"My father was one of the closest men of the second Evanus emperor, Augustus.
His designation was commander of the Virex Black Ops and he carried out the most difficult political assassinations for the emperor" Ben said with a deep sigh, as he began chopping the lion meat they had dry aged and adding it to the cooking pot.
"Back then, I was only a small kid, growing up in the capital with my mother, however, one day, due to some illness my mother passed away and since I was only 7 at the time, my father quit his job and his position and decided to take up the task of raising me, as he brought me here to Mount Faulkner and raised me his own way" Ben said, as he looked at his surroundings nostalgically.
"Everything you have went through, I went through as well, but I wasn't as talented as you, kid, it took me several years to master just one of the techniques he wanted to teach me….." Ben said a small tear forming in his eyes.
" 14 years, that's how long I trained here in total, as 14 years later, my father brought me back to the world, enrolling me into the grand tournament as an independent candidate-" Ben said, as he remembered those exciting times.
"I was strong, almost too strong and my techniques were those that were practiced by only the top brass of the Virex guard, as my identity was revealed quickly as the son of Gary Faulkner, the ex-chief of Viex forces….."
" I managed to make my way upto the semifinals of the tournament. No-one could oppose me, and it was there that my opponent became Julien D Evanus…..
the second prince of the Empire, the crowd favorite to win the tournament, although he had nothing that he could have wished from the Emperor anyway" said Ben, as he grit his teeth and began adding the herbs to the boiling pot, to make a delicious stew.
" I had asked my father, if I could win that fight?
Not because I was unsure if I could defeat him or not, but because I was unsure what would happen to me if I defeated him….. a prince?"
"But father said, I could….. that I must not kneel before anyone!" said Ben as by now he was no longer looking at Leo, being fully absorbed in his own old memories.
" I obliterated Julien! The dazzling swordsman was not even able to scratch me once in the fight as I took him for a wild ride.
The crowd, the Emperor, everyone watched the fight. Most booed me, but I did not care.
I won convincingly and it was on that day that the name of Ben Faulkner spread throughout the masses….."
" After the fight, I still remember clearly the disappointment in Julien's eyes, as I gave him a hand and asked him 'What might you wish from the emperor in the first place, you already have everything…' "
" The throne of course, he said, as he dusted off his clothes and took my hand to stand up-" Ben said, as he looked into Leo's eyes once more and ensured he was following the story.
" That man was fixated on getting the throne, boy, he had everything but the throne, but he was ready to sacrifice it all to get it" Ben said, as he emphasized the character of the current Emperor Julien D Evanus.
" I won that tournament, it was the proudest moment for my father that I won it, and a slap across the face of the universities and academies of the empire who prided themselves for having the best talents, yet lost to an independent candidate like me…."
" For my reward, I was permitted to ask for anything from the then emperor Augustus, but since there was nothing I wanted for myself, I asked him to reinstate my father as the chief of the Virex corps.
It was a dumb mistake, since I could have asked him to be made a noble, but somehow I always felt like my father missed his old life and hence I decided to try and give it back" Ben said, as worry lines clouded his face.
" Once my father was reinstated, we no longer met much at all since he was always at work, however, it was a sort of blessing in disguise as it allowed me to tour the entire empire at will.
For 3 years I journeyed across the empire, picking up official bounty and assassination missions handed out by the government, as I made a name for myself in the open world" Ben said with a tinge of happiness in his voice, as those were the final good years of his life.
" But then, everything changed when my father was suddenly sent to the gallows, for the crime of conspiring against the crown prince…." Ben said, as he poured out the stew he was cooking into two bowls, handing one to Leo and taking the other one for himself.
" Crown prince Marcus….. he was the one who sent my father to the gallows, with a trial date pending…"
" No matter how much I appealed, nobody let me see him. I did not know if my father was dead or alive, I did not know if I would be permitted to meet him or not, I did not know if he committed the crime he was accused of committing.
I did not know anything.
I was powerless.
And then, Julien came looking for me"
"In exchange for killing Marcus, Julien promised to release my father.
Apparently, Emperor Augustus was sick and approaching his death fast, and the time was ripe to assassinate Marcus for Julien to take the throne.
I was not dumb. I knew that entering into a shady deal with the second prince was never going to work out for me, however, I had to give it a shot.
It was my father afterall.
So I made sure to gather evidence against Julien as well, made sure that if I was implicated in the assassination, the world would know that it was him who hired me" Ben said as he drank the boiling hot stew in three big gulps.
*Aghhh*
Sighing, he let out steam from his mouth as he came to the climax of this story.
" I took on the impossible task of assassinating Marcus.
I penetrated the royal castle, managed to take out his royal guards, and plunged a dagger into his heart without being caught as I managed to sneak back out as well.
I did the impossible, killing the crown prince, as the entire Empire was thrown into disarray as to who did it?" Ben said, standing back up as he looked towards the sky.
" That night, my father was released as promised by Julien, but instead of thanking me, he just cried on my chest, calling me a stupid boy, as he urged me to leave the capital immediately.
Back then I could not understand what happened, however, he insisted I join the night guild, the same organization that he once sought to weed out as the leader of the virex core, as the next day, he surrendered himself as the assassin that killed the crown prince and was publicly executed by Augustus by hanging.
It turned out that Julien had played everyone.
My father was apparently in the gallows to gather information against an enemy of the state who was imprisoned there as well, as he was merely under cover and never actually imprisoned.
The foolish me who did not know about this killed his biggest political rival and in the end out of fatherly love he sacrificed his own head to save me.
A few months later, Augustus did die and Julien did take up the throne and the first thing he did was to send for me as he wished for me to become the head of his virex core, but I refused.
Joining the night guild instead, I became an enemy of the state and it was then that the truth about Marcus D Evanus's assassination was made public as I was declared to be public enemy number one" Ben said as he looked into Leo's eyes with pain.
" Gary Faulkner's son, one of the best fighters of the empire and part of a prestigious bloodline of elite assassins, became a rogue and a disgrace in one generation.
The legacy of Mount Faulkner, disgraced forever" Ben said, as he seemed to regret his choices immensely.
If only he never trusted Julien, if only he was never manipulated by his schemes. Perhaps his life could have been completely different…..
" I took the name and I took the fame, however, my heart was never into assassinating the innocent.
I'm not a sell sword. I'm not mercenary, I'm not even a dirty assassin as those from the night guild, and hence I never found my place amongst them as well" Ben said, as he came close to concluding his story.
" My presence in the night guild propelled them to becoming the top powerhouse of the assassin alliance. However, I never really became an active member.
The night guild leader was young and ambitious, while I had lost my soul. So he proposed that I stay in the alliance in any capacity that I chose and let the night guild use my name and fame as they deemed fit.
In return he promised to subsidize my living and save me from government persecution"
" I became a humble gatekeeper, since I never really wanted to kill the innocents and using my name they kept growing decade after decade.
I smoked, drank and tried my best to lose the memory of seeing my own father hanging dead, but I never forgot that image.
Soon, I no longer resembled him as the lack of training turned me into a sorry slob…
Until finally, I met you kid.
You saved me….
Gave me a reason to live again" Ben said, concluding his story, as a small tear escaped Leo's eyes listening to it all.