After a long night of contemplating my choices with Lura and Nazeem, I decided to go out and ask her for help with training. That swordsman was most likely her teacher, and I wanted to ask if we could join her during her training. "Nazeem… Nazeem wake up!" It was already morning but Nazeem was still in a deep sleep. "Master Kiliano, I suggest you let him rest. I've noticed that Nazeem requires a lot more sleep than someone like you." Ginelle had been staying in our room, and was able to pick up on our sleeping habits. I respected her judgement and layed back down in bed, waiting for Nazeem to wake up. But before Nazeem woke up, someone was knocking on our door. "Open up please, Kiliano. Someone is uh… waiting for you… and Nazeem." Ginelle woke up Nazeem while I got up to open the door. Father was looking down at me. His face was pale and his face seemed shocked, almost as if he'd seen a ghost. Or perhaps he was the ghost, since his face was so pale. Nazeem got out of bed with bags in his eyes and we headed downstairs and into the lobby. There waiting for us was Lura. "Hey guys! Sorry to come by so early." "Oh hey Lura! It's fine, I was already awake but Nazeem is a really deep sleeper." Nazeem didn't say anything, he just gave her a friendly wave and sat on the couch. I looked to Lura's right side and saw that a man was standing next to her. His face was covered in scars, he wore a sword on his waist and a robe which covered his entire body, from his neck down to his ankles. It was the same man Nazeem and I had seen in the royal's courtyard yesterday. This time, he wasn't secreting any aura or malice, instead he held no presence at all. Lura noticed me staring and said, "This is Kaiser. He's my master. I brought him here today to ask you guys a question. But first, do ya wanna walk with me?" Nazeem rubbed his eyes and nodded. The four of us walked outside, leaving father in the lobby. I glanced back at him to find his mouth wide open and his face completely awestruck.
Kaiser led us through the city while we laid a bit farther back. We walked back to the giant gate, into the noble district, and continued on until we made it to the royal courtyard. "Okay Kaiser, tell 'em." Lura's master straightened his back, "Ahem! Hello, as you already know, my name is Kaiser. Lura has spoken to her parents and was permitted to ask you… would you like to train under me?" I raised an eyebrow, "Well that depends. Are you strong?" "Hahaha! Yes, I am quite strong." "Well… how strong? My last master was a Lord tier mage. And you?" Now that I think about it. I hadn't seen Fuijin since we left the village. I knew he wasn't dead, but I'm surprised he hadn't stopped by to at least check up on us. "If you must know, I am currently the only Emperor tier swordsman in the kingdom of Zuri'el." Emperor? But that tier doesn't exist. "Wait, I'm confused. There is no Emperor tier. It only goes up to Overlord." Kaiser gave a smug grin, laying eyes on us that seeped pity. "I can see why you would have only learned that much. Considering you're still very young. But no, there are a few more tiers which rank higher than Overlord. My guess is your former master only told you up to the Overlord tier because they didn't want to discourage you." Why would that discourage us? It was probably because father didn't want to overwhelm us with the major differences in power. But with the existence of powers much greater than I originally thought possible, my hopes of becoming a legendary hero began to spark with greater intensity within my chest. "The real tier list goes, Novice, Advanced, Knight, Saint, Lord, Overlord, Emperor, God, and then either Angel or Demon, depending on your faction." Nazeem spoke up, "What's a faction?" "A faction is basically just your political viewpoint, or I guess just your ideology. Someone who is an Angel would be considered a hero, and usually goes around helping nations without involving themselves directly in wars. Demons are the opposite. They will happily get involved with wars, and often do so if their goals can be achieved by doing so. Also, the power gap between each tier after Overlord is massive. Someone who is an Emperor has to either kill or force submission of a God tier if they want to achieve that rank. But only one God exists in the world for every magic and sword type." Hmm, every type? That leaves four Sword Gods, and five Magic Gods, "So nine in total?" Kaiser shook his head, "Currently there are only eight. If the tier of God was reserved to only one person per typing, then there would be nine, but there is an individual who lives that is so powerful he holds the title of The Healing Sword God Of The East. He is the God of healing magic and the Eastern sword style. Among the Gods, he probably ranks at the top in terms of power." A shiver shot through my spine. So there were gods in this world? They weren't all-knowing beings but they were so strong the world bestowed them a divine title. I have to get stronger. One day, I am going to fight a God, and I'll win. But until then, master Kaiser is going to train Nazeem, Lura and I. A sword Emperor is no god, but even I can tell he possesses immense power. Nazeem turned to me, "If you ask me, this sounds like a good opportunity, Kil. What do you think?" I nodded my head, "Master Kaiser, please allow us to become your pupils." He smiled and nodded his head, "Alright then, we'll start immediately." W-what!? Right now? Kaiser pulled out three wooden swords and handed them to us.
