"Just know this, once that damned church figures out another one of them exist, they will do everything in their power to exterminate him… are you willing to still stand by his side?" Musashi abruptly asked.
Renee didn't even need a second to think before she nodded her head vigorously, "he's willing to help out our clan, so I am willing to help him," she replied with determination.
Seeing his granddaughter so determined caused him to smile, he looked up toward the ceiling and couldn't help but squint his eyes.
"Unfortunately, I won't be able to stay here long enough to see the both of you fight that abominable power," Musashi said quietly, just enough so that Renee couldn't hear him.
CHAPTER FIVE
Leo and Faust led Caesar to the other side of the stronghold, which was the opposite of where their entrance gate was located.
They walked through the mansions long corridors in relative silence and soon reached their destination.
The sound of soldiers grunting, reverberated throughout the training grounds. Caesar opened his eyes wide in astonishment.
Thousands of fox-kin men were weaving their swords in an organized fashion, large beads of sweat streaked down their shirtless bodies.
"Your soldiers seem to be quite disciplined," Caesar complimented.
Both Leo and Faust smiled proudly, "our soldiers are the strongest amongst mid-tier clans. However, it takes time to groom fighters of this caliber," Leo spoke confidently.
Caesar nodded his head and glanced around the training grounds, the soldiers were still focusing on their sword practice, but they were watching his actions with the corner of their eyes.
Caesar smiled shrewdly and started to unbutton his shirt. He threw his blazer and shirt to the side and fully showcased his well-trained body.
"You had said you wanted to have a friendly spar, correct?" Caesar asked slyly while looking at Leo.
Leo nodded his head gravely and walked to a nearby weapons rack, he threw one of the wooden swords to Caesar and picked up a sizeable wooden ax for himself.
Leo beckoned for Caesar to follow him, and they walked through the masses of fox-kin troops. They ended up walking until they reached the middle of the training grounds.
"ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP MEN, YOU CAN TAKE A BREAK FROM TRAINING AND FEAST YOUR EYES UPON THIS DUEL… PERHAPS YOU CAN LEARN A FEW THINGS!" Faust roared.
As if they were waiting for a similar order, the fox-kin all spontaneously dropped their swords and scrambled to form a circle around Caesar and Leo. They were very curious as to whether or not this stranger could put up a good fight.
Caesar smiled inside, 'the best way to gain the respect of a race similar to this is personal strength, after all.'
Faust walked in between Leo and Caesar, "I will be the referee for this duel," he explained unobtrusively and raised his hand in the air.
"No fatalities or anything that wouldn't be used in a friendly spar" Faust spoke loudly so all of the soldiers around them could hear.
Both Caesar and Leo nodded their heads in consent, they separated a fair distance from each other and readied their weapons.
"BEGIN!" Faust roared.
Right as Faust's words entered into Leo's ears, he immediately advanced forward, he kicked off the ground and weaved his hefty battle ax toward Caesar.
Leo was moving at incredible speeds to the others; however, to Caesar, he looked as if he was moving in slow motion.
Caesar squinted his eyes and sidestepped at the last second. The wooden ax missed his face by mere centimeters.
As the ax cut through the air, it kicked up a massive wind and fluttered Caesar's hair. Caesar's eyes constricted as if he knew this would happen and stabbed his wooden sword forward.
Leo, who was still in motion, frowned deeply. His arms bulged, and his veins protruded out as he attempted to change the directory of the wooden ax.
'It's too late,' Caesar thought inwardly as his sword quickly reached Leo's neck before his ax could reach him.
"HALT," Faust roared, and Leo stopped moving his weapon.
None of the men had expected their respected clan head to lose the fight so easily.
The crowd of fox-kin were all dead silent causing Leo to put his head down ashamed. He had underestimated his opponent.
Faust at the side furrowed his brows, how could he let their dignity as clan heads be tarnished… he walked toward the weapons rack and pulled out two short wooden swords.
"Would you care to fight once more?" Faust asked curiously.
Caesar nodded his head with a broad smile. How could he let go of such a great chance? He walked strolled opposite of Faust and once again readied his weapon.
"YOU CAN DO IT FAUST!" a younger man bellowed.
"DON'T LET THE DIGNITY OF THE FOX-KIN CLAN BE TARNISHED!!" a middle-aged male roared excitedly.
"Faust!"
"Faust!"
The fox-kin that circled them started to shout out words of encouragement and cheer his name. Faust's determination and resolve rose with every cheer, while Caesar's smile only grew wider.
"I won't underestimate you like Leo did, as the first clan leader and future head of the fox-kin clan I will fight you with everything I have" Faust spoke gravely and a dark orange flame coiled around his two swords.
"I expected nothing less," Caesar replied curtly.
