Despite my comfy bed, I woke up early in the morning. I liked my internal clock & ability to not only know the exact time, but wake up at a set time each day, it was beyond convenient. I did not need much sleep really, but it still felt nice to rest my eyes and mind. Other than breakfast with the family in a few hours, I was to work with my parents to select my honor guard.

According to what I learned; these would be the royal knights assigned to serve as my personal bodyguards. The way the process was explained it seemed overly formal and drawn out, but it was designed to make sure various considerations were accounted for. Most of those considerations I was not going to care much about as competence was one of the key things I was looking for.

I decided to start my day with my normal exercise and training routine. I kept it limited to what I could do in my giant princely suite. With my enchanted speed it did not take me long to finish my warmup. As I began my meditation some key questions popped into my head.

‘Should I find a safer place to practice where I can go all out? How much do I let on about my capabilities?’

These two questions led me to rethink one of my own demiplanes, it was going to need an overhaul. Walking into my Demiplane I realized it was massive. I had combined it with a spell I created similar to a popular spell idea from past tabletop games I played. I called it Magnificent Domain. The spell used some of the creation points I slowly generated and fed them to allow me to make creations of my own within the demiplane. The initial layout I created had a giant fortress the size of a city, contained within the walls were a Druid’s grove, training grounds, and a huge several story estate that sat on top of a decent sized hill overlooking the demiplane. Here I could go all out in my training without fear of being seen or caught. The other advantage I built into this demiplane was incorporating some impressive time Magic into the place.

Using the knowledge I gained, time moved at an exponentially faster rate in the demiplane than outside it. My mental calculations figured for every second that passed outside the demiplane a full 169 minutes passed inside, which was almost 3 hours, 2 hours and 49 minutes to be more accurate. With this time dilation I could train, practice magic, and experiment with potions, crafting, etc. Though I found a certain peace in training, I was most excited to craft and make creations of my own.

I headed towards the training area and practiced for a few hours. After practice, I decided to use the one feat and magic I gained that I was perhaps most excited about, Omniverse Points or (OPs). With this demiplane intrinsically tied to me, these OPs would slowly generate and be available for use. This magic allowed me to create pretty much anything I wanted within the demiplane. Anything I created took a certain amount of Omniverse Points.

‘Maybe these Omniverse Points, are the key to become truly OP.’ That random thought made me laugh as I truly was Over-Powered, and I was only getting started.

Anyway, back to the points. The costs varied and I could only use so many points per day, as I was literally warping reality & bringing something into existence. I could even use them to expand the size of the demiplane. Too much warping of the world around me and I risked shattering the reality of this demiplane and that just seemed like a bad idea. Slow and steady was the key to success.

In theory I could create life forms but figured I should wait until I felt comfortable with creation itself. So, to start with I created a few mountain ranges. Within each I created different veins of metal ores. Each mountain range contained specific metal veins.

When I was done, I had four mountain ranges, one covering each cardinal direction, one with silver veins, one with gold veins, one with mithril veins, and one with adamantine veins. Sadly, each ore took different amount of OPs, mithril and adamantine took so many it would take weeks of realm time to have significant veins of the stuff. My goal was to eventually mine the ores to use in my crafting experiments, plus I knew the value of such commodities, I had a feeling would come in handy in the future.

With my points used up for the day and training exercise completed, I went into my mansion estate. Once inside my estate I partook in one of my favorite features I designed, large, heated baths. I had a whole full on Japanese bathhouse setup. I planned to try everything here. First up was the mineral bath, a quick shower, and after just soaked in a huge bath that was more the size of a pool. One word to describe it all, ‘heaven!’

After my relaxing bathing session, I returned to reality. Walking through the portal back into my suite. I got dressed and with so little time passing in reality when I returned, I had plenty of time, so I decided to explore the palace.

When I exited my room, I found Captain Spears and a few royal knights waiting for me.

“Captain? What are you doing here?” I asked a bit surprised.

‘I must get better at keeping my aura senses active all the time. I cannot let my guard down even in the palace.’ I thought as I schooled my face.

“My apologies, sire, but as you have not yet chosen your personal royal knights and guards, I felt it was my duty to see to your protection.” Captain Spears replied.

“Did my father or mother put you up to this?” I asked.

