Guard 1

Brutus is on a large mountain. He was told to travel north an seek employment as a personal guard for the 42nd princess of the north nation. Due to the nature of this mission, he has been given his real body, a 28 year old with an infinitely high capacity of power of all kinds. While he also has a delayed regeneration ability and the ability to control four elements, ground, fire, wind, and water, his ability to master special powers within a world are endless because of his infinite amount of magical energy and his brain's processing power. Brutus is the apostle for the universal god of emotion, Winrar. His mission, given by the universal god Winrar, is to make everyone in the north nation change to a happier emotion. To do this, he is going to protect the 42nd princess so that she can become queen and bring prosperity to the nation. Why the 42nd princess and not someone else? Winrar was rather partial to the number 42. Any other descendant of the king would have done.

Brutus looks at his feet. He is once again in a new world without clothing. It happens every time he is given a new mission. Brutus is able to make something like iron armor from the ground, but it is mostly pants and a large chest plate. He should find a town first to get some real clothes. As he travels down the mountain, Brutus sees a large army of goblins and trolls. Brutus puts his hand on the ground and pulls from it a sword. Brutus aproachs the goblins and trolls. The goblins and trolls attack Brutus. Brutus kills the goblins and trolls, in all, probably only 500 of them, but still enough to make bloody puddles on the ground. Brutus makes a knife and skins a few trolls. He is then able to make clothes from the leather he makes from the troll hide. It is very thick, and smelly with the insides of it burnt to harden it. Brutus uses the power of the wind to freshen them, and washes it with summoned water. Brutus travels for a while longer and hides from the rest of the monsters. There were some things bigger than the goblins and trolls, he even saw some things in the sky, but they did not find him. Brutus makes it out from beast held territory a few days later.

42nd Princess: Things are getting worse every day. I just had another guard taken away from my residence, and the beef is never fresh. I just want to eat some fresh beef again. Father will have had passed away for 3 months soon, and I fear the royal guards will be down to the two I have stand next to me in just a few more weeks. I will join the royal academy in just a few months though, so It will only be a problem for a short while. I just hope I don't go the same way the 39th princess did. It was an awful shame she was killed going from the palace to the academy, and I really liked her too. It is just the 5 of us now, brother 8th prince is king. I might have to find a husband sooner than I thought.

8th Prince: I am king! I can take guards from anyone I want! I have seen 81 of my brothers and sisters die from assassins and I will not be the 82nd! We are moving troops into the west nation to take their lands. Curse this rain! What did the north ever do to deserve this? Maybe I should make peace with the dragons and they will use their weather changing magic to stop the rain. Damn selfish beast.

Brutus has passed through two towns. They are small, and every male has a sword. Strangely, axes and other weapons are not very common. The population is mostly children and women. Brutus got some proper clothes by selling the troll hides which are worth a good amount clean, but Brutus had badly burnt them, so they just got him some pants and boots. The most important parts he says. Brutus does not carry a sword yet, he is just picking them off the ground as he goes forward. Just a few more weeks and he should be at the capital. He was placed moderately close, the northern most part of the fission, the vertical mountain range that separates the west from the east.

42nd Princess: That was the last one. I am not leaving my room until I have a guard. He even took the two that would stand next to me on all occasions. Maybe it is because I am still small, but not an infant that I haven't been targeted by assassins. I will not take the chance though, I am not leaving for any reason.

Brutus has made it to the capital. He is wearing steel armor that he made himself and has two swords on his person, the 8 foot, 700 down sword that has become his world traveling trademark, and a smaller, normal sized blade at his waist. Brutus could have made extravagant steel armor when he first arrived, but he chose to wait until he got the the capital so that bandits would not stop him. He did not run into any bandits on the way, but he mostly stuck to roads and traveled at a constant pace. Everything is very clean, but maybe that is because it is always raining. Brutus is soaked from the rain, and his boots have holes in them for the purpose of letting water out. The palace is the highest thing in the capital, so it is not hard to find. Brutus goes inside.

Palace Guard: "What do you want merc?" Some big guy has just come to the gate and wants to enter. He has a huge sword and sword about the same size of mine, and he has perfect steel armor. Obviously a merc. "I seek employment with the 42nd princess." Probably wants to kidnap the princess or assassinate her. 30 or so descendants were killed this round by people coming to the palace for work. "Well we have a lengthy process for hiring guards here, so you will have to visit the branch office at the end of the road. Good day." I hope he leaves. We only have 15 or so guards here right now, but if we fight he might be able to kill one or two of us before we can stop him. "I will prove my worth by fighting any and all guards who will fight me." This guy is an absolute brute. "We are not having displays of strength here at the palace, we maintain order around here." "What is going on here guard?" Oh shit, it's the other prince. At least he has two guards always with him, so we have a little backup. "This man wishes to become a guard for the 42nd princess specifically." I hope I can get my hidden message cross to the guards. It looks like they understand. "Listen here bud, we don't want any trouble, so just march on our of here before we call the barracks." This other guard went right to it. I guess it is for the best. "I could defeat every guard in the palace and the barracks with one hand tied behind my back." This guy thinks he is tough. "Okay, fight with my two guards here." The prince has just welcomed a challange. Too bad for this merc, those are some of the best guards we have. Only the best for the king's brother. "Draw your weapons." This man is really going to fight, and he even took out the small sword. This is going to be good.

Palace Guard Post Fight: Okay, he has some skill, but now there are 20 of us in the courtyard. If we all come at him at the same time, we should be able to take him. With that huge sword on his back though, no way it's a weapon, it must be a shield. "Kill this would be assassin men!" One of the guards says this and... what... he is putting his sword away. No... it can't be... with his other hand he pulled that big thing off his back. It's huge, big enough to kill a dragon with. He's holding it with one hand and it must be over 500 down. It's just not possible. Well, I have to fight him now.

Palace Guard Post Group Fight: That man is a monster. One swing could take down 5 of us. The blade is so heavy, and he moves it so fast. I fear if any of us were hit on the arm or leg it would be goodbye to that limb. He hit everyone in the chest though, so the most damage anyone has is a few broken ribs, and a broken pride. When he stopped moving I took a closer look at the blade, and it was dull. Terribly dull. Like he cuts rocks in half with it. He ended up being taken into the palace by the prince and a single guard that could still walk. What kind of man is able to fight 20 palace guards and then calmly asked to be a princesses guard? Crazy brute.

Brutus has just finished fighting with some palace guards. He provoked them and used his ground manipulation to make the huge sword dull. Now that the completely one sided fight was over, the prince is taking Brutus inside to meet with the princess. He is actually taking him to the army general to get him to join, but Brutus will not join the army. His only mission is to be a guard for the 42nd princess. Nothing else.

