Time: 9:00 AM
Location: Castle's Basement, The Kingdom of Almighty ( To the west of Empire of Wisdom)
Eilonwy's POV:
It took me a whole day to wrap up my laboratory, yesterday went just like that. I need to start working on this sword right now, I need to get some information and set up a plan to extract that anti-holy attribute of this sword. I need to study the frequency and the wave pattern of the radiation that was emitted. I think then I might be able to create at least something similar. I need to set up all this fast!
"Hmm, the number of students and scientists working under you is awfully low today, Eilonwy?" asked none other than General Rogers.
"Yes, that's because I have sent some of my juniors and students to other kingdoms we share friendly relations with either to share scientific information or for some scientific events or as part of a learning experience" I replied busy setting up my new workplace.
"Hmm, the timings seem oddly peculiar, suddenly, why ?" asked Rogers again in a more interrogating tone.
"Am I under any obligation to share information regarding my juniors with you, General Rogers? What I remember is that King needs urgent reports on how the swords are related to the earthquakes so I had to shift my whole laboratory and make a temporary one here, so that I "focus" every minute of my time on that rusty sword and those "holy" chains?" I replied back to him in a sarcastic manner.
"Under obligation or not, doesn't matter, I need to have information regarding all such matters, as the King's sword and shield, sending kingdom's greatest minds to other areas friendly or not doesn't matter, I need to have information over all such matters and even information about you, Kingdom's Royal Scientist", This old man he doesn't knows when to stop does he?
"A formal account and notice are already submitted to the king, days before, you can inquire from King's Advisor Marcus regarding all that, we sent them after getting approval from him only, so don't disturb me anymore and leave quietly with your royal guards now that all the stuff from my laboratory is here!", I replied to him while working and setting up my equipment.
King's Advisor, Marcus, is intelligent, really intelligent, he is currently working for the king but he unlike Rogers is not loyal to the throne or king or anybody, as long as it a thing to his benefit he doesn't care whether he goes against the king or anybody, he gets what he wants. In terms of knowledge and connections, he is a far greater threat than the King himself. Right now, we just share a professional relationship, 8 out of the 15 people I have sent to different nations are all actually Marcus's men, he has set up spies everywhere in the kingdom, I am sure even those royal guards are loyal to Marcus, rather the king or even Rogers himself. There are 20 people including myself, that are part of the Royal Scientist group, 8 people follow Marcus secretly, remaining 11 are students that I picked myself(ya I am 26 myself and one of the most intelligent people in the kingdom but Marcus, he is someone whose intentions are difficult to deduce even for me).
Luckily, for me, those political and scientific events with the 4 different kingdoms that I had been neglecting for quite some time, happened close to each other, so I could send Marcus's men and my students together to those events and make Marcus's men the lead scientist so that Marcus doesn't suspect me of knowing his men and kept the 4 I trust the most here to research the sword. Although one of my students is in prison so I need to get him out from there as well.
"I have my eyes on you, Eilonwy, don't do anything that you'll regret", said General Rogers as he began to leave the basement.
"I will bear the one to bear any consequences you don't need to worry, Rogers", I replied back to him as I heard him stop for a minute and then left silently with his men marching behind him.
What's the issue with that old man, why is he focusing his attention on me? right now! when his focus should clearly be on Marcus, right now!
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Location: Ground Floor of the Keep( allotted to Garrison), The Kingdom of Almighty ( To the west of Empire of Wisdom)
Rogers's POV:
"Everything's alright, Captain of the ground troops, Jill?" I asked the person sitting in the room on the ground floor of the keep above the basement.
"Oh!, Good to see you, Teacher, please take a seat, what would you prefer Sir, tea or Coffee?", asked Jill. He is a very talented, young individual, someday he can even take my position, I am proud to be his teacher.
"No, nothing you must be busy, I came here to assist with setting up a temporary laboratory in the basement upon the royal orders, I just wanted to know, how you were doing!"
"Oh!, I am fine, Sir, just a ton of paperwork as usual". This guy, not only is he strong and kind but also a diligent and hardworking person.
"It's good to see, someone of the new generation is already on the path to take my place ahh!"
"No, Sir, how can I take your place, until I win against you in a fight"
"Hmm, ahhaahaa, well, we wouldn't know until we spar right here and now, don't you think, my student", I laughed and challenged him, just to see his progress.
"I am ready when you are Sir."
