Kufa walked into the room, her footsteps unsteady and her eyes blazing with fury.

She had intended to create another avatar, but she received notice that her father had ordered her to stop all activity and come to his training chambers.

Kufa was embarra.s.sed because of what the hooded figure had done to her, but she was in no position to disagree with her father. So she briskly travelled to his chambers, well aware of what was to happen.

"Ready yourself." Kufa's father, Kuziwa, threw a sword to his daughter, and proceeded to attack her. Kufa snorted and counter attacked.

Recently, Kufa had come to learn many sword skills. Although she had not mastered the sword, her progress with her sword skill had come a long way. But seeing Kuziwa's attack, Kufa quickly learnt what a true sword skill was.

That did not mean Kufa thought the skill was powerful, however. It gave her the feeling that Kuziwa was an extension of the blade he wielded and vice versa. The sword and the person were bound together, like one. That was what was so profound.

Dong!

The ancient sword Kufa wielded effectively blocked Kuziwa's sword. Kufa had reached the one with the sword realm, which allowed her to sense the strength delivered in Kuziwa's attack. Quickly, she took a step back.

Kuziwa's waist turned, and the sword became a spike. It drove towards Kufa like a drill.

Kufa had never before seen a person use a sword skill so naturally. There was never much difference in the performance of sword skills from person to person, but Kuziwa had truly taught her that she had much to learn. Being one with the sword was nothing, Kuziwa was one with the universe!

Usually in their spars, her father would use his bare hands, thus his progress in the way of the sword was truly enlightening.

Kuziwa's wielding of a sword was so dexterous, adept, and natural-looking, it really looked like the sword was a part of him. It was like a third arm connected with his flesh and bone, creating the illusion of a living metallic limb.

Kufa's power was stronger than Kuziwa's, or rather it was more accurate to say that she was using more power in her attacks, but when he attacked, he did so only with his sword. When Kuziwa attacked, his whole body was an extension of the metallic weapon, the moment he stepped forward, a domino effect would take place from movement to final blow.

Kufa was able to evade each attack, but every time she tried to return a hit, her sword clashed with her opponent's and she was forced to fall back. Even though their sword skills were seemingly even, Kufa was at a disadvantage.

If Kufa hadn't reached the one with the sword realm, not only would she had lost miserably, she would not have even noticed how wide the gap was between her and Kuziwa. To Kuziwa battle was something which robbed him of all emotion, he would only exist within the moment. He was holding back a lot in this bout with Kufa, but this required even more focus from him. When you had his level of power, even making a 1% error in judgement could bury civilisations. Let alone one person. Kufa was a Gutu, but she could still be killed. True Gutu royalty were often called immortals because they had very long lifespans. They didn't need to eat much, sleep and were not affected by ordinary diseases. They could heal from injuries that are deadly to mortals and had a far higher apt.i.tude for the mystic arts.

With one final clash, their bout ended. Kufa believed Kuziwa gained nothing from their fights but he claimed otherwise. She was not his disciple, yet he had taught her quite a bit. Kuziwa treated all those under him that way, earning him respect.

"When that boy becomes older, the world will enter a state of turmoil." Said Kuziwa with a grin.

"What do you mean father?" Said Kufa with her head tilted. The previous bout had calmed her down. Her father's presence had that effect on her quite often.

"Well it's quite simple really. Right now the world is in a delicate balance. The flames of war are being quelled by a delicate balance, but that balance won't last forever. With his abilities of disrupting the equilibrium of things I am sure this boy will bring about the result which I am finally hoping for."

"So you believe this boy will end the war?" Kufa questioned.

Kuziwa looked at her like he was looking at an idiot. "End it? Why would I want that? No, no, no my dear. Taku will not end the war. Far from it, in fact I am sure he will start it! Mark my words. His words and actions will result in the deaths of trillions upon trillions of lofty foreigners who believe that they are untouchable."

Kufa didn't quite understand. She knew Kuziwa as an advocate for peace. He read her mind and looked at his sword, "There is a difference between peace, and silence my dear. For there to be true peace, the era has to change, and that change will be brought by a wave of blood!"