Army General: Look at mister muscles over here. Oh, the prince. "Something I can help you with my prince?" "Yes, take this man and make him a captain in the army." Personal recommendation from the prince hmm? "I can see if we have any open spots." "I don't want to be a captain in the army, or any other position in it. I am here to guard the 42nd princess of the northern nation." Can this guy be serious, a personal recommendation from the prince and he wants to be a simple guard. "We have must better benefits than the guards, and if it's action you want to distance yourself from, we can arange a place for that." "Trust me, action is not something he wants to distance himself from." The prince is smiling. What kind of history could he have with this man? "I'm sorry sir, but could you tell me what kind of history you have with the prince?" I hope the prince does not stop him from explaining. "I defeated 20 guards in armed combat a few minutes ago at the gate." He did what! "20 guards from a soup shop?" "No general, 20 of the palace guards. I was there and even had my two personal guards join in." That can't be, and he wants to be the princess's guard? She is only 4 years old. "Well, what is it that the guard position has that being in the army does not?" "The 42nd princess's safety." I get it, this guy is just a pervert.

Palace maid: Someone wants to be the 42nd princesses guard. She lost the last one a few weeks ago and hasn't left her room sense. Maybe I should say something to here.

42nd Princess: Are you serious? Some brutish man defeated 20 of the palace guards and wants to be my personal guard? Has this ever happened before? I must stay calm. I must tell myself, not an assassin, just a vagrant worker. 16th Princess was killed by a vagrant worker though... Maybe I should just say goodbye to life and meet death with my head held high. Yeah, that's the way to go. "Take me to him." Good thing the maid told me. "Are you really going to be leaving your room?" "Yes. Take me to him at once."

26th Prince: What a fool. We might have not been able to take him in the courtyard, but now that he is in the palace we will have our own assassins from the ceiling take him out. "Let's just wait in this room for a bit. I am going to get something from the other room, so wait for me here." We won't suspect anything. Time to signal for the attack.

26th Prince post Attack: Nothing happened like it was supposed to. I waved for the assassins to release their bows, but as they did a huge wind blew through the rafters and they fell down. Not only are there 6 assassins on the floor, but sister has also come into the room with a maid leading her. "How could you fall like that? Kill that man were he stands!"

Brutus just knocked down some would be assassins from the ceiling, but in situations like this, when there is more than one assassin, it is usually a secret intelligence group. If not for his ability to control wind, which allows him to detect things moving around him in the air, he would not have known about them. Before he can ask them why they were targeting him though, the prince is telling them to attack Brutus. A few arrows fly at Brutus, but he reaches out his hand and the arrow turns to dust mid flight. They all do at the same time. Brutus then pulls out his big sword and points it at the assassins.

42nd Princess: This is great, I get here and he is fighting with the intelligence corps, but he did something. They released arrows at him, and when he stuck out his hand they turned to dust. It could have something to do with ki, but the arrows were over 4 feet away. "Ehm!" I make my presence known. "Are you the 42nd princess?" He want's to know if it's me? I'll pretend not to be scared and change my pants later, if I get the chance... "Yes it is I, the 42nd princess and current 5th in line to the thrown." That sounded professional, right? "Mi'lady, I wish to serve you as a loyal guard in all situations." Is he for real, both the prince and I are in the same room, and he had already shown himself capable, but he is still putting on a show? Maybe he wants to try something late at night... "You might be strong, and you might have a few tricks, but someone like you could never be a guard, you just know how to fight." The 26th prince spoke this time. Maybe he is actually concerned for me. "The place you truely belong is as a captain in the army." No, he doesn't care. "I belong at the 42nd princess's side." Now that I evaluate him a little more, he is a little taller than average, and his arms are formed a little better than most, but that sword... It must be over 300 down... How can he lift it straight out in front of himself with ease? Well I do need a guard, and I was ready to die the next time I came out from my room, so heck, I'll see what happens. "I will take you as my guard then."

Palace Maid: They spoke for a while and now the man who walked into the palace today is the 42nd princess's guard. She is going around the palace now looking at how things have changed in the past few weeks, but it has not changed much. I think she has accepted that this man is probably an assassin and once they are alone he will kill her. Poor girl.

The 42nd princess takes Brutus as a guard and has him follow her around the palace. She goes into some secluded areas, perfect for an assassination, but it never happens. Brutus just walks behind her and looks around at everything. Brutus stood next to and behind the princess all day. She even tripped one time on a raised stone and he caught her before she fell down. Brutus did not eat at diner and just waited behind her and watched the room. She then went from the dining hall to her room and left Brutus at the door. Brutus waited outside the room all night, sitting down and awake. Sometimes a guard would walk down the hall, and Brutus would stare at them the whole way. There was a chair in the hallway which was not there the day before, and nobody knew Brutus made it himself with his ground ability.

42nd Princess: What an idiot. He didn't eat anything the other day, and when I came out from my room he was sitting on a chair outside, like he was there all night. At least he didn't come in, but I know a guard comes by every few minutes. "You were there all night?" "Until you have more guards, I will have to stay with you at all times." This guy really is an idiot. Maybe he isn't an assassin after all. "Are you hungry?" "Very much." "Then we should get some food." Myself and the idiot went to the dining hall for breakfast. We both ate on opposite sides of the table, and he was constantly looking around, as if checking for people trying to break in. "Why did you want to be my guard?" I ask him. I should know what his cover story is. "I was sent by God to protect you." Great, a fanatic." "Oh, that's nice. Do you have a name, or should i just call you Cult Follower?" Maybe he will understand my suspicions. "My name is Brutus. No last name." Brutus... of course it is, Brutus the brute. "We are running low on capital, due to the war, so we might not be able to pay you for some time." "That is alright. I just need three things. Food, drink, time to wash." "Do you need time to sleep?" I am laughing, how could he not include that, or somewhere to live? "I will make due until there are more guards." that guy...

42nd Princess 2 weeks later: Every day is the same for Brutus. He stays up all night outside my room and then follows me everywhere I go. It is nice being able to leave my room without worrying, but we are still in the palace and courtyard so it is not a big accomplishment. I go to the academy in one more week, and Brutus has said he will follow me there. The academy has many noble students and all the guards are nobles. The teachers are nobles, and even the cleaning staff are nobles with a long history in the nation. It is a much safer place than even the palace. I wonder what Brutus will do when I have to stay alone in the girl's dorm though. I hope he doesn't just stay outside the building eyeing everything all night like he does now. The patrolling guard has stopped coming this route because of the way Brutus looks at him and saps his soul, or so he claims. Maybe I can make him push me in a cart...

