《Infallible Oathbreaker》


 1 Ten Thousand Strikes

    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Early in the morning, at the crack of dawn, a young man was hammering an anvil with all his might. Over and over again. As he lifted the hammer, strong winds would blow, circling around him and displacing the leaves nearby, as if to celebrate the incredible feat the young man was performing.


    From his initial movements to the grip on the hammer and even to the swing, everything looked perfect. So perfect, in fact, that each swing was exactly the same as the previous ones. Even the sound made by the hammer hitting the anvil was exactly the same each time.


    The boy kept hitting the hammer continuously until a loud voice entered his ears.


    "Darius! Enough! The matron has called us for lunch!"


    "Hhmm... lunch?" As soon as Darius heard the word lunch, he stopped his rhythmic swinging and tossed the hammer aside as if it was weightless. Yet, the moment the hammer landed on the ground, vibrations spread from the impact point.


    Darius was an average-looking young man. Short, black hair, black eyes and brown skin that made it difficult to tell what race he was.


    Darius completely ignored the visage of the boy who had called out to him and walked straight back home. The other boy stood there befuddled and snorted in disdain.


    "Hmph, this is why you have no friends you freak!" Thought the boy as he looked at Darius''s shrinking back. The boy looked around and looked at the hammer and anvil. After a moment of hesitation he strolled towards the object and decided to see if he could give it a go.


    The hammer itself had a few unusual characteristics. It had a long handle, about one meter long. Its head was also not too common, as either side of the head had a blunt surface one could use to strike with,meaning it was a double-sided hammer. Beside the unusual handle and the head, nothing else was strange about the hammer. It looked old and was rusted in some areas, so it also didn''t look too special.


    The boy had heard rumours from the other children at the orphanage that no one except Darius could lift this hammer. The boy found this hard to believe and bent over: he steadily gripped the handle... and pulled with all his might!!!


    Pull!


    Pull!


    Pull!


    And yet, this hammer, just like Darius himself, would not allow itself to be moved by anyone...


    ...


    As Darius walked down the mountain toward the village, thoughts filled his mind, making him completely ignore his surroundings


    "The sound is coming closer and closer to what that expert said was the requirement. Very soon I will be able to get rid of this curse and live my live like a normal person!"


    Yoko Village was a small village, with the population not passing five thousands. For a village of this size however, it was nicely developed. Of course, it was mainly due to the fact that it was close to a major city.


    Darius walked past a few houses and headed straight for the orphanage. As usual, his hands felt like they wight a ton, his body was feeling hot all over and his mind was dizzy. However, Darius had long gotten used to these sensations. As far as he was concerned, nothing was more important than his life, so some pain was nothing.


    The orphanage was a three-story building. In fact, it was one of the larger buildings within the village and had quite a bit of financial support, thus it was able to support a hundred orphans with ease.


    As Darius walked in through the front entrance, a myriad of gazes washed by him as many children and workers at the orphanage began to gossip about him. Darius ignored the attention and did what he always did everyday: he walked straight to the cafeteria, took some food and sat at a table that was as far away from the crowds as possible.


    One of the new cooks at the cafeteria looked at Darius and noted his strange behavior. A cook beside him saw him: "You must be a newbie right?"


    The cook who had been starring at Darius was surprised and shyly scratched his head. "Is it that obvious? I thought I was doing quite well to avoid being noticed as one."


    "Well you were, until you stared at Darius like that. Anyone who finds his behavior strange is definitely a newbie." Said the more experienced cook.


    "Darius? Is he the legendary Darius? ''Ten Thousand Strikes'' Darius Omen? That''s him?"


    "Yup. That''s him."


    "I''m surprised. The rumours made him sound more..."


    The experienced cook chuckled: "Tell me... what exactly did you hear about Darius?"


    With a gulp, the new cook responded, "I heard that every morning he would climb up one of the mountains behind the village. Then, he would lift up an hammer and strike an anvil. He reportedly does this at least ten thousand times a day. I also heard that this hammer weighs more than the average mallet, yet Darius is able to lift it with ease. I also hear that many fear him because of his monstrous strength and that he has a short temper..."


    "Haha the rumours get more and more extreme with each day that passed!" Laughed the experienced cook.


    "You mean... they are not true?"


    "Well... you could say that half of it is true." As the experienced cook dished food for the other orphans he continued: "He does climb the mountain and hit the anvil ten thousand times a day... however the hammer part is false."


    "Really? Senior, can you explain more?"


    "It is true that the hammer is ridiculously heavy, but the moment Darius touches it it becomes extremely light." Said the experienced cook in a cool manner.


    "You mean... it''s enchanted?"


    "Yup. Darius was the son of a village chief within another village. Him having an enchanted hammer isn''t a surprise. Because it is enchanted to only work in his hands, that hammer is useless to everyone else. As for his temper, you couldn''t be any farther from the truth! Darius is a coward before anything else. He couldn''t fight to save his life! Look." The experienced cook pointed in Darius''s direction with his chin.


    The young cook looked to Darius''s table to see what his companion meant, only to be surprised: Darius was being bullied by the other children! They were throwing food at him and he was not retaliating at all. Darius meekly covered his head with his hands and waited for it to stop.


    The other children laughed at him, and once they felt that they had had enough fun they walked away. Darius looked up and, noticing that the bullies were gone, resumed his meal as if nothing had happened.


    "My word! I... I had no idea." said the new cook with a helpless expression.


    "Well, if you feel sorry for him I have one piece of advice for you. Don''t waste your time. Today will be his last day here anyway." Said the experienced cook as he took out his old pipe to smoke.


    "Senior, why is today his last day?" said the young cook with a curious look in his eye.


    The older cook took a puff of smoke: "Today, he is coming of age."

 2 Departure

    The office of the matron was quite simple. There wasn''t anything fancy. Just a few bookshelves with some books and the odd object here or there. After lunch Darius headed straight for the office because he knew it was time. The moment he entered the office, Darius saw the Matron looking over some paperwork.


    She was a bit of an oddity to Darius. When he entered the orphanage six years ago she appeared to be a middle aged woman who was on the verge of having a head full of while hair. She only had a few strands at the time so Darius assumed after a few years he would see more white hair and some wrinkles on her face. Yet none appeared. She had no more white hair, and just like before, not a single wrinkle was on her beautiful face. The caused the already cautious Darius to be even more cautious around her.


    The moment Darius entered, the usually strict matron showed a kind and loving expression. "Welcome Darius, please, take a seat."


    "Yes ma''am." Darius replied meekly.


    As soon as he sat down, the matron couldn''t help but frown. "You know Darius, even though you are now too old for the orphanage you can still leave with the other children in your age group at the end of the year. You don''t have to leave so early."


    "I''m sorry ma''am. These past few years you have treated me with the utmost kindness. You have raised me as if I was your own son. In this life there is nothing I can do to repay such kindness. I am forever indebted to you..." The usually meek Darius then put on an expression to show that he was resolved.


    "However I have made my decision. The Spiritsmith Guild in the capital will only start accepting students within the next few weeks. If I miss this chance I will have to wait another year. Which means I will have to suffer for another year. I''m sorry ma''am but I can''t take this anymore. I have already made my decision, and not even you can change it."


    The matron was stunned. She had only seen Darius make such a face when he was using his hammer to strike the stone at the top of the mountain. Although she had never said so to his face, she thought he looked manly when he did so. Now that he finally showed this side of himself when socializing with someone made her feel proud.


    "Perhaps he has finally healed inside. Perhaps he is now ready to face the world." The matron sighed as she thought about Darius''s growth. "Very well, you can leave today as planned. However first I need you to listen to me for a few moments. The capital is a dangerous place, especially for those as young as yourself. So I need make sure you are as prepared as you can be. Despite the foolish face you make in public, I know very well how cunning you are. That won''t be enough to survive in the capital. Now listen up."


    As time went on, Darius''s face couldn''t help but become ugly, because he knew that the matron had entered her rambling mode. This was the true reason she was feared throughout the village. Once she started her lectures, she could go on for hours. She even lectured adult men and women if she felt like it.


    "I will probably miss this." Darius was about to think of an excuse to cut the lecture short, but he realized that this was his last lecture within the orphanage, and perhaps the last time he would see her for a long, long time. He decided to brace himself and accept the full brunt of her earth shattering banter.


    After a few hours she was finally finished. Even though she was the one speaking, she was still as energetic as ever. Darius on the other hand was mentally exhausted to the point where he felt that he could easily go to sleep in his bed right now. "That witch! Maybe she wants me to go and sleep! I won''t fall for it! Besides the bus to the capital leaves in about an hour or so. I must push on!"


    Darius quickly stood up and did a deep bow. "Ma''am, one day I will comeback and repay your kindness to me a hundredfold. I swear it!" As soon as Darius said these words he ran out of the office like prey running from a predator.


    The matron couldn''t help but to shed a tear when she saw this. "Silly child. He was always bad with goodbyes..."


    ...


    Darius quickly packed what liitle belongings he had and headed straight for the mountain top which he was familiar with. He picked up the hammer and strapped it to his back using a specialized leather strap he got with the hammer itself. He then touched the surface of the anvil. The anvil immediately shrunk till it was the size of a pebble. Darius then put the anvil within his pocket and began his journey toward the village entrance.


    As he walked through the village he started reminiscing about the times he spent here. Unfortunately, no matter how much he tried, no good memories came up. He spent the majority of his days doing the same thing. Going up the mountain, striking the anvil continuously, coming down for lunch, going back up again to continue striking the anvil, then he would come back down for dinner and sleep. Waking up at the crack of dawn to eat his breakfast and continue the same process.


    "Damn curse." Darius couldn''t help but curse when he realized he barely had any memories of this village. He had repeated the same process of going up and down the mountain for six years every single day. When he was walking through the small village he realized he barely knew it at all. If it wasn''t for the fact that he could see the entirety of the village from the mountaintop, Darius was sure that he would get lost completely, despite the small size of the village.


    As soon as he arrived at the village entrance he saw a group of people, who like him, were taking the bus to the capital. Many people dreamt of making it big in the capital, rumour had it that one could achieve anything there so long as they were skilled and fortunate enough.


    Darius like most of these people was gambling his fate on the fact that he was skilled enough to enter the Spiritsmith Guild within the capital. "Surely striking that accursed anvil for six years has to have brought me some benefits."


    As Darius was busy thinking about his future prospects a loud rambling noise made its way into his ears: the bus was here.

 3 Voyage to the Capital

    "Name?"


    "Jonathan Haze."


    "Enter. Name?"


    "Elisha Andrews."


    "Enter. Name?"


    As the conductor looked at his list, he called out names to check wether these people had actually booked the ticket to go on the bus. If one had booked, he would receive a ticket and his name would be on the conductor''s list. When the conductor requested for his name, he would then show him his ticket and state their name. If his name was on the list, then you would be granted entry into the giant hunk of metal.


    When Darius first saw the bus he was stunned speechless. Since it was his ticket to the capital, he had been expecting something magnificent looking. Yet, right now, what came his way was a giant rusty metallic cuboid with wheels on the bottom shaking from side to side.


    "Am I really going to be safe in there? Can that thing even hold human beings? Ah I''m starting to feel like this was a bad idea..." Darius thought to himself. Darius was by nature a coward. He valued his life greatly and wanted to avoid anything that could possibly endanger him as much as possible. As far as Darius was concerned, courage was a word made to cull the stupid from humanity''s ever-growing population."


    "Name. Oy, kid, I said tell me your name!"


    The conductor''s shout brought Darius out of his stupor. "Uhm, ehem... sorry about that! Darius Omen. My name is Darius Omen."


    The conductor raised a brow when he heard Darius''s strange surname, but then again this wasn''t the first time he had heard a weird name. He grunted in approval and waved to Darius for him to enter the death tra... ahem, bus. Darius stepped into the large, metallic vehicle with a large gulp.


    He quickly found a seat and hugged his duffle bag as if his life depended on it. As soon as the grumbling conductor was done, a sharp whistle was emitted. Darius assumed this was a signal from the conductor to the driver, who was probably somewhere in this rust bucket. There were only windows by the side while in front there was only more metal and the conductor''s seat.


    The conductor himself sat down and began to read a newspaper as their journey began. Darius began to quiver as the bus started moving at a speed that made it difficult to even recognize what was outside.


    "Th-th-the bus wasn''t moving this fast before." Uttered another frightened passenger behind Darius.


    The conductor merely chuckled and continued reading his paper: "If we arrived with our normal speed, none of you would have the guts to enter the bus."


    An old sounding voice came from nowhere as it echoed throughout the bus. Darius looked around and tried to figure out where that sound came from. However, just like the other new passengers, he was unsuccessful. The passengers who had already been on the bus for quite some time ignored this phenomenon as they seemed used to it.


    Darius hugged his bag and started praying. He didn''t know who or what he was praying to, but he did so anyway:


    "Please don''t let me die young!"


    ...


    Spirits were mankind''s worst enemy. They had appeared out of nowhere centuries ago and had been plaguing mankind ever since. They came in many forms with many strange abilities, however they all had once thing in common: they loved to devour humans. The war between mankind and the spirits had been going on for a long time.


    As far as Darius knew, there were only two existences keeping mankind alive.


    The first were spirit knights, mighty warriors who had the ability to challenge the mighty spirits on equal footing.


    The second existence were spiritsmiths. Such people were expert craftsmen who were able to use the bodies of dead spirits to create incredible things.


    Darius''s current goal was to become a spiritsmith. Not only did they enjoy a high status in society, they were also richer than any other type of person in existence outside royalty! Darius knew that to be a spiritsmith, one needed to have two things: the first was incredible willpower. Darius believed that he had plenty after hitting the anvil continuously for six years without stopping;


    The second requirement... was spiritual affinity.


    This was something Darius didn''t quite understand, but he knew that one''s spiritual affinity could be tested as soon as one reached the age of 12. Darius was found to have below average spiritual affinity. This did not stop Darius from pursuing his dreams, because he knew those esteemed spiritsmiths would also need assistants.


    Darius''s goal was to become a spiritsmith''s assistant, and over the course of time, learn how to become a spiritsmith himself. This path was one chosen by those who were not that talented in terms of spiritual affinity. Darius believed he could make up for his lack of talent with his intelligence and willpower. It was wishful thinking, but this was Darius''s only hope to be able to live a somewhat normal life.


    Not to mention spiritsmiths made a lot of money! Darius''s wish was to become extremely rich and marry many wives. He was a very perverse young man. Unfortunately after his hammering sessions, he would never have the time or energy to pursue his desires. Darius had seen many of his fellow orphans go to brothels. All he could do was look on in envy.


    "Damn curse." Darius would always inwardly swear when he saw this.


    He was afraid of the consequences of him sleeping with a woman while the curse was still active. Thus, all he could do was hammer on.


    "But I''m close... this time I''m close... I can feel it. I''m this close to breaking the damn curse! Hahahahahahaha." In the bus Darius put on a smirk as he thought about what he would do when the curse was finally broken: "Every brothel in the capital will know the name Darius Omen! Ahahahahahahaha..."


    Due to the fact that he was completely enraptured in his daydreams, Darius was completely unaware of his surroundings. The constant shaking and bouncing of their transportation had ceased. In other words:


    the bus had arrived at its destination.

 4 Pride is Less Than Life

    The provincial capital of the North East Province, Sahid. A city that was incredibly advanced technologically and stood high above all other so called cities within the province. It spanned Thousands of kilometers and it was surrounded by a giant grey wall so high it made it looked as if the city itself was declaring war against the heavens.


    To outsiders this wall was incredibly intimidating, and Darius was no exception. He shivered as he walked out of the Bus, only to look at the incredibly large wall they had passed through.


    "Impressive isn''t it? A tenth of our journey was spent going through the gates of the wall. Our journey was ten hours in total from your village lad. So how think do you think the wall is hhmm?" The conductor wrapped his lanky arm and spoke with a mischievous grin. His objective had clearly been to spook Darius, and it had worked.


    "One hour? It took us one hour to pass through that?" As Darius looked at the enormous steel cage he couldn''t help but shiver. The conductor failed to mention that the entrance into the city that they took was not a straight line on purpose. The entrance for normal civilians went along a length of the wall then deviated into the city.


