All of this is a lot to process honestly. I would’ve never thought this would happen to me, honestly me of all people. Mom says I’m special but what makes me special? I don’t even know how to fight. Wait how the heck am I going on this mission if I don’t even know how to fight. Oh I am so dead, why couldn’t all of this just been a dream. Who am I kidding, I can’t do this. If I do this mission, I’m going to be captured just like dad. What will happen to mom if dad and I are captured? Will she get captured too?
GABRIEL SNAP OUT OF IT. You’re overthinking all of this. It’s going to be difficult but it’s not impossible. I need to focus and not get distracted. Fabian and Kyra will help me out, there’s no doubt. Plus they have some experience when it comes to missions. They’re older than me so they’ve gone and done some work. Fabian is a samurai from the Narimochi family. He’s been training since he was a kid, and is really strong. Then there’s Kyra who is an archer and has trained since she was a kid. I remember that time she beat up a brown bear when we were playing in the forest. If it hadn’t been for her, we would’ve been shredded to pieces. My friends are strong and will help me get strong like them. I have to look at the positives more than the negatives here.
Let me give Fabian a call first. Fabian is basically my big brother, he’s 19 years old and he’s always looked out for me. The phone is ringing. “Hey what’s going on little bro?” I heard Fabian’s voice from the other side of the phone.
“Hey big bro, how are you?”
“I’m doing good. I actually just came back from my escort mission with my dad. How about you? How’s everything?”
Okay this is my time to tell Fabian what’s going on. “Well it was good until my dream, no sorry my encounter with the Kirin”
“Woah stop for a moment. I know you like to tell jokes, but did you just seriously say you encountered Kirin?” Fabian raised his voice in disbelief.
“Umm yeah, Kirin.”
“Like powerful mythological creature, who is an Elder Dragon, who has also not been heard of for like hundreds of years, Kirin???” I could hear it in his voice, he definitely thinks I’m making this up.
“Okay I know it sounds fake but I’m serious Fabian. He pulled me into his domain and asked for me to be his champion. But in order for that to happen I need to retrieve his sacred treasure.” All I could hear was, well nothing. Fabian stayed silent for a while. Not sure if he was trying to make sense of what I was telling him but I need him to snap out of it. “Umm… Fabian, you there?”
“Yeah I’m here. So he’s chosen you to be his champion? That’s makes things interesting if that’s true.”
“Well of course it’s true, and I need help you help. The empire is involved, and from what it seems, the Grand Marshal is involved.”
“Well things got even more interesting. If the empire is involved especially the Grand Marshal, that means it’ll be a difficult mission. I’m guessing if the Grand Marshal gets a hold of Kirin’s sacred treasure things will go south, right?”
“Yup. That’s why I need your help. I can’t do this alone.”
Fabian paused for a moment, but I could feel excitement in his tone, heck I’m sure he was grinning. “Count me in lil’ bro. I’ll join you on your mission.”
“You’re a life saver! I knew I could count on you Fabian. Now I just need Kyra and we’ll be good to go.”
“Kyra’s going to join us? Oh this is going to be fun.” Fabian said this because he and I know very well that Kyra is not one to be messed with.
“Yeah, I’m going to call her right now and I’ll let you know. Will you start heading over to my house?”
“Let me pack some things and I’ll head out immediately. I should take maybe 3 hours to make it to your house. Let your mom know I’ll be arriving, I don’t want her workers to give me any issues.”
“Awesome, I’ll let her know.” I hung up the phone sighed with relief. The fact that Fabian agreed to this is great. He’s experience as a swordsmen will definitely help me a lot on this mission. Now I need to convince Kyra to join us on this mission.
I dialed Kyra and she didn’t pick up the first time. I found it weird cause she typically responds. I tried again and she responded. “I’m a little busy Gabe, this better be important.”
“Oh…Uhhh…Hey Kyra. How are you?”
“Besides currently fighting some thugs, I am doing amazing” Kyra sounded very sarcastic honestly, but I didn’t catch that until after.
“Oh that’s terrific”
“I’m being sarcastic Gabe, what do you want? I need to finish this before they finish me”
I got super nervous and started talking really fast, trying to explain everything to Kyra. She was not the type of person who kept long chats, she rather keep things short and to the point. “So basically to sum up all I said, I need your help to complete this mission. Will you help me please?”
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“I’m in. The mission sounds dangerous, but necessary for Azad. As soon as I finish this, I’ll head over to you.”
Overjoyed I told her “Thank you so much! I’ll be here waiting.”
“No problem Gabe.” She hung up the phone, and I’m sure relieved so she could finish her beating those thugs.
Though Gabriel has now recruited Fabian and Kyra to assist him in his mission, he is not the only one making preparations to retrieve Kirin’s sacred treasure. At the heart of the West, was a hungry White Tiger, a yearning Grand Marshal preparing to capture the treasure that will grant the empire complete victory. This would cement him as one of the greats in history and would provide him favor from the emperor himself.
As we passage through the capital city of the West, Aurelia, we enter into the military headquarters for the White Tiger Force. A grand headquarters, with the soldiers walking with excellence and pride. They say people will mimic what they learn from others, that is the case with these soldiers. Their leader, a military prodigy who commands respect anywhere he walks into. A man filled with pride in who he is and what he does. A beast who enjoys hunting his prey and taking from them the gift of life. That is Grand Marshal Silas Ren.