Brutus has been with the 42nd princess for 3 weeks now and is preparing to move her from the palace to the academy. The academy is a safer place than the palace, but it is still a good idea to have a guard or two with you. The 42nd princess will be staying at the academy for 8 years, until she is 13, and then be sent back to the palace. From there, she can enter into politics or be a lazy bum like anyone else with noble heritage and servants paid for by the king. Brutus is standing behind the princess a few feet, and she is gathering many things into cases for Brutus to carry. She soon has 8 cases filled with clothing and other things and is having Brutus carry them to the carriage that will take her to the academy. Brutus looks inside the carriage and then places the cases on the back and secures them. He then moves to the inside of the carriage with the princess.

42nd Princess: "Once we are at the academy you will have to understand a few things." Brutus is sitting on the other side of the carriage from me. His big sword is outside with the luggage, but he still has the small one. "You cannot stay outside my room anymore. The girl's dorm is perfectly safe. Also, do not talk to anyone other than myself." "I can't protect you as well if I am not outside the room." Brutus needs to learn some manners... and maybe put some glasses on. "You will get your own area to stay at so you can sleep. It has been 3 weeks and I have never seen you sleep." "That is because I don't" Freak. "Well anyway, just try to stay out of the way."

1st Period Teacher: Being a teacher at the academy is great. It might not pay anything, but I can make many contacts within the noble society with it. You have to be a high ranking noble to teach though, but most of my contacts are the same age and older than myself. I have daily interaction with over 100 students who will become the future leaders of the nation, and that is alright for me. But not one of them. The 42nd princess. Now that the 8th prince has taken his spot as king, I expected the guards on the princes and princesses to be moved away, but she still has one. Good on him for lasting so long, but here in the academy it is not really needed. Nobody else has their guard enter the classroom with them, they all stand on the outside. That guard is at least standing to the side, not that he originally didn't take the seat next to the 42nd princess. Maybe he is also a servant. The lessons went well today and I hope all the students can learn their basic math soon.

2nd Period Teacher: Time to teach these kids how to speak well. Always getting anything they want has taken a serious hit on their vocabulary and negotiation skills, but during these next 8 years that should change. Maybe even the guard who chose to stand in the back of the room will learn something, though it is an all girls class.

Brutus follows the 42nd princess from class to class. First is math, then English, then art appreciation, then performance arts. All the students are 5 years old though, so none of it is difficult. Brutus has become a servant more than a guard for the princess. He carries all of her things in his arms and has even been asked about carrying a chair and he take her to class. They tried this only to give up because it was bumpy like a carriage even on flat ground. It was easier and calmer to just walk. After 2 months though, Brutus had accepted that the academy is safe and he has left the princesses side while inside the academy building so that he can petrol elsewhere.

42nd Princess 5 years later: We have been at the academy for 5 years now, and I will be going back home for a brief period. I never went back on my breaks, but this one will be 2 months long so I have no choice. We both get into a carriage and set of for the first time ever from the academy to the palace. I hope these are a quick 2 months.

As the carriage is moving down the road to the palace, it is mid-day and already shadows are moving across the roofs of buildings. The shadows stop moving some space ahead of the carriage with the princess in it, and they pull something from their backs. They move their hands and pull something off their back while at the same time a fight breaks out in the road stopping the carriage.

42nd Princess post Incident: It all happened so quick I don't know what to think. We were sitting in the carriage when suddenly it started to fill with dust. Brutus then took a throwing knife off his chest and threw it out the left side of the carriage, and did the same thing with the right side. He hardly moved enough to throw something, it must have just been a flick of the wrist, but a few seconds later I heard two crashing sounds and looked outside to see two people dressed in black on the ground. Not only that, but the two people had huge bloody holes in them like Brutus threw a rock at them the size of his fist. Brutus got out of the carriage and walked around to the front of it, but he came back quickly so I don't know what happened. I just saw 2 more people thrown on the side of the road with their arms in obviously incorrect placements. Was that an assassination attempt?

Brutus was able to neutralize the assassins and he moves to the outside of the carriage and looks for danger. If not for sensing the people falling to the ground in front of the carriage, Brutus might not have gotten himself ready to obliterate the arrows. The rest of the ride is uneventful, but Brutus has protected the princess from the first assassination attempt, and it only took 5 years of employment. He isn't paid though, so it's not really employment. For Brutus, he just stopped 4 people working together to kill the princess, to the princess though, Brutus just threw 2 knives at as many people, and threw some people out of the street.

Soldier: "General, we need troops moved into this position to deal with the rise in bandit activity," half my squad got killed by these guys, "they are operating from a fortified position in the trees here." "If your squad of 16 was not able to defeat them, I would have to take too many from the front lines to do it. We need troops on these positions at all times to keep the fields, at least during harvest. 5 more months and we will send troops to deal with it." "Yes sir." He isn't sending anything? They killed 9 of us, and we only got one of them! I just hope I can be sent to a new unit away from the battlefield. "You can kill bandits, can't you?" I look around and see a little girl standing next to a big man. "I can kill anything." The big man just said that... well he does look capable, he's got 2 swords. "You might be able to fight one man, but there are over 30 bandits in a fortified spot in the trees to the south east. They easily killed 9 of my men." That should deter him. He is obviously a guard for the little girl, and most guards are not cut out for fighting large groups. "It is no problem. Do you wish to come along, 42nd princess?" Wait, that's the princess? "You will have to carry me the whole time." "That is acceptable, we will tell the general." They are really doing it, the 42nd princess and her single guard going to fight a group of 30 or more bandits. "It is really dangerous, you should at least take a unit or two of troops with you." Don't say I didn't warn you. "We will be fine." I think I saw a smile on the big man, and as they walk past me I see the huge sword on his back is not just long, it is also wide. It can't be real.

Brutus and the 42nd princess have a brief talk with the general and then they get something to eat. After that, the princess puts one some clothing fit for riding on the shoulders of someone, and then they leave for the bandits camp. It is a short distance away, but the city has enough guards that they would not get attacked. They are probably praying on travelers visiting the capital. Brutus and the 42nd princess ride on horseback to the tree line and start walking, with the 42nd princess sitting on Brutus's shoulders.

