Those three forms began to lose their flare, the eagle resting on Henry's left shoulder while the armoured being stood by his side, arms folded. Watching Henry rise to his feet, Judith and James noticed his changed appearance. He was now wearing a dark armour and his dark hair fell gracefully from his scalp. And when he turned around, they saw that boy who's left half of his face was covered by that falling mass of hair, while his right and exposed eye glistened in its cosmic darkness. "Henry !" James called, "Are you all right ?" "Stay back !" Judith pulled James shoulder, stopping him from running, "That person doesn't look like Henry." "Of course he does", James defended, "but he looks a bit different though." Judith was taken aback by that dark grin which stole the lips of their supposed Henry. What had happened to him ? And who was that eagle and armoured being standing next to him ? She was having a bad premonition about what was going to happen next on seeing
"I am Thorace Nertival, a cosmic pirate", the one standing introduced, "and his name is Vag Verzak", he pointed at the other being who was still sitting on the boulder with a panther at his feet, "he too is a cosmic pirate. And your supposed Henry is known to us as Kied and he too is a cosmic pirate." "A child prodigy if you can call him that", Vag said, "It took me centuries to me get to this this level and he's already this powerful at his age. Bit I'm not good at catching up because, your friend "Henry" has just been catapulting his powers to infinite heights." "Not bad for a kid who ran ..." The antelope leapt backwards as a sword tore out from Kied's palm, burying its blade into the ground a few inches from the antelope. "Take it easy Kied", the antelope pleaded, "I was just giving them a recap of your legend." "I always warn you Trident", the panther said, "with Kied and Hypernox, you have to watch your mouth." "Thank you Trident", Kied said, the sword flyi
"Even at school",. James continued, "he got into the bad books of some bullies." "And what did he do to them ?" Thorace inquired. "Broke their bones." James answered. "He also beat my sister in all the tests since he started our school, that's why she's angry at him." "So you're scared of losing your position to kied", Vage remarked, "Do feel so frightened, Kied isn't the type who is used to take the spotlight, that doesn't mean he's shy, he's far from being timid. If you're nice to him, he will gladly take his place behind you. And he isn't the type who will take school work seriously." "He isn't serious with his school work that he always comes first in class ?" Judith retorted. "Just take it as a case of genetic superiority and the wide range of scenarios he's able to put his knowledge to test."Thorace explained, "If you work hard you can still beat him to the mark." "But he always gets everything right", Judith lamented, "it's like he never fails." "Then d
"What else Is there relating Kied to Norden sir." "Kied feels pain", Tergon revealed, "even I don't feel pain but Kied does and in the city of Norden their people don't feel pain as well." "That only emphasizes that Kied is in no way a native of Norden, apart from the already established theory that he somehow knows how to get there. Imagine sir, he's of Matter Dark and Night, of the State War and feels pain, so taking him as a native is equivocal." "Yes it is debatable", Tergon postulated, "because he is of darkness, night and war while those of Norden are of light and peace. But think deeper Garvey ", Tergon pushed, "He's the complete opposite of what it means to be a native of Norden and possessing opposing traits makes him unworthy of being one. What if Kied had left Norden because of his odd nature ?" "You mean he ran away ?" Garvey opined. "Yes, he must have been sent on exile", Tergon concluded, "as an outcast." *** *** *** The clang of armour a
Tergon saw those flaring specks of green beneath his combat board, enact those blazing strings which created a surface of concentric rings. Lifting his head, Tergon saw that group of eleven armoured beings with emerald capes draped over their shoulders fluttering like flags of doom as they strode calmly towards him. Weapons drawn, Tergon knew they were here to fight him. Alighting from his battleboard, Tergon felt the solidness of this strange surface and it felt like walking on normal earth. The advancing group came to a halt apart from the one in their middle who took four steps forward, placing himself ahead of the others, Tergon assumed him to be their leader. "You have defiled the sanctity of this realm in your quest to acquire the Seven Boulders of Er !" The warrior's voice boomed. "What makes you believe that there is any sanctuary capable of resisting the clutches of the Feudal Order." Tergon challenged. "We stand here to defend our empire from you socalled clutch
This was their arena, Tergon knew, this was their domain, their realm and their game. He was fighting against a higher system, an evolved cosmic order and playing by their rules meant inevitable defeat. It was specially designed to make the weak fall and if he played like a weakling he was definitely going to fail. "Are you hesitant for the third duel to begin ?" Tergon challenged, "Because I'm already battle ready." "You are a goldsmith of words", the leader of the warriors remarked, "but do you still want to fight is as a group or individually ?" "I might have allowed fury to have taken over my reasoning", Tergon replied, "but I'll be humble enough to admit my mistake - I'll take you all one after the other." "But remember !", their leader warned, "just because you are a fighting us individually doesn't make it any easier. What happened earlier was simply a case of shared labor, making it easier to take you down. But against one, you unfortunately still don't sta
Tergon felt those pulsations stream through his being and his vision rose to a higher level of comprehension making the hidden dimensions of this arena becoming visible to him. Those ideograms and geometric projections trailed the steps of the warrior, with every move he made, creating a strange series of geometric combinations, it was a martial pattern of combat, Tergon grasped the wave and the way they fought was so unique, that they played both roles of offense and defense based on the way those ideograms configured themselves. Tergon was beginning to see those symbols which trailed the warrior's sword with each strike he made, his blade disrupted the atmosphere, resulting in that explosion of geometric symbols and ideograms that reeled their way through his being, symbols which Tergon's ignorant mind could not comprehend. The symbols were undeniably explaining the warrior's battling moves but they were beyond what Tergon's mind couldn't and wasn't elevated enough to under
Staring at the warrior, Tergon knew that even though his opponent didn't show it, he was nevertheless taken aback by his transformation. So this was how the cosmic pirates were able to take down millions of soldiers and battleships without ever failing - by simple evolving - no wonder the likes of Kied could never be taken down by the Feudal Order, no matter how strong and fiercely armed they came, they still weren't their match even though they came as an army, because the war was truly within and like the arena, they were war. "What's holding you back", Tergon called, "I know it's not in your nature to be the aggressor but, there is no aggressor in the arena, there's only the victor and vanquished." Charging at him Tergon made the first move, striking, his sword locked with the warrior's, the impact was thunderous, pushing Tergon's opponent backwards, sending him skidding on his knees, their metal pads exhuming sparks as they screeched. Rising to his feet, the warrior s