"Then, do you want me to get revenge for you?" Landria asked with a confident tone.
"What?" Laura exclaimed with a look of confusion.
"I said, do you want me to get revenge for you?" Landria asked once again.
"How do you intend to do that?" She questioned.
"I will wipe the Usurpers off the face of the globe," Landria said with a confident look.
"You can't do that," Laura responded while shaking her head.
"Why?" Landria asked.
"There are so many of them. You might be able to defeat the ones who come next since they won't send all their forces but if they did send all their forces this town would be finished," Laura explained.
"Doesn't that mean I still have to defeat all of them eventually?" Landria voiced out causing Laura's face to display a little bit of confusion.
"When they send more of their forces to this town, the only option is to defeat them which would make them send an, even more, stronger force next time. Doesn't that mean eventually we would have to fight the entire forces of the Usurpers off?" Landria analyzed.
Laura's eyes widened as she realized this as well.
"It would spell the end for this town if we were to lose... which means we have to end them if we don't want them to end us," Landria said while walking forward.
He stood right in front of Laura and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Now that I have recovered, wiping them off the face of the earth is not impossible for me. I just have to make proper plans so... do you want me to get revenge for you?" Landria asked once again.
Laura's eyes turned teary as she realized this was a do-or-die situation and since it was inescapable she felt she might just as well accept Landria's offer.
"Yes, I want them gone," She finally responded.
Landria nodded with a smile, "Okay,"
He turned around after this to head to bed but Laura called out to him before he went through the room door.
"The story you told the kids... did that truly happen?" She asked.
"Yes," Landria responded affirmatively and turned to the side to lean against the doorpost.
"You had a team of hunters?" Laura sounded surprised as she voiced out.
"No haha," Landria chuckled as he heard her assumption.
"They were my cousins who joined me to protect my best friend during our hunting expedition. I was fifteen years old back then," Landria explained with a reminiscing expression.
"Everyone needed to protect your best friend? Is he the weakest of the group?" Laura questioned with an intrigued gaze.
"No, he was... Is the crown prince of Razledania. They would not let him leave the palace grounds without enough protection," Landria revealed.
Laura's eyes widened in shock as she heard that.
"Then does that mean you're..."
"I'm feeling sleepy now, goodnight Laura," Landria cut Laura short by voicing this out.
"Oh, alright then. Goodnight Landria," She responded with a smile as Landria moved into the bedroom and shut the door.
Her smile faded after the door was shut as she moved back to the living room area.
She recalled the news that kept circulating two months ago about the execution of the royal bodyguard's immediate family linked with the late king.
They also heard about it in town that King Dhillion Azhraya the twenty-fourth was murdered and his royal bodyguard was said to be the culprit so he was executed alongside his family.
'The most powerful battle mage in Razledania kingdom, Flandor Lebenoire from the powerful Lebenoire family. Also said to be amongst the top ten most powerful Mages across the globe... but since his entire family was executed that would mean Landria should be dead if he is the son of Flandor. Then how is he here? Or maybe he's not Flandor's son... but the snow-white hair checks out... that's a Lebenoire family signature as well as his adeptness in close-quarter combat...' Laura sat on the sofa as she tried to piece things together based on what had been revealed so far.
She was confused as to whether Landria was a Lebenoire or not and if he was what was he doing out here? Why was no one looking for him? And if he was the son of Flandor, how is he alive?
She sighed as she couldn't force Landria to reveal anything if he chose not to. However, she had no idea what step she would take if she eventually found out that her speculations were accurate because that would mean she was housing someone with a very important and complicated identity.
--
As Landria slept during the night a glowing symbol appeared at the back of his neck.
')
This symbol looked like it was still in the process of forming as it would occasionally shorten and increase in length.
Meanwhile, Landria was having another nightmare.
"Avenge us!"
"I served the kingdom for many years as did my father and grandfather. They betrayed our family!"
"Raze everything to the grounds!"
"Big brother, I can't see you anymore because of them *sniff sniff*"
"My child, I will never get to see you grow to become a man!"
"I have taught you not to show mercy to your enemies! They are your enemies now!"
"Avenge us!"
"Kill them all!"
"Destroy everything they love!"
Landria kept switching positions on the bed as the voices of his father, mother, and little sister kept in his ears while he slept.
He could sense their feelings of anguish, betrayal, dissatisfaction, and other kinds of negative emotions.
His entire body was sweaty at the moment as they kept appearing in his dreams with disappointed expressions on their faces and anguish in their voices.
Landria suddenly opened his eyes and jerked up while panting heavily.
"Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!" He realized he was drenched in his pool of sweat as he woke up.
He held his chest as he felt a searing pain within.
"Father, Mother, Sara..." He mumbled underneath his heavy breaths.
In the last few days, Landria had been getting nightmares like this.
Initially, due to his moral compass, he didn't see the whole of Razledania Kingdom as his enemy nor did he want to drag innocents into his journey of vengeance.
However, all that was slowly starting to warp in his head as he got dreams like this.
The headless figures of his family begging him to avenge them in his dreams with their faces smeared in blood would always incite his hateful emotions and were slowly burning the moral bridges he had built within himself.
------------------
-"Landria, you're intelligent, talented and you will definitely become someone who holds great power in the future but your compassion might be your undoing if you're not careful,"
"How so father?"
-"You only deal fatal blows to creatures in the forest while hunting but during training and duels you hold back a lot because you're afraid of harming others. Remember this... Never spare your enemies or it might result in your undoing.
The enemy you spare today will come back to attack tomorrow more prepared after analyzing how their defeat came to be by your hand. If they are truly well prepared, the next fight could be the end of you,"
"But father those are my cousins, haha they're not my real enemies. I will use true lethal force when battling with human enemies,"
-"You say this but you're subconsciously training yourself to hold back and this will make it harder for you to go through with it when you're supposed to kill. I believe you are afraid of taking a life and you cannot become a Royal bodyguard if you can't take a life when it's necessary.
I think I have been too soft with your training my son... your next training outing will be done with real enemies. Criminals and traitors to the kingdom..."
----------------------------
Landria recalled the last conversation he had with his father a week before the king was murdered.
Several days back when he let the bandits leave, he heard the unknown voice in his head again.
----------------------
'You fool you let them go... now they will come more prepared and stronger,'
----------------------
Afterward, he didn't hear the voice anymore even though he tried responding to it. He then realized the words spoken were similar to his father's warning about sparing enemies.
Thinking deeper about it, he came to understand that he would be facing the same issue his father warned him about when the Usurpers returned.
They already knew of his ability so they would come more prepared which meant he had to hit them with elements of a surprise if he wanted to win.
"I won't make the same mistake twice," Landria muttered with a decisive look as he squeezed his right fist.
"Father... even though you were not able to take me on the outing you planned, I'm experiencing the real world now. I have only just begun so I don't know what awaits me but I promise to keep all your teachings close to heart and follow the instructions you mentioned about the world beyond Razledania kingdom," Landria swore.
Now that he was awake, the symbol that was glowing at the back of his neck earlier had completely disappeared without a trace.