42nd Princess: It was amazing. The greatest thing I have ever seen. First thing, two arrows came from the trees, but Brutus took out the small sword and deflected them, like how is that even possible, but then a whole storm of arrows came, and he just sticks out his hand and they all turn to dust. I admit, I was a little scared when I saw how dark it was, and the first arrows, but Brutus is something not from this world. He can't be. Now that I think about it, 6 weeks ago I saw some dust similar to this in the carriage on my way to the palace. It was an assassination attempt! But that's not where it ends. Brutus puts the small sword away and pulls the slab off his back. Someone comes from the trees and Brutus swings his sword, almost taking down a tree when the man is cut almost completely in half. I have never seen Brutus use either sword, but he is great. About 4 more people come and he does the same thing, but this time we have to jump out of the way of a falling tree that he cut down with his sword. It was a huge tree, almost bigger than the palace! About 12 more people come this time, but using some more delicate strikes Brutus kills them all. 1v17 and the 1 is wining, while carrying me! If that sounds good, just wait. We keep going forward and come to a fortified spot. There is a wooden wall blocking our entrance, but with two swings of his sword there is a space for him to walk through. He steps inside and is bombarded with arrows. They disintegrate like the last ones though, and what looks like 20 people start running at us. I hope I wasn't causing a problem for Brutus, but he holds the big sword in one hand and the small sword in the other and he protects me and kills more bandits. It only takes a few minutes and they are all dead, most being cut into 2 pieces. A 1v35 fight, and it was my guard who killed them all. "That was a spectacular performance Brutus." I praise him. Dogs want to be shown some affection from their masters. "I hope this has proved that I can protect you from any amount of enemies when you stay close to me." Brutus is so manly. I just hope the army does not take him away when he finds out. "Look around and see if they have anything that proves a larger affiliation, and then lets head back."

Army General: "He did what?" I don't believe that man from over 5 years ago could have done this, and then not want to join the army. "It is all true sir. He went out with the princess one morning after breakfast and was back for diner. She gave the report and it was unbelievable, so we sent a few scouts to check and it was all accurate, even the fallen tree from a single sword strike." A fallen tree? This tree, was it a sapling, or a small oak?" "That's just it, the tree was at least 2 feet wide." It would take a skilled lumberjack a few hits to take that down, even with using his ki. "We must have him join the army. He would be indispensable on the battlefield."

42nd Princess: "You cannot have him. Brutus is all mine." These fools think Brutus would want to do anything other than be my guard? I will put them in there place. "Well maybe..." What did he just say? NO! No no no no no! "We can put you in any battlefield and allow you to move between them freely." The general really want's Brutus to join him. "As 42nd princess I order you to spot attempting to acquire Brutus." That general isn't above my authority. This will show him. "I can only join if the princess also joins." Ek! Wants me to join? I am only 10 years old! "No, I will be returning to the academy to finish the next 3 years of my study." It was cool to see him take out all those bandits, but I think just once is good enough for me. "Then I will also be going to the academy for 3 more years." "Is there anything we can give you to change your mind? We can send 10 soldiers to guard the princess!" 10 guards.... No! Brutus is worth 100! "There is nothing." Strong and dependable. "That concludes this meeting general, please do not disturb is again with this nonsense."

Brutus and the 42nd princess leave the hall and continue to the dining hall for lunch. The general had rudely stopped them on the way over and tried to take Brutus from her after hearing the report of what he did to the bandits. Brutus and the princess eat lunch and do nothing for the rest of the day. 8 more days until they go back to the academy for 3 years and then the princess begins her official duties as princess. The last three years at the academy are very different from the first five. They focus on something called ki manipulation. Ki is the latent power in the body, it's like a willpower. Ki can transfer all power to a single spot. Ideas can be sent to people without speaking by using ki manipulation, and even small wounds can be healed with it. The downside to these things is that when ki is being manipulated around the brain, everything else in the brain stops. The person begins to act on instincts for a short while until the ki dissipates. Using ki to heal someone though, it is supposed to shorten the lifespan of the person using it, and causes huge pain. If someone uses their ki to heal someone too much, they will spontaneously break down all over their body in random places in similar sizes to the wound being healed. These wounds will be the same size, but many of them will be formed causing an overall larger amount of damage to be taken by the healer than the person they healed. The opposite of both of these are also possible, to steal memories from a person and inflict spontaneous injuries. Injuring a person does not have any personal downsides, but stealing a memory makes only that memory visible for a short while. Women at the academy learn two things at the academy regarding ki manipulation, moving it within the body to strengthen themselves, and moving it into objects to strengthen them. Never need help to open a jar, and don't even think about breaking delicate things.

Body Enhancing Professor: "Today is the first day of your ki training. Being able to move the ki from other parts of the body to a single part is the most important part of ki manipulation." These kids won't be able to use this stuff for at least another 5 months. "Ki is in everyone's body, but some people are still not able to manipulate it, and some people won't be very good at it at first, but get much better later on. Similarly, some people pick it up quickly and then find they cannot progress any more. Ki is different for everyone and what I am about to show you is not something you should expect to do in the next year." Now i'll show my ki expulsion. "What I just did there was move ki from my body and put it into my hand, and from there I sent it outwards. Ki is naturally white, and with more power it becomes clearer, but it never moves further than a few inches from the body." Kinda tiring after showing off like that, used a good 20% of my power with that. "However, when ki is used, it is taken from other parts of the body, so it is important to be physically strong to make up for the ki lost in parts of the body. When ki is expelled like that, it removes the ki from the body so it must be regained by eating or drinking." Time for the first practice. "So to start the class I would like everyone to try some breathing techniques. These will help you better understand the ki channels in the body to understand the path the ki takes."

After the class the 42nd princess is speaking with some of her friends. The internal ki manipulation class is co-ed and has many more students in it than the first 5 year classes. Some of her friends were taught how to manipulate ki by their parents, but then they remember the princess's parents are both dead and they change the topic. The princess goes to the second class and it is just understanding the practical application of ki manipulation, and it's limits. That night, the princess calls Brutus to her room.

42nd Princess: I wonder how he got here so easily. The academy must not be as safe as I thought. "I need you to teach me ki manipulation." I should just be straight out with it. "Your spirit energy?" Spirit energy? We both question that. Maybe where he is from they call it that." "Yes, spirit energy, but here we call it ki." "Okay, what can you do with it?" "Don't you know?" Didn't he use his ki to disintegrate those arrows? "I do not, but I do know what spirit energy is." I guess I will have to explain today's lesson to him. "Ki can make your body stronger, or things you are holding stronger. It can also damage things if the ki is sent outside the body into the thing." I think that was short enough for him to understand. "So I can move my spirit energy into other parts of my body, and into things around me?" "Yes that is the gist of it." So glad he got it quickly. Brutus might have a brain after all. "Can I give my ki to someone else?" "Yes, but it takes a large tole on the body, many times greater than the amount of ki transferred, and is usually only used in life or death situations." "Oh, I see." "So you will teach me your spirit energy manipulation?" "Sure. Stand up first."

