The Invincible Hero

"We greet Princess Bwiri!" They said in unison. Bwiri smiled lightly. It wasn"t that she cared about being called a princess, it was that she like anything that made her relationship with Tower clear.

"No need, no need, please rise," said Bwiri. Extending her hand as if a queen she bid the other immortals rise. Jek Alto was the gutsiest of the immortals present so he carefully asked:

"Princess, would you mind pointing out the young lord so that we may properly greet him when we see him?" he asked.

Bwiri pointed Tower out to the immortals and then pointed to two more youths.

"You see the two youths?" Bwiri asked the immortals.

"Yes, princess," they all said.

"These two are Prince Tower"s two younger brothers. They are not blood brothers but life and death brothers. Do you understand how they should be treated?" she asked.

"Yes, Princess," they all confirmed.

Life and Death brothers were as close if not closer than family. They would make sure to be as respectful to the Gun brothers as they were to Tower.

"The Prince is named Tower, and his two brothers are Malkus and Paneneko. They are on a training journey. They need more combat experience. Especially his two brothers, they are of the Dikokan. They advance quickly with fierce enemies. I hope your students can give them a good match.

There is one more person I wish to point out." Bwiri pointed to Master Shannon.

"That old mortal is escorting the Prince and his brothers to their sect. He is a good man and will soon join us as an immortal. I"m sure some of you are familiar with him." Bwiri said. The immortals gazed at the old mortal and recognized him.

"Isn"t that Master Shannon, the scout," asked Jek Alto.

"Indeed, my Prince and his brothers are very fond of the old man." Bwiri knew she didn"t need to say more than this. These immortals were all smart, how could they be immortals if they didn"t have a little cunning. They understood that Princess Bwiri pointed this old man out as both a threat and an opportunity.

"These men need life and death struggle to grow stronger. I don"t mind if you send your younger generation out to hara.s.s them as they make their way to their sect. However, you must keep in mind my three rules. First, nothing is to happen to the old man or other innocents. Second, you cannot kill the young lords, and finally, only those under mortal realm may attack them for now. In thanks to your cooperation, I have prepared a few gifts for each of you.

Bwiri sent spatial rings to each of the immortals gathered. When the immortals viewed the contents their eyes grew so wide in shock that they nearly died. There was a fortune inside. There was enough for any one of them to rise up a whole cultivation level. The eyes of the immortals all sparkled.

Jek Alto stepped forward.

"Princess, you can count on us to help train the young lords." As he said this he struck his chest as if to say, "you can count on me." Bwiri was amused and nodded her head.

"Oh, you might caution your young ones from forming any blood feuds with any of the young lords. I would hate for an opportunity to turn into the extinction of all you hold dear. Let the youth develop their grudges and fight with all they have but these young lords all have a strong sense of justice. If anyone were to cross the line...well, I"m sure you"ll know what to do." Bwiri said as she looked at the immortals who wore frightened faces. Jek Alto once more stood forward.

"Princess, don"t worry, we will handle our juniors. I have one question, I hope you don"t mind me asking." Jek Also said.

"Speak," Bwiri responded.

"You said the young lords were being escorted by Master Shannon to their sect. Might we know which sect the young lords are headed to?" he asked.

"The Water Rock set," Bwiri responded.

The immortals were once more shocked. Even given the status of the young men, even the Amazons couldn"t compare to the Supreme Sects. It was clear, to gain entrance into the Water Rock sect meant that these young men had tremendous talent and ability. Now, Jek Alto was really interested in watching their battles.

Suddenly, the immortals began to excuse themselves from the princess and leave. Jek noticed this and smiled to the princess.

"I guess I should run along and prepare my students to give their all in the upcoming battles." Excusing himself Jek also left to find his students.

Jek Alto soon found his great, great, great grandson Prince Karretun heading out of his tent. Jek Alto summoned his grandson back into the tent to talk with him. He soon explained the situation to Karretun leaving out everything he shouldn"t say. Karretun quickly understood that Jek wanted Karretun to give the three men his most intense battle possible without sewing any negative seeds with them. Befriend them if possible. If it wasn"t possible just don"t offend them.

