Caesar's eyes madly rotated as he lightly hopped and dodged the chains sweeping through the ground. However, he didn't have time to rest as Musashi launched the chains on his right hand toward Caesar like a spear.
Caesar, while still in mid-air, leaned backward and comfortably dodged the chain that aimed straight for his chest. He maneuvered his body once more and spun around in a 360 while stabbing through one of the chain-holes with his remaining sword, impaling it into the ground.
Caesar didn't stop there and launched off the ground, creating two large pieces of ice in his hands as he charged toward Musashi, who was only a few meters away from him.
Musashi smiled sinisterly and manipulated the chains that Caesar had dodged to attack him from behind while also charge forward with raised fists.
Caesar barely dodged the chains from behind him by slightly tilting his head, effectively using his opponent's attack against him. However, contrary to his expectations, Musashi expertly maneuvered the chain, and it once again moved toward him.
Caesar clicked his tongue and used his ice to help launch him forward to Musashi at an even quicker pace, closing the gap within milliseconds, Caesar struck down with both of his pieces of ice at the same time.
Musashi, at an even quicker speed than Caesar, raised his knee and cracked both pieces of ice to smithereens, he then proceeded to lift his leg at an even faster pace and drop kick Caesar to the ground.
Caesar opened up his eyes wide as he attempted to block, alas, it was too late, and the kick hit him dead center on the chest.
Caesar launched into the ground and coughed up a large amount of blood. His eyesight started to fade as all he could see was a blurry image of a man walked towards him until all light gradually disappeared.
Musashi stood over the unconscious Caesar with furrowed brows, although he made that fight look easy, he had actually overexerted his old body to win in such an overwhelming way. He wanted Caesar to taste his first defeat so that he could grow even quicker.
"Grandpa, what are you doing!?!?!" Renee asked frantically and rushed to the unconscious Caesar, but before she could reach him, Musashi flung him over his shoulder and walked away.
"Don't worry. I will heal him… if you truly care about him, let me do this," Musashi spoke with exhaustion clearly in his voice.
Renee bit down on her lip and begrudgingly nodded her head, seeing her acceptance, Musashi quickly flash stepped out of the area and entered into his room.
Once entering his room, he heavily coughed into his hands, and a few drops of black blood could be seen on his palms.
"It would appear my time is truly coming to an end" Musashi sighed profoundly and placed Caesar onto his bed before walking into his closet and coming back out with a few herbs.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Musashi pulled out a chair and sat down at the side of the bed, in his hands were a few red flower petals. The hue that decorated the petals were dark in the middle but got lighter as it reached the edges.
Musashi crushed the flower petals in his hand and mixed it with a green paste, once finished, he tore off Caesar's undershirt and rubbed the paste on his abdomen, chest, and back.
Once Caesar's wounds were covered in the medical paste, Musashi pulled the covers over Caesar's unconscious body and sat at the foot end of the bed to await his inevitable awakening.
He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, thinking back to the battle, 'it's weird, although he has the same aura and bloodline as that race, his physical body is much weaker? Perhaps, he is slowly awakening it?' Musashi silently thought to himself while in deep meditation.
"Clan head, your tea, and pipe have been prepared" A mesmerizing voiced echoed out from behind Musashi's doors, interrupting his deep thoughts.
"Ah yes, bring them in," Musashi responded simplistically after a few seconds of thought.
The sliding doors were opened, and a kneeling girl with waist-length obsidian black hair, topaz eyes, and relatively sophisticated facial features appeared in the doorway. She held a round silver platter in her right hand with a steaming cup of hot tea and a tobacco pipe on it.
She smiled and stood up. Once standing, she carefully brought the silver platter to Musashi and put it on a table nearby. She flashed a curious glance towards Caesar, who was currently in Musashi's bed. However, she quickly turned away as if she had seen nothing.
"He was injured in his last battle, so I am nursing him back to health… don't get any unnecessary thoughts," Musashi calmly explained while grabbing the tobacco pipe and lighting it with a flame from his finger.
"T-this lowly maid wouldn't dare think about anything past her boundaries," the girl said anxiously as if fearing Musashi would think I’ll of her if she said anything he didn't want to hear.
Musashi carefully examined the girl while puffing on his pipe, blowing a large amount of smoke into the room.
"I don't remember having a maid as pretty as you… where did you come from?" Musashi asked the kneeling girl curiously. He wanted to pass the time before Caesar woke up.
The girl kneeling on the ground slightly shivered and just barely raised her eyes to take a peek at Musashi's face, a glimmer of fear was clearly discernible in her gaze.
"My mother used to be a maid directly under you… w-when she died, she had asked me to follow in her footsteps" she spoke hesitantly while sneaking a few glances at Musashi every now and then.
"Interesting… I don't seem to remember any of my maids having a child as beautiful as you. But, I can't keep track of them all," Musashi spoke in exasperation and slowly reached for the cup of tea on the silver platter.
