The Intrepid Ruler's Challenge part 4 Chapter 13

It has been a thousand years since we've meet a challenger worthy of a thrown.

I remember it well…

I stood at the top of my throne, along with the Three other Rulers. Each one had a Different Ideal than the other but all of us had one shared Ambition…to find another Worthy Ruler.

For years we've searched, we've trained and we've challenge fools who thought of themselves as worthy but not a single one remained. All fled, all died, all suffered and all failed without ever reaching our expectations.

Our dream never came true…for years we've hoped…but it never came. Not even until our deaths.

That was what I thought…

I awoke one day and found myself sitting in my throne. In front of me sat the Blind Ruler, she too found it strange along with the Sword wielder and the Shield User. We found ourselves sitting in our respective throne. Holding to our weapons.

We didn't understand why we came back, but just like how a hungry Infant instinctively goes for its mother's tit, We as Rulers stood our Ground and remained Imposing as we have always been. We believe that the stars aligned for all four of us to have the Same fate, that something was coming, that at this moment we had another purpose to fulfill.

Not a single second passes and…as if time slowed down, we knew…it came.

A boy was floating in a Dark void…empty in ambition but filled with purpose.

Fate has granted our ambition and this boy…not even a single doubt came to mind. This boy was the Next Ruler.

Now…I stood at the body of this Boy who laid down on the floor, staring at my foot lifelessly waiting like a dead boot.

I know he can do more…he can do better. I just need to trigger it.

***HAMIL'S POV

For over a hundred days I constantly attacked the Intrepid Ruler, learning as I go by he's every movement. But it was impossible. Every thrust I made, I would dodge, I swing it took was met with a block of his Golden spear and if I tried to throw my spear, he would just stare as it flew by just about a millimeter away from his face. Toying with me. Now I didn't initially lose my mind, in fact I constantly think of hint he said to me. Precision and Desire.

I knew what he implied by saying those words half-way through this challenge. The only problem was that it was hard to devote myself in the premise of single-mindedly attacking him in such a way.

The Difference between him attacking me and the devil attacking me aside from their level of strength is the process of how I handled the situation.

From how I approached the devil was on the premise of learning as I go by the time…slowly adapting to its movement and in the end, killing the beast. It was entirely different from how he wanted it to be. The Process was to instantly kill the Enemy by Sheer Will, Desire and Precision itself…this was the Problem.

This was something a Novel protagonist could easily grasp by what you say is… "The Power of Friendship" but with the Ruler's Standard.

A Ruler's Ambition if I have to name it.

I wasn't the Guy to instantly gain the powers of the Hero…I don't have that much Plot armor, and as you can see from my luck stat…its trash. And my pure willingness towards ambition was lacking in of itself. As you can see from my past life, it was Boring and that was because I didn't have much to Dream for.

Boy was slowly losing his reason for fighting. His reflection towards this whole fight was that it was Hopeless. To fight without seeing any improvements was mostly the reason…If he can't surpass this challenge then this was all he could do…

He closed his eyes and he slept on the Floor…he thought that if the Ruler wasn't going to fight back, then he might as well…sleep for Once.

".…."

".…desire huh." thinking back…I never fought for anything. As if all this time, I didn't have anything to fight for except for the safety of this world…my reason for fighting all this time…was it not enough for me to fight for those people or was my heart not as righteous as I thought it was…

The

".…."

".…."

"This is weird…How do I sleep again?" it has been so long since he had thought of sleep…over a year and a half has it been since he realized that sleeping was a thing that he could do. He was so preoccupied with the Fight against the Devil for over 500 days that the thought of sleeping was totally forgotten. Because if he did, the Devil would usually just kill him in his sleep. So he fought for 500 days without sleeping. It was totally inhumane but since he was in the Hero's Gate, it was just fine for anyone to not sleep for over a decade... But it wasn't human.

He closed his eyes and tried to think of nothing at all…but in the end he couldn't sleep. He thought that he might have insomnia and it was possible. The continues thought of an enemy attacking him was preventing him from having a full nights rest. But now that the one he was fighting against someone had no plans to attack him, then it was Okay.

