Looking at the little table that was prepared for Alex, he grabbed a grape for himself and threw it in the air, catching it between his teeth. Chewing on it once he found no pit in the grape, much to his satisfaction, he swallowed it whole.
"Selicia.", his voice suddenly dripped with a strange feeling. From behind his bed the giant man and a small little girl appeared. Her appearance paled in comparison to the ones serving the men.
She made her way towards Augustinus but stopped quite a few steps away from him. She didn't say a word as she simply stared at the man. Augustinus obviously was discontented by her behavior, there wasn't a girl in his mansion that he hadn't touched, only Selicia was playing hard to get.
Yet it was that kind of person that interested Augustus the most. All the women falling at his feet bored him after some time. Now, only the special ones got his attention. Taking the initiative he stepped closer to her until he took a step a little too far.
A single thread that came from nowhere held him back. "Hahaha, is this too close? But I'm certain I can move another step forward.", Augustinus said with a smile as he tried to bend over the thread to get even a little bit closer.
Two more threads puled his arms back. "Hahaha, how persistent, I love it.", as Augustinus was imagining what he would do to her, Grok stepped forward.
"Have you done what we wanted?", his stature scared everyone off, even the people here knew not to mess with him. Augustinus was most likely the only one that wasn't intimidated in the slightest.
"Why of course, I'm very good at making deals, especially if the interests overlap. You just need to go and kill Alex when he enters the castle, and then I'll fix the rest."
Selicia looked at Augustinus with a strange look. 'He just sent Alex off with a carriage, he'll reach the capital pretty quickly. He doesn't know we can move faster than simple carriages. Is he trying to test us or something?'
Grok on the other hand didn't think so far ahead, simply complaining at the current situation. "Why send him out before us!? That doesn't make any sense!"
When he yelled the girls all held their head to cover their ears while the men grabbed their weapons. While they might not stand a chance, it was purely an instinctive move. The only one faced with such pressure who was capable of moving without any issues was the very lord of the mansion
"Oh, little Grok, don't you worry about that. I've already bribed the driver of his carriage to take a long detour. So you'll have plenty of time if you leave now."
Seeing what Augustinus had prepared it was quite a well created scheme.
'First luring Alex in with a false sense of security to promise him a future of work only to be killed off to further his other plans. Alex didn't realize anything and nobody would think he killed his own subordinate. If only this smart hottie wasn't such a lecherous bastard.'
Selicia used some magic to try to calm her nerves as she gathered enough courage to say something. Then she noticed how many eyes were in the room and her stress quickly took over. If words were too hard, actions were clearer.
She walked towards the exit, Grok quickly following after her. Augustinus looked at their backs and thought of something on the spot.
"Hold on, my dear partners. I have something for you that might help you out.", quickly ordering a servant to bring his items out, a girl came back with a cushion that held some clothes.
"These are clothes that were worn by members of the Hidden Order. This group is mostly loyal to the Emperor and people won't stop you if you happen to run into anyone."
Selicia looked at the clothing before pointing at Grok. Augustinus was already used to how she liked to communicate.
"Oh, hahaha! You think I have some clothes that would fit that boulder of a man?", his laughter felt genuine, but so did all his other actions, making it quite difficult to tell if he was joking around or not.
Either way, he made a light bow as he apologized to the man.
"My apologies Grok, I don't have any clothing suitable for you. But for you, my dear Selicia, I can promise you it will fit perfectly. I already know all your sizes, so I can attest that this will be a comfortable fit."
Selicia felt a shiver down her spine, how much has this man looked at her without her knowing?
'He's a creep! A full on pervert! I need to get out of here!'
Grabbing the clothes in a hurry she ran towards the exit.
Being left behind, Augustus liked her struggle perhaps a bit too much. Again, one of the men in the room questioned their capabilities.
"My lord, the barbarian I can understand, but why the girl?"
"Oh, you don't know how big this world truly is, my friend. There are plenty of things that you still don't know. In this world, power is all that matters, no?"
"I agree, power makes right."
"Exactly, then think twice before speaking bad of the girl again, that brute who threw around our well-trained guards like they were toys, is serving the girl.", he said as he laid back on his bed again with a massive grin. "She's capable alright. But you have a point, it's always good to have some a plan B.", he said as a grin formed on his face.
Walking out of the mansion, Selicia was both happy, sad and scared.
When she first tried to assassinate the Starborn, he was constantly surrounded by other people. There was barely a moment where he was vulnerable. Killing him while he was in the company of other people might've worked, but then she would have to escape while the castle was in high alert.
Besides that, she also believed that killing him wasn't going to be the easiest task. All the warnings she got from her master said enough about the tenacity of the mage. And he was quite correct in his assessment.
Grok was sent with her, not because she wasn't a good assassin, but because her firepower paled in comparison to Grok. They needed to work together to take him out because alone, they didn't stand a chance.
