Diane then said "your request for your own troops has been approved, and we decide to let those royal guards to be your first men but they are not enough to be able to protect you. Your levels have been too far apart."
"Mother I trust those men, they won't disappoint me, by the end of this retreat all 100 of them will surely be Saint-level experts!" he said
They were all aware of the guard's efforts this past month and knew that all of them have stepped into the saint realm. Diane and the rest looked at the boy, his charisma is natural. She just wanted to test John's reaction. But with the clear look on his golden eyes and the innocent look on his face, they knew that he truly believed the guards will accomplish their breakthrough.
Jonathan felt very happy for his son, to have his men do their best to remain by his side. This was not just loyalty, but a testament to John's charisma as a leader. With those 100 royal guards trained personally by John, he knew that their progress would be substantial. He could say that these 100 men are fortunate to have gained John's favor. From all the men currently on this island who among them doesn't want to be personally trained by him.
"Tomorrow the 100 royal guards will be sent to the island, they will be under your care, you will be responsible for their training. However, if they don't step up and reach the peak of the Saint realm, red gold in their BGBTA and sixth level of the BGSA in thirteen years, they would resume their royal guard post. Do you agree?" he asked John
"No problem father, thirteen years is more than enough time for me to transform them into dragons! I trust my men, and they won't disappoint me" he said
...
On the palace training ground, 100 royal guards are working hard to increase their strengths. Everyone has broken through the Saint realm. Zero then appeared in front of the men, they stood up straight and greeted her.
"Pack your things and ready your selves, the king has requested your group to train with the prince!" there was irritation, unexplainable disdain, and jealousy in her words. The guards could feel her piercing gaze at them, it sent shivers on their spines.
"Make sure to train at your best, many will be glad to take your positions, I'll be back in an hour, hurry up and prepare your things" then she left
The guards were surprised by her words, they knew who zero was, but this is the first time that she spoke to them and with so much disdain. They replied their things and gathered before the scheduled time, zero has been waiting for them and they left to the island.
...
Warp...
When the guards arrived at the island they were shocked by the presence of the people they saw. No one is below the ninth level of said realm. Everyone we're starting at them and have the same look as zero when she first approached them. Everyone followed them to Mario's workshop and the poor guards felt their hostile gazes. They can say anything, they could only endure.
They were brought in front of Mario's workshop, and they saw John walked out, "you're all here!" he said
"Goodmorning prince!" they all saluted as they greeted John
"Good! You all trained hard to reach the Saint realm, and have not disappointed me." he praised
"Starting today everyone of you will be relieved of your position as royal guards! You will be my very first group of personal guards!" John said
The men were surprised by what they heard and felt very happy of what they heard.
When the crowd confirmed everything from John himself, someone spoke
"Prince please reconsider your decision! It's not that I look down on them, and I believe in their loyalty to your highness. But their strengths at insufficient to protect you! They would be a burden to the prince the way they are now!" a tribulation immortal complained
"Yes my lord, please reconsider! We can't agree and we certainly won't be at ease leaving you under their protection!" another one complained
Many earth and heavenly immortals also agreed. Though these royal guards are young and talented, they are just first-level saints. With their prince talents, if their enemies knew of it, the amount of threat is something these first-level saints can't handle, they would be a burden to John.
The guards felt mad, they knew that these warriors look down on them. This is what zero means that many wanted to be in their position. They were thankful for gaining their prince's favor and is chosen as his guards. However, their strength is indeed not enough to protect him, thus the guards stayed silent and held their tempers back.
This is Jonathan and Diane's plan all along, they wanted to motivate the guards and also to recruit stronger warriors who are willing to be part of John's personal guards. Their plan is successful, not only the saints but even the immortals were showing interest in being John's personal guard. Diane could also discern her numbered guards' willingness to be part of her son's team. This scenario is beyond their expectation. 'I guess we've still underestimated our son's charisma.' Jonathan sent a soul transmission to Diane
'Whose son is he to begin with?' she proudly replied
Alfred and Mario both looked at each other and felt proud as well. Their grandson's charisma is amazing, he is still too young but he gained recognition from these men. Who are these people? They are all the top warriors of the empire, it only means that John has been accepted by them as the next king. The couple also felt the same, and felt relieved that their son is treated with so much care and respect by these people.
John is having a dilemma, he didn't think that his wanting to have his own trusted men would create such a commotion.
Jonathan then spoke, "since you all don't agree, let's ask the prince what he proposes to do." he wanted John to make his own decisions, he trusted him this much
John is thinking hard and then he said: "everyone let's do it this way."