In an unexpected event, he thought of conversing with the Ruler. Maybe it'll help in easing his worries a bit, maybe it'll lessen the awkwardness of him being the Hitman and the Ruler who was constantly watching over him.

"Say…do Rulers ever rest?" he said as he sat up from his sleeping position and faced the Intrepid ruler.

"...sometimes." replied the Ruler.

"is it because you constantly watch over your Country?"

"...it Might be."

"So, if I take up your mantle and become a ruler too, will I be as sleepless like you?"

"No…you can rest. Out of the four rulers, I was the only person who has slept the least."

"Why?" I asked.

"...because I fear my country would fall the moment I rest."

"I see…" I didn't ask him anything after that. It sounded like a delicate topic to talk over and the mood instantly changed.

At this moment I didn't feel fear, I didn't adjust myself to be constantly be aware. And for once, this was the time I actually had a conversation with anyone for a long time without worrying for my limbs to be cut off. we didn't talk anymore after this and for once…I was finally starting to doze off. And before I knew it, I was asleep.

".…"

The ruler watched as the Boy slept on the Ground. He didn't attack or make any move for that matter. In fact, he watched over the boy as he sleeps peacefully. He watched as the Black abyss beyond his light was cowering in the corners.

***

I awoke one day…I found myself sitting in a chair, a Student's desk to be more specific.

Beyond me was a whiteboard that had writings and symbols I have never seen before. One was a drawing of a circle with a star in the middle but with written symbols which I presumed to be Latin.

Aside from the Whiteboard were people. People who were at the Stage of over around 16 years old. They wore uniforms I could argue its design was a bit…tacky. And on those uniforms was a stitched insignia…it was probably the school logo. The students themselves also were also a bit different…one for say is the impossible genetic trait of them having different hair colors. Their was a kid who had Blue hair, a Blonde who had brown strips of hair, A lady with dark red hair…well all for all, these kids have "Anime Hair" written all over their character. Their physique however was the same as any High-school kid you would find.

Will all in all, I came to the conclusion that I was in a dream…How to say was that, it wasn't the Anime Characters I see in front of me nor was it symbolic pentagram that glowed a golden bright light in its lines…it was probably the Mexican who had a name plate of "jose" written all over it while he rode on a Donkey who wore a sombrero hat and had a maraca between its teeth, while a Russian who looked like Putin was Dancing limbo and wore a Hawaiian grass skirt…it was pretty tripy.

Anyway…aside from this bizarre thing I was seeing, another person was there. A lady. She had red velvet hair that reached out up to her waist, blue eyes that reflected the sea, a face that could put all beauty pageant winners all to shame, a body figure of an hour glass, and a sword help up against her neck.

I knew who she was…this was a Character who tragically died in an effort to save people from a certain terrorist attack…Ethea Vel Fraleworth…a character written in the Book "The Mystic Royal Life" whose purpose was to die for the sake of Character Development…

Ethea Vel Fraleworth, a Lady who was born into Nobility. A Character who had a strong will who acted as the Student Council President inside the Royal Academy. And was the Friend of the Main Character, Arthur. She herself acted as a Older Sister figure for Arthur, she guided him and showed him how a student of the Royal Academy should act. How they should never act based on the prestige their family brings but instead act in the prospect of equality for both commoners and nobles alike.

In the novel, The Terrorist attacked the Royal Academy and took hostage of all the students…in an act of protest against those terrorist, she tried to Fight against them...she had an advantage at first…but failed once the Character Arthur was took hostage and was dying at death's door. Caught in disarray, she was stabbed to the back by one of the Terrorist and died a tragic death. It lead to Arthur bewildered by this event and made him quite depressed but it also acted as a motivation for him to get stronger…

Now I had no problem with how this story was written. It's premise was for the main character to grow stronger, but the thing was…I still hated how they wrote such a strong character, only to die for someone else benefit. There were other ways this could have gone down but the author choose this course…For her to die.

Now back to where I stood, at the very moment where she was about to die. Where students panicked, Arthur laying on the Floor bleeding out, and Ethea panicking at the sight of Arthur dying in front of her. As if in slow motion, I could see her trying to run up to Arthur, and a Sword reaching out to her Back…

".…."