"let's see, I won't attack in his spar, you can come at me anytime you want, I will just defend, show me your progress, and come out to the training grounds", I said to him, knowing fully well, how much he hates when I don't fight him head on, just to bring his spirits up!
"Teacher, you haven't changed at all, I am not the young Jill, you remember, I am now Captain Jill of the ground units, you will regret just using your shield, I break it and force you to draw out your sword, Sir"
"That's what I like about you, come out of your room now, are you just gonna talk or attack now?"
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Time: 9:30 AM
Location: Outside Jill's cabin, on the training grounds, outside the keep.
Both Jill and General Rogers are standing some distance apart facing each other. Crowds of soldiers, guards, and other infantry are gathering in the training grounds to witness the strength of their general and the new and rising star Jill. Lots of shouts, ground units shouting and supporting their Captain, while the Royal guards are silent as if they already know what will happen. Other old soldiers who have witnessed General Rogers's strength, know what is bound to happen, while those young who have either only heard stories and thought of it as an exaggeration of the general's strength, their hearts are beating fast, waiting to see if what the have heard is true or not while others are just there to witness this event. General Rogers vs Captain Jill. The King's sword and shield vs the ace of the new generation. The One who carries the Crown vs The one who guards the grounds. For them, they are witnessing something extraordinary. While for General Rogers, it's the way to tell all those present that Jill is the one he sees as his successor. While for Jill, it's a way to check his current strength and show his Guru his progress.
"General, set up your shield now, 'cause when I'll attack you won't have the time" taunted Jill.
"Come at me, as fast as you can, show me if your attacks are faster than your tongue, my student" replied back General Rogers.
" I am gonna go all out, Teacher, right from the start otherwise I can't hope to even scratch you," said Jill as he held his sword with both hands in front of him and took his fighting stance, and began his chant.
"I also hope so too but I don't think that will still be enough" replied back General
Jill led out a big breath and began, "Here it goes nothing, By the God who lights the path in the never-ending night, I ask you to lend me your strength and sight, grant me your robe of shadows." As soon as he said it, he was engulfed in darkness and vanished, suddenly coming out from the General's Shadow, as he launched his sword to attack him.
The Captain immediately blocked it with his bare hands, "This is not enough to even bring out my shield, my student, though I must say your ability to hide and erase your presence has improved a lot.
Come again at me, with your full strength"
"General, you seem to have made a mistake, now this is not my real body" as soon as Jill said that, hundreds of hands started coming out of the General's shadow surrounding him and holding him in his position as jill again vanished from his sight.
"General, it is impossible to match your speed so I need to keep you still for my attack to take place. Jill's sword gets absorbed in his shadow as he joins both his hands, "ray that guides in the night", a strong beam of pure white light came out of Jill's hands and gets directed to General."
The general smiles, "Goddess's Divine Shield" as the attack was about to strike the General, the shield appears in front of him with golden rays coming out and so bright that nobody can look at it directly.
The attack gets absorbed by the shield but the attack was strong enough to push General back a bit.
The royal guards couldn't believe what they saw, they had never seen their General, pushed back after his shield gets deployed, even against the dark attributes that the shield can't absorb it had never been pushed back, but this was a light attribute that submits to holy attribute and the shield can absorb it but still, the impact was so strong that it pushed the General back, even if it was a less than a meter only. Others who didn't know this was shocked that how could such a strong attack not even faze the General, he took the whole attack as it is.
"Seems like I was underestimated by the student, you have grown a lot. Show me more of your strength" challenged the general, now looking pretty excited.
"Sure, I have a lot more to offer declared Captain"
The general has now lifted himself above the ground and due to the golden light of the shield, his shadow is also gone.
The Captain starts running towards the general, his sword coming out from his shadow along with several weapons which he just throws near the General, as he again vanishes and comes out from the shadow of the weapons he threw and attacks the General, now Imbued his weapons with his dark/shadow attribute ( as the shield cannot absorb them), and starts attacking the shield from all the sides, now that the shield cannot absorb those dark attributes, it can be seen how strong are the Captain's attack as each attack shakes the ground below due to the impact on the shield but the General inside still seems pretty unfazed and calm as if the attacks have no impact on the shield. " You need to do better my student"
"Why the ground above is shaking so much?" shouted Eilonwy not knowing what is happening above as she tried to save her equipment.
"It seems the Captain and the General are having some sort of a match," replied one of her students, as she turned the screen to Eilonwy, the feed is from one of the kingdom's drones circling around the castle. Eilonwy told her student to go back to her work as she observed the spar some more.