"The empire has an unwritten rule that one could only have two hundred personal guards, these men have been training with me from the first time I started my cultivation, they may not be strong now but guarantee that before my 15th birthday these men, will be on the same standing as you!" he said in confidence
The royal guards were excited and thankful to John, they also wanted to imprint this humiliating day into their souls and wanted to use this as motivation to improve their cultivation. They don't want to disappoint their prince and wanted to prove to these crowd that they deserve this position.
"I thank everyone for your concern, this prince is grateful" then he bowed
"I will choose one hundred more men under the earth immortal realm as part of my two hundred personal guards, my requirements for my guards is not purely on strength, so I'm willing to accept anyone who is willing to be part of my team."
To johns surprise all 300000 men and women who are saints and tribulation immortal splined up to be his personal guards. Jonathan and the other immortals were shocked by this sight.
John is the most surprised, he didn't expect this kind of outcome. For all these men to want to become part of his personal guards, he felt extreme gratitude and happiness. He could feel their heartfelt concern to protect him.
"Thank you for you concern. Let's proceed to the training grounds and start with the selection process." he ordered
The guards didn't know what John was referring to as the training ground, so they followed the crowd. When the reach the wide area of the island's training ground they were all shocked in daze.
"Let's start with the selection, " he said
John grouped the 300000 soldiers into 300 teams, each having 1000 men each, then set the rules as a round-robin type of switching of team captain. This will then be able to assess every individual of their leadership skills. After every 1000 sets of war games, those who did not meet his standards will be removed from the candidates. No one argued with John's decision. They are confident in John's decision.
Jonathan knew of John's preference for his team, before when he chose these 100 guards to be his training partners he asked him of his reason. "Father these one hundred guards may not be the strongest but they are all rounded men and have good leadership skills, they are also the ones with the greatest potential among the royal guards." he honestly replied, he didn't know how John is able to determine their potentials as he was still very young, what he didn't know of at that time is johns experience as Regur, and using his instincts as a general in his previous life, John is confident in eying talents.
The royal guards were surprised when they first saw the guns, this is the very first time they saw such unique weapon. When they observed the war games they felt the pressure of being John's guard. If they wanted to be following their prince, they must be more than just above average they must be the best. Looking at these 300000 men wanting to take the 100 positions of personal guards the pressure on them is heavy. They swear to give it their all, they didn't want to disappoint John.
Since the start of the selection, it has been 5 days and there are only one thousand men left. These five days the 100 guards started their training of the three barbarian god arts. John personally planned their training and the improvements were visible in these five days.
On the tenth day, the selection ended and 98 men and 2 women were chosen to be part of his 200 personal guards. All of them are tribulation immortals not lower than the 5th level, and two of them are at the peak of the ninth level, the two are none other than the two women.
They are twins and also the youngest among these people, these girls are 20 years of age and are the youngest daughters of a noble clan, they are the protectors of the southern sea border of the empire. Before the planar war, their clan is among the strongest within the empire, but after the war, most of their warriors perished and never returned. At this very moment, they are the only representative of their clan on this group. Not only were the twin pretty they are also very powerful. Diane looked at them with a fiery gaze, 'what perfect candidates to be my son's wives. They're pretty much like me, strong, elegant and beautiful, the elder one with long hair is a cold and silent type, while the younger sister with short hair has a sweet but fiery temperament.'
Jonathan guessed his wife's thoughts, he could only sigh and pray for John's future.
John looked at the two hundred guards who have neatly lined up in front of him "Congratulations, all two hundred of you are now part of my 200 personal guards." then he paused
"Please state your names and origin for I need to keep them to heart," he ordered
The guards felt touched, and one by one they introduced their names and origin, the twins were the first to introduce themselves.
"Elise Gold from the south sea border, " the elder sister introduced herself
"Eleanor Gold from the south sea border, " said the younger sister
"Merlin Gold (Merl) from the western beast mountain border,"
Then the rest followed.
After their introduction, John and the rest made an oath and completed the ceremony. After today their names will be replaced with numbers same with dianes numbered guards
The rest of the saints who were not selected said to them, "we leave our prince safety under your care, don't slack off, we are very much willing to replace you!" they said
John's personal guards understood this and didn't want anyone else to replace them, especially the 100 royal guards they felt incredible pressure.
"Everyone, we don't have much time, we only have 45 days left before we end this retreat, so I request for the 100 brothers and sisters to guide the others in their training." then he looked at his guards,
"By my 15th birthday, the weakest among you should be at red gold level of the Barbarian god body transformation arts; tribulation immortal level of the metal element manipulation arts; and 6th level of Barbarian god soul arts."
Then john looked at the 100 guards,
"After 45 days, I except the lot of you to reach steel level of the BGBTA, and reach the second level of BGSA. Am I clear?" he asked
"Yes, your highness!" the 100 men replied
He nodded asked Elise, Eleanor, and Merlin to lead the training of the team. Then John continued with his training as usual.