He could feel the lass's heartbeat start to quicken as his hand got closer to the cup of tea. Then, suddenly, right as his hand was about to touch the cup, he could feel movement on the bed.
His hand halted in mid-air, causing the maid's expression to grow even more anxious. Yet, Musashi wasn't focused on her anymore. Instead, he focused on Caesar, who's eyes were currently fluttering as if he was forcing himself to awaken.
***
Caesar could feel a weird stinging sensation on his abdomen, chest, and back. The feeling was so uncomfortable that it even interrupted his dreams… he forcefully opened his eyes and slowly raised his upper body.
The sheets fell as he got up and fully expose his bare chest, to which the maid couldn't help but sneakily glance at.
Caesar scanned around the room in confusion, it was quite large and luxurious, he could see a bathroom on the left side, a large mirror in the middle of the room, and the walls were etched with many different mythical designs that almost looked ethereal.
Caesar's attention soon focused on Musashi, who was sitting at the foot end of the bed with a weird smile plastered on his face as he puffed on a tobacco pipe.
"Good morning sunshine, you woke up faster than I had expected… I'm impressed," Musashi said sarcastically.
Caesar was suddenly struck by a headache and remembered the events that had just taken place earlier in the day. He massaged his forehead and deeply creased his brows.
"Your mana manipulation ability was astonishing… It caught me off guard," Caesar suddenly spoke up, after thinking about the duel for a few moments.
"Haha, although my ability is indeed good, it isn't amazing like you praise it to be. It's just that your abilities to control your mana is severely lacking" Musashi explained, completely ignoring the maid that was still kneeling on the ground.
Caesar tore the covers off of his body and stepped off the bed, he shook his head and wildly flailed his hair while rubbing the thick paste off of his chest and abdomen.
"Renee had said something similar. Depending on the affinity, the way to utilize your mana varies greatly. Nonetheless, there are apparently no more ice magicians to assist me with my mana manipulation abilities," Caesar said while subtly glancing at the tobacco pipe in Musashi's hands.
"You aren't wrong, but not entirely correct either, although every affinity does indeed have a dif
ferent method of control, don't you have your strange eyes to assist you in finding things such as that?" Musashi asked curiously.
Caesar just shook his head with a wry smile, "my eyes are indeed special, but their capabilities seem to stop at merely intimidating. Sometimes, I can discern weaknesses and attack patterns." Caesar spoke quietly so that only Musashi would hear him and not the maid.
"Haha, you just aren't thinking out of the box, find the weakness within your current mana manipulating method and continuously fix it until there are no weaknesses," Musashi said with a loud laugh and took another puff of his pipe.
Caesar held his chin with his right hand and squinted his eyes, 'the feasibility of his words aren't entirely impossible, I just don't think with my current capabilities, I would be capable of accomplishing it,' Caesar thought inwardly and walked past the maid to the bathroom.
"Thank you for your wisdom. Your words will surely come in handy at another date. I do want to continue our conversation, but this stench on my body in unbearable," Caesar said with a scrunched-up nose, the medical paste on his body smelled quite detestable, not to mention he hadn't bathed in a few days.
"I don't mind, we can continue our talk later, I have some things to take care of myself, so do take your time," Musashi replied with a broad smile to which Caesar nodded his head in acceptance.
He opened the bathroom door and glanced at the maid one last time before leaving Musashi's and her line of sight. Once entering the bathroom, he quickly heated the water and scrubbed the medical paste off of his body.
He stepped into the full bathtub and lazily stretched his limbs inside; he tilted his head back and gazed at the ceiling with a weird smile on his face.
"For the trolls to be in such a hurry for Musashi to die, I wonder what is making them so anxious?" Caesar whispered to himself quietly, the quickened heartbeat of the maid and the strange smell of the tea made it clear to even Caesar who had just woken up that it was poisoned.
"To use such an innocent and shy girl to attempt the assassination, the trolls are just getting desperate, aren't they?" Caesar chuckled to himself and soon finished thoroughly scrubbing his hair and body.
CHAPTER TWENTY
.
Caesar scrubbed the detestable medical paste off of his body and quickly finished cleaning up the rest of his body parts before begrudgingly leaving the warm bathtub.
Small droplets of water trailed down Caesar's hair and abdominal muscles as he stood up from the bathtub, he walked his dripping wet body to a nearby stool and sat down in front of the mirror.
He wiped the condensation off the mirror and started to brush his long hair. Although tedious, Caesar loved the way his long and flowing white hair appeared as it fluttered in the wind.
Once he finished brushing and styling his hair, he stood up from the stool and dried himself with a clean towel that was hanging on a nearby rack.
He thoroughly dried each and limb before smiling in satisfaction. Unfortunately, there was no one besides himself to feast their eyes on this eye candy.
