Caesar pa.s.sed by the many pedestrians with quick footsteps and soon reached the wide training grounds, the concrete was relatively smooth and looked as though it was regularly cleaned.
In the middle of the training grounds, a few thousand or so fox-kin men were huddled together, presumably for the upcoming training session… All of them had excited smiles on their faces as they greeted each other.
Caesar raised his right hand and froze the water molecules in the air to form what looked to be a throne of some sort. Unfortunately, his control over his ice element was unrefined, as he was not capable of creating fine details.
Caesar didn"t mind his goofy looking chair/throne and sat down in it anyway, he rested his right elbow on the armrest and couldn"t help but shake his head in disappointment while looking at the excited fox-kin.
"They have no traces of determination, fear, anxiety, or any other emotions they should feeling before a training session, perhaps, Musashi goes easy on them?" Caesar thought inwardly.
If the fox-kin men could hear Caesar"s thoughts, they would all roar out in protest, however, in comparison to Caesar"s training, their training could only be considered childs play.
While Caesar was coldly observing the fox-kin conversing, the time slowly ticked by and the sun soon went down, although this would normally represent quietness, in the dark continent, it was the opposite.
The bright moon replaced the sun and illuminated the training grounds with its gorgeous glow, once the moonlight gleamed, the fox-kin"s expression grew slightly serious as they lined up and faced westward with practiced ease.
Caesar turned his head and followed the fox-kin men"s line of sight, at the very edge of the training grounds, thirteen figures were slowly walking towards them… their appearance varied greatly between each other, however, one thing was in common… They all held incredibly serious expressions.
These were naturally the thirteen clan heads, each one representing a faction, their chins were held up high as they walked in front of the few thousand fox-kin elites.
Their arrogance was not disliked by the fox-kin elites in the least, in fact, the men were looking at the clan heads with respect and adoration even though the clan heads didn"t even put them in their eyes.
"Tsk"
Caesar clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned his head in the direction where he could sense that old man, as well as Ahri, heading straight for them.
Their blurred figures soon entered into everyone"s sight as they marched with a slow pace, the men didn"t have much of an exaggerated reaction, this type of training session occurred every week so almost all of the soldiers were relatively used to this….
No one paid much heed to Caesar who was currently seated in his sorry excuse for a chair, they were all focused on both Musashi and Ahri.
As they approached, their figures soon became more visible and a strange person, or perhaps thing, was hurled over Musashi"s shoulder, while Ahri was pinching her nose.
The fox-kin elites and even the clan heads included couldn"t" help but tilt their head in confusion… "what is that over the clan leaders shoulder?" they all quietly thought to themselves.
Once Musashi arrived at the forefront of the soldiers, the thing, no, the person on his shoulders became clear… it was an unkempt, unshaven, and filthy looking human male… Streams of tears and snot ran down his face making his appearance look even more unsightly.
As if Musashi was throwing a bag of garbage, he grabbed Ronny by his feet and tossed him next to the clan heads. Ronny arced in mid-air and landed just a few feet away from Leo, who then went to help him stand up.
"are you ok" Leo"s words stopped in mid-sentence once he got a whiff of the stench that surrounded Ronny"s body… he stepped back in line with the other clan heads and subtly put two small pieces of cloth in his nose as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"W-what? It"s not my fault your jail cells are so unsanitary!" Ronny roared and slowly got up to his feet, once standing, he anxiously scanned the training grounds as if looking for someone.
He couldn"t see Caesar who was hidden behind the large number of troops so he breathed a sigh of relief and got in line with the other fox-kin elites, his thick skin didn"t budge even when everyone looked at him with disgust and steered at least 4 feet away from him, effectively isolating his position.
Musashi placed his hands on the shoulder he was holding Ronny and burned the entire top half of his kimono, fully revealing his well-defined muscles, although he aged, his body still looked healthy.
"Ahem, there has been a large number of recent events that I"m sure has overwhelmed all of you, whether it was the kobolds alliance or the announcement of the upcoming tournament" Musashi cleared his throat and started to give his speech. Not at all paying attention to Ronny who he just happened to chuck amongst their ranks.
Musashi"s words paused for a second as he examined everyone"s expression, "the reason for this is because we are in need of change… we have stayed the same for far too long, our traditions have become old and inefficient. To defeat our great enemies, we need to grow and evolve!" Musashi roared and effectively riled up all of the men present.
"I have been your leader for a long period of time, and I am to blame for the hardships your generation has been put through, my body has aged and my power dwindles by the minute… Because of this, I have decided to give you youngsters a chance at greatness!"
Musashi"s words made the clan heads and the troops alike widen their eyes in surprise.
"In this upcoming tournament, I have staked my position as clan leader and my own granddaughter"s marriage for those that win, even if you are a clan head, or maybe even a farmer, you will equally gain the same awards and rights" Musashi"s words finished and the fox-kin men had a fire in their eyes.
Although they were briefed by their respective clan heads prior to this, getting informed by the clan leader himself was an entirely different feeling… Most of the men present shifted their attention to Ahri with greed reflected in their eyes, causing Ahri to shiver in disgust.
Even Caesar, who was still unnoticed, squinted his eyes dangerously. Caesar wasn"t a petty man, and would by no means dislike a man praising Ahri"s beauty, on the contrary, he would appreciate it, however, the minute you looked at her as an object to be obtained. His anger would naturally become hard to control.
Fortunately for them, Caesar"s self-control was extraordinary, thus, he just slowly stood up and approached Musashi with steady footsteps. The chair he was briefly sitting in, melted into water and soon evaporated.
*step*
*step*
The sound of his foot-steps echoed throughout the training grounds and everyone looked over curiously just to see Caesar clad in his military outfit with an extremely devious grin plastered on his face.
"Musashi, may I ask for permission in leading the training session for this week, I believe my training methods could pose be more useful, not to mention, mixing up your routine is always healthy" Caesar commented whilst half-bowing with perfection.
"Haha, you didn"t even need to ask, I had already planned in giving you the reigns for this training session… go wild!" Musashi roared with laughter and pulled his pipe from G.o.d knows where.
"Thank you very much" Caesar spoke courteously and walked to the front of the troops, although some clan heads didn"t want to be ordered by Caesar. Orders from Musashi were absolute at the moment, at least until the old man lost some more influence.
Caesar soon made it to the very front and looked down at all of the fox-kin with his superior height, his long hair and military cloak fluttered in the wind as his lips curled.
Caesar was by no means an impulsive man, he would not let his rage show on his face nor would he act impulsively. No, he would subtly give the soldiers a glimpse of h.e.l.l all the while disciplining them at the same time.
His entire aura underwent a huge change, it became more ferocious and domineering over the previous "scholarly" aura… his killing intent spread throughout the training grounds and caused every person that was present to lightly shiver.
The only person in the crowd that recognized this aura was Ronny, and his eyes were currently opened wide with dread…
"Well, shall we get started?" Caesar asked loudly, a dangerous glint in his eyes.