“So explain to me again how this is all part of your plan?” Kiefer asked in a hushed voice, his chin kept down as he trudged through the hallways in shackles.

“Well you didn’t think they would just grant you an audience with the king just because you asked it did you?” Rashael whispered back, walking next to Kiefer in cuffs and shackles as well. There were 8 guards escorting them, all fully armed and seemingly pissed.

“I had a letter from their emissary requesting for a meet up, you stupid bird.” Kiefer rebutted, annoyed that once again, his plans were all thrown to the wind.

“Oh.. OH… hahaha, well sorry I did not know that. Oh well, whatever comes will come right?” Rashael chuckled.

“Shut up and WALK!” One of the guards ordered, prodding the laughing Rashael from the back with his polearm. He was clearly irritated at how jovial the captives were.

Within minutes, they were brought into a lounge with an extravagantly large door that was decorated along the rims with gems and jewels. Kiefer assumed that the door led to the throne room where the King would be waiting. However, first, he had to get past the menacing looking man standing before him as he was ‘forced’ to his knees.

“Sir! We have captured 2 suspicious males attempting to enter the compounds without authorisation. One of them said he was going to threaten the King!” The guard reported.

“And you thought bringing these 2 people in here, whose intentions were to enter the palace, was a good decision?!” the captain bellowed. “I want them thrown into the dungeons right away. And you! Soldier, you will be on cleaning duty for the next month for your stupidity.”

“Umm.. can you just hear me out?” Kiefer interjected, as he was brought to his feet once again, about to be led to the dungeons.

“Shut up and move. I have no need to hear the requests of prisoners.” The captain replied sternly, glaring at Kiefer.

“Fine, then don’t blame me if you go to war with Mutatis.” Kiefer scoffed, as he turned around to follow the guards.

“Wait! Hold it. What do you mean by war?” The captain stopped the guards, worried by what Kiefer had just mentioned.

“Oh? I thought you didn’t want to hear me out? It’s alright, I’ll just wait in the dungeon until my city comes and decimates this dingy little place that you call a city.” Kiefer replied, smiling evily like he always did when ‘negotiating’.

“Watch your mouth! Know your place you imbecile, you are my prisoner now and you will follow my orders. Now speak before I cut you down.” The captain ordered, not the least bit pleased at Kiefer's attitude.

“Oh? I’m your prisoner you say? Well how about now?” Kiefer asked, crushing his cuffs and shackles with his mana ropes like they were made of paper.

Surprisingly, the captain merely scoffed at Kiefer’s measly display to strength. “Hmpf. Just because you can enhance yourself a little you think you are powerful?” He said, pointing his polearm at Kiefer while getting into a half-crouched stance, ready to dash forwards.

“That’s not really the point here is it? I’ve already said that I’m an ambassador from Mutatis representing the government on the newly founded city. You guys just assumed I was a threat without really giving me a chance to talk.” Kiefer explained, sighing at the hot headed men that were rampant in the combat force.

“What? This is the first time I’ve heard that.” The captain cautiously lowered his weapon, still guarded against Kiefer. “Oi Stupid! What’s he on about?” He yelled at the guard he previously sentenced to cleaning duty.

“Bu-but he said he’s here to threaten the king. I just assumed he was an assassin of sorts.” The guard stammered, trying to explain his actions.

“No I did not say anything of that sort. It was this idiot companion of mine that was merely joking around when you took him seriously.” Kiefer replied, pointing at the now visibly shaking Rashael. He was having a tough time just trying to stifle his laughter. He was bending over and clutching his stomach while chuckling. “Here is the letter from your emissary that was delivered to my city’s leader a couple days ago. I’m here to discuss the terms and conditions.” Kiefer continued while pulling out the letter he had taken from Alwin.

The captain quickly apologised, extending the poor soldier’s punishment by yet another month. Soon, Kiefer and Rashael were standing face to face with the King of Alluviate – King Arthur Reyzwald the Third. He was quite young to be a king, only looking to be in his early 40s, already with a son and a daughter next to him and his wife. The prince looked to be just a tad below 20 while the daughter was no more than 10. His wife was a beauty by the standards of this world, but nowhere close to Isana’s charm.

Kiefer did a quick scan, and then faced the King directly, with Rashael standing by his side. Kiefer made a curt bow and greeted the royal family, while Rashael simply stood there admiring the grand hall. The ceilings were at least 3 floors high with green and black drapes hanging from the cylindrical marble pillars. The red velvet carpet extended like a central walkway from the throne to the large doors. There was a gold lined trimming along the edges of the drapes and carpets that accentuated the respective colours.

