Extra Chapter:
Ares Boreas Greyrat

Ares Boreas Greyrat was a very unique child.

He owned a personal beast-race maid and was second in line for the next generation family head. He lived in the Noble's District in the Asura Kingdom's capital city, Ars.

Ars was the largest and most populous city in the whole world. However, behind closed doors, a viscous darkness loomed above the upper echelons of the nobility. It was a corrupt, never-ending struggle for power. However, Ares wasn't privy to any of that.

He was currently nine years old. Despite his flaws, he was great at handling a sword. He was sparring with his master, as he always spent his afternoons doing.

"My, you should always focus on your opponent. Little one, watch my movements."

His master was the North Emperor Auber Corvette. Ares thought his mannerisms were annoying, and his clothing ridiculous. However, Auber took any and all insults as playful words from a child.

"What…are you doing!" Ares exclaimed, as Auber masterfully parried all of Ares's attacks. None of his strikes were connecting, and he was growing frustrated.

"You mustn't leave yourself open by striking with a large swoop. Look at your opponent's blade and strike when they won't be expecting it. That's the essence of the North God Style, little one." Auber said while observing his swordsmanship.

"Enough of that already!" Ares glared at Auber and proceeded to speed up his blows.
Auber grinned, and said, "Never let your emotions overtake you in battle. Find a balance between aggression and your attention and hone in." Auber began striking back.

Ares began losing his footing, and he stepped back. He was growing tired of the constant pestering. He pretended to make a move and then struck in the opposite direction.

Their two swords made a sharp clanging sound as they met each other. "That feint was certainly an improvement." Auber drew back his sword and sheathed it. "Very well, I think we can call this a draw for–"

Ares swung his sword at Auber but struck nothing. Auber ripped a pouch out of his pocket and threw it at Ares. It exploded while airborne, blinding Ares. He groaned in pain as he fell to the ground, landing on his rear end.

"Goodness. As a North God Swordsman, you should expect that I am always on guard, even after a duel." Auber shook his head.

Ares didn't necessarily hate his master but felt frustrated that Auber would constantly treat him as a child instead of his apprentice. Ares was only Beginner-tier in the North God Style, so he had a long way to go until he would be acknowledged.

Ares got up and wiped his eyes. Auber was nowhere to be seen. In Ares's eyes, he was like a ninja. Despite his irritations, Ares looked up to him.

Ares was spoiled. He was used to having everything go his way. He had some certain encounters with his maid, so he was beginning to get interested in the opposite gender. He figured, since he was a high-class noble, he could sway a few women to his side.

"Hey ladies," He'd say at a party. "Would you give me the pleasure of this dance?" He would try his hardest not to let his grin creep up onto his face.

Of course, Ares would always end up stepping on the noblewoman's feet, which left them thoroughly unimpressed.

One day, he was attending the 5th birthday celebration of a lower-noble girl. Ares didn't pay much attention to the details most of the time, but he knew that the girl's name was Tristina… or maybe Christina?

Regardless, he attempted to pull the same thing that he always did at celebrations like this. He stepped in front of a blonde girl. She was pretty enough, he thought.

"May I have this dance?" He offered. The girl giggled, and said, "Sure. Luke, stay here." She spoke to another boy. Was he her lover? Ares thought, which made him a little upset. He wasn't going to embarrass himself this time. He began to dance and was off to a great start. The blue-eyed girl was smiling, and so was he.

It was short-lived. He stepped on the girl's foot, and he grimaced. He looked up to the girl to gauge her reaction, and she was… blushing. It didn't matter to Ares, as long as he kept the girl entertained. He clumsily finished the rest of the dance.

The girl giggled again and whispered in his ear. "You're interesting. I'll keep you."

That night, the two of them grew a lot closer.

As it turned out, the girl he was talking to was none other than Ariel Anemoi Asura, the second princess of the Royal family. He was shaken when he first heard that, but she reassured him saying that she wasn't anyone particularly important, and wasn't vying for the throne. Ariel had two bodyguards, one who was at the celebration named Luke Notos Greyrat, and a mage named Derrick Redbat.

Ares liked to show off to girls, so he did just that. He instructed one of his butlers who could use a sword to spar with him in front of Ariel and her company. This was part of his plan to woo Ariel, and he told the butler to lose on purpose. The duel lasted little more than five minutes and didn't look all that glamorous. He looked over to see Ariel's reaction, only to find his master chatting her up.

Ares fumed and began walking towards them. Before he could say anything to Auber, Ariel exclaimed.

"Ares, you have got to duel with your master! I'd love to see it!" Her eyes were practically shining. Ares was at a loss. He had no other choice but to humiliate himself in front of such a beauty. He sighed, and made his way back to the sparring field, with Auber following suit.

"You must put up a good fight, little one. Your pride is on the line, after all." Auber said, drawing his wooden sword. It felt like a taunt to Ares, so he furrowed his eyebrows. He had to try something different if he didn't want to lose immediately. He thought back to all of the advice Auber had given him. He had shrugged it all off at the time in favor of insulting him, but maybe Auber was right. He gripped his wooden sword.

