'The world of Rubrum is not what it was used to be. Once upon a time, it was graced with magnificent blue oceans and luscious green forests. High mountains and low hills protected its civilizations. Nations expanded and developed.
And then, the first invasion of Tridons started.
Tridons were terrible creatures. They came through the gateways from another realm, called void bridges. They were relentless hunters and merciless killers. When the humanity met them on battlefield, they learned that the cold weapons of their brave soldiers could do nothing against the thick and impenetrable hides of the savage beasts.
Cities after cities, nations after nations fell. Buildings were destroyed, soldiers were butchered and consumed. Humanity could do nothing against the apex predators who only saw them as preys to be devoured. They could only hope for a miracle.
Twenty years after the invasion, the miracle happened.
The magic which Tridons used to open void bridges into our realm had seeped into the air and land itself. It turned the oceans red, the mountains barren and the forests dead. But it also gifted the humans with the ability to house within themselves, spirit beasts. The humans who came to possess spirit beasts within their bodies can, in turn, absorb the natural energy from the surroundings to strengthen themselves.
That was how the first cultivators were born. The humanity now had a fighting chance.
Heros emerged and legends were born.
But no hero could be mightier, and no legend could be more epic, than the tale of Alexios.
He successfully united the entire Rubrum under his banner and drove out the Tridons back to where they came from.
Alexios Avitus, the First King of Rubrum. He was king of kings, god among mans.
'They will break upon my shield and fall at my blade. When they cross their void bridge, only death awaits them in this realm. They will not step upon this land long as I breath. For I am duty bound to protect this realm and its people.' – excerpted from the third verse of Alexios Avitus's coronation oaths.'
Marcius closed the thick book with a sigh.
The world of Rubrum had an interesting history. It was a mixture of aspiring legends and dark secrets. Just looked at the book in front of him. It greatly highlighted the story of the god king Alexios Avitus, because everybody enjoyed reading that part. Nobody wanted to be reminded of what happened after Alexios's reign.
After the dearth of King Alexios, his empire fell apart. Without the authoritative figure of Alexios holding them together, the nations of Rubrum just went back to fighting each other again. And this time, the war was more destructive.
With the help of cultivation, nations could be erased within a matter of seconds. The death rate was higher than the first Tridon invasion, and the world burned.
Even worse, the second invasion of Tridons started. It was as if they were waiting for the passing of Alexios.
And this time, the Tridons came with a trump card. They used their unholy magic to turn the wildlife of Rubrum into demonic beasts. The cultivators had to fight a two-front war with demon beasts and Tridons.
Only after the inhabitants of Rubrum figured out a way to close and contain the void bridges, the Tridons were stopped on their tracks. Even then, cultivators had to deal with the demon beasts for a long century. It was a bloody era. Nowadays, people referred to that time periods as 'the hundred years war.'
Almost no one wanted to talk about the hundred years war. Because it showed the division among the nations and greed of the people from that period. Because it showed that humanity was once the masters of its own downfall.
There were even more complicated matters of Rubrum history only a very tiny portion of people knew of. Those were the secrets that could turn the world upside down. Those were the secrets that should stay secrets.
And because of Joseph's memories of the books, Marcius had that forbidden knowledge. And he intended to use it to his advantage.
He looked down at the little girl on his side. Livia had come in with the lunch an hour ago. They ate together and now the girl fell asleep.
Marcius would use every advantage and every opportunity to get stronger. So that he could protect his little family, his clan and his city.
Because they were his, his to protect.
'Knock, knock.'
"Come in."
The person who came into the room was a clan guard.
"Young master, lady Aemilia has sent me to tell you that we have captured Felix Argus. Now, he sits in a heavily guarded cell of the clan's dungeon."
"I see. Were there any complications capturing him?"
"He resisted and declared his innocent. But after we took his weapon and studied it in front of everyone, it was clear that he was guilty. We could even find some leftovers of Styx's tears hidden in his sword."
"Good. Tell my mother I'll come and see her after dinner."
The guard's eyes widened.
"But, young master, you just woke up this morning. You'll need rest."
"It is okay. I'm just tired. Nothing serious. I can walk around just fine." Marcius replied as he coaxed Livia, who was about to wake up from all the noises, back to sleep.
"Just pass my message to mother. You can leave now."
The guard saluted and left.
Marcius looked out of the window. Now, he just had to convince his mother that killing Felix as soon as possible was a good idea.
*** *** ***
"We need to kill Felix." Marcius started as he slowly walked into his mother's office.
"You need to rest." His mother replied with a frown, looking up from her desk. She was working through some papers.
"I'm fine. Just tired." Marcius waved his mother's worries away. "But we need to kill Felix, right now."
Marcius sat down in front of his mother's desk. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Not only was he tired, his body would still ache from time to time. But nobody needed to know that.
"That was why you told me to arrest him? So that you can kill him with impunity?" Helen asked. "Son, we need to put him on trial. Even if we want to kill him, we need to do that in public. Or else, we will be labeled as unfair."