Kuziwa was a man who wanted absolute control, and his daughter was no different. He did not want to fight with foreigners because it would disturb his other plans. He was obsessed with training himself in the martial arts and the results were very fruitful. The number of Gutu warriors that could defeat him in hand to hand combat could only be counted on one hand.

"Father, I am not sure what your plans for the boy are, but he is still in my way! If we don't use this opportunity to capture him, then the Ngundu could blind side us!"

"Mbuya Nehanda has offered us a deal, which I have just accepted." Said Kuziwa as he went back to meditating.

"What deal father?"

"She will not interfere with our future clashes with the Ngundu for the next ten years, as long as we don't touch Taku."

Kufa's eyes widened. She never expected Mbuya Nehanda to make such a move. Right now, the Ngundu and Gumbo Royal families were clas.h.i.+ng for the throne. It was essential to have more gold level talents on your side to succeed. The nation possessed four known gold level talents. The Ngundu had Nehanda while the Gumbo had Kufa. One gold level talent had already expressed complete neutrality while the other was very hard to rope in.

Currently Kufa had not matured, so she was nothing compared to Nehanda who had been alive for hundreds of years. These ten years could buy Kufa the amount of time she needed to develop in order to be a true a.s.set to the Gumbo family.

Yet a sour taste was left in Kufa's mouth. This would mean that Taku would be left alone to develop as well.

"No matter. I will become stronger than him. I will kill him once his time was up."

Nehanda's presence was like a looming blade over the Gumbos. Now that they had a treaty with her for 10 years, the Gumbo could focus on roping in the last gold level talent.

"But that freak of nature won't listen to common sense." Kufa stood next to her father as she started contemplating the next move. Kuziwa had long given her full autonomy on the decisions she made. Thus it was up to her to decide what their next move would be.

…

On a mountain top, two people were enjoying tea while having a discussion.

"I did not expect that The Solitary Sword Sovereign would ask little old me for a favour. I am truly honoured to be of service to a True Immortal." The speaker was a voluptuous woman. She exuded s.e.xuality from her entire being. Her flawless face and red hair could light any man's loins on fire. Her tight fitting robe did little to hide her sensuality. This was Mbuya Nehanda.

The Sovereign could not keep his eyes of her chest as he spoke, "Well that kid is connected to me, so I need to give him a helping hand. As I promised I will a.s.sist you in your attempt to attain immortality."

Nehanda was amused by his blatant l.u.s.t, but her mind was more interested in what the so called connection between Taku and The Sovereign was. Nehanda was only able to get Taku ten years of amnesty, because he was extremely important to both the Gumbo and the Ngundu, yet the Sovereign was willing to offer a.s.sisting her in her attempt at attaining immortality just for those ten years.

"Is he confident that the boy will become strong enough to fend for himself after yen years? Against that Kufa?"

Nehanda was well aware that Kufa's talent was above her own, despite both of them being gold level talents. "The only person able to match her in ten years would be that freak of nature, if he even wants to, but he is too difficult to understand." Nehanda thought to herself.

"Do you wanna bet?" said The Sovereign.

"What bet would that be Lord Sovereign?" replied Nehanda with a seductive smile.

"Taku will kill Kufa before ten years are up. If I win, you will become his servant for eternity, if you win, I will introduce you to the Heralds."

Nehanda could barely hold her composure when she heard this bet. Being introduced to the Heralds was far too enticing of an offer to refuse. The only problem was why he was so confident in Taku being able to accomplish this.

"I a.s.sure you, I will neither train nor give him any objects to help him along. And neither will any of my friends. Do we have a deal?" The Sovereign's hand stretched out as a devious smile was plastered on his face.

Nehanda had lived longer than he had, thus she believed that she knew quite a bit about cultivation. According to what she knew, there was no logical way for Taku to accomplish what the Sovereign had said he would. "Of course if you are not interested-" Before the Sovereign could pull back his hand, it had been firmly clasped by Nehanda, "We have a deal!"

The Sovereign was surprised for a moment, which changed to a devious smile. "Pleasure doing business with you."