    As Darius stared at the Wall, a sharp looking young man wearing expensive clothes was carrying a small smart phone in his hands, and every time he took an image of someone, the phone would show a red red causing the young man to groan.


    The young man looked nervous, and did this repeatedly to everyone who had left the odd looking bus. When it was finally Darius'' turn, the screen flashed green instead of red, causing the young man to jump with joy. He did a few fist pumps and quickly activated the phone''s mirror application and made sure he looked as welcoming as possible. After getting rid of his phone, the young man then made long strides toward the dazzled Darius.


    After marveling at the wall for some time Darius got tired of it and turned around to see the legendary city of Sahid. And he was not disappointed.


    Skyscrapers of every colour and shape dazzled his eyes shooting straight into the clouds above them, oddly shaped vehicles ran on the streets and some of the more beautiful ones flew across what little of the city he could see. To a country bumpkin like Darius, this was a utopia, one that he could only see in his dreams.


    When the sharp looking young man saw the look on Darius''s face, his face beamed with joy, because he knew that he had found the perfect target.


    "It''s beautiful isn''t it?" said the young man as he put one of his arms around Darius'' neck. The wary Darius immediately disengaged contact and stepped away.


    The sharp looking youth put his arms up in submission, "Brother relax, i am not trying to do anything." Darius did not reply and simply two more steps back.


    The sharp looking youth sighed and said, "Look, I can tell you don''t know much about the city, I''m just here to give you a few tips. That''s it."


    Darius furrowed his brows, "Who said that I need tips. Now stay away from me." Before the sharp looking youth could reply, Darius had already turned around and left. The sharp looking youth smiled wryly but did not give up. A glint in his eyes twinkled as he formulated his plan.


    ...


    Darius had been warned about such people by the Matron, and he could smell the lies coming out of that young man''s mouth. Ever since he started using the hammer, many minute changes had occurred inside his body. For example his perception. Darius'' instinct can usually tell a lie, unless its a really good liar. Although he couldn''t put a finger on how he could tell, he just could tell when a person was lying, and what they truly felt for him.


    Disdain, scorn, and a tinge of disgust. Darius could tell what the young man felt for him. So he held no issue with immediately withdrawing from the young man. Even if it was rude. Darius was used to ignoring people, and old habits die hard.


    Darius took a bit of time to wander around. The wide open road had lots of shining vehicles of every color moving at incredible speeds. Sahid was without a doubt much more advanced than Yoko. In Yoko a vehicle was extremely rare to see and was viewed as a luxury item.


    I truly am a country bumpkin.


    As Darius became more aware of his status, he strengthened his resolve to succeed in his goals to become a spiritsmith. At one point in time Darius decided to enter a large shopping mall that came in sight. The interior was like being inside another city itself. Hundreds of people walked by every second while hundreds of shops, restaurants and other business filled the incredibly large complex. As Darius walked around in a daze, something odd happened. Something he had not done for the past four years of his life.


    The hammering had changed Darius'' senses and made him extremely aware of his surroundings. To the point were Darius was able to tell if a living being was close by, or if he was being stared at. Due to his natural cowardice, Darius was very appreciative of this ability and was constantly using it.


    That was why no one at the orphanage could sneak up on Darius, except the Matron. From time to time she would do something that would shock the young man which is why he respected her. Never the less, Darius was a wary individual. Even in his state of awe he was constantly alert of his surroundings and would always move accordingly. Which is why he was shocked...when he bumped into someone!


    What the heck?


    Although Darius was surprised, he quickly re-adjusted and did not fall by balancing himself. And so did the other party. It was a tall blonde young man in a blue and white uniform with fancy decorations around it. Behind him was another group of similarly dressed young men and women.


    Someone could bump into me? He got close to me without me realizing?


    Darius marveled at this as he had not experienced this for over four years. He was not the only one surprised.


    He is still standing? But I did put a bit of force into it. Could he be a warrior?


    The blonde young man sized up Darius from head to toe and shook his head mentally.


    If he was, it would not have been so easy to bump into him.


    The blonde young man decided to ignore what had happened had decided to focus on the task at hand. "Watch where you are going you imbecile!" Shouted the blonde youth in an angry tone. Darius was no fool, he knew that if someone bumped into him it meant two things. They were strong, and that it was intentional.


    Darius also figured that this blonde youth was some sort of noble from his dressing and his bearing. Nobles were not people to be trifled with. There was a strict pyramid like system where one''s worth as a human was determined by their class. This meant that nobles could do as they pleased to normal citizens like Darius. Aware of the situation, Darius quickly adjusted and knelt on the floor.


    "Noble sir, please forgive me. I am merely a country bumpkin and have no knowledge of society. I am but a fool. Please forgive me." Darius did not hesitate to kowtow, his forehead touching the ground. The blonde young man, his colleagues and spectators were shocked. Kneeling was an already embarrassing thing to do, yet this young man went one level further and kowtowed without hesitation. The blonde young man had prepared some words before hand, but he, like the others was stumped by Darius'' quick reaction.


    Darius did not know what this noble wanted from him, but there was nothing he could do except apologize. Young nobles could kill a peasant like him and get away with it. Such was the nature of society.


    Pride? What kind of useless thing is that?

 5 A Walk Through Sahid

    Pride? What kind of useless thing was that?


    No, pride was something that would only serve to get someone like Darius killed in a place like this.


    The blonde man and his friends were still stumped and somewhat surprised by Darius'' cowardice, even for a commoner who had just bumped into nobility.


    Darius did not hesitate, and now was the only chance he had to leave with his life. he immediately took his chance and bolted straight out of the mall, not once looking back. The nobles he''d left behind could only watch, surprised by this peasant''s amazing speed.


    Even though he had made it out of the store Darius would not stop running, not until he had left the vicinity entirely. He continued running for about ten minutes, drawing looks from several people who passed him by. Although Darius looked quite odd to them, they didn''t pay him much attention. To them he was just another village idiot who wasn''t worth being graced with their gaze. Darius knew this well but didn''t care. Darius'' simple clothing and his demeanor gave off his identity too quickly, making him the scorn of most who laid eyes upon him.


    "We''ll see what they think of me once I become a Spiritsmith."


    Finally Darius felt as though he had put enough distance between himself and the mall. He slowed down, panting slightly as he began to look all around him.


    He was completely lost in the barrage of new sights that he hadn''t at all noticed while he had just been running for his life.


    The sharply dressed young man from earlier had been following Darius as his smile faded slightly. In all his life not once had he ever been ignored by the likes of someone like Darius. Clearly the hick he saw in front had no idea who he was. At first the young man was somewhat annoyed by this. But as he was thinking he kept staring at the dumbstruck Darius for a moment, and his face contorted into a cheeky grin.


    I wonder what backwater village did they pull him out of? Either way the less he knows the better. If he really is as ignorant as he looks then all the easier it should be to get him to do what i need. In fact, he''s perfect!


    He made up his mind to try and approach Darius once more, once again trying to look as kind and as trustworthy as possible.


    As the young man stood there for a moment, Darius had been lost in an almost trance like state. He was standing on a street corner, next to a statue of a knight adorned in shining armor and brandishing a large claymore.


    As Darius looked all around him never in his life had he been captivated by something so beautiful and intriguing, even though all he actually saw were the outer limits of the city, which, as amazing they were, paled in comparison to the inner rings. Few nobles could usually be seen here and much less fraternize with the common people. And yet...


    "Ahem." the young man attempted to get Darius'' attention by coughing slightly. Darius was now immediately brought back to reality. "Not this guy again, can''t I just catch a brake?" he groaned.


    Darius once again found himself standing in front of the sharply dressed young man who had tried to talk to him when he first got of the bus. The young man was scrutinizing him carefully. Watching him intently with a grin on his face that made Darius feel quite uncomfortable. Darius looked at the man for a moment. He found the clothes the young man wore odd yet he had to admit they were clearly of high quality. It was then that Darius noticed a sharp rapier strung to the man''s waist. Instinctively he took a few steps back, never saying a word.


    The young noble, Lionel, realizing that clearly he wasn''t going to get a response from Darius said, "Please do allow me to introduce myself, I am pr-" Lionel abruptly stopped his sentence mid-way as an uninterested Darius had completely ignore him once more and walked off.


    Lionel was left standing there dumbstruck, the grin had been completely wiped of of his naturally smug face. "Who the hell does he think he is?" Lionel muttered quickly, calmed himself and chased after him, or more precisely walked. Lionel never ran.


    Darius had had his own reasons for walking away from Lionel. Part of the reason being that not all the matron''s advice had fallen on deaf ears. Come to think of it, that may have in fact been the reason for her ridiculously long ranting, she would say so much that one couldn''t help but pay attention to some of it. Even if you tried to ignore her eventually her words would be able to burrow their way into your memory, reinforced by the fact that when even the matron herself had run out of topics to stress, she would simply repeat the same thing over and over again, just with different words. As far as she was concerned she could never stress a point enough.


    As Darius thought of her he smiled faintly and realized that he did have one good memory of that place; her. Although she was strict she was still incredibly kind, particularly to Darius. This notion warmed his heart slightly as he walked on quickly through the maize of steel and concrete.


    At the moment, however, the matron''s incessant ranting had clearly paid off. Apart from this, Darius himself had simply not liked Lionel. Something about him had just seemed off from the start, and Darius supposed it must have been the sword strung to his waist that made him so cautious. So Darius, as naturally timid and shy as he was, decided to leave instead of taking a chance. He didn''t want any trouble. Darius knew full well of the city''s dangers.


    As he walked on, he still couldn''t help but marvel in awe at the sight. Each building was a unique architectural masterpiece in itself.


    Darius'' stride was long and steady. He walked quite fast and Lionel had a difficult time catching up to him. Usually he had an entourage and several body guards who would do this sort of thing for him but this was something he knew he had to do himself. Lionel supposed he could have walked slightly faster to catch up to Darius, but he found himself slightly curious as to where Darius was trying to go.


    At this time there were multitudes of people making their way through the wide streets. As Lionel walked by these people would sort of clear a path for him as he went, with a look of complete reverence in their eyes.


    Darius experienced something like this as well, but for a completely different reason. As the citizens of Sahid passed by Darius, a look of utter disdain could be seen upon some of their faces. They themselves were not nobles at all but they still thought themselves far about this simpleton, so they naturally avoided him as they walked by with their noses turned up.


    Darius however, had completely ignored this, after all the time he had spent at the orphanage such things no longer phased him. The sun was going down now and he had been too busy glaring at the plethora of bright lights as the buildings began to light up, displaying the true beauty of Sahin. He noticed that the deeper he went into the city, the more beautiful it looked. As Darius looked up into the night sky above him, he noticed that were several lights and displays. There were odd cars flying high all over the city, blimps too. All illuminated with streaks of blue and yellow.


    Small drones whizzed in the air, flying off to some unknown destinations clutching several packages to deliver. Darius could see more large statues with sabers and axes at the corners of each street.


    He could see several odd markings covering the statues and as he walked by he wondered what they were for.


    It was then that Darius realized he actually had no idea where exactly he was going, and for the last two hours had just been wondering around aimlessly. After some thinking he decided it was far too late to approach the Spiritsmith guild now and he would do it that following day, or rather later on that day as it was already far past midnight. But either way he still needed to know where the guild even was.


    He decided to approach a lady who, in his eyes, seemed trustworthy and asked her for directions. After eyeing him for a moment the lady then proceeded to blurt them out, Darius easily committed them to memory and proceeded to walk on.


    He had always had a sharp mind and was always skilled at memorizing things, yet such a skill-set was not able to shine due to his particular circumstances. Darius hoped that the key to a change in his fortunes lay within this city.

 6 An Unlucky Day For A Walk

    Unfortunately Darius had no place to stay, and no money either, so his first priority right now was to find a nice, secluded place where no one wold bother him and he could get ten thousand strikes in before it was time to go.


    Apart from avoiding Darius, everyone in Sahin seemed to be be completely enamored with their technology. They were all too busy staring at their phone or waving their arms about as if they were controlling something the rest of the world couldn''t see.


    Suddenly large spheres whizzed past above Darius. He couldn''t help but look up as large spheres glided above suspended rail. Although they looked like large metallic beads they were hollow inside and served as a sort of futuristic taxi, although not many people used these as most simply used the teleportation chambers that stood like phone booths everywhere.


    The whole thing made Darius feel rather insignificant as he continued to look on in awe. He was once again lost in the splendor of it all. He could never go back to the village now.


    As another one whizzed past him, he noticed this one wasn''t a sphere at all but rather shaped like a bullet. It moved significantly faster and held Darius'' gaze as he turned to watch it as it zoomed by. It was metallic and in one piece yet it could twist and bend as if it was reshaping itself to the twists and turns of the rail.


    Still watching it Darius had begun to walk backwards, still captivated by all he saw.


    It was then that a group of young nobles noticed Darius. Unfortunately for him it was the same group he had encountered at the mall. The oldest was only about seventeen, the one Darius had bumped into, and so was just a year younger than Darius. As soon as the noble saw him he motioned to the rest of his friends.


    They all took one look at him and began snickering and making snide comments they all found particularly hilarious. Each one had a beautiful girl around their arm, and one could sense their superiority complexes from a mile away. You could tell that from the moment they were born silver spoons had been shoved so far up their behinds if you looked closely you could almost see them at the back of their throats.


    "Oh look, it''s that thing that bumped into me at the mall today again. Have you ever seen anything so pathetic?" William, the oldest one in the group, said with a look of genuine disgust on his face. His friends naturally broke out laughing, although to be fair they would laugh anything he said.


    He was from one of the twelve noble houses of Sahid, house Rylen. William was the youngest of the Rylen family, which itself stood as one of the wealthiest families to date. Thus, young William had never worked a single day in his life. Being the very youngest, he had twenty-four older siblings and they were all favored in chronological order, from the oldest to the youngest, therefore his father or anyone else in the family for that matter ever really cared about where he was or what he did.


    Still, he lived a very comfortable existence and despite being the youngest, the name Rylen still carried much weight in Sahid, and in a place like this where nobility was everything, there were many perks to simply being associated with someone of his social standing. This was the sole reason why his peers had no problems with having to constantly kiss his ass, sucking up to him every chance they could.


    "I don''t know Will, he''s kinda cute, and i like his muscles" said the girl who was under under Will''s arm. William, the blonde haired youth Darius had bumped into and had been slowly sliding his arm lower down the girls back for the last five minutes snorted in annoyance. Her remark had gotten to him as he was quite weak in terms of physical strength and he knew it.


    The girl however, was one of his many girlfriends. Her name was Jade, although in Will''s phone''s contact list, she was number fourteen. She would''ve been number thirteen but Will decided that could be bad luck. Although he wasn''t supersticious, he simply decided not tempt fate and left that place empty.


    Nevertheless, she kept staring at Darius as he walked, clearly feeling somewhat enamored by him.


    "Look at him Jade, he''s a fucking hillbilly, he keeps staring at the damn taxi''s for fucks sake!"


    "Trust me Will, I''m looking at all of him, and imagining a few bits too." Jade retorted.


    Everyone in the group could hear their conversation, but didn''t dare say anything. Jade''s last remark had driven will over the edge. A scowl appeared on his face as he she shot him a look of "What are you going to do about it?"


    When Darius had turned around to gaze at bullet train and had begun to walk backwards William jumped at the chance to regain some dignity and save face in front of all his friends there who were watching him in anticipation, also wondering and waiting to see just what he would do about it.


    Will knew he couldn''t just let this slide. If he did this story would spread like wild fire amongst the nobles, and although most wouldn''t show it to his face, any respect they had for him would be diminished in an instant.


    He whistled to one of his friends, although lackey would''ve been a better word for it. He tilted his head to one side, gesturing to Darius who was still walking backwards and said, "James, I think that thing over there just bumped into you"


    He pointed at Darius, and James, one of Will''s most submissive and obedient lackeys, immediately knew exactly what he was supposed to do. He was short and rather chubby and resembled a really large rat. He was from the Nord family. Looking at their family tree one would honestly think something about them was akin to rodents, maybe it was their buck teeth and deep set beady eyes that made people feel like they were staring at vermin. Although considering the family''s reputation for being sneaky and uncouth perverts, one could argue that they were. Apart from this they were also one of the weaker and less wealthy nobles, which may have been why he was so submissive to a higher class noble William Rylen.