The soldiers who watched the fight, couldn't stand still as the ground below shook so much, and the air around blew so fast, everyone was in awe seeing the strength of the King's shield and the proficiency at which the Captain of the ground unit wielded several weapons, he kept attacking at a single point on the shield.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The Captain was now clearly dealing with exhaustion, those rapid attacks and the mana requirement to maintain his robe of shadows is clearly catching up to him, but his efforts have not been in vain, there is a slight a little crack on the shield, due to the darkness attribute being an opposite attribute. "I commend your strength for cracking my shield but it looks like you have reached your limit, Captain," said General impressed that his shield is cracked for the first time. For those who were watching this fight, it would seem that The Captain's attacks were very fast and The General was just protecting himself with his shield, however, those who know the General's strength, know that It is easy for the General to keep up with this sort speed. Definitely, the Captain is not weak in any sense or slow, it's just that the General is that fast. But, in the eyes of the Royal Guards, the Captain has earned their respect as neither of them was able to even move the General back let alone crack his shield.
Eilonwy, also saw with disbelief, that there was someone as fast and strong, someone, that in the future could match General, someone she needs to get hold of if she ever wants to win against the King. With this, she was turning off the screen, 'cause the result was clear that General would not be defeated but she had found someone, she absolutely needs for her plan. But she stopped as she heard the Captain's words:
" General, this is going to be my final attack, I can only do this once a day, so take it on with your full strength, re-strengthen your shield"
"A student like you is an honor for the Teacher, in order to honor your wishes, I'll re-deploy my shield to its full strength now, make me proud"
"Great, God, the guide that leads the path, I ask you to make me your shining light, Obliterator of Night" as soon as Captain said those words, his whole body started glowing in white light, the robe of shadows that covered him now was transformed into a blade made of shadow attribute, while his whole body transformed into a ray of light itself, no one had ever seen two conflicting attributes like darkness/shadow and light in such a stable state together. The whole path leading up to the General was burnt as the Captain shot himself toward the General whereas the General in full appreciation utilizes both of his hands to deploy the shield something that the Royal Guards haven't seen before. The shield was at least thrice as powerful as it was before, there was smoke and dust all around. All the guards had to raise their own shields to save themselves from any debris that flew toward them. No one could see anything and slowly, the area began to clear as the dust settled down. Even Eilonwy who was watching it from the drone, couldn't see, as the clash of the attack and the shield was so strong that even her drone signal got tampered with, due to the radiation and wind that spread due to the attack.
Slowly, as the dust cleared, everyone saw an unconscious Captain with his body resting on the General's left Shoulder as the General supported him with his left hand. No one knew what happened. Did the General undo his shield after the Captain was unconscious? Even Eilonwy didn't know what exactly happened so she kept observing.
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General Rogers's POV:
"You soldiers of the ground units carry your Captain back to the infirmary. And the rest of you, how could you all leave your positions to see a common spar between a student and his mentor? All of you go back to your positions, right now!"
"Yes Sir" all the soldiers shouted and guards shouted in unison.
"Royal Guards follow me"
The whole area cleared as soon as the General ordered them. "All of You, except Captain Shergill, go back to your positions, do you all understand?"
"Sir, yes Sir", shouted my Royal guards as they left marching away.
"You saw it didn't you, Shergill"
"General, it's as you said this young man's potential is immense, I shivered the moment your outer shield broke, even I was stunned when he cracked your half-baked shield, but I didn't expect him to be able to fully crush your shield when you used both of your hands to deploy it, General. In terms of pure potential, that Guy is second to none."
"Not just pure potential, Shergill, it's that monstrous strength, he is stronger than me when I was his age. My hands still ache, I think I might have strained a muscle, in order to bear the full force of the attack. Once he perfects it,..." I kept the right hand that was aching on my right eye, "I can feel the excitement to face him again, just running through my spine, I wish to see his progress, keep tabs on him and assist him in any way you can, make sure of it. You should also start training or visiting dungeons again if you don't want to be left behind!"
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Captain Shergill's POV:
This crazy old man, just look at the monstrous aura he is emitting, I mean it's as if the desire to fight stronger opponents that he kept hidden under a tight leash, it feels as if that desire has broken free, it's as if someone who has been hungry for days, suddenly gets his favorite food to eat and that too in unlimited quantity. This man is very dangerous. I need to calm him down.
"I will do as you say, General. If your hands still sting after this fight, we can go to the infirmary on the way to meet the Lord, General."
