As they continued their journey, the Crown Prince took the time to chat with Ryker.
"Is it hard to take care of so many siblings?" he asked.
"Well, when they are younger, it is harder, but later on, it become easier. Mind you, they still troublesome brats, just less so as they aged," Ryker replied.
"Well, it's the same to me as well," the Crown Prince exclaimed, Ryker giving him a raised brows for that declaration.
"You have younger siblings as well?" he asked.
"Yes, three younger brothers and one little sister. But there is also three younger cousins, 2 boys and 1 girls," the Crown Prince answered.
"Are any involve in the struggle for power as well?" seeing the look on the Crown Prince's face, he shrugged, "I prefer to know which person I should watch out for,"
Result The Crown Prince make a humming sound, understanding his reasoning for asking such question.
"Aside from the girls, everyone else is involved in the struggle for power," the man answered.
"You have the biggest influence and power for now, right?" Ryker continued asking questions.
"Yes, but for now?" the reply make Ryker rolled his eyes.
"If you are truly confidence in your chance of obtaining the crown after the King abdicate, or fall in battle, then you will have said it yourself.
If I have to guess, the mission you took is a way to strengthen your position," the Crown Prince laughed loudly, to the point tears formed in his eyes.
"You truly are smart," he said after laughing, "and yes, showing my capabilities is a way to increase my influence. And let me ask something.
Why do you think I don't think I can become the King so easily after my father's abdication?" Ryker furrowed his brows before coming to the most likely conclusion
"The other princes and your cousins are working against you, aren't they?" a strained smile formed on the Crown Prince's face.
"As I said, you are terrifyingly smart," another way to say he is right.
"It is-" Ryker suddenly turned his head around, "We are being followed," he said, his eyes soon falling on a tree ahead of them.
He leaped towards the tree before unleashing a devastating punch, forgoing using any technique and instead using the Celestial Body.
The tree burst to splinters from his punch, though the two people on top managed to evade his attack, but not without suffering some damage to themselves.
"That boy is strong. To think the young master will say this will be an easy mission," one of the would be attacker exclaimed, wiping out the blood that dripped out of their mouth.
"Maybe so, but he is still a merely Genesis Lake, just like us," the other attacker said.
"Really, I don't think so," they heard a voice behind them, making them leap away, but it did nothing except making Ryker scoff as he appeared behind the second attacker.
"Because I am much stronger than you lot," he grabbed the second attacker by the neck before crushing it, the attacker could not even scream as his life was extinguished with ease.
"Now, for you," Ryker stare at the other attacker, making him step back, before he try to flee, fear on his face.
"Master don't tell me he is this strong!" the surviving attacker said, running away as far as possible while sending some message to his master.
"I am interested in this master of yours," he heard someone said beside him before he turn and see a fist, his vision turning black.
-x-
"You don't kill him yet," the Crown Prince asked in confusion.
"No, I want to ask something. Besides, there might be more to come," he replied as he drag the would-be-attacker towards the forest.
"True, but you seem to have grown stronger than the enemy thought, am I right?" the Crown Prince exclaimed.
The silence lasted for almost a minute before Ryker replied, "Yes," he did not say anything more as he continue dragging the unconscious man somewhere isolated.
-x-
"Urgh, what happen?" the man woke up, asking as he feel a headache forming at the side of his head.
"What happen is you try attacking me, and so, you are here to tell me who you serve?" he heard. His eyes then focused on the person in front of him, the one that his young master wants dead.
'I cannot let this man knew my relation to the young master!' he thought before saying out loud, "I serve no one," he spat.
"I am just someone who wants to get rich by attacking caravans," he exclaimed.
Ryker sighed while rubbing his forehead, "Are you really stupid?" before the man could retort, he continued, "bandits will not say something like that, they will either try to bluff their way out or begged for mercy, saying they will change their way.
The way you act make it seem like you just want to tell me you are a bandit, instead of actually being one,"
The man looked away, slightly ashamed of his poor acting skill..
"It better for you to tell me, better for you and me," Ryker said.
"I will rather die than betray my young master!" the man yelled, glaring fiercely before trying to bite his tongue off.
"I know you will do something like this. Tashirn, eat his legs," the Spirit Giant Tiger roared before biting the man's legs, making him scream. The scream grew louder as Tashirn tore of the man's leg, making him sob from the pain.
"This is what is going to happen," Ryker said as he used his mastery of Law of Ice to freeze the bleeding, making it so he will not die from blood lost.
"If you keep on being unhelpful, my companion over here will continue tearing you apart, slowly and painfully. I will even tell her to rip your limbs slower, just so the pain will last longer. And then, after that is done, I will torture your broken body, until you speak, which is when I will gran you the sweet release of death, or until you die, which would not happen for quite some time. So, which of the two options you choose?"
-x-
"So, get anything useful?" the Crown Prince asked.
"Yes, I learn who send these men," Ryker answered as he could not help shake his head over what he learned.
'The young master of Eletor Family. He did this because he thinks I am a threat to his chance of getting with Sophia, which is wrong, because I am no longer a threat, I am the winner. Besides, Sophia is not interested in you,' he could not help but rant inside his head.
.