    With no need for further instruction. He shoved the two girs he had around his arms away from him, (clearly he lacked much respect for women...or anyone he saw as being inferior to him terms of nobility and wealth.) and proceeded to waddle towards Darius, taking up position just behind him.


    This time Darius could feel something was wrong but as soon he turned around it was too late. He found himself walking right into what could only be described as a large blob of fat. Darius staggered back a little bit and saw two beady eyes glaring at him.


    "Shit, how did I manage to bump into two nobles in one day?" immediately he kowtowed, apologizing and saying "I''m sorry." over and over again. For the second time he stood up and tried to run away when Will decided to take the initiative. He was no longer in a good mood as he had run out of patience for meticulously sliding his hand lower down her back and smacked his girlfriends ass before blocking Darius'' path. She was the reason had to do this for anyway. Well that and his pride.


    "Remember me?" Darius didn''t need to read Will''s face, anyone could see the malice written all over it.


    "I-I''m sorry, please forgive me noble sir." Darius immediately kowtowed again, wondering just how he was going to get out of this.


    "Did you hear that? It said it''s sorry." Will said with a smirk on his face. His remark warranting mocking laughter from his friends. Darius sensed where this was going and tried to walk around Will but he soon realized that he was completely surrounded. All in all there were five against one. Of course this wasn''t at all new to Darius as he was bullied by groups a lot every day of his life at the orphanage.


    Will walked closer to Darius and said in a low voice, "I''m afraid that shit won''t work twice."


    "I''m sorry, please forgive me." Darius could only repeat this phrase again and again. It was all he could do.


    "Oh you''re not sorry yet, but trust me, you will be. See you pushed both me and my friend here. We were kind enough to let you go the first time but now? Well now we can''t just let you walk away in one piece now can we? I demand payment." He eyed Darius from head to toe with a smug grin on his face and said, "I think at least one of your arms should suffice."

 7 Prince Farlene

    Actually Will didn''t want one of Darius'' arms, no he wanted Darius dead. They began shoving him around, punching and kicking the living daylights out of him. Will had hoped to be able to goad Darius into doing something stupid like fighting back, that way his swift death would seem justified. But Darius just did what he had always done, he simply covered his head with his hands and took all of it. As he looked around the crowded street barely anyone even noticed what was happening, or at least they pretended not to as the few people who did notice acted as if nothing was happening as soon as they saw the regalia covered clothing Will and his companions had.


    To Darius this was just like the orphanage again, so he simply laid down on the ground and tried to protect his head as best he could. Will was running out of patience, in his mind this coward had obviously recognized who he was and wouldn''t dare lay a finger on him.


    "Fuck this shit, I''ll end it here myself." he unsheathed a long, curved sword and pressed it against Darius'' neck.


    "Damn it! I survived the bus just to get killed by this asshole? Is this really how I die?" Darius thought to himself as he felt the cold steel pressed against his neck.


    Will on the other hand looked back at Jade, who was standing just behind them with the other girls. All of them were begging them to stop and leave Darius alone, after all he hadn''t actually done anything wrong. All except for Jade that is. Her calm, expressionless face looked on and when she saw Will hesitate and look back at her as if searching for her approval and support, she simply nodded, meaning he should get on with it.


    Will steeled his resolve as the blade trembled slightly in his hands. "I''m William fucking Rylen! My father is the Gerald Rylen!" will kept repeating this over and over again in his head as he mustered up the courage to finish this. In his mind, he was a Rylen, even if he wasn''t his fathers favorite so what? He knew that like all his other misdeeds his family would find a way to sweep this under the rug.


    He breathed in heavily as he slowly lifted the sword. But just before it descended Will found himself in a rather precarious position, someone now had their own sword pressed against Will''s throat. A voice coming from behind him then said, "Kill my friend here, and I''ll slit your throat." Will could see his companions backing away in fear but he didn''t care, he was seething with fury as he turned to look at the man with the death wish who would dare defy William Rylen, buts as soon as he saw who it was all the blood drained from his face and he turned ghostly pale.


    Will immediately bowed down, dropping his sword onto the ground and clinging to the slight chance that he might get out of this alive. "Prince F-Farline," he stuttered as he tried his hardest not to wet himself. "F-Forgive me my lord I did not know he was your-"


    "Shut up." prince Lionel Farline interjected. He had just finally caught up with Darius only to see him being beaten half to death by these nobles. William knew that if Lionel saw fit to do so he could excecute him right now, without batting an eye, and William''s own family would''ve been able to do nothing about it. At that very thought Will lost control, urinating uncontrollably. "Ugh, you disgust me." Snorted prince Lionel as he withdrew his sword from Williams'' neck. "Either way, you wouldn''t be worthy to die by my blade. Now leave."


    "Th-thank you, my Lord." Will squeaked the words out and quickly backed away with his head lowered, not daring to give his back to the prince.


    Lionel then sheathed his sword into its scabbard. He stretched his hand out so as to help Darius stand up. Darius looked at Lionel for a moment, his friendly face beaming down on him. Darius declined the offer and decided to get up on his own. He could still see the disdain on his face, no matter how he tried to hide it.


    Lionel frowned slightly but no matter, he had found the perfect man for the job and he''d be damned if he let his pride get the best of him like those other high born fools. Lionel considered himself as being much more intelligent and level headed than them.


    As Darius had begun replacing the contents that had fallen out of his bag, Prince Lionel crouched down to help him. "I hope you don''t mind." he chuckled as he picked up a hat and a scarf that had fallen out of Darius'' bag and put them on, trying as best he could to cover his face.


    Darius said nothing but simply kept placing his belongings back into his bag. "Well you''re very quiet aren''t you?"


    Darius still didn''t trust him as him as he strapped on the bag once more, whoever this guy was, Darius didn''t need any more problems.


    But before he got another chance to walk away from him Lionel said, "I have a proposition for you."


    "Still not interested." Darius said as he continued on. The prince then uttered something that made Darius stop dead in his tracks. He said, quite nonchalantly, "I can help you become a Spiritsmith."


    They looked at each other for a while, until Lionel broke the silence and said, "How about we go somewhere more private." He said this as he looked around at all the citizens who who had stopped to stare at their prince, most had even begun to bow and kowtow.


    "I suppose you''re interested now, yes?" Darius nodded his head in response, still cautious, but feeling somewhat optimistic. The man had just saved his life after all. Judging from the previous events and their surroundings Darius could tell that he was a high ranking noble as well, thus there was a limit to how much he could refuse him.


    "Good, then come with me." Lionel clapped his hands in glee then took out his phone ,and used an app that seemed to hail one of the speeding rail taxi''s. The shiny metallic sphere came to a halt beside the two of them.


    Although it looked completely seamless, lines began to appear on one side of the sphere in the shape of a rectangle. It was the hatch opening as it popped out and broke apart into several flat platforms, hovering diagonally in mid-air, one after the other. They formed a flight of stairs that lowered itself down to the street. Lionel then motioned to it with a wave of his hand and said, "After you."


    Although Darius tried his best not to show it, he could barely contain himself as he almost ran up the staircase and into the sphere. He was still wary of the prince but would not pass up the chance to ride in one of those things.


    It was a lot bigger inside than it had appeared on the outside. It was spacious and Darius had never experienced such luxury in his life. The interior was lined with materials he had never seen before and were incredibly soft to the touch. He unstrapped his hammer and sat down, placing it on his knees.


    Lionel entered as the staircase retracted and the hatch closed shut just after him and said, "The Imperial dragon." Darius wasn''t sure where it was coming from but the taxi seemed to hum in response to Lionel''s command. "Not bad, right?" he said with a cheerful grin. Darius completely overlooked this comment and asked, "Where are we going?"


    "Ah, so he speaks!" said Lionel, his smile as wide as ever. Darius found the fact that he hadn''t stopped smiling once to be slightly off putting to say the least.


    "We''re going to a nice restaurant I know of in the noble sector. You must be hungry, I know I am from chasing after you for the last two hours."


    At that moment the rail taxi took off. It moved with incredible speed yet Darius had no sense of movement at all. In fact the only way he could tell they were moving was solely due to the fact that although it had looked like a giant, windowless silver bead on the outside, inside one had a three hundred and sixty degree view of everything that was happening outside. As the taxi climbed higher and higher up what Darius saw simply took his breath away. He couldn''t help but gasp at the aerial view of Sahid at night. As far as Lionel was concerned he had seen far grander city''s than this, but to Darius this was the most breath taking thing he''d ever seen.

 8 Nobility Runs Through Your Veins!

    For the first time Darius couldn''t help but smile, but unfortunately this was short lived as his smile soon turned to pure terror at the sight of another sphere coming hurtling towards them at immense speeds. Darius felt like he had already cheated death three times that day and he wasn''t quite sure if he could accomplish this feat a fourth time. As the two spheres came speeding towards each other neither one of them even came close to slowing down. As Darius thought that this time it would surely be the end for him their taxi suddenly slid around the track line (I say line because it was literally just a single rail line suspended by god knows what.) and was now traveling upside down. Darius looked around and realized much to his relief that they weren''t falling to a grizzly demise.


    Although Lionel was quite understanding, he still couldn''t help himself but laugh hysterically at his companion''s child like wonder. Due to its spherical shape the inside of the sphere was gyroscopically stable thus they had managed to stay completely upright inside even though the sphere itself was hanging under the track line.


    Darius was finally broken out of his amazed stupor by the sound of Lionel laughing his ass off. He immediately felt embarrassed and so returned to his usual expressionless gaze.


    "I apologize if I offended you, it''s just I''ve never seen someone this excited about a taxi before." Although Darius'' expression had not changed, Lionel could tell that his apology had been accepted.


    "Thank you." the sound of Darius'' meek voice came as an unexpected surprise to Lionel.


    "For what?" he replied


    "For saving my life, I never thanked you, so I''m doing it now." answered Darius in a slightly more confident tone.


    Lionel could have sworn he had almost seen the corner of Darius'' mouth curl twist up as if he was about to smile again.


    "Don''t sweat it, in fact I''m the one who should be thanking you." the slightly confused look on Darius'' face told Lionel that he clearly didn''t know what he was talking about.


    As Lionel was about to speak the taxi shot straight down and drastically began to lose speed. Finally it came to a halt outside a grand restaurant.


    A blue light flashed three times and the taxi cab dinged, signaling they had arrived at their destination. As the hatch appeared again it popped out of the sphere and and once more created a flight of stairs. Lionel being closer to the hatch was the first to leave and descend down the hovering stairs.


    As Darius got out he noticed a large, golden dragon that was placed beside the path to the entrance. Although it wasn''t a real dragon, it moved as if it were alive.


    Two incredibly beautiful female attendants had been stationed just outside the main entrance. As soon as they saw the prince they immediately rushed up to greet him. "Prince Lionel, your taxi notified us of your arrival and everything is ready for you. I am Mara, this is Kim and we have the honor of being your hostesses tonight." said one of the attendants in a soft, beautiful voice.


    "Perfect." replied Lionel. "Ladies, this is my friend...?" Lionel turned to look at Darius, waiting on his response. Darius however had been too busy gawking at the two hostesses and hadn''t realized it was his turn to speak until he noticed that everyone was looking at him. This quickly jolted him back to reality as he said, somewhat dreamily, "Err, Omen, my name is Darius Omen."


    "Darius Omen? Interesting..." Darius could tell several thoughts were going through the prince''s head but he wouldn''t reveal what. It was obvious to Darius that this man was a prince from the incident with the young nobles, but there was something about him that just seemed different. Of course he wasn''t as snooty as the other nobles, but still Darius felt uncomfortable.


    The two hostess'' scrutinized Darius for a moment and it was obvious that they had both been thinking the same thing; just what was prince Lionel doing with someone like this?


    Lionel on the other hand took no notice and simply said, "Well then, Darius, shall we?" he gestured to the entrance with his hand and they both walked slowly down the path into the restaurant. The hostesses relieved Darius of his duffle bag but he refused when two male attendants tried to take his hammer. They all had the same look of ''Who just carries a hammer around with them like that?''


    As they entered the restaurant, it was clear to Darius just why Lionel had taken his hat and scarf, no matter where he went, the prince was just naturally a magnet for attention. As they walked through the packed restaurant everyone immediately turned their attention to him, one man even began to choke on his food when he saw that prince Lionel had just walked in.


    Lionel walked as fast as possible to his usual secluded booth, placed at the back where no one would be able to see him.


    Darius hadn''t eaten in quite a while now and the smell of good food permeated throughout the air. He hadn''t noticed just how hungry he was until now.


    Finally they reached the princes royal VIP booth, he was a regular at that restaurant and the booth was for his sole use. It was large and spacious, lavishly decorated. The large table in the middle of it was covered in all sorts of food. Lionel gestured to Darius to take a seat. Darius now felt like he was starving and couldn''t wait to begin eating. He placed his hammer against the wall and sat down. Despite the fact that Darius knew Lionel''s identity as a noble, he felt quite relaxed in front of him, so he didn''t mind showing his true self. Contrary to what one might expect, this only made Lionel feel more at ease.


    The hostess'' slowly closed the doors and walked of somewhere.


    "Before we begin please allow me to introduce myself, as you have probably already heard I am prince Lionel Farline the third, my father is Emperor Lionel Farline the second. I am Lord over the province of Sahid." Was both a city and a province. When royalty reached a certain level they would have a province placed under their jurisdiction, although in some cases such as this one the running of the provinces was done mainly by Dukes.


    Darius wasn''t sure how to reply, so he allowed the prince to continue; "You, my friend, have something I want, you have no idea Just how hard I''ve been looking for someone like you."


    "What are you talking about?" Darius asked, not quite sure where this was going.


    "Look, Darius, there is something I need you to do for me. I would do it myself but, quite frankly I don''t feel like it, and I haven''t got the time for such things anyway.


    "What do you need?" Darius started feeling quite uncomfortable again.


    Lionel stared at Darius again for a few moments before speaking, "You see, Darius, in order for nobles to be in a position to take control of and inherit our parents respective titles and in my case, the role of emperor of North and East of the continent, there is a certain examination we are forced to undergo. This is done to ensure that the heir is fit to inherit their parents legacy. I personally think it''s ridiculous and like I said, have no time for such. Which is why I want to have you take the test in my stead."


    Darius thought over what Lionel had just said for a moment and frowned slightly before asking, "Wait, how can I take this test for you? Aren''t you the one who has to do it?"


    "Well normally you would be quite right but i managed to find a loop hole, a way which allows me to be able to get a substitute to fill in for me."


    "How is that?"


    "Well I don''t want to bore you with the specific so here is the short of it. When it comes time for a noble to undergo the examination, they send letters to each noble house with the qualifications needed to take the examination inside it. I have found a way to be able to send give someone else these qualifications in order for them to take the test for me. But there is just one catch; the transaction of qualifications can only be done between two nobles. Meaning both parties must be of noble blood."


    The prince, who was sitting opposite Darius on the other side of the booth leaned in and said, "Darius, I''m not sure if you know this, but you tested positive. Noble blood runs through you veins as well as mine."


    Darius was speechless, he had no idea what to say. He knew his father had been a village chief but that had been it, certainly not a noble. "There must be some kind of mistake-"


    "There is no mistake, Darius." Lionel cut in, "I tested you as you came off the bus, you were positive for being nobility."

 9 I Can Help You

    Lionel could tell Darius still didn''t quite believe him, so he reached into one of his pockets and took out his cell phone. He raised it up to Darius'' eyes and tapped the screen. A light on the phone immediately flashed green and Lionel smirked as he showed the screen to Darius, "There''s your proof." he said as he handed Darius the phone.


    Darius could barely believe what he saw, a set of eyes were displayed right above the word positive. "It scans your iris to tell if you''re noble or not. Apparently there''s some kind of difference between our eyes and the average person''s. Do you believe me now?


    Darius'' head nodded slightly as his mouth fell open. All his life he had been a noble and had never even known it.


