"Mommy! Mommy! It's bedtime now, can you tell us more of the story of Suhendra?"

"Of course kids. Let's see, where were we..."

Ah yes, last we left, the incredibly strong and only recently sentient Guntur had just delcared his intention to bring down the also incredibly powerful King Suhendra, who he saw as a bully and a tyrant ruling over his people. Meanwhile, Suhendra was busy doing his normal Kingly stuff - bossing people around, yelling and threatening people who didn't listen to him, having his way with brides on their wedding nights, basically all his usual terrible things. But that night, he had a very strange and frightening dream. In this dream, his reflection leaped out of the water to fight him, and unlike everyone else he had ever fought, he could not beat himself. Waking up, drenched in sweat, he laughed. He was Suhendra, basically a God (three quarters god to be exact), what did he have to fear from anyone here on Doebi?

The rest of the day was far less interesting, more of his usual tricks and tyrannies. But at least Suhendra had the evening to look forward to - another wedding was scheduled, this time between a rich merchant and a particularly beautiful bride, one that he was looking extra forward to... inspecting... So later, after the festivities of the wedding had ended, Suhendra send a contingent of guards to the house of the bride, to ensure that she was there for his visit later.

Suhendra then bathed, prepared himself, and headed into the city to visit the happy couple. But when he got to their house, he found there to be absolutely no guards around.

Strange, he thought, but oh well - I guess I will have to deal with them myself later.

Undeterred, the King strode forward towards the house, only to find the way blocked... by a very large man in a very tight loincloth. This was madness! No one had ever blocked the way of Suhendra before!

"Move this instant, or you will be moved by force!" he screamed at the large man. But the man did not move.

"Alright then, your funeral!" And with that, Suhendra grabbed the large man and went to toss him to the side... only to find himself unable to move him. The man smiled, grabbed Suhendra back, and tossed the surprised King into the wall of a nearby home.

Guntur smiled to himself. That was the famous Suhendra? Taking him down might be even easier than I thought! Unfortunately, Guntur was too busy congratulating himself on an easy job done that he did not see Suhendra get up from the now destroyed house, lower his shoulders, and charge straight at him, throwing them both into the home of the newlyweds, destroying their doorway in the process. Getting up, they both locked eyes, growled, and began to fight.

Now kids, I have heard many different things growing up about this battle, all of them as amazing as the rest. Some claim that they threw each other as high as mountains, others that they caused holes as deep as the deepest vuölts with their body slams, and others still that they used entire homes as weapons to be swung around and thrown at each other. But whatever happened, after two hours of fighting, a third of the city lie in ruins, and both men were bloodied, bruised, and exhausted.

Guntur and Suhendra stood there for a minute, amongst the rubble, catching their breaths. Neither seemed to be able to best the other, but both were definitely impressed by the power that each of them demonstrated.

"Hey," said Suhendra to Guntur between breaths, "you're pretty strong."

"Thanks," Guntur replied tiredly, "you're pretty strong too."

"What is your name?"

"I... I am Guntur."

"Well then Guntur, we could keep fighting. Or, we could agree to call this a draw, and decide to call each other friend instead of enemy. How does that sound?"

Guntur thought for a moment. He had come here to humble this man, put an end to his tyranny. Sadly, it seemed, he would be unable to do that in combat. But maybe, just maybe, there was another way to change him. Guntur smiled.

"That sounds good, my new friend."

And with that, both men embraced, and helped each other climb over the rubble and back to the King's palace.

"What? But mom, Guntur hated Suhendra, and wanted to destroy him. Why did he just become friends with him?"

She smiled. "It is easy to see something you don't like and destroy it, whether that is a person, a thing, or a situation. But sometimes, the best way to change something or someone is to help it to change from the inside, and mold it into the best version of itself. Guntur saw that he could not destroy Suhendra, but knew that there was goodness inside of him, waiting to be brought out. He decided that he would try and make Suhendra into a good King, instead of destroying him and hoping someone better would come along."

"Wow, I never thought of it that way. Did it work?"

"All in good time kids. Now, where was I..."

Right. So Suhendra and his new best friend Guntur made their way back to the palace. Over the next few months, Suhendra taught Guntur all about the important things about being in a civilization - how to stay clean and hygienic, how to dress appropriately, how to behave in public, and all sorts of other things. Guntur, on the other hand, was busy teaching Suhendra a different way to rule. You see, Suhendra now say that he was not the undisputed most powerful man on Doebi, and that his actions had been so terrible that the Gods themselves intervened. Clearly, he thought, there must be another way forward, and maybe Guntur has the key.

