Tero passed by dozens of tables every few seconds, waving at the soldiers, their children, and their wives. They all greeted him with the same phrase, "Good morning, Young Master!"
Tero smiled back at each and every one of the soldiers who greeted him. As he progressed throughout the room, he took longer strides, and with each stride, the smile on his face widened significantly.
Finally, he was in front of the stage. He tilted his head up and laid his eyes upon the big black screen that encompassed the entire back part of the stage. He stared at the screen with an extremely wide smile. He envisioned the ten Warlords standing on the Mace Stage that sat in the central square. He was mostly excited to see the Lord of Light standing there in all his glory, ready to declare war against the Evils.
Tero came back to his senses when he was tapped on the shoulder by a man he knew too well. His name was Kian. He was one of the generals in Jonakai's army, and his strength outclassed most of his peers. He has an extremely slim and tall physique, with long brown hair that went all the way down to his waist. He was wearing a mainly white suit with black touches on the neck and sleeves. His signature piece of clothing was his white cowboy hat, which he wore all day, everyday.
Kian began to speak to Tero. "You're doing a lot of nothing for someone who needs to be by his father's side in five minutes. You don't wanna be late, do you Tero?" He asked with a smile on his face.
"Hey Kian!" Tero exclaimed. "And...no. Sorry. I'll get on my way now!" Tero squatted down with extreme force. He rotated his arms to where his elbows faced behind him, and in one quick moment, he jumped twelve feet into the air.
While in the air, he turned his head around towards Kian and smiled with all his might. He stuck his hand up and waved bye to the skinny man as he planted both of his feet firmly onto the stage.
Tero turned his body completely around and went straight past the microphone in the middle. He turned to his left to find a door that was a few feet to the side of the big screen. Tero grapsed the knob and opened the door. Upon walking in, he observed the white tiles that encompassed the floor, a large oven, a sink, a microwave, a door that led to a bathroom, a huge television that took up the right side of the room, parallel to the appliances, and at last, a small brown table with two seats that faced each other on opposite sides.
And in one of the seats sat Tero's father, Jonakai Tazumaki.
Tero's face lit up at the sight of his father.
"DAD!" He yelled in excitement as he jumped all the way from the entrance of the room to the chair that his father sat in. Jonakai had a smile just like Tero's on his face as he embraced a flying Tero into his arms for a hug.
"Are you ready to see all the Warlords?" Jonakai asked his son, who hugged him tightly.
Tero looked up at his father. "Of course!" He exclaimed. Tero released himself from his father's grasp and made his way over to his own seat at the table. He slid the chair from under the table to where there was enough room for him to climb into it and then jumped into it, promptly sitting in front of his father.
Tero's smiled never left his face as he turned from his father's gaze over towards the big screen that made up a third of the room. Unlike the screen in the dining hall, Jonakai's screen had video on it already, which displayed the Mace Stage. At the moment, no one was standing on it, but it was only a matter of time.
"When will they be on, Dad?" Tero asked.
"I'd give it about three minutes." Jonakai replied. "First, you'll see your grandfather, who will present all ten of the Warlords to the world. He'll mainly put the focus on Sasoyama, and then he'll make an announcement which will...well, you'll see."
Tero was fascinated by what his father was saying. He shifted his focus from the screen over to his father.
"Will Grandpa have to fight?" Tero asked. "I don't want him to get hurt!"
A sharp grin spread across Jonakai's face, which quickly turned into great laughter.
"BWAHAHAHAHA! Do you truly think he'd get hurt even if he fought?" Jonakai asked while laughing.
Jonakai settled down and resumed talking to Tero with a huge grin on his face.
"To answer your question, no. He won't have to fight. It's dishonorable for the King to fight Evil Warlords or any other kind of evil that sits below him in ranking."
Tero was puzzled. "Why is it dishonorable?"
"Well," Jonakai started, "The King is known as the strongest man in the world. Nobody's power exceeds the King. Not even Sasoyama's or Morzi's."
Tero's puzzled look became even more puzzled. That's how strong my Grandpa is? I never thought of it that way!
"You see Tero, the King isn't expected to fight others. That's why we have a Warlord system. The King sends Warlords to extinguish any kind of evil that is present in the world, all while The King is expected to fulfill civil duties, like establishing alliances with countries and cities, enlisting militants for his army, hold ceremonies, and perform executions depending on the threat level of the indicted."
Tero nodded his head. "But why doesn't he just fight all the evil people in the world so that we can all live happy?"
Jonakai took on a more serious tone. "That's what I've wondered all my life. To me, I think it's stupid. If the option is there to resolve such evil, then why not take that chance? At that point, who gives a damn about honor?"
Jonakai was now looking down at the ground.
"It's quite possible that this system of honor will put the nation in turmoil one day. There could be someone out there right now who is stronger than the King. God forbid that one day Jonah is killed by someone who he could have killed, say, five years ago, before they were at peak strength."
Tero's expression went from confused to resolute.
"I'm sure that even if that man comes to kill Grandpa at peak strength, he will be able to fend him off!" Tero exclaimed. "Grandpa is the strongest man in the world. No one can claim that title! Not until the day he dies."
Jonakai looked up again at his son with a newfound grin. I'm glad you think that way, Jonakai thought. But he's old and in a decline. It's quite possible that my fears will result in reality.
In the midst of Jonah's grin, there was now cheering that came from the screen. Both Tero and Jonakai shifted their gaze on the big screen.
On the screen, you could see King Jonah's head peaking over behind the Mace Stage. He was carefully stepping up the stairs that resided behind it. Every single time he saw more of his body, Tero's smile increased.
Eventually, Jonah had both feet planted in the middle of the Mace Stage while fully on display to the several millions watching him. Both of his hands were in his pockets and his stance was quite formal.
59 years ago when he fought the former King of All, King Ren, he had wavy brown hair, and he wore several layers of armor and cloth. But now, the current King of All was sporting a a thin, completely white suit, with long grey pants that had white stripes.
Instead of his brown hair, he now had snow white hair, and it's texture straight and thin. His hair went down a little farther than his waist, and he put on an extremely long, white beard that covered the bottom portion of his face. His beard was so long that it almost reached his belly button.
Jonah stared at the cheering crowd below him. He cracked a half smile at the sight of audience. He looked up towards the horizon, the same one that Ren stared at during his death.
Jonah held his hand up with all five fingers pointing towards the sky, to seemingly hush the crowd. The crowd stopped their cheering as Jonah's stone cold eyes shifted back to the audience below.
The speech that Teros' grandfather was about to give would shape the history of the world, and would go on to affect Teros life in a way that no one would have ever expected.
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