This chapter takes place 55 years after the events of the Prologue.

Nine year old Tero Tazakani arose from his bed on a sunny Saturday morning. His short, wavy brown hair was all over the place from his night of rest. His light brown eyes struggled to stay open as he sat up. He took both of his hands, placed them on his sharp face and rubbed them across his eyes in order to receive some sort of energy boost. He looked to his left to where the sunlight was emanating from, which was his window. On his window seal was a tiny blue bird. It chirped extremely loud several times, seemingly as an alarm clock.

Tero smiled at the sight of the tiny creature. "I hear you, buddy." Tero spoke softly. "I'm up."

Tero stepped down to his bedside and planted both his feet on the ground. He extended both of his arms up to stretch with all his might. He inhaled a great deal of air, and then let out a huge, audible exhale. After he finished stretching, he straightened his composure and then took on a wide smile.

"Today is gonna be a good day." He told himself as he walked out of his room into the greatly decorated halls.

Tero's room was the final one down his hallway. Beneath him was a fine, long red carpet. The flooring under was composed of miniature tiles; each square either black or white. The walls were a dark golden color, with neat and sharp sculpted decorations that made up the walls and every surrounding aspect. If you were to see this hallway, you'd instantly think that whoever resided here was loyalty.

And you'd be right.

Tero Tanakani was the grandson of the current king; Jonah Tazakani. He was the son of Jonakai Tazakani, the second eldest son of Jonah. 59 years have passed since Jonah's victorious battle against the former King Ren in the throne room, and Jonah still sits at the top of the world as the King of All.

However, the place that Tero resided in was not a royal palace. It's actually a palace that was designated to Tero's father, Jonakai, because of his commitment as a Warlord.

The Warlords are ten of the most revered figures in the nation. They are ten extremely strong allies of the government, whose powers exceed normal human capabilities. Their job is to protect the Kingdom of Mace from those who oppose the government. These delinquents are known throughout the Realm as the "evils." Warlords are ranked chronologically based on strength or importance to the government. Before his retirement, Jonakai was #8.

Warlords get many benefits from serving the government. Aside from people being in awe by just the mutter of their name, they are paid quite a nice salary, about six times the average citizens. On top of this, each Warlord can receive a city of their choice to be built wherever they desire, or they can receive a royal palace. They are also given 1,000 royal soldiers to stay at their residence. If a Warlord dies, a Warlord who does not have a city may claim the deceased Warlord's city.

If any normal Warlord were to retire, their city would be seized by the government and handed to a new Warlord if requested. However, Jonakai's father was the king; so instead of the land being seized from Jonah, he was given a pass and was told that he can keep the land. The King can make any exception he pleases, which includes granting land and cities to individuals with rightful claim.

Usually, Warlords come from backgrounds where they built a dauntless army of thousands of soldiers. Once a Warlord receives his title and land, these soldiers can occupy the city or palace and live a nice, troublesome life at the expense of their master fulfilling their roles. Even if you're #10, and seen as much weaker than #9, #8, and #7, you still have to perform a lot of their similar tasks.

The number system dictates your importance and loyalty, but pretty much each Warlord is feared or admired equally. However, once you reach #1, you're not just known as "#1." You're known throughout the realm as the "Lord of Light," or, "Protector of Mace." At this rank, you're in a totally different league than the other Warlords. You become the right hand man to the King, and you're asked to obliterate many evil forces that even some Warlords cannot. Only the strongest man in the world can take this spot (besides the King.)

The current Lord of Light is Sasoyama Katri. Ironically, he has the power of "Blissful Lights." He's able to amplify light and reflections for hundreds of miles on end.He can convert energy and particles in the air into light. He can also encrust his body with light, which can amplify his punches, kicks, and any directional attack that he performs. On top of this, he can send out lightwaves as projectiles. There are also dozens of combinations that he can perform in order to create never before seen attacks.

But there isn't just good in this world.

On the opposing side, there are the Evil Warlords. These titles are also imposed by the world government. However, unlike regular Warlords, Evil Warlords are ranked chronologically based on their threat to the government, not their importance or loyalty.

And with a Lord of Light comes a Lord of Darkness.

The current #1 Evil Warlord, also known as the Dark Overlord, is known as Morzi. His last name is unknown to many, and even if it became known, it wouldn't matter to most of the world anyway. They wouldn't be able to make it to the first syllable, because most people choke in fear on the first syllable of his first name.

His power is known as the "Shrouded Darkness." It is unknown what kind of strength this power holds. It is said by many that it mirrors Sasoyama's power, in which instead of light, there is darkness.

This day that Tero woke up in was the day that one of the most important events regarding the Warlords would occur.

Tero took long graceful long strides down the hallway. There were dozens of people that were roaming where Tero was advancing. There were many royal maids, like a woman named Julia, who Tero seemed to admire greatly. Tero spotted a glimpse of her in the laundry room that was on his left. He entered the room to speak to her.

