Chapter 15 – The Family is an Ancient Organization

Nathan Evenhart:

That night I went back to my room and finally managed to sleep. It was a peaceful rest with no crazy panthers or psychopathic goddesses to disturb me. I still didn’t understand what Athena’s apparition was, and honestly… I didn’t want to understand.

I’m sleeping when I feel something approaching my face. Just as it’s about to touch me, I roll to the side and grab a knife from under my pillow.

“Well... you’ve got good reflexes,” said the monk, staring at me.

“What the hell?”

The monk was in my room, holding a wooden sword.

“I was testing you, boy. You shouldn’t sleep soundly even if the most beautiful woman in the world was beside you.”

I glance at the corner of my room and see the goddess Athena.

“Does he know you actually slept next to the most beautiful woman in this world?” Athena asked me.

I ignore the goddess’s apparition and focus on the monk.

“I wasn’t completely asleep; part of me always stays alert.”

The monk smiled.

“I noticed, but you’re still too slow,” he said, tossing me a wooden sword.

“I know... I’m still a child.”

This body is still weak. I was recently wetting my pants while sleeping... let alone having total control over my brain and body as I did before.

Now I understand what happened to me. It’s the same as that panther; it becomes weak when in its cub form. The difference is that I’ve lost all my powers. I might be a war general, but in the body of a little kid, my punch only tickles someone.

“Come on, my apprentice. We have much to discuss, and I need to put those little arms of yours to work.”

Sifu left my room with an agility that didn’t match his appearance.

I grab my coat, and the phoenix jumps onto my shoulder.

“Aren’t we even going to have breakfast?” I ask, following the old man.

“True warriors train on an empty stomach,” he replies.

“I disagree. True warriors train better when well-fed...” I say.

I had Spartan training, so I know how to strengthen this body.

“That’s true, but my goal is for you to reach your peak in your worst state.”

I follow the blue-robed monk through the mansion.

“Young master, your meal will be served soon,” said a very beautiful maid when she saw me in the corridor.

“He’s not eating now,” Sifu replied, pulling me away from her.

“Who was that woman?” I ask him.

Sifu chuckles.

“Don’t get into the good graces of any maid or servant who walks within the interior of the mansion.”

“I just... wanted to know who she was. But why did you tell me that?” I ask the monk.

He laughs.

“They’re all trained by your aunt in the art of torture. You wouldn’t want to piss any of them off.”

“What? The maids here are torturers?” I ask, surprised.

“Of course. Do you want anyone living here with us to be just a civilian? Everyone who lives in the interior part of this mansion is a member of a warrior family with a legacy of generations... I’ll explain better when we get to your hell,” he said, laughing.

"And outside the mansion, when I'm at the castle, how will I know who's a torturer maid and who's a normal maid?"

He sighs and scratches his beard. "You won't. All of them are trained in espionage, and most live around the area. Your aunt was born and raised in the arts of torture here. I saw her as a little girl walking through these halls... and torturing people since she was young."

Holy shit... not even the kids are spared. Don’t tell me that little girl from yesterday was some kind of spy?

We walked through the place, and Sifu led me to some stairs. We passed a few wooden doors and descended to what seemed like a training area. Sifu walked to the middle of the mat.

"What do you think the Evenhart Legacy is?"

I followed him. "A group of important and trusted people for the Evenharts?"

Sifu scratched his beard. "You’re right, but that’s not what the Evenhart Legacy is. You described who the legacies are."

"I still don’t understand."

"The Evenhart Legacy is an Ancient Organization of Warrior Assassins."

What!? What kind of family was I born into?

"An Organization of Assassins!?"

"The first king of Evenhart created the organization along with those close to him, his students. These families had to unite their forces and share their techniques, founding the Evenhart Legacy. An organization that seeks to protect the families that founded the Evenhart Kingdom and keep these lands peaceful. What you saw at that dinner last night were the descendants of those families. The organization is 2,000 years old. Obviously, they’re more numerous than those few you saw. Those are the Legacies, and the rest are the soldiers of the legacies and the vassal families that live in the village around the fortress."

