Elthor slowly picked himself up, shaking his head. He was getting really tired of having to get into all of these fights, not because he hated fighting, but because he always had to hold back.
The ones he could kill, he couldn't kill. As for the ones he couldn't kill even if he tried, those were even more agonizing. Did they get off from beating a kid like him? Just because your wife was giving me googly eyes, doesn't mean I touched her! Shouldn't you blame yourself for her eyes wandering?!
Elthor looked up and glared at the gorilla sized bastard he had just knocked out. His fists were really too itchy at this point.
At that moment, though, Elthor's pupils suddenly constricted. His head snapped up to the skies, his eyes narrowing.
'This is… Most definitely not part of the plan…' Elthor mumbled to himself.
…
The Oryx community, despite their advancements toward the importance of the mind in conjunction with the body, was still quite primitive. Their sanitation wasn't the best, their roads were still paved of dirt, their homes were simple constructs of wood, mud and dried grass… They were ultimately still living in a time countless centuries behind everyone else.
One of the tasks Elthor was left with by Leonel was to improve this. However, the method in which he did so was also important.
Elthor was supposed to become their future leader, not their plumber or construction worker. He couldn't just roll up his sleeves and get to shoveling. As shallow as that sounded, the minds of sentient beings all worked similarly.
If Elthor did this, his image would be tainted in the eyes of most. As feel good as it sounded for a leader to get in the dirt and weeds with their subjects, most didn't have the capacity to appreciate this and would even take it for granted.
Of course, such an approach could be taken after power was already in your hands. But, if you had to shake off the label of commoner or poverty first, history would tell you how difficult that would be… And even those that succeeded would have to wage war or lead an uprising, something Leonel had expressly told Elthor to avoid.
As such, Elthor's path toward improving the Oryx was to instead present his ideas through legislation. It was much slower this way, but it also gave him the opportunity to display his leadership qualities and to subtly prove himself.
This would be the most difficult. Elthor's combat prowess was clear enough. No one at his age was able to defeat him and even matured adults often lost to him. It was just that he couldn't match up to the true warriors of the Oryx yet, and likely wouldn't' be able to for a long while. However, this didn't matter because that was just a matter of time.
Proving that he was the most appropriate leader, though, and also dealing with the fallout of those he would have to push out of the way to claim it, would be what really challenged him.
The irony wasn't lost on Elthor. He had never wanted to become a King in his life. And yet, in order to become the General he wanted to be, he would have to become a King first. Life truly liked to play tricks on the weary…
At this moment, though, Elthor wasn't thinking about all of this, at least not in his conscious mind.
Due to the structure of the Oryx, they were quite closed off from the outside world and didn't have diplomatic relations with any others. However, just moments a go, a ship had very clearly descended the skies, not bothering to hide its presence.
There were only two possible explanations for this: It was either a declaration of war, or it was just the best way to establish contact with a race that was so primitive in its technology.
Just minutes later, it became clear that it was the latter.
The Oryx Tribe's meeting room was among the first things Elthor had proposed to fix. As a result, it was the cleanest and most well established. It took up the center of the Tribe and though it wasn't made of precious materials, there was no denying the care that went into making it. At the very least, there was no dirt, mud or grime to be seen. There was nothing but well polished dark wood all around.
The focus of the Oryx and Elthor, though, wasn't their well-built meeting room, but rather the group of diplomats that had come from parts unknown.
The current leader of the Oryx, a wizened older man by the name of Raymundus, sat upon a wooden throne. Though his eyes were murky and his hair was greyed, his back still sat straight and his breathing was steady. He both looked like he could keel over at any moment, but simultaneously burst with an undying strength.
To Raymundus' left and right were two guards in their prime. Both were among the strongest warriors of the Oryx and their momentum was stifling. No matter how one felt about the Oryx, their presence alone was enough to force whatever disdain this group of diplomats might have had in their hearts down.
The group was led by a young woman wearing a fluttering yellow dress. She didn't seem off put by the strong smell of the Oryx in the slightest and simply bowed with respect before Raymundus, causing the latter's aged eyes to twinkle with a hint of intelligence.
"I've heard of the Oryx Tribe for a very long while," she began with a sweet voice. "Please don't take this as useless flattery. Valiant Heart Mountain was once the strongest power in this quadrant, even beyond the Milky Way Guild, and yet your Oryx Tribe has managed to protect your lands from them, effectively hindering their path toward uniting this world and the World Spirit.
"My organization has taken a great interest in working with you all."
Elthor watched all of this in silence. Of all the plans, counter plans, and fail safes Leonel had given him, a contingency for this was not amongst them. Even Leonel couldn't plan for every change ahead of time.
To make matters worse, Elthor had no way of recognizing this woman. In fact, even if he had seen her face before, he still wouldn't because her features had changed.
This woman was none other than Heira.
'Is this a good or a bad thing…?' Elthor thought to himself.