A few days later, on the Basaraka Continent, a bright light suddenly became visible and two people were found standing there. As the light dimmed and disappeared, the sun shone through the forested trees and revealed the two people to be none other than Dominic Rutherford and Shalany Rutherford, who was carrying their baby boy in her arms. The small child appeared to be sleeping as he did not show any signs of movement or reaction upon arriving at a location which he has not yet seen.
“We’re here,” stated Dominic with a sigh and he turned to the left to see a sword stabbed into the ground. “It’s helps to have these swords stabbed in for spawn points to allow me to travel easily.”
“Most of the credit goes to your predecessors,” said Shalany with a smile on her face as she also looked at the sword. “All their effort is allowing us to travel between places, even continents, without the use of the Teleportation Zones.”
Dominic nodded in agreement and said, “You’re right. Now, let’s head over to the road and get some transport to the Beast Village.”
They nodded at each other once and headed towards the exit of the forest, which brought them out onto the road. It was an empty stretch of paved road for wheels of carriages and wagons with people and good in them. Currently, for them at that moment, there was nothing to see or hear, except feel the wind blowing against their faces.
“Really…? Not a single being around here except us…?” Shalany asked with a disheartened look on her face.
Dominic looked at her with an understanding look on his face as he said, “It’s alright. If we wait a few minutes, there’ll be someone coming down the road. Hopefully, they’ll give us a lift to the Beast Village.”
“You say that, but you’re only here because of the provocation Lucky did to you,” stated Shalany in a sad voice as she looked at her husband.
“Yes. There is some truth in it, but I’m also here because I want to prove myself once again,” said Dominic and he was making an energetic smile that Shalany was surprised to see. “I was disappointed in myself and closed my eyes, but I’ve been given a chance to prove myself to him, the world and to the God of Justice.”
“Prove that the Wind of Justice is by your side?” Shalany asked and Dominic nodded with a smile on his face.
“Precisely,” he replied in a firm voice.
Afterwards, they waited and waited for anything to come along the road that could carry them to their intended destination. It took almost an hour before anything came and because their feet were hurting, Dominic created a bench made completely of swords for them to sit on.
“You know, Dom… I wish we had our own carriage that we can taker around the world,” said Shalany before sighing deeply.
Dominic chuckled and said, “Yes. I wish the same, but what can I do? I’m capable of making simple things and weapon based equipment with my current skills. To be able to create magical transportation objects and others like my predecessor is a bit beyond me at that moment.”
“Oh… That’s okay,” said Shalany with a smiling face and she began to shake her sleeping baby gently with a playful expression on her face.
Dominic watched her for a moment when he heard the Destiny Sword, Semazettadin, speak to him telepathically in his mind.
“It’s not about you being ready or not, you just lack the conviction to surpass your predecessor. You became strong and powerful far sooner than he expected and he had high hopes that you’d be able to conjure vehicles, constructions and others by utilising the swords. Unfortunately, he died without finding out that his best student and son was lacking in confidence to repeat what his predecessor did.”
“Oh, be quiet, Seta,” said Dominic telepathically to his sword. “I just was not sure if I could pull off something so complicated so soon and he died before I could make him proud as his son.”
“Yes and that’s why you’ve failed to materialise Dominion of the Swords and failed to take on the form of your ultimate form; the Destiny Warrior,” said Seta telepathically in a critical voice. “All of this because you lacked the conviction and confidence in yourself to surpass your predecessor.”
Dominic did not reply to those harsh words because he knew it was all true. He had great respect towards his mentor, teacher and father and it was part of the many reasons as to why he had been unable to use more power than he currently possessed.
“Look!” Shalany said sharply when she noticed a shadow that was headed towards them several kilometres away.
“Huh?” he said distractedly and looked in the direction of her pointing finger.
There indeed was something moving towards them and it soon became clear that it was a cart. It drew closer and closer to them and there seemed to be someone from the Beast Race controlling the reigns of the horse.
The beast-man was easily recognised as one from the Simhara Beast Clan as he had the face of a lion with mane of orange hair sprouting around his face. He was wearing a stylised pant with decorations on it while he wore a single while thread around the top portion of his exposed body.
Not caring about the racial difference or the type of transport, Dominic quickly activated his sword and caused a wall of swords to appear on the road. The beast-man was surprised and he brought his cart to a halt because of the roadblock stopping him on his way.
As the cat came to a stop, Dominic walked over to the beast-man and asked, “Excuse me, but could you possibly transport us?”
The beast-man took once glance at him and his wife, along with their sleeping child, before looking back at him. That was when Dominic realised that the man might not understand the Human Language and cursed himself for forgetting that small detail.