I watched as it slowly unfolded before me.

And a feeling of discontent filled my every being. Without me noticing, the black spear was on my hand…waiting for me to act on impulse.

~Throw the Spear~

"...Desire and Precision…"

Without thinking twice, my hand acted on its own and was moving my body, in an act to throw the spear, save the Girl and prevent her from dying.

~Swoosh~

And there it goes…my spear flew out to the terrorist, but before it could hit the man. I awoke.

".…"

".…"

".…"

".…"

"for some reason I want to eat Hawaiian pizza and drink vodka right about now."

"...A what?" said the Ruler who was a meter away from me.

"Never mind, its nothing…"

"...."

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"...Two days." he replied

"...oh"

It took me this long?…damn.

I still remembered that dream…

"I feel like going at it again."

"...are you sure?"

"yeah…I'm sure."

It was completely different from how I act on. The act of protecting someone who I knew changes how I acted. It didn't matter if I like them or not, as long as it had a connection, the Desire to Protect them was more prioritized rather than a hundred lives or so…it may sound a bit weird since all life is equal and what not, but priorities were in order.

To win this fight, I needed to rekindle that feeling once again.

"Hoooo…..Okay." I grabbed my spear and held it in front of the Ruler.

***RULER'S POV

The boy stood right in front of me and the spear he held had scratches all over its handle. It showed the Fights he fought to show his worth

Now he stands before me and unlike before, his eyes were now showing purpose…it had this glow filled with the Desire to protect something, something of a personal scale.

I knew at that moment, He was ready.

As he moves forward, the action to immediately thrust his spear acted on. Not a quick second later, his spear was already a millimeter away from my nose. It was faster, stronger, and Precise than any of his attacks his ever made since. His desire was splurging out of his body, it was like he was telling me that he will hit me without actually telling me.

*Smirks* "…Finally, A Ruler has been Born."

I was satisfied…Despite his strength being nowhere near our level yet, I could finally accept him to be a Ruler.

So I stood in place, waiting for spear to hit me. But it never came.

Even if he did attacked with all his might, the spear would break if it clashed against my skin and no injuries would remain.

But it never came. The spear did touch my but it was to a point that it was only leaning at my body, as if he just placed it there.

".…"

"I guess I won." he said as he smiled victoriously.

I looked at him and smiled at just how simple and redundant this move was. But I accepted it.

***HAMIL'S POV

"Chararacter Profile…"

[CHARACTER PROFILE]

:Stats:

Name: Hamil Crux

Occupation: Warrior in Training

Age:17

God's followed: The Rulers (2/4)

-Blind Ruler

-Intrepid Ruler

Mana: 10

Strength: 65

Luck: 0.8

Agility: 75

Stamina: 70

Intelligence: 50

+++++++++++++++

Bow Proficiency: 50%

Spear Proficiency: 55%

+++++++++++++++

[The Challenge of the Rulers: Become worthy to be another Ruler (2/4)]

[Blind Ruler's Challenge - Acknowledge]

[Intrepid Ruler's Challenge - Acknowledge]

[Time Limit: 00000]

[Time Spent: 609:08:08:26]

".….Whoa, I did it."

"Boy…after Completing all of the Challenges, know that you will meet us once again."

"...Okay."

As I said that, he raised his hand and a portal appeared out of nowhere, just like how the Blind Ruler did.

As I made my way to the portal, I halted for a bit and turned back to him.

"What about this spear?" I asked him

The spear I held by my hand was still with me, if I pass through the Gate once again, I might lose it just like the bow I had with the Blind ruler.

"You will have the spear with you but you wont be able to use it right now…as well as the Bow she gave you. So be patient and fully complete all of our challenges that awaits you."

So it meant that I'll gain the equipment they gave me after finishing all of these challenges…I guess it makes sense.

I went through the gate and made my way to my next challenge.

***

As the Boy did that, the torch that laid on the ground all this time suddenly floated back up and the body that held it before returned.

"My lord…we should go back."

".…you're right, I'll wait for him until everything is settled." said the Ruler.

The light he produced before started to dimmer down and what was left was the torch the servant held. They started walking through dark flat surface and soon after they both disappeared.