Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

Inian's eyes slowly opened up. He felt searing pain throughout his c.h.e.s.t. "uhhhhh," he g.r.o.a.n.e.d as he sat up. His muscles were tight around his body, and he could feel the power that was in them. Standing up, he recognized where he was. It was a small wooded area just east of the Rye Fort, where Janae and General Reark were.

"My liege has woken up! Hoorah!" declared Kraque not too far from him. Inian looked over at the c.o.c.kroach looking bug but then began to sweat when he saw the giant spider next to him.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Inian screamed. He had hated spiders since he was younger, and he could see his reflection shaking in the many dark eyes of the spider.

"I have brought you here, my lieeegggee, as I believe you waaaanteed." The spider spoke. Inian just nodded his head, "okay then, Kraque, why is the giant spider here?"

Kraque bowed, "it answered your call, my lord. I believe that you subconsciously called for it to take you here before you passed out."

Inian tried to clear the fogginess that was still in his mind from blacking out. 'Okay, so I have two massive bugs with me, and I'm a king of some kind. I feel strange, but powerful.'

Inian clenched his hand, "why do I feel so strong, Kraque?" Kraque answered, "you have awoken a level in the heart of the king. Now you have the strength of a mid-tier monster, and you can use any ability of a mid-tier monster or lower. You are tougher, faster, and can even heal wounds much more quickly. That is part of the innate strength that comes with being the king. You are also guaranteed to command any beast that is mid-tier or lower. Many beasts of a higher tier will follow you because of their loyalty to the king, but any beast that served the dragon and is of a higher tier will not serve you. So you must be careful!"

Inian listened to everything that Kraque was saying and balled his hand into a fist. He punched a tree near him, completely shattering it. He saw that his hand was completely fine too. "Dang..." he muttered to himself. He could do so much with this power. He could've saved his family, and he could've gone on to help Marc. Hell, he could even bring down the Empire with this power.

Inian wickedly grinned but stopped himself.

If he used beasts in his army, many of them are mindless and would kill indiscriminately. He doesn't want to hurt innocent citizens in the Empire.

Inian looked up at the sky and sighed, so Kraque inched forward to inquire a bit. "My liege, what is wrong?" Inian began speaking his thoughts aloud, "I need to help my friend...my brother. But using this power would do more harm than good, plus, the Empire has the means to defeat behemoth level monsters. I was getting a little c.o.c.ky for a second."

Kraque stood next to Inian, "you have the right to be c.o.c.ky, as you are the king. However, I believe it would be wise first to unlock the other levels of your heart before taking on a whole nation. But the decision is yours, my liege."

Inian shook his head, "I agree with you right now, Kraque. We should wait." He looked towards the massive spider, "and what should I call you?"

The spider replied, "I am Reclusa, mother of the northern spider clans. I am at your servicccceee."

Inian nodded, "alright Reclusa, Kraque, our first step should be to go back to the Rye Fort and tell Janae about what I've learned. Or at least I should just go, I think it might be a little bad if you two go." The two nodded the best they could in understanding. "We're off then," Inian said and began walking towards the fort.

He suddenly had a nagging feeling that he forgot something, however, and stopped in his tracks. 'The exosuit!' He thought to himself. "Where's my suit?!" He asked the bugs. Reclusa answered, "I did not take any suits with me, just you and your servant."

"aaahhhh...damnit," Inian muttered and clenched his head. That was an incredible gift given to him, and he lost it not long after obtaining it. He sighed, "nothing we can do about it now, so let's go."

The trio walked in the direction of the Fort. Inian couldn't stop thinking about what he should say to Janae and the General about losing the suit.

......................

Back in the Free woods,

Marc had been selected to go to a scouting party to the north. Their goal was to fly the behemoth level airship around the borders of the Trostan Kingdom and stay out of sight until they got to the city.

He was tasked with scouting out the areas before the airship got there, to make sure they were clear of enemy combatants.

Marc was glancing around the groove of trees as he patrolled through, and he was taking his time. He wasn't too worried about enemies appearing, as most of the Kingdom's forces retreated a bit inwardly because they were spread so thin.

He noticed a glint not too far from him and got low to the ground. He continued forward, clutching his gun until he was at the spot where he saw the glint.

He jumped up, aiming his weapon at that spot, but instead of enemies, there was a singular suit lying there.

"What?" Marc asked aloud. He got closer and observed it. His eyebrows climbed as high as they could go when he realized that this suit was Inian's. 'Is he nearby?'

Marc spent several hours searching around, but couldn't find Inian anywhere. 'What if something happened to him?' Marc couldn't bear the thought of losing his last remaining family, but there was also nothing he could do at the moment with no lead.

'I'll give the suit to him when I see him next.' He went to pick up the suit and saw the wolf's helm. He stared at the helm for a moment, then decided to wear the suit. After equipping it, he felt strong, like he could do anything.

'This suit...will be my little secret, I think.' He thought as he continued patrolling through the forest with the suit equipped.