digital_dive | 1st Conquest [Video]

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1st Conquest [Video]

[The camera comes on to show an enormous man standing with his red cloak around his body, the Net Ocean stretching out in the background and nothing other than the waves and the horizon to focus on besides him. He looks even taller than he is since whoever is holding the camera is so much shorter than him and has to point the camera up slightly to get his face in the shot along with the rest of his body. The man spreads his arms, his cloak billowing for an instant before it comes to rest behind his shoulders, revealing ancient Greek armor beneath. When he speaks, it's in a voice that doesn't need a microphone to be heard clearly over the roar of the waves.]

Everyone! Cease what you are doing and listen to the words of the king!

[He lowers his arms and his cloak slips forward to cover them again.]

I am Iskandar, King of Conquerors! Those who come from my world may know me better as "Alexander the Great". In this world I am of the Xros Tamer class, and I wish to make a proposition. [He looks directly at you. Yes, you watching this video, whoever and wherever you are, he's looking at you specifically. He spreads his arms in the air again and clenches his fists.] What do you say to joining my army? Together, we shall share the joy of conquering this world, trampling the Demon Kings and all who oppose us beneath our feet! [A huge grin.] What say you?

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The term "Hero" has taken a very different meaning where I am from. It means one who pursues justice and the defense of the innocent, putting these ideals above themselves.

That meaning is what I, and what I have become, will uphold.

[He frowns. Oh dear, another one of these. He sounds rather disappointed in her, but also sad.]

The path you walk is a sad one, not allowing yourself to put your own desires before those of others. A person like that can only become an unreachable saint, a beautiful statue on a tall pedestal that the people you protect will never believe they can emulate. Never try to lead others while you hold those ideals. They will not be able to follow you and will be left alone while you continue onward to your sainthood.

... Someone who has never met Marcus Cole, then.

I don't claim to lead. There are heroes worthy of the name who do. I'm just not one of them.

Ah, Sonicheart... Perhaps you would be better served by elaborating a bit more to this King? Remember how few people seem to understand what our world is really like.

Even the rest of the Titans still don't QUITE believe me when I tell them all about Paragon City and the FBSA.

... R-right.

I have never met anyone by that name, no.

... He, like none other, could inspire.

He knew what a hero truly was.

It sounds as if I would have enjoyed speaking with him.

He understood what saving people, and fighting evil, was.

Do you?

People must be saved from paths that end in misery and self-destruction.

"Evil" is subjective. Many actions can be seen as evil from one point of view and justified from another. Do not worry about whether your actions are "good" or "evil". Simply make the choices that you believe are best and accept the results, whatever they may be. If you do not like the results, make a different choice the next time a similar situation occurs.

... While it is true that a hero can only make the best choice they have at the time, 'good' and 'evil' can be far more objective than you would have it. There are things that few indeed can argue as not being one or the other.

The argument, it seems, will not cease. But know this... While we may be aligned against the Demon Kings?

I will fight to stop your schemes of conquest. Others will harry your every move. To declare the path you have taken is to declare open madness.

And yet the definitions of those words change over time.

I declare my intentions openly, as I did when I began my conquest during my life. When I died, it was as the king of every nation against which I had once fought. I suppose that we shall see if that will be the case here as well.

[The words may be boastful, but there's no arrogance in his voice. He's simply stating the facts.]

Forgive my intrusion, your Majesty, but I feel I must correct your assumption.

Where Sonicheart and I are from, many wear the mantle of hero.

Many more aspire to be like those that do.

Human potential is limitless, and even the tiniest soul can shift the course of the world.

I met a king who walked the path this young lady described. While she saved her country and her people, her focus on such an ideal left them without a true leader and they were forced to try and find their own paths while she followed her path of sainthood. The nation was destroyed in a civil war caused by some of her people turning to a new leader, and she was left regretting her life. Perhaps I am being overly broad in applying that lesson here, but I do not wish for anyone to fall so low as to regret their past actions.

A hero that regrets any action not their own has no business carrying people on their shoulders.

No matter what power they may carry, no matter how many burdens they may bear, a hero cannot control the world, nor can they control the actions of others.

Too many fall into that trap. Too many fall PERIOD.

This is true. One can only take what they feel is the correct course of action at the time and accept whatever consequences follow from it, for good or ill.

Even I failed to obtain the world, and while others may have done as I wished, they only did so because they decided to obey me. I certainly never had the power to control the actions of others without their consent. Nor would I have done so if I could have.

I suppose that the title of "hero" would be meaningless if everyone could become one, would it not?

Quite the contrary.

The title of "Hero" would be meaningless if only a select few could acquire it.

Heroism is a goal to aspire to, an ideal to work towards. A hero that can inspire others to heroism continues a cycle of goodness, betterment. A world filled with heroes, people each striving to make the world better in their own way, isn't that something worth believing in?

Imagine, your majesty, what that king you spoke of might have accomplished if she had spent more time helping her people to uplift themselves? What might her kingdom have been remembered for then?

It would seem that the meaning of the word "hero" has changed somewhat over the centuries. In the past, heroes were those who accomplished feats that no one else could have matched at the time, and were thus immortalized in legend. Others could emulate them, but duplicating their feats was impossible; they were heroes precisely because they stood beyond the rest of humanity. One could emulate them yes, but that would not make one a hero unless they performed a legendary feat of their own.

That idea sounds similar to how a king should lead though. A king must be grander than any other; he must be the most good and the most evil, he must laugh louder and rage greater than any other man. When others see him, they must be inspired and feel envy and admiration towards him. Only then will they be truly loyal, and they will strive to better themselves, because they will believe they can be as grand as their king if they only try. A world where everyone gave their all to fulfill their wishes would be an excellent world, would it not?

Perhaps her kingdom might have survived, perhaps not. It is a waste of time to debate what might have happened. One must never regret their actions, nor should they attempt to change the past, regardless of the outcome. Though, despite her insistence that she should not have led her people, she is remembered in legends for her justice, her nobility, and her sad end to this day. She is a hero because she saved her people once when no one else could, even if she failed to lead them afterwords.

Over the centuries, and over the worlds, it seems. What you describe, in my world? We call them Incarnates, and there are so very few of them... And yet, there are those who strive to raise themselves to the heights of this incomparable beings. I've fought with one before, Lord Recluse. Had he managed to lay a hand on me, I would have been dead.

Fortunately, he was unable to come within more than a foot of me.

The king you speak of sounds truly tragic. Whether through her own actions, or through the harsh lens of legend, I cannot say. Heroes, most frequently, do not ask to be heroes. And it is quite true that there should be no regrets, and no thoughts of "What if?"

I cannot say that I agree with your choices, your majesty. Still, you sound as though you're not the typical power-mad soul with delusions of grandeur. I suspect I'm going to be watching you for some time. Should your path be noble, then I may even help you from time to time.

But... as Sonicheart has noted. If your goals bring suffering to others, to the innocent? Then we will be in sad opposition to one another.

We shall see what the future brings, no?

We shall indeed. Perhaps one day we shall fight alongside one another.

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