The two boys stood frozen….
They'd gone 10 years of their lives never knowing they had an uncle..
Raiden's father never mentioned him, the thought that maybe they had bad blood never crossed his mind..
If there's one thing they don't do in their family, it's betrayal or sabotage, they'll fight, they'll bicker, but at the end of the day, they're still family..
So….. it must have been something else..
Meanwhile Leon was baffled for another reason entirely…
"Why are you so tall" he groaned..
"Damn it, it feels like I'm the only one that inherited short genes, I mean look, even the uncle I never knew about is a flipping sky scraper" he threw his hands up in exasperation..
Yes.. that's what he was worried about…
"Heh.. the univers doesn't bless ogres with height, when have you ever seen a tall ogre"..
Trust Raiden to never miss a chance to take a jab..
"Bastard!!! Ogres are damn tall you fool!!" Leon screamed, then shut up immediately, but unfortunately the damage had already been done….
"Pftt…hahahahahahaha" Raiden keels over in laughter, "ahhhhh, so you finally agreed.. damn, what a good day today is turning out to be.. hahahahahaha" he continued, rolling on the floor in wild abandon..
Meanwhile the golden eyed man, their uncle, Malcom, just watched the interaction with mild confusion..
"Sigh~~~, you'll get used it" came Aaron's tired voice..
He sounded like a man who's seen the worse life had to offer and has made peace with it…
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Meanwhile, Raiden, after making fun of his cousin to his satisfaction, finally turned to his uncle..
"But damn, he's right, what'd you eat to get that tall" he couldn't help asking..
"Says the little brat that's already 5ft10 at only 10 years old, mind you, even I wasn't that freakish" Malcom spoke with amusement..
"Hehehehe" Raiden chuckled sheepishly before asking, "so I have a sky scraper uncle, but why has father never said anything about you?"…
"Heh.. that little brat Mikey? Well would you go around telling everyone about your brother that's always whooping your ass?" Malcom laughed boisterously…
Raiden blinked…
Leon blinked…
They looked at each other, blinked again, and then, "WHAT!!!!"....
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Three figures could be seen walking through the hall ways of the garrison building..
The one in the middle was a massive figure of over 7ft, his broad, muscular, yet compact frame, draped in a military uniform, a dark gold cloak with the ancient character "𝔊" translating into General etched boldly on it flowed smoothly over his shoulders..
The other two, a golden haired youngster with dull golden eyes..
A white haired youngster with bright golden eyes…
"Hey hey hey.. what did you mean by saying you whooped my old man, did you mean as kids or…." Raiden asked,
"Mikey has never once bested me in a fight, how'd you think he ended up as the boring Duke, while I ended up here, getting the opportunity to fu-I mean rough up demons on a regular basis" he laughed…
"Ugh~~ hearing that name 'Mikey', I can't even begin to match it with uncle's face" Leon shuddered at the thought..
Meanwhile Raiden was still stumped…
His all powerful father? Suffering defeat? Impossible…
One must know that, Micheal agares, the demon Duke, is someone capable of facing BOTH, the current emperor and the lion Duke, in battle, ALONE, and still stand a 50% chance of victory..
A 2v1 against monsters in their own category and yet, he'd still stand a more tree Han fair chance of winning..
And yet he's hearing about the fact that there's someone his old man had never bested?
But wait..
"What do you mean 'how he ended up as Duke'".. Raiden asked, Leon perked up..
"Well I'm the first son, so naturally I was supposed to inherit the dukedom after father retired, but I was very unwilling, becoming Duke, meant endless reports and paperwork, all the boring things of life, and so, I refused"..
"You refused to become a Duke" Raiden was speechless..
An opportunity that people kill, betray, and do all kinds of evil to their blood for, and yet, here was one unwilling to inherit an age old legacy, because of 'boring paperwork'..
"Yes, totally refused it, passed that burden onto Mikey… but you know what that brat did? He refused!!!! Something bout affecting his adventurous spirit, bahh!! All excuses".. Malcom spat..
"Wait, if both you and father refused, then how?" He asked..
"Well the old man got irritated and forced a choice on us, saying something bout how we were disrupting his vacation plans', and so, we solved the issue the way we know to do best"
"You guys fought it out" Raiden spoke up..
"Exactly, the wager was, whoever lost, got to become the pesky Duke" Malcom answered, chest puffed out in pride..
"You.. You won" Raiden couldn't believe the words coming out his mouth..
He didn't doubt his uncle's words, lying would be the least you'd expect from men of their family, which made it more surreal,
"Well he's the Duke isn't he" Malcom laughe out loud, clearly pleased with himself..
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Agares mansion
Aaa…Acheeeewww!!!!
A loud sneeze rang out..
"Dammit, who's talking behind this lord's back" Micheal agares, currently sifting through reports about the duchy, grumpled in irritation..
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"And we're here" Malcom said, coming to a stop in front of a room..
"And where is here exactly?" Leon asked, hands behind his head, his posture utterly relaxed..
"Where we'll be picking up your teammate for the rest of your training…
Saying so, he opened the door..
Within the room, a young boy stood up,seemingly the same age as Raiden and Leon, crimson red hair in wild curls, eyes that burned a crimson red hue, a beautiful face that still carried a touch of baby fat, he stood at 5ft tall, a bit more normal than the other two..
"Boys meet your newest teammate, Damien Aeldris"…
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Thanks for reading...