A day had passed since the war council, and the palace was no longer a place of quiet contemplation. It was a hive of frantic activity, buzzing with the nervous energy of an empire preparing to breathe surface air for the first time in months. But in the center of the storm, there was a pocket of absolute silence.
Antares sat cross-legged in the middle of the first floor of the Ant King's Tower. The room was draped in deep shadows, the cold stone floor grounding him as he sought the stillness required for what was to come. In his lap lay the golden sword.
He had officially renamed it Eos, after the goddess of the dawn, a fitting title for the golden blade that would herald the rising of his people.
The rhythmic skritch-hiss of a sharpening stone against the metal was the only sound. Every stroke sent a shower of crimson sparks dancing into the dark, illuminating Antares's focused features. He needed this solitude, even before his reincarnation, he was an introvert by nature and now he needed his moment of solitude.
His bold declaration to strike within a week had sent the council into a frenzy; currently, every patriarch and officer was buried under a mountain of tasks. He was the only one with the luxury of silence, and he used it to prepare his spirit.
Antares stood, tying his long wild hair into a single, thick braid to keep it from his eyes. He began to move. He practiced the forms he had painstakingly memorized from his father's journals, movements designed for the unique weight and reach of Eos. He lunged, parried, and spun, his movements fluid and precise.
As the hours passed, the air in the room grew heavy with the scent of ozone and effort. The stone floor beneath him became slick with his sweat. Sensing the peak of his physical exertion, Antares called upon his Knight Force.
A violent, deep red aura flared around his limbs like liquid fire. The power didn't just surround him; it sank directly into his muscles and bones, reinforcing them with a density that felt immovable. The air seemed to ripple and distort with the sheer pressure of his presence. He unleashed a series of hacks and slashes; the blade moved so fast it became a blur of golden light trailing ribbons of red energy. The sheer force of the swings created miniature sonic pops that echoed off the walls.
When he finally stopped, his chest heaving, he untied his hair. It fell around his face in a wild, sweat-dampened tangle, his eyes glowing with a predatory intensity. In that moment, he didn't look like a politician or an administrator. He looked like a barbarian king from the mountains, ready to tear the throat out of the world.
Antares didn't bother with the stairs. With a mental command, he used his skills to vanish from the tower, reappearing at the edge of the primary training grounds.
Eli and Levi were there, as he knew they would be, running through their own drills under the dim light of the crystal-lamps. They stopped as he approached, sensing the shift in the air before they even saw him. Antares didn't say a word. He didn't need to. The look in his eyes sharp, cold, and demanding told them everything.
The twins moved in a synchronized blur. Levi took the high ground, leaping off a training pillar with his spear going straight for Antares, while Eli stayed low, sliding across the dirt to sweep Antares's legs.
Antares drove Eos into the ground using it to vault into the air. While mid-air, his Knight force flared from his heels, providing a secondary thrust that let him hang in the air for a heartbeat longer than natural. He landed with a heavy thud, the shock wave of his landing kicking up a cloud of dust.
Levi recovered first, throwing a barrage of spears at Antares . Antares spun Eos in a vertical circle, his red aura deflecting the spears with a sound like hailstones on a tin roof. Eli surged through the opening, but Antares caught the blade in his crossguard. The strength of Antares's Knight Force was apparent, Eli felt like he had just struck an unmovable mountain.
With a roar of effort, Antares stepped to the side, letting Eli's momentum carry him forward. He delivered a lightning-fast kick to Eli's chest, then spun to face Levi. He slammed his shoulder into Levi's chest ,a Shield Bash without a shield and followed up with a palm strike that sent him reeling.
The twins scrambled back to their feet. They attacked again, a whirlwind of steel. Every time Antares parried Levi, Eli was there to strike his blind spot. Antares felt the thrill. He stopped thinking in "forms" and started thinking in "flow." He parried a downward strike from Levi, spun to check Eli's blade, and then performed a low, horizontal sweep that forced both twins to leap back. He stood in the center, Eos held loosely, heaving for breath with his red aura flickering like dying embers.
"Again," Antares commanded. "And this time don't hold back" .
Without a signal, the twins stood up. the ground started shaking in an instant the twins revealed their aura. it had been the first time the twins had revealed their aura in battle against someone.
"Now we're talking." Antares said as he took his battle stance and he conjured more of his knight force again.
"Don't come complaining if we go too hard on you, Your majesty." Levi said "We don't want to hurt you." Eli added
"You two are strangely cocky today." Antares didn't bother and attacked them straight.
While the arena echoed with the sounds of combat, the rest of the settlement was a fever dream of preparation.
Kael walked the lines of the four thousand, his voice hoarse as he barked corrections. Blacksmiths followed behind him with hammers and oil, making final adjustments to the leather straps of the new armor.
Yajin and Velas were also preparing their men respectively, there was no way they were going to be left behind. Since the death of Antares's father, they were looking for a way to atone for their failure in protecting him, now they were going to go and support their king on his campaign to reclaim dominance on the surface.
Lady Sira was a whirlwind of precision. She oversaw the loading of the transport carts, ensuring the crates of meat,celcanes,barrels of juice and other supplies were balanced. She knew that a week on the surface meant thousands of mouths to feed, and she wouldn't allow a single ration to be misplaced.
There was a strange solemnity among the civilians. Families were gathering, sharing meals and talking in hushed tones about the upcoming expedition. They knew the "Great Ascent" as they had named it. The fear of the unknown surface was being slowly replaced by hope for a better future.
The settlement was no longer just a home, it was a united fortress preparing for an unknown future.