WHAT WE CAN DO

SAMUEL ARGUS'S POV

"you okay"

I looked up to see the concerned face of who would often be considered as the most reliable person in the world, it was easy to see that he was quite concerned for me, my heavy breathing must have been a dead giveaway.

'me, I'm peachy'

I replied in what I hoped was a peppy tone, he furrowed his brows and turned, as if to say I don't buy it but I'll let you save some face.

Something we needed to hold onto dearly for at our backs were the sum total of Trident's troops and they had been promised a blood bath it would not do for the orchestrators to show apprehension.

"you know if you need someone to talk to I'm right here"

said Kannie Ruhd, the 4th Don of Trident and the person directly above me, we were both seated in a luxurious carriage barely a mile away from the city of Aegis. About 2000 men and women marched behind us, a small army made up of members from both our guilds and those of the other Dons that share our dominion each one could be considered relatively strong, experts at battle and by no means unblooded but they weren't marching towards a battle. A battle is something that only occurs when two equal but opposing forces clash the people we were marching towards were only the dregs of Aegis's combat potential a skeleton force only there to maintain order and give its citizens a sense of security, but in front of us those men and women left behind were as threatening as new born lambs while we, were wolves. This wasn't going to be a battle, it would be a slaughter. I knew that, that was why I was shuddering, I was leading men to commit an atrocity and it scared me, but yet even though his words were meant to be relieving I couldn't help but reply with suspicion in my voice

'what are you doing'

I asked

"I'm being conscious about your wellbeing"

he replied bluntly

'that's not what I asked, what I asked was, what's are you doing'

I faced his green eyes with more resolve than was usually seen in me while his face looked placid with his eyes showing he felt a little chargined, we held each others gaze for a few seconds before he finally sighed and said

"I'm trying to help"

resignation laced his voice, I could tell he was being sincere but still I grilled him for his meaning

'and please explain what you mean by that'

"it means I'm trying to relieve you of your anxiety and don't try to deny it you're as jittery as a little girl who's seeing blood for the first time"

'I can handle myself'

my voice a little more forceful than usual but I couldn't help it, to most his words would be welcome but to me they were an insult

"no you can't"

emperor aura flared out of me expressively carrying my rage. I could feel the thunder tigers, B ranked monsters that we had pulling this carriage lurch in fear sending a jolt throughout the carriage but my eyes didn't leave view of him. Kannie didn't even so much as flinch at my rage instead he looked up at me with cool eyes and said

"I'm sorry, I'm just feeling a little down about how things have turned out"

my anger didn't lessen but I managed to reply with

'and what does that have to do with me, how does that translate to you insulting me like that'

he still held my gaze as he spoke

"I don't just mean this battle we're going to or this war we're in, I mean everything, everything that happened since Micheal died"

the emperor pressure coming from me halted for a bit before I asked

'what do you mean'

he leaned back on the expensive sofa his waist long hair fanning his face and spreading around the pillows. Green threads on a white background with him in the middle, the sight resembled a painting that I was too ignorant to be able to put a price on, so i didn't. Instead I chose to wait, to wait and hear his explanation.

"you, Micheal, Raine you weren't really made to become Don's, at least the typical type. A typical Don is not just powerful but also carries a bit of selfishness, he knows his strengths his weaknesses and most importantly, his limits. That last on is your biggest problem, you're not weak and it's not your analytical prowess that's the problem its that you're too much in awe of your potential and I don't blame you, I believe you were about 19 when you awakened your Arcanum even if you had trained all your life that feat would still be considered insane, growing up you constantly broke through barrier after barrier with an unprecedented speed , your growth astonished everyone who met you, your family believed it would take at least 40 years before before you awakened your Arcanum and another 10 before you became a Don yet look at you now, and you did it all with minimal effort"

I couldn't refute him, not one word of his was false, so instead I chose to ask

'who gave you the right to look into my past'

he chose not to answer choosing instead to continue

"the main problem stems from the fact that you did all this at least in your eyes quite easily, you believe that so long as you put in the bare minimum of effort you will achieve greatness as such you only train half hazardly believing that your raw talent will carry you the rest of the way, it won't work Samuel. Micheal was 20 when he awakened his Arcanum, a year behind you and he did it under the tutelage of his dead beat father who's teachings would hardly compare to that of your academy level instructor's"

'are you going to keep insulting me or do you actually want to fight'

angry veins were appearing on my scalp now but what was even more frightening was that I was unconsciously reaching for my sword now yet he continued

"even I couldn't tell when Langris and the new guy awakened their Arcanum's but i know Raine was at least 16 when she awakened hers"

my hand stopped just in front of the hilt of the blade at those words

Whaaaaaaaat!

