Written by-Silver crown
Ch-14 Mysterious Prince Anhur
Anhur was swinging a strange shape sword in a courtyard. Unlike the standard curved sword used in Gavrerira, his sword has a different design. He was using a khopesh. A single-edged sword combined with the shape of a battle axe.
Each prince of Gavrerira has a private instructor for his swordsmanship, literature, knight breathing, or essential magic from a young age.
In Anhur's case, there weren't any mentors watching for each of his steps. No one is pointing out the clumsy mistakes he's making. Some of the guards watching Anhur's performance shook their heads after seeing a few moves.
Each of his swings was full of openings. He had a clumsy posture after the strike. More importantly, he was swinging like a madman with no purpose.
He has a swollen nose and some bruises here and there.
Anhur wasn't even using a training sword. His sword is an oriental one that is made out of brass with a dull edge. Anhur was again in a confined palace. However, his mother wasn't with him, unlike those in his childhood days.
Inside the royal Palace, Anhur was known as a useless prince of Gavrerira. Except for his handsome visage and amber-colored eyes which are apparently inherited from his mother, there was nothing.
He wasn't a good fighter. Yet, gutsy enough and challenge other princes and young nobles. Even though he doesn't have the aptitude to become a mage, he spends most of his time wasting inside the Royal Library.
They labeled him as wasting time since he either sleeps inside a pile of books, tears important documents or throws some books into the fireplace. His eccentric and whimsical behaviors earned many of the imperial teachers shaking their heads after hearing his name.
As for Sultan Javerira, hearing too much disappointing news of Sulion (Anhur's name), he decided to put him back in a confined palace. Out of sight out of mind. He was done with his son. He doesn't want to hear anything about his disappointing son.
As usual, Anhur stopped his eccentric swinging after he got tired. He cleaned himself and applied ointment on the swollen nose and injuries. There are no servants inside his palaces. His daily meals are delivered by the guards.
Anhur grabbed his meals without making a fuss. He quickly finished his meal and went inside the book storehouse to waste his time. He came to an old book warehouse that only stored non-important or duplicated books.
From a bookshelf, Anhur drew out a black book which have a half-moon and sun crested on its cover. He flipped several pages and placed his finger on the page. Ripples of waves appeared from the books. Starting from his finger, Anhur's whole body was sucked into the book. He reappeared again inside a neatly arranged room.
Anhur closed the harboring book and hid it inside a secret cavity on the wall. He closed his eyes and constructed a spell in his mind.
"Geras's Curse."
He opened the wardrobe and pulled out some ragged clothes. Anhur changed his outfit to common wear. He hid a pouch inside his cloth. Inside the pouch, there was some money he has confiscated from the opponent of today's duel. His facial expression change to a serious one. Anhur became aged at a visible rate. In a matter of seconds, he became an old man.
He opened the door and scanned his surroundings first. After confining no one saw him, He took his step toward the most crowded place of 'Thrase'.A harbor city of the Gavrerira kingdom.
On the night of his mother's death, Anhur starts changing. Starting from that day, he had a very long dream every night. At the age of five, Anhur changed completely. Although his body was in his younger self, his soul and memory were changed to that of his future self. After knowing his future events and what was waiting for him, Anhur started planning to create a better future for himself and his people. By using the knowledge of future events, he was building a foundation for his future.
Inside the Royal palace, he acted like a disgrace concealing himself from the radar of other princes and his father. He spent many hours searching for the book of teleportation inside the royal library. The book of teleportation is the most crucial element in building his foundation.
In the future timeline, he only got this book after the royal library was burned down by a fire. At that time, he already became the king of Gavrerira which already split into multiple pieces. The book of teleportation has many limitations. It only allows one user to teleport from one place to another. The book has to sufficiently charge with mana from the sun and the moon to use it again.
No one ever notices a book is helping him to sneak out of the palace unnoticed. Anhur was using this opportunity to create his faction inside the kingdom. He couldn't trust anyone inside the palace but he could create his people from the outside.
He has a long list of people to scout. People who have better character, talent, and skills become a star in their respective fields. If he can recognize and recruit them, they will definitely become an aid for him in the future. He already met half of them and he has great progress. Many of them are willing to become his followers or supporters for the promise of a better future and his help. Although he couldn't recruit some people, they promised not to become his enemy in the future.
To recruit other people on his list or create a faction, he needs strong finance. Anhur has been investing in a small marine time trading company that will potentially become a big shot in the future. Today he came to Thrace for adding some money for the new organization and to get some information about the Faucheux empire.
At the port, Anhur met with his business partner, organizing the goods. Seeing his happy face from afar, it seems his advice had been useful in bringing profit. The bald man saw his lucky star. He extended his hands to make a hugging posture.
"It's a big sale, Ruhmu. We got a massive profit. Ha Ha.." he said while hugging Anhur.
"It all thanks to you. Let's go to the inn and split our profit," He put his arm on Anhur's shoulder.
"Men, when you finish your job come to the Sally inn. We will have a party there."
"Ha-ooh"
The crew becomes over joy, their enthusiasm made their hand move more efficiently. Anhur walked along with the bald man and headed to the inn. The man was in a very good mood, he was talking nonstop and boosting his experience in the empire. Anhur was quietly listening to his friend boosting and occasionally laughing along with him.
As they stepped into the inn, Anhur chose a quiet table in the corner. The bald man exchanged some words with the owner and ordered a meal. He grabbed a ceramic jar and sat down on the opposite seat.
"After enjoying the inn from the Empires."
"Ah... They called it something like a ' tavern'. I find inns from our port city unsatisfactory," he said while taking a swig from the jar. He shoved the jar toward Anhur.
"I can't have it, I have to travel back," Anhur said denying his offer.
"It's hard to make you drink, anyway let's talk about our business," the bald man said.
"Here is your portion."
He dropped a bag on the table.
"If other people saw our profit, they would have died from envy," he said with a low voice.
"So what's your plan," Anhur asked.
"I want to settle our company debt, I was planning to lay low for a while." the bald man answered.
Anhur weighed the bag. He added some coins and pushed the money back.
"Use this money and buy more ships. You only need to deliver this bag to a Carpenter called Deucali from Parnassia port."
"I understand that you wanted to spend some time with your family but in the meantime, 'Fubasa' I want you to recruit more crew members."
"In some time, I want you to do me a favor. It wasn't difficult, I will tell you when the time comes." Anhur said.
The bald man Fubasa nodded.
"I'll do it that way."
Anhur and Fubasa chatted for a while. They talked about news from the empire and their future plans. After the crew members arrived, Anhur left the scene quietly. He has to meet another individual who will help him create his faction in the Noble circle.