Leo, at the side, took the job of refereeing and raised his hand, "same rules as last time, no lethal blows."
Both Faust and Caesar nodded their heads in consent and got in a battle stance… Caesar's eyes were already emitting a deep crimson as he looked for Faust's weaknesses.
"BEGIN," Leo shouted.
Both Caesar and Faust slowly walked in a circle and looked for their opponents' weaknesses, the crowd of fox-kin all held their breaths and silence enveloped the entire training grounds.
Caesar was the first to move and blasted off the ground. He rushed sword first at Faust. Faust raised both of his swords and put one above the other.
"Dual dragons!" Faust whispered, and immediately, two columns of dark orange flames shot out of each blade.
Caesar's eyes hastily rotated as he gently jumped in the gap between the flames and spun horizontally in mid-air…
"That's not enough!" Faust roared, and another streak of flames came thundering towards Caesar, who was still in the middle of the air.
Caesar, who was still composed, created a pillar of ice from the ground and kicked off it, effectively passing right over the flames.
"A dagger is most efficient when hidden," Caesar whispered as his wooden weapon approached Faust's face.
As if time stopped, the fox-kin around them all held their breaths in shock as the top clan leader was about to lose.
"NOT YET!" Faust's roar escaped from his mouth when Caesar's sword was merely one foot away from his neck.
CHAPTER SIX
Right after Faust's roar entered into Caesar's ears, a pillar of flames suddenly descended from above him.
Caesar furrowed his brows and raised his left hand. A blue mist escaped from his palms, and a relatively thick piece of ice formed in between him and the fire.
Both the flames and the ice collided, resulting in thick steam spreading throughout the training grounds.
Caesar, who blocked the flames with his ice, was launched downward and hit the ground.
Faust, who was watching Caesar's movements the entire time, of course, would not let this chance slip by, he immediately took a step forward and struck down with one of his wooden swords.
Caesar, while still in a falling motion, put his hand out and pushed off the floor.
Faust's sword hit the ground where Caesar had just moved from, not letting up on his assault. Faust sidestepped to the side and struck down at Caesar once again.
Caesar maneuvered his body in mid-air and wrapped his leg around Faust's arm, he twisted his entire body and flung Faust to the side with his sheer physical prowess.
Faust's entire body was flung thro
ugh the air at incredible speeds. He used both of his swords and scraped them against the ground to slow down.
The wooden sword scraped against the ground and created a god-awful sound that rang in everyone's ears, similar to nails on a chalkboard.
Caesar slightly squinted his eyes and threw his sword at Faust, shortly afterward he charged forward and put both of his hands out to the side, a bluish mist once again escaped from his palms, and two thin pieces of ice were formed.
Faust barely had enough time to raise one of his wooden swords and parry Caesar's flying projectile.
Faust parried Caesar's wooden sword. However, Caesar was merely two feet away from him, he ground his teeth angrily and attempted to create a pillar of flames once more, but it was too late.
Caesar launched off the ground and reached Faust's neck with one of his sharp pieces of ice.
Faust audibly gulped down a mouthful of saliva, and his eyes gleamed with defeat/ The fox-kin around them, including Leo, all had confusion reflected in their eyes. Although the battle felt like it was long, it was actually only a matter of 10 seconds.
The vast majority of fox-kin couldn't even keep up with their movements, let alone comprehend how Caesar won through the thick steam.
"V-victory goes to the s-strategist!" Leo finally broke out of his stupor and announced loudly.
Caesar evaporated his icicle and stepped away from Faust, his lips curled as he offered his hand toward Faust.
"It was a great battle. You fought hard," Caesar complimented, honestly.
"Sigh, you were stronger than I had thought… who could have known you were an ice magician," Faust sighed profoundly and shook Caesar's hand.
The rest of the crowd couldn't believe their eyes, how could their top clan head lose to some strategist…?
"T-that man is strong…" a middle-aged man couldn't help but speak in an exasperated tone.
"What race is he? Surely a top race," a younger fox-kin male spoke with certainty.
"Who cares? That fight was awesome!" an even younger man roared excitedly and started a cheer.
"Mr. Strategist!"
"Mr. Strategist!"
"Mr. Strategist!"
The soldiers started to cheer for Caesar, although he wasn't a fox-kin, he was still on their side… plus, how could they not respect someone who beat their top clan head in a duel?
Caesar's smiled widened, 'it would appear my goal has been achieved,' he thought inwardly as he glanced around.
Suddenly, Faust put his arm around Caesar, and a smile of gratification appeared on his lips. "It's an honor being able to fight with someone of your caliber on the battlefield, I respect the strong more than anything" he chuckled loudly and patted Caesar on the back.