After tidying up, he took out his grandfather's military suit that he adorned at the ball that he had attended when he first arrived in Rahvin. Its overcoat, medals, and of course, it's intricate designs were all still present, and the outfit itself still radiated a feeling of superiority.
Caesar slowly put each piece of the outfit on and finished it off with the military cap and white gloves, once finished, he gazed into the glass mirror and examined his current appearance.
Although his past elegant and sophisticated look was virtually gone without the suits he usually wears, he looked much more domineering and devilish with the military outfit — more fitting for his current situation.
Caesar nodded in satisfaction while looking at himself in the mirror and walked to the bathroom door. He slowly turned the knob and walked out. He was quite curious as to how Musashi had dealt with the maid girl.
The door swung open, and Caesar observed the room, Musashi was still puffing on his pipe while sitting at the end of the bed while the maid girl was nowhere to be seen.
Caesar closed the door behind him and walked towards Musashi, "what did you do to the maid?" he asked.
Musashi turned his head and faced Caesar, "the lass seemed to have been threatened… I just told her to go home," he replied with traces of sadness deep within his eyes.
Caesar clicked his tongue in displeasure and walked to the table where the cup of tea was still present. He grabbed the base of the bowl and examined the insides.
"If she was threatened, then she was supplied with the poison… if we could identify the poison, we can potentially use it as a clue to find out where it came from" Caesar voiced out his thoughts.
"Haha, it's useless, the poison used is called siilack, a common poison that the trolls use to coat their blades. The bastards aren't even hiding their attempts at killing me anymore. They know we are in no position to fight back," Musashi replied self-deprecatingly.
Caesar gently placed the teacup back on the silver platter and looked at Musashi disapprovingly, "the trolls are currently using their advantage of superior numbers and information to make you and the other fox-kin feel helpless… They want all of you to lose hope, starve, run, fear, and, of course, die with them using the least amount of personnel possible," Caesar spoke quietly, just barely enough for Musashi to hear.
"However, the fox-kin have a few advantages as well. We have superior elites, capable flame magicians, and almost all other races hate the trolls. If we use our advantages wisely, victory isn't just merely a dream," Caesar calmly explained.
Musashi looked at Caesar, surprised, "I feel as though you have changed a bit… if it were before, you would have probably kept this to yourself and not have attempted to tell anyone your thoughts."
At Musashi's words, Caesar just looked up at the ceiling and smiled wryly… "it has been a very long time since I have last tasted defeat I had been clinging to the thought that I was on top of the world…"
Musashi's brows furrowed at Caesar's words, although he had known that defeating Caesar would change something in him, he didn't think it's effects would be this quick.
"It's funny. If that were a real battle, I would have died and been forgotten. All of my promises, dreams... everything would have been lost. Those that I loved in this world would have been left alone."
Caesar's words paused… "I had just wanted to help Renee and then go back to my home, start a business, and live comfortably with no more expectations nor goals… but after losing to you, I realized something. Even if I want to live peacefully, others may come and ruin my peace, those that may be too strong for me to handle."
Musashi nodded his head in understanding, "being content with a peaceful life is by no means a bad thing. However, I'm not sure you are qualified to live a peaceful life,” he said while looking at Caesar pitifully.
Caesar shook his head at Musashi's words, "you misunderstand, I only wanted a peaceful life because I had forgotten my desire" his tone suddenly changed and became sharper.
"I had forgotten my desire for power. I want to dictate my life with no one being capable of saying otherwise. I want to get stronger, strong enough so that no one can harm those that I love.
A drop of sweat streaked down Musashi's face as he looked at Caesar's current expression, perhaps even Caesar didn't realize it, but he currently had a broad smile with crazed battle eyes.
Caesar raised his slender hand in the air and made a grasping motion as if he wanted to grab the skies. "I have no desire for being ordinary. I want to step back up to where I belong — the apex" Caesar finished his words in a whisper, that perhaps, only he could hear.
Suddenly, Caesar reached out with his hand and offered a handshake with a smile of appreciation on his face, "Thank you, Musashi, you helped me remember something of great importance."
Musashi nodded his head absentmindedly and shook Caesar's hand, he didn't know what the hell he was talking about with 'get
ting back to the top' or 'remembering his desire for power’, but one thing was for sure, the look in his eyes are much more dangerous now.
"Haha, enough talk about serious matters, since tomorrow you will be working with my soldiers to create that moat and irrigation system or whatever it's called. Today I have decided to show you something nice" Musashi changed the subject and effectively lightened the mood.
Caesar, who had just finished with his long tangent, tilted his head at Musashi's words, "what is it?" he asked.
"Hehe, a few months ago, we found a strange human that was trespassing in our lands. He was always muttering things like 'the demon Marshall' or 'the white demon,' alas, we decided to lock the crazy bastard up… we've been feeding him food ever since, and he is still in that jail cell," Musashi explained with a wide smile.
CEO in a Fantasy World 3 Page 9
