This chapter takes place 59 years after the events of Chapter One.
Nine year old Tero Tazumaki arose from his bed on a sunny Saturday morning. His short, wavy brown hair was all over the place from his night of rest. His light brown eyes struggled to stay open as he sat up. He took both of his hands, placed them on his sharp face and rubbed them across his eyes in order to receive some sort of energy boost. He looked to his left to where the sunlight was emanating from, which was his window. On his window seal was a tiny blue bird. It chirped extremely loud several times, seemingly as an alarm clock.
Tero smiled at the sight of the tiny creature. "I hear you, buddy." Tero spoke softly. "I'm up."
Tero stepped down to his bedside and planted both his feet on the ground. He extended both of his arms up to stretch with all his might. He inhaled a great deal of air, and then let out a huge, audible exhale. After he finished stretching, he straightened his composure and then took on a wide smile.
"Today is gonna be a good day." He told himself as he walked out of his room into the greatly decorated halls.
Tero's room was the final one down his hallway. Beneath him was a fine, long red carpet. The flooring under was composed of miniature tiles; each square either black or white. The walls were a dark golden color, with neat and sharp sculpted decorations that made up the walls and every surrounding aspect. If you were to see this hallway, you'd instantly think that whoever resided here was loyalty.
And you'd be right.
Tero Tazumaki was the grandson of the current king; Jonah Tazumaki. He was the son of Jonakai Tazumaki, the second eldest son of Jonah. 59 years have passed since Jonah's victorious battle against the former King Ren in the throne room, and Jonah still sits at the top of the world as the King of All.
However, the place that Tero resided in was not a royal palace. It's actually a palace that was designated to Tero's father, Jonakai, because of his commitment as a Warlord.
The Warlords are ten of the most revered figures in the nation. They are ten extremely strong allies of the government, whose powers exceed normal human capabilities. Their job is to protect the Kingdom of Mace from those who oppose the government. These delinquents are known throughout the Realm as the "evils." Warlords are ranked chronologically based on strength or importance to the government. Before his retirement, Jonakai was #3.
Warlords get many benefits from serving the government. Aside from people being in awe by just the mutter of their name, they are paid quite a nice salary, about six times the average citizens. On top of this, each Warlord can receive a city of their choice to be built wherever they desire, or they can receive a royal palace. They are also given 1,000 royal soldiers to stay at their residence. If a Warlord dies, a Warlord who does not have a city may claim the deceased Warlord's city.
If any normal Warlord were to retire, their city would be seized by the government and handed to a new Warlord if requested. However, Jonakai's father was the king; so instead of the land being seized from Jonah, he was given a pass and was told that he can keep the land. The King can make any exception he pleases, which includes granting land and cities to individuals with rightful claim.
Usually, Warlords come from backgrounds where they built a dauntless army of thousands of soldiers. Once a Warlord receives his title and land, these soldiers can occupy the city or palace and live a nice, troublesome life at the expense of their master fulfilling their roles. Even if you're #10, and seen as much weaker than #9, #8, and #7, you still have to perform a lot of their similar tasks.
The number system dictates your importance and loyalty, but pretty much each Warlord is feared or admired equally. However, once you reach #1, you're not just known as "#1." You're known throughout the realm as the "Lord of Light," or, "Protector of Mace." At this rank, you're in a totally different league than the other Warlords. You become the right hand man to the King, and you're asked to obliterate many evil forces that even some Warlords cannot. Only the strongest man in the world can take this spot (besides the King.)
The current Lord of Light is Sasoyama Katri. Ironically, he has the power of "Blissful Lights." He's able to amplify light and reflections for hundreds of miles on end.He can convert energy and particles in the air into light. He can also encrust his body with light, which can amplify his punches, kicks, and any directional attack that he performs. On top of this, he can send out lightwaves as projectiles. There are also dozens of combinations that he can perform in order to create never before seen attacks.
But there isn't just good in this world.