42nd Princess post Training: I regret asking him to train me. He just made me make weird shapes with my body while throwing out my feet and my fist. Brutus said I shouldn't think of it as willing the ki, even though he calls it spirit energy, but to forcibly move it. I'm just so tired right now I didn't care when he jumped from the window. We are on the 5th floor, but i'm sure he will find a way down. I might try forcing the ki to move without doing any of the silly motions tomorrow.

The princess goes to the academy and practices ki manipulation in her free time. Nobody in the class has been able to use ki in the past 4 months, but the teacher is telling everyone that it takes a long time to be able to use ki, and when learning to move it in the body nothing else can take presidency. The princess tries to force the ki, and making strange motions in the body doesn't seem to help. Brutus however is spending this time practicing with what he can do with ki, which to his understanding is... nothing more than what he can do without it. Ki can't be used to move things around, except push them, and can't create things, so it is in all ways worse than his natural abilities. The next day as the princess is making the strange motions with her body, she sees a white cloud come from her fist. She does it again and sees another cloud, this time bigger. She moves in different ways and sees larger clouds come out, but she gets tired quickly and goes to sleep.

42nd Princess: "I have already been able to expel ki from my body." A little boasting to ones friends never hurt anyone... I think. "No way, we can't even seem to bring it to one part of our body, there is no way you could bring it out, that takes a long time." It is true, just wait for class to start and I will show everyone. Get ready to shower the 42nd princess and 5th in line to the thrown with praise!" Now I just have to wait for the professor and I can stun everyone. "Good morning class. Take your seats." Good he is here. "Professor, last night while I was practicing I was able to expel a bit of ki." Go ahead, leave your mouths gaping open, all of you! "Don't joke around like that, it takes at least a year after having learned to move the ki within your own body to be able to bring it to the outside." Oh, wait for it professor. "Oh but I am not joking, let me come to the front of the room and show everyone." Prepare to bow before me! "Alright princess, if you think you can do it you are welcome to come down, along with anyone else who might be able to do it." He doesn't believe me, he is laughing on the inside... but so am I!

The 42nd princess walks down the the front of the class. Even though I say down, the classroom is flat. The princess stands still and moves her legs apart, then moves her arms into the horizontal. She then puts the left fist outwards and the the left fist at her side. As quick as she can, she changes the positions of them, and a small white cloud comes from her fist.

Professor: I must be getting better with age. No, it's probably just her. To be able to expel ki after only 4 months learning it... she must have learned it from someone else before she started the 6th year of the academy. "That is very good princess, can you also move the ki to the other parts of your body?" "No, all I can do is make it come out of my fist." I don't think anyone has ever skipped learning to move the ki in their body and go straight for moving it out. "Well as a princess, being able to move ki outside your body will help if you can put it into objects, but you should focus on moving the ki inside your body to reinforce it." Now time to get the class motivated again. "I am sure the princess has been practicing every day sense the first day and look what she was able to accomplish." Little cheater. "You can go back to your seat now princess."

42nd Princess: That was great. I walk back to my seat and sit down. Both my friends are looking at me from the side. "I told you I could do it." "You were probably thinking we would start bowing down when we saw how much progress you made." one of my friends retorts. I may have been thinking that, but it is still a mean thing to say. "I would never think that about my friends and classmates." Even though I could be queen with a few more assassinations. "But how did you learn to do that?" Oh you want to know? "I have this really talented guard who can make arrows turn into dust with a wave of his hand. He taught me that form I used up there and a few others, but I think that one is the best." Brutus sure is the best. "Are you going to introduce us?" "Yeah, if he can make you so strong with your ki then we want to meet him too." Um... I don't think they would like him very much. "I'm sorry, but while I am at the academy he only comes around every few weeks, so he only got to show me the week after we started." "Not much of a guard then is he." Did you just say something about my guard being a bad one? "Hey, over the break he took me with him to kill some bandits and I got to see him cleave them in half with his sword, all the while using a second sword to protect me with." That was really the coolest thing ever. "Ewww! He took you to see him killing people? Gross!" What? Maybe when almost all of your family members are assassinated death is not a big deal. "Well I was the one that suggested we go, and he agreed." "Sorry I said that about your guard. You are the gross one." "No i'm not, it was a service to the city to dispose of those lowlifes."

The princess and her friends from that class agree to meet in her room the next time her guard is able to come by.

42nd Princess: "I was able to move my ki outside my body because of what you taught me, and now my friends want to be able to do it, so can you show them?" I hope he says yes. "Sure, but I will need a favor." Really, just one favor? Alright. "Okay, what is it that you want?" "I just want a favor to be redeemable at another time." Looks like he is plotting something. "Alright, one favor redeemable by Brutus at the royal bank of the 42nd princess, now stay here in my room all day tomorrow so that when I get back and bring my friends we can start." Oh no what did I just say, I didn't even let him inside my room at the palace and now I just invited him into my room at the academy for the entire day. It's not like he hasn't been in here before, and he is even in here now, but never without my supervision... I hope not at least. "That will be fine."

42nd Princess the Next Day: "Okay, he is going to be on the other side of the room so don't be too scared." I hope he is not doing anything embarrassing. I open the door and he is... sitting on a large chair I have never seen before. "Brutus, these are my friend from the ki manipulation class that were very impressed by what you taught me." The chair is made from stone, how can that be comfortable? "It's an honor to meet you, friends of the princess." Oh wow, he is being so polite. "Yes, and It is an honor to meet the guard we have heard so much about." Both my friends I brought are looking at Brutus like he is some dangerous man. Maybe that saw the huge sword leaning on the wall. "Brutus, show us some of your ki techniques." "Sure." Brutus does the formations and little white clouds come out, even smaller than mine. "That doesn't look that powerful." My friend is not impressed Brutus! "I was scaling it down quite a bit. I'm afraid to use too much power and knock out a wall." "See, he is very powerful." "And princess, I have been testing something for the past few months that I would like to try out, but I will need one of your friends to do it before I try it on you." Oh my, what could it be? Another technique? "W-w-what is it?" They are so scared. "I'm going to put some of my ki into your body and then I want you to think of this stone as an extension of your body, then make it move forward like you are reaching out your arm, but don't actually move." What is he trying to do? "A-alright." She agreed. Well, we will see what he was planning to do. Too bad he still have to experience first hand what moving your ki into another person can do.

42nd Princess's Friend post Experiment: What have I just done? It was so easy, but I have never seen anything like it. The guard put his hand on me and placed a stone in my hand, then it just felt like I was bursting with power so I did what he said and the stone grew. There is now more stone than before. Like a plant, but it's a rock. "Waaaa?" my friend doesn't know either. Who is this man?

