Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Where are you taking *Us!?" Alexandros screamed. His howls echoed endlessly around the rock walls that surrounded him.
No answer came from the brawny masked man. He kept his face straight and continued to walk down the corridor.
"Where is my teacher?" Not letting go, Alexandros continued to question. "Where is this place? Who are you people? We demand that you answer Us!!" The boy emperor continued to shout his questions until his throat went dry. Unfortunately, he received no reply until the end.
The dimly lit stone corridor suddenly expanded into a large stone hall. Large pillars as thick as elephants and as tall as a pine tree stood littered throughout the stone hall, bearing the weight of the massive roof. Small cutouts were cut into the roof, allowing trace amounts of sunlight to filter into the room.
Entering this space, Alexandros was immediately blinded by the sudden intensity of brightness. It took him a few moments to adjust after which he carefully scrutinized his surroundings.
He saw nearly a hundred men dressed in a manner similar to his guide standing by the sides and impassively gazing at his entrance. Each of their bodies looked tough and well-built with bulging, clearly defined muscles pulsing with strength and vigour. Their faces were covered in carved stone masks which, except for the eyeholes, were otherwise plain and undecorated.
Seeing this scene, Alexandros instantly sobered up. At once he realized where he was.
"Hielanders…" he said, face turning pale with fear. His pupils shrunk down to resemble thin pin needles.
Hielanders were a notorious group of people who lived in the Hielands beyond the Cloud's Break Mountain Ranges. Their fierce reputations painted them to be savages and cannibals who engaged in all sorts of heinous and taboo practices.
The Hielanders were said to live in villages built amidst and atop mountains. They were also rumoured to be strong enough to fight Wild Beasts with their bare hands. The Hielanders were known to be extremely xenophobic and were said to eliminate any foreigner who was unfortunate enough to stumble into their territories.
Many stories and rumours were spread across the South Aislan Continent, and all of them painted the Hielanders in an extremely negative light. They were the subject of horror among children and objects of derision among the nobles. Alexandros was also no different as he too felt feelings of loathing and disgust towards this group of people.
However, now that he found himself amongst them as their prisoner he only felt horror and fear.
Alexandros stood in the centre of the stone hall in tattered clothes and his head hung low. He felt innumerable gazes scan his flesh with disgust, disdain, curiosity, and covetousness. The boy emperor felt afraid and angry at the gazes. Still, he forced himself to calm down, raised his head, and loudly asked. "Where is my teacher? What have you done to him? We demand an answer!"
Alexandros was still a boy in his early teenage years. However, the previous few months of events had forged and shaped his aura to resemble the regal bearing of an emperor. He was no mere boy but the rightful ruler of an entire continent!
The instant he straightened out and showcased his regal bearing, Alexandros felt the majority of the wandering gazes still and sharpen. He keenly felt them change and detected a hint of approval and respect in their midst.
Wherever humans gathered, they respected the strong. If he wanted to keep his life, Alexandros had to put on a strong front no matter how scared he was on the inside.
Just as he was about to continue speaking, he suddenly felt a heavy pressure descend upon him, almost sending his knees buckling toward the ground. Just as he was inches away from kneeling, the boy emperor fiercely bit his lips and used that pain to strengthen his mind. He then gritted his teeth and struggled to keep himself from kneeling.
"A prisoner We might be, but the Emperor We remain!" Alexandros roared. "No matter who you might be, We refuse to kneel!!"
He stared straight ahead, his eyes falling on the figure sitting atop the stone throne: the Mountain King.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The Mountain King was different from the Hielanders who stood beneath the throne. He wore crude-looking stone armour and his tall figure was draped with the skin of the Albino Sabretooth Tiger, one of the strongest Wild Beasts found in the Hielands. The stone mask covering his face was also different from the others as three claw marks were drawn across its surface.
Still, what was most noticeable about the Mountain King was the sheer aura that he exuded. It was the aura of a tyrant, filled with oppression, bloodlust, and slaughter!
The Mountain King settled his gaze on Alexandros. He spoke. "Answer me, supposed emperor of the Lowlands, why have you come into my domain?" His voice was strangely soft and quiet.
Alexandros was keenly aware that these next few lines of conversation would be very crucial. As such, he suppressed his worries and fears and bravely replied. "Foreigners have entered the continent to pillage Our lands and enslave Our people. We have come to your domain in hopes of securing an alliance to fight this common threat."