"Where"s that useless disciple of mine, Aerun Muenkeh, I need to have a talk with him as well. Before he gets himself into trouble." Jek Alto said.

"I don"t know Grandfather, Aerun said he was going to meet a friend." the Prince responded.

"I hope he doesn"t get into any more trouble." Jek thought to himself. After thinking this, he disappeared from the spot in search of his only disciple.

***

Paneneko was walking with his brother Malkus. They had just seen the posting and learned the ident.i.ty of their first opponent. They were walking around the grounds trying to catch a glimpse of their opponents.

"Who do you have?" asked Paneneko. "Kryin Volg," Malkus responded.

"You?" Malkus asked his brother.

"Someone named Byrdene Swallow," Paneneko responded.

"There you are," a voice said from the side. Malkus and Paneneko turned to see a man standing there. It was Aerun Moenkeh.

"Aerun!" Paneneko said, pleased to see his new friend. The pair greeted each other.

"This is Malkus, my brother." Paneneko introduced the two men to each other.

"How are things with Suri?" Paneneko asked.

"Great! We worked things out and we"re engaged!" Aerun said.

As the two men were talking back and forth a wraith-like figure appeared. It was Jek Alto. He finally found his disciple but was surprised to find him with the two young lords. He seemed friendly with one of them. Had he made friends with one of these young lords? Jek"s eyes glowed with excitement.

"So anyway, I was looking for you to talk about something." Aerun changed topics to what he really wanted to talk about. Aerun was a straightforward guy and liked to get things out of the way once they appeared.

"I wanted to know if I could travel with you," asked Aerun.

"Travel with us?" Paneneko seemed confused. "Why would you want to travel with us?" Paneneko asked Aerun.

"The truth is, I"m super bored here. All of these young lords and fighters, they all suck. If it isn"t their fighting ability then it"s their personalities. My closest friend is my Master"s great-grandson, but that guy thinks he"s got some kind of special destiny. He"s nearly realized all of his potentials. I can tell by the look on his face he"s about to turn into one of those guys who sits in the dark plotting against people. Don"t get me wrong, he"s a smart guy so he"ll be pretty good at it, but that"s just too boring for me.

"One of those plotting guys? Jek knew that Aerun was right about his great-grandson"s strength. At best he might be able to break into the immortal level at its initial level. To do so would require a lot of exotic medicines and herbs. It would be expensive, but once it was done, his great-grandson would never be able to advance again. He would be a hollow immortal. He would be an immortal, but a really weak one.

Sure he seemed nearly indestructible as he was now, but once he became a hollow immortal he would quickly be surpa.s.sed by the other young geniuses. But what does this guy mean he"s become one of those guys who sits in the dark plotting against people?! He doesn"t have that kind of character, does he?

"Aerun, as much as I would love for you to come with us; we aren"t going somewhere to play. We"re entering a sect. We are cultivators and that"s our lives." Paneneko said to his friend. Aerun thought about it and asked:

"What sect are you joining, maybe I could join too," said Aerun.

"Water Rock Sect," Malkus added this time.

Aerun looked surprised by this but also happy, "Really, that"s great! I"ll go with you and we can all join together. My master"s been nagging me to try out for the Water Rock sect. I guess we have a fated friendship!" Aerun said with a laugh.

"Nagging? I"ve been nagging him?" Jek Alto was getting really annoyed at this good nothing little disciple of his. "Wait till I get my hands on you later!" Jek said to himself angrily.

"You understand that the Water Rock Sect is a Supreme Sect, correct?" Malkus asked.

"Sure, sure, no problem. My Master thinks I could make it in if I try out for it. It was his dream to become a disciple of the sect when he was young, but he was never able to qualify as a disciple. Therefore, it"s my job as his disciple to make his dream come true if I can! So, come one, can I come with you guys?" Aerun asked again.

"We"d have to ask Tower about it," Paneneko added.

"Tower, is he your boss?" Aerun asked.

"More like a big brother," corrected Malkus.

"Okay, then, let"s go talk to your big brother then!"