42nd Princess post Experiment: I don't know what just happened, but the stone in my friend's hand grew by twice it's size, and in horizontal column. "This is one of my abilities. To move and manipulate stone like it was water." Are you kidding me. "Brutus that is amazing!" My other friend is looking over with exited eyes. Just remember, Brutus is my guard, not yours. "Well, it was unexpected." unexpected? I can only act unimpressed because of how godly it was! "I tried this with some people around the city when you first told me about being able to move ki to another person. It looks like any ability of a person is transferable, like my ability to move stone, or even a skill like weaving." "So now I can move stone freely?" Wait, does she have the godly power now? "No, It looks like it will just be for the amount of ki I put into your body. Once that ki is used up you lose the ability." Aw, that's a shame. "I'll let you two try now." Brutus hands me and my other friend a stone and puts his hand on our shoulders and fills us with ki. I look at him while he does it and wow does it feel amazing. It's like I could do anything now! Power is all mine! But i'm worried about the rebound, the damage done to his own body. "Brutus, are you going to be fine putting this much ki into us?" It's not like I care about his safety, I just don't want him to bleed on the hardwood floors. "I will be fine. I found that the rebound effect is only noticeable when over half the ki in the body is moved to another person." I wonder how he found these things out. But right now I am full of a foreign power and looking at a stone in my hand. "And we can do anything to the stone?" "Well, try making a general command inside your head as if you are telling the stone what direction to go in." I try telling the stone up, and a pillar comes from it. "Yay!" My friend made a spiral. "I made this chair from a stone. The thing about this ability is that whatever extra material you make will be destroyed after a while when you stop putting power into it, so I have had to sit on this chair the entire time or it would disappear." So we can't make a new palace with this ability, darn. But wait, we can just get the stone from the ground! "I thought we were going to learn how to use our own abilities, not yours." My first friend said this. It doesn't look like she can move the stone any more. "Alright, I filled you each to the brim with ki, so now when you want to move it to a part of your body to send it out into the air or another object, it should be very easy." Really, Brutus wasn't just showing of his ability. My first friend pushes her fist out quickly like I did the other day and a cloud comes out. "So cool!" "You try too." Brutus is talking to my other friend who is just looking at him, not able to get over the stone growing. "Okay." She moves her fist slower than my other friend, but a white cloud comes out either way. "See, even with the larger difference in the movement made you could both expel ki. Just so you know, that ki will not come back because It came from me, so you will have to learn quickly. If the princess says it is alright, I can give you my ki any time so that you can practice." Way to put me on the spot Brutus, even though I do like having my friends over... "Oh that would be so nice of you. Are you sure you don't mind about the possible rebound?" Yeah, Brutus has been putting his ki into the three of us but he looks fine. "Even if I do get some rebound, it is worth it to make the princess happy." oh... "Looks, she is blushing!" "Am not!"

Every day for two weeks the princess brings her two friends from the class to her room and Brutus fills them with his ki. They practice in the room with moving it in their body and expelling it, and sometimes Brutus gives them the ability to move the ground. Students of the academy rarely leave the building due to security reasons, but Brutus can come and go so he bring stones in from the outside. The three girls are gradually able to move more and more ki around and with that more ground. Brutus warned them not to show off because it could cause trouble for himself and mainly the princess. Her two friends seem to understand though, and Brutus does not get any notification about shady people looking for him. After two weeks, they stop coming by so frequently, and 4 months after that they stop coming. Brutus stopped giving them his ground control ability and they are able to control their own ki fairly well. Now it is only the princess who gets ki from Brutus and his ground ability. The whole time Brutus did not get any rebound from moving his ki into other people, so she is suspicious of him.

Two more years go by and the princess is ready to leave the academy. With the training from Brutus becoming more and more spread out, she is able to focus her ki to any spot on her body and can expel the ki a whole inch and a half, which is better than average. Brutus and the princess go back to the palace. The princess is now 13 years old and able to be politically married, though because a new king has already been made from the 8th prince it is not high priority, and she is convinced that assassins will stop coming for here, especially with the wave of princes and princesses. For her official possition within the northern government, the 42nd princess has chosen to be the governor of a town in the south west section of the kingdom. There are fields there were it does not rain so often, so the food should be better and there might even be some cows. Unfortunately, besides thous, the other reason she is fine in a border town is because she has Brutus as a guard. It takes quite a while to the to the border town, and once there the town has a current governor, so she will have to wait until he dies or retires to take his position, so they leave. It was quite the blunder to rush to the town as if it was waiting with bated breath for a 13 year old governor, so Brutus and the princess have 3 options, stay were they are and wait, leave and find something to do, or go back to the palace.

Bandit: Some princess has been going around the kingdom and visiting towns. Looks like she only has one guard too This chance is just too good. "and on here there should be some rocky outpost what we can hide behind for them to come past." The captain is showing us a map with their suspected route of travel on it. We will be attacking them tomorrow and hopefully killing the guard and taking the princess with us. If we can get a ransom from the king, great, if not i'm sure a young slave girl will sell well to another kingdom, especially if she is a princess from another kingdom. "The guard has proven himself capable with handling multiple targets at once, so we are going to do this in small groups of two or three." Even I have heard that he can cut down 10 men with a single swing of his sword. We all heard about the outpost near the capital with 40 men in it, and it only took that one guard to taken them all out. We will do it smarter though, we will surprise him like he surprised them. "Alright we move out at dawn and attack once they are in the center." Well time to get a good sleep, maybe I should practice my swing in the morning before we leave...

Brutus and the 42nd princess have been moving from town to town inside the kingdom for a little over 2 months. They would take less than a week to travel between towns and spend a week there. Right now though, they are traveling between a group of rocky outcrops. The road is between two cliffs over 30 feet high on each side of them, as if the road was carved into the stone. There are about 20 bandits on the upper part of the outcrops looking down at Brutus and the princess. The bandits make hand signals and a few seconds later 6 of them jump down at Brutus. In a flash, the carriage Brutus is driving stops and Brutus jumps from his seat. Brutus takes his huge sword out and cuts two of the bandits in mid air as the rest fall to the ground. With a brief struggle, all 6 of the bandits who jumped are dead and thrown across the stone walls of the pass. Two at a time, more people jump from the top though, and Brutus is occupied with them. Two more come from the back to try and get the princess, but the carriage will not open, and it looks like a solid sheet of stone is preventing them from opening it. Brutus jumps to the back of the carriage and kills the two trying to open it. The bandits kill the horses pulling the carriage and all the focus is on Brutus who has already killed over half their number. Brutus punches in the direction of the left cliff, and he moves he expels ki from his fist at the same time. The cliff is blown apart and more bandits that were behind it go flying. Brutus manipulates the ground to push himself up and he kills the bandits at the top, then jumps to the other side and kills the rest. All the bandits have been killed, but they didn't have any horses with them.

