Will of a Prince

Chapter 188: Restless Power Grows In the Ocean

Leo walked with all of the Strugglers, leading them through grassy fields south of the kingdom. As he walked, Bear was by his side, talking with him.

"You promised my people and I salvation. What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I am going to give you all a place in this world. We’re going to curse back the world who cursed all of you. Without me, you all wouldn’t have the balls to do something about it."

"You somehow answered my question without answering it. What exactly are we doing outside the kingdom?"

Leo laughed quietly and continued leading everyone south.

"It’s like I said. We’re going to curse the world who cursed all of you. But to do that, we need power. Lots of power. I hope you all don’t mind a bit of arduous training, do you?"

Bear looked back at his people.

"They would do anything at the chance of a normal life. I can convince them of whatever you need."

"Very good. We are going to set up a small base here soon."

Suddenly, loud squawks of birds rang through the field, the wind picked up around them, and strange smell filled everyone’s nostrils. Once Leo walked over the top of a small hill, he puffed out his round belly and put his hands on his hips.

"Behold! Salvation awaits in these waters!"

All of the Strugglers looked at the large body of water in disbelief. None of them had seen so much water in one place before. Leo began to walk on the white sands and moved his feet into the shallow water. Even bear was scared to touch the water at first. A small wave brushed over his feet, causing him to flinch. We he realized he was safe, he put his leg back down in the sand.

Many others around him had the same reaction. One person in particular took a scoop of water and poured it in their mouth before immediately spitting it back out and coughing. Leo looked at the man with an embarrassed expression.

"My apologies. I forgot to mention that you cannot drink this water. The salt concentration in it is so high, you would be dehydrating yourself by drinking it."

Claw looked at Leo with amazement.

"Why was Iron Kingdom hiding this from us? This is incredible!"

Leo turned around and inhaled deeply.

"To be honest, I have no idea. This kingdom itself is a mystery. For all I know, there could be treasure hiding right under our feet, and I would be clueless to its existence."

Bear continued to stare dubiously into the horizon.

"What is so special here that it will make us stronger?"

"It’s something I heard rumors about when I was serving the empire. From what I know, this thing can extract someone’s max potential of their Zalo or bless the powerless. There has never been a recorded instance of a Zalo evolving before, so whatever this is must be quite special."

"If it’s underwater, how do you expect us to find it?"

"By travelling under the water of course!"

Suddenly, Leo split the sea into two tall walls of water. He struggled to keep the display for long before the water collapsed in on itself and caused a massive wave to splash everyone on the beach. Leo panted heavily and looked at his hands.

"On second thought, I should get back into shape first. There’s not any food or water around here, but we can still go fishing and prosper off the marine life. As for shelter, we can make temporary shelter out of rock and dirt. Either that, or we have to brace the elements."

"You don’t have to worry about food and water. We have an infinite supply of both."

Leo looked at him confused.

"An infinite supply? That’s not remotely possible! The empire themself would foam at the mouth at such an idea!"

Bear walked over to Leo and produced an apple in his hand. Leo looked at it suspiciously.

"So, you just carried an apple here?"

"No. I made the apple. Hold out your hands."

Leo stored the apple in one of his pockets and cupped his hands together. Bear made a fist and tipped down over Leo’s hands. Suddenly, a clean stream of water came pouring out of the small crevices of his hand. Leo moved his hands away in disgust.

"Get your sweat away from me! This isn’t the time to be playing games!"

"I am not playing games. This is my curse power. I am able to create an infinite supply of food and water using the energy I have. Strangely, I am also capable of eating the food myself, so I never really run out of energy except for when I need to sleep."

Leo was left speechless. Multiple thoughts ran through his head. Such a power was so simple, yet overwhelmingly helpful. At first glance, the power seemed utterly useless. In any sort of combat, they might as well not have a power at all. However, the utility of this power was beyond anything any kingdom or empire can ask for.

’To think such a power was hiding under the streets of Iron Kingdom the whole time...’

"That’s... fascinating. So, that must be how you kept everyone alive despite nobody being able to afford anything."

"Exactly."

Leo began to pace.

"What else can you do with it?"

"I can poison the food if I wish, but for obvious reasons, I’ve never tried."

Leo pointed a finger at Bear and started laughing.

"You, sir, are one hell of a guy! Do you have any idea how sought after a power like that is? You’re lucky to not have armies trying not to capture you!"

Suddenly, the pieces started coming together in Leo’s mind. The reason bear is with the Strugglers despite having a seemingly normal physique.

"...but you knew that, didn’t you? That’s why you are leading these people."

Bear smiled.

"That’s part of the reason why. Am I not allowed to simply have a human heart?"

Leo put a hand on Bear’s shoulder.

"We can work on that. Believe me when I say, a human heart will only get you killed outside those comfortable walls of Iron Kingdom."

Bear slapped his hand off his shoulder and stared at Leo sternly.

"I appreciate what you’re doing for my people, but I will not throw away my humanity for this goal you seek."

"If you want to curse this world, you have to be willing to sacrifice everything. Including your humanity."

"I refuse. We weren’t born monsters, so we shouldn’t become monsters. It’s as simple as that."

Leo deeply sighed and turned around.

"Fine. Keep your pretty morals and whatnot, see how far it will truly take you. And when you do accomplish something doing that, I will be the first one to grovel on my knees and admit I was wrong. I won’t get in your way or stop you either."

Bear nodded his head, watching every move Leo made cautiously. Leo noticed this and threw his hands in the air.

"Geez, I’m sorry! Just forget I said anything! Let’s start making some shelters already."

"What do you need for the shelters?"

"Gather as much dirt and rock as you can. We will simply be making mud huts using my water power."

After three long hours, Bear, Claw, and all of the Strugglers built massive dirt house along the shore of the ocean. Leo purposely had them build the structure in the sand since the it was much softer to sit on than dirt. Bear walked around and made everyone their dinner with plenty to drink. When he reached Leo, he offered to make a massive meal for him, but Leo declined.

"I need to lose some weight. Just make me a bunch of vegetables and fruit or something."

Bear honored his request and made him exactly that. The dinner was quiet and peaceful. The sound of the waves calmly splashing ashore slowly lulled everyone in their huts to sleep... except for Leo.

Leo decided to stay up the rest of the night and hone his water powers back to what they used to be. He walked far along the shore to ensure he wouldn’t disturb anyone in the huts while he practiced. When the waves would try and attack the shore, Leo would push against all of them and send them back to the ocean. The waves would come back stronger and heavier with every push, but Leo would continue to try his best to stop them.

There were times where his power slipped or wavered and a massive wave would douse him in sea water. Other times, the water would simply climb the shore much higher than usual. Even so, Leo kept going until he noticed the moon disappear from the sky.

Using one final push against the waves, Leo’s body had finally had enough. He collapsed to the ground, allowing the waves to wash over his whole body and attempt to drag him into the ocean. However, there was a woman who grabbed hold of him before he washed away. Claw threw Leo over her shoulder and carried him back to a dirt hut so he could rest properly. She had Bear clean all the salt drying his skin to ensure there would be no damage done to it.

Claw and Bear sat above him while he slept.

"Do you really believe everything he’s saying, Bear? It seems like he would throw us out the second he’s given the chance."

"I know he would. However, I can feel an immense guilt coming from him all the time. He must have lost someone close to him and blames himself for it. I could only imagine what someone like him would be guilty of."

"Do you think he’s guilty about the way he captured those people from the palace?"

Bear scratched his chin.

"Perhaps, but it feels much deeper than that. A love interest? A sibling maybe?"

"Well, whatever it is, I hope he learns one day that we have people like that in our lives too."