While stalking him for some time, she found that the nobles were going against the Emperor. If the situation got bad enough, the Emperor and his advisors would have to start moving.
It didn't take long before she met someone from Augustinus's group, getting plenty of attention because of Grok and her skills. He was the hidden lord of the underworld, someone who had a big hand in the Empire.
Selicia's first goal was to get the advisor out of the castle. In order to do that, she created a story that they were assassins on orders to kill the Starborn, which was in a certain sense the truth. After Augustinus knew about their strength and their goal, he made a deal with them.
He would provide everything they needed to live, they just needed to kill some random people. In return, using his powers, he would create a situation where the advisors and the Emperor needed to be present.
So far they hadn't killed anyone for him yet, this would be the very first time, and she already left with a bad feeling in her little heart. Besides the fact that Augustinus was a lot scarier than she first thought, they would also need to infiltrate the castle and make sure that nobody found out to make it seem natural.
Rushing towards the castle, Grok and Selicia moved a lot faster than any carriage. Even if the driver didn't take a detour, they would arrive with enough time to spare to prepare a few traps.
Obviously Selicia had to leave Grok behind since he wasn't exactly the best when it came to covert operations. A few days passed, enough for Alex to arrive at the capital and request an audience with the king.
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Grok, who was left behind, was cleaning his axe in the woods. He was guarding the road back to Augustinus. If Selicia failed, a big if according to Grok, he would intercept them and simply destroy the entire carriage.
With nothing to do but wait, cleaning his axe was starting to get boring. As he slowly dozed off, he heard some people approach him from within the woods.
"Four-Armed Armored Gorilla?", a calm deep voice reached his ears, but Grok wasn't amused.
'Is he calling me a monkey?!'
Standing up, he turned around to face the voice. A large man with long black hair and a very good physique stood strong. He wore the average clothing of commoners, which contrasted the noble looks he had. While the man was quite tall, he was still shorter than Grok, making him look down on his opponent.
"What did you say?", his voice almost booming. The man didn't react in the face of such an intimidation tactic.
"I was mistaken, excuse me.", the man turned around to enter the forest once more, but Grok noticed something was off.
"Hmm, you don't smell like the people here. Are you one of those barbarians people keep comparing me to? You don't look that strong."
The man was surprised for a moment, but quickly hid his shock. This man was someone who immediately saw through his disguise. Even if he spoke accentless, there were still a few ways to figure out where he came from. Smell, sadly, wasn't one of the things he took into account since it was normally never an issue to begin with.
Not that he had to, most people didn't notice it, but Grok was a Rank 2 mage, making his senses more sensitive. Besides that, Grok was already very talented in his field, while not being the most enlightened, he was still trained in a camp to notice the slightest differences.
Turning around he stared at the grinning Grok for a moment. There was no reason at all to get involved in something that wasn't part of his mission. Yet something told him that it would be a lot more fun than his usual fights.
On the other hand, if he was recognized as a barbarian, he should make certain that Grok never breathed again or his entire plan would be ruined.
Grok felt the same way, being held on a leash by Selicia, he never got to things his way. This would be his first chance to just have some fun.
"Hey, I'll make it easier on ya, no magic, no artifacts, let's just use our fists.", taking the axe, he pushed the bottom of the handle on the ground, making it stand up straight.
"Magic?", the Barbarian didn't fully understand what Grok meant.
"Ah, that's right, you're all defects, here, let me show ya.", Grok held his hand out and a large flame appeared. The man's eyes widened for a bit before he nodded. Taking of his shirt, he placed it on the roots of a nearby tree.
"So, you wanna fight?", Grok was already trembling in anticipation. His fists had been restrained for too long. It was finally time for him to exercise a bit. Seeing the giddy look on Grok, the man nodded.
"I hope you're not weak.", the barbarian said as he took a stance, his fists pulled back. Grok waited in anticipation as he stretched his arms wide open, letting the man take a free hit.
His movement was too fast for Grok to see, by the time the fist landed on his chest, it was already way too late to react. Grok almost flew backwards, but his feet never left the ground, creating two long streaks in the earth.
The barbarian knew that his punches would be dangerous for almost anyone below Tier 2, yet this one survived and was even laughing out loud.
"Hahaha, finally, something fun to do!", Grok, rushed towards the barbarian and aimed his punch at the same place he got hit. The barbarian could've dodged, but the enthusiasm shown by Grok ignited something in him. This wasn't a fight, but just a test of strength.
He prepared his body as the fist landed square on him, getting pushed back quite a bit, just a tad more than Grok got pushed back.
Straightening his back, he looked at Grok, he was waiting for a response. The man had to hold back his urge to show a slight smile. Placing his feet apart, he took a stance before lifting his fist behind his back.