42nd Princess: Brutus had a small run in with some bandits, but he killed them all. I knew I saw safe traveling the kingdom with Brutus. The bandits killed the horses though, so Brutus is doing something to the carriage so we won't need them. "Are you almost finished? I don't want to be on the road more than a week." "Almost done, I just need to reinforce the rest of the carriage with steel." I don't even know where he gets the steel from. He says the whole earth is connected and with his control of the ground he can pull it up, but everyone knows you have to smelt it first. Brutus on the other hand just sticks his palm to the ground and slivers of steel start coming out. "Alright." I look out of the carriage and see bodies all over the ground. They will decompose or some beast from the mountain will take them. The beast roam the kingdom freely and don't attack people for some reason. I think one of our kings made a deal with the dragons that control the beast. "Brutus what was that?" The carriage has started to move, but we are moving faster than before. "I'm making sure we aren't late." What kind of answer is that? I try to look out of the carriage but there is still stone there that was meant to protect me from the bandits. "Brutus, recede the stone on the carriage walls." "Oh right, I forgot." Brutus takes the stone down and I look outside. Brutus is pulling the carriage and running forward. He's going even faster than the two horses we had pulling us. "If you could pull the carriage faster than the horses why did we even need horses?" Sometimes he doesn't think time is important. "If I am pulling the carriage I will not be able to react as fast." I suppose that made sense. Maybe we will get to town quicker because of the bandit attack?

Assassin: "I'm going to put poison in the drink, and then you make sure they drink it." It is a great plan. We have been using poison for years that we developed in the south nation. They don't even have the plants to research it here in the north. "But what do we do when they fall over and die?" "We just act part of the crowd. She only has one guard, so if we give him a cup too, it will not be a problem." This is going to be so easy.

Assassin the next day: "Hello princess, I am a lady from the southern border on the mountain and I heard that you were visiting many towns and I thought I would visit you on your travels." I need to make a good impression. "Oh my, word is getting round about my travels?" The princess looks so innocent, too bad. "My my princess, and I have brought a bottle of wine today for myself and my companion to share, it would be an honor if you would have a drink too." Just drink the poison please. "Oh coarse I would love to have a cup." Perfect! "Wait." Huh? It's the guard. "I will have to drink a cup first to check if the princess will be able to handle it." Damn, the poison is fast acting, if he drinks first it will show. That's alright, I still have a dagger on me, and if the only guard is killed then I will easily be able to kill the princess. My partner might not like that solution though, we will just have to split up for a while. "Of course, here is an extra large cup so you can enjoy all the flavor." "Thank you." He's drinking it! Half of it... All of it in one gulp, this man really knows how to put down wine! Well, he should be on the floor any minute now... just a couple more seconds. "Do you want to die?" "What do you mean honorable guard?" Shit, somehow he isn't dead and he knows it was poison, is he from the south? No, a southerner would not be a made the princesses guard. "I mean, this wine is obviously poisoned, or will you drink a cup as big as mine and show how it is safe." My partner is leaving the inn, and I just saw he guard look over at him. "Brutus, don't make the inn too messy." The princess is just drinking her water like this happens all the time! "Well, I don't have very much left and was going to save it for later, but when I saw the princess I knew I would have to share some." Believe my lies, you're just a guard! "Then I will make you drink it."

Brutus grabs the woman by the neck and forces her down, then he takes the bottle of wine and pours the contents into her mouth. Brutus forces her to drink the remainder of the bottle and then he lets go. Seconds later the woman beings convulsing and dies. Brutus looks at the table her partner was at and they are gone. Brutus runs out of the inn and looks at the street, and in a crowd of people he sees him. Brutus gets lower to the ground and pulls out the huge sword. In a flash, Brutus and the man have been connected by his sword.

42nd Princess: "Brutus, if the poison quickly killed that woman, why did it not affect you?" I am in my carriage being pulled by two horses we bought at the town. Brutus is driving like always, but there is a window that we can talk through. He made some changes to the carriage a while ago that make it less noisy and less bumpy, but i'm not sure what exactly. "Princess, would you like to drink poison?" Obviously no. "I would regard that as something I would rather not do." "Then my burning passion for protecting the princess negated the effects of the poison." Is he trying to be poetic? "That is not a real reason, that poison took seconds to activate for that woman and you are fine even now. It's like it was just wine when you drank it." "One of the reasons I am the best possible guard for you is that I am immune to most poisons and diseases." Most? "You can't be beat in a fight, and now you are telling me not even poison or disease can beat you?" "Among other things..." Brutus could be anything he wanted to be, but for some reason he just wants to be my guard. I am not complaining though, I'm sure that if 10 years ago I didn't find someone so capable as a guard I would have been killed. "Brutus, where do you come from?" "Were do I come from? Hm..." Is this a touchy subject? He has been by my side for 10 years though, I should know something about my guard other than how capable he is. "Yes, I want to know because you have been with me for so long." "Alright, my clan is from the southern kingdom, however we were attacked by the kings army and were forced to move into the mountains. The ki is very dense in the mountains and allows us to gain super human strength. Eventually my clan settled down in the mountains and every generation the children became stronger than the last. About 400 years later though, which was 17 years ago, my clan was attacked by the southern kingdom again and almost everyone was killed. Only myself and my brother lived. We were the strongest people in the clan and even trained to kill dragons." Brutus pulls out his huge sword, waving it like it is nothing. "So we went around getting our revenge by killing people in the southern kingdom, but a few years later my brother was captured and executed. From then on I knew I would need a whole army if I wanted to destroy the southern kingdom, so I traveled through the mountains to ensure a capable person became king or queen of the northern kingdom so that they could lead their armies south." Brutus finishes his story and puts his sword back. "Your whole family died?" "Yep." "Well, I understand. Most of my brothers and sisters were killed by assassins, and a few of them died because the care needed when they were born was not given to them because the king died." I really do understand. Having everyone around you be killed off. "My brother and I both had that power, not being affected by poison or disease, and being able to control the ground. He did not have the strength that I had though, he was just very quick to react to things, he could even catch and arrow mid flight." "Wow, he sounds like a great guy." "Yeah, he was." Darn, now i'm sad. "Have you ever killed a dragon Brutus?" Maybe getting off to another topic would be good. "No, I just waved the sword around and they flew off." Oh, that wasn't that cool. "Brutus, do you want to fight on the front lines to capture the western kingdom? That will bring us closer to being able to conquer the southern kingdom." Maybe I can help somehow. "No, I am fine where I am and I would not make much of a difference. One man can only kill so many soldiers. I know that to be truth." We will see about that. "Well then, change course, we are headed to the 4th field camp for the western army." "I hope this is not some kind of favor to me. Your safety is what is most important." "This is not. If I am to become a great queen I should have adequate battle field experience. "Alright then, we will stop in one more town and then go straight for the field camp." Gotcha, with the princess in camp, moral should boost somewhat and we might be able to take some additional land. Plus, I would really like to see Brutus in battle.