“Not at all, sire. I was the one who suggested it to his majesty. He of course approved and thanked me for my initiative.” Captain Spears replied.

Letting out a sigh, I replied, “Of course he did. I was just about to explore the palace, having a guide would be appreciated captain.”

“Let me show you the highlights, my prince.” Captain Spears said before his men fell in behind us and we started the tour.

To say the palace was huge would be an understatement. A few hours had passed, and we weren’t even halfway through the tour. Of course, part of that was due to Reggie giving me a combination of a history lesson and his best tour guide impression. There were giant ballrooms, grand halls, a few gardens, a private training arena, and my favorite, a combination library/map room.

The library was rather large and according to Reggie there were copies of books that could be found in the city library along with some tomes and other family documents not available in the city library. Of course, Reggie made a point to call out the fact that the city library did have a restricted section that held various books and tomes not even available here. In other words, I was going to have to spend a good amount of time here and in the city library eventually.

As excited as I was to read and learn, I found myself most excited for the various maps. There were detailed maps of the kingdom, including some that depicted key trade routes and where certain natural resources existed across the land. I found several maps of neighboring kingdoms across the continent, and a larger map of the known world. The continent we were on was the largest by far but there were still several continents and large island chains scattered across the planet. It was a treasure trove of knowledge that reminded me of how much I still had to learn. It was hard to tear myself away, but I was getting rather hungry, and I think Reggie was getting a bit antsy wanting to show me the rest of the palace.

Ever since coming to this world, to say I had a very healthy appetite for a growing boy was an understatement. I found I could use Magic to create food and water that did a great job of sustaining and strengthening my body, but I could not deny how much I craved meat, must be a dragon thing. I had one thing on my mind once my stomach started growling, ‘Where is the MEAT!’.

“Captain, perhaps we can continue the palace tour another time. Can you please escort me to the royal dining room so I may join my family to break our fast.” My stomach growled loudly right after I spoke.

“Oh! Of course, right this way my prince. I should have anticipated your need for food before we trekked all over the palace.” Reggie replied after hearing my stomach.

“Non-sense. You were indulging me in my eagerness to explore. Let’s get our grub on!”

“Grub… my prince? You want bugs? Was there not much to eat in the hidden valley?” Reggie asked in confusion.

“What? No! It is an expression as in let us go eat a bunch of stuff. Besides the hidden valley had a great ranch.” I commented.

“I do not recall seeing a ranch, just the cottage and some cattle. I guess you could consider that a small ranch.” Reggie thoughtfully considered.

I laughed at my internal joke, “HAHAHA! No, it was an inside joke, sorry Reggie, don’t worry about it. How much farther?” I asked as we walked more briskly through the palace.

“Not very far at all, my prince. It is right through these double doors.” Reggie answered.

———— - - - - - - - - - - - ————

When we arrived at the dining room my father and mother were already in the room and about to take their seats. My mother was of course the first one to respond. She bolted from her seat and wrapped me up in a hug again.

“Good morning my baby boy! You’re up early, just in time to break our fast together!”

Muffled, I do my best to respond. “...Good...morn...ing… Mother... Can... you... please.... release me?”

Luckily my father came to my rescue. “Darling, you’re suffocating him. He is not going anywhere. Let the poor boy take his seat and eat.”

“What? Oh, sorry honey. It’s just... every time I see you, I think about how long we have been separated. It’s hard not to want to hold on tight and not let go.” My mother said as she released me from her bear hug.

‘I felt for the woman. She was denied seeing her child growing up, so I cannot be too upset.’ I thought.

Collecting myself I replied, “I understand mother. I have been without you, father, and sister my whole life in this world. I too am happy for us to be reunited.”

“My baby, come sit with us. Captain Spears why don’t you join us too.” My mother said while practically dragging me by my arm to sit next to them.

“Yes Captain, join us. We can discuss the royal knight candidates while we eat. Besides I have other matters to discuss that could use your input. We are just waiting for Marcus. Ah there he is.” My father said as General Marcus was escorted into the private royal dining room.

“Thank you, the royal family is too kind to this humble servant.” Captain Spears replied as he took a nearby seat at the table.

“Good morning, Marcus, come take a seat.” My father gestured.

“Yes, sit-down Marcus.” My mother said.

