The main square in Rubica. He was just about to be bestowed with the title of Noble, it was already certain, but he was nervous nonetheless. If anything were to go wrong… There was a large group of people who believed he didn’t have the right ideals for the position… And he was wearing ceremonial robes… If anyone tried to shoot him, he’d die… “And if I die, there won’t be enough of whoever did it to keep in a bucket,” he said to himself. “Just one quick speech, and then the King will officially bestow me the title…”
“Presenting… Alerius Julius, the Blade of the Dunes!” Came the voice of Amelia Keos, who was chosen for most official announcements because of her Sound Magic, which she could project her voice through to make it louder.
Alerius stepped through the curtains and walked to the podium. King Calvus Caesar, the fourth of his name, was standing next to the podium. He nodded slightly.
Alerius cleared his throat and began to speak:
“I know that these recent times have been trying for all of us. We’ve lost friends, family, loved ones to these beasts. They’ve shown us no mercy, so as a noble of Ravenna, I shall strike back at them, and show them that we, the People of Ravenna, shall not fall!
You know of my skill with the blade and my magic. I shall personally ensure that they are put to the sword, and we shall regain our state of peace! Accept me as the next of the House of Julius, and we shall show these monsters that their graves have already been dug for them!”
On the last sentence, he raised his sword high in the air, and used his Sand Magic to send a blast of sand straight up. It disappeared into the clouds.
Calvus brushed a few grains of sand off his cloak. “Very well.”
Alerius turned toward the king and knelt.
Calvus raised his Triasta and placed it on Alerius’s shoulder. “Do you swear loyalty to me, the King of Ravenna, loyalty to the Ravenna Realm, and to protect and aid the People of Ravenna, as long as you hold the title of Noble?”
Alerius responded, “I swear upon my name and my honor.”
Calvus touched the tip of the Triasta onto Alerius’s forehead. “In that case, I hereby bestow upon you the title of Noble, so that this day forward, you may serve the Realm-”
The king was cut off by an unfamiliar voice from the crowd: “I object!”
A hooded and cloaked person pushed his way through the crowd to the front.
The king took his Triasta and held it like a staff. “You object?”
“Yes, I object. Alerius Julius is unfit to the title of Noble. While he was fighting hordes of monsters here in Rubica, what was happening in Tiberia?”
Calvus curled his lip in distaste ever so slightly. But the cloaked person noticed. “I’ll tell you what happened. They were felled like trees. It was a massacre. Less than 20% of the population remains. If this fool becomes a noble, the rest would die. Sure, he’ll fight the atlanteans here, where there are many powerful fighters, but what about when it’s just you? What’ll you do then?”
Alerius felt rage boil within him. This whelp was insulting his honor! “You dare challenge my bravery?”
The cloaked figure seemed to consider this for a moment. “Yes, actually, now that you mention it.”
Alerius glanced at Calvus. Calvus shot Alerius a look that clearly said, "It’s your honor, you deal with it.
Alerius turned back to the cloaked figure. “All right then. You question my courage? Fight me. The Colosseum, right now. I won’t even use my armor. Just pure skill to crush you like the ant you are!”
The hooded figure considered this. “All right, a duel. But let’s raise the stakes. Remember, I questioned your worthiness to the position of Noble. Say, whoever wins the duel, gets the Noble title?”
Alerius was so angry he accepted without considering the person’s words. “Calvus, my King, could you be the judge?”
Calvus grinned. “Of course.”
*About five minutes later, in the Rubica Colosseum
Alerius glared at the figure across the arena. He’d removed his cloak, revealing a basic black gi and a sword typically used by Keraxian soldiers. It looked very old.
Calvus called out. “The duel between Alerius Julius, the Blade of the Dunes, of the Noble House of Julius, versus… Who on Earth even is the other guy?”
The other guy responded, “Raimon Xhu, the Wanderer, of the… uhh… Hold off on that one”
Calvus called out, “Versus Raimon Xhu the Wanderer, of most likely no noble house.”
The crowd laughed.
Calvus began to count down. “Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Go!”
Instantly, Alerius sprang into action, imbueing sand onto his sword, summoning magic circles for later, and leaping high into the air.
His opponent drew his sword and waited. Alerius could see from his stance that he was unaccustomed to using it. Alerius smiled. It would be a quick fight.
He launched himself towards Raimon, who readied his sword, using sloppy form.
