Chapter 7: Assembly Orders

Years ago a creature was created for the sole purpose of balancing this universe’s power and to bring peace and joy to everything around it. The longer it continued living the more powerful it became. The power distorted his mind and took control of him, he used his power to bring waste to everything around him. His reign of terror was finally put to an end by a warrior known as Neptar.

His movements were fluid and I couldn’t seem to predict his next attack. Every attack I threw he either blocked or deflected with one hand. His left arm remained behind him at all times as he was trying to give me a handicap.

“You’ll need to learn to think outside the box if you want to land a hit on me, if you continue to attack as you normally would you’ll never hit me,” he said to me. He began to chuckle right before blasting a barrage of fire blasts towards me. I managed to use my shield to deflect most of them, but a few of his attacks got through and hit me. There was no way I could actually beat him in a real fight, but in this scenario, I could at least try to land a hit on him. So I charged towards him, I jumped up in the air and delivered a downwards slash, he caught the sword with two fingers and snapped it.

“You’re too predictable,” he said to me.

“You take the most obvious approach and attack recklessly,” I needed to find a way to strike him at least once.

“Too reckless huh?” I said to myself. I blasted a small fireball towards him and deactivated the attack before it could gain more momentum. The fireball turned into a cloud of smoke which covered his line of sight.

“Interesting tactic,” he said to me. I threw my broken sword through the smoke, but he deflected it with his bare hands. I then quickly used my stamina and summoned a second sword and threw it at the sky above him. I used my last bit of stamina to summon a third sword which I used to run up behind him and throw a horizontal slash, he dodged back and shattered the sword with a single strike. I jumped up and caught the second sword as it was falling and used my remaining strength to propel myself downwards in hopes of striking him. He moved to the left and disarmed me. As I fell towards him, he pinned me to the ground and said

“That’s enough. You pass,”

“I don’t understand. I didn’t manage to land a hit on you,” I told him

“That’s not true, that horizontal slash you threw at me managed to graze me,” he said to me pointing at his cheek,” he was bleeding. It wasn’t anything severe, but it was enough to prove myself to him.

“From this day forward you shall be an S ranked warrior,” he said to me.

“I thought this was just training,” I said to him

“There’s a simple explanation for this. I lied,” he said to me while laughing. King Zant was a very powerful king, but even with all his power, he couldn’t get more ridiculous.

“You are now on the same level as Captain Strek,” he said to me

“Does this mean I have to teach a class?” I asked him jokingly. His expression quickly changed and his tone of voice became more serious.

“Actually, I have a much more important role for you to play. Follow me to the castle, I’ll explain the details there,” he said to me.

We walked into the throne room and sat at the table in front of his throne. This table was reserved for special meetings.

“Have you ever heard of the legendary warriors known as the Grand Five?” he asked me

“I have only heard legends of them, their power was even greater than the royal knights,”

“Yes, together their power might’ve even been greater than my own,” he said to me with a smile on his face. That was the most shocking thing I had heard all day

“T-that can’t be,” I said to him

“Today, the Grand Five no longer exist. They separated years ago,” he said to me

“Then why are you telling me this?”

“I want you to gather and lead the new order of the Grand Five. I have a list of the four people I need you to gather,” he said to me. I was left speechless, there was no way that I could be a part of the Grand Five much less lead them.

“You said that you already have the four people picked out, but can I recommend someone else?” I asked him, I needed to get this person in the group. I had personally witnessed his power and skills.

“Who do you have in mind?” he asked me

“I would like to recommend your grandson, Mistery. I have seen what he can do and I know what he’s capable of, I am certain that he’ll make a perfect addition to the team,” I said to him. He began to laugh at me,

“You don’t have to worry about that right now Blade. He was the first person I thought of when coming up with this team, however, even with all of his skill I still don’t feel like he has what it takes to lead a team,” he said to me trying to hold back his laughter. I guess that I wasn’t the only one who could see his potential, his inner power isn’t something to scoff at.

“Along with you Mistery is the only other person who has managed to land a hit on me at such a young age, I was genuinely surprised when I saw the skill level that you both possess,” he said to me.

“Speaking of Mistery, where is he?” I asked him. His expression once again became serious

“Have you ever heard the legend of Neptar’s creation?” he asked me

“The one where she fights against Distortion?” I asked him

“That was my favorite story growing up, it was the most popular,” I said to him

“That story isn’t just a story, but a retelling of Neptar’s past. The story covers events that actually occurred,” he said to me

“But how does this tie into Mistery?” I asked him

“Mistery was sent on a mission a few months ago to try and find the gems holding Distortion’s power,”

“But why do you make us believe it’s a story? Don’t we have the right to know this?” I asked him

“This is a matter of safety, if everyone finds out about this there would be panic. I want to gather the Grand Five to search for these gems,”

“So you want us to help Mistery find the gems?” I asked him

“Essentially, I recently discovered that the gem’s powers are currently active. Each gem has a mind of its own which will make it harder for Mistery to fight them on his own,” he said to me.

“Alright, I’ll do it,” I said to him. I was doing this not for him or Mistery, but for the innocent people who would eventually come to rely on our protection.

“So who are the other three members,” I asked him

“Well two of the members might be a bit harder to find. However, I’m pretty sure you’re well acquainted with one of them

“I don’t understand what you mean by that?” I said to him

“There was a very important reason why I tasked you with protecting Hope. She will be the next member of the Grand Five” he explained to me

“What?!”

“If she was that powerful then why did you have me protecting her all this time? You haven’t even told me her name yet,”

“Blade, meet Hope, another member of the Grand Five,” Zant said to me as she walked into the room. Throughout the time I had known her she had never spoken a word, she just nodded her head at any questions I had for her. Her expression remained blank, there wasn’t a trace of emotion on her. Zant then began to smile menacingly, I knew he was up to something.

“Blade, Hope. Please follow me to the courtyard,” he said to us

Once outside we were forced to spar against one another,

“Blade, you must not use your weapon against her. Let’s make this fair and have a nice fight,” he said. I guess that would be the best way, she might not be a sword fighter, but at the same time, I wasn’t a brawler. I was actually terrible at unarmed combat.

“Well, whenever you’re ready,” Zant said to us. Even as the fight began Hope continued to have a blank expression, she wasn’t scared or excited for this. I tried to inch closer to her, but as I did he quickly ran towards me and landed a punch on my chest. Even through the armor I felt the impact, she wasn’t physically strong, but her accuracy was flawless. She began to punch me in several places, her strikes were less like a fist and more like a spear penetrating through my armor. I felt the full force of each attack until I managed to regain my balance and throw a jab at her. She spun around my arm and used her momentum to strike my face. I tried to retaliate by throwing a variety of punches and kicks, but she was too agile. She had managed to reverse every attack I attempted back at me. I eventually got desperate and took a step back, I blasted a fireball towards her which managed to startle her a bit. She dodged it and waited for the next attack. Every time we clashed her arms felt like armor. She must’ve been wearing braces under her clothes.