Tero looked up at the young lady. "Hey, Julia!" he exclaimed, happily.

Julia looked down at Tero and smiled back. "Hello, young master. How are you feeling today?"

"Great!" Tero replied. "I'm really excited to see the Warlords on the big screen today! They're so cool! The heroes of the Kingdom...the ones who fight against the bad guys in this world...I can't wait!"

Julia smile remained as she squatted down to eye level with Tero.

"I'm excited too!" She said. "It's very rare to see all of the Warlords in one place. They are usually out in their own cities doing whatever pleases them. But since that battle is revving up, they really have no choice but to come together."

Tero nodded his head with a smile. "I can't wait!" he exclaimed. Tero then took a few steps toward the door and then looked back at Julia.

"See ya later, Julia! I'm gonna go find my Dad." He exclaimed as he waved.

"Later then, Tero!" Julia replied.

Tero swiftly advanced down the hall with all the royalty. As he took only a few steps past Julia, he saw two of his best friends walk out of a door on his left. Their names were Mason and Lisa.

"Hey Mason! Hey Lisa!" Tero shouted enthusiastically while starting to wave at him.

"Hey Tero!" They both said at the same time, returning the same gestures that he did.

Tero was going to stop and speak to them, but Julia had already taken up all the time he had for that. "Gotta go! Can't be late!" He said as he speedwalked swiftly past them.

They laughed in unision. "Of course not! Have fun!"

After this was said by them, Tero took a few more steps then looked back at them and put on the widest smile that he had that day. "We'll do something fun later!"

They were now all smiling.

"You got it!" they responded.

Tero reached a tall door that led into a huge dining hall. Upon opening it, he laid his eyes upon thousands of people that sat at hundreds of different tables. The men in the room took on black and white suits with dress pants while the women in the room wore dresses. The flooring was the same as in the hall, and there was red carpet under each and every table. There was a ten-foot tall stage towards the front of the room with a microphone that stood in the middle. Towards the back end of this stage, there was a large television that would later broadcast the Warlord meeting.

Tero kept advancing through the dining hall. He observed all the people that sat at the tables. Wow, he thought to himself. Most of the men in here are soldiers who fought alongside my Dad.

And he was right. The men (and some women) who resided in Jonakai's palace were indeed soldiers that were enlisted in Jonakai's army a few decades prior to Tero's birth. They grew quite old, and even had teenage/adult children of their own who now lived a luxurious life in Mace.

When Jonakai retired from being a Warlord, his army was composed of over 18,000 members. At his peak he had 45,000. Out of the 18,000 members that Jonakai had, only 5,000 of them chose to stay in luxury with Jonakai. Many of the 18,000 still wanted to be soldiers and figure out their own journey in life, including many higher-ups, so Jonakai allowed many of them to create their own court and take the lead of thousands of Jonakai's battle-ready soldiers.

Jonakai's main reason for retirement, which he told his son regularly, was nothing short of family priorities.

Tero passed by dozens of tables every few seconds, waving at the soldiers, their children, and their wives. They all greeted him with the same phrase, "Good morning, Young Master!"

Tero smiled back at each and every one of the soldiers who greeted him. As he progressed throughout the room, he took longer strides, and with each stride, the smile on his face widened significantly.

Finally, he was in front of the stage. He tilted his head up and laid his eyes upon the big black screen that encompassed the entire back part of the stage. He stared at the screen with an extremely wide smile. He envisioned the ten Warlords standing on the World Stage that sat in the central square. He was mostly excited to see the Lord of Light standing there in all his glory, ready to declare war against the Evils.

Tero came back to his senses when he was tapped on the shoulder by a man he knew too well. His name was Kian. He was one of the generals in Jonakai's army, and his strength outclassed most of his peers. He has an extremely slim and tall physique, with long brown hair that went all the way down to his waist. He was wearing a mainly white suit with black touches on the neck and sleeves. His signature piece of clothing was his white cowboy hat, which he wore all day, everyday.

Kian began to speak to Tero. "You're doing a lot of nothing for someone who needs to be by his father's side in five minutes. You don't wanna be late, do you Tero?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"Hey Kian!" Tero exclaimed. "And...no. Sorry. I'll get on my way now!" Tero squatted down with extreme force. He rotated his arms to where his elbows faced behind him, and in one quick moment, he jumped twelve feet into the air.

While in the air, he turned his head around towards Kian and smiled with all his might. He stuck his hand up and waved bye to the skinny man as he planted both of his feet firmly onto the stage.

Tero turned his body completely around and went straight past the microphone in the middle. He turned to his left to find a door that was a few feet to the side of the big screen. Tero grapsed the knob and opened the door. Upon walking in, he observed the white tiles that encompassed the floor, a large oven, a sink, a microwave, a door that led to a bathroom, a huge television that took up the right side of the room, parallel to the appliances, and at last, a small brown table with two seats that faced each other on opposite sides.

