Ordinary to martial

Ben did not linger much after he collected the plant. He just needed to wait till tomorrow & he would know the result of his hail now. With that in mind he gradually made his way towards the camp.

The way to his camp was through the large lake. As he reached there, his heart fluttered. He saw a woman standing there. She wore a dress that was fit for combat. It was not something that was really tight on the skin. Neither was it loose, so as not to interrupt movement. She had a sword that was on a sheath tied horizontally across her waist. Others might get intimidated by the sword and the sharpness of her posture. But Ben found it quite attractive.

Rebecca also sensed him and looked at him. This time Ben did was not stunned. He regained his bearing really quickly. He smiled and waved his hands and walked towards her. Rebecca also smiled. She wanted to ask Ben or his mentors if she could explore this lake as this was technically in the area that was assigned to them.

Rebecca smiled. She noticed something in Ben. Rebecca was trained from a young age and knew a sensory typer technique as well, which was pretty basic. With that she sensed the aura of Ben. She was amazed at the control that Ben had over his aura. In their previous encounter she had seen his aura to be some what chaotic. Although it was not spread, it did not have the discipline that she was seeing now. Now Ben's aura was disciplined and deep. In a few days such a drastic change happening was not something she was accustomed to.

Ben's senses had also grown in these few days. He was now sensing Rebeccas's aura properly. It was sharp like a sword. It had a focus that was unfathomable for him. He sized her up and immediately understood she was much stronger than him.

A bit far away a martial monarch was concealing himself mid air. He was the monarch rank guard from the Kharav family assigned for the protection of the young heiress. He was from an elitist faction, who disliked the fact that democracy was running in this country. And so, he did not like a commoner speaking to his young lady. He muttered to himself " How dare he!! He did not greet the lady properly, even though his teachers told him who she is. This is why this country is ruined people don't know their place. Well I will make him know his place."

Saying that he released his six swords. All of them pointed outwards. He was about to go and have a 'word' with Ben. Suddenly he sensed something. An aura that was within the ranks of monarch. But unlike him, this was at the pinnacle of monarch rank. He looked behind him. There he saw a creature which he did not expect to see here at all. It had the face of a leo, the torso that was upright with two hands and lower body with four legs similar to a leo again. It had two wings spread out, reaching about 10ft in width. The creature itself was almost 8 ft in height. He also sensed something. Something that wanted to kill him. Upon carefully sensing it , he understood that it was not to simply kill him. It was not to simply kill him, but to rip him apart in the most gruesome way. He understood what it was. The intent to 'slaughter'. He was horrified. He looked at the creatures' face. Unlike what he sensed, its face was calm and composed like an intelligent person. He did not understand why he was feeling as though this creature was not an animal but a person.

Then to his further shock the sharabha spoke. "Now, Mr. swordsman, why don't we remain at the side lines and let the juniors handle their matters. Isn't that appropriate."

The swordsman did not know what to do or say. He was horrified. 'How is an animal speaking?' He thought. 'No creature, even at animus level will have an evolved vocal cord to perform complex speech. Only their life level and powers undergo a change…. Wait, there is that.'

He looked at the creature. " You… you are a 'monster meridian' wielder". The sharabha smiled. But to Nathan it was an eerie expression.

" Bingo swordsman!!!! You get a full 100 points for identifying me."

Hearing this much information about monster meridian users came into his mind. ' This is an extremely niche field and each user is kept at close surveillance by various governments.'

Despite the fact that swordsmen are supposed to be extremely disciplined, Nathan had a hard time regaining his calm. " Wait, you are a martial monarch!"

"You are noticing it now."

"But monster meridian wielders die when they reach Overlord level. How did you reach Monarch rank? Also a monster meridian has to reach the Overlord level to regain their marthya form which they gradually lose when the meridian seed is first activated. And each monster meridian user is kept under close surveillance. There is no record of a monster meridian user reaching the level of a monarch. Who are you then? How did you reach monarch level?"

Hearing this the monster began to transform. It first stood on its hind legs. Then its front legs disappeared along with its wings. The creature transformed into a marthya. He was almost 8 ft tall, towering over Nathan. He had a bald head and a thick black beard which looked fiery. He wore the traditional attire of Gyagar nation, in combat form. He had a long black shirt and a red garment which was tied around the waist and then further folded and tucked in, so that there was more room for movement and combat. Nathan could sense that the entire cloth was made from Aracknian silk which was very difficult to procure and even more difficult to make into a cloth.

Despite the fierce display and intimidating aura, the face of that man remained extremely calm. Still Nathan did not let his guard down. Then man standing in front of him was much ahead of him in terms of his mastery over the intent. That too a conceptual intent.

The slaughter intent premating from the person had now become immense. Nathan strained himself and looked behind to look if his young lady was ok. After all knights were incredibly weak against intents.

Seeing this the man said, " Don't worry. It is not in my interest to kill that girl. They are unable to sense you, me or our little exchange. You just have to wait here and see how things play out. After all , it is not always that your young lady will have this luck."

Nathan was not pleased with what he was hearing. He wanted to retort. Bu suddenly the feeling of dread intensified and it felt as though he was in a meat churner. When he looked at the monster meridian wielder, he saw him signalling him to keep silent. He had no choice to remain so. Even then he did not understand who Ben was , for him to warrant such an attention .