He took a deep breath. "Begin!" shouted the butler who was standing at the edge of the field.

He charged at Auber, making sure to keep his eye on Auber's sword. He directed a slash at Auber's left shoulder, but it didn't connect. He stopped his momentum and flipped around. Auber's sword was about to strike him, so he raised his blade to stop it. No, he thought. He thrust his own sword and pushed back against the blade.

He deflected the blow, and Auber widened his eyes. Ares drew back his sword and pretended to aim towards Auber's torso. Auber didn't flinch and blocked the area where Ares was really aiming to hit. They exchanged blows, and they both stepped back.

"That was very well done, little one." Auber declared.
"This isn't finished yet, Master." Ares readied his blade. Auber shrugged and threw himself at Ares. He began overwhelming Ares, throwing feints, strikes, and even trying to trip him. Ares was struggling to keep up, and grunted in frustration.

He cut off Auber's advance by side-stepping to the right. Auber stumbled but managed to catch himself. He took a stance and struck at Auber. Auber sighed, and said, "This match will prove your worth." Ares scoffed and resumed striking him. He sped up his pace, parrying and deflecting blows from Auber all while trying to catch him off guard.

He was so focused on trying to find an opening, in fact, that he forgot that he had left himself open. "Guh!" He was struck in the gut by Auber's wooden sword. He dropped to one knee.

"D-damn it…" He said, holding his stomach. Auber smiled. "Splendidly done, Ares. I, North Emperor of the Peacock Blade, hereby grant you the title of an Intermediate-tier North Swordsman." Ares looked up, astonished. It had been two years since he began training under his master. And never once had Auber directly called him by his name.

"I… Thank you, Master." He managed to calm himself down enough to respond to Auber. "Come now, Ares. You have someone awaiting you." Auber motioned towards Ariel. He was so engrossed in the fight that he had nearly forgotten about her.

Her usual elegance was still on her face, yet she was excited.

"How was it, Your Highness?" Ares asked while bowing.

"Ares, how would you feel about becoming my personal bodyguard? There's something sweet in it for you if you accept." She said, shocking Ares.

"And that is?" He asked sheepishly. She giggled, and said, "Do you really have to ask, Ares?"

And so, that day Ares became Ariel's bodyguard.

A year passed, and his tenth birthday celebration came and went. Ariel gave him a certain birthday present, and Ares was progressing with his swordsmanship. He hesitantly began to learn how to read and write but drove away any tutors who tried to teach him arithmetic. His life was going steadily enough, and he was content.

One day, his father, James sat him down to have a conversation. This wasn't particularly abnormal, but Ares couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to learn something that he wouldn't want to know.

"Ares. You've turned ten years old now, so I suppose I should tell you this now." His father seemed to want to get this out of the way as soon as possible.

"I am not your father." The words reverberated inside Ares's skull.

"I-I don't understand. You've always been my father for as long as I can remember." He said, trying to convince himself.

"That's just it, Ares. You and both of your brothers come from a different branch of the Boreas bloodline. I, as the future head of the family, took you under custody. You are a very important noble, and your heirs could help tie us to other powerful families. I see you've been getting along with the Second Princess, as well. I encourage you to grow closer to her, as that would be a perfect use of your blood."

Ares was at a loss. Not only had his "father" completely brushed off the fact that he had lied to him all of his life, but he was acting like Ares was a tool to help him gain more power. It was beyond irritating. In fact, he was livid. He wanted, no, needed to get away from it all.

As often as he let his emotions get the better of him, he had another side to him. He was cunning. So much so that he managed to get the North Emperor Auber to teach him instead of all of the other well-paying nobles. So he decided right then and there that he was going to run away. But he couldn't be rash about it. He needed to learn a little more of his circumstances and make an opportunity.

"I understand, Father. Will there be a time when I will be able to meet my real parents?" He asked, trying not to let any emotion leak on his face.

"Ah, you're the first of your siblings to ask something like this of me. The earliest I could take you to Roa and meet them would be… probably late in the winter, two years from now." James said and got up from his seat.

Ares recalled Roa being a rather small city in the Fittoa Region. That would make for a perfect place to run away. He didn't have anywhere else to go after that, so it would pose an issue. Auber had mentioned the Sword Sanctum in the far north of the Central Continent, so maybe he could seek refuge there.

It was all beginning to fall into place for Ares. He would find some time where he could sneak away, and assuming Auber was there with him, he could find a route to make it to the Sword Sanctum in under a year.

"Very well, if that's all, Father," Ares said, getting up from his seat as well. "Thank you for taking care of me all these years. You will always be my father in my heart." He said, without meaning any of the words.

However, Ares didn't know how much his life would change when he did visit Roa, meeting a certain girl just before a calamity struck the Fittoa Region.

But that's a story for another time.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading Volume 1.