Orion, The Mountain Tortoise

The atmosphere in the air continued to thicken, enough for a normal human to faint. The marching and rumbling become closer and louder the more time passes by.

The man at the top of the pagoda, however, is unfazed and calm as he slowly approaches the final wooden stand at the end of the show case.

On the stand lies a huge black iron tortoise shell made of a deep dark metal different than his body armor. It looks extremely lifelike as if it came from a behemoth of a tortoise, the only difference would be that it was covered with thick, sharp spikes about ten inches long each.

In the inside of the shell at the top end is a metal rod thats a smaller than half the length of the whole shell attached on the inside.

He slid the metal rod and shell into a slot in his armor on his back effortlessly, completing the monstrous armor.

As the guardian of this city he has come to be known by the people and his enemies as the Mountain Tortoise as he Is never pushed back and only moves forward.

Even though he's covered in heavy armor and weapons, his steps are light and make no noise displaying his strength as he leaves his secret room, closing the door behind him.

He made sure all of his preparations are in place with a final look around his home and with a deep sigh he turns towards the stairs and begins his descent into the lower floors.

At this moment the sound of marching was thunderous and could be heard all around the pagoda. As he makes his way down slowly, he glances out the windows and could see an army with pitch black armor surrounding him slowly.

After coming down two floors he stops and kneels once again facing the opposite door leading down. This floor is his training floor and there is nothing in the large room other than a rack of weapons, weights, giant boulders and a stone floor.

As he closes his eye, his breathing became rhythmic and calm as if he's fallen into a deep sleep. This world is filled with rich energy that could be felt and in some cases seen by the common people.

He uses the technique his ancestors have passed down from generation to generation as its improved upon from person to person.

As he slowly breathes in and out, the air around him begins to spiral towards him creating a magnificent sight to others. Slowly, that energy enters his lungs and spreads to the rest of his body.

The energy he absorbs begins to heat his surroundings making steam rise creating a deathly and powerful aura around him.

Soon, after the atmosphere around him reached the peak, it became heavy and powerful as if a mythical beast enshrined his surroundings.

Time passed quickly as he finally felt the presence of the soldiers entering this floor. When he's in this state, all things around him are visible even with his eyes closed, although he knew they were there, he still kneeled and didn't open his eyes to look at them.

After about a hundred soldiers entered the floor, the people he was waiting for finally appeared. The soldiers didn't dare take another step forward as they gulped and stared at the monster in front of them.

The aura around him was so thick that it felt they would get cut and killed with the atmosphere alone.

Once three people equipped with different colour armors entered the room, they split the group down the middle and stepped to the side. Although these three men were clearly the leaders of this army, they too didn't dare step forward carelessly.

The youngest of the three was about twenty five and was wearing a dark blue armor with the designs of fearsome eagle heads on his shoulders.

He stepped forward arrogantly with his head held high and sneered at the man as he spoke "Orion, look at your sorry state, not even a single retainer stands by your side as you await your death" a malevolent smile was on his face the whole time he spoke.

The other two men were about forty years old and looked at the young man with contempt, but they still kept their words to themselves. Orion opened his eye and stared at the young man with killing intent and forced him to take a step back as cold sweat appeared on his back.

Orion spoke in a hoarse and deep voice looking at the young man fiercely "Tobias, your father was a brilliant and courageous man. The battles we shared would always go smoothly with his archery and precise planning. It truly saddens me as I see no shred of his genes within you, boy".

Tobias was enraged and screamed at Orion "YOU-"

Orion cut him off as he spoke again facing the other two men "I have divided all my wealth and gave it all to the people of this city and my subordinates to relocate elsewhere. I am the only one that is needed for this reunion of ours Riley, Jared. You brought just enough people for me to have some fun in my final battle."

The three men could tell that Orion was smiling under his fearsome mask. What he said was frightening since they brought a whole army filled with elites with them for the sole purpose of making Orion agree to their demands, or in the worst case, to take the mans life and ransack his home.

The three men looked at Orion with a shred of fear in their eyes. They knew exactly who the man in front of them was, he was the strongest man on the continent.

The only man out of the five guardians that protect this country that's been labeled as a walking disaster.

The people of Sunflower respected and admired him because he treats the common people with care and doesn't look down and abuse the people under him. He treats all men equally and gives respect to those who deserve it.

The support of the people towards him is huge and threatens those in higher positions that wish to control him. His enemies, however, feared his name and refused to attack anywhere he may be.

When he travelled the continent in the past ten years, all wars and conflict in the area he was in would come to a halt as to not offend the man and sign their own death warrants.

They knew he could destroy their country by himself if he so wished and they thanked the gods that his personality was righteous and he didn't kill indiscriminately.

Riley was a bald man with purple full body armor and a long brown beard that was braided like a Viking chief. The long sword at his back was as large as an average man making him look like a true warrior.

He spoke to Orion with regret as he too was someone who admired him, "Orion, old friend, it's not too late to bend the knee to his majesty and share your family's technique. His majesty does not want to shed any more blood In our country. It's thanks to you that our country has seen peace for the past two decades".

Orion sighed as he looked him in the eyes and spoke slowly "and yet, you allow that trash to sacrifice the common folk, treat us all as dogs and plunge our country into despair single handedly", he stopped talking as he slowly stood up towering above all men and looked down at them with building anger.

Jared stepped forward with fury in his eyes and spoke up "How insolent! His majesty will bring us closer to the goal of uniting the continent under one flag! If his ambitions require the masses to sacrifice their lives for him, then so be it!"

Jared was a clean shaven blonde haired man with a stunning white armor. He was the guardian closest to the capital and the number one lackey of the crowned prince of Sunflower.

"HAHAHAHA, how foolish! Do you honestly believe the rulers of the continent are such pushovers they would allow such a thing? Have you gone senile before I have?!" Orion bellowed out and terrified the soldiers in front of him, his voice carried such power that demanded the fear and respect from others.

Orion spoke once more, now with a calm demeanour "are you so blind to not realize that the whole continent will turn their eyes towards you once more if you attempt such a stupid plan?" He continued, "it doesn't matter now I guess, once I'm gone you'll have your hands full with the wars at our borders. Especially with one or more guardians missing."

Tobias laughed and spoke as his arrogance returned, "Hahaha, do you really think we haven't thought about that? Victor!"

There was a pause for a moment and then heavy footsteps were heard. A huge man walked through the door as the soldiers made way for the giant to pass.

He was an inch taller than Orion and was about the same age as Tobias. "Meet our newest guardian and the man you'll be giving your armor to In the future! Victor Stone!" Tobias spoke loudly, amused and hoping for a reaction from Orion.

As he locked eyes with the giant, Orion could see his reluctance to be here but his arrogance and inexperience still clouded his ability to think clearly.

With building fury Orion finally spoke "it doesn't matter what your plans are. The moment that trash killed his father and my last dear friend, the true king of our realm, I lost all loyalty to this world" as he finished speaking he released his killing intent as it spread across the whole pagoda, engulfing the thousands of elite soldiers awaiting orders from the three men, sending shivers down their spines.