Kaiser began teaching the three of us. His routine consisted mostly of sparring. Whenever I fought Nazeem he would usually run out of stamina before I did. But whenever Lura was faced against me, her power overwhelmed me almost immediately. Her swordsmanship wasn't powerful, but she was fast and was capable of putting on pressure. However, whenever Lura went up against Nazeem he would win. The pressure she put on him never seemed to affect him in any way. He was able to parry her swings and counter with swift sharp movements. It was like rock, paper, scissors. We clearly had our weaknesses and our strengths. Kaiser began working on my explosive force and growing my muscles. Nazeem began endurance training. And Lura practiced her overall skill with the sword. On top of all this, Kaiser would spar each of us at the end of the day. My first fight with him went exactly as I expected. The second we started, he began emanating a malicious aura. I completely froze and nearly peed myself. He walked up to me and tapped my head gently with his wooden sword. When Nazeem faced him, he was able to move but his legs were stiff. He was obviously scared. Kaiser walked up to him too, but this time he swung down his sword with a lot of force, its shockwave shot through the air and sent Nazeem backwards a few feet, landing on his butt. Lura went up last. Her stance was fierce and she didn't seem fazed by his aura. As soon as the fight started, she lunged at him. Her sword swung down but before it could hit Kaiser his body became a blur. He suddenly reappeared behind Lura, before her sword could even hit the ground. He grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pushed her to the ground, pinning her in place with his sword. "Alright. That's enough for today. Come back tomorrow, same time. Got it?" "Yessir!" "Yessir!" Nazeem and I answered at the same time.
We continued training with Lura and Kaiser for a few months. At first, father was disappointed that he wouldn't be training me anymore. But after telling him about master Kaiser, he seemed quite thrilled about the idea of learning from a sword Emperor. And as time went on, master Kaiser began teaching us more powerful swords skills. Our strength, speed, and overall skills were noticeably improving. By the time Nazeem and I were seven, the three of us had achieved the tier of Veteran in the North-Sword style.
After a hard day of training with Kaiser, Lura, Nazeem and I had the amazing idea to leave the city and find a low level dungeon in the nearby provinces. We're now Veteran tier, which means we can probably take on an Advanced level dungeon without much trouble. "You know the dungeon won't pay well. But it'll be fun." Nazeem said. He was eager to leave the city. We had spent over a year now without leaving the walls. By the time we made it to the front gate which led out of the city, Lura turned to me, "Kil, your dad is an adventurer right? How long do you think this'll take?" "Hmm. Well, sometimes he would come back the same day. But other times he would be gone for a whole week, or even more!" Her face began to sweat, "O-oh okay. Well I doubt we'll take too long since the dungeon is pretty low level." Her face began to contort into a nervous look. We left the city and began our journey outside. The air was still dry. The temperature in the atmosphere had also increased. With the sun at its peak, I could feel the back of my neck burning. After just a few minutes, my body began to sweat. I looked over at Nazeem, his face was red and he had sweat marks under his armpits. Before I could turn to face Lura, my vision went blurry and I fell to one knee. "Nazeem are you alright?" Nazeem's voice called out, but my hearing began to fade away too. In just a few short seconds, my vision was nearly gone and I couldn't hear a thing other than my heart's pounding. I fell to the ground, and everything went black. "Kiliano… Kiliano! Kiliano!" My eyes shot open. An unfamiliar voice echoed in my head, calling out my name. I was laying on the ground face down. My body was still hot, but I could see and hear clearly. I looked up to find Nazeem kneeling down in front of me, "Kil, are you doing alright? Why'd you just collapse?" Lura was farther ahead, her body language told me she was frustrated. She had her back to us and her arms were crossed. "Uh… yeah I think I'm doing alright." I stood back up, my legs felt numb but they weren't weak. "I'm sorry. Dunno what that was all about but I'm doing fine now." I gave Nazeem a big smile and continued walking off. "Uh, Kil. The dungeon's this way." Nazeem pointed to the direction that Lura was in. My head felt fuzzy and my sense of direction was all out of whack, "Oh right… sorry." I began walking in the direction Lura was facing.