“Humans,” the beast-man said and he spoke in the human language, which surprised Dominic. “Why?”
“I’ll pay you for the cost of travel if you take us,” said Dominic ahead of time because he feared the man might ignore his demands. “I want you to take us to the Beast Village because I want to meet the War Titan as you see—!”
He was cut off when the beast-man widened his eyes in alarm and exclaimed, “The War Titan?!”
Dominic was a little taken aback and he said, “Yes. I’m here to meet the War Titan because—!”
Once again, before he could complete his sentence, the beast-man spoke over him by saying loudly, “You meet War Titan? It means you’re Phoenix Titan!”
“Huh?” Dominic replied with a question as he was puzzled by the words the man used and the strange manner of speech the man used. “No. I’m the Sword Titan.”
“Oh…” said the man and he looked very disappointed, causing Dominic to become instantly angry. “Our entire village were waiting eagerly to meet the Phoenix Titan. They’ll be so disappointed to find that an underling of his came to meet our greatest warrior.”
Those words caused a wave of anger to burst out of him and he reacted without pausing to think. Dominic grabbed the man by the arm and swung him off his cart to land him on his back on the road. With that same movement, Dominic unsheathed his sword and pointed it threateningly at the man’s face. The beast-man blinked at him in shock as Dominic spoke in a serious voice to him.
“I am no underling of the Phoenix Titan; I’m his best friend! He did favours for me and helped me a lot, which is why I am returning the favour. Besides, this is a mission that I took up as the member of the Nine Pillars of Power to gather my comrades! Got it?!”
The beast-man looked up at Dominic’s strong form and nodded once as he replied, “Yeah. Got it. Got it.”
Dominic stared at him intently for a moment before nodding back in reply and sheathed his sword again. The next moment, he used one hand to lift the beast-man off the ground to his feet with little trouble.
The beast-man padded the dust off his clothes and said, “Fine. I’ll take you. In the end, I’ll get my money no matter what happens.”
Dominic looked at the man’s tough figure and noticed the sadness lingering his in shadow. A few seconds later, he and Shalany were sitting in the cart with their sleeping child while the beast-man put his horses into motion as soon as Dominic deactivated his wall of swords. As they started moving, the Sword Titan turned to speak with the beast-man about that sadness that he sensed in him previously.
“Is money all that you care about?” Dominic asked curiously.
The beast-man shook his head and replied, “Not really. You see, we of the Beast Race have great integrity and loyalty towards each other, but the recent events have changed a lot in us.” So, to keep my sanity in check, I’m constantly doing things that grants me more and more money.”
“Why? What were the recent events that changed you and your people?” Dominic asked with a puzzled expression on his face.
The beast-man nodded and said, “The destruction of the Demon Continent.”
Dominic’s yes widened in alarm and he asked, “You knew about its destruction? How?”
“We of the Beast Race have a perceptive sense of presence that enables us to locate the presence of anyone and anything around the world,” informed the beast-man in a casual voice. “So, it was a cinch for us to figure out the destruction of that continent when so much light emitted from there and that massive surge of power that could destroy our world.”
“I see…” said Dominic slowly as he realised the man was talking about the power released when the evil form of Lakshman destroyed the Demon Continent. “So, how could that incident caused your people to change?”
The beast-man turned his head sideways and looked at him for a moment before looking towards the front again.
“The men of the Simhara Beast Clan are full of warriors, except for the women that do the household chores. After the war 300 years ago, we’ve settled down to live our lives peacefully, but that incident sparked our burning desire to fight into action. We began fighting amongst ourselves constantly and that’s when our leader, the War Titan, decided for us to burn our energy out on the Phoenix Titan, whom he believed will come to visit him soon.”
“Ah,” said Dominic and he nodded as he understood that the leader of the Nine Pillars of Power would come looking to recruit him. “I suppose he thought the men of your race will settle down after they fought against him.”
The beast-man nodded his head and said, “Exactly. That is the brilliant plan our leader came up to stop our fighting.”
“Brilliant?” Shalany asked with an exasperated look on her face. “It feels more like your leader is incapable of solving problems in any other way, except violence.”
The beast-man grunted and said, “Our leader loves a fight and does not love violence, but it is the only way out for his people of they are to not give into the madness of the beast within them.”
Dominic looked at the beast-man for a moment before he asked, “You say it so easily, but doesn’t the same apply to you?”
At those words, the beast-man laughed and said, “You are correct in thinking that and I must inform you that I am a group different to the rest of the people from my clan.” When he sensed the Sword Titan and his wife were puzzled, he smiled and said, “People wearing these white bands around their tops are identified as travellers and they are simply there to transport people.”