    "Well now that that''s been settled, there''s something else I should tell you." Lionel was no longer smiling and his face grew quite serious. "This test is extremely dangerous, and the higher the position you are taking it for the more dangerous it becomes. Considering that in this particular case you are taking the test for the position of emperor on my behalf this will be without a shadow of a doubt the most dangerous one. I don''t want to lie to you when I say that there is a good chance you are going to die. You should also know however, that I am aware you wanted to become a Spiritsmith, and i can help you that. It is why you came here to Sihad is it not?"


    Darius felt like he''d just been hit with a brick wall, he could barley construct a full sentence when he said, rather meekly, "How did you know i came here to become a Spiritsmith?"


    "That is irrelevant, but if you must know, the lady you asked directions from earlier told me where you were going, and I also happened to know that they were currently accepting new smiths at the guild thus I was able to put two and two together."


    Darius thought back for a few moments, quickly remembering that this was what had piqued his interest in prince Lionel in the first place, then followed up with another question, "How exactly can you help me become one?"


    "Well it''s quite simple really. You see Darius, you want to become a SpiritSmith, now in order to do so you would have to request an interview and then prove yourself to them as being worthy. Assuming you were actually selected you would then be sent to the SpiritSmith guild academy. But the chances of you being chosen are about one in ten thousand. As it is I am in a position of power, If you were to do this for me and succeed, I would then be elevated to a position of even more power, which I would then use to ensure that you be sent to the SpiritSmith academy, no interview needed. Not to mention that there are ranks amongst nobles and your success would both elevate your rank to nobility status instantly as well as grant you a few rewards. I personally am already one of the emperors sons thus my rank could never really increase and i have no need for any of the rewards. Now that you know everything, do you accept?"


    The dumbstruck Darius needed a moment to process it all. One part of him wanted to take the offer because of all the potential benefits but the other part of him told him to walk away. Was this really worth his life?


    Finally he spoke, "You never told me what exactly this test would be."


    "Even I don''t know what the test is Darius, all anyone knows about it is that it''s very dangerous and life threatening. Do you accept Darius?" the prince looked Darius right in the eyes as he spoke. His face was grave and dead serious.


    Darius took his time now, desperately trying to make a decision. The conundrum he currently faced was more than he could handle. Lionel noticed this and said, "You don''t have to give me an answer right now, just take a day or two to think about it."


    The two stared at each other for a few seconds, "Tell me you''ll think about it Darius."


    As he said these words Darius breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, I''ll think about it."


    Lionel''s expression became light and happy again. His usual happy grin promptly returning to him. "Are you going to the guild tomorrow?"


    "Yes I am." Darius replied.


    "Good! Very good. I have a feeling you might come across something tomorrow that will nudge you in the right direction."


    Darius wasn''t exactly sure what Lionel meant by this, but he knew he wouldn''t get any more out of him.


    "When you choose to accept my offer, all you need to do is come here and I''ll have them inform me of your arrival.


    Lionel took his phone of the table where Darius had left it and put it in one of his front pockets. "Well, I really must be going, I look forward to seeing you again and enjoy the meal, it''s on me. Oh and, nice hammer by the way." prince Lionel glanced at the hammer that was propped up against the booth.


    He then briskly walked out as if he had some urgent matter to attend to but before Darius got a chance to reply Lionel had already left the booth. He was now left alone to his own thoughts with more food than he could ever possibly eat, although of course that didn''t mean he wouldn''t try.


    He was soon gorging himself on all the various foods spread out on the table. He had never tasted anything this good. Ever. He tried a little bit of everything, each dish more delicious than the last.


    Finally, when he couldn''t possibly eat any more, he took some time before leaving to think about what had just happened. He had to admit that the rewards he would get for completing this test, whatever it was were most definitely enticing. But were they really worth the risk? Were they really worth losing his life over? Darius valued his life more than anything else, and that would not change any time soon.


    A part of him wanted to accept immediately, reasoning that Prince Lionel had already saved his life once, wouldn''t this be a fitting way to pay him back? By putting it back on the line for this. However the other side did not give in. If this went the wrong way, he would almost certainly die!


    Roughly thirty minutes passed by and Darius had not come to a decision. He got up, and placing his hammer back into its strap he slid open the booth doors and left.


    As he walked out one the hostess'' brought him his duffle bag. She was tall, beautiful, and in Darius'' mind she was a solid eight and a half out of ten. She then handed Darius a small button, and explained to him that Prince Lionel had arranged it for him. It was a taxi button that would hail the nearest empty taxi to his location. The entire time she talked about this, Darius had not once looked at her face, his gaze was completely focused on the woman''s cleavage, no matter how hard he tried he couldn''t stop.


    When she realized this she was instantly angered with his disgusting behavior to the point of losing herself. The idea of a peasant gawking at her pushed her to her limits. She then abruptly shoved the button in his hands and walked away without looking back. She was new in the business, and her inexperience showed, for had she remembered who had brought Darius her behavior would be completely different, unfortunately old habits die hard.


    Darius didn''t see it as his fault, he''d tried to stop but he just couldn''t. Nevertheless, as soon as he''d worked out all his problems and become a Smitersmith all his dreams and desires would come true and days of being looked down upon would be over. He would never forget her face. He never forgets.


    As he walked out of the restaurant he couldn''t help but notice several patrons looking at him. This was the young man who had just come out of the Prince''s v.i.p booth, who was he? Why had someone of his class, been invited to the royal booth? It just made no sense to them.


    All the attention made Darius somewhat uncomfortable as he walked quickly out of the restaurant. he made his way down the path, passing by the dragon statue which briefly looked at him for a moment, before seemingly turning its attention to other things.


    Darius pressed the button, and almost at that same time, another sphere zoomed toward him. He entered and sat there for a moment. He had half expected the sphere to start moving on it''s own when he remembered that he had to tell it where to go, unfortunately for Darius he realized he had no destination in mind, so he simply said, "The Spiritsmith guild." he decided he wanted to see it for himself.

 10 Interesting

    .....


    The taxi pod then sped off at incredible speeds, in less than a couple minutes it stopped, and dinged to signal that they had reached their destination.


    As Darius got out, He looked all around him, there was nothing. he simply found himself standing in an empty field. This seemed to be the only part of Sahid that wasn''t illuminated by various bright lights. Darius looked up, the moon''s faint glow dimly illuminated his surroundings. The first thought that came through his mind was that he had been taken to the wrong place, But just before he called another taxi, he realized where he was, in an empty, wide open field with no other people around. The tiny pebble sized anvil had been feeling rather heavy and warm, meaning it was time for Darius to begin striking it again.


    "As good a place as any." He muttered to himself as he withdrew the anvil from his pocket and placing it on the ground it grew back to back to it''s original size. Darius stared at the anvil, the disdain clear upon his face, with just a hint of hope. Ever since he was twelve years old it was his burden to strike at that anvil ten thousand times a day, but he knew he was close to something, he could feel it whenever the hammer vibrated in his hands now after striking the anvil. He could hear it in the way it sounded each time he struck, yes, it was sounding more and more like the old man had said it would....


    Darius reached for his hammer, releasing it from its strap. He sighed and then took a deep breath in, raising the hammer up slowly.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The sound of Darius hammering relentlessly at the anvil echoed throughout the night. Waves of energy radiated from where Darius struck it. Many thoughts went through his mind, but he pushed them away, now was not the time for that, he needed to focus. If only he''d known what this routine was really turning him into...


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Far off into the night sky, Darius failed to notice the silhouette of an old man wearing a long martial robe. All the old man did was stroke his long beard, humming the word ''interesting'' the whole night, all the way till Darius was finished...


    Darius woke up later that day, his hammer still where he''d left it, next to the large anvil he had just assaulted with it. he had managed to finish all ten thousand strikes earlier before the sun had come up, although now that it was bright and sunny out and the light hurt his eyes he wondered just what time it was. His eyes took a few minutes to adjust, and once they had it only took him moments to find a sign he hadn''t noticed was there before. It was quite the distance away, so it was no wonder Darius could not see it at night, even with his impeccable eyesight. Darius looked at the sign, the words ''Spiritsmith guild'' were engraved on it.


    The sign itself was in the shape of an arrow, pointing to the direction the guild was in. Darius walked up to the anvil, once again shrinking it down to the size of a pebble, and placing it in his pocket. He picked his enchanted hammer up and slid it into its strap. He put the strap on, picked up his duffle bag and began walking to where the guild was supposed to be.


    As Darius walked on he began to notice he was climbing uphill, although it started becoming particularly steep Darius didn''t seem to mind, his mind was too busy teaming with expectation. As he walked on he began to hear a humming noise. The humming noise became louder and more defined as he came closer to the guild. He couldn''t quite make out what exactly it was but it kept getting louder.


    Finally Darius reached the top of the hill. A large, barren plain stretched on for a few hundred meters in front of him. Far off in the distance, an enormous castle held up by four crouching metal giants stood tall and adamant. It directly above what seemed to be an incredibly large anvil. It was also about the size of a large city and each one of the giants had one hand supporting the platform that the castle itself stood on and the the other hand holding a large hammer in mid air, as if they were about to strike down onto the massive anvil at the center of it.


    As Darius approached the Guild he could barely breathe. He stopped just in front of the castle, wondering just how exactly he was supposed to get up there.


    As he stood there, in complete awe of what he saw the giant in front of all the others began to move. Its head was turning slowly to look down on Darius. Its sheer size alone was more than enough to completely intimidate him. As the giant gazed upon him Darius felt rather quite insignificant.


    It began to slowly open its mouth, and although the giant didn''t actually speak a loud voice rang out through Darius'' mind. It said, "Why have you come here?"


    Darius tried his best to speak and reply but in that moment he found he had completely lost his voice.


    "You would do well to answer me now. Why have you come here?"


    "I, I came to apply for the position of Spiritsmith" the words were barely audible as Darius said them.


    "Very well. You may enter." several wide platforms began came out of the giants mouth. they began arranging themselves like the ones on the taxi, going all the way up to the Spiritsmith castle.


    Darius slowly began to make his way up the stairs, each step no different from the wobble of a drunkard. The giant had scared the young man witless. The humming sound he could still hear was coming from inside the castle, which itself was a magnificent display of architecture. It had an archaic feel to it, one could tell at a glance that this structure had stood for thousands of years, and when everything else had turned to dust it would continue to stand for countless more.


    As Darius reached the top of the stairs, The size of the castle took his breath away. Great columns stood tall reaching mind numbing heights. The whole thing seemed to be made completely out of marble as Darius took a deep breath and walked forward through the front entrance, which itself was a great marble door roughly twelve meters high. The word ''Reception'' engraved on the arch just above it.


    As he made his way past through to the front desk countless people were standing in several lines that seemed to stretch on forever. Darius walked quickly past them, making his way to the front of the line. He was in a white hallway, the roof was so high simply looking at it was enough to make Darius feel dizzy. At first glance of the room one would feel like they were in some sort of sacred library, with thousands upon thousands of scrolls embedded in countless diamond shaped holes that had been punched into the walls.


    Darius wondered what all those people were doing there as he walked on, oblivious to a sad truth he would soon be forced to swallow.

 11 Pathetic

    It was all these people who had been making all the noise. There seemed to be no end to them as Darius tried to make his way to the receptionist''s desk. The people in the lines eyed him suspiciously as he walked by, Darius didn''t care much. He had more important business to attend to.


    Every few meters or so in between the larger gaps between the scrolls were marble statues adorned in armor and brandishing large swords, these didn''t move but stood perfectly still.


    "What''s with these people and all the statues?" he wondered to himself as he walked through the sea of people closer to the receptionists desk.


    Ding!


    A loud noise echoed throughout the crowded hall. Everyone became suddenly quiet as the hum and chatter of people droning on and conversing with each other subsided. This happened so suddenly that Darius could suddenly hear his own footsteps as he walked through the hall, drawing everyone''s attention to him.


    He stopped immediately and became as still as one of the statues. The people crowding the hall immediately lost interest and looked straight forward, where the sound was coming from.


    Although Darius hadn''t noticed this, it had taken him almost two hours of walking just to get this far into the crowd and he could now see a large brown wooden desk with eight small specks sitting behind it.


    It seemed to be from there that a loud, crisp and clear voice rang out and said, "Attention all applicants, we will begin processing your requests now."


    "Finally." Darius muttered under his breath as he ran up to the front desk. All eyes were on him as looks of disgust and were thrown his way and several scoffs could be heard from somewhere deep inside the lines.


    The clerks at the front desk watched Darius run up to them with cold, uncaring and expressionless faces. Subconsciously Darius could feel their scorn from looking at his clothing, but he brushed it aside and decided to bite the bullet. He had waited too long for this. Consciously Darius wasn''t quite sure what they were thinking or feeling, although it wouldn''t be a surprise to anyone if it turned out they were void of all emotion, with the way their cold, calculating eyes never revealed a thing.


    "I''m here to apply, my name is Darius O-"


    "Save it, whoever you are. If you want to apply you''ll have to wait in line like everyone else." said one of the older clerks, for the first time his calm face betrayed him and Darius could properly see hints of disgust and annoyance.


    It was also then that it dawned on Darius that everyone there had come for one thing, they were all vying for one of the few Spiritsmith spots available.


    "This must have been why prince Lionel thought i would change my mind once i came here." Darius thought to himself as he looked up and down the long lines that seemed to stretch on forever into the white horizon, the hall was just that large.


    "One in ten thousand huh?" he sighed as he watched them all, even Darius had to admit that they looked far more skilled and qualified than he was. Clearly Lionel had known all along just what it would be like, and had wanted Darius to see it for himself to push him into accepting his offer, and right now, it was working.


    As Darius stood there for a moment, dumbstruck and contemplating what he would do next the clerk in front of him was beginning to run out of patience.


    They had all been eyeing him as if they were scared he was going to steal something. As far a they were concerned someone like him could never be a Spiritsmith. It would be a complete disgrace to the noblest of professions.


    Finally, as the oldest clerk Darius had just talked to had had enough he stood and said to him, quite frankly, "Young man, whoever you are, I''m about to give you some advice. Leave this place immediately."


    Darius said nothing as he looked at the clerks, seeing the disdain written plainly on their faces.


    "It''s obvious you don''t belong here boy, someone like you isn''t worthy of even stepping foot in here. Go back to whatever shit stained hell hole your kind crawls out of and never show your face here again."


    Darius was crushed. He felt as though he was breaking apart on the inside, "You didn''t even-"


    "Didn''t even what boy? Hmm?" the clerk cut Darius of before he finished his sentence, "We didn''t even give you a chance? Look around you boy, most of these applicants are from noble families! Even noble families will send their own heirs to vie for the few positions and honour of becoming Spiritsmiths and you actually expected us to choose you over them?" the clerk snorted.


    "I...I am noble." Darius whimpered, trying to remember what Lionel had said the previous night.


    "Please, you''re not fooling anyone boy. In fact quite frankly you''re testing my patience. You think we haven''t seen this before? Another backwater hillbilly who thought he would just walk right in, desecrating these sacred halls and actually have a chance?"


    Darius didn''t know what to say, he simply felt defeated as he lowered his head in shame.


    "You know what boy? I''ll indulge you." the clerk then brought out some sort off machine with two metal cylinders connected to it by various wires. "This will detect your natural affinity to spirits, go on boy, hold the cans."


    Darius wearily picked them up, already knowing full well just what the results would be. As he gripped them the clerk watched a dial in the machine connected to the cylinders. The dial barely moved before stopping, the clerks satisfaction with the results could be plainly seen as his wrinkled face broke out into a smug grin.


    "I knew it, I could tell from the moment you walked in here that you were nothing but garbage. How did you even expect to become a smith with such a low affinity to spiritual essence? Pathetic!"

 12 I Accep

    Darius put the metal cylinders back down on the desk. He was defeated and he knew it. Even though there was no more that needed to be said, the eldest clerk still took still took it upon himself to say, "And to think that the likes of you swarm these halls like vermin each year, disgraceful! I will not tolerate your filth anymore! When you return to wherever it is you come from, I want you tell everyone there not to show their faces in this noble and honorable guild ever again!"


    Darius cringed as he looked around him at the massive crowd as if looking for some empathy and understanding but all he found was a sea of cold, uncaring faces. He slowly began to slouch off into the distance, the salty tears streaming down his face as he walked. It was a long walk back to the entrance through which he had come in and Darius found that he couldn''t get out fast enough. Far in the background he could hear the clerks processing the other, more worthy applicants.