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Sifu cracked his neck and continued explaining.

"These lands were wild, and the magic and knowledge were far from what we know today. They faced magical creatures using these techniques. Only one in every hundred people is a mage. What do you think the other 99 need to be?"

"Warriors?" I responded.

"Battle Masters!" he corrected, striking a pose with his arms.

"From today, I will teach you the arts of your family, improved with the assassin teachings of your ancestor and applied with my Kung Fu!" He moved his arms and started attacking me.

Sifu's arms moved quickly, and I tried to block them but couldn’t as they were soon elsewhere, aiming to hit me.

"Good reflexes, but the body is weak!" He tripped me, and I fell to the ground.

I know it’s weak! I’m only five years old.

"And don’t even think about blaming your age. I’ve seen monks younger than you fighting adult teachers."

Fuck... the bastard read my frustration.

"One of your ancestors was an assassin for the kingdom. The Kingdom of Teresia has a secret police under the control of the Royal Family. They are called ‘Night Killers’ and are all women. One of these Night Killers married a Duke Evenhart after they nearly killed each other in a fight to the death..."

"How romantic..." I muttered.

"Your ancestor retired from the Night Killers but always feared that her former organization would try to kill her to keep their secrets safe. So she focused on creating her own assassin organization, incorporating torture and assassination methods into the Evenhart Legacy, further enhancing the organization. Your aunt, our queen, is a product of our special little troop known as the Assassin Maids."

He pulled me up from the ground.

"I was saved by your grandfather when I was a young monk. He gave me a new life and never demanded any of my Kung Fu techniques. On the contrary, he taught me everything he knew. I stayed with your family and became a teacher, and I've been here ever since. But times have changed. When the war came, I regretted my decision, and it was too late to pass on my knowledge. But today, that changes. Today, you will receive both your family's techniques and mine," he said, getting back into his fighting stance.

"You will learn politics, economics, administration, etiquette, oratory, geography, history, and culture from your aunt and the other trainers. Then, you will learn the art of battle from me."

"And where does assassination come in?"

He laughed.

"The Art of Assassination is taught to children starting at the age of seven. Until you reach that age, I will teach you my Kung Fu, and once you're older, I will transform you into a Master Assassin."

"And what is a Master Assassin?" I asked.

"A man who can face an army by day and kill someone important in their sleep by night."

He threw me a real sword.

"And you?"

Sifu laughed. "I only need my hands. Come, try to kill me," he said.

This monk is crazy.

"I like him," Athena said beside me.

Ignoring the appearance of the goddess, I focused on the task at hand. I charged at Sifu, who gracefully dodged and sometimes deflected the blade with movements that surprised me by not cutting him. I tried to apply some of my war techniques, but my physical limitations hindered me. As the tip of my sword neared Sifu's neck, he stopped the blade with a single finger.

I was shocked. The blade hadn't cut Sifu, and he held it with just his index finger.

"Very good, apprentice. I see training you will be worth it. Know that none of the other legacies, even in their childhood, could get a blade this close to my neck, let alone force me to stop it."

"How did you do that?" I asked, astonished.

The old man removed his finger from the blade. I ran to the tip and tested it with my finger, drawing blood.

"This is sharp! How did you not get cut?"

Sifu laughed. "It's just a little trick from my homeland..."

"Trick?"

"Exactly. The 'true humans' as you call them. I am one of them..."

I looked at the old man before me and dropped the sword, sitting down.

"I figured."

I sat on the ground, out of breath in this small body. Sifu remained standing.

"In my land, humans can access something called prana."

"Prana? What is that?"

"It's a type of power different from mana. That's how the 'true humans' can challenge the magical humans of this continent. The energy is called 'prana' by the monks, but it has another, more popular name."

"What name?" I asked him.

"Battle Aura."

As soon as he said that, my heart tightened and ached.

"Aura!?"

That dangerous power exists in this world!? And worse... a people who hate my race use Aura!

