TBATE: PRIMORDIAL ASCENSION

Chapter 5: Glimpses of the past

A/N: a glimpse of Grey's past life regarding the changes

The blurred sight of a familiar setting made me blink a few times to reconfirm that what I was seeing wasn't a dream. From the looks of it, I seemed to be back in my old body. Getting up from the couch that I was sitting on, I left my room in the castle. A young maid, who had been waiting for me just outside, greeted me respectfully immediately on sight.

"G-good morning King Grey."

I didn't even bother glancing in her direction, walking as she followed a couple of meters away.

Reaching the courtyard where all of the trainees were lined up with swords held in front of them I turned my attention to the instructors yelling at them about proper stance and breathing. When one of them saw me, he immediately turned and gave a firm military salute, with the other instructors and trainees following suit.

I simply motioned for them to continue before continuing. Reaching my destination, I pushed open the double doors, arriving in front of an aged man with a head of thick white hair that matched his long beard, and emerald eyes that shined with a sense of cunning wisdom and knowledge. He was the head of The Council, Marlorn.

While I held the position of "King" I couldn't help but consider myself as just a glorified soldier or commander who led armies fought and killed countless people. The one who actually governed the country, managing the politics and economy, was The Council.

I have been given many titles because of my victories like: GOD OF WAR, SUPREME EMPEROR, and whatnot.

So what came of my position as King?

The title of King meant that I was actually more of a one-man army. Due to the decreasing numbers of children born and a limited amount of resources, The Councils of each country assembled and, after countless months of discussion and arguments, came to the conclusion that if wars continued to exist, we would eventually wipe ourselves out.

Getting rid of war would lead to two major outcomes: a decrease in the death count, leading to population growth, and a decrease in destroyed harvestable land and resources from the result of nuclear arms. The solution that they came up with and enacted was to replace wars with a different form of combat.

What replaced wars became known as the Paragon Duels. Whenever there was a dispute on a level that impacted the state of the country, a Paragon Duel would be declared, with each country sending in a representative that they deemed was the strongest.

Of course, not every country was happy, especially those that held high populations because their advantage wasn't the skilled fighters but their overwhelming numbers.

Looking up, Marlorn exclaimed with the standard fake, picturesque smile that seemed to be an inborn trait amongst politicians, "King Grey! What brings you to my humble dwelling?"

"I'm retiring."

Without even giving him the chance to react, I unclipped my badge, a piece of metal so sought after by every practitioner, and slammed it on his giant oakwood desk, walking out the door.

What have I been living for all these years? I was an orphan who had been brought up in a camp designed to raise duelers. I was twenty-eight, yet I've never dated, never loved. I've spent my whole life until now solely for the sake of being the strongest.

And for what...

Admiration? Money? Glory?

I had all of that, but never in a million years would I choose to have that over what I had in the town of Ashber.

I missed Alice. I missed Reynolds. I missed Durden. I missed Jasmine. I missed Helen. I missed Angela. I even missed Adam.

...Mother...