I wanted to scream for all the word to hear but I held back keeping my shock silent, I ran mana into my brain and in a split second I contemplated the meaning behind those words, 16, 1 and fucking 6 that was no longer a genius even geniuses have limits, that was a monster, a monster who awakened at 16 and at 18 and sad to admit was already stronger than me.

'bullshit'

I said silently

"it true"

he said solmely and even she's a ways behind those two the second of which is younger than you"

'BULLSHIT'

i said with more conviction that wasn't possible,

it just didn't make sense

'give me time, time and resources I'll surpass all of them, every single one of them'

"Samuel, they have time as well, they have the resources too, and most importantly, they have the talent, that's probably the one area in which they surpass us both"

I hung my head low in resignation and asked

'why are you telling me this, we're rival Don's, I fully intend to come after your position one day and surpass you, why aren't you holding this information back from me, are you underestimating me, like every one else'

I could feel his gaze on me, but this time it was warmer

"because its not to late, not too late for you to wise up and save your self..... I should have told you this a long time ago, you Rainne and Micheal too, you're a Don, you're supposed to be cocky but you were cocky without knowing the enterity of the situation you were in while Micheal, he just couldn't handle it, the pressure and responsibility that came with ruling a city, it ate him up ate his choices and eventually led to the situation that caused his death and Raine, she's overreaching"

I looked up at those words, what did he mean, how could someone so amazing overreach, with her ability the world was practically hers for the taking

"no one whether they be man or Don can save the world, the power to do so does not exist"

that was when it came to me, her dream, a dream that even now after hearing a what she was capable of still sounded nonsensical

'to save the world huh, to do so would mean destroy the old world and create one where everyone would agree was undoubtedly a paradise'

I said a jaded tone to my voice

"the first part is doable, even if you don't hold a candle to that girl you could still find a way around it, but the second part, that's where it gets tricky. What exactly constitutes a paradise is it a place where all the children smile and men live in peace is it a place where hunger is only possible when someone chooses to starve or is it a place where every single living thing is happy, in every of these situations there will always be a problem, what will you do about those who detest the smiles of children and crave violence or a those who enjoy the sight of their starving enemies or what about those who only find happiness in the suffering of others, how will you give them a paradise"

'deviants'

"yep, that's what they're called, and not only are there are a lot of them in the world but they will also never stand for the happiness that girl is chasing"

'she could just kill them all'

he smiled a bit and said

"if only that was the answer deviants are an infinitely replenishing factor, there will always be someone who doesn't need a tragic backstory to be a bad egg"

we shared a smirk at that, for a few moments we forgot what we had set out to do, and we were thankful for it

"because we were both Don's I wasn't allowed to do much for Micheal and now he's dead, I don't want to fail the rest of you like that"

'even Langris and Don kalen'

he recoiled a bit at those names his eyes flashed as if a startling memory just passed through them, I was almost afraid afraid ask as such I let the silence hang between us for a few moment before I hardened my resolve, i didn't need to, he answered on his own

"I don't think those two need my help"

he said quietly

'how so?'

his face seemed to display a wise calm but closer inspection would reveal a certain emotion, even I could tell what it was, fear was an easily recognizable emotion

"those two, they aren't just strong or talented or smart, they're also trained"

'trained, trained how?'

