Chapter 12:

A Tough Decision

Tears of Wars: The Heroes are Born


Fifteen years ago...

The Monster Kingdom was thunderstruck by the advent of a mighty young man who made monsters think twice before fighting him. It was said that even several Rhinos could not defeat him.

“I’m telling you, I don’t want to prolong this matter. Will you stop bothering us?” the young man said, exasperated.

“Hey, who are you? The hero of this village? Do you know who you’re talking to?” the Sharkin said.

“I’m not a special person, but if anyone disturbs this village and its villagers, I’ll be the first to pummel him. You understand?” the young man replied in a calm voice.

“You’ve got balls, brat. You’re the one who battered three Crocos and two Wolfies, didn’t you? You can give up now before it’s too late.”

“So after them, are you next, Sharkin? Then the Rhinos? And the Baramuses? Just so you know, Sharkin, I could kill you on the spot if I wanted to!! You should be aware of the differences in our strength!” the young man said, assuming an attack position.

Suddenly, the Sharkin fell silent in terror. He sensed something huge in front of him now. He could not even speak anymore.

What’s this? Why do I feel a great power emanating from this human? Is his strength on par with a Baramus? Or much stronger?

“Now, I’ll give you a choice: either go away nicely while apologizing to the villagers or leave after I pummel you and then apologize to them?”

There’s no chance of winning against him. He’s really strong. I can’t move. I’m terrified. Looks like I should go nicely. “All right, I apologize to all of you. I’ll get going,” the Sharkin said, lowering his head.

He walked away, waddling like a baby just learning to walk. His energy was drained when he faced the young man.

“Hey, pass my message to the Baramus!! Never darken our door again. If I saw even a single monster, I’d murder him on the spot. Got it?”

“I see, all right.” The Sharkin left the village.

When he arrived in the Monster Kingdom, he told the Rhino and the Baramus of the terrible incident. The Baramus was aggravated.

“Looks like I failed the mission this time. I’m sorry,” the Sharkin said.

“Hey, idiot, why do you look so gloomy? Why did you fail? It was only one person, right?” the Rhino said.

“Yeah, but even ten Sharkins would die.”

“Is he really that strong? I’d be very happy if there really was such a strong human. Bring him here, Rhino!!” the Baramus said.

“All right, Baramus. I’m going,” the Rhino said.

“I bet if you go alone, you won’t be able to come back here. He threatened me that if any monster dared to set foot in his village again, he’d kill him instantly. His gaze and voice held no uncertainty. The aura he gave off was unbelievably strong,” the Sharkin said, trembling a little.

“You think I’m weaker than you? Don’t kid yourself, Sharkin!! I could kill three to four Sharkins like you if I wanted to. Do you want to be the first, huh??” the Rhino snarled.

“How amusing. Stop it, Rhino!! Don’t make a mess in front of me. Now, go with some Rhinos to bring the guy here. Don’t kill him,” the Baramus commanded.

“But I believe that one is more than enough,” the Rhino said.

“Don’t underestimate humans, Rhino. Some of them have extraordinary abilities despite their small bodies,” the Baramus said.

“All right, three Rhinos will go. I think three of us is enough. You come with me too, Sharkin, show me the man in question,” the Rhino said.

“I don’t want to. I’m terrified, I swear. Let me stay here. Don’t force me. Please, Baramus,” the Sharkin pleaded.

“You dare go against me?” the Rhino snapped.

“Hey, Rhino, don’t order around. I’m the leader of this territory. Leave Sharkin here. You three, go.”

“My apologies. As you wish. We’re off.”

The three Rhinos departed. They were sure they could beat the young man.

Then, they arrived in front of the village. They found that the village was abandoned. However, there was a young man sitting casually, holding a cup in his hand.

“Where are the other villagers?!” one of the Rhinos said.

“I knew you guys will still send monsters here. I already told the villagers to get out of here.”

“So you’re the man? Now follow us nicely and don’t try to fight back.”

“Looks like a Rhino has high attack and defense, huh. You’re asking me to come with you? Look, I restrained myself from going to the Monster Kingdom because I still value your lives. Now you’re asking me nicely to go to the Monster Kingdom and take your lives?” the young man taunted.

“You’ve got balls, brat. Looks like this will be an interesting fight. Capture him!!”

“If you’re able to injure me, I’ll go to the Monster Kingdom.”

The three Rhinos charged forward simultaneously. The young man dodged all their attacks. Then, he kicked a Rhino. The Rhino collapsed instantly.

“Now there are only two. You guys are pretty fast and strong, but all you’ve been doing is destroying furniture. Now, I have no place to put this cup. You have to pay for it.”

He’s very strong. Once hit by his kick, one of us fell and couldn’t get up again. “Take this, bastard!!”

The two remaining Rhinos brandished their weapons. Once again, the young man evaded their attacks while slowly sipping his drink.

One of the Rhinos managed to smash the cup. Instantly, the young man was enraged. He zoomed toward one of them.