Caesar looked at Faust with interest, 'It would appear this man is much simpler than I had initially thought… then who is the mastermind pulling strings? Surely it's not that child named Charlie…?' Caesar contemplated deeply about his future options.
***
On the very far end of the training grounds, on top of the wall, a tall woman with decent facial features was staring down at the Caesar and Faust. Her eye were cold as she took out a small marble from her pocket.
She gripped the marble tightly as she put in a sliver of mana inside of it. The marble slowly started to distort and show an image of a cloaked person, race unknown at first glance.
"A pest has appeared, my lord," she said respectfully.
"Destroy it. I don't want my plans to go any other way than I want them too" The person reflected in the marble spoke coldly, without a hint of emotion.
"Your request should pose some difficulty, the man is stronger than Faust and was brought in by the empress," the woman replied hesitantly.
"He's stronger than our pawn, Faust, huh? Well, it doesn't matter. Just think of a way to destroy him," The man replied, intrigue was apparent in his tone.
"Yes, my lord…" The woman spoke with the utmost respect and went to stash the marble in her pocket.
"Wait…" The man reflected in the marble stopped her.
The woman looked at the man in the marble with curiosity.
"If that Empress is back, that means we can speed up the marriage ceremony… haha, once that foolish troll prince takes her chastity, he will inevitably die, and we can take care of both of their clans in one fell swoop" the man in the marble laughed sinisterly.
"How is he going to die once he takes her chastity?" the woman couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Haha, don't you know why the nine-tailed foxes died out in the first place? Only an ancient race can breed with another ancient race. For instance, vampires only bred with similar vampires because other races couldn't handle their bloodline. Don't you find it weird that all of the progenitors were vastly weaker than the first one? Because his seed was diluted!" the man laughed wildly.
"I see, so the empress can't find a mate in this world without inevitably killing him? " she asked.
"Not necessarily, just like she was blessed with her ancient bloodline, there are some other lucky souls lurking in the depths of this world. Anyhow, that's enough information for now. Stay in the shadows and make sure that pest is taken care of," the man ordered sternly.
"Yes, Sir!" she said and quickly stashed the blue marble in one of her pockets.
***
If Caesar were here to witness this scene, he would die of laughter. Who is taking Renee's chastity?
CHAPTER SEVEN
Caesar smiled wryly after hearing the loud chants. It reminded him of his soldiers back in Rahvin kingdom.
"Haha, are you embarrassed? You better get used to it," Faust laughed wildly after spotting Caesar's wry smile.
"You misunderstand, I'm just feeling a bit nostalgic," Caesar replied quietly and walked over to his clothes he had thrown prior to the duels.
"I see, a strategist of your caliber would surely have had people chant your name before," Faust spoke in a thoughtful tone.
Caesar just shook his head and didn't answer him. He slowly put on his buttoned-up shirt and blazer.
After dressing, Caesar covered his mouth with his right hand and yawned loudly. He hadn't slept for a while, after all.
The fox-kin men that were circling Caesar all spread out and went back to training. They wanted to become stronger, and a duel of that magnitude was a perfect form of motivation.
Caesar observed the men that were currently in a trance while training, the moon was still high in the sky, barely illuminating their surroundings and all of the fox-kin men with its beautiful moonlight.
"Hey sir strategist, let's go get a drink, my mouth has gone dry after that battle" Faust announced loudly and broke the silence.
Caesar turned around and faced Faust. He contemplated for a few seconds before begrudgingly nodding his head.
"I suppose we could do that," Caesar replied.
"Haha, great! Let's go to the black rose!" Faust suggested and excitedly walked towards the mansion in the middle of the stronghold. The soldiers didn't even notice when they left, as they were too absorbed into their personal training.
Caesar and Leo followed after him; they traced back their steps and walked back close to where the meeting room was. Faust led them down a long hallway and approached a dark door, on top of the door was an elegant sign that had 'Black Rose' etched on to it.
"I'm back, my darlllling!" Faust roared and pushed open the doors; he quickly walked inside and sat at the counter of the bar.
Caesar, who walked in after Faust, took a few seconds to take in the beauty of the bar, it was decorated with a beautiful violet, similar to Renee's hair, it had five or so wooden tables and three booths attached to the right wall.
The floor was a gleaming wood, and the counter was an even darker violet, there were around five stools next to the bar.
Caesar walked toward the counter and sat to the right of Faust, whereas Leo sat to the right of Caesar.
"Is this your wife's' bar?" Caesar couldn't help but
ask curiously.
Faust nodded proudly, "indeed it is, my gorgeous wife should be here soon" Faust spoke with a broad smile, it was apparent he loved his wife dearly.
"Tsk"
Caesar clicked his tongue in displeasure and looked up at the ceiling, 'I truly hope this man does not have to lose everything' he thought to himself bitterly.
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