Gray Silverleaf, a genius sage of the ‘Wiztra of the Wind’. A group of scholars founded a city with the aim of spreading knowledge, whether scientific, theological or magical, to the four corners of the 7th realm. They are the foremost experts in worldly knowledge and keeper of history. The sages of the institution are great scribes and are the number one critic of the “Dawnfall series” of books.

Among these scholars and sages was Gray Silverleaf. He was known as the ‘White Sage’, inheritor of the White Guardian, one of the ‘Seven Keepers of the Realm’. He was an elder brother that Gin acknowledged. Thousands of years ago, five children trained together with Gin under the same teacher, and Gray Silverleaf was the eldest among the six. During the war with the Great Demon god Malibourne and the sealing of the ‘Nine Hells’ gate, he was conferred as one of the heroes of the realm together with eleven others.

That time, Talmund Tal, leader of the twelve representatives of the Seven Realms alliance against Malibourne, became the 1st Emperor of the united 7th Realm issued an imperial edict stating that the twelve representatives together with their families and descendants will receive utmost respect and protection from all of the 7th realm. This edict included Gray and the Silverleaf family.

But what currently bemused Gin was that, right now, he saw a descendant of the Silverleaf family suffering and being bullied. One of Gin’s characteristics was that he was very protective of the people close to him. In his heart, he said ‘Eldest Brother’s descendants are my, Gin’s, descendants! Bullying them is the same as bullying me!’

“I guess that brat Talmund wants me to change his so-called ‘currency’ eh?” Gin said as he coldly glared at the remaining guard.

The guard was newly hired personnel from a desolate rural village. He was very happy when he was accepted to be a gate guard of Golden Eye Mercenaries. His daily allowance was 10 coppers which were enough for him to live by. After months of working for the mercenary group, he adapted the attitude of his colleagues and became arrogant. Together with his new friends, they acted like bandits and did the bidding of their boss by abducting virgin teenage girls.

But now, the friend that he drunk with last night turned into meat paste. When he saw this, his feet and hands became very cold and his face turned pale. Although he was not intelligent, he was not stupid. He knew from the way his friend died that the ‘old-looking’ man was not someone to be trifled with. He knew that if he did one more thing that this old man finds offensive, he will cease to exist.

With a quick thought, he dropped on the ground and groveled. “Great Sir! I.. I beg you to spare this insignificant person’s life! I am just a mere gate guard obeying orders from the high command. Please, great sir! Spare me… wuu wuu wuu…” the guard started bawling in front of Gin as he begged for his life.

“Hmph!” Gin coldly looked at the begging guard then turned his attention elsewhere. He was currently looking at the fort’s main tower. He sensed something from the tower that felt dark and foreboding. Then he mumbled, “If inside that tower is the same thing that’s on my mind right now, I will make sure this fort will fall today…”

“Take me to where his sister is held…”

“Wuu wuu wuu… huh?” the guard was still crying with his tears and snot mixed. He was then elated to have the chance to keep his life. “Yes! Yes! Great sir! I will take you to her!”

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Entering the large fort gate, Gin felt nostalgia as he took a glance at the stone walls and the wall-mounted Starfire blue torches on the sides. He remembered how he labored in making this fort and the ‘Great Wall’. He remembered how some of his friends died on the other side of this wall, as they battled ragnakars and the undead, to protect the 7th realm from Malibourne’s scourge. When he tried to ‘time travel’ back to the past to change the fate of his companions, he discovered that time only moves forward. What he saw was just images of the past, intangible and unchangeable. Even with all his previous power, he can never change fate and felt powerless against time. The laws of time, bounded him and showed the limits of human capability.

Remembering his powerlessness, Gin laughed at himself. To change ones’ fate was going against the will of the heavens. This was the reason why he was sealed in the first place. ‘Sealed… yes… I was sealed… to change ‘her’ fate! I went against the heavens, against the ancient… At least ‘she’ lived…’ a flash of memory dawned on him. The memory of a smiling beautiful lady clad in armor, ready for battle. She had pink hair as beautiful as the flowers of the cherry tree and had the face of a goddess. Remembering her made Gin smile softly.

“Hey, Bernard! Where the hell are you going? You’re supposed to be guarding the gates!” a thin man with a thug-like face and large front teeth stopped them from going forward. They were now at a courtyard where most of the mercenaries stay. The thin man who stopped them intentionally increased the volume of his voice so that the others will notice. When this happened, the rowdy mercenaries looked at them with their malicious eyes.

“Rat… don’t block our way, you don’t know the consequence of hindering the great sir!” the guard who led them retorted at the thin man. This Rat is the most rotten among all the bad apples of the mercenary group. He’s the one giving newbies like Bernard a hard time.

“Consequence? Are you talking about consequences with me? A bottom-dweller gate guard like you dare to speak such high valued words to me? Hahaha!” the thin man laughed loudly at the guard.

“What’s so funny Rat?! Move away now and don’t block the path!” the guard exclaimed angrily at the thin man.

“What’s so funny? Here’s what’s funny! You dare decide who gets to enter the fort? Only members of the Golden Eye Mercenaries and virgin girls can enter! Who do think you are? You aren’t even an official member! Yes, you’ve joined raids… but those weren’t even official mercenary work! Hahaha! You think your one of us?” the thin man shouted at the guard.

“You…” the guard can only grit his teeth and look down in embarrassment. He really thought that he was part of the mercenaries. He worked so hard and even did somethings that went against his conscience. But in the end, he was just considered as a lowly gate guard, and not part of the group.

“Boys! Let’s show these trespassers that no one can come out alive trespassing the holy ground of the Golden Eye Mercenaries! Kill them all!” the thin man shouted.

Triggered by the shout of the thin man, the other mercenaries also shouted and picked their weapons. They were thirsty for some blood!

“Grahhhh!! Hahaha! Uh…” just when some of them were livened up by the situation, they suddenly saw a large golden hand covering the whole courtyard. The pressure it emitted was so strong that some of them started to bleed from their eyes and ears.

ROCK PAPER SCISSORS… PAPER! 100 TON SWATTER!

The golden hand quickly descended and smashed the whole courtyard.

BOGSHHHHH!!!!!

Dust flew everywhere but not a sound from the mercenaries could be heard. Only the sound of crushed rocks and falling dust was audible.

Bernard the gate guard was stunned silly. His eyes widened like they were coming out of its sockets and his mouth wide open. What just happened? The others were preparing to attack then, the next moment, everything went Kaput!

He turned his head to look at the ‘old-looking’ man behind him. Then what he saw shocked him even more.

With his usual poker face, Gin was currently picking his nose with his pinkie. “What? They were so noisy and blocked our way… They were also bad apples and the less of them there are, the better it is for the realm, right? I did the 7th realm some meritorious service. That’s all of em’ right?”

The guard looked at Gin but was still dazed about what happened. He had no words to say. His face clearly showed what he felt… Stupefied. Oh good heavens! Great sir! You just annihilated the Golden Eye Mercenaries!