I asked with a puzzled expression

"that's the thing, how, how do you train someone to hold he position of a Don, this is supposed to be something you grow into after learning from loss and victory, after risking your fortune prestige and even your neck but not those two, at least not him"

'who'

with trepidation in his voice he called out what was likely the heaviest name I had ever heard

"Don kalen, that man, that man is no up start and that doesn't make a bit of sense, do you know where Langris came from"

I thought for a bit before realising that it was pointless, I wasn't in the business of inquiring upon the pasts of others even if they were a threat to me so I shook my head

"I don't know where he was born, I don't know where he was raised all I do know is that one day an 18 year old boy showed up at the city gates beat both Don's 4, 5 and 3 and the time and when he came to me who was no 2 I didn't even bother to fight him, I took one look at that boy and decided I'd lost this fight, then that boy walked up to him, the first Don of Trident at the time, do you know who that was back then"

I nodded slowly, every one knows who he was he was the one and only lightning god slayer and the second strongest man alive, years ago he left Trident and his seat as first Don, a powerful man who was practically unchallengable by any body other than one man, the old man of the tower, when that man left Tridents history and reputation was forever stained, the city went from one with absolutely nothing special about it to a joke that couldn't even keep its strongest Don, a fact that had haunted Langris for years.

"Langris walked up to that man, I didn't have much relationship with him at that point but I was already rushing to stop him from getting himself killed but instead of issuing a challenge like I thought he would he did something even more unexpected, he stood in front of that man while he radiated hostility and said words I could never have belived, hello uncle"

I jolted backwards as he finished before replying with

'no way, Langris is his nephew'

Kannie looked at me and said

"whether it be by blood, i don't know. Langris never broached the subject but I do know that Langris's appearance wasn't by accident that man planned It, he planned for Langris to succeed him, that's why he's the perfect image of a Don, but Kalen, Kalen doesn't make sense, he's 19 an ex-mercenary an Arcanum user just as skilled as Langris and he knows how to Don"

'I get the first two parts but what makes you so sure he knows how to Don'

"the demonstration at his inauguration"

his reply was instantaneous with not even a hint of disbelief present, I thought back to that day, when faced with those kinds of accusations I'm sure what I would have done, I would have either tried to make excuses that might have sounded convincing but would have still failed, not because I couldn't draw upon valid points but because I would bring up the question of why I a symbol of power was answering to such an unkept and hateful tramp and if I had ordered him escorted out with force I would have brought up questions on whether I was scared on what he had to say, both methods would have been failure, but he, he did both and failed in neither, he brought him to the podium and showed that he wasn't afraid of this mad man's rantings while simultaneously showing that he wasn't someone worth his time of day by exposing his sins, it was a brilliant astounding performance and he thought it all up on the spot, unless

'but wait, what of Langris planned it, what if Langris had given him what to say and arranged that whole thing for him to earn the crowds favour'

Kannie threw his head back and spoke

"it's not unlikely, but it's highly improbable, for one I don't think even Langris can control that man, he's not an idiot in fact he's likely just as smart as Langris himself the only thing the first Don has on him is his unpredictability"

'yeah he is a little crazy'

"and two he's strong, strong enough to do what none of us can, say no, Langris is impressive, very but he doesn't hold a candle to the aura of the god slayer I know cuz it has made me bow, that's why the god slayer could make him his pawn, because the gap was practically insurmountable but that's not the case with those two, they're as equal as wind and rain in a storm no dominance present"

he confirmed what we all feared, we we're now living with a new monster, but still that begs the question

'what does he want'

"I don't think he knows"

he said blankly

"but he'll find out men like that don't stay lost for long and when he finds it I pity all who stand in his way"

'you think he'll stand with Langris'

"not likely"

he said with a chuckle

"he wasn't expecting the interruption on his inauguration and I wouldn't be surprised if he held a grudge"

'but still, what if those two decided to work together, what if Langris could convince him'

I shuddered at my own words and their implications but Kannie simply said

"then their enemies have my condolences"

our carriage suddenly stopped amd within moments an attendant knocked on the door waiting for our leave to open

'come in'

i said, he opened the door and bowed towards both of us in quick succession, he started with Kannie before facing me and although I couldn't recognise his face but I could tell he was one of Langris's the sharp air radiating off of him was easily recognizable amongst his troops

"we have arrived my Don's"

said the man respectfully, I waved my hand in dismissal as he bowed and retreated closing the door behind him. I then turned to Kannie who was watching me at if expecting some kind of reaction, I gave him an empty stare before sighing and said

'the truth is I don't want to do this, if worst comes to worst we'd be slaughtering innocents'

"I know Samuel, I know, and so does Raine which is probably why she refused to come, if it gets nasty you can just leave it to me"

I didn't miss the meaning behind those words as I responded to the calm on his face with one of bravery

'you would really do that'

his next words were spoken tenderly

"I'll do what I can for you, you do what you can"