Chapter 56 - Steward

"Master Jun, I still don't get it. Why would Steward take the scrolls just so we could go to him instead of just coming after me and kidnapping me?" Julius asked his master.

"I see, we're going to have to boost your intelligence as well. However, since you don't know as of now, I'll explain it to you. If Steward was to try to come to us, he would only be able to bring his best warriors to travel such a long distance. Without having a secret art such as my jade dragon, travel with large groups would be nearly impossible. As such, I alone could cost him a couple dozen of his best men. I might even be able to get him as well if he manages to slip up for a split second," said Jun as he attempted to brag to his student that he might be able to take on a ruler of a great kingdom and still come out on top.

"On the other hand, if we were to go to his kingdom where he's pulling all the strings and he has all the members of his military, it would be impossible to get out of there alive," Jun continued.

"So if it's that hard, how are we ever going to defeat him?" Julius asked.

"Defeat him?! That was never the plan from the start," said Jun.

"Wait what?! Then why am I going through all this training?" Julius asked as he grew worried and angry.

"Look Julius, you're very talented and you do work very hard but to defeat a ruler of a great kingdom, you would need to train everyday like you did today for a whole year," Jun explained to his student.

…

"So what if it's a whole year? I can do it. I'll keep training every day for a whole year then we can go and attack them and even win!" Julius proposed which made his master sigh.

"The only problem with that is that Steward won't give you that time. He's not willing to wait a year for you to come to him so he would instead kidnap you once he grows tired of waiting and becomes desperate," Jun explained.

"I still don't see the problem with that. If I end up getting kidnapped, the other kings and queen will attack Steward together. Unless there's something stopping them from doing so," Julius replied.

"Well not technically but once you're freed from Steward, the others will also make a move to capture you and the cycle repeats. That's why we have to deal with Steward on our own," said Jun.

"So what's your plan?!" Julius asked in a complaining tone as Jun kept debunking but didn't offer any plan of his own.

"Well, I'm glad you asked because I do have a genius plan which will work marvellously. First, we train you until you're ready to cause some damage to Steward's kingdom but still get captured. Once this has been done, I will inform your father that not only has Steward taken the scrolls but has also kidnapped you. Knowing him and his strategic nature, he'll come after Steward alone and manage to rescue you along with my scrolls and no one will learn about this event since your father will keep quiet so that you don't get kidnapped by the others," Jun explained.

…

"That just sounds like my plan with extra steps!" Julius yelled at his master.

"No it doesn't, anyway, you should go to sleep and start cultivating for the night already," Jun tried to change the subject.

"Whatever! By the way, what would happen if were to hypothetically defeat Steward?" Julius asked his master.

"Well it's not going to happen no matter how hard you try but if you were by some miracle to accomplish it, under kingdom law, you would be able to take control of his kingdom. However, there is a reason why the 9 rulers only get replaced when they die. That reason being that out of everyone in the world, not a single person can defeat them," Jun explained.

"Wait, so why doesn't one ruler challenge another and take hold of 2 kingdoms?" Julius asked confused as to why nobody else hadn't thought of that.

"Well, that would cause the balance of the kingdoms to go unstable so if one ruler tries to occupy more than 1 kingdom at a time, the other 8 would come after them," Jun replied as of that was an obvious answer.

"I'm just asking hypothetically but if I were to some how defeat all of the 9 rulers, I would get to rule all the kingdoms as the sole king right?" Julius asked.

"I guess so. We're only speaking hypothetically though. Even so, if you were to take on the task of being a king, you would have to deal with making sure that all your citizens were taken care of unless you want a rebellion to occur. I don't even understand why you're so keen on becoming a king, it's more work than fun. You barely have any time to spend time with your family," Jun explained.

"What do you mean? My father spent plenty of time with me when I was a kid! You clearly don't know what you're talking about," Julius argued.

"So he doesn't know? How many things are his parents keeping a secret from him?" Jun asked himself as he began to grow infuriated as he learned that Julius didn't know a lot about the world even at the age he was at.

"Look Julius… most kings and queen who have family usually don't get the privilege of spending time with their family, so instead… they either learn a cloning secret art or, once they have a child, they end up placing a figure head which will act as the child's father or mother figure while the real ruler is elsewhere taking care of the kingdom from the back," Jun explained asked Julius acted as if he didn't even hear a single world his master said.

Julius was in complete denial, after all, what kind of parent would leave their child with another who their child would call "father" or "mother".