“This is preposterous! Dad! They should be kneeling in front of you! Not standing idly around! Why haven’t you thrown them into the dungeons already!?” The hot-blooded prince complained to the king, pointing at Rashael in particular.

“Calm down son. They are ambassadors from our new neighbour, so watch your behaviour.” He reprimanded his son, before turning to Kiefer and Rashael. “I apologise for my son’s rudeness, but it is as he said. You are in the presence of a King and Queen, so it is only appropriate that you show the proper etiquette by kneeling”

“If that’s the case I’ll just tell you outright since our 2 countries are going to be dealing with each other for a long time to come. You may be the king, but my companion here is a Titan. This is Rashael, the Avian Titan of light. Right now, there are 3 more Titans living in Mutatis. They are Isana, Shearwood, and a newly born Titan , Feir.” Kiefer stated outright, carefully inspecting Reyzwald’s reaction.

Befitting a King, Reyzwald kept a poker face, not the least bit faltering. Kiefer could tell he was surprised from the slight dilation of his pupils and flaring of nostrils. But aside from that, not a single muscle on his face twitched.

“It may be a little farfetched, but whether you believe me or not is up to you. All I’m here for today is to discuss the issue with the Eastern Alluviate plains.” Kiefer kept going, seeing as the King was reluctant to acknowledge the presence of a Titan. Rashael on the other hand had meandered off towards one of the pillars, studying the intricately carved patterns on the marble pillar and inspecting the fabric of the drapes with his hands.

The Queen kept quiet, with a serene look on her face while she slowly combed the golden hair of her daughter. The princess was currently seated on the queen’s lap swinging her legs and enjoying the sensation of her hair being handled. The prince though, had a tightly knit frown which twitched occasionally while keeping his sight glued on Rashael.

“Yes, let’s put the matter of titans to a side for now and discuss a more pressing issue.” Reyzwald reacted, starting the conversation once again. “Right now, it would seem that Mutatis has been able to acquire a rather absurd amount of metals. This has caused the prices to drop so low that its choking the blacksmiths in Alluviate. I would love to address that issue before we move on to the rights to the plains if that is alright with you.”

“Sure that is fine with me. So how would you suggest we go about handling this situation? I’ll tell you straight up that we do not intend to limit the amount of metal being produced in our country.” Kiefer warned beforehand.

“Firstly, I wish to know how and where you managed to acquire so much metals. I’m sure my best earth mages prospected the area throughout Shearwood and yet, they couldn’t find any rich metal veins worth mining.” Reyzwald asked.

“Well, let me put it this way. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but even if I did, you wouldn’t be able to copy my methods. You would be risking your soldier’s lives to acquire the metals through my methods and it wouldn’t be worth it. Therefore, I will not even tell you, in case you decide against my advice to attempt my method.” Kiefer straight out denied to divulge the information, which seemed to piss the prince off even more.

“You! How dare you!?” The prince yelled once again, unable to control his outburst of anger. “When a King requests it, you give it to him. There is no room for refusals! Now answer my Father’s question!”

Kiefer looked at Reyzwald with detest, showing his displeasure at the disruption caused by the prince. “Tell me, ARTHUR, will you remove that idiot from this room or should I? Kiefer threatened, this time addressing the King by his first name to show that he no longer held any respect for the man.

“Kiefer.” Reyzwald replied, now standing from his throne. “You may be an important person in your country, but here, you are just another person standing on MY land. I will not tolerate any rude remarks directed at my family.” Reyzwald now threatened Kiefer in return.

“I see, since you will not remove the fool, I will do it in your stead.” Kiefer retorted emotionlessly, constricting the prince in his silvery mana ropes. With a fling, he tossed the prince out the hall and shut the doors, sealing the doors shut with a wall of his mana. The royal family watched in shock all this time, unable to muster up the courage to even speak.

Within moments, they heard the banging and yelling of the prince from outside the grand hall. This was accompanied by the sound of the guards bashing against the door trying to get in to protect their king. However, the door seemed to have become part of the wall, not budging even a little, sealing Kiefer, Rashael and the rest of the Royal family within.

“Believe me when I say this. You are nothing more than pebbles on the side of a road, a mere stepping stone for the plans I have for this world. If you do not cooperate, I could smudge this city right off the map of Aioa forever. It’s as easy squishing a bug under your thumb. I was kind enough to come meet you in person to discuss plans for cooperation, so do not push your luck.” Kiefer warned, this time his voice booming through the entire hall.

The princess was cowering in her mother’s lap, on the verge of tears while the King and Queen had broken out of their poker faces, showing distinct signs of fear. Rashael had returned to Kiefer’s side, sneering at the measly humans. The king slumped back into his throne, falling deep into thought as he just witnessed the unique voiceless magic that Kiefer had used.