    Within a large decorated office sat an old man meditating on his chair. His office was illustrious, with incredible weapons, medals, gifts and other regalia lining it everywhere. The old man stopped his meditation and opened his vigorous eyes. The moment they opened, the aura of an expert washed over the room. "This doesn''t make sense. Why did he give up so easily? Last night he completed ten thousand refinements with ease, yet he gave up so easily? Truly odd! He also barely has any spiritual essence affinity. Just how many refinements must he have gone through to achieve his current state. Amusing! Truly amusing! This old man will follow him and take a look haha!" With those words, the old man''s body flashed and his body was no longer within the room....


    A few hours later Darius found himself brooding alone on the hill, staring blankly at the castle he had dreamed of for more than six years. His tears had long since dried as he sat with his legs folded on the ground. He felt broken inside, the dream he had fixated on for so long had just been shattered in one five minute conversation.


    He felt a plethora of feelings rushing through him. He felt hurt and abandoned in a harsh and unforgiving world in which he had been left broken and alone. His breathing grew heavier as he watched the sun set and the great doors through which a better life had been denied to him sealed shut.


    Darius could feel the miniature sized anvil in his pocket. It felt heavy and warm as the sensation began warming his right leg, he cold tell it was time to begin striking it again, but in his current state of mind, he rashly pulled it out of his pocket, stared at it for a moment and raising his arm threw it back over his shoulder. Finally getting rid of the accursed thing.


    Much to his dismay it simply grew back to its original size, this was all Darius needed to push him over the edge. Various new emotions began surging up out of him as his face contorted from that of immense sorrow and despair into one of immense rage.


    As he looked at the large anvil, motionless yet somehow mocking him from where it stood on the soft grass, Darius'' breathing became deeper and more audible. "Fine then." he breathed through clenched teeth as he ripped his hammer out of its strap and walked straight for the anvil.


    In a fit of uncontrolled anger he began striking at the anvil, harder than he had ever done before. Immense shock-waves were sent out from where he struck. They were so powerful they were visible to the naked eye, like ripples moving outwards through the air.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Darius gave it all he had, the sound could be heard like thunder as it rang out, loud and clear.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Instead of feeling despair and pity foe himself, Darius now felt anger, rage, and most of all, he felt cheated. He had played it safe his whole life and what had that gotten him? Absolutely nothing.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    His breathing became louder and more rapid as an expanding ring of bare earth began forming around the anvil. He was no longer the same Darius who had been bullied by everyone at the orphanage and had done nothing about it. He wasn''t the same Darius who allowed himself to be trampled on by everyone around him. No, he was now the real Darius Omen, and nothing was going to stand in his way.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The anvil itself began to turn red due the heat generated from the force of the impact and the rapidity at which Darius was striking at it. As he took out all of his frustrations on the anvil his strikes became clumsy and less precise, but he didn''t care. He just kept on hitting it harder and harder until it all became too much for him.


    All his emotions came roaring out in a single, desperate shout as he tossed aside the hammer and fell onto his knees, breathing heavily. A new man. A new Darius Omen.


    Slowly he rose up off his knees and shrunk the anvil back down to the size of a pebble, still warm from the hammering it had just taken and put it back inside his pocket. He then went on to pick up his hammer and walked over to the sign he had found earlier by the rail.


    He took out the taxi button prince Lionel had arranged for him the previous night and pressed it. He had never in his life felt more alive and determined than he did right now. It wasn''t long before another silver sphere came speeding at him.


    As soon as he entered the hatch reassembled itself and without a moments hesitation he said, "The Imperial Dragon."


    The taxi took off and headed straight for the restaurant where he would be able to contact prince Lionel. As it took off, the silhouette on an old man stroking his beard materialized and prepared to follow the taxi "Interesting! Just who is this boy? I need to take a closer look haha."


    This time Darius didn''t even notice the view, his thoughts were scattered in a million different places as the pod descended and came to a halt right in front of the pathway that led up to the establishments main entrance.


    Much to Darius'' surprise two different female attendants, a brunette and a red head rushed up to greet him.


    "Good evening, Mr Omen. Prince Lionel told us to expect you today. We will inform him of your arrival immediately." said the brunette. "Please, let us take your bags for you." insisted the redhead with her head bowed slightly.


    "This way sir, you will be dining in the royal booth again." They said in unison as they both gestured toward the front entrance.


    Darius walked in now, confident and proud. Although he still wished he didn''t have to resort to this, it was the only choice he had. He walked over to the booth and entered, again the table had already been covered in all sorts of foods.


    "The prince will be with you shortly." Said the brunette as she slid the booth doors shut.


    The sight of all that food made Darius realize just how hungry he was as he had not eaten the whole day.


    He immediately began to scarf down all the food in front of him, with the appetite a man with a new energy to live.


    At that moment the prince arrived inside the booth. His face beaming down at Darius as he ate.


    "I knew you would make the right decision, I just knew it." he said as he sat down opposite to Darius. "May i ask how it went at the guild?" he questioned with a smug look on his face. Lionel could tell that something was different, something inside him had changed.


    "I think you know full well how it went." Darius replied, still stuffing his face with food.


    Lionel looked at the new man in front of him for a moment, indeed he had changed much since their last encounter.


    "So then, what do you say?"


    Darius stopped eating and took a long hard look at Lionel, his face grew serious as he said two words that would change his life forever.


    "I accept."

 13 Baron

    Lionel let out a hearty laugh that could be heard throughout the entire restaurant. Darius didn''t respond to this, he simply kept looking at him with the same grim expression he had maintained throughout their entire conversation.


    "Well I''ve been waiting to hear you say that all day." he said still chuckling.


    Darius however wasn''t really in the mood to talk, the only thing left on his mind was to get all of this over and done with.


    After some time Lionel was able to contain his happiness as his almost involuntary laughter began to subside, with the occasional chuckle here and there.


    The prince himself was a very happy-go-lucky kind of guy. His life of wealth and privilege had made him cheerfully irresponsible and carefree, resulting in his constantly cheerful and sometimes brash demeanor.


    Although he was just third in line which meant his chances of becoming Emperor were quite possible, he felt his two older brothers had it handled. So much so that Lionel didn''t actually want to become the Emperor because of all the actual work and energy he would be forced to put in, meaning he would have to relinquish his life of carefree living which to him was not an option. He shuddered at the very thought.


    Darius had decided he would just have to get used to Lionel''s happy attitude, either way he would soon have problems much bigger than that if the test was as dangerous as Lionel had said it would be.


    An awkward silence filled the booth as the two men sat there quietly, or at least that was how Darius felt about it. Lionel was clearly lost somewhere in his own thoughts, yet still beaming eerily at Darius. Lionel never felt awkward, uncomfortable or out of place with the exception of a few instances whereby his father would ask for his input on matters of the kingdom. It would be clear that these were tests to take note of his capable leadership skills and each time Lionel would fail miserably.


    It wasn''t at all because Lionel was incompetent or at all a bad leader, although that''s what everyone was beginning to think. In truth, Lionel was quite intelligent and capable, which was how he was able to find the loop hole for the test in the first place. No, Lionel only failed those tests from his family because he simply wanted to look unfit to be Emperor. This way, no one would ever consider him for the role. Lionel could easily take the job and do it well, but he was just too lazy to do so.


    ''Who in their right minds would give up my life for a fancy title and a life filled with endless problems and responsibilities?'' he had always thought to himself.


    Unfortunately despite his best efforts the noble examination was one that even he couldn''t avoid.


    "So when do we get started?"


    The sound of Darius'' voice jolted him back to reality. Darius had been sitting quietly up until now, watching Lionel closely and contemplating his own thoughts.


    "Well now I need to give you my qualifications." Lionel extracted a card from the inner pocket of his blazer and handed it to Darius.


    "What am I supposed to do with this?" Darius said as he examined the blank piece of paper Lionel had just handed him.


    "You''ll see." he replied as the card immediately lit up in Darius'' hands. A capital letter ''n'' appearing in gold on the card.


    "Identification required." came a female voice produced by the card. Darius looked up at Lionel, not sure what he should do since it wasn''t really his card.


    "It''s fine, just say your name." Lionel whispered as if trying not to be heard by it. His eyes never left Darius as he picked up a glass filled with purple liquid of of the table and began drinking through a straw. A look of surprise appearing on his face as if whatever the drink was had been better than he had expected.


    "Identification required." the card repeated. Darius looked back at the it, took a deep breath and said, "Darius Omen."


    "Age?"


    "Eighteen."


    "Nobility status?"


    Darius looked back up at Lionel, who was drinking the purple liquid so intently he almost hadn''t noticed Darius and was somewhat surprised to find his gaze fixed on him when he looked up to see how it was going.


    "Oh yes, err, uhm....it''s royal substitute or something like that." he whispered nonchalantly as he got back to his drink, this time keeping his eyes on Darius and giving him a thumbs up.


    Darius raised an eyebrow before turning his attention back to the card.


    "Royal substitute."


    "Please hold the card in front of your eyes."


    Darius held the card up as the golden ''n'' was was replaced by two circles, moving in sync with Darius'' iris''. the card flashed green and then returned to white as the golden nobility icon returned.


    "Identify royal member."


    "Lionel Farline."


    "Royal identification required."


    "Give it to me." Lionel said as he gestured with his hand for Darius to hand him back the card.


    "Lionel Farline." he said calmly, eager to return to his drink.


    "Verification failed, please identify."


    Lionel sighed in annoyance as he said, "Lionel, Farline."


    "Verification failed, please identify."


    Lionel was beginning to run out of patience now, "Lionel Farline!"


    "Verification failed, please identify."


    "It''s me you idiot Lionel Farline!"


    "Verification successful, please hold the card in front of your eyes."


    Lionel snorted in severe annoyance as he held the card a few centimeters from his eyes. Once again the golden symbol disappeared leaving the two circles to take its place. The light flashed green and the circle returned.


    "Retinal scan successful, good evening Prince Lionel."


    Lionel completely ignored it as he thrust the card back into Darius'' hands.


    "Darius Omen, you will be temporarily granted the rank of Baron, royal substitute status. Your training will commence at ten a.m tomorrow. Good luck, and try to be the hunter, not the hunted." the card retorted just before going blank.


    The look on Darius'' face turned from being expressionless to pure terror as he looked up at Lionel.


    "Lionel, what did it mean by ''hunted''?" A chill ran down Darius'' spine at the very word. He could feel the fear creeping out from deep within him.


    Lionel had heard Darius'' question but pretended like he hadn''t, deciding not to reply.


    "Lionel what did the card mean by ''try to be the hunter, not the hunted''?" Darius became uncharacteristically stern as he said this.


    "You know, most people get exiled for simply using my first name." Lionel retorted, part of him genuinely annoyed with Darius'' blatant lack of respect and the other part just trying to evade his question.


    "I don''t care if you exile me just tell me what I''ve gotten myself into."


    Lionel sighed as he put his drink down on the table, "Well if you really must know, there have been rumours..."


    "What rumours?" Darius asked as he leaned forward, intent to hear what Lionel would say.


    "Look Darius, these rumours are from some really shady sources you don''t really wanna know-"


    "Damnit Lionel just tell me!" Darius half shouted, staring Lionel in the eyes.


    "So rude, it''s as if he''s actively trying to get me to kill him...although he''s no use to me dead, and then all this would''ve been for nothing. Damn this stupid test!" Lionel thought to himself as he looked at Darius for a moment.


    "The rumours are..." Lionel took a deep breath before saying as fast as he could, "That they''re going to stuff you in an arena with a bunch of spirits."


    "What?!?" Darius was immediately gripped with fear at the word ''spirit''.


    "Don''t worry about it, they''re just rumours. It''s probably not even true."


    Lionel was lying through his teeth, and Darius could tell.


    "Tell me the truth Lionel, is that what the test really is?" Darius was desperate for a straight answer.


    Noticing this desperation Lionel decided to tell Darius the whole truth. "Yeah, that''s what the test really is. My brother Erik told me."


    "So last night when you said that even you didn''t know what the test was?"


    "I was being honest, I only found out today. My family have no idea I''m going to use a substitute so they all came in today to watch me take the test. Can''t wait to see the look on father''s face when he finds out.You have no idea how lucky I was to find someone like you haha." Lionel scoffed as he took another sip of the purple liquid.


    "No, no, no, no, no." Darius kept muttering to himself. "I''m not going to do this, I can''t do this! Lionel get me out of this!" he shouted out.


    "Lionel, who couldn''t care less about Darius'' state of mind simply said, "It''s already done, Darius. There''s nothing I can do about it. And since there''s nothing you can do about it either why don''t you just calm down and have a drink instead?"

 14 Ethereal Forge Academy

    Darius buried his face in his hands as the feeling of impending doom slowly began to creep up on him.


    "Look, Darius, think of what you''ll get if you win. You''ll be able to do whatever it is you want. Trust me, if anything this whole arrangement helps you more than it does me. Drink?"


    Darius stared at Lionel in disbelief, "No I don''t want a fucking Drink! I want to keep my life Lionel. Whatever this thing is, I''m not doing it. Go find someone else to die for you."


    "The thing is, you''re kinda already in the system and there''s really no turning back from this point. Even if you ran they''d still just hunt you down, find you, and throw you in the pit anyway."


    At this point Darius was hyperventilating. He was now completely certain he was going to die tomorrow.


    "I can tell what you''re thinking and no, you''re not going to die tomorrow, well probably not. A lot more people survive than you''d think." Lionel said curtly.


    Darius could do nothing but sigh, "I don''t have a choice do I?"


    "Not anymore." Lionel said quite frankly


    Darius took in a deep breath, "Alright then."


    "In that case the first test starts tomorrow, It''s held at an academy called Ethereal Forge Academy, just outside the city. Since you don''t have anywhere to stay, the taxi can take you there immediately."


    Lionel stood up and walked out of the booth. In Darius'' mind, if Lionel hadn''t saved him the other day he would''ve been dead anyway, so was there really any difference?


    Darius wasn''t quite sure how to feel about this. Trying his best to let go of fear. He got up, grabbed his hammer and decided that if he wasn''t going to do what it took to make the most of it, then his life wouldn''t be worth living anyway.


    He walked out of the booth, not certain of the future, but whatever it was he felt prepared to face it. He walked confidently up the stairs and into the taxi.


    "Take me to Ethereal Forge Academy."


    It dinged in response and flew of as fast as ever. It had taken several minutes for Darius to realize that where he was going wasn''t in the city at all as the taxi soared over the great wall, leaving it behind.


    Outside the wall were mainly open, green fields and several small, scattered villages here and there. Three of the four night time moons had come out now and cast a pale silver glow over the land.


    The academy was quite far from the city as even with the sphere''s incredible speed it still took Darius about half an hour to get there.


    Darius was surprised at the immense size of the academy. It was actually several times larger than the guild. It was a gigantic dome covered in some sort of transparent material several kilometers in diameter and hundreds of stories high. The material made a gap for the pod as soon as it came near, almost as if it was sentient. Darius could not help but marvel at the sight. As the pod descended and came to a halt Darius found himself standing in front of two armed guards in some sort of courtyard, right in front of a large building the size of a palace. The dome was simply too large and was more like a city, with a myriad of different building inside that Darius barely had the time to register.


    "Lord Darius?" said one of the guards. Darius was rather surprised by the respectful tone in the guards voice as he nodded his head. Not used to being spoken to in such a way.


    "Welcome to the Ethereal Forge Academy, right this way sir." a door slid open right between the two guard and darius walked in. The dome itself consisted of hundreds of circular floors or levels, all stacked up on top of each other. Darius was immediately met with another door in front of him as the one they had just enterd through sealed shut. "We will now escort you to your room, there you will wait for further instruction."


    As he said this they began to ascend, and Darius realized the had walked into an elevator. "Your room is on the hundred and eighty second floor with the other nobles." said one of the guards as the elevator doors opened to reveal a corridor with several doors on either side.


    After walking through a long corridor for some time they came to a single, large door that stood alone at the end of the hallway. "You will be staying in the royal suite, originally meant for prince Lionel and his brothers. Your royal substitute status authorizes you to gain access to the room." As soon as Darius approached the door it slid open. Already he was amazed by what he saw. Although the guards weren''t allowed to show it, they were annoyed with being tasked to serve this simpleton like he was of noble blood.