General Marcus took a seat and looked over at Captain Spears. The general saw this as a perfect opportunity to get the captain to corroborate the reports he received from his men who helped escort the prince back to the capital. “Captain, it is good to see you, and I see Prince James is already awake. I am not surprised from the reports I received about you from the soldiers on the convoy.”

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“Reports?” My father, mother, and I said practically at the same time.

Turning to his brother and sister-in-law, General Marcus answered. “Yes. According to my men, Prince James here, would wake up early every morning and do a series of morning exercises and training. Over the few days it took, most of the soldiers participated in these morning activities and attested they noticed some gains as a result.”

“Yes, I can vouch for that General. Every one of my knights felt subtle improvements in their movements and endurance at the end of our journey.” Captain Spears provided.

One thing I had learned about the power structure of the royal faction was that Captain Spears reported directly to the king and queen as did the royal knights, however the various armies of the military reported to my uncle General Marcus. Of course, General Marcus reported directly to the king, and they were as close as any brothers could be. Growing up, even as kids, they fought side by side in several battles when my father was still a crown-prince defending the kingdom. In General Marcus was not only the General of the army but also a loving uncle who adored my sister Aurora. One thing I truly admired about this family was how much they loved their family and the people of this kingdom.

During joint efforts between the royal knights and the military, the knights lead the military. Only General Marcus and of course the royal family outranked the royal knights in combat.

General Marcus stroked his chin. “Interesting. Perhaps we could incorporate these exercises into the training regimen for the military. Where did you pick up these routines Prince James?”

“During my time of isolation, there was not much to do other than study and very slowly develop routines to grow stronger. I am more than willing to help the military however I can. If my routines will make our soldiers and royal knights stronger, then of course it is my duty and pleasure to train them.” I replied.

My father slapped the table and laughed. “Hahaha! You hear that, Marcus?!” With a huge smile on his face, my father continued. “My son’s sense of commitment to the betterment of our kingdom. He takes to it just as we did when we were his age.” My father proudly stated to his longtime friend and brother.

“Indeed. After you have selected your personal royal knight guards, I can arrange for you to train several of our colonels, majors, and some lieutenants.” General Marcus stated.

That gave me an idea, “Captain, if you are open to adding the training to the royal knights, we could start that training tomorrow morning. The officers won’t know me but to my understanding they respect the royal knights, seeing them going through the same training could help with their acceptance.”

“Of course, Prince James. News of your exploits has already spread to all the royal knights. None would deny a chance to grow stronger, let alone learn from you, my prince.” Captain Spears replied.

“Genius! I was just going to make it clear to learn or suffer my wrath. Ha, he’s just as shrewd as you were back in our younger campaign days, perhaps even more.” General Marcus boasted to his brother.

“See how much he takes after me!” My father exclaimed, clearly beaming with pride.

“Of course, I take after both you and mother.” I said.

“Awe! My baby is so sweet!” My mother said as she looked like she wanted to wrap me up in another hug. ‘Man, I was hoping to reduce her clinginess not add to it. I wonder if my extremely high Charisma is helping me say all the right things or if it is affecting them, heck probably both.’ I thought for a moment.

“See very shrewd. He knows exactly what to say.” General Marcus joked.

We talked briefly of what to expect later today. Captain Spears mentioned how adamant Mira, Kira, and several other knights that escorted me home expressed their interest, including LT. Simmons. General Marcus mentioned how Rita, the scout I saved, as well as others, offered to join my extended guard on travels and diplomatic missions in the future.

As we talked my sister finally had woken up and sleepily walked into the dining room. Her hair was a mess, and she was still in her pajamas. It was clear my sister was not a morning person.

“Good morning sister.” I greeted her happily. I thought she was adorable and knew I already liked having a little sister. It did make a part of me miss my brother and cousins, who were more like siblings to me, but I shifted my focus back to the here and now.

“Good morning, Princess Aurora.” Captain Spears said.

“Good morning, my little Aurora.” General Marcus said.

“Good morning, Uncle Marcus.” Aurora said.

It was at that point my sister was finally awake enough to realize she was not just with her parents and our uncle, General Marcus.

“Eek! Big brother! Captain Spears!” Was all she got out before ducking back into the hallway that led back to her room.