“Ok then.” The King broke the silence after regaining his composure. “What would you like me to do?” he asked with great humility.

“I’ll state my terms and offer right now, and if you find anything unsatisfactory, we will discuss it further at length after. I want to be given the right and ownership of the entire Alluvian plains, starting from the Agrean forest up to my city.

· Mutatis will be responsible for the development and infrastructure of the newly acquired lands, turning it into an intensive agricultural ground.

· There will be a main road connecting Mutatis to alleviate, cutting through the plains and the Agrean forest. In return for 20% of produce being harvested from the plains, Alluviate will provide security details for merchants travelling along the road through the forest.

· The plains would be officially under Mutatis jurisdiction and any criminals persecuted within the plains will be handled as per Mutatis laws. Only citizens of Mutatis may be allowed to own the lands and cultivate them for crops.

· As this will bring the borders of our 2 cities extremely close, there is a need to distinguish between when a person crosses into the territory of the other, so a defensive perimeter wall will be built around the farmlands. There will be fees for anyone not from Mutatis entering to be paid at the gates.

Of course, the toll fees paid at the gate will be kept at a minimum and it will be split equally between the treasury of Alluviate and Mutatis.” (Kiefer)

Reyzwald pondered for a length of time, keeping silent while carefully going over the terms mentally. The princess had stopped crying in the meantime thanks to the queen’s soothing. Outside,the prince and the guards had given up on trying to break through the doors. Finally, The king looked up at Kiefer once more, with a concerned look on his face.

“And what of the issue with the metal economy? I noticed you have failed to address that in your terms. Surely you wouldn’t want to stifle our own metal trade?” The king asked, worried that bringing up the topic again might result in him or his family being manhandled.

“I had intended on including that in the terms originally, but after the rudeness your son had displayed, I decided against it. After all, what I do in my country is of no concern to yours. However, I am willing to impose a tax on merchants exporting metals from Mutatis to reduce the demand for metallic items from Mutatis. That is of course, in exchange for the 20% share from the harvests in the plains.” Kiefer offered, hoping the King would bite at this bait.

“That sounds reasonable enough. Alluviate has no need for more crops and farms since we have enough space in the west to cultivate our own. I agree to the terms and conditions you have mentioned. Would you mind waiting for my subject to draw up a written contract?” Reyzwald answered, standing up and shaking Kiefer’s hand firmly.

“That’s fine. Go on ahead then, I’ll be waiting here for you.” Kiefer agreed, removing the mana wall on the doors, causing the prince and the captain to fall through as the doors swung open abruptly.

“Dad! What is going on here!?” the prince yelled in surprise as he got up to his feet before laying eyes on Kiefer and Rashael. “Captain! Arrest those 2 for violence against the royal family!” He proceeded to yell, pointing at both Kiefer and Rashael.

“Captain Maller. Kindly escort my son back to his room. I’ve got everything handled here.” Reyzwald calmy issued the order, watching as his son’s face contort in surprise. The captain did not know what to do, but simply pulled on the boy’s hands out of the room.

The contract was drawn up quickly. Soon, Kiefer and Rashael were already stepping out the gates of the palace. They were back on the same street they were cuffed and shackled earlier that day. Kiefer instructed Rashael to head back to Mutatis first, while he sauntered towards the direction of the Balazaar workshop.

Kiefer stepped into the dirty workshop and observed his surroundings. Loud hammering was sounding through the entire place that was littered with tools without any sort of organisational order. “Hello Celena.” Kiefer greeted softly, readying his ears for the loud yelling that was about to ensue. The girl simply stared at him for a while, wiping the sweat off her brow with her sooty glove and leaving a long black strike across her forehead.

“OH! Mr Adamantium!” She exclaimed as her memory came back. “How have you been?”

“It’s Kiefer by the way. I thought you already knew my name.” Kiefer replied with a sulk, hoping that she would remember him by something other than the adamantium he had peeled off Sher’s tail.

“Oh yea! That’s right. Sorry Kiefer, but I meet so many customers who want me to remember their names that soon, my memory just muddles up everybody’s names. What are you here for today? I haven’t seen you in more than a year!” She explained, putting down the pliers and removing her thick gloves.

“I’ve been doing well. I came here to invite your family to Mutatis to set up a workshop there. Of course everything will be provided for. Its thanks for back then, you guys did me a huge favour buying that Adamantium from me.” Kiefer drove straight to the point.

