全城危机

"There are only 4 Gods." Alexander said to himself, all the while smiling widely. "The power of Life from Paladinos and the power of Magic from Magius are both clearly measured. What I have is definitely not the power of death, so that leaves..."

"The power of Perses – God of War!" Buccephalas cried out. "That is why you were supreme in battle back on Earth!"

Alexander glanced at Aleyria\'s troubled face. He was sure she had figured it out too. He glanced back at the Testing Pillar which was giving out an deep bronze glow.

"Bronze. The first level of power. Perses granted his generals three levels of power. Bronze, Silver and Gold." Buccephalas said softly.

"His bronze generals commanded up to a hundred thousand troops, and were nigh invincible in open field battles involving up to 500,000 soldiers. Even outnumbered 10-to-1, his bronze generals would more often than not achieve victory. Sometimes even completely annihilating the enemy. There was even one time when a bronze general managed to win against an enemy twice his numbers without suffering a single casualty. A devilish combination of poison and favorable terrain.

Additionally, the bronze level also triples your physical power and reflexes."

"You seem to know a lot about Perses, Buccephalas." Alexander commented, surprised by the details Buccephalas knew. He focused his attention on Aleyria, who was still silent and looking increasingly conflicted.

"Don\'t worry Aleyria. As with all other tools, power, even the power of God, is merely that – a tool. I am not Perses." Alexander removed his hand from the Testing Pillar.

The flowers began to disintegrate and the vines started to retreat. Very soon, it reverted to its previous silky smooth look.

"You desire the same things Perses did, do you not?" Aleyria asked.

Alexander looked at her gently. "As does every man born of a woman. Ambition itself is not evil. Seeking world domination is not evil. Ambition does not define us as being good or evil. It is how we seek to achieve that ambition which will. Perses chose to ally with the undead and massacre his way across the universe. I will not."

"How will I know you will do what you say? What if you become another Perses and cause the death of trillions across the universe?" Aleyria pressed on.

"You will never truly know what I will do, until you truly know me." Alexander said very simply.

Aleyria hesitated.

Alexander stretched out his hand and offered it to Aleyria, palm facing up. "I am not asking you to believe me now. I am asking you to walk with me. Stay by my side as I move to conquer Arcanus and beyond. Get to know me from the closest distance, I will not put up my guard against you. See for yourself if I am like Perses. If you find that I am like him, kill me."

Aleyria looked at the hand that was offered to her, back to Alexander\'s face, and then back again at his hand. Unbeknownst to Alexander, despite her calm look, Aleyria\'s heart was currently aswirl with many irrelevant thoughts and feelings.

"Wha-what does he mean, \'truly know\' him? And \'closest distance\'? And am I supposed to put my hand on top of his? Like accepting a man\'s dance request? Are we going to dance?? OF COURSE NOT! But why give me his hand this way? If I put my hand on his, what does it signify? Does that mean that I am his woman? Is he asking me to be his woman? But how am I supposed to kill him if I am his woman? So he\'s probably not asking me to be his woman. OF COURSE NOT!! BUT WHAT DOES THIS STUPID HAND MEAN THEN???"

Buccephalas snickered. This fool had no idea what he was doing. He may be a Godly general, able to use many sophisticated strategems to take down Kingdoms. And he may have had three wives on Earth, but he still was a dumbo regarding women. Of course Aleyria would no- WHAT IS SHE DOING?!

Aleyria raised her hand and slowly put it on Alexander\'s. Her heart thumped madly and she began to feel slightly dizzy. "I..." She began. What should she say at this moment? I accept your proposal? But it\'s not THAT kind of proposal right??

"I accept." She finally said.

Alexander smiled gently at her. Aleyria smiled back at him.

It was a beautiful moment.

And then Alexander began to panic.

Oh my God, now what do I do? What do I do?? Do I let go of her hand? But I don\'t want to! Should I just hold her hand then? But what if she thinks that I am lusting after her? Will she get angry? She\'s a WHITE ARCHMAGE!! What do I do?! BUCCEPHALAS!! HELP!!

"Do whatever you want." Buccephalas muttered. "It seems to be working brilliantly so far."

Still caught up in the moment, Aleyria had no idea that Alexander\'s heart was currently aswirl with many irrelevant thoughts and feelings.

"G-Good. Then we are in a partnership." Alexander finally managed to say.

Finally, Alexander decided to take the high moral ground and grudgingly released Aleyria\'s hand. "One day." he thought passionately. "One day I will hold your hand openly and proclaim to the world that you\'re mine!"

He was so passionate about his newfound goal that he subconsciously released his battle intent.

"Look at him, he is so eager for battle!" Aleyria sighed as she thought to herself. "Men. We just had our first physical contact and all he could think of are battles and conquest."

"Well. Now that we know that you have the power of Perses within you, it might be a good idea to find out exactly what it does. The legends only tell us that it bestowed incredible battle genius to the being that possessed it." Aleyria said to Alexander, shrugging off her remaining thoughts and feelings on romance to focus on the matter at hand.

"Yes. I think I know what the initial level means. Based on my experiences, it gives me a much faster and stronger body, as well as the ability to dominate battles. I once won a battle outnumbered 10-to-1 at a place called Gaugamela."

Aleyria nodded. 10-to-1 is impressive. Aleyria told herself. Remember, he had no magic.

Still.

I could take on a million-to-one by myself. A little voice within her said proudly.

They were merely swinging their swords! And they managed to kill 10 times their number! You try doing that and see how many you could kill. She told that arrogant wench in a firm voice.

Again.

He\'s a man. The little voice sulked. How can he be weaker than a woman?

It was impressive! Aleyria stomped on that annoying little minx and silenced her. She then smiled at Alexander, encouraging him to go on.

"A fine battle it was!" Alexander continued to recount his victory excitedly, oblivious to the fact that his audience was not very impressed. "We had just crossed into Mesopotamia after conquering Greece and Egypt. I remember seeing the awe-inspiring sight of 400,000 soldiers in battle formations arrayed against me. The battle drums boomed out their marching tempo and the roar of 400,000 men eager for battle assaulted my ears.

Although I was heavily outnumbered, I only had 40,000 soldiers, I knew it was enough. Barely, but enough. My Companion Cavalry in the right flank was the best in the world, and my Greek Phalanx in the center will crush their infantry. Parmenion, my trusted general, will hold my left, and that was all I required of him.

In my opening maneuver, I led my Companion Cavalry and charged their left flank..."