So Suhendra ended all of the terrible policies and rules he had put forward. Gone were the terrible tributes and taxes, gone was his inspection to brides in the city, he began to listen to his opponents instead of destroying them (who knew they had so many good ideas?), and he began to give back to the people instead of just taking from them. And, if he was being honest, this made Suhendra feel pretty good.

Unfortunately, he was also feeling really bad. You see, being so powerful made him feel special and eternal, a presence that could never be rivaled for all of time. Guntur showed him that this was not to be the case. And when you have felt so special all your life, to have that ripped away leaves a void inside of you that can be hard to fill. But most of all, this realization made Suhendra understand that, despite being more God than Man, he was still mortal. Suhendra would not live forever, and this terrified him.

At the same time, Guntur was also not feeling great. See, until he had been civilized and gained a conscious, Guntur had never felt bad before. He never had to think about things like that. Now, he had to deal with real issues, and understand that not only did most things have a purpose, but that he seemed to not have one.

But despite going through his existential crisis, Guntur was a good friend, and wanted to help Suhendra to feel better. So one day, while they were talking over dinner, he tried to comfort his new buddy.

"Suhendra," he began, "living forever is more than just the continuation of this life. It is the things we do with our limited time here that can echo throughout time, and keep our names in the memories of our people for all of time."

Suhendra was silent, but pondered this for the rest of the evening, and spend all night in his room thinking about this. Finally the next morning, while Guntur was in the middle of breakfast, Suhendra barged in, a grin on his face, and shouted "I KNOW HOW WE CAN LIVE FOREVER!"

Guntur sighed. "Great. What is this revelation that you suddenly came to? Overnight. Just, sitting in your room."

"We are going to build a grand temple to Cozmera, the Goddess of Life, using holy stone from the Ponderetic Spires. It is to be so grand that she will have no choice but to grant us eternal life!"

Guntur fell silent, then began to laugh. "You want us to journey across the island, to one of the most dangerous areas known to man, guarded by a massive beast created by Ponderet herself, to then lug a bunch of holy stone back here, to build a temple, just because you hope it will be impressive enough to get Cozmera to grant us immortality? My friend, in this quest you have planned to give yourself eternal life, you will almost certainly die."

Suhendra smiled. "Well it is as you said yesterday - if we wish to live forever, we must do great actions and deeds that are remembered for the rest of time. Slaying a monster of the Gods and building a massive temple surely fits that bill, yes?"

"No you moron," Guntur sighed, "I meant do good deeds here, for your people, like making a set of basic laws or giving out your wealth or something, not go charging after a monster so terrifying all the animals of the island flee its sight! This is... ugh!"

Guntur threw his food in the air in frustration. Suhendra was being insane! Sure, they were both really strong and powerful, but even they would stand no chance against this monster. And to do it all for some stone? This was insanity.

"Well you don't have to join me then," replied Suhendra, "and I will get all the glory by myself. Either way, I am off to the armory. See you around, friend."

Guntur yelled after Suhendra as he walked away, trying to convince him not to go through with this suicidal plan. But before long, Guntur found himself coming along as well. He didn't care about the glory or fame or the temple or any of that, but he and Suhendra had grown close over the last few months, and he was not about to abandon him to his fate now.

Arriving at the armory, they picked out some of the biggest weapons they could find. Guntur took a club weighing 300 pounds, a spear weighing 250 pounds, and a thick, sharpened copper blade weighing 200 pounds. Suhendra, not about to be outdone, picks up a 400 pound club, two 300 pound spears, and six 50-pound knives.

Following this ridiculous display of masculinity and strength, they approached a number of town guards to accompany them, and help to bring back the stones once the monster had been defeated. Initially reluctant, they became much more interested when Suhendra offered a large payment to each of them from his own personal treasury.

And so, accompanied by 120 men, Guntur and Suhendra headed off for the Ponderetic Spires.

"Now kids, it is way past your bedtimes. We will continue the story tomorrow."

"Awwwwww, please mom, can we hear just a little bit more."

"No, you need your rest. Now goodnight kids."

"Goodnight mom..."