A few moments later she returned, hair combed and no longer in her pajamas.

“Good morning mother, father, Uncle Marcus, Captain Spears, big brother.” My sister acted like she wasn’t embarrassed even though her cheeks were a nice rose color.

“What did I miss?” My sister asked.

“Not much, sister. Just conversation on the royal knight selection process and talk of training. How did you sleep?”

“I slept quite well big brother. Thank you for asking.” My sister replied. It was clear she was trying to recover from her earlier embarrassment.

“I’m still trying to figure my way around the palace. After the knight selection, would my little sister like to show her big brother around the palace?” I asked Aurora.

Her eyes lit up as big as saucers. “Big brother needs help from me?! Of course, I will gladly help my big brother! I will show you everything, including when to get the best sweets from the kitchen!” Aurora replied excitedly.

‘She is absolutely adorable! Such a sweetheart! No one is allowed to harm her ever.’ I thought as Aurora seemed to beam with the idea that she would not only get time with her big brother but also that she could help me get more of my bearings in the palace. It was rather cute.

————- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ————

After breakfast, we all moved to a meeting room. I was required to review the record of various members of the royal knights. Some came from minor noble houses. All of them had once attended the royal academy so information was provided on their known capabilities, skills, and specialties.

With my vastly increased Intelligence and Wisdom attributes, not to mention my eidetic memory ability, it did not take long to read all the information, collate, and identify possible candidates. Thinking about what I was learning of this world and of this kingdom, I needed a wide range of skills for the various ideas I wanted to achieve in the future. Considering the typical roles in an RPG party, I saw the benefit of having someone for each area; a tank/defender, healer, close quarters combat, vs magical or ranged combat. With that in mind I would have to speak to Captain Spears and General Marcus to carry out my plans.

After my review was done, I noticed that my uncle and Reggie were facilitating most of the conversation while my mother and father sat there quietly listening and drinking tea. I decided to ask Captain Spears and General Marcus my questions. “Captain Spears, what does it take to become a royal knight?”

“Good question your highness. Normally, we look for candidates that are strong in a particular area, whether it be physical enhancement magic, or offensive Magic, healing, stealth, it really just comes down to finding the best of the best that wish to serve on the front lines to protect the royal family and this kingdom. Obviously, there are specific skill sets we tend to focus on but as you can see in the information packets, there is a wide range of other capabilities.” Reggie replied.

I asked my next question, “What about royal court magicians?”

General Marcus replied to this question, “Royal court magicians must possess even greater magical capabilities. Typically, they come from some noble family. That is not a requirement, but rather most nobles possess some magical aptitude, in some ways it’s how their families became nobles in the first place. They protected their people and the kingdom. Royal court magicians also directly serve the royal family but are not on the front lines. Think of them more as deterrents or helping to tip the scale in major conflicts. Whether it’s healing as is the case with Lady Rollara, or bolstering defenses, or bringing greater offenses to battles. Each royal court magician excels in their field of magic.”

“Interesting. Can a member of the military become a royal knight?” I asked.

Captain Spears answered, “Of course they can, several current members of the royal knights started out in the military and distinguished themselves enough to become a royal knight.”

I looked at both men and said, “Good, because I want Rita to become a royal knight and be one of my personal protectors.”

Reggie was the first one to chime in, “Your highness, though Rita is an exceptional scout, hunter, and archer, I do not think that qualifies her to be a royal knight. We usually look for additional skills.”

General Marcus smiled knowingly and chimed in. “Don’t you see what Prince James is doing Captain?”

“Huh? I’m not following General.” Captain Spears replied to the General’s question.

General Marcus continued, “It has been some time since we had someone from the military that wasn’t some minor noble and strong in combat magics elevated to a royal knight. By making Rita a royal knight it shows the rest of the military they can rise regardless of social rank. She does have some exceptional archery and tracking related magical skills plus she did risk her life and darn near killed herself just to warn the convoy of incoming danger.”

Captain Spears replied, “She did, and her early warning saved many lives. I see what you’re saying General. She has no political ties and comes from a very rural area of the kingdom. But is that why you want her as one of your personal royal knights Prince James? I would much rather prefer someone with more capabilities to protect you.”