    Darius entered the large, circular room. It was tastefully decorated with a large bed in the center and three other doorways, the one on the right leading to a bathroom while the other two on on the left led to the gym and indoor pool.


    "If you need anything simply clap your hands twice and say what you would like. The room will deliver it to you." with that the two guards bowed and walked backwards with their heads lowered. The door closed after them leaving Darius to his own devices.


    Immediately Darius clapped his hands and said, "Food." Although he wasn''t hungry it was really the only thing he could think of at the time. A table appeared in front of him out of thin air. With more food than he had ever seen in his life. Clearly his broad request was met with a broad answer. Every kind of food they had had been brought to him.


    "So this is what it''s like to be royalty?" he thought to himself as he took a look around the lavishly decorated room. It was gold and silver as far as he could see. He threw his bag onto the floor as he walked around the large, spacious room. It was around ten p.m as he sat down on the bed, taking of his shoes before lying down.


    He stared up at the ceiling as he thought about what would happen now. He felt exhausted and worn out by everything that had happened throughout the day, his thoughts lingered there for a moment before he slid into an uneasy sleep.


    A young boy stood alone in a wide open field. He was rather scrawny, dark skinned with black hair. A bell rang from somewhere behind him. "Darius!" a woman''s voice screamed at him.


    The boy looked back, not sure what was happening as the woman ran to him, grabbing him by the arm she half dragged him back to a house that appeared just ahead. She opened the door, almost throwing the boy in and slamming it shut behind herself.


    "Where''s Dad?" the boy asked as he watched his panic stricken mother barricade the doors. She was a pretty woman. Not the most .beautiful but she could easily turn a few heads. She looked at him for a moment, a look of despair in her eyes as she resumed her work. The woman walked up to Darius and said, "Listen to me Darius. I need you to protect your sister. Can you do that for me?"


    The young boy nodded as she pushed him into another room. A little girl, about six years old sat alone in a corner inside. Her cries were almost drowned out by the all the noise coming from outside. There were several screams and cries for help that could be heard. The young boy was at a loss for what to do when he heard a door slam open from outside the room. Darius heard a woman scream followed by the sounds of breaking bones and a dull thud as his mothers lifeless body fell to the ground.


    Darius could hear a distinct bone chilling hissing sound as the spirit made its way towards the door. With a bang it slammed into the door, which flew wide open. A large, pale humanoid figure with a serpentine torso slithered into the room. It had two gaping black holes where its eyes were supposed to be as it slithered towards the little girl who was crouching in the corner directly in front of the door.


    The humanoid head had no eyes, only two slits for a nose and large, sharp fangs. The torso had no arms but trailed of into a large snake like tail. The young girl was far too scared too even make a sound, as was Darius. The creature made its way towards her, hissing with malevolent malice. But it did nothing, simply waiting there as if it was thinking for a moment when a pair of heavy footsteps came charging through the room. Panicked, the creature immediately used its tail to pick the little girl up.


    "Darius, help me!" she whimpered as the creature hissed once more, rapping its tail around her. Darius wanted to help, but noticing the door he took his chance and ran out of the room. Passing a man by who looked at Darius with a puzzled face for a moment, but immediately ran to save the girl Darius had just abandoned as her screams echoed throughout the house.


    The creature was using its powerful tail to literally squeeze the life out of her, breaking her bones in process. As soon as the man was in striking distance he thrust his sword through the creature. Immediately causing it to let go of the girl and fall to the ground. Unfortunately he was too late, the girl was dead. Streaks of blood and tears stained her face. The sight of her lifeless corpse had haunted Darius for six years.


    He woke up in a cold sweat. Panting and breathing heavily as the sound of his sisters desperate cries for help echoed through his mind.


    He looked at the holographic clock that was floating in mid air as it rang beside him on the bedside table. It was ten a.m and soon someone would come and get him. Normally the sight of it would have impressed him, but the dream he had just had, or more accurately put the memory he had just had, shook him to his core. He waved his hand through through the clock, silencing it as he sat up, still rattled by his dream.


    He felt a deep sinking sensation as he remembered how alone he had felt the other day, only to be reminded of how he abandoned his sister six years ago and had left her alone to die.

 15 Survive The Day

    "I''m such a fucking coward..."


    He stood up of the bed, feeling as tired as when he had fallen asleep. Darius decided to go take a shower where he found a black uniform and boots waiting for him with a letter instructing him to put them on and eat something, while waiting for further instructions. He did so and waited until It was about eleven a.m when Darius heard people walking outside.


    Curiosity getting the better of him he walked up to the door. Looking through the eye-hole he could see several other nobles being led somewhere, all wearing the same black uniform.


    At that moment Darius noticed an attendant walking towards his room. The attendant was surprised to find Darius waiting for him behind the door as he said, "My lord, it is time you enter the briefing room with the other nobles."


    As Darius was about to go out the door the attendant waved his arm as he said, "No need, if you would kindly step onto the platform my lord. the man motioned to a large black circle in the middle of the room. Darius reluctantly walked towards it, not sure what would happen.


    The platform began to descend slowly, picking up speed along the way as it began to descend faster and faster down, until it lowered Darius was standing in a small conference room filled with eighteen year old youths who didn''t hesitate to stare at him. None actually saying a word.


    Darius felt incredibly awkward as he stumbled off the platform. Due to his royal entrance all eyes were on him, he was in the worst situation he could have ever possibly dreamed of. He was completely surrounded by a bunch of stuck up teenage nobles who could tell he wasn''t one of them from the moment he stepped off the platform.


    "Good evening, Lords and ladies." An attractive voice came from the top of the stairs. A beautiful woman stood on a platform in front of all the candidates. Two other women stood just behind her. Each with a saber strapped to their sides.


    The test administrator was, in the eyes of all men the perfect woman. Her curvaceous body was the perfect hour glass figure and she was the kind of woman nations would go to war over.


    Darius'' heart skipped a beat as she stood in front of him. She wore a White blouse and short black pencil skirt. She exuded a confidence and intelligence and to Darius she was the kind of woman who only existed in his imagination. Her black hair and red eyes were the epitome of feminine enticement.


    "I will be your test administrator today for the first, low level challenge. We are currently on the ground floor of the academy known as the arena. Here you will prove yourselves worthy of inheriting your parents legacies. The following tests will require you to use skill, intelligence and bravery in order to pass the test let alone make it out alive."


    There were many gasps and murmurs throughout the crowd as the woman spoke. "Its her!"


    "I can''t believe its her!"


    "I heard that she was a qualified Spiritknight by the time she was 15!"


    "Wrong! She was 14!"


    "I heard that she is close to being a titled knight!


    Hearing the murmurs around him Darius figured out one thing. The woman in front of him was a genius! To become a Spiritknight at 14? Darius was already 18 and he was struggling to enter the Spiritsmith guild as an assistant! Such a prodigy was clearly worlds apart from him. She knew her identity as a celebrity would make a fuss, however she would not let it bother her from executing her orders.


    "For the lower ranking nobles this will be your first and only test, for the highest ranking nobles however, this test will be one of several. If you don''t have a weapon already one will be provided for you based on the outcome of your smiter tests. Oh and one last thing, make the first kill count. For most of you your parents will be watching, don''t disappoint."


    With that the lady disappeared. It was clear to everyone she had just been another hologram. Two platforms then appeared where she had been standing with smiters on top of them. One with the inherited smiters and the other with smiters that had been chosen for certain candidates. These smiters were the only weapons that could destroy a spirit and the sight of them was what made everything that had happened feel like this was really happening.


    "Shit I never took any smiter test!" Darius muttered to himself as the various weapons had names engraved on them. He began to panic at the thought that he would be going in there completely defenseless, when the platform Darius had come down from descended once more, on top of it an old hammer with the name ''Darius Omen'' on the haft.


    Darius hadn''t known this but his hammer had been a smiter all along. The other contenders snickered among themselves at the sight of it.


    "Hey you, what''s your name?" said a particularly smug looking young man. Darius knew that because of his temporary status they couldn''t do anything to him so he spoke with confidence. "My name is Darius Omen."


    The young man screwed up his face for a moment as if in though before saying, "Omen? I don''t think I''ve heard of that house before. But then again, the lower houses are as good as peasants."


    Everyone looked at Darius, the disgust written plainly on their faces as they backed away from him, like he would give them some sort of commoners virus if they came near him.


    "It''s because he''s not from any house." came a girls voice from within the crowd. "He''s my brothers substitute."


    The girl walked out of the crowd, scrutinizing Darius carefully. After a few minutes she said, "Clearly Lionel has no intention of passing the test." Her short black hair slightly covering part of her beautiful face and one of her azure blue eyes.


    If Darius had to use just one word to describe her, it was ''hot''. She wore a small leather jacket and red tank top with a midriff, showing of her amazing curves. The cargo pants she had on did nothing to hide her legs and with the swords strapped on her back she looked like a warrior chick. And as a matter of fact she was. Lionel''s twin sister, Lara took pride in her martial arts talent, apart form her impressive intelligence. Darius was sure he had never seen anything this sexy in his life.


    Lara noticed the way he looked at her and was immediately disgusted. Although he wasn''t the first guy to look at her like that and was definitely not going to be the last, she was not going to accept this from a hick commoner like Darius. She lunged at him so fast that even with his already incredible agility and reflex''s he was no match for her.


    She drew one of her swords with her left hand and pressed it hard against Darius'' neck. On closer inspection her hair wasn''t black but rather navy blue.


    "I don''t care if you''re Lionel''s substitute or not. If you look at me like that again I''ll slit your fucking throat." Darius could barely move. Although all the other nobles wouldn''t dare lay a finger on him because of whose substitute he was, if she was really Lionel''s sister then there was a good chance she could probably do it.


    At that moment the administrators voice sounded. "All participants, please stand on one of the platforms and await entry into the arena."


    She backed away from him and stood on one of the platforms. The other nobles opening a path for her. With her demeanor and rank among the nobles she was not to be taken lightly.


    All the nobles began shuffling toward the circular platforms on the floor. As Darius proceeded to the one nearest him he was waved off quite violently by one of the nobles. To them he still wasn''t one of them, he was just being used as cannon fodder for real nobles.


    Fear had gripped Darius so tight didn''t even notice this happen. His heart was racing and the room began to spin as he stumbled towards the next platform. He could barely hold his hammer as they descended into the arena. He had held it so many times for so long, it felt no different from an extension of his own body. It was the only thing calming his nerves in this perilous situation. It was then that they arrived at the intended location. It was a dense green rain-forest, surprisingly realistic. Darius could hear various insects and birds chirping as the platform lowered him into the dense, green thicket.


    "Participants, your first challenge is simple. Survive the day." The administrators voice sounded throughout the arena.

 16 Royal Disputes

    Darius found himself alone in the forest. His heart was beating so fast and so hard he felt as though it was about to burst from his chest. Each one of his senses were working on overdrive as he flinched at the slightest sound, and his eyes darted back and forth in search of any movement. With every second passing the grip on his hammer was becoming more and more intense.


    He could barely remember to breath as he stood completely still, watching and waiting.


    Meanwhile from private rooms within the facility, Lionel sat as far away from his father as he could, with the help of his two older siblings who elected to sit between the two. He didn''t dare say a word as he felt the hostility emanating from him while they watched his twin, Lara, move stealthily through the arena on a large screen on the wall.


    This was one of those rare moments when Lionel actually did feel awkward and uncomfortable. His father had been so enthusiastic to watch his two children fight in the arena earlier that morning only to be met disappointment yet again from Lionel. He had hoped that this would be the one thing that Lionel would have no choice but to excel at only to be told he had somehow found a way to use a substitute! He had half a mind to force him into becoming a Spiritknight right now and sending him to the most Spirit infested hell hole he could imagine.


    The Emperor was no idiot. He could see through Lionel''s spoiled prince act and new he was a lot smarter, and a lot more capable than he pretended to be. In fact everyone in the family knew it, much to his father''s severe disappointment.


    "Well Lara''s doing quite well." Said the oldest brother, James, trying to break up the awkward tension in the room.


    "Yes, she will obviously win this round. I want to see Lionel''s substitute. What was his name again?" The Emperor leaned forward to look at Lionel with a stern, harsh face. The Emperor was old, and to him choosing a successor was of the utmost importance. And all that had been going well...until Lionel came along.


    "Darius Omen." Lionel squeaked out the words. The screen immediately changed to find a young man, dark skinned with black hair standing in the same place. So gripped with fear he could barely move.


    The Emperor scoffed at what he saw and Lionel couldn''t help but shrink in his seat. His brothers move forward to try and hide him from their fathers view, they had never seen their father this annoyed with them and weren''t quite sure just what he was going to do.


    The Emperor watched the unimpressive young man, who showed no talent or skill of any sort. He was looking at the Darius with such anger and malice it was as if he was going to try and kill him through the screen.


    "Lionel why on earth did you pick this young man? What is wrong with you do you even intend to pass the test?" Even though he was hiding behind his older brothers they may as well have been transparent. Lionel looked down. The truth of the matter was that Lionel didn''t expect Darius to pass the test for him. In fact he was almost sure Darius would die, and he was counting on that. If Darius failed that would mean there wouldn''t be a chance of him becoming Emperor then, and he wouldn''t have to keep up the facade of an ignorant and incompetent fool in front of his father or anyone anymore.


    "Please die, please die, please die." Lionel thought to himself. He wouldn''t even dare mumble the words out loud.


    Meanwhile Darius was still standing in the exact same place the platform had left him. The challenge was to simply survive the day. Darius'' mind was racing. His first thoughts were to try and find somewhere to hide until it was over, but he couldn''t bring himself to move. It took all his energy to simply hold his hammer up.


    It sounded like some kind of battlefield, with both humans and spirits colliding in an epic struggle to destroy each other. Then a bush rustled to Darius'' left. Another one to his right. His mouth immediately turned dry as he scanned his surroundings intently. The trees immediately began to rustle, Darius tried to look into the canopy but saw nothing.


    Then with a wild howl three spirits jumped at him from the front and both sides. They had flat, hideous faces and each had four arms with two hind legs. Darius didn''t have the time to be surprised at how far he had jumped or his reaction time. He was to be busy running for his life as three spirits became six which became twelve. They looked like hairless, eyeless monkeys as they chased Darius though the jungle. For a human they found themselves struggling to keep up with his incredible speed. But no matter, they were driving him straight into their trap.


    Darius ran through the dense greenery, various thorny bushes cutting his arms and legs as he struggled to run from the spirits that pursued him diligently. He could hear more of them singing from treetop to treetop. Howling as a means of communication with each other. Although spirits didn''t have eyes, they could see far better than any human. They could sense the world around them.


    Finally they had Darius just where they wanted him. A large cliff with a drop of about two hundred meters or so. Darius saw this but it was too late. He only had one of two choices; turn and face the monkey spirits or be pushed off the cliff. Darius made his choice, as he reached the edge he stopped to turn around when one of the spirits sprung up, disappearing for a moment and then re-materializing on top of Darius. Staggering back he tripped and fell of the cliff face. The spirit clung on to him as it savagely attempted to bite his throat with its incredibly large canines.


    Both plunged into the lukewarm water of the river, being swept away by the current. The spirit was relentless, Darius used the shaft of his hammer to keep it away from his throat as it did everything it could to bite and claw at him. The creature had been struggling and using its weight to try and drown Darius when it suddenly stopped.


    It clearly knew something he didn''t. Darius looked back for a moment and before he knew it he was falling incredibly fast of a waterfall. The spirit fell just after him. There was now some distance between the two of them and, seizing his chance, he twisted his body to begin spinning in the air, gaining momentum and with all the strength he could muster outstretched his hammer and hit the spirit with all he had.


    A loud sound like thunder swept through the entire forest, causing all of the spirits and contenders to stop dead in their tacks. a single thought in their minds.


    What was that?


    The spirit''s body was thrown up by the energy of the blow. While Darius'' fall was only worsened. He fell into the water with a force that pulled him all the way to the bottom of the river bed, causing him to rather violently, hitting his head on the hard rocks below.