And in one of the seats sat Tero's father, Jonakai Tazakani.

Tero's face lit up at the sight of his father.

"DAD!" He yelled in excitement as he jumped all the way from the entrance of the room to the chair that his father sat in. Jonakai had a smile just like Tero's on his face as he embraced a flying Tero into his arms for a hug.

"Are you ready to see all the Warlords?" Jonakai asked his son, who hugged him tightly.

Tero looked up at his father. "Of course!" He exclaimed. Tero released himself from his father's grasp and made his way over to his own seat at the table. He slid the chair from under the table to where there was enough room for him to climb into it and then jumped into it, promptly sitting in front of his father.

Tero's smiled never left his face as he turned from his father's gaze over towards the big screen that made up a third of the room. Unlike the screen in the dining hall, Jonakai's screen had video on it already, which displayed the World Stage. At the moment, no one was standing on it, but it was only a matter of time.

"When will they be on, Dad?" Tero asked.

"I'd give it about three minutes." Jonakai replied. "First, you'll see your grandfather, who will present all ten of the Warlords to the world. He'll mainly put the focus on Sasoyama, and then he'll make an announcement which will...well, you'll see."

Tero was fascinated by what his father was saying. He shifted his focus from the screen over to his father.

"Will Grandpa have to fight?" Tero asked. "I don't want him to get hurt!"

A sharp grin spread across Jonakai's face, which quickly turned into great laughter.

"BWAHAHAHAHA! Do you truly think he'd get hurt even if he fought?" Jonakai asked while laughing.

Jonakai settled down and resumed talking to Tero with a huge grin on his face.

"To answer your question, no. He won't have to fight. It's dishonorable for the King to fight Evil Warlords or any other kind of evil that sits below him in ranking."

Tero was puzzled. "Why is it dishonorable?"

"Well," Jonakai started, "The King is known as the strongest man in the world. Nobody's power exceeds the King. Not even Sasoyama's or Morzi's."

Tero's puzzled look became even more puzzled. That's how strong my Grandpa is? I never thought of it that way!

"You see Tero, the King isn't expected to fight others. That's why we have a Warlord system. The King sends Warlords to extinguish any kind of evil that is present in the world, all while The King is expected to fulfill civil duties, like establishing alliances with countries and cities, enlisting militants for his army, hold ceremonies, and perform executions depending on the threat level of the indicted."

Tero nodded his head. "But why doesn't he just fight all the evil people in the world so that we can all live happy?"

Jonakai took on a more serious tone. "That's what I've wondered all my life. To me, I think it's stupid. If the option is there to resolve such evil, then why not take that chance? At that point, who gives a damn about honor?"

Jonakai was now looking down at the ground.

"It's quite possible that this system of honor will put the nation in turmoil one day. There could be someone out there right now who is stronger than the King. God forbid that one day Jonah is killed by someone who he could have killed, say, five years ago, before they were at peak strength."

Tero's expression went from confused to resolute.

"I'm sure that even if that man comes to kill Grandpa at peak strength, he will be able to fend him off!" Tero exclaimed. "Grandpa is the strongest man in the world. No one can claim that title! Not until the day he dies."

Jonakai looked up again at his son with a newfound grin. I'm glad you think that way, Jonakai thought. But he's old and in a decline. It's quite possible that my fears will result in reality.

In the midst of Jonah's grin, there was now cheering that came from the screen. Both Tero and Jonakai shifted their gaze on the big screen.

On the screen, you could see King Jonah's head peaking over behind the World Stage. He was carefully stepping up the stairs that resided behind it. Every single time he saw more of his body, Tero's smile increased.

Eventually, Jonah had both feet planted in the middle of the World Stage while fully on display to the several millions watching him. Both of his hands were in his pockets and his stance was quite formal.

59 years ago when he fought the former King of All, King Ren, he had wavy brown hair, and he wore several layers of armor and cloth. But now, the current King of All was sporting a a thin, completely white suit, with long grey pants that had white stripes.

Instead of his brown hair, he now had snow white hair, and it's texture straight and thin. His hair went down a little farther than his waist, and he put on an extremely long, white beard that covered the bottom portion of his face. His beard was so long that it almost reached his belly button.

Jonah stared at the cheering crowd below him. He cracked a half smile at the sight of audience. He looked up towards the horizon, the same one that Ren stared at during his death.

Jonah held his hand up with all five fingers pointing towards the sky, to seemingly hush the crowd. The crowd stopped their cheering as Jonah's stone cold eyes shifted back to the audience below.

The speech that Teros' grandfather was about to give would shape the history of the world, and would go on to affect Teros 'life in a way that no one would have ever expected.