Nazeem, Lura and I continued walking for a few minutes before my head began to spin once again. I turned to Nazeem and said, "Dude… I don't think I'm doin too good. I'm gonna collapse again in a second." "Dang that's not good. I was about to say the same thing." I glanced at his face. He was red all over, his eyes were bloodshot and his knees were wobbling. Shit, this isn't good. But what about Lura? Is she okay? I turned to look at her. "Lura? I think we should turn back." "Who the hell are you!?" Lura's voice called out. She was talking to someone else. It was a hooded man in full body robes. His face wasn't visible but I could sense his aura. Was that murderous intent? Who is this guy? But before I could say anything, I heard a thud to my right. Nazeem's body fell to the ground. He was unconscious. Lura turned her body to face him, but as she did, the hooded man stuck his arm out and began a chant. "Give me power… Fireball!" I pushed off my feet and rushed at him full speed. I grabbed my sword and unsheathed it. "Lura move!" I said before swinging my blade down upon the man's arm. But before I could cut his arm off, he retracted it and countered my swing with a kick to the stomach. The ground below me began to zoom out, I could feel the air on my back as I flew across the sky. It took me a few seconds before landing back onto the ground. I heard my back crack as my body made a loud thud. My vision was blurry but when I tried to focus it went back to normal. By the time I collected myself, Lura had her sword out and was getting ready to face the hooded man. She swung her sword but was countered easily. The man kicked her stomach and sent her flying. "Lura!" Shit! This guy is no joke. He was strong enough to overpower me and Lura in just a few seconds. I have to stand up! I can't let the future queen die! Her life is worth a lot more than mine, even a kid like me should know that. I stood back up, readying my stance. "Hey you! Kill me first… pussy!" I gave the man a smug smile. "I-is that all you got? A grown man like you should've never picked up a sword if you're this bad at your age." The hooded man turned to me. He tightened the grip on his sword and rushed at me. He's fast, I can barely react to his movements. I could block his attacks but parrying would be impossible. It won't be long until he kills me! I continued blocking his attacks and tried to counter but his speed was too overwhelming. He grazed my torso, only cutting my shirt. My body hesitated for a second and he took advantage of that. He plunged his sword into my leg. "Gyaah!" He ripped the sword out and turned his back on me. A shock of pain shot through my leg all the way to my neck. "Geehah! Shit, shit shit shit!" He was going to kill Lura! I have to stand back up. There's no way I'm going to let him kill my friends! I plunged my sword into the ground, using it to give me the leverage I needed to stand back up. "C'mon now! I'm not finished! Get back here and finish what you started!" I readied myself. My leg was burning with pain and I could tell I won't be able to push off it. I'll need to kill him in one swing. Even if he also kills me! I have no other choice, all or nothing! The man lunged at me once again, his speed was incredible. I could barely see him by the time he was right in front of me. His arm was raised in the sky, holding his sword. Time felt frozen, like I was just waiting, hopelessly for him to lop my head off. His arm became a blur as it began to swing downwards. My eyes closed, leaving nothing but an empty void in my vision, as I waited for death. Clang! I suddenly felt another presence right in front of me. I opened my eyes to see master Kaiser clashing with the hooded man. "Kil, you've done well enough. Rest your leg now." I fell to the fool, not daring to close my eyes. Kaiser pushed the hooded man back with incredible force. He began walking towards the man, a menacing aura seeping out from his body. The hooded man swung his sword, hitting Kaiser on the shoulder. But his blade didn't cut the master. Instead, the blade broke in two, leaving one piece flying onto the ground. What just happened? How is master Kaiser's skin so tough? The hooded man staggered and turned away to flee. But before he could run, a white glimmer shined through my vision. Suddenly, the hooded man's head went flying off his shoulders and onto the ground. No blood was spilled, but his body laid lifeless on the ground. "M-master." I tried to walk over to him but my hearing faded away and I collapsed onto the ground. My vision began to go blurry until it eventually went completely black.