    The Emperor leaned forward. "Who...is this kid?" was all that came to mind for everyone who at that point was watching the screen intently. A much different thought went through Lionel''s mind however as he kept repeating, "Please be dead, please be dead, please be dead..." again and again to himself.


    The feat of killing just one of the primate like spirits was nothing to be amazed by, in fact Darius having gone through so much trouble to defeat just one only went to show just how mediocre he was. What had piqued the Emperors interest in him was the way in which he did it. The amazing speed and agility he had displayed while fleeing from the spirits was incredible. Most people would have been quite easily caught. The boy was even able to outrun their short range teleportation, and even though Darius hadn''t noticed this his lead had in fact been slowly increasing the distance between him and the primates, if it hadn''t been for the cliff he would''ve easily outrun them all.


    The next thing that had surprised them all was the power with which he had dispatched the spirit with as he fell from the waterfall. The shock-wave had been so powerful they could feel them from their room on the two-hundreth floor of the facility, through the formation used to create artificial jungle arena space. The brunt of the shock-wave was only felt by stronger characters, such as the Emperor himself. Little did the Emperor know that there was an old man who was also viewing the exam with much interest from far far away...

 17 Boom

    Now the whole royal family held their breath, wondering if he had survived the waterfall. After just over ten minutes they had begun to think he was dead, when Darius emerged out of the water, panting as he struggled to clamber onto the banks of the river. Much to Lionel''s dismay. He was exhausted and out of breath, only to be met with the entire troop of spirits waiting for him. The Emperor and co marveled at the young man''s lung capacity.


    They had simply followed the river and watched all that had happened. Darius had no time to stop and think as immediately one of the man sized beasts attacked. Darius instinctively swung his hammer, killing the spirit instantly. He was far too frightened to even marvel at the fact that he had killed a spirit.


    To most people spirits were extremely frightening. They were far more capable than most frightening beasts. Even the weakest of these primates could instantly massacre a pride of lions. Thus killing your first spirit was quite an achievement. Darius couldn''t care less as he was far too occupied with staying alive.


    Still more and more kept coming as Darius battered each one with a single swing, sending corpses flying in all directions. But there just seemed to be no end to the things. In the stands those watching Darius fight couldn''t help but watch with awe. It was as if he had an endless amount of energy.


    "Just what kind of body does he have to have so much stamina? Lionel where on earth did you find this boy?" The Emperor thought to himself as he eagerly stroked his chin.


    Darius continued to swing and swing but after a few hours, eventually, they were beginning to wear him down.


    That was when Darius noticed something, these weren''t individual spirits, they were just one! After a while he began to notice the presence of a large spirit at the back of the pack. It looked like all the rest, but much bigger. Darius saw the way it seemed to be reaching inside itself. Its hands becoming temporarily intangible and then yanking out four smaller versions of itself, which would immediately join the fight. That was why the spirits felt like they were endless, because they were.


    Darius knew what he had to do. He began clearing a path towards the original spirit. Battering its replicas as he moved though. As soon as it was within reach of his hammer Darius used all the energy he had left to leap up into the air and swing down with all his might. Bringing the full force of his hammer down onto the original copy.


    Boom!


    Again everything in the forest stopped moving. This was the second time a deafening sound like thunder rang out through the forest accompanied by what felt like a small earthquake. All the other participants where stricken with fear at the thought that that could be an immensely powerful spirit and all the spirits were equally scared at the possibility that it could be an immensely powerful human. Unfortunately for the spirits, they were right.


    The hammer vibrated in Darius'' hands as the copies of the spirit he had just destroyed all vanished into nothing. All that was left of the corpse was a mess of blood and guts left on the ground.


    Darius fell back onto the ground. He was tired and hungry. Also not quite sure what to do now. The jungle air was thick and humid and various flies did not hesitate to swarm on the dead spirit''s corpse.


    Darius was riddled in small cuts and scratches, the biggest one being a large gash where he had hit his head earlier. It was bleeding profusely as he tried to wipe some of the blood of his forehead.


    He knew he couldn''t stay in one place for long, so he walked up to the river and cleaned his forehead with some of the water.


    Can this whole fucking day just end already?


    As he cleaned his wounds he noticed something move on the river bed, but wasn''t quite sure what it was. He had no idea what he was looking at. It was like one giant claw was slowly opening in the water, taking its time. Whatever creature it belonged to was buried underneath all the silt. In hindsight given his situation Darius would later acknowledge that just watching the claw instead of running as far as he could was a bad idea, but in the moment he simply watched, when suddenly with an explosive crack, a bomb went off under the water.


    Darius was immediately thrown back by the blast which destroyed trees and started fires. For just a moment Darius had felt like he was burning. The blast evaporated the water in the river instantly which had probably been why he was able to survive it. But now a gigantic, disfigured bullet shrimp burst out of the river. Darius'' instinct to survive far outweighed the pain and dizziness he was feeling. After a few moments it started sprinting rapidly toward Darius. It let out a loud roar as it charged towards him, destroying everything in its path.


    Due to its size it was slow on land, although its legs were disproportionately long for its body. Darius didn''t hesitate for a moment. He got up and ran for his life. The territory around Darius quickly became foggy as all he concentrated on was running. With the adrenaline coursing through his veins he trekked rapidly over the uneven terrain. He could hear the beast following behind him, using its large pincers to level any trees that dared block its path. Although it was far too slow to ever catch up with Darius, its trump card over him was slowly approaching.


    Darius however knew that it would take far too long for its claw to fully ajar, so he still had some time to think of what to. This had been working until he began running up a hill, realizing this too late he didn''t have time to slow down. When he reached the peak of the hill, he sent himself flying and then promptly falling again and face planting into a small clearing in the forest, where an attractive girl with navy blue hair was slaughtering an enormous hideous and disfigured two headed jaguar like spirit.


    With precision she gracefully decapitated the left head with one of her short broadswords, causing the limbs on the left side to go limp. Making it all to easy for her to finish of the second one. The giant cat like spirit used the remaining one of its two tails to try and whip the girl. And in the girl''s mind there was no need to dodge that kind of attack. With a single swipe the tail was sent flying of and landing on the ground just behind her, still wriggling on the ground. The sting of her blade causing the spirit to cry out in pain.


    The spirit then tried to swipe at her with razor sharp claws but that was simply sliced of as well. Just as she was about to go in for the kill she was hit by something large that flying came at her from nowhere.


    The force of it knocking her onto the ground as Darius face planted into the ground just in front of her. This was not how he had expected things to go. She quickly recovered and got back on her feet to find Darius lying on the ground. She became enraged at the commoner who dared fall on her, and was just about to execute him when he raised his arms and shouted, "Wait! Somethings coming!" he pointed to the hill in the direction he had just come from.


    She looked back at the hill, "What''s come-"


    Snap!


    Boom!


    The hill was demolished instantly causing soil and debris to rain over the clearing. The blast pushed them both back as a rampaging shrimp charged towards them. The girl sized it up for a moment then bolted, with Darius promptly following suit.


    The pursuit was on again as Darius followed the girl wherever she was going. The monster bull dozing everything in its path just behind them.


    "A variant, you brought a fucking variant. What the heck is wrong with you?" she screamed. Darius acted as if he heard nothing as he ran for his little life. "You brought this thing, I hope you have a plan to kill it!" Lara screamed as the two of them ran through the forest with incredible speed.


    "I was hoping you could help me out with that, I''m not sure what ''it'' even is!" Darius screamed back at her.


    Lara almost tripped when she heard this. She assumed that the replacement Lionel would bring would have some knowledge on spirits but it seemed that he had no clue


    Lara had to think fast, the claw was almost fully unraveled and this time the blast would almost certainly kill them both. She was familiar with this species and knew that each time it unraveled a claw a blast would follow. This was without a doubt a variant, which meant it would be much more devastating. She saw something in the distance, realizing it was a cave, she had an idea.

 18 Desparation

    "There!" she shouted to Darius who was just behind her. She wasn''t sure if this would work, but she had to try. In the exact same moment that they ran into the cave, another crack followed by an explosive blast destroyed everything in the immediate area. Transforming the lush green forest into a scorched barren desert in an instant.


    The cave was deep and wide yet narrow at the entrance. The walls were covered in thick moss. Luckily for them the cave was empty, or at least it whatever resided inside it wasn''t there at the moment.


    "We''re cornered." Darius said as he faced the dead end at the back of the cave.


    "Does that thing work?" Lara asked as she eyed his hammer.


    "Yeah."


    "Well in that case I have a plan."


    At that moment the great crustacean slammed into the cave entrance. It was far to large to enter, but that didn''t stop it from trying as it repeatedly bashed into the mouth of the cave. Determined to penetrate the cave it pulled out of it for a moment, then lunged full force into the cave, getting itself stuck in the process. It used its long antennae to probe its surroundings. In search for any sign of Lara and Darius, while using its other, much smaller claw to reach in side the cave, trying to grab at anything it could. Lara seized her chance and went on the offensive, lunging forward and slicing off all four antannae in one sweep. Blinded, the creature writhed in pain. It still had two eyes but its eyesight was too poor to see into the dark cave, but it was determined to kill everything in the cave, at any cost.


    "What the fuck is wrong with this thing? Its blind but it keeps attacking anyway." Lara was talking more to herself than to Darius. Spirits also valued their lives and would normally stop attacking once their were wounded this badly. So it surprised Lara that the shrimp kept at it.


    The creature then began to unravel its large claw. Lara saw this and lept onto the shrimps head. She gave it all she had as she thrust both of her sword into the shrimps head, but to no avail.


    "The armor''s too thick!" she said as the beast violently jerked its head up and down. Bashing her repeatedly on the roof of the cave before throwing her off so hard she hit the back end of the cave, knocking her unconscious.


    "Stop the test immediately!" the Emperor bellowed as he stared at the screen in disbelief.


    "Where is the administrator? Have her shut the formation down now!"


    "Father you know we can''t do that. She has to survive the test on her own without our help. Either way the administrator isn''t allowed to stop the test for anything, even you." said Edward, the oldest of Lionel''s siblings. He knew that Lara was his fathers favorite child and when the time came would be most likely be chosen to become Emperor, or in her case Empress. Although if she were to say tragically die in the test, then his problem would be solved.


    "Screw the rules that thing is going to kill her!" Lionel said, enraged by his brothers'' lax attitude towards the death of their only sister.


    "Well maybe if you hadn''t been such a coward you would have been there to protect her in the arena instead of hiding from from your responsibilities like you always do." James, the second oldest snapped at Lionel. He realized what his older brother was trying to do and decided to support him in bumping off the competition.


    Lionel looked to his father for help, "Dad we can''t just sit by and watch Lar-"


    "Your brothers are right, Lionel. If we help her she will not only fail by default but bring shame upon herself and our family. We have no choice. " the Emperor cut in, clearly defeated.


    Lionel slumped back into his chair. His brothers words had cut him like razors. It was true, if he hadn''t tried to run from his responsibilities he could have been there right now, but he wasn''t.


    Lionel could tell from the moment he set eyes on it that it was a possessed creature. Spirits are formless beings made of pure energy. They usually try to take the forms of animals in order to sort of attempt to solidify their existence in the physical world, but they would always appear disfigured or wrong in some way.


    Spirits were classified in terms of raw power in the same way that Spiritknights were classified. There were four levels called steps, each with three sub levels called stars. So much of a spirit''s energy was spent in trying to maintain its form, that if one was able to possess a creature in the physical world, one with a physical body, it didn''t have to spend energy trying to sustain then its power would increase drastically. That was why even though the forest only had one star level one spirits of the first step, the mutated shrimp had the power of a level two spirit of the first step. It had successfully possessed the creature of a real animal. This was referred to as a variant spirit.


    For reasons unknown Spirits by nature had always sought to destroy everything in the material plane. Which was the reason for the never ending war between them and mankind. This particular spirit that had possessed the shrimp however was particularly hell bent on destruction, a lot more than spirits of its level usually were.


    "Can''t it figure out that using its main attack in such a small space will incinerate itself alongside everyone else in the cave? Why would it go to such lengths just to kill two humans? Is it crazy or just incredibly stupid?" These thoughts raced through Lionel''s mind as he could do nothing but watch on helplessly.


    The only one left standing between the shrimp and Lara''s grizzly demise was Darius, who knew that if they didn''t do something to stop its claw this time there would be no surviving this. He knew they only had about ten minutes until their certain death.


    He rushed over to Lara and picked her up, carrying her well out of reach of the smaller claw which was searching feverishly for something to grab a hold of and dismantle. He then sat down right next to her.


    "Eight minutes." Darius muttered to himself. Lara, who was coming to heard this.


    "What?" she said not averting her yes from the giant pistol shrimp which was slowly taking its time to deliver its wrath upon them. Although Darius wasn''t exactly the person she wanted to spend her last moments with, he was the best she had. So they may as well talk.


    "We only have about eight-well seven minutes until that thing kills us. I estimated from how long it took when it was chasing me." Darius was shaking with fear.


    At that moment Lara felt incredible disgust towards Darius. This time however it had nothing to do with his nobility status or the fact that he was just a simple peasant. This time it was because of the sheer amount of fear that was emanating from Darius. As far as she could see she was at least three times the man Darius was.


    Meanwhile Darius was rocking back and forth, hugging his knees tightly and mumbling to himself, "I don''t want to die. I don''t want to die. I don''t want to die, I don''t want to-"


    "SHUT UP! For once in your petty, worthless little commoners life could you have some dignity?" Lara screamed at him.


    She couldn''t stand it anymore. She was willing to kill him there and then if it meant she could die in peace. She loved her brother Lionel but in that moment she wanted to kill him for leaving her to die next to Darius of all people!


    She then said, quite frankly, "Yes, we are going to die. It''s inevitable and if you can''t accept that maybe you should do something about it rather than sit around and cry like a child! Because if you hadn''t noticed, whining about it isn''t exactly going to make the problem go away."


    "I''m sorry." Darius lowered his head in shame.


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    Lara knew the rules of the test and that no one would come for them. Although she wasn''t afraid of death, she was still disappointed and felt like she was too young to die. She still felt like she had her whole life ahead of her.


    "This is all your fault. I was doing just fine before you brought that thing to me." she now aimed her anger at Darius.


    "I worked so hard. I spent so many hours studying, training, watching my father and learning how to rule an Empire. This was my last test before I could qualify to become his heir. I was supposed to be the Empress." Although she kept emotions like sadness and disappointment close to the chest and never revealed them to most people, inside she was breaking down.


    "But now I''m going to die because of you." her last words were bitter and filled with hate and disdain. She indeed had a plan, which was to have Darius smash a hole through the cave once the creature was blinded. She figured once it could not see it would focus on escaping but much to her surprise it didn''t care and kept on attacking.


    Darius didn''t respond to this, he felt there was nothing he could say. He wasn''t ready to die there, so he decided to do something. In a desperate last attempt he ran up to the shrimp and began pounding it with all he had.

 19 Bringing The Hammer Down

    But its segmented shell was so tough no matter how hard he hit it he barely made a scratch. Staggering from the recoil of his own attacks.


    "When I said do something, I meant somewhere more along the lines of shutting up. Its useless, the armors too tough. I am well aware of how to deal with this spirit. It would take a the smiter of a Spiritknight of the second step to destroy it." Lara''s voice came from the back of the cave. Whatever class this creature was there was no defeating it. It was willing to kill them at the cost of his own life. She slumped up against one of the cave walls and watched Darius'' hopeless attempts.


    Darius wouldn''t stop. He was not going to die there, not if he could help it. He kept on hitting the beast again and again. Over and over until he felt himself slowly begin to slip away. His thoughts faded into the background and his body felt like it was moving of his own accord.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    He started of sloppy. He knew he had to concentrate. At first something didn''t feel right as he hit it, but soon he started to find his rhythm and get into the groove of it. Each time he struck the shrimp the cave would shake violently, causing dust and debris to fall of the walls. It was as if an earthquake was going on inside the cave.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Each strike was more perfect than its predecessor. The shock-waves sent out were enough to knock someone of their feet. Even Lara could feel them at the back of the cave. In this trance like state Darius felt himself let go as his strikes became more and more precise. The sound it made was familiar, and so were the vibrations the hammer made each time. As he relentlessly continued hammering the shrimp he could feel something was happening, a sensation he knew all too well rushed like a tidal wave through his body, engulfing his very being as the shrimp itself was put into a trance like state.