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“Ah! I remember now!” Dominic said and his eyes widened with a light of recognition in them. “My predecessor told me that the Simhara Beast Clan divide into four groups of people; Warrior, Manager, Farmer and Traveller. Warrior is for fighting, Manager is for looking after provisions and household affairs, Farmer is bringing in the food and Traveller is transporting people.”
“Good. You are well informed,” stated the beast-man and Dominic smiled in happiness. “Who was your predecessor who seemed to know so much about us?”
“He’s the Sword Titan before me,” stated Dominic firmly.
“Sword Titan?!” the beast-man exclaimed in alarm and he turned fully to look at him while still managing to control the horses to move forward. “That must mean…?”
Dominic nodded once in confirmation and said, “Yes. I’m the Sword Titan. I told you earlier when I introduced myself.”
“I… wasn’t paying attention…” the beast-man said offhandedly with a look of astonishment on his face. “Sword Titan… You must be extremely strong to earn that mighty title…”
Those words caused Dominic to shrug his shoulders indifferently as he said, “Maybe.”
“Don’t be modest,” said the beast-man bracingly in a firm voice. He looked at Dominic keenly and said, “Since you are here, I implore that you defeat all the warrior class members of our clan, including the War Titan. He has gotten considerably arrogant with his authority since there is no one capable of standing up to him in our entire clan.”
‘I see…” said Dominic slowly with a look of understanding on his face. “If justice is on your side, then you shall prevail and… so shall I…”
Dominic fini9shed slowly with a look of determination on his face as he clenched his fists tightly as the cart continued towards their destination, the Beast Village.
***
It took them almost three hours to reach the Beast Village and during the trip, Shalany slept for a while. Dominic stayed awake and looked after his son, who woke up once and started playing with his father. The beast-man told Dominic to sleep, but the Sword Titan decided against it as he needed to stay awake to protect his family and because he did not know how much to trust the stranger.
“Stop here,” ordered Dominic as he made the beast-man bring the cart to a stop. “We’ll get down here.”
Shalany woke up with a start when the cart suddenly came to a screeching halt. She was momentarily puzzled about her whereabouts due to the drowsiness she was currently under. A few seconds later, she got down along with her husband, who was carrying their child in his arms.
“Why are we stopping here when the entrance is just over there?” Shalany asked with a puzzled expression on her face as she took her baby from him.
“I want to create a safe point for us to return in case we are attacked for no cause or reason,” stated Dominic and she blinked in amazement at his foresight thinking.
He turned to the beast-man and asked, “Will you wait for us here until I return from the woods.”
“No. My dust as traveller is over and I must await here to transport anyone. If you want directions, seek out the managers. They are the people wearing plain clothes and a cloth draped over their left shoulder. Be wary of the topless people wearing clothes tied to their waists because they are warriors.”
“I see. Thanks for the info,” said Dominic in thank.
The Sword Titan payed the man the fee he had requested and saw the cart moving away in the direction of the entrance to the village. Dominic started after him for a moment before changing his direction and heading straight into the woods with his wife close behind.
“You’re planning on setting up your Spawn Point Blade here; this far in?” she asked as they continued walking through the forest for a few minutes.
“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” he replied firmly with a serious expression on his face. “I thought things might go smoothly with the proceedings, but things just got complicated. This is the only option I can take to secure your safety above all else. That is justice.”
Shalany stared at the back of her husband for a second with a mixed feeling of happiness for how great he is and sadness because of how lonely he was. She had wished countless times to be strong, brave and courageous as her husband to aide him in his conquest for justice.
Unfortunately, she was a housewife and one with a great responsibility of looking after her only child. This made her feel sometimes that she was a burden to her husband, but she also felt proud of him because of his decision to put her wellbeing before the mission he was instructed.
After walking for several minutes, Dominic unsheathed his sword and stabbed it deep into the forest floor. There was a moment of pause before Dominic activated the sword and pulled it as the blade started glowing dimly. In an instant, the real sword was pulled out while leaving a copy of itself embedded onto the forest floor.
“This is a safe point for us to return to in case of danger,” stated Dominic and together with his wife, he turned around and began walking out of the forest.
***
The Beast Village appeared to be very big from the large buildings constructed on almost all sides of the walkway. The path they were on seemed to be large enough to fit only one vehicle on it, which would be for the important transportation.
The populace of the village seemed to be staring intently at the strangers that entered into their settlement. Many of them had two creatures that seemed similarly built from the way they positioned themselves on all fours.
