The Titan's Throne

Guarantees

The Soldiers and moved quickly to act, only to hear the gruff deep voice boom .

 "Stop! Don't touch him."

Everyone looked at their leader in surprise. They were curious as to why he didn't mind the boy's arrogance. They knew that if there was one thing their leader despised it was arrogance. Yet there, he didn't mind. In fact, his face was grave. The reason was simple.

His intuition, honed from countless battlefields, told him that if his attendant had touched the boy, he would have lost his arm, or possibly even more. A subtle but very deep killing intent was hovering in the room. It was so subtle that only the General could feel it. This killing intent had sharpened the moment Bastian was about to be touched.

His men were about to question him when Bastian opened his mouth.

"Let's see what we have here...3 upper Students, 3 lower Fighters, two middle Fighters and" Bastian had been looking at all the men in the room naming their cultivations until his gaze landed on the General himself, " an advanced Fighter who is about to become a Teacher. Not bad. Not bad at all."

*Clap-Clap*

Bastian was clapping. That's right! He was clapping! His shackles suddenly fell down, his arms and legs were completely free. He walked toward the General as he performed his slow clap.

The men were momentarily stunned, this brief time allowed Bastian to arrive near the old man himself. Only the General could see his face. When the men realized that they could only see Bastian's back, they were enraged.

Bastian himself intended to do this. He activated his tattoo and mouthed the words ' If your men touch one hair on my head, then they will all die excruciating deaths.'

Only the General saw the tattoo and his words. His men were unfortunately proud. It was clear that they were not aware of the situation. If they had guns instead of swords, shots would have already been fired. Some fools were about to move to restrain the boy when the General shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I said erveryone stop! That's a direct order!"

...

A few minutes later, the attendants were standing outside the room.

They had been kicked out of the room by the General and were under strict orders not to let anyone in. They were baffled.

They were about to protest when they saw their General's expression. He was clearly very serious. They knew all too well that when their General had that face; it was a matter of life and death.

All they could do was throw one last look at Bastian's back and leave.

...

In the room, Bastian was having a faceoff with the General.

Once again Bastian had been helped by his tattoo. The General was the leader of an army and a well-known one at that. So he knew very well the significance of that tattoo.

These days true Mark Bearers were rare. The majority had long since become Custodians. Custodians could not bring out a tattoo like this. The tattoos Custodians had were silver, and they had no suppression effect. This one was properly gold and its suppression effect was in full swing.

To someone of General Moto's cultivation, this effect was weak. But it served its purpose. To show that before him, was a true Mark

Bearer!

Mark Bearers were true monsters. They had appeared from nowhere and caused all sorts of mayhem. They gained incredible gifts from their tattoos and formed groups with their own kind. Thanks to them, many Kingdoms and Empires were wiped out and new ones had popped up to replace them. People who had no relevance in the past suddenly became relevant.

One thing was well known to all. If possible, one was advised to never make an enemy out of a Mark Bearer.

"Why are you in such a...situation?" The old man couldn't help but ask.

"That, General, I'm afraid, is a matter involving my family, and I'm afraid you are not qualified to hear that," said Bastian mysteriously.

The General had heard of rumours of some strange traditions that some very powerful noble families had. They would throw their heirs into perilous situations, so they could gain experience and become stronger.

The General assumed it was one of those situations, so he kept his mouth shut. This was way out of his league.

"The reason I am here General is because you have something I want, an army."

The General had seen this coming, but he was hoping that his gut was wrong. Unfortunately for him, he was not.

It was not strange for the heir in these powerful families to be told to create or form his or her own army without the help of the family. This was a test of leadership, and how resourceful one can be.

The General had hoped that it wouldn't come to this, but alas, fate would not let his hopes come true.

The General steeled his resolve and looked at Bastian in the eye. "My men and I would rather die than follow a spoilt brat, especially against our will." The General assumed that he and his men would die after this. These young masters were very prideful. Such situations were common. One normally didn't have the option to refuse.

Most likely he and his men would die. There were many reasons this would happen. For starters, Bastian had revealed his Mark. Not to mention they had insulted Bastian. There were even cases of powerful nobles wiping out entire cities due to a fit of rage.

Luckily for the General, this wasn't an ordinary noble. This was Bastian.

Bastian clapped and nodded in approval at the General's response. The General was surprised.

"Very impressive, a man of honour like you General is one I admire. You can relax; I have no intention of harming either you or your men. Nor do I plan on forcing you to do anything against your will. If you dislike what I'm about to say, you and your men can leave peacefully."

Powerful men who were honourable and true to their word were hard to find, especially in such a chaotic region.

I've hit the jackpot!

Bastian was very happy.

The General, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

What is this boy up to?

"General do you have enemies?"

The General found this question strange.

What kind of army has no enemies in the Western Deserts?

"I have plenty, "said the General with a frown.

"Excellent!" Bastian beamed in delight. "General, like I said I have no intention of harming you or your men. In fact, I'm quite positive I can win your cooperation. Within a few months you will give me control of your army, and I will do this with neither money nor influence"

The General was astonished. Things had taken a rather unexpected turn.

What is this kid planning to do?

The General had to admit that the kid was certainly charming. His arrogance had a certain charisma about it.

"Ok boy, how exactly are you going to pull this off?" said the General. He had to admit, he wanted to know what the boy had in mind.

This is it! This is what I've been waiting for!

This was when Bastian did the unexpected. He bit his thumb to the point where it started to bleed. Then he raised his hand above his head.

The General knew this pose. His eyes widened in disbelief.

"I Sebastian Tirius, hereby solemnly swear an oath to the heavens, that if General Moto gives me control of his army on this day, I will destroy all of the enemies he names within 5 minutes of this oath, within a year."

...

In a hotel Room in the city, Bastian sat cross-legged on a lavish bed, wearing simple linen clothes. V was sleeping on a sofa near the bed. Ben stood at attention, next to Bastian's bed, with a worried look on his face.

This was quite the change, considering their previous predicament.

...

After the General saw Bastian make his oath to the heavens, he was astonished. Bastian's actions were completely unexpected.

"General you only have five minutes, if I were you, I would use them wisely."

The General woke up after Bastian spoke.

This brat! It was a trap!

Yes, it was a trap. The General did in fact have enemies. One could even say he had more enemies than he should, due to his honourable nature. He would often speak out against anything or anyone who he deemed dishonourable, and in the Western Deserts, such people were as common as a grain of sand.

The General wasn't really being forced to do anything; he could just not identify his enemies for the next five minutes. That would render Bastian's actions void.

But then he would lose out.

Indeed, for this was too good of a deal. A Mark Bearer had offered to wipe out his enemies for him, all within a year; all he had to do was give him control of his army during that year. Not to mention that the Mark Bearer had made an oath to the heavens. This meant that he was very confident.

But there are still a few problems.

"How do I know that you aren't trying to take control of my army? What guarantee do I have that you will not try to take it from me permanently?"