After a few days of discussion, it was accepted.

  Yippee.

  Probably accepted since there's no loss for us.

  Uh, directly that is.

  If they rebel, greaaaaaaaaaaat.

  If not, oh well. New plan then.

  So who do we send it to?

  And how?

  You see, it must be secretive!

  Well not– actually you s– it has to be cuz if not they get sacked real damn fast.

  Koff.

  Anyway, the direct territory bordering us is former Ujkal alliance territory.

  And some small bit was once the Ercen kingdom. How special.

  There's also the other ones on the right of Ujkalia and Ercen.

  Just like the holy roman empire for real for real, it’s a buncha independent states with rulers.

  Though unlike that, most are like, subservient to the emperor. Totally willingly.

  Regardless, there are many options. Uh past Ujkal, give it a nice 50/50 we get ratted out.

  Though largely land near Ujkal has a higher percentage of being dissatisfied or some level of refusal.

  Of course not outwardly.

  So I choose you Ujkal!

  Biggest border.

  Plus.

  Considered barbarous? Gotta claim my trophy bro.

  Now to parlay with our majesty.

  I fling the door open and march forward in the hallway.

  Servants like I glance at my forward march.

  Thou will hear the trumpets of victory!

  Thou will find the dead slumped in defeat!

  “Haha.”

  Deacon Regis reflected upon the day.

  A mundane day of nothing.

  With dismissal, the old coot started to lose his edge as his bones grew old.

  That and middle age considered the peak of age.

  Despite that, muscles bulged as Deacon Regis unwaveringly repeated each strike.

  Powerful swings cleaving air, the imaginary opponent briskly dodging and deftly counter attacking.

  Despite the vivid imagination, only the sounds of nature brushed in Deacon's ears.

  Stopping, sweat glistened in the fading orange rays of the sun.

  “Come out.”

  “My my.”

  A whimsical false suave tone of voice echoed to the side.

  Deacon’s eyes caught a man crouching on a tree's branch.

  “An observer can’t merely observe. How sad.” the man put a sad smile.

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  Dropping down from the tree, the man leaving the shade of the tree stepped on the grass free dirt.

  Adjusting the cuffs of the grey overall.

  Once in front of Deacon, they pause their movement. Their eyes narrowing with their smile faltering.

  Before immediately gaining it again.

  “Care for a spar?”

  Deacon frowned.

  “I’ve been bored.” The man in a grey overall shrugged.

  “Who are you?”

  “Me? I’m ^$███%#.

  Deacon’s brow furrowed.

  A shrill fuzzy sound erupted everywhere. As if memory certainly heard it and immediately erased it.

  “I challenge.”

  The man suddenly in the blink of an eye twirled a red sword.

  “Ready yourself O mighty warrior.” a serious face replaced the silly smile.

  Then the man disappeared.

  Deacon heard nothing.

  Not a single sensation erupts at any point in the body after the man’s one sided declaration.

  Just the quiet of nature.

  A prickly sensation suddenly flared at the top of Deacon’s head.

  Jumping back the ground split as the man struck the ground vertically at lightning speed with a face of pure insanity.

  Between the flying debris, the man made eye contact with Deacon.

  In a single second after, the man acrobatically landed on his feet and roughly swiped the sword from the ground. Tearing at the ground as if it were soft snow.

  Deacon readied his blade as soon as the man readjusted his grip on the red sword.

  The man twirled it again and stood.

  Waiting.

  Observing.

  Quickly the man grabbed something of black and gold and the sound of thunder roared.

  “Ngh!”

  The metal of the blade and the small shaped cylindrical clashing screamed briefly as the metal sought to break through.

  Deacon activated the aura within and a refined haze of light cleaved through the aggressor.

  “Tch.” the man rolled his head and eyes.

  The gold and black item disappeared and the man held the sword in a piercing motion.

  Red frost formed all around the man as he lowered his body.

  “Hear ye hear ye!” the man put the other hand in a V shape near the blade of the red sword.

  Deacon swiftly charged to preemptively interrupt the building freeze. The blade closed on the man's face.

  “The Start of A Legend, fourth form, Shatter.”

  Thrusting the red sword forward, it touched Deacon's blade. A torrent of red fiercely pushed Deacon backwards.

  “Kgh!”

  The force barely held back by the aura that was starting to fizzle.

  It was even cracking the blade beneath the aura.

  Eventually the flurry of red mist dissipated.

  Leaving shards of red ice embedded in the ground.

  Breathing heavily, Deacon readied his sword once more.

  The man in grey as if teleporting, swung from all directions. Each strike thrown with force extremely weak. Allowing Deacon to catch his breath.

  Yet as the amount of attacks increased so did the power behind them.

  Now ones with frost were sapping the aura like a parasite.

  Near milliseconds of each strike thrown another would pop up in the opposite side. Forcing Deacon to throttle his muscles to the max.

  When the frost was openly starting to get on the sword, only instinct kept Deacon from gaining mortal wounds.

  Small cuts and red ice sprouted.

  Then a slow strike came from the front. Blocking that, the man in grey disappeared.

  Allowing the return of nature's disrupted rhythm to appear.

  The beat of Deacon’s heart did not allow it to be heard though.

  Nothing happened for several seconds.

  Still Deacon did not let his guard down.

  Then the sensation at the top of his head alerted Deacon.

  The strike of the man in gray was deflected with a small deviation by Deacon’s blade.

  The man in grey struck the ground just like before. Sending dirt everywhere and collapsing the nearby ground.

  “Ta-da.” the man in grey posed upside down with a smile.

  The man in grey pulled out the sword wholly with body weight, causing yet another dig up of the ground.

  Lightly bouncing on their feet the man in grey twirled their sword.

  “Pretty fun eh?”

  Deacon controlled his breathing in response to another attack.

  “Then!” the man clapped his hands. “I want to ask you, are you satisfied with this ending?”

  The red sword was gone from sight.

  “If not, just open this.” they waved an envelope. “I’ll place it… ah here.”

  The man in grey put it on a mound of dirt.

  “Then see ya.”

  The man in grey walked into the shadows of the trees. Vanishing from sight.

  Deacon looked at the envelope and at his hand. The sword he held was completely without a recognizable blade..

  Metal shards covered in ice and cleaved in two.

  “Ha…haha…” a weird hollow feeling erupted.