Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

Burt knew he had a class, but called the head instructor at the academy to let him know that he was going out on urgent business.

The head instructor would only let Burt leave right before his class. Any other instructor would have to wait, but Burt has a special relationship with the Queen.

Burt was quickly moving out of the academy gates, because the news he has trumped everything else at the moment.

'Alaric is showing signs of having the blood of the Monster King in him. He's the only child to be born from a King.'

Burt remembered Inian telling him that the power of the King was usually passed down through the King's heart, but Inian had never heard of a King having a child. That would make Inian the only Monster King ever with a living heir, a child who has obtained his power without having the heart of the King.

Burt was never sure what would happen to Alaric, but now that he's witnessed him having an episode, everything has changed.

He made his way into the castle, where numerous model two automatons were patrolling. They were stronger and less rigid than the previous model ones, and could handle more complex instructions. They were even programmed to be friendly to anyone who was not an intruder, so they waved and nodded towards Burt.

Burt nodded back out of habit and ran inside the Queen's meeting room.

Inside the room, the Queen was sighing out of boredom and playing with the figures on the world map. Nothing major was going on that required her attention, so she was left with an empty schedule for the day.

She jumped when Burt came barreling in through the door, "your majesty! Alaric has shown some abilities and powers of the King!"

Queen Irigia dropped the figure in her hand, it seemed to fall in slow motion as the information registered in her mind, "tell me everything that happened!"

"There wasn't much, but I saw Alaric fighting with another boy, but he had numerous wounds all over his body that healed almost instantly, plus, he held the other boy up with a single hand. No twelve year old has that kind of strength! Lastly, his eyes were glowing a fiery red. Whenever Inian would lose himself, his eyes would turn into a pool of darkness, so that's similar too."

Queen Irigia sat back in her chair, "this is really bad news. We lost Inian to his abilities, and I don't want Janae to lose Alaric too."

Burt thought for a moment while pacing the room, "Alaric's situation is different though! Every King except for the original has had the powers passed down to them. However, Alaric is the only one where he has these powers and abilities naturally. If we teach him, maybe he won't turn out like Inian, and we gain a powerful ally for Irigia."

The Queen's brows furrowed together, "there's more too it than that. You're forgetting that Inian is till out there somewhere in the world. There's no telling when or where he might show up. He might be suspicious if another human with crazy abilities like a monster but who has no bright coin pops up. He'll come for Alaric, and that'll be the end of us all."

Burt stepped towards the Queen and put his hands on the table, "let me teach him in secret then! I know more about Inian's powers and how he grew than anybody else, even Janae! We can give him a bright coin and say that he has a couple abilities under the pretense of using one. I think that would be the best for everyone, that is, if we don't want to kill Alaric."

The Queen shook her head, "never. I have acted coldly before, but you and Janae are pretty much my only true friends. She would hate me for the rest of her life if I did that. I'm sure you are opposed to that as well."

Burt nodded resolutely, "I can do this, because he needs to know, or else he may go on a rampage and end up killing somebody."

The Queen waved her hand, "go and do it then. I will give you full authority over what happens with Alaric, and I'll inform the head instructor. However, my one requirement is that you keep it secret! Only you must know!"

Burt rubbed the back of his head, "well, I will from now on..."

The Queen eyes had flames boiling out and Burt quickly spoke, "I only told one other instructor, the bright coin instructor because she realized that Alaric was the only one who couldn't use a bright coin and she would've continued investigating!"

The Queen sighed heavily, "Just you and her then. No one else! That is my requirement."

Burt nodded and walked out of the castle. He had a letter and seal from the Queen that gave him authority over this matter.

He gave it to the head instructor as soon as he got back, and the instructor asked, "what would you like to do?"

Burt responded, "I need the mini arena that the academy uses for bright coin classes for personal use for a few hours every night."

The instructor nodded, "You can only use it around midnight if you don't want too much notice."

"Done."

Burt left and went to the medical room where Alaric was staying. His eyes widened in shock when he saw the Nurse and Eli crowding around Alaric.

"Burt...I don't know what's going on..." Alaric said with a shaky voice as his arm was slowly transforming into that of a monster's.