Since Robert and Balthazar got out of the combat room early, they decided to spend the rest of the time they usually train with Salazar at the gym. After an hour when they both were tired from working out and left the gym.
"I don't understand, why he stopped today's session. He hardly evaluated me for 5 minutes before he decided that the best way for me to improve was let my muscles experience more trauma. All he did from then was to make me block his punches," said Robert while walking back towards their rooms.
Robert found it real hard to believe that Lucius didn't do the same to Balthazar. Lucius told him on his first session that he was not going to be able to compete with enemies much older than him and that they would mostly focus on blocking practice because of that.
Since then his sessions with Lucius involved most of the same thing that happened today and a little bit of instructions on the various stances that he could take to reduce the effect of the blows. He expected more or less the same thing to happen with Balthazar, but what happened was something entirely different.
Though he wasn't sure, he felt that Lucius couldn't decide on how to train Balthazar. He also gleaned something very important today that would inspire him to train even harder. If Lucius hadn't actually had him do blocking practice implied that he already considered Balthazar to be adept at escaping his enemies' attacks, which means that Balthazar was already quite ahead of himself.
"Who know what he is thinking? I heard that he had some issues with Winston and maybe just didn't want to coach me," said Balthazar trying to comfort his cousin. He could clearly see that Robert was a bit intimidated and envious about it.
"I know what happened between them and also that he wouldn't do that just to get back at Winston. Let us talk about something else," said Robert. He understood that his cousin wants to avoid talking about it and he didn't want Balthazar to feel uneasy around him just because of this. So, he decided to change the topic.
"So, how was the game?" asked Robert. "I haven't played games at college like you but, I found this one a bit tedious and repetitive. Also, the blood and killing are a bit too realistic for my taste. Are these supposed to be like that?"
"Yes, most games involve killing a large number of monsters repetitively. I always leveled up your account when you played against other players. So, you never probably realized it," answered Balthazar. "You would enjoy more if you play against other players. I also think, it would be very useful in using this to practice for our training. Especially when the arena feature opens up. Fighting other players would definitely improve our skills and the best thing is that we can spend about three times the amount in vita-nova to work on your skills."
"Yes. That would be useful as I do need to improve on my skills. You are way better than me at the skills and I definitely need to catch up with you. I could even ask Lucius to join us in the game. It would provide us more time to practice."
"You are forgetting that Lucius just said that he focused on improving your physique. He probably needs to have physical contact for that. Maybe it is better to ask Salazar as he is the guy in charge of combat with weapons and the game offers a unique environment to do just that," added Balthazar trying to help his brother.
"It is true that Walter called him for that. But you have seen how proficient Lucius is at fighting?" counter argued Robert. "He has trained both my father and Uncle John. So, he definitely got the skills for it. I am just considering how to convince him."
"Yeah, he also seemed to be experienced in training. He has a very good control on his movements and seemed to be very perceptive. He might be better than Salazar if he is into it. I will also help you persuade him if necessary," said Balthazar agreeing with Robert. He also felt that it would be good to have Lucius in the game. Not only would he be a good coach, but if he genuinely gets interested in the game, he would be a great asset.
"So, which village did you start at?" asked Robert changing the topic to the vita-nova game. "I got sent to the Red Leaf Village. What is the name that you are using?"
"I am at the Blackrock village. Using the name Shadow Tyrant. What is yours?"
"I am using Draco Rigor as my character name, class is guardian. Formed a group of guys. Wait a minute. Are you the Shadow Tyrant that had been recently known for all the announcements?"
"Hmm. I am," agreed Balthazar nodding his head.
"You got the first clear for the corrupted forest? When did you become so good at gaming? I thought that you would lose your touch after being in the force for 5 years. But you seemed to have become a lot better," said Robert in shock. His cousin was almost considered to be hacking in the game by many players.
"It was mostly luck. We just got lucky and managed to take down the boss in elite mode."
"Dude, I played the same dungeon. The boss was ridiculously hard, and it was almost impossible to land a hit on him even for mages. What was the secret? How did you do it?"
"I will send you the dungeon guide, if you want. Just don't talk about it anymore. I just got luck and saw the right path. We can meet soon when we reach level 10 or so when we can teleport to the cities."
"OK, will send you a friend request once, I log in. But first join me in my room, I need to talk to you about something," said Robert as they reached his room. He pulled Balthazar into his room and quickly closed the door behind him.
Balthazar had been to his cousin's room before. It was the same as he remembered. There was a chair and a table with a few books at the end opposite the door, a cupboard to his left and his cot and fridge to the right. Balthazar immediately made himself comfortable on the cot as Robert occupied the chair.
"So, what are you going to do in this time?" asked Robert. "I heard you got a leave for about 3 months. You have been better than recovered. Any idea about the effects of that attack? You are considered a hero and you are playing games."
"OK, what do you want to know?" asked Balthazar as he was unable to determine where his cousin was steering the discussion towards.
"What happened with your posting? I heard that someone already took over your post. So, what is your new posting? What is going on in your career? What's next in your life?"
"Oh! So, that's what you wanted to know? It is not like I am sure about it either. If I get promoted again, I will be a brigadier general and there hasn't been a brigadier general as young as me since ancient times. It is exceeding rare."
"So, what is the plan? You would have some sort of idea about what you would get into after your leave, right?"
"Well, promotion is very unlikely due to the reason I just told. With the new information about the apes having more types of species among the aliens and the suggestion that there might be some sort of hierarchy would probably force the alliance to put in a new campaign to find out more about the alien empire."