"Oh, Ya I totally forgot, let's go right away, it's improper for a Royal Guard to delay his presence in front of his Lord. No no need to go to the infirmary, I want to cherish this feeling a little more"
This battle-hungry old man, his body starts to itching as soon as someone strong appears, whether it's his personal feeling or the desire to be strong enough to protect the Lord, but it's undeniable he is undoubtedly happy and excited about this. His eyes and face aren't even trying to hide his feelings. No one would believe it if they saw the look on this stoic and strict General, full of desire and greed to spar with the Captain of Ground Guards again.
But I will have to say one thing, Jill, Captain of Ground troops, that man he is strong and someone that can definitely quench General's thirst. I don't think there will be any man like him.
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Eilonwy's POV:
WWHHAAAT!, did I hear correctly?
"Did something happen Professor?" asked my student.
"No nothing, just go back to your work, okay!" I told her as I regained my composure.
"Oh! ok Professor"
Did Shergill just say that the General's fully deployed shield was broken by Captain Jill's attack? I couldn't see it, how and when?
And didn't General even say that his hands still ache after the attack due to the impact?
I need to bring Jill to my side and make him join my cause, in any way possible. I need him absolutely if I ever want to fulfill my revenge.
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Time: 11:00 AM
Location: In a coach on the way to the Kingdom of Celestia
King's Advisor, Marcus's POV:
"Hmm, so you saw that Captain Jill of the Ground troops broke General's fully deployed shield"
"Yes, Sir!" A voice from the special audio-transferring shell that I enchanted with my magic replied back to me.
"I couldn't believe what I saw through my eyes Sir too but I had your special mana-sensing equipment with me, so I definitely saw those dark/shadow attributes clashing with the holy attribute and holy attribute losing," said the voice through the audio transferring shell.
"Hmm, it's okay, keep up with your work, and properly destroy this device along with the mana traces in it as well"
"Yes. Sir, but then how will I contact you?" asked the voice through that shell.
"When the time comes, I will contact you myself, you don't have to think about it"
"Ok Sir, I'll take my leave now". The voice disconnected soon after.
"Interesting, very interesting, shadow/dark attributes should be weak against the holy attributes, but instead that destroyed the shield, And that's not the most interesting thing, there is a person who can wield two opposite affinity attributes without causing interference? Hmm, indeed interesting, I need to talk to that person once, Jill that's his name!, This guy could be useful to me."
"Joker, can you hear me, bring me all the information regarding this Captain Jill of the Ground units," I said as I pulled out a different audio transferring shell.
"Oh! any sudden reason for such tedious work" replied back Joker with a sinister laugh.
"Just do as I say, it is up to you too to find what might be interesting for me," I said as I taunted him with a little laugh.
"No fun with you as always, fine I'll look for something interesting myself" the Joker shut down the shell from his end. This guy, Joker is a maniac who always loves a good laugh. But he has his ways.
Soon, my plan will come to fruition.
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Time: 1:30 PM
Location: Dungeon: Pilgrim of Lost Souls
Kalkin's POV:
When will this handcuff and chains be removed, it's so difficult to even lift my pickaxe with them restricting my movements.
"You oh ho! Hey, Kalkin is it that heavy, well it may be since you are a commoner" It's none other than Ranvijay, ya I had totally forgotten he was also here, considering he was out of the picture as he had terrible portal sickness.
Well, not many people have this, sometimes when you cross the portal, due to the magic frequencies and different attributes together it affects your body and it feels like your head is spinning kind of like motion sickness only. It's his 2nd or 3rd dungeon exploration, I don't remember exactly, so it's expected. We, commoners, don't suffer as we do not have any attributes that can affect us while going into the portal. But it's kinda funny to see him, as he is new in Sir Paul's group, so they make sure to give him all the useless tasks like carrying fighting tools, their lunches, and bags. I mean they also give him a safe environment to grow too and they do make sure to train him well.
Well, since Sir Paul needs to have a clear eye on me, I am outside the mining area and just doing light training like pushups, crunches, etc, although these chains make it terribly difficult, I had nothing to do since yesterday, As Sir Paul's group is so trained and well equipped and strong, even Sir Paul didn't come out to do clear monsters today, he gave them the strategy and idea beforehand and they all executed in perfect harmony. Of course, Ranvijay was not included, however, they made sure to give him plenty of experience after they weakened some low-level monsters to get him to accustomed to fighting by utilizing his emblem powers and properly advised and at times scolded him if he missed any points. Well, it kinda feels fun to see him getting scolded and him being all puppy eyes in front of them. Sir Paul's group consists of Sir Murthy as vice-Captain, Jenna and Perl as trainers of new recruits, and Tanks James, Gerath, and Christian. Damage Dealers: Jenna, Simon, and Sienna. Support: Perl, Rubina, and Shagun. Well. by the support it means that they provide buffs and other support magic but they can also imbue themselves like Perl does and also act as damage dealers in case of emergencies.