“Unforgivable. I’ll teach you a lesson right away!!”

He struck the Rhino who had broken his cup. Even though the Rhino had tried to block the blow with his mace, the punch went through the mace and landed on his face, instantly knocking him out.

“You know, Rhino, I’ve been avoiding your attacks to make this fight look fair. If your weak weapons touch my body, they’ll be destroyed.”

“Bastard!!”

The Rhino continued to hit him and sure enough, the weapon shattered the moment it hit the young man’s body. One light hit landed on his stomach. He was instantly in pain and bent down.

“Sorry, I’ve been trying to reduce the power of my punch. You know, being a strong person is hard, especially when it comes to reducing one’s strength. I told you, Rhino! I could kill all of you right now if I wanted to. I can come to the Monster Kingdom and finish off all of you. I didn’t do it because I thought you monsters could befriend humans. So, don’t ever cause trouble in this area again, if you still want to live!!” The young man left the Rhinos. He had a good friend, a rat monster.

The Rhinos experienced the same extreme terror that the Sharkin had.

They then returned to the Great Monster Kingdom.

In the Great Monster Kingdom…

“I couldn’t beat him. Even though my punch managed to hit him, my mace shattered after hitting his body. His body is extremely durable!”

“So is it true that he’s that strong? All right, I’ll find him,” the Baramus said.

“But Baramus, I don’t think it’s possible to beat him without playing dirty. I’ve never acknowledged a mere human before, but I think you’d be defeated by him too, Baramus.”

“Have you ever seen me fight seriously? Don’t kid yourself, Rhino!! I am the commander that Satyr entrusted to lead the kingdom in this large region!!”

Two weeks later…

The young man went to the place where the villagers had gone to two weeks earlier. He had two children, a boy and a girl. He continued to provide self-defense training to his two children. Even though they were still young, they were both already strong.

“Keep kicking hard. You’re my son. You’ve inherited my kick. You have to train your legs as much as possible. And you, you have to keep training your fists, because you’re my daughter. You’ve inherited my fists. You two will become formidable siblings one day.”

“Dad, will you continue to protect us? I’m afraid of monsters,” his son said.

“You don’t need to be afraid, I’ll beat them up when Dad isn’t around. I’ll always take care of you,” the older sibling said.

“Exactly. Your older sister is strong as well. You don’t have to be afraid. You two should always be together and protect each other, okay?” the young man said.

They continued to train while the Baramus kept searching for the strong young man.

Five years later…

“You’re so strong. I want to be as strong as you when I grow up,” the boy said.

“Your kicks are very strong, too. You can definitely be stronger than me. Until then, I’ll always protect you.”

Their conversation was interrupted because the Baramus showed up. At that time, the siblings were playing in the forest while hunting some animals. They ran into the Baramus.

“Hello, kids, may I ask you something? Where do you live? Can you take me there?”

“Hey, monster, you think we’re stupid? You want to attack our village, right? If so, over my dead body, you ugly monster,” the girl said.

The Baramus chuckled. “Children have no fear. I just wanted to talk to a few people there who might know an extremely strong young man.”

“We only know one very strong person: our dad. He’ll beat you up,” the boy said.

“Right, get out. We have to hunt animals. You scared them away,” the girl said.

“I’m starting to like kids now. May I know your names?”

“I’m Roman,” the boy answered.

“I’m Julia,” the girl replied.

“All right, Roman and Julia, so your father is strong, right? Can you tell me where he is now?”

“Sure,” Roman said.

Not long after that, their father came.

“Hey, what are you doing to my kids? You want to harm them?” the young man said.

“Yay. Dad, this ugly monster is asking where our village is and looking for a strong young man,” Roman said.

“Hey, human, you seem pretty strong. May I know your name?” the Baramus asked.

“His name is Satria. If you don’t want to be beaten by my father, go away,” Julia said.

“Sorry, but we have to go,” the young man said.

They returned to their village. The young man immediately told the villagers that bad things would happen. Then, all the villagers vacated the village.

At night...

The Baramus came with three Rhinos to the village where Satria lived.

“Satria, we meet again, huh.”

“That’s the guy who beat us up,” one of the Rhinos said.

“What do you want?” Satria asked.

Then, six Sharkins and two Wolfies came with his two children, holding them hostage.

“I’ve been looking for you for five years. Finally, we met here,” the Baramus said.

“You want me. Let the others go!! Let go of my kids!!”

“Dad, help me,” Roman said.

“Come with me nicely. After that, I will release your children,” the Baramus said.

“Bastard!!”

“I want to fight against you, Satria. Let’s do it in my place. Don’t worry, the villagers and your two children will be fine.”

“Okay, I accept your challenge. We’ll fight. If I win you have to free us all.”

“Not that easy. The rule is that if I win, I will free your two children!!”

“All right, I’ll hold you to your word!”

The next morning…

Satria fought against the Baramus. If he won, the villagers and his two children would be killed. He must lose to protect them.