"Is there such a campaign being put up by the alliance? I never knew about that."
"It is just a matter of time before they do it. Considering the body, they recovered from the wreckage at the incident. Bolena was also working on tech for similar purposes long before this incident. Such efforts would only be intensified now. I already heard a few things from my friend Sophia."
"You sure you want to go and work on something like that. Especially after you came to know all about our history. You know. The things which Winston and Walter told us."
"Yes, you got a point there. That is why I decided to stay here spending my three months leave training rather than in the military. And if I am going to go after them, I need to improve my skills and also gain a few friends in high places. Even Walter and Winston's influence and talent weren't enough to track down these guys. I honestly am not sure of what I can do against them."
"But you realize the danger you are putting yourself in, if you are going back to the force. Are you really willing to be the bait? You might lose your life. You have a lot of other options than fighting them. They might be willing for a compromise."
"Compromise?" asked Balthazar in a loud and angry voice. He was unable to believe that his cousin even thought of something like that. He even felt that the idea was completely ridiculous. They didn't know who their opponents were or what are the organizations under their control. They work completely in the dark. One needs to be able to contact before they could ever think about compromise.
Even if they manged to contact the knights of the old republic, it was clear that they wanted to kill everyone related his grandmother. The only thing that stopped them was they didn't want to have it done quietly like they were afraid of someone else finding about Balthazar's genealogy.
"How do propose we make them compromise. We don't even know why they want to kill us or if anyone else might want to kill us. There is no room for negotiation because we don't know anything about the other side. What you are saying is like asking the apes not attack the humans. That is how ridiculous you sound right now."
Robert had his head down and looked dispirited after hearing Balthazar. He knew that Balthazar was right, but he had always been an ideal citizen and never harmed anyone. He had been unable to sleep and was afraid and miserable after the failed attempt on his life by Max. Ever since then, he had been pestering Winston daily if they got something that would help them in this situation.
The few rare times he had fought was against people of similar skill set as him. With his large physique and strength, he dominated in the few bouts he had. He had never been targeted in the dark for assassination. Unlike Balthazar who had about two years experience in the shadows, he was extremely frightened and uneasy.
"But there must be something we can do," said Robert in a tired and weak voice.
"We are already doing all that we can. Don't worry. They wouldn't attempt anytime soon again. We already got rid of the mole in our midst and from the previous attempts it is clear that they would rather keep it a secret and allow us to grow than let it be known to public. So, the only thing that we could do is to become better and probably well known. That is why, they insisted on me continuing in the military even after the assassination attempt on me."
"It sounds all well and good. Still, weren't our parents well known and famous during their time. They were killed nonetheless," said Robert finally putting forward the doubt that had been plaguing his heart. Even his mother, who was once the successor to the patriarch was now a mentally handicapped patient.
"You are right in thinking that way. But there are two distinct advantages we have over our parents. First, they never knew that Max betrayed them, or he would be willing to go that for the position of the patriarch. Second, we know the truth about who is trying to kill us and a face to relate them to us. Though we don't know why, they don't want anyone else to know about it either. It is still an advantage we can use to gather more information about grandmother."
"But we aren't in the loop about the investigation. They don't consider us to have enough experience for that and without clearance what could we do. We have no source of information as long as the family, I mean Winston and Walter are not willing."
Robert did have a valid point and it would be the case if not for Balthazar having knowledge of the future from his past life experience. He had only used his sources in playing the game. He had a bunch of other people whom he could contact for information. Though these people couldn't be considered friends, Balthazar definitely knew what kind of men they were and how to convince them to help him.
"I will take care of finding out from external sources. You leave that to me. The only thing you need to worry about is to become the patriarch, gain fame and also become capable enough to protect yourself. I need you to be the man whom the family trusts and looks up to. Though it will take some time for that, you are best among our generation. Both Bolena and I will support you."
"I believe Winston wants Bolena to inherit his position. What you are talking might not be possible. But if you want me to be an elder in the family. That is something that can be achieved," said Robert.
"There has been a recent vacancy with the death of Uncle Max, and someone needs to take over the territories and resources that he used to look over."
"Yes, they are going to hold a recruitment event some time soon. It would mostly be a contest among the family members, mostly someone in the previous generation would be chosen. But most of them already have been working under other elders for quite sometime. It is great chance for us, if we could get someone on our side to participate on our behalf. We have quite some status in the family as the direct descendants of the main branch."
"You can convince someone to participate on your behalf?" asked Balthazar surprised. He knew that his cousin had a decent amount of influence in the inner circles of the family, but never did he think that he had enough to have someone of the older generation to participate in contest for position of elder in his place.
After his father's death Walter had groomed him to take after George. Robert also inherited many properties from his father and mother, including a few moons which were great resources. Balthazar had no clue about his own inheritance, nor did he care about it. So, he had no clue of the amount of properties that his cousin had or anything of the influence they brought him.
"I do know someone, who is not interested in power. He is a recluse and I completely trust him to take part. I also got a couple of elders supporting me. That is enough for a show of strength. But apart from a competition of strength, there would be other tests. I need to participate in at least one which I would like your help in."
"You seem to know quite a lot about what it takes to become an elder in family. I am quite surprised," said Balthazar.
"Of course, you idiot. I am not like someone who stupidly ran away. I always intended to gain power through the family. I have been prepared to be the first one among our generation to enter the council for a long time. Walter also wanted me to replace Max for a long time. I guess he never liked Uncle Max."
"That is true. Walter never liked Max. Keep in loop with your plans. I will do the same," said Balthazar as he got up and left the room.