“Lexar and Lexan,” said Dominic as he informed his curiously filled wife of the beasts. “Lexar is the male version and the Lexan is the female and it’s easy to tell them apart; the male is larger and the female is lighter.”
“That is so ridiculous,” said Shalany crossly with an annoyed expression on her face. “Why so much difference? I feel it undermines what a woman can do.”
Dominic snorted and said, “Take your complaints to the one that made you.”
“I would when I— Ah!”
Shalany suddenly winced and drew nearer to Dominic when a Lexar growled at her loudly. The others began to growl and the sound caused their baby to wake up and start crying in earnest. Seeing his wife in shock and baby crying, Dominic activated his power and glared around at the monsters. In an instant, a shock went through their bodies and they instantly became quiet with a glance from him.
The populace of the village was in shock because the monsters, they raised and trained, went quiet from a single glare of that man. They knew, instantly, that he was an extremely powerful warrior for their monsters to go quiet after feeling so much fear. That thought caused the warriors to clench their fists and stare at Dominic like a predator staring at their prey.
Dominic saw the looks on their faces and realised that he might have done something that he should not have. He, instantly, closed his gap with his family and made sure he was in a position to protect them.
“Shalany,” he said as his wife managed to calm her crying baby. “Go towards that solitary tree and wait there for me because, it seems, these guys want to fight. Don’t worry, though, because I’m here to protect you. Because justice is on my side!”
Shalany looked nervous for a moment before smiling a little as she allowed herself to be wrapped by the confidence of her husband.
“Okay,” she replied simply and she drew closer to him for safety sake.
“Listen to me!” Dominic said in a raised voice that carried his voice for several meters. “I am the Sword Titan and I wish to meet the War Titan! Stand aside and guide me to him!”
The Simhara Beast Clan people seemed to ignore what he said and the warrior took on fighting positions all around him.
“Only the strong are allowed audience with War Titan!” roared the voices that were surrounding them.
Sensing the battle mood that had settled down on them, Dominic sighed and instantly pulled his sword up and activated it, which enabled him to duel wield. The nest moment, warriors from all side lunged at him at high speed and bore down on him with sharp claw-like hands glowing brightly with energy.
Dominic swung his sword around him as he shouted, “Wall of Blades!”
In an instant, a magic circle appeared beneath him and swords began to rise out of the surface around him and his wife. The swords circled around at high speed and rose to great height as they blocked several of the warriors while deflecting others away.
Dominic stabbed his sword into the ground and repeated the process he had done in the forest earlier.
“Grab me,” said Dominic simply and Shalany grabbed his shirt quickly without hesitation or pause. “Teleportation Blade.”
As soon as he finishing saying the command, a glow of light surrounded them and they vanished into thin air. The next instant, a glow of light appeared in the forest where the Spawn Point Blade was placed and they appeared as the glow vanishing into thin air.
Shalany let go of him and turned around to face him just as he said, “I won’t be long.”
“Good luck and be careful!” Shalany said firmly with a confident smile on her face.
Dominic nodded at her once and activated his sword to return to the spot he was previously in while surrounded by the wall of swords. He could hear the energetic sound from the outside as the warriors of the Simha Beast Clan attempted to break through his shield.
Find it humorous, he swung his sword horizontally in an arc and caused the sword to fly away in all directions. The release of the swords buffeted against the closest warriors and sent them flying for several meters before they crash landed. The others, still standing, looked surprised as the cloud of dust slowly cleared to reveal their prey staring at them with a smile on his face.
“I don’t have time to waste on you people, so step aside and lead me to your leader!” Dominic said in a powerful voice.
If he was hoping to scare them off with his prowess and powerful attitude, he was sorely mistaken. The Simhara Beast Clan warriors clenched their fists tightly as their blood boiled in rage while a fierce fighting spirit was seen in their eyes.
Dominic noticed their looks and inwardly, he sighed in resignation at the fact that only battling them will solve problems. In his mind, he had wanted to get through things quickly without spending much of his energy, but it seems that he was not the type to negotiate due to his personality and powerful sense of justice.
“May justice be by my side,” thought Dominic before he prepared his sword and took a fighting stance as he said, “Bring it!”
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Author's Note
Hello my dear readers and thank you reading this chapter. I am sorry that this chapter took so long to be completed, but I was suddenly put in charge of work that were on the shoulders of someone else. Yes, my newly constructed house work was given to me and I was, non-stop, observing the workers as they do their work while making sure nothing bad happens. So, I was really tired and I thought so were you from the waiting, so I released this ASAP. I hope you will forgive me, understand my situation and will look forward to more chapters as the story continues!