However, that did not stop the System from executing the Tyrannical Slap. Julius's hand slapped the air in front of him and it made a whip sound, along with a crack sound as if the wind got ripped apart.
A shockwave shot out and struck all of them in front of him, throwing them all like ragdolls. They all spit out blood as they tried to recover.
"Huh!? System, did you not say no physical harm it will inflict?"
[You did not slap them either.]
"Then what was that?"
[You slapped the air.]
"HUHHH!!!???"
The system said nothing more.
The guards slowly stood up; they looked completely confused. Some of them even looked afraid. The way Julius spoke, the way he carried himself, it felt strangely familiar to them.
"Who... who are you?" the guard leader asked.
Julius clicked his tongue.
"Tch... tch... tch... what kind of time is this, where a master has to introduce himself to his own dogs?"
The guards looked at each other. Now they were even more confused. Their thoughts began to run wild. A few of them even looked like they were ready to kneel.
Seeing that they still had not figured it out, Julius sighed loudly.
"I am the master of the Ninth Palace, you blind fools!"
The guard leader's eyes widened.
"Ninth... Prince?" he muttered. His knees almost bent, but he forced himself to stay upright. "How is that possible? His Highness is resting in his private chamber inside the Ninth Palace."
"Oh really?" Julius said calmly. "Did you see him yourself?"
The guard leader opened his mouth to answer, but the words stopped. The truth was... he had not seen the Ninth Prince for months. Every time someone requested an audience, the head maid would stop them at the door. She always said the prince's health was too fragile and visitors could only speak from behind a curtain.
"Answer me!" Julius demanded suddenly.
The sharp voice made the guard leader flinch.
"We... we have seen His Highness," he replied quickly.
"Face to face?"
The guard leader hesitated again. He did not want to admit he might be wrong, especially not in front of a ragged boy who looked like a beggar. But he also could not honestly say he had seen the prince clearly.
Julius watched him struggle for a moment, then spoke again.
"Do you even know what the Royal Sign is?"
The guard leader nodded.
"Every prince carries a Royal Sign on his body. It appears on the inner left forearm and only true royal blood can have it..."
He was about to explain more when the sound of more boots attracted his attention.
"Move! Clear the way!" a sharp commanding voice barked.
Another group of guards was approaching.
"Captain Mathias..." the guard leader muttered. He felt relieved. The other guards also cheered up.
"Captain is here... he is a Foundation Realm expert. We are saved." They said it like children getting saved from a kidnapping villain.
Captain Mathias, the Captain of the Ninth Palace Guards, was the officer who held full command over the Imperial Guard assigned to the Ninth Palace. And he was a Foundation Realm cultivator.
The moment Julius heard about him, his heart tightened a little as the memories filled in, and they were not good at all. Julius almost took a step back. But the moment that thought crossed his mind, the tyrannical meter in his vision began to shake.
"...Fuck."
"System, why the hell does Tyrannical Body Level 02 cost four hundred points?" Julius muttered in his head. "I just bought Level 01 for one hundred. Now you suddenly jump to four hundred? Are you just making up prices to mess with me?"
For a moment the system stayed silent. Then it replied.
[Host, Tyrannical Body Level 01 doubles your body strength. If your body was at 100, after Level 01 it becomes 200. Level 02 doubles it again. 200 plus another 200 equals 400.]
Julius stared blankly for a second.
"You could have just said that from the start. Why explain it like I am five?"
[...]
He checked the point count again. Even after spending one hundred points on Tyrannical Body Level 01 and one point on Tyrannical Slap, the total had already climbed to 1388. He had earned it all back and more after slapping the one guard and scaring them all. Another upgrade would not be a waste of points, and it would pay for itself.
"Fine," Julius said quietly in his mind. "Buy it. Tyrannical Body Level 02. Apply it to me. I am the target."
The change happened instantly. But for Julius, it felt like his entire body had been thrown into a furnace. This time it was completely different from the first upgrade. Before, it had only felt like pressure squeezing him from every direction. Now it felt like he was being melted down.
Melted. Poured into a mold. Hammered. Folded. Then plunged into cold water to harden. All of it happened at once. And yet it was over in a single moment.
From the outside, nothing had changed. Julius still looked the same as before, just a dirty, thin boy in ragged clothes. Anyone looking at him would think he was half starved, or maybe someone who had just recovered from a long fever. But inside, he could feel the difference clearly. Something deep, something fundamental in his body had changed.
He flexed his fingers slowly. They were still thin and bony, but the strength inside them felt completely different now. If he really tried, he felt like he could crush a small stone into dust with his bare hand.
He opened the system store again. A new option had appeared. Tyrannical Body Level 03. The price now showed eight hundred points.
Julius nodded to himself. The logic was obvious now. Every upgrade doubled the body he already had, not the base original one. That was why the cost also doubled every time.
Before he could think, Captain Mathias was already on his face. The first thing he did was slap the guard leader. The one leg broken eunuch came with Captain Mathias was shouting something in his high pitched voice, but it was hard to understand.
"You useless trash!" Mathias barked. "You cannot even handle such a small problem that I had to come here myself?"
"But... but he claims he is His Majesty, the Ninth Prince," the guard leader stammered.
"What!?"
Captain Mathias snapped his head toward Julius. For an instant, recognition flashed in the captain's eyes. A shock, even a faint terror, but then it disappeared.
"Preposterous!" Mathias roared as he pulled out his heavy broadsword.
"His Highness is resting safely inside the inner chamber of the 9th palace!" he shouted. "This beggar is an imposter trying to enter the palace!"
He pointed his sword straight at Julius.
"Guards! Execute him immediately!"