Well, I had nothing to do so I had been observing them, observing their fighting styles so it was not all bad.
"Hey, how dare you ignore me Kalkin, I am talking to you, you see how strong I am compared to you, you will never reach me."
"If you have that much strength, I'll resume our training session, right now Ranvijay," said Jenna as she carried Ranvijay by pulling him.
I am not lying I could hear him saying sorry, all the way to their training area.
" I apologize for the rude behavior of my student," said none other than Perl.
"ya, it's no biggie, I am used to his behavior" I joked about it.
"Well, you are quite an interesting person yourself, I have never seen someone be able to move at all while being handcuffed and chained by Sir Paul's power"
"I think he is allowing me this much freedom due to Sir Jack's influence and also 'cause he thinks I am not harmful"
"Well, if you say so, though I have never seen Sir Paul be remotely biased, but maybe he really thinks you are not wrong."
I didn't know what to say so I just smiled.
"Well, I'll leave first as I need to make sure that Jenna doesn't kills our new recruit, you do whatever you were doing"
"Oh, ya, oh! thanks, for the help I guess"
"You are funny, Kalkin, with a sense of humor as well" replied back Perl as she left.
"Did I really say something funny, and if I said something funny why her expression was still so unfazed? Ah, man! like I thought, Champions and Emblem wielders are really a different species altogether."
"Well, when will I be free of these chains and stuff?"
Anyways, gotta enjoy watching Ranvijay struggle, at least something fun is going on. I smiled knowing there is nothing now I can do except believe in Sir Jack.
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Sir Jack's POV:
"When will you release him, Paul? Isn't it proof enough that Kalkin isn't hiding anything, your handcuffs and chains that continuously monitor and detect a person's emotions and their mind, show absolutely nothing right?"
"You are right, Jack, but My God still hasn't contacted me and I am still not sure, how is he able to walk when my cuffs and chains are still on him?"
"Maybe, God of Virtue knows he was wrong or maybe this child is actually innocent, hence he can move despite the difficulties he is facing"
"It hasn't happened before Jack, and if he is innocent, My God will definitely release him but until I receive further orders from him, we will have to wait"
"This doesn't make any sense" I gave up I know he won't be persuaded.
Hey, God of Mischief any luck on your end?
"Well, it's not a no, I guess, I'll meet him today, God of Virtue, and ask him the matter?"
You still haven't met him?
"Hey it's not that easy, I am on a lower status than him, so I can't just summon him as in the case of the God of mining, I meet him when he asks me and finally I was able to contact him, it will be cleared soon but I just don't get your deal why do you care so much for both of them, this Kalkin and Aadya, you already have done so much for them, it's not needed anymore, you know that right?
I do what I want to, isn't this the very reason you picked me, that like you, I love to be free and do things I want?
Well, you do make a fine point but aren't you bound to these two young individuals you call your children?
Aren't you bound to me and all your followers in a way?
Ahh, you and your counter-arguments, you know this is one of the reasons why I love to complicate your love pursuit.
Well, I don't wish to change anytime soon, so you may as well try all you want.
You are an interesting piece, my Apostle, someone who can challenge and at times mold even my thoughts, I like it, it makes me almost tingle to be mischievous to you.
Well, let's just focus on the task at hand, when do you meet the God of Virtue?
Today, well by your world standards it may be evening time so let's hope it goes all well. Personally, God of Mischief and God of Virtue meeting is like two opposites clashing but for your sake, I might be civil with him this time. The last time I had a great laugh at him so I guess he won't be to me.
Just make sure everything goes right, I don't want any cuffs or chains on Kalkin tomorrow and please don't cause any mischief with other gods for the time being.
As you say, my follower. I could hear a sigh expressing tiredness from my God.
I'll sleep for some time, I am bored.
Don't oversleep, you still need to go to the meeting.
Don't worry, I will be automatically summoned there, he is the one who holds more authority than me. Bye, for now, my dear follower.
Kalkin just a little more, I will definitely get you out of here.
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No one could have predicted that even bigger chaos waits for Kalkin in the near future.
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to be continued
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