Brutus made up a huge lie to cover is tracts with his past concerning this world. He was not from the southern kingdom, he did not have a brother. The story was based off his experience with Hans and the Florians. Many miles away, there is a group of western kingdom soldiers marching toward the northern kingdom. The princess and Brutus are staying in a town just beyond the war zone, so they would not be expecting what would come next. The western kingdom general was moving troops in two directions, to take the town and to occupy the soldiers stationed a few miles from it.

Town Guard: I think I can see some horses coming from the horizon, though it is very dark tonight I don't know what so many horsemen would be doing... is that the western flag? "Close the gates, enemy invasion!" Shit, their coming! "Close the gates! All guard rally on the southwest wall!" We only have 300 guards for the town, but the army is just a few miles away, so if we can close the gates and hold off for a few hours until they get here, we will be fine.

Inn Worker: That's the sound of the raid alarm... "That's the invasion alarm!" Somebody just yelled out. I know we are close to the border, but the army is just a few miles away, why attack here, and in the dead of the night? "We are evacuating from the northeast gate, follow us travelers!" Maybe we can get out before they arrive I know our 300 guards are not much, but with the army so close I never thought that we would be so easily targeted. "Princess, I'm going to be gone a few hours. Stay in the room until I get back." Who is that man with the huge sword? Who is he calling princess? This is now time to be telling your daughter to be staying in the room of an inn, we need to evacuate! "Sir, you cannot stay here, enemy soldiers are marching on the town!" Your lives are at risk, that's what I want to tell them. "It is fine, now go Brutus, and don't leave a single one." "Yes princess, but take some of this before I leave." I am speechless as I hear this and watch the man put his hand on the young girl's shoulder and.... it looks like he is pushing his ki inside her, but I know if someone would do that they would be in a huge amount of pain. He looks like nothing is happening. "I'm going to my room now. Do not disturb me until my guard comes back." Your guard? "Are you a royal princess?" "42nd princess and 5th in line to the thrown, now if you don't mind I would like to get some rest." Well, the royal family is getting assassinated often, she must be used to this danger. No use worrying about it now, I have to get out of here.

A Different Town Guard: "You there, what do you want?" Someone just walked up to the gate. "Open the gate." What, are you crazy? "We cannot open the gate, western kingdom soldiers are advancing towards the town!" Go away citizen, you have no place here. "If you will not open up, I will have to come over." Whoa, he just jumped the 16 foot high wall. "Don't let anyone else out or anyone inside. Spread out to cover all the gates." "Who do you think you are giving me orders!?" This man is crazy, strong but crazy. "I'll be back." He just jumped off the wall after saying that and started running at the soldiers, well so long brave warrior.

Yet Another Town Guard: It's impossible. Someone jumped over the wall and started running at the invading soldiers. He pulled a sword longer than his body off his back and began swinging it at the soldiers. Not only was he able to move it like a feather, but he is cutting soldiers cleanly in half with each swing, half a dozen at a time!

It is about 10 PM as Brutus charges into the mass of western kingdom soldiers. With his huge sword sharpened with this ground control and it's already huge mass, he is able to kill dozens of soldiers with a single swing, but due to how spread out the soldiers are he can only get a few at a time. Brutus is able to kill over 100 soldiers a minute at his current pace. Around 1 AM though, the soldiers surround Brutus and his killing speed has been halved to 50 soldiers per minute. Western kingdom soldiers are constantly advancing towards Brutus's position and soon he has killed over 20,000 of the enemy soldiers. The ground has become littered with corpses and blood is puddling around them. It starts to rain as Brutus continues the right well into the morning finishing off any stragglers. At 7 AM Brutus has killed all the 30,000 invading soldiers including all the horsemen at the front, and the commander at the rear. Brutus stands in a field of bodies as it rains to clean himself off, which during the fighting even his underclothes had become soaked in blood of the fallen.

A Another Town Guard: "Did you see the whole thing?" "Yeah, I haven't been able to get a single minute of sleep watching this." "He just jumped from the wall and started fighting right?" "I know, he was fighting with the strength of 100 men from the first second he went out to the last." "How many soldiers do you think there are" "I don't know, and we can't even count because off all the pieces they are in now." "It must have been something like 10,000." "Maybe more!" All the guards are watching the man in the field. We guards were going to wait for the army to come, but they never did, and instead this man came from inside the town and killed all the soldiers himself. It's that huge sword. It doesn't look special, but it's just so big. He is coming back... I don't know what to say... should we thank him? "Open the gate!" At least someone knows what to do. He's back at the gate and.... does he stink! This must be the smell of blood from thousands of people, from running through the corpses of thousands of dead for hours. "It looks like I will be needing new clothes for the time being." New clothes? "Yes sir, please come into the barracks and take a shower than too!" At least someone can still speak, I can't even move. "That would be excellent." The other guard is taking him into the barracks. I look back at the once green field and see a mountain of bloody corpses as the rain washes it to form rivers.

42nd Princess: I hear knocking on the door. "It is me princess, you can open up." Yay, Brutus is back. I can't wait to hear about what he did. I go to open the door and... there are town guards behind him filling the whole building. "What did you do Brutus?" "I killed around 30,000 western kingdom soldiers and then the guards would not stop following me requesting me to join them." 30,000! THIRTY THOUSAND!? If I do a little numbers that's... "Brutus, that would mean you had to kill a soldier every minute for 9 hours straight!" "This isn't even my final form." Final form? He can get stronger?! "In any case, we should be leaving soon. Due to some complications outside the southwest gate we will be taking the south east gate and take a few more hours to reach the destination." "What are you trying to avoid Brutus?" He doesn't want me to see something, I know it. "The battle field. I fear you will not look at me the same if you would see the remains of the enemy army." I don't know how to look at you anymore. 30,000... "That is fine. We leave at once and I refuse to hand you over to the town guards. With my authority as 42nd princess I demand that you all leave and return to your stations at once." "Yes my lady." They look so disappointed. Brutus and I leave the inn and everyone is cheering for Brutus. At first they don't know his name, but some of the guards heard me call him Brutus so it is slowly getting around that Brutus is his name. As I get on the carriage and Brutus drives it out of town, I like to imagine that the cheers are for myself being a great queen. I wonder how my brothers and sisters are doing.