"We ask the Mountain King to consider Our offer." Alexandros finished and straightly stared at the seated Mountain King.
The Mountain King did not reply. Instead, he continued to peer at the boy emperor from his throne. The other Hielanders present in the room also did not dare interrupt and watched the happenings quietly.
A minute of heavy silence later, the Mountain King spoke. "Are you a warrior, supposed emperor of the Lowlands?"
"What?" asked Alexandros, startled. He did not expect the conversation to go this way.
"We Hielanders are proud people. We do not respect our peers, our parents, or our teachers. We only respect the strong; those that we call warriors.'" Mountain King explained. "I ask you again; are you a warrior, boy?" His gaze sharpened.
Alexandros felt the pressure on him intensify sharply. He gritted his teeth and forcefully replied, "I… like to think so."
"Prove it to me," said the Mountain King. He then turned towards the person who had guided Alexandros to this room and said, "Biao, fight the boy. It will be a Life-or-Death duel."
Biao, the man who was noticeably larger than all the other Hielanders present in the room, nodded his head. He then turned around and faced Alexandros.
The boy emperor was startled. "Wait!" he screamed. Unfortunately, his opponent did not heed his words.
In a single bound, Biao covered the over ten-foot distance between the two of them and arrived in front of Alexandros. His fist, which seemed to be chiselled from solid rock, brought forth wind currents as it closed in on Alexandros. The boy emperor stood dumbly. He did not move. He could not move.
In his final moments, as Biao's fists occupied the entirety of his vision, Alexandros despondently thought to himself.
'Wuzhi, I have failed you. Please forgive me.'
Darkness then consumed him.
---
"HA!" Alexandros screamed as he suddenly sat up straight. His face was as pale as white paper and cold sweat covered every part of his damp body. Startled, he touched himself all over to check whether he was missing something.
Just as memories of what had transpired flowed through his conscious mind, a voice interrupted him. "You are no warrior."
Alexandros flinched and turned in the direction of the voice. He saw the tall figure of the Mountain King sitting on a crudely made, felt-covered stone chair and gazing at him.
Uncaring of the boy emperor's complex emotions, he continued, "The Hielanders do not associate with weaklings. You do not possess the qualifications to ally with us."
Alexandros hung his head with shame. His fists repeatedly opened and closed, and yet grabbed nothing. He knew that he was weak and undeserving of his station. And yet, when it was directly put like that, he felt as if all of his efforts and hard work were rendered meaningless.
After a long period of silence, Alexandros quietly spoke up. His voice was tinged with sobs and grief. "I… know that I am unworthy. I know that I am pathetic. I know that I do not deserve this destiny that was bestowed upon me. I know all of that."
"But still, even after knowing all these things, I do not want to stop trying. I do not want to stop struggling." Tears began flowing out of Alexandros' eyes. He suddenly chuckled and continued while wiping his tears. "You must wonder why I want to keep struggling; why I want to keep chasing after this destiny even after all the pain and hardship that it has caused me."
"All my life, no one has ever expected anything of me. To them, I was simply an ignorant child who must be protected. However," Wuzhi's smiling face appeared in Alexandros' mind. He recalled his teacher's cheeky yet confident smile as he continuously kept repeating a certain sentence to the boy emperor.
'I believe in you, your majesty.'
Alexandros smiled. "Someone has entrusted their beliefs in me for the first time. I do not want to disappoint them."
With dirt and tears covering his face, Alexandros was a miserable sight to look at. However, at this very moment, the sight of his radiantly smiling formed a memorably picturesque scene.
An inordinate amount of time later, the Mountain King heavily sighed. "You are no warrior. However, you aren't completely hopeless either."
He then removed the stone mask on his face and asked, "Do you want to become a warrior?"
Shocked speechless by the sight before him, Alexandros unconsciously blurted out. "Yes."
Standing up, the Mountain King declared, "Then, accept me as your teacher. I shall make you a warrior."
'He' was not a man but instead a heroic-looking woman of peerless beauty.
The warrior who single-handedly united the hundreds of fractured tribes scattered across the Hielands, becoming its first-ever Mountain King!
The only person to hunt an Albino Sabretooth Tiger for their 'Warrior Promotion' Ceremony!
The person who earned the acknowledgement and loyalty of the strongest warrior in the Hielands, 'Wandering Beast' Biao!
The Mountain King offered her hand and bellowed, "So, do you accept!?"