Wow… master Kaiser was able to kill that man easily. The man's power was incredible. Lura and I were overpowered in an instant. But Kaiser was able to kill the guy in just a few seconds. A sword Emperor is… strong. I wonder what his full power looks like. Perhaps, I could one day see the full power of a sword Emperor. Hmm… I wonder how Lura and Nazeem are doing. I don't think Lura was beaten up too badly, and Nazeem only passed out from the weather. So I doubt either of them are too messed up. Oh but what about me? I'm conscious… or at least I think I am. My vision is still black, but I'm probably just too tired to open my eyes. Oh shit! Am I dead!? Maybe I lost too much blood? The wound in my leg was bad but I didn't think it hit any major arteries. No no no. Master Kaiser wouldn't let me die… I hope. "Kiliano." There it is! The same voice I heard before. "Who are you!? Why are you calling my name!?" "Kiliano." Who is this person? Am I meeting god? Is that an angel's voice? Shit… I guess Kaiser is a freeloader that didn't care if I lived or died… asshole. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't call me names and accuse me of leaving you for dead." Light flooded my eyes. The warm touch of cloth rubbed against my skin. I was in a bed. And master Kaiser was sitting to my left side. "Oh… I'm not dead?" "Of course not. I healed your wounds pretty easily. But you lost a lot of blood so I took you here for recovery. This is the royal family's personal healing station." I turned my gaze to the right. Nazeem and Lura were sitting there completely asleep. Nazeem's head was laying on the bed. Lura was propped against a chair, her mouth wide open with drool seeping down her shirt. "Master Kaiser? Was I talking just now?" He gave a smug grin, "Yeah you were. And I'm honestly appalled that you'd think I would let the three of you go off on your own and get yourselves killed." "S-so you were following us the entire time?" "No. I'm connected to Princess Lura's aura. When I noticed it was in distress, I followed her scent and found you guys in trouble." "Wait… her scent?" "Yes, I can use my sixth sense to follow the mana residuals of people I'm often close to. In this case, I followed Princess Lura's mana residuals and was able to make it just in time before you all died." That's pretty impressive. Master Kaiser was able to track us all down in no time at all. A sword Emperor is no joke. "You possess incredible power, don't you?" "I prefer to stay humble. But my powers are undoubtedly quite formidable compared to the average swordsman." Kaiser got up, "I'll allow you to get some rest. I've notified your parents about what has happened. They'll be here to pick you up once you've gotten enough sleep." I looked outside the window. It was dark outside. Had I been unconscious for half a day? Maybe my wounds were more severe than I realized.
The next day my father picked Nazeem and I up. He didn't seem mad, just worried. We began walking back to the hotel, I turned back to see father apologizing to master Kaiser. His head was bowing down and he had his arms to his side. I guess we made a lot of trouble for him. Damn, I feel really shitty now. Why had that man come to kill us? I know for a fact that we could've made it home without any injuries if we only went through that dungeon. "Oh! Master Kaiser," I ran over to him, "Could you tell me what rank that hooded man was?" Kaiser nodded his head, "Yeah, that man was probably a Veteran, or maybe a Saint." "What! Then how come he was able to overpower us so easily?" "You may be considered Veterans, but you're all still children. Your physical capabilities are lacking, compared to your skill. Once you grow older you'll surely become much more capable. Just give it time." He turned to father, "Krill Monfril. Your son has extraordinary potential. I have no doubt he'll become a great warrior with enough training. Don't be too harsh on the boy. The fact he was able to hold his own against a sword saint goes to show his potential. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going." Master Kaiser turned away from us and began walking back inside the palace. Father turned to us. His face was tense and I could tell he was hiding his excitement. "Son, you really gave us… a scare. Don't do that again, got it?" He couldn't make eye contact with me. I felt a sense of pride emanating from him. Perhaps he was happy to hear those words coming from a sword Emperor. I turned to Nazeem and the two of us gave a little chuckle. For the rest of the day we went around apologizing to everyone we had worried. Although mother was furious, she was also quite relieved to hear we were alright. And once father told her what master Kaiser had told him, she let out a little squeal. Her face went red and she began to form a huge smile across her face. She was also quite proud.