Sifu seemed to sense my distress.

"Don't worry, their knowledge of Aura is only superficial. None of them can do what I can. That's why they invaded my monastery and killed my teachers. They wanted our secrets... but I was the only one who survived."

A weight lifted off my shoulders.

The small red hawk lands on my head, as if somehow sensing my fears.

"I presume that humans who use mana cannot use Aura," I say.

"No. Only the human people from the other continent can use Aura, just as only you from this continent can use mana."

Great... so I wouldn't have the luck of using my knowledge to become a General in Aura again. What bad luck...

The small red hawk pecks at my head, and I look up.

"That's curious. The fact that this animal chose you... means you've been through something together. A phoenix can read the malice in people; you probably had no intention of capturing it."

"Of course not!" I respond.

I would never do such a thing. In my past, I was a child whose destiny was changed and forced to become a tool. When I became an Emperor, I ended that. That's why I had to seek out the Titans; I needed an army that wanted to join my revenge, and they shared the hatred for the Gods. I wouldn't force anyone or take children and train them as tools, so they were my only option.

"What do you know about this creature? Is it true that it will grow large?" I ask him while pointing at the phoenix.

The monk laughs.

"What I know are just legends passed down by my teachers. The phoenix should have been extinct long ago... seeing one up close fills me with emotions. I used to hear stories about them and shared them with my old friends. Today, I see one alive in front of me. All I know is that it is loyal and that it can have the power to become enormous, reaching a size... that I don't know if it would fit in this castle. But I don't know how the phoenix evolves and unlocks its power."

"I'm screwed... what if this thing gets out of control?"

The monk laughs.

"You and it will have a bond of friendship. As long as you don't intend to do harm, it won't. Your fates are now linked; that's what having a friendship with a phoenix means."

I feel a bit relieved.

"If it's not going to go around destroying everything, I'm already more at ease. I just want to live my life in peace..." I say, standing up.

The small red hawk sneezes and unintentionally releases fire. Then it flies to a stone shelf and lies down.

"There's something interesting I heard when listening to stories about a phoenix, actually it's a bit funny."

I look at the old man who was laughing.

"What is this 'interesting something'?"

"They say that a phoenix only decides to form a bond of friendship with a true Emperor," he says, walking over to a sword rack.

Those words echo in my mind, and I look at the bird.

I hope you chose to be my friend because we saved each other that day... the time of emperors is over.

Sifu picks up a sword.

"Today, I'll teach you some basics."

"I want to skip the basics. Teach me how to face an Aura user."

Even though I know, it's different when I can't use Aura to counterattack. I need to learn everything I can from him.

He laughs.

"Still worried about that? Don't worry. Human armies haven't mastered Aura, and the ratio is the same as for mages here: 1 in 100..."

"I know... but I just want to learn a bit."

“Relax, my apprentice. There's an entire Human Empire, and none of them use Aura like I do... except for one person.”

I make a confused face. "One person?" I ask.

"Exactly. Only one person knows how to use Aura the way I do, and he went far beyond. Even I couldn't defeat that person... but there's nothing to worry about. That man, even though he's unpredictable, is still just one man and doesn't have the power to change the Empire. The Empire only obeys its Emperor," he explains.

"And who is this man?"

"His name is Jin Sidao. He's Asian like me and belongs to the Song Dynasty under Emperor Song's rule. His father killed the Emperor, and there must be a crisis with the new heir. That man became a politician and pretends to be meek; no one knows his true nature. I saw him using his techniques only once in the War of the Red Frontier. I investigated him since then with some old contacts, and they confirmed that only he knows how to use Aura that way."

"Then I'm more at ease about that. If he's just one person and the Song Dynasty only obeys the emperor... I hope things stay that way."

The monk laughs.

"Things will stay that way for a long time. The Song Dynasty is an Empire that has existed longer than this Kingdom. Jin Sidao is dangerous, but without real political power... he's just an ordinary person."

This world uses Aura! That's way too dangerous. Luckily, only this old man and Jin Sidao know techniques with it.