I answered honestly. “That is only a part of my reasoning for choosing Rita. Such magical skills are well received in the military for their application, but I see no indication of such appreciation in the royal knights. My understanding is she is the best archer in the military, perhaps in the kingdom. She will be perfect when combined with other capabilities.”

My father was intently watching the conversation and finally spoke up, “Other capabilities?”

“Yes father. I had time to study various tactics both in warfare and adventuring.” I replied.

“Adventuring?” My mother asked with a hint of nervousness.

“Yes. Our fight in the woods was not against other human soldiers, it was against undead monsters. From what I’ve read there have been battles and conflicts over the years against high level monsters. We should incorporate some successful adventuring tactics into our training approach.”

My uncle interrupted, “Ha! He is just like we were when we were young, always wanting to go on an adventure.”

My mother frowned and spoke up. “Yes, let us not forget the dangers involved in adventuring. Our son is a prince and has other duties to attend to.”

“Quite right my dear. Though, can we expect any different from someone raised by our top adventuring duo. I am sure he was raised on their wonderous stories.” My father commented.

“That is exactly what I am afraid of.” My other answered.

“Fear not mother. Though I want to be an adventurer, I was more focused on the lessons from adventuring we could incorporate. Things like assigning roles to a group or creating smaller squads with multiple skill sets to handle specific situations.” I stated, trying to calm my mother’s fears.

“Hear the boy out Sophia.” My father replied.

My mother gave a frown to my father and just nodded to me as a sign to continue. “Therefore, I have made my selection based on these principles. I will have Rita fill the roles of ranged damage, tracking, and scouting. I have selected Kira to be a healer and Melee defender. Mira is perfect for stealth and dealing melee damage. Finally, LT. Simmons will fill the role of primary defender and party leader to take charge should I be incapacitated. I will be seeking out good, ranged magic casters but for now this is my selection. I would like to form more than one guard unit, but for now this group will make up the core leadership of my personal royal knights. Father and Mother do you approve?”

——- - - - - AURORA - - - - - ———

Aurora sat there watching the exchange. At first, she was rather bored. Sure, she cared very much about who was going to protect her brother, but beyond knowing the names and faces she wasn’t really that interested. Afterall, what did she know about such things, she was still learning her magic basics. That was until her big brother shocked the whole room into silence. His explanation was amazing. ‘Man, my big brother is so awesome! Finally, I do not have to feel guilty for turning down the throne. My brother will be a great leader.’

Witnessing her brother’s clear intelligence and well thought out tactics, Aurora doubled down on her commitment to study hard and do what she could to help her family and the kingdom. ‘Maybe big brother will be willing to teach me what he learned?’

———- - - -FAMILY - - - - ———

General Marcus spoke up first, “Absolute genius! We should consider how to incorporate some of these tactics into the military. Our forces would become far more effective protecting our citizens from monster attacks. Perhaps we could even recruit some adventurers who are interested.”

My father came around and gave me a side hug, “See Marcus, we have a genius on our hands! The prophecy is proving truer and truer every day! Well done son! I agree with your logic and selection!” My father turned to my mother and asked, “Darling are you supportive as well?”

“Yes of course! Well done son! I am a bit concerned you do not have enough magical support, but you already recognize that deficiency and hopefully we can fill that gap soon. In the meantime, you should spend time training with Lady Rollara to help you offset this area. Plus, it would be good for you to learn from such a wise woman.” My mother replied.

Ever since meeting my mother I saw intelligence in her eyes, so I was not surprised by her well thought out recommendation to study with Lady Rollara. I was just surprised and proud of her for not rushing me in another bear hug. I did see her hands and arms twitch some, so she was considering it.

‘Good job mom on not suffocating me. Keep it up.’ I thought.

“Well said my dear. Captain Spears and Marcus make it happen.” My father replied.

General Marcus came up and shook my hand, “Thank you my boy for continually thinking of my people and on how to better integrate the royal knights.”

“Thank you, General Marcus.” I replied.

“Please my boy, call me Uncle Marcus, your sister already does, even during formal events. Your father and I put our familial ties as brothers before formality. Family first, our father used to say. Besides, I’m the only one that can tell him when he’s being a fool. It’s the best part of my job!”

“Hey! I heard that!” My father jokingly replied as he brought General Marcus into a side hug with his other arm.