**Timeless Assassin Volume 7: The Fall Of An Empire**
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_"History does not remember the fallen. It remembers the victors who carved their truth into stone and silenced every other voice. For every rebellion etched into the chronicles, a thousand more bled out in silence, their fires smothered before the world even noticed they were burning. An empire does not collapse because the oppressed rise once; it collapses because, for the first time, the victors fail to erase the story of resistance."_
_— High Chronicler Maeven Rhys, Fragments On The Nature Of Power, Vol.8_
(90 days later, Planet Juxta training grounds, Commander Charles and Dumpy's POV)
*CLANG*
*CLANG*
*PUSH-*
Charles felt the recoil flood through his forearms as steel met steel before giving way to raw force, as he surprisingly stumbled a couple steps back.
'Ho? The frog has definitely grown stronger...' He thought, as the faintest curl of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if the pressure of this battle pleased him thoroughly.
Before him, Dumpy stood in his giant 20 feet form, his every strike carrying enough force to shatter a small hill-top, as he surprisingly matched Charles on raw power alone.
*Spin*
*Duck*
*Evade*
Watching the intent line of Dumpy's next strike, Charles spun low to evade the attack, his smile deepening as he launched a counter of his own.
[Mountain Splitting Slash]
[Fade Step]
*wOOSH*
Launching a powerful slash, he compelled Dumpy to first dodge by diving to the left, where he already waited for him, by closing the distance using [Fade Step].
"Uh oh—" Dumpy mused, as he saw Charles re-appear right before him, his twin blades already flashing up to guard.
Yet instead of a traditional parry, his instincts urged him to do what no human fighter could ever do.
*Shrinkkk*
In less than a heartbeat, his massive twenty-foot body collapsed inward, reducing him to no larger than a palm-sized frog that dropped beneath the arc of Charles's blade.
*WOSH*
The steel of Charles's blade cut through empty air as he rolled like a skipping pebble across the dust, before suddenly expanding again into his towering form.
*BOOM*
The ground cracked under his weight as he re-materialized right inside Charles's guard, blade already swinging for the man's face.
"I've got you now... Smoking man!" he shouted with gleeful confidence, his voice echoing through the training ground as his strike seemed impossible to avoid.
However, Charles did not dodge. He did not even bother to block, as he simply leaned in and took a bite.
*Crunch*
*Crumble*
Dumpy's eyes went wide as his beloved weapon shattered between Charles's teeth, broken shards raining down uselessly to the floor as the young frog froze in disbelief, the taste of triumph suddenly replaced by the bitter reality of his ruined blade, as before he could recover, Charles's hand moved in a blur, and a casual backhand slap caught him across the face.
*THUD*
*SKIDDD*
The attack sent him tumbling, his massive frame rolling across the dust before crashing down near the edge of the training ground, as although the pain of the slap wasn't much, he somehow felt too disheartened to get back up.
"I hate you! Did you hear me? I hate you, smoking man!" he cried, his voice trembling as tears formed underneath his large eyes.
"How dare you break the present my Lord Father gave me! It was a special blade set that expanded and contracted with my own size... but now one of those two blades is broken!" He said, as he clutched the broken blade against his chest, large tears now streaming freely down his eyes, as Charles blinked in confusion, momentarily taken aback by Dumpy's outburst.
As a Commander, he knew how to handle armies, ambushes, and assassins, but a crying student was new territory for even him..... One that he wasn't sure on how to traverse.
*Sigh*
Letting out a deep sigh, he scratched the back of his head, before awkwardly walking over and kneeling down beside Dumpy.
"I'm sorry, little one," Charles said softly, his tone stripped of mockery. "I'll make you a new one, I promise. Or if you want, I'll have a blacksmith reforge the same blade I just broke..."
*Sniff*
*Sniwel*
Dumpy sniffled, trying to pull back his tears but failing miserably, his voice cracking as he whispered, "Why can't I beat you? No matter how hard I try? Why can I not be a Monarch?"
He asked, as Charles chuckled, shaking his head.
"You'll beat me someday, kid. At the rate you're growing, it's me who's going to struggle in a few years. But that'll only happen when you stop copying humans and start fighting like yourself." He advised, as Dumpy blinked, looking confused.
"You're a swamp frog. You can shift size naturally. That's not a trick — that's a gift. Use it more. Stop trying to match my blade with a blade like a man would. And another thing — when I spit, it's just spit. When you spit, it's poison mixed with acid. It's absolutely lethal. So why isn't it part of your fighting style yet?" Charles asked, as Dumpy's lip wobbled again, but this time it wasn't from sadness, but rather acknowledgement of his own shortcomings.
Having been raised amongst humans instead of his own kind, Dumpy had no idea as to how swamp frogs traditionally fought, or how he was supposed to fight. Which was why his fighting style mimicked that of humans.
"Today I beat you because I already know the best way for me to fight. But you? You're only starting to discover what you're capable of. So don't sulk. Keep training. Sooner or later, you're going to become a Monarch." He encouraged, as silence lingered between them for a moment longer, broken only by Dumpy's faint hiccups as he wiped his cheeks with his forearm.
"Ribbit... You... really think so?" he croake his voice small as Charles smirked, rising to his feet and dusting off his hands.
"I don't think. I know." He acknowledged, as he offered Dumpy a hand back up.
For a brief moment, Dumpy stared at the broken pieces of his blade, before finally releasing a deep breath as he accepted Charles's hand.
"This isn't over between you and me, smoking man..... someday I'm going to punish you for breaking my blade, but unt then, just forge me a new one..." Dumpy said, as he offered the broken pieces to Charles, who accepted it with a humble smile.
"I'll put a rush on it tomorrow, especially for my cry baby student." Charles teased, as Dumpy instantly puffed his cheeks in anger.
"I am not a crybaby! I'm a fearsome swamp warrior in training!" Dumpy retorted, stomping his amphibian feet into the dirt as his belly wobbled in defiance.
"Fearsome warriors don't bawl like toddlers when their toys break." Charles laughed, slinging the broken hilt over his shoulder with a grin.
"They're not toys! They're heirlooms! Lord Father gave them to me, they're practically priceless...." Dumpy huffed, shrinking down to jab a tiny finger against Charles's chest, his eyes brimming with stubborn pride.
"This isn't over between you and me, smoking man.... I promise you, I'm taking note of every humiliation, every insult you make. And someday, I'll pay it all back with interest." He threatened, as Charles simply snorted in response.
"Alright then.... I'll wait for that day to come." Charles said, before turning to walk away, as although he snorted before Dumpy, in his heart, he couldn't wait for that day to come soon enough.
(More chapters in Buyers Club for TMT)