A second seemed to pass as he suddenly flashed before Grok, who was still looking at the place the barbarian was first standing. The punch was a lot harder than before, pushing Grok of his feet, making him stumble. His stomach should've been obliterated, the blood on his fist was a clear sign of that.
Yet when he looked back at Grok, not a wound was visible on his body.
"Ohohoh, impressive, how did you do that, something like this?", Grok took the same stance as the barbarian, lifting his massive fist behind him. The barbarian looked at Grok with a slight glint of fear in his eyes, his stance was perfect.
Grok appeared before him with the same speed as he moved, the massive fist landed on his chest, making him fly backwards, breaking through a couple of trees before slowing down. Perfectly replicating the attack, Grok waited until the man came back and showed him something else that was interesting.
Yet no matter how long he waited, the man didn't come back. "Tch, already dead? How boring.", Grok sat back down and started to polish his axe again.
The shirt that the man left behind was gone, unbeknown to Grok, he was watching him from afar.
'I can't show him any more techniques, or they'll be stolen. To think that Starborn are this adaptive to even change their skin like a chameleon. I have to report this, if the Empire has multiple Starborn, then we might be in trouble.'
Leaving his post, he went to report his finding while Grok was left alone on the road. At a certain point, he fell asleep, luckily his inaction didn't matter.
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At the castle of the great Emperor, Selicia was hiding her presence as much as she could. She infiltrated the palace with some effort and trouble, but she made it in the end.
The reason why she was using all of her power to hide was because the Emperor was right below her. She knew that the Emperor himself was like the defect mages, the issue was her initial target, the advisor was next to him.
He was a Rank 2 mage, who shouldn't be able to detect her, only a Rank 3 should be capable or perhaps a high Rank 2 specialized in detection spells, yet she still felt on edge.
'Why is he so defensive!? No typical Rank 2 should be this on guard in the goddamn palace!'
She was having trouble with grasping her head around how this target of hers lived. Trained in all forms of stealth, she was certain to be hidden, yet even with that reassurance she didn't believe it.
Being clearly briefed of her target, she knew he was very protective, bordering paranoid according to rumor. But even so, she simply couldn't understand it.
'He has 3 invisible shields active at all time, how did he even make them so see through? Did he also train in one of our camps? And why is his willpower constantly looking around while he's talking and walking?! Does he have two minds or something?'
While the shields themselves weren't that strong, they were capable of handling a few normal attacks or one powerful one. If one was so defensive when living in the safest place in the Empire, how would he act when he left it?
Thinking too much about it gave her a headache, so she rather just listened in on their conversation and try to glean some information.
The Emperor was staring through a window, looking at the Stars high above.
"Would you like to visit him again? Seems like you're out of it, have you been resting properly?"
The Royal Advisor looked like a friend caring for his companion, but Selicia thought of it differently. When she was gathering information in the castle she heard that the Starborn had forced work on people, threatening them with all forms of punishment.
'He made himself become a plague and blessing in disguise. Some people praised his work and ideas, others fear his presence. What a twisted man.'
Rumors were spreading he had started to physically abuse Scholars in order to force them to his side.
Of course, she had no way of knowing what was real and what wasn't, but according to her, nobody would be so defensive if they didn't do something wrong.
They walked towards a small garden between two bigger wings of the castle. The garden was small, but colorful. All kinds of flowers, many of which were completely unknown to both Selicia and the Starborn, decorated a simple slab of stone that carried a few inscriptions.
'Here lies the Great Emperor Aurelian Dominitus, 3169 - 3584... What the hell are these dates? Did he live for hundreds of years without becoming a mage? How does that make any sense?'
Selicia looked at them from afar, questioning the legitimacy of the stone while trying her hardest to stay hidden.
The Emperor stared at the simple stone slab with dead eyes, or that was how it looked.
"Thurin.", the advisor said after some time, leaving plenty of room between his words.
"You are allowed to take a break, don't take my work ethic as your example, it wouldn't be fair."
The Emperor didn't react, staying still as the words carved into the stone were burned into his mind.
"Lucas, I'm afraid that all the work we're doing will be in vain. The barbarians are clearly preparing for a big offensive and the nobles are still not supporting us no matter what we say. The moment they start the attack... I believe that our walls will fall in a matter of days."
Lucas, who was a great aid to him held his arms behind his back before flashing a slight smile.
"Our work will never be done in vain, Carian and I will make sure of that. Don't worry, I'll take care of the nobles, although frankly, I don't believe that I'll have to do anything."
"What do you mean?"
Lucas smiled softly at Thurin, like a mother would to her child. He patted his shoulder before explaining his reasoning. "If we can't make them see reason through words, I believe it's time to use the whip. He also used an iron fist to show who's the leading power. We just need to do the same."
Gesturing to the grave, he reminded Thurin how his father handled unruly subordinates. Without mercy, he judged each person by their crimes and punished them accordingly. No bribing, no corruption, he did it all by himself. His strength was more than enough. N