Abelard looked at the sorry figures of his father's men - well, his men. They all had varying degrees of injuries. One of them had three large holes in his arm and was bleeding profusely. If not for his strong vitality acquired from years of serving the empire as a soldier, he would be dead. It didn't take a genius to locate the source of his injuries. Abelard looked at the man holding tightly onto the gun even under the insane pressure.
"I'd get to you in a minute" Abelard remarked coldly as he increased the pressure on the gun master, forcing the killer onto his belly.
The second soldier was bruised all over. His suit was tattered and the color of the skin was telling. There were purple patches everywhere, and his mid-section was reddened in some areas. These were injuries sustained from powerful blows. The blows weren't penetrative and sharp enough to break the skin, but they were strong enough to cause internal injuries. Abelard smiled at the man who knelt with an earth gauntlet on his arm.
"You did this" Abelard questioned? The earth wielder gritted his teeth in pain as he focused on withstanding the pressure; all the while he wondered, 'How is their prince this powerful'?
Abelard temporarily ignored the earth wielder and analysed the fallen bodies of Captain Zakai's men. They all had similar injuries. They either showed signs of internal bleeding or bleed to death through man-made holes on their torsos.
"You are at the 6th stage of the above-mortal realm. That is very rare for a Zandorian" Abe commented. His fury wasn't quelled, only brewing. When he finally explodes, it would be intense and destructive. Right now he was trying to understand how the few Zandorians in front of him were able to breakthrough into a realm that should have been obscure to them.
Abelard ignored the enemy with the greatest strength amongst the three, and focused on Captain Zakai. The older man was wheezing. He was struggling to breath and he had a large bruise right under his right chest. His left shoulder was dislocated as well. But that wasn't the most surprising discovery Abelard made. 'He broke through' Abe was amazed? Captain Zakai - like most Zandorians - had no idea about the higher realms of strength. He didn't have a manual that allowed him to explore the levels above the mortal realm, yet here he was, a 1st level above-mortal realmer.
Abelard fed his men a few vitality and healing pills. He ignored the strange looks they gave him and focused on helping them ingest the pills. It came as no surprise that they were watching him like he was a stranger. These men were part of the royal guard led by Captain Zakai. They were all high level wielders and had been present since his birth. Because they were an elite force, they were rarely deployed. They had watched Abe grow from a toddler to a kid about to enter his teens. Yet they had no idea that their lovable prince was so powerful.
Captain Zakai was the last man to receive the pills. It wasn't because his injuries weren't grave, but Abe knew the man long enough to know that he wouldn't accept any help unless his men were saved first. Abe observed silently in worry. It was only when their pulses had stabilized and their breathing had normalized that Abe sighed in relief. He had already lost several members of the royal guard; their blood the stench that filled this place. He didn't want to lose any more of his family.
Once their conditions were stabilized Abe was reminded of the cause of their injuries. His fury ballooned as his aura filled the now revealed desolate forest; his anger reached its peak.
"Who amongst you is your leader" he tried to remain as calm as possible as he questioned? Although one of the men was superior in strength, Abe still asked the vital question because that wasn't enough to draw a conclusion. Leaders of a squad had to be strong, but they didn't need to be the strongest in the team. Strength was a pre-requisite because a leader must be capable of protecting himself/herself on the battlefield so as to save himself/herself from becoming a burden to the team. After all, what would they do if the leader is taken out before things could even get serious? Usually a leader was the most rational of the group; the one capable of making important decision and taking action when action was required.
The three men smiled in disdain at Abe's words. With his small stature and lovable looks he wasn't as domineering as the boy thought. Although his aura was restrictive, they didn't think he knew enough about life to be questioning them. 'Has he even killed before'? Each of them had the same thought in their minds as they mocked the Prince with their smiles. Their smiles of disdain grew wider when they felt the pressure on their bodies being retracted. 'He truly is a greenhorn' the gun master thought to himself. He looked at his comrades and saw similar expressions on their faces. He didn't need to be told that they were thinking the same thing. They looked at each other and prepared to escape.
*BOOM*
A huge arm made of earth elements descended thunderously on the gun master. The fist of the arm was so huge that it made the grown man look like child. "I am already furious. Do not press your luck. The next one to go will experience death in a very painful way" Abe warned in an emotionless voice. The other two felt their blood grow cold at the nonchalance of his words. They looked at the boy they had mistaken for a fool. He was calm and composed; almost as if he hadn't just killed someone. He didn't look ruffled or discomforted in any way. He had the gaze of a person who had killed countless people. It wasn't a look a child should possess.
"What if he was our leader" the leader of the team questioned as he grinded his teeth together so loudly that all could hear. "If he was, I would have killed you instead" Abe waved his arm unconcernedly. The earth wielder felt a bit of fear from the interaction. He understood what Abe meant. And he was sure his leader did too. The young boy had figured out who the leader was, and had no need for all of them. He only asked the question to find out if they would tell the truth when questioned.
Abe knew who the leader was from the moment he observed the bodies. All the bodies of those he previously referred to as 'uncles' displayed only two kinds of injuries- internal injuries and blast wounds. Only two of the men had been doing the killing. The other had abstained from the massacre. It wasn't because he was kind. In fact it was heartless that two above-mortal realmers faced a bunch of mortal realmers. Not only did they kill them off, the occasional twitching of the already dead bodies was proof that their deaths weren't quick and painless. But Abe knew that the one with the higher energy was the leader because his aura was calm and steady. Apart from the fact that the bodies made it obvious that only two people did the job, the auras of the gun master and the earth wielder were in turmoil even before Abe unleashed his aura on them. For his aura to be so calm would mean he hadn't engaged in any battles.
"What do you want" the leader silently acquiesced? He knew now that Abe didn't relieve them of his aura because he was naïve, but because he was confident that they wouldn't be able to escape even without the pressure. And as he had displayed earlier, it wouldn't be hard for him to kill them. The issue would be how they would die. To be honest, the leader knew that they were going to die after seeing Abe heartlessly take out one of his men. He was only willing to listen to Abe because the boy's eyes told him all he needed to know: 'You would die slowly and painfully if you disobey'. It was the edict of a superior; the aura of nobility.