In the war room of the White Tiger Force headquarters, the top military officials of the West were discussing their strategy and information on the sacred treasure of Kirin. Leading that meeting at the moment is the right hand of Silas Ren, Field Marshal Amir Khan. To better understand how the Huanglong Empire operates, here is a breakdown of their military structure.
The country of Azad is divided into five parts; the four cardinal positions and the center of Azad. There is the Emperor who is at the top of the empire as its head and Azad’s sovereign. Then there are the four Grand Marshals under the Emperor. The Grand Marshals are each assigned a cardinal position and govern their respective region. Under the Grand Marshals are the Field Marshals. They are in charge of running the day to day military operations and reporting it to the Grand Marshal. Then the Generals are next and they are given certain regions in their respective cardinal position. After that it goes to Lieutenant Generals, Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, Captains, Lieutenant, Footman.
Field Marshal Khan led the meeting on capturing the Kirin’s sacred treasure. Alongside his Generals he needed to make certain all would go to plan. This was not a typical mission, it was a high level mission assigned by Grand Marshal Ren and Emperor Jin. He could not afford any mistakes, if there was anything that went wrong that could prevent the empire from getting this sacred treasure, well let’s just say they would no longer need their respective titles anymore.
“So from the information we have gathered, we are implying that Kirin’s sacred treasure is in the mountains?” Grand Marshal Khan asked the other military officials.
“Yes sir. We are thinking it could be in Crimsonleaf.” One of the Generals replied to Khan.
Khan paused and thought to himself, Crimsonleaf would make sense. Considering how we haven’t been able to have any access to it through all these years. I’m guessing Kirin’s sacred treasure has placed a protected barrier preventing unwanted guests to access the mountain area. It is also the largest mountain in the West.
“General what has stopped us from accessing Crimsonleaf before?” I quickly asked.
“Well sir, based on previous reports, there have been supernatural activities that has lead to our men being unable to go anywhere close to the mountain.”
Supernatural activities? Sounds like spirit wanting to protect itself. “With these supernatural activities, what have been some examples our men have given?”
“Based on reports sir, some have heard the sound of a beast coming from the mountains. They have also seen an increase of wind, when there was no evidence of weather change.” The General stopped as one of his assistant handed him a paperwork of a specific event. “One of our groups saw a creature emerge from the mountain but could not figure out what type of creature it was. All they could specifically see where the creature’s green eyes.”
Green eyes. I thought to myself.
“If our men saw green eyes on this creature, then this points to the Kirin.” I confidently said to my men in the room.
“But Field Marshal Khan, how exactly does this point to the Kirin?” One of the Lieutenant Generals quickly asked. I could tell he was curious to learn and was ready to absorb all the information.
But as soon as I was going to explain to him why, I heard a deep voice emerge from behind me. “It’s because of his sacred treasure. The green eyes correlate with Kirin’s treasure. The Jade Orb. Am I close to what you were heading Khan?”
I could feel how the room turned eerie. I could feel the room getting heavy, as if a burden was being placed upon us. It was Grand Marshal Ren. Even though I’ve worked for years with him, that fear has never left me.
“Grand Marshal Ren, I’m glad you could join us. And yes, you are actually spot on sir.”
“From what I am hearing, the Jade Orb is in Crimsonleaf. If that is the case we need all hands on deck.”
“Grand Marshal, by all hands on deck what are you referring to?” That same Lieutenant General continued his boldness and curious nature and asked Grand Marshal Ren.
“Your name?” The Grand Marshal asked staring the young man.
“Yes sir. I am Lieutenant General Kazuo Nakamura sir.” He exclaimed as he stood up and saluted.
“Well General Nakamura, do you consider this an important mission?” Grand Marshal Ren asked the young general as he walked towards the window.
“Well of course sir. It’s actually very important.” The young general responded.
“Then wouldn’t you think we need as much military power for such an important mission?”
“Yes sir. But would it be wise to sent majority of our military power for this mission? Wouldn’t that leave us vulnerable in some regions where rebels could take advantage and attack?” This young general was asking hard hitting questions that had everyone shocked and surprised.
Ren took a moment of silence. He chuckled a bit and then turned around to face General Nakamura. “For such a young man you really do have a military mind. I can now see why you were promoted to your rank, even with your youth. While your questions are valid, I am not planning on sending every General to the battlefield. Leaving our regions without our strong leaders, could lead to an attack. That’s why I am assigning you to lead the mission on the ground General Nakamura.”
There was a standstill in General Nakamura as Ren announced he was leading this mission. But he let out a tiny smirk responding “It would be my honor to lead this mission for you and Emperor Jin, sir.”
“Good, this is a good time to show me your worthiness. Oh and Khan?” Ren turned his attention to Field Marshal Khan.
“Yes sir?”
“I need you to step into the field in case there are any issues with the mission.”
“I understand.” Khan responded with confidence.
“For the rest, I need you all to be on your guard. Oh and just to be clear on the importance of this mission. Failure will not be tolerated, under no circumstance.” Ren turned serious as he said this. It was a frightening look.
“Understood sir!” All military officials in the room stood up, saluting the Grand Marshal.