Chapter 11
<Author's Note: After posting chapters 9 and 10, I just noticed that I finally got my first Stones for this novel. To celebrate this glorious occasion, I want to dedicate this to the first Power Stone Voter: Jitna. Thank you!>
In an open field.
A 12-year-old blonde-haired boy was holding a beautiful short sword that had a faint red aura on its blade and pointing it at an enemy. And if one were to closely inspect the sword's blade, it had glowing red characters engraved on it, indicating its high quality. And just like the boy's sword, he too was also wearing a high-quality set of leather armor embroidered with intricate designs. One of the designs was a crest of a lion, shield and crown beautifully stitched on the left side of his chest.
Anyone who would look at the boy could immediately tell that he was from a very well-off family.
As for the enemy in front of him, it was a monster called Treebark. It had a log or a trunk of a tree about 4ft long and 1ft wide for its body, two branches as arms around 24 inches long, and two what looked like a combination of roots and branches as legs about 6 inches long.
The monster was about 12ft away and didn't charge at the boy. Instead, it stood still in silence. However, the boy could feel that it was aware of his existence and was waiting for him to attack first.
After mentally imagining how the fight would happen, from start to finish, the boy let out a deep exhale and then charged.
Vooom!
Whooosh!
The boy moved at an impossible speed that wasn't normal for his age. And when the monster entered his attack range, he swung his blade and then stopped a few feet away behind the monster.
The monster turned around but stopped mid-way when a red diagonal line appeared on its body and the upper half slid slowly down to the ground.
Thud.
Clap, clap, clap!
"Bravo!"
"Wonderful!"
The sound of applause and cheers erupted in the boy's ear. He whipped his short sword and then turned to the direction of where the applause was coming from.
"Excellent performance, Your Royal Highness!" said an old man wearing a black suit.
He was one of his butlers.
"It truly is, Your Royal Highness!" said a woman wearing a maid uniform.
There were other people as well; knights wearing a set of full-plate armor
In this group, aside from the prince, there were a total of 12 people.
The prince thanked the audience with a smile and a slight tilt of his head. However, there was only 1 person in the group that he was interested in hearing from.
His eyes wandered around the crowd until he finally found the person he was looking for.
It was a tall tan-skinned man with black hair in his mid-30s wearing a set of full-plate armor but without a helmet unlike the others. He had a long sword hanging around his waist and a kite shield on his back.
The prince stared at the man and waited.
"Your form has improved, Prince Caspian," said the man. "But aren't you forgetting something?"
"Oh right, Ronaldo," Caspian said before heading over to the corpse of the Tree Bark and kneeling down on one knee. "I thank the Gods for this knowledge and experience they bestowed upon me."
After saying the small prayer, Caspian got up and returned his gaze to Ronaldo.
"So what's the next one?"
Ronaldo turned to the rest of the people and his gaze landed on a group of Knights.
"Supreme Captain," one of the Knights said and gave a slight bow. "There are no monsters left. His Royal Highness has killed them all."
Normally, as a Knight, they would offer Ronaldo a salute, and a proper one at that. However, given that they were currently here to accompany Prince Caspian's training outside, Ronaldo gave them specific orders to be less formal in order to give the Prince's training a sense of urgency. After all, in a real fight, especially during an emergency, every second counts, so long-winded formalities, gestures and whatnot were unnecessary.
Nevertheless, a prince was still a prince. So although they were acting less formal, it took a lot of back-and-forth negotiations before they finally reached this level of compromise. In fact, if others would act like this or show this kind of decorum in front of a noble or important figure, especially towards royalty, it could lead to a very unfavorable situation, even at the cost of one's life.
Ronaldo turned to Caspian.
"It seems you've already routed them all out. And if we continue, we might disrupt the balance and be cursed by the Gods."
Caspian was displeased but didn't show it on his face.
As royalty, he was taught that he should never lose his bearings and always look presentable at all times.
"I understand, Ronaldo," Caspian said and smiled as he made his way to the group.
All of a sudden, a disheveled and frantic woman burst out of the forest, causing everyone to turn their gaze on her.
She was wearing a very simple set of leather armor and her hair was a mess that there were leaves, vines and cuts all over her.
The Knights immediately got into a fighting stance.
Vooom!
Ronaldo immediately got between Caspian and the disheveled and frantic woman who suddenly appeared. His speed was so fast that to most of the people present here, it looked like he teleported, they weren't even able to see when he pulled his sword out.
Four Knights dashed forward to intercept the unknown woman and the rest stayed behind to guard their non-combatant companions.
"Help me!" the woman cried out.
As the woman cried out, a group of monsters about 10 came out bursting from the forest as well.
Seeing the monsters, Ronaldo used one of his spells.
[Intimidate].
Everyone around felt an invisible wave of danger rushed over them, including the Knights and the woman.
Struck by the wave, the monsters stopped for a moment before fleeing in terror.
Ronaldo glanced at the woman and the Knights who were frozen in fear before turning his gaze at Caspian.
Caspian's face was pale as a ghost and he was shaking. Even the short sword he was holding tightly with his hand was pointed down.
"Please forgive me, Your Royal Highness," he said with an apologetic tone. "But still, I have to commend you for not running away even though you were the closest to me."
He lied.
Although [Intimidate] sends out a wave of killing intent around its surroundings, the ones who will be affected the most are the ones locked within his peripheral vision.
However, a prince was still a prince. He couldn't disrespect the prince.
Caspian was still frozen in fear and didn't say anything.
Ronaldo returned his gaze to the Knights and woman.
"You lot, what are you waiting for?"
Hearing the voice of the Supreme Captain, the Knights immediately snapped out of the daze they were in and rushed forward to apprehend the woman.
Pah!
Thud!
"On your knees!" said one of the Knights as he struck the woman, causing her to fall to her knees.
"Who are you and what's your purpose for approaching His Royal Highness?!" another soldier asked and pointed his blade at her.
The woman raised her head and her face was immediately painted with terror and confusion as she stared at the Knights with their weapons on their hands, especially the one who had the blade of his sword pointing at her face.
Chapter end
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