Alerius prepared a huge downward slash, one of his favorite techniques, as it 1. it tended to create a large cloud of sand he could dramatically emerge from, 2. it could often knock opponents’ weapons from their hands, 3. It could easily blind them with sand in their eyes, and 4. It could probably cut Raimon’s sword in half. He started to preform the slash…
Only to have it blocked.
Raimon had locked Alerius’s sword between his blade and his leg.
Raimon smiled. He looked like a shark who who’d cornered a fish. Then he twisted his leg.
Alerius’s sword bent in a 90-degree angle. He then remembered that it was a cerimonial weapon. But it would still have taken a large amount of force to bend.
Raimon grabbed the sword with his left hand and threw it over his shoulder. Alerius used his sand magic to escape to the middle of the arena. If he wouldn’t defeat this whelp with weapons, he’d beat him with magic. He fired blasts from every magic circle he’d saved.
Raimon used a jump move similar to the Arelius used earlier. Most of the sand projectiles missed, but one knocked him out of the air. He lay on the ground and didn’t move.
Alerius approached him at a leisurely pace. It looked as though Raimon was unconscious. When he reached Raimon, he picked up his sword and gently prodded him with it.
As though on cue, Raimon jumped up, summoned a magic circle, and blasted Alerius with it so quickly no one could figure out what it was. Alerius was thrown back two feet. He stood up quickly and beat out a small fire on his shoulder.
Raimon picked up his sword, leaped forward, and landed on top of Alerius, putting the blade to his throat and an elbow in his stomach. Raimon called out, “I think this is over.”
Calvus ground his teeth but agreed.
Calvus granted Raimon the title of Noble right there in the arena. Raimon swore, and then said that he’d keep Alerius as his second in command.
The very next day, Raimon led the charge against an Atlantean horde in Tiberia. Alerius was back in Rubica, staving off another attack there. Rasna had already been evacuated.
Roughly a month later
Raimon lay asleep in bed. For some reason, wearing his combat gear, likely in case he had to fight at any moment. It had been upgraded in between fights, with better boots for a technique he’d learned called “Iron Leg”, his gi having a reinforced layer in it, his pauldrons having a new layer in the Ravenna style.
Silent as footsteps on sand, a figure entered the room. He was dressed in black clothing, padded to muffle any noise. It was mostly redundant anyways. The potion he’d put in Raimon’s food made him unable to wake up for another three hours. Plenty of time for him to do the deed he’d came to do…
He slid his dagger from its sheath and positioned it over Raimon’s neck, considering where to cut.
Just then, Raimon clamped his hands around the assassin’s arm. He opened his eyes all the way. “Are you actually stupid!? I could smell the poison in that food!” He yelled. He tried to throw the blanket off of his legs, but only ended up tangling them in it.
In shock, the assassin slashed downwards, but missed Raimon’s throat. Instead, he made a large cut on Raimon’s face. Raimon rolled out of the bed. The assassin impaled the mattress now that Raimon wasn’t keeping his blade away from him.
Raimon tried to stand but tripped over the blanket tangled in his legs. This was just as well because the assassin had just lunged at him. Instead of piercing his heart, the dagger tore a large strip of skin off Raimon’s arm. The assassin had clearly hit an artery, and there was blood everywhere. The assassin fell over him and took a moment getting back up. In the brief reprieve, Raimon grabbed his sword from a hook on the wall, untangled his legs from the blanket, and jumped out the nearest window, just as the assassin slashed at him, but missed by an inch.
The assassin knew how high up they were. There was no way that Raimon would survive.
That’s what he thought.
The next morning as King Calvus and Alerius Julius were explaining how Raimon had been assassinated, but they hadn’t found the body, no one noticed a shadowy figure watching from an alleyway, his arm bound with a blood-soaked blanket and in a sling.
And after Alerius had been given the Noble rank, no one noticed a lone sailboat slipping out of Rubica harbor, carrying no cargo and only one person.
A week after leaving, the ship would be destroyed by an Atlantean galleon, and its lone passenger left for dead on a piece of driftwood.
And a week later, the castaway would be found by a frigate, captained by someone the castaway knew. He would nurse the castaway back to health in less than four days. When the castaway woke, they discussed what had happened in Ravenna. Almost everything had gone to plan.
Phase one of their plan was complete. However, for phase two, they needed backup.
Yea gonna end it right there
TLDR
Just read the thing
I’ll give 5 lifeblooms to the first person who figures out who the assassin was