On the opposing side, there are the Evil Warlords. These titles are also imposed by the world government. However, unlike regular Warlords, Evil Warlords are ranked chronologically based on their threat to the government, not their importance or loyalty.
And with a Lord of Light comes a Lord of Darkness.
The current #1 Evil Warlord, also known as the Dark Overlord, is known as Morzi. His last name is unknown to many, and even if it became known, it wouldn't matter to most of the world anyway. They wouldn't be able to make it to the first syllable, because most people choke in fear on the first syllable of his first name.
His power is known as the "Shrouded Darkness." It is unknown what kind of strength this power holds. It is said by many that it mirrors Sasoyama's power, in which instead of light, there is darkness.
This day that Tero woke up in was the day that one of the most important events regarding the Warlords would occur.
Tero took long graceful long strides down the hallway. There were dozens of people that were roaming where Tero was advancing. There were many royal maids, like a woman named Julia, who Tero seemed to admire greatly. Tero spotted a glimpse of her in the laundry room that was on his left. He entered the room to speak to her.
Tero looked up at the young lady. "Hey, Julia!" he exclaimed, happily.
Julia looked down at Tero and smiled back. "Hello, young master. How are you feeling today?"
"Great!" Tero replied. "I'm really excited to see the Warlords on the big screen today! They're so cool! The heroes of the Kingdom...the ones who fight against the bad guys in this world...I can't wait!"
Julia smile remained as she squatted down to eye level with Tero.
"I'm excited too!" She said. "It's very rare to see all of the Warlords in one place. They are usually out in their own cities doing whatever pleases them. But since that battle is revving up, they really have no choice but to come together."
Tero nodded his head with a smile. "I can't wait!" he exclaimed. Tero then took a few steps toward the door and then looked back at Julia.
"See ya later, Julia! I'm gonna go find my Dad." He exclaimed as he waved.
"Later then, Tero!" Julia replied.
Tero swiftly advanced down the hall with all the royalty. As he took only a few steps past Julia, he saw two of his best friends walk out of a door on his left. Their names were Devin and Mary.
"Hey Devin! Hey Mary!" Tero shouted enthusiastically while starting to wave at him.
"Hey Tero!" They both said at the same time, returning the same gestures that he did.
Tero was going to stop and speak to them, but Julia had already taken up all the time he had for that. "Gotta go! Can't be late!" He said as he speedwalked swiftly past them.
They laughed in unision. "Of course not! Have fun!"
After this was said by them, Tero took a few more steps then looked back at them and put on the widest smile that he had that day. "We'll do something fun later!"
They were now all smiling.
"You got it!" they responded.
Tero reached a tall door that led into a huge dining hall. Upon opening it, he laid his eyes upon thousands of people that sat at hundreds of different tables. The men in the room took on black and white suits with dress pants while the women in the room wore dresses. The flooring was the same as in the hall, and there was red carpet under each and every table. There was a ten-foot tall stage towards the front of the room with a microphone that stood in the middle. Towards the back end of this stage, there was a large television that would later broadcast the Warlord meeting.
Tero kept advancing through the dining hall. He observed all the people that sat at the tables. Wow, he thought to himself. Most of the men in here are soldiers who fought alongside my Dad.
And he was right. The men (and some women) who resided in Jonakai's palace were indeed soldiers that were enlisted in Jonakai's army a few decades prior to Tero's birth. They grew quite old, and even had teenage/adult children of their own who now lived a luxurious life in Mace.
When Jonakai retired from being a Warlord, his army was composed of over 18,000 members. At his peak he had 45,000. Out of the 18,000 members that Jonakai had, only 5,000 of them chose to stay in luxury with Jonakai. Many of the 18,000 still wanted to be soldiers and figure out their own journey in life, including many higher-ups, so Jonakai allowed many of them to create their own court and take the lead of thousands of Jonakai's battle-ready soldiers.
Jonakai's main reason for retirement, which he told his son regularly, was nothing short of family priorities.
Tero had always wondered if this were true. Why did so many of them not want to live an amazing life in luxury? Did my father do something?
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