. There will be just one ruler, Daren Martinos. This is my resolve." His eyes shining with ambition.

" Think of it as a cleansing. The land will remain, only the ruler will change. I will weed out the pests from this Planet. You can either become a legend along with me, or you can be the stepping stone on my path. " Daren said with great determination.

"Arius, being him to the side. He have 5 minutes to decide." Arius nodded and took Morgan away.

'I too know my origin. The galactic empire may have asked us to put behind the past. But past is what inspire me. I can clearly remember when I first saw the Emperor, he was about to fight against an army alone. And he won in less than a minute. That power, I want it too. I want to surpass him. To be unrestrained. That's my ambition. That's my resolve. '

Daren toughened his will. He knew the path ahead is not gonna be easy. But he will surpass all challenges and March forth He was brimming with unparalleled confidence and conviction .

"He has agreed Lord Daren." said Arius respectfully.

Arius voice brought Daren back from his daze. "Good. Free him." Arius nodded. Daren looked at Morgan, and then said.

"Status, power, breed, origin, it doesn't matter, what matters to me is Loyalty. I would rather have one person that I can trust, than 100 who I cannot. If you want to stay with me, you need to prove your loyalty. Do you understand." said Daren with a serious expression.

Morgan was feeling pressure from a child with no cultivation. One must know he was an A rank expert. To pressure him ones mental energy must be higher than him. He calmed himself.

" I pledge loyalty to Lord Daren." Morgan kneeled on one leg and pledged without hesitation.

Daren nodded. " You may rise. It's night, we must find a place to rest. I guess your old hideout will suffice. Lead the way."

"Yes Lord Daren." Morgan said with a bow.

He was a soldier before. He knew how to be courteous.

They reached an area with lesser vegetation in less than 15 minutes. There was a lone hut. It was no bigger than 3 meter on each side.

"Is this it" Daren asked.

"How did the eleven of you fit in here?" asked Arius.

"Just follow me. You will know." Morgan said.

He didn't wait for their reply and entered the hut. Arius and Daren followed behind. When they entered, they saw that the room was empty and the floor had a hole. The hut was used to covered the hole . Arius looked below. He saw a large underground cave. It was about 5 meter in height and about 30 meter wide and almost the same in length. There were cracks in the ceiling of the cave at some places, through which the moonlight entered the cave, lighting it up.

"Nice place". Arius said and Daren nodded.

"Okay lets rest for the day. We will discuss things tomorrow." said Daren and both Arius and Morgan nodded in response.

The next day, Daren, Arius and Morgan all sat together to discuss things. Arius and Morgan sat opposite of Daren.

"We will stay here till my legs get healed. In the meantime Arius you need to breakthrough the human realm and also train Morgan. Morgan you need to break through to S rank as well. I have estimated that we will be here for atleast 2 months. In that time, I want you 2 to gather information about all the criminal hideouts in the area, their numbers and their ranks. Be discrete. " Both Arius and Morgan nodded.

" Good. Now Morgan you can leave." Morgan stood up bowed and walked away. "Oh and Morgan, get me a bow and some arrows." Daren said just as Morgan was about to leave.

"Arius try pressuring me with your mental power. Start with A rank." Daren said to Arius.

It didn't affect Daren at all. "Increase it to S rank" He was feeling some pressure. But he still could endure it.

During the trials to chose 1000 candidates, those millions of people were divided and placed in different areas. To qualify, all we need to do was either kill the all other competitors or make them leave the trial voluntarily. Only the last survivor among them advanced. To get a chance, to attain power, he has killed many. Their numbers are definitely in thousands, if not more. He had no power, no cultivation back then. But neither did the others. How much pressure he has endured during that period only he knew. That experience has tempered his mental power and killing intent. And that's why his mental strength was so strong. Yet Cahya says it's too weak to use the skill properly.

After he was done with Arius. He concluded that he can withstand the pressure of S rank and do normal work. He would be sluggish but that is doable. Against pressure from SS rank he can last 4 hours. And about few seconds against SSS rank.

He created his training schedule. He would train his mental energy in the morning with the help from Arius. He would practice archery in the afternoons. He would try to experiment with his shadow in the evenings. And he would focus of healing his bones in the night.

He got busy with his schedule and Arius and Morgan got busy with gathering Information and their own training.

Time passed by...