“Hmm… Mutatis eh… there might be a problem though, My dad is kind of pissed at that place for ruining our business. See, for some reason the blacksmiths there are selling their wares so much cheaper than here in Alluviate, so our business has been affected severely. If not for your adamantium that we managed to make a decent profit, we would have been shut down long ago.” (Celena)

“I see. That is why I want you to move to Mutatis with me. It would be good to have a proficient blacksmith there to help with building the city. Why don’t you think about it? I’ll be visiting from time to time so maybe next time you will have made up your mind? Besides, I don’t think the issue with the metal prices will be a problem for much longer. I’ve already planned to impose a tax on merchants exporting metal products from Mutatis so your business should be returning soon. Even then, I hope for you and your family to move to Mutatis.” Kiefer explained.

“Wait. What do you mean YOU’VE imposed a tax? Are you like the leader of the city?” Celena asked, bewildered by what she had just heard.

“Sort of. You could say I am an important person in Mutatis and I can make things change within the city. So I really hope you will come work in my city.” Kiefer reiterated, before turning to leave. “Well, I sincerely hope you have a good talk with your father about this and will be able to give me an answer the next time I come round.”

Kiefer then returned to Mutatis overnight, making stops in the sky while looking over the landscape once more. Looking down, he made plans to arrange several crop fields and farms in his newly acquired land inside his head. Kiefer enjoyed the moonlight and the drifting snow every once in a while before finally reaching home in the middle of the night.

The next morning, Kiefer was dragged by Sher to the holding cell where the young noble man was kept locked up. This man was the ringleader of the slave smuggling operations and he seemed to be furious for the treatment he had been given. The cell had no bed or chair, and he was not given dinner either, according to Sher.

“Let me out! Do you know who I am?!? I can have all you hanged! Hanged for mistreating a member of the royal family!” The young noble yelled, gripping the bars with both his hands. He seemed to have had a rough night, not used to sleeping on the cold floor or going without a single meal.

“So how does it feel? Tell me? How does it feel to be treated like one of your slaves?” Kiefer asked, a look of disdain showing on his face.

“Why does it even matter what they feel!? They forfeited their lives when they were caught. Their lives are mine to play with. I am the first nephew of the great King Reyzwald! One word from me and my uncle will have your heads rolling on the floor! Release me at once!” He barked, giving out orders like he was still in charge.

Sticking his arm through the bars and grabbing the shirt of the young nephew, Kiefer yanked and pulled him against the bars of the cell. “Guess what. I don’t care if you are the nephew or the first prince. I will still treat you the way you deserved to be treated. Kidnapping and turning young children into slaves? Well that goes against the ethics of Mutatis. Since the land you were operating on is technically Mutatis soil, I get to prosecute you according to my laws.” Kiefer grinned, releasing the man from his grip.

“That’s bull! The slave house was clearly within the lands of Alluviate! Alluviate’s territory extends all the way to the eastern plains. There is no way you can fight this case since I was technically operating under the laws of Alluviate and there was no law that specifically condones punishment for involvement in slavery.” The noble rebutted, still not willing to admit his acts of atrocity.

“Unfortunately,” Kiefer paused, taking out the signed contract agreement between Alluviate and Mutatis. “This contract was signed yesterday, indicating that the eastern Alluvian plains is now officially the territory of Mutatis, and since you were committing crimes in mutatis, the contract also specifically states that you will be punished according to our laws.”

“Wha – what… no… that can’t be! Take me to see my uncle at once! I don’t believe you!” He stammered.

“Alright then, as you wish. I did not think I will be returning to Alluviate so soon, but I might as well get things over and done with.” Kiefer sighed, grabbing the noble using his mana ropes and throwing him in a red orihalcom cage that he carried through the skies.

Making the return trip to Alluviate through the skies, the nephew seemed completely petrified, never having been at such a high altitude, nor had he travelled at such speed. Kiefer arrived at Alluviate by midday, bypassing the security at the gate completely and entering the palace interiors. Behind him was a red cage with a man imprisoned that was floating like a helium balloon. Chasing after him were a squad of guards that had spotted the intruder who had held one of their royal family members captive.

Slamming the doors to the throne room open, Kiefer interrupted the King who was in a discussion with another guest. This time, it was just the King, with the family somewhere else in the palace. Reyzwald looked at Kiefer, his face construed in confusion. Seeing his nephew trapped in a red prison only made his eye widen in shock.

“Hello again Reyzwald. Guess what? I caught this rat sneaking around in Mutatis territory.” Kiefer announced gleefully, plopping the prison down in front of the King and the surprised but annoyed guest.

Ok, so I've been told that i have quite a few sentences that are on the verge of becoming run-on. hence i've tried to keep the sentences in this chapter short, limiting them to convey 1 or at most 2 points each. tell me how the flow goes and if its smoother to read.