Marcius smiled.
"Fair… of course. Mother, if you think Sergia clan will sit by and let us do what we want, you are mistaken. They are involved. Now that they can't protect Felix because we have solid evidence, what do you think they will do next?"
Helen frown deepened as she pondered for a while. And then she looked up.
"You can't possibly mean,"
"Yes. They will try to assassinate him in our holding cells. To shut his mouth. They will succeed because they can employ the best assassins in Mediolan. And they will blame it on us."
"But I can't possibly see how killing him ourselves will improve the situation." Helen asked curiously.
"If we catch them off guard, we can spin this around. We will execute Felix tonight. And tomorrow we will release the news that Sergia clan have assassinated him to cover up their crimes. We have more restaurants and stores in the city than Sergia. We can create rumors in those places to support our claims. This will even put Argus family and Sergia clan at odds." Marcius replied while shifting his body again. "This chair is really uncomfortable."
"This is my office, where I negotiate and make deals. I don't want people who sit in that chair to be too comfortable." His mother shrugged. "If they are not comfortable, it keeps them on edge."
"And I guess you would want to be the one to kill Felix Argus." She continued.
"I think it's only fair."
Helen thought for a while to come to a decision.
"Okay. I will arrange for it tonight."
"Thank you, mother." Marcius smiled and thanked his mother.
Helen then quieted down and just stared at him for a while.
"Son, you have changed."
"Almost dying does that to people. May I be excused?"
At lady Aemilia's permission, Marcius got up from his chair and walked out.
As he walked back to his room where his little sister was sleeping, his mother's words echoed in his mind. What she said was true, Marcius had changed. The original Marcius would have never consider killing.
But he was not just Marcius now. He was a combination of both Joseph and original Marcius. While he was neither Joseph nor original Marcius, he was also both of them at the same time.
Joseph might be carefree and funny, but he also had an edge of cruelty the original Marcius didn't possess. And now the new Marcius also possessed that cruelty.
"I need to try and balance both my personalities. If I change too much suddenly, people will get suspicious."
*** *** ***
That night, at the underground dungeon cells of Aemilia clan, a cloaked figure could be seen walking through the entrance of the dungeon.
That figure was Marcius.
Although clan Aemilia had governed over the city of Mediolan since the beginning, the city lord's keep and the clan headquarter were not the same location. The clan compound was located a few miles away from the lord's keep, and Marcius had to walked all the way.
His mother arranged for the most trusted and loyal guards to be stationed at the dungeons that night. And they let him in easily.
As he walked for a while, he finally reached his destination.
There, in the most heavily guarded prison cell of the dungeon, was Felix Argus. He was chained to the wall with his spirit energy sealed. The guard of the cell let Marcius in.
As he got in, Felix looked up from the ground because of the noises and movements.
"I have already told you. I have nothing to confess because I'm innocent. I'm the second son of the most influential merchant family in Mediolan. My family will be demanding my release next thing tomorrow."
"Nobody is coming for you, Felix. The Sergia clan can no longer cover for you. And as you said, you are the second son, not the heir. Argus family will try to get you out of here. But they will not try that hard." Marcius replied as he removed the cloak from his face.
"Also, you will not live to see tomorrow."
"Marcius," Felix hissed out. "Are you here to kill me?"
The prisoner started pulling his chains to get out of the restraints, as he realized of the situation he was in.
"You can't… you can't kill me. My family will never let this go."
"As I said, you are not the heir. I think we will survive." Marcius replied with a chuckle as he pulled out a small bottle from under his cloak. It was Styx's Tear. The very same leftovers from Felix's sword.
"No! You don't understand! You can't do this! I'm the genius son of Argus family!" Felix was hysterical right now.
"Still, not the heir." Marcius repeated again as he kneeled down. He also pulled out a small dagger.
"No! Please! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kill you." Tears fell down on Felix's cheeks.
"Also, about the genius part. You have to rely on poison to win against me, the boy without cultivation. Does not seem very genius of you, right?" Marcius ignored Felix's pleas as he slowly and carefully poured down the poison onto the blade. "And I'm pretty sure you meant to kill me."
"Don't worry. It is just a little poison. It doesn't hurt… much." Marcius whispered as he stabbed the crying prisoner with the dagger. Those were the last words Felix said to him in the arena.
*** *** ***
As Marcius walked out of the dungeon, he heard a familiar small voice in his head.
"Alert! The bounty of Felix Argus has been claimed. Calculating the appropriate reward." Kio's voice echoed in his head.
"Calculation completed. Host had been awarded with 800 bounty points and a two stars skill book for hunting down Felix Argus of spirit elite cultivation realm."
*** *** ***
Author Notes
MidnightMK here!
Now, Marcius has his first kill. And he will be enjoying the fruits of his labor in the upcoming chapter.
I hope you enjoy this chapter!