    Darius knew that what he was doing wasn''t damaging the shrimp at all. This was doing something else to it entirely, it was sort of reshaping it into something else...


    He had now achieved a certain frequency as he continued. He wasn''t sure how or why this was the perfect frequency but he could just tell. From the way the hammer felt as it landed on the shrimps hard shell to the way it sounded as it did so. Something told him it was just right. He honed his skill to the max. Hitting it in the exact same spot the exact same way.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Lara watched in awe at what Darius was doing. She had seen this once before when she visited a forge many years prior. But as far as she was concerned there was no mistaking it. Darius was smiting!


    "How is this possible?" she muttered as she watched Darius mould the shrimp. It became smaller and smaller, the energy inside it being compressed by Darius'' hammer.


    Far above the dome, in the skies, an old man was holding his belly while laughing aloud. Splendid! Splendid! This boy was born to be a Spiritsmith! I have to get my hands on him!"


    Usually smiting could only be done on dead spirits, and most Spiritsmiths used machines to detect the right frequency to smite a particular Spirit with, which was a long process especially for beginners, but somehow Darius was able to find this frequency himself. Six years of striking the anvil had taught him just where it would be.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Darius'' body felt like he was burning inside, but after six years he was more than used to the feeling. At this point the shrimp was beginning to take shape, that of a large round sphere. There was nothing it could possibly do to them now and the mouth of the cave was open, but Darius didn''t stop, he simply kept on going. He didn''t even realize it but subconciously he was counting the number of strikes. The hours had flown by as he mumbled to himself, so low that Lara couldn''t hear it.


    "Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight, nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine...ten thousand!" he shouted the last one out as he put all he had into it.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    BOOM!


    He tossed the hammer aside and fell onto his knees. Although he was sweaty and out of breath, he was far from tired. The sphere was now only about the size of a tennis ball.


    Lara walked slowly up to him, not quite believing what she had just seen. "When did you? How did You?....Who are you?" So many questions flooded her mind she wasn''t quite sure what to say, until one rose above the rest,


    "What are you?!?"


    The formation broke as the two eighteen year olds were left standing in the empty arena. Darius slowly rose to feet, turning to look back at her he said,


    "My name...is Darius Omen."


    In a room on the second floor, a woman was standing in front of several monitors, but paying close attention to only one of them. It was a video of Darius smiting the spirit in the cave.


    "And you said he''s not from any guild?" she asked, never taking her eyes off of the screen.


    "No, my lady." one of her two personal Spiritknight guards said. They too were interested by this young mans'' amazing speed, stamina and strength. It was the kind that could only come from intense refinement of the body. Not to mention the fact that he had just smited a spirit using a smithing method. Such a thing was unheard off.


    "Keep a close eye on him for me. I need to study that hammer." She cocked her head to the side a little bit and sighed, "Interesting..."


    "Yes lady Katya. In the mean time, the formation has ended." said the other knight guard.


    "Very well. Michelle how did this batch do?" She gracefully glided over to a spectacled woman who was analyzing information a holographic computer screen. Lady Katya could only ever work with women. Her beauty was the only thing to ever match her intelligence. Most men, nobles included, could barely contain themselves around her, let alone focus on anything other her amazing body. The lust evident in their eyes would repulse her.


    She was only twenty-two years old and was already the test administrator and master of formations at the academy. Her two trusted body guards, Mara and Opal, were both three star Spiritknights of the third step. Born from the highest of orders and stayed by her side at all times. On more than one occasion they found themselves having to protect her from lust filled men who couldn''t control themselves, carrying out swift and merciless executions depending on their nobility status.


    "Of the twenty nobles that entered two died, three were critically injured and eight are ready to become spirit knights, princess Lara included. We collected all the spirit dantians and have Spiritsmiths refining them as we speak. They should be ready to perform the right of cultivation in a few hours. " said a spectacled lady who had been sitting in front of one of the control panels.


    "Good. Now that we''ve separated the wheat from the chaff, the real game can begin. What about the boy?" she asked.


    "The dantian from the replicating spirit is being refined, but after examination the smiths say that the dantian the boy created himself is, as they put it, perfect. It''s of the class indomitable. I already have people looking into him for you."


    "Alright then, project me."

 20 Cultivation!

    Darius and Lara stood in the wide, empty space. They were unsure of what to do next. The arena took up the entire ground floor of the academy. It had to be that large to be able to handle the much larger formations that were used for the noble exams or other complex exercises. The cave, forest and orange sphere were gone and all that remained was the vast empty white room.


    At that moment Lady Katya appeared in front of both of them. "Congratulations on passing the first test. As I have already mentioned for many of you this was the only test required but for some of you, this was simply the first of four dynamic events."


    Darius cringed at the thought of doing this three more times, dreading the prospect that this was only going to get harder.


    "If you were unable to kill a spirit, you will now be taken back to your respective rooms." the woman paused for a moment, then continued, "And because to the victor go the spoils, you will now be taken to the knighting room, your prize awaits."


    As soon as she finished speaking Darius felt a fleeting sensation. It happened so quickly he wasn''t sure he had felt anything at all. It was like every molecule in his body had felt fuzzy, like static. While Darius thought over what he had just felt he realized something. He was now in another room all together. They had done had teleported him to another room!


    The look of child like wonder appeared again on his face as he looked around at the room he was now standing in. The roof was at least twenty meters high and a dim light streamed in through large, stained glass windows with several images Darius couldn''t quite comprehend. He was at the back of the room, his hammer gripped firmly in his right hand.


    The knighting room was long and narrow. With large and intricately detailed statues on either side. Each statue was exactly the same as the one opposing it on the other side of the room.


    Lara appeared immediately beside Darius, promptly followed by six other nobles, all appearing one after the other. Although teleportation was the fastest way to travel, it required massive amounts of energy thus was not used in most cities and even then could only be used as short range without causing any major side effects. This was also the reason why people could only be teleported one at a time. The effects of ninety-nine percent of all attempted mass teleportations were, in a word, disturbing.


    An elderly man walked in front of them, an odd grin on his face.


    "Come forward and receive the right of cultivation." His voice was loud and crisp. Darius was hesitant, but proceeded toward the altar where the man stood. As he walked the statues began moving. Each was a smith, with a hammer in their hands. The first smith status raised his hammer high as Darius passed it. In sync with the identical statue stationed across from it. It had an anvil stationed just in front of it, with a large blade place on top of it. While it counterpart on the other side of the room had a shield resting on its anvil.


    Both smiths struck down, the sound they made was unmistakable to Darius'' ears. As he walked forward he knew these statues were smithing. The anvils moved forward a place, the smiths in front of it did the same. Darius noticed something, the statues had appeared ancient looking, chipped and cracked all over. But now as they struck the anvil it was as if they were being restored. He continued on as each pair of statues did the same thing one after the other.


    The other nobles followed closely behind. Finally as he reached the altar, the anvils reached the last two statues. These were not smiths but, as Darius assumed, were actually Spirit Knights. The knight statues then took up the sword and shield, faced the Spiritsmiths and took a knee, bowing their heads to the Smiths.


    The white carpet that was laid on the path between the statues leading up to the altar went was in the form of a capital ''t''. So the man gestured with his hand for Darius to kneel at the far end of the room to the left. Lara kneeling and the other nobles kneeling beside him.


    "Stretch out your hands." the man''s clear voice rang out. And two spheres appeared in each one Darius'' hands. They resembled giant, magical marbles. One was slightly reddish, while the other was a pale grey. As Darius held them he could feel there was something about them. It was as if there was something inside them.


    "Now cultivate." he simply said as he walked off.


    Darius looked at Lara and the other nobles. Who seemed to be in deep concentration.


    "What does he mean by ''cultivate''?" he looked down at the two spheres in his hands, and immediately recognized one of them. It was the one he had made earlier in the arena. It felt alive in his hands as the orbs vibrated.


    Darius put the other one down and focused on the one he''d made. The energy he could feel sent ripples throughout his entire body. He closed his eyes and focused on it. He could feel the energy fluctuating inside. He could see it in his mind as the energy began to travel up his arms and down his body, stopping just below his navel. Just as he began to feel a warm sensation there, something else happened. The energy exploded inside of him. Spreading like wild fire throughout his body. Darius suddenly stood up. He could feel a rush of energy coursing through his veins.


    "Whoah!"


    He had never felt anything like this in his life. He could feel it as it entered every fiber of his being. The energy was becoming his own. The first orb was depleted, so Darius grabbed the next one, cupping it in both hands he absorbed all the energy contained inside him. The other nobles began to feel the exact same thing. An energy rushing through them.


    His heart raced and Darus felt something he had never felt before. He felt the urge to fight. He picked his hammer up, eager for something to kill with it.


    The man reappeared behind them. "For those of you that will be going on to the next trials, you Spirit Knight training will begin now."

 21 Courage

    Again, Darius experienced the fleeting sensation of molecules being transferred from one place to the other. Lara appearing immediately beside him.


    "Clearly these next trials are just for us." She said as she looked around their surroundings. Since the ranking for their tests were equal, Lara and Darius would be taking the exact same ones.


    For some reason the fact that they had been plunged straight into the next trial didn''t phase Darius for a moment. If anything, he couldn''t wait to find out what it was. This feeling was highly uncharacteristic of him. He wasn''t sure what was happening but in the moment, the rush of adrenaline was like drugs. The feeling of imminent danger was ecstasy.


    They were standing on one island in a small chain of desert islands. She knew a few things about Spirit Knights and their powers. So to her the feeling she had wasn''t much. Her short navy blue hair blew softly in the wind as she tried out out her new power. The spirit she''d slain was the two headed jaguar that for some reason had six legs and two tails. It was one of the twin spirits, among the hardest to find and kill. Although she hadn''t been able to land the killing blow thanks to Darius the creature must''ve still died from the brutal wounds she had inflicted.


    Like Darius, she could feel some of the Dantians more passive effects taking hold inside her. She was more aware of her surroundings. It was as if she had to seperate brains inside her head. As she unsheathed her sword she noticed the most subtle of changes. Her left hand was no longer dominant. She was now ambidextrous. With her two brains in one it didn''t take long to come to terms with what was happening. But Darius on the other hand was a different case.


    Lara had studied spirits and their energy before and realized what was happening to Darius. His demeanor had completely changed. He wasn''t oblivious to the danger but for some reason it didn''t seem to phase him at all. Then it began to make sense to her.


    The spirit he had defeated in the cave was far more viscious and blood thirsty than others. Particularly its willingness to do anythng for a kill and how eager it was to dive into battle. Before Lara had simply attributed this to it simply being a possessed creature and its own general stupidity but now she realized exactly what class it had been.


    "Indomitable." she muttered under her breath.


    Darius had been scanning the water, waiting for anything to reveal itself.


    Usually he would have been terrified but for the second time in the same week he had changed. Not sure if it was for better or worse but what he was sure of was that whatever was in those waters was soon about to have the battle of its life.


    Darius felt stronger, faster, tougher. His senses were hightened as his hazel brown eyes could see farther, he could smell the sea, the air and everything it wass made of, he could even taste the salt. He could hear the sound of Lara breathing a few meters away from him and the ripples the spirits made as they glided through the water. Although this wasn''t exactly new to him he felt as if one of the spirit energy''s side effects was that it unlocked his full potential.


    Lara watched Darius, she knew that if she sat this one out he would almost certainly die. To some, the ability of the indomitable was both a blessing and a curse. It could free one from all fear, unlocking their potential with pure bravery and courage. While at the same time those wth the ability were often brash and acted irrationally. The ability came with a certain cockiness towards fighting. Fearlessness often leading to demise.


    The indomitable skill was extremely rare and powerful. The last person known to have it was Lady Ferah of the desolate wastelands. These were the vast deserts that lay to the south of the continent of Valar. She was one of the greatest Spirit Knights to ever live, and had died over a hundred years earlier defending the southern boarders and their inhabitants from a spirit hoard the size of which had never been seen. She was said to have laughed in the face of death and had the ability to draw energy from allies who fell in her presence, be they fellow Spirit Knights or civilians, and would use it to fight all the harder in their names.


    In the battle for the southern boarders she had been the first to arms and the last to fall. Without her, however, the southern boarders have become infested. The blitzkrieg they created still rages on to this day.


    Lara could let Darius get himself killed, but something about him made her want to keep him alive. And besides, this would be a great chance to test out one of her abilities. She closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Using part of the twin spirits'' energy and focusing it just under her ears. It took some time but with her enhanced brain power she figured it out, and was able to mold the spiritual energy into what she wanted. A second pair of arms in the form of pure energy!


    At that moment, a supply drop fell from the sky, landing right in front of her. It was a long black case with her family''s insignia engraved on it. It was two dragons entwined together in a sort of dance.


    She opened the case to find two more swords, identical to the ones she already had in their scabbards. Clearly a reward for her new found skill. Strapping her scabards on her back she saw something else, but it wasn''t for her.


    Meanwhile Darus could sea two Jade sea serpent spirits headed his way. One of which had two heads, while the other one had it eyes locked solely on Darius. Its intentions were clear from its gaze, it was out for blood.


    Darius could tell even his intelligence had improved to suit his new attitude. Before all he could think of in a situation like this was just how he could run away and hide somewhere, but right now the only thing that went through his mind was just how he would win.


    "These are for you" Lara walked up to Darius with her hand outstretched. She had a new strap for his hammer, courtesy of her family.


    As soon as Darius looked at her she took a step back. The way he looked at her was different. She felt quite small and insignificant in his gaze. This man before her resembled nothing of the whimpering coward she had almost died in the cave with. Even the lust he had had nigh completely disappeared. Now she felt like a sentient rock, an object who''s only purpose it to speak at times and merely exist.


    Darius raised his hand to receive it. His face was cheerful yet something about him still seemed somewhat menacing, yet ambivalent at the same time.

 22 Old Jaeger

    In a place far, far away from the Northeast Province a dirty man sat atop a giant silhouette. From afar, the silhouette looked like a disfigured mountain, thousands of meters high. The man sported a brown cloak; a disheveled beard covered most of his exposed face. He wore goggles across his forehead and smoked a cigarette while he sat, calmly looking at the horizon.


    "Hmm? Old Jaeger?"


    The dirty man mumbled something and stared toward the east.


    "So you have finally found a new partner, ey, old friend?" The dirty man blew a cloud of smoke as he closed his eyes filled with sorrow.


    A young woman in a blacksmith''s attire struck a hot metal rod on an anvil right next to the man. The young woman was covered in baggy clothes from head to toe with goggles that seemed too large for her face covering her eyes. Her long purple hair swayed in the wind with each stroke of her hammer.


    "Master?" She asked the dirty man after he finished mumbling.


    "Kid, do you believe in destiny?"


    The young woman scratched her head as she pondered, deciding to answer with a simple nod.


    "Well, I didn''t-at least not until now, of course." The man stood from the large metallic ore he had been sitting and attempted to futilely dust himself off.


    "Old Jaeger finally reacted. It seems he has found someone." The man puffed out smoke, nostalgia plastered on his face. Thee young woman knew of the legendary ''Old Jaeger.'' It was her Master''s training hammer held in her hand.


    A spiritsmith and their personal hammer had a personal connection, far beyond what normal people could comprehend.


    Old Jaeger was, however, a defect. Indeed, ti was a defective training hammer. Almost everyone who trained with it would end up dead or disfigured. Her master and grandmaster were the only Spiritsmiths to ever survive its use unscathed.


    Due to its age and continuous use, it was no surprise that the old hammer had developed some sort of spirituality, allowing it to communicate with his master. Yet, something was not right.


    For it to communicate means it was supplied with spiritual energy. Someone other than master or grandmaster is capable of wielding it! Who?" The young woman stroked her chin as she remained deep in thought.


    "Master told me to prepare a gift for anyone capable of using Old Jaeger. Now is as good a time as any. Get off, kid. I need to work." the dirty man stretched his waist as he waved for her to go far away.


    Wait, Master! You can''t possibly want to smite the Colossus into a dantain? That would take days! We can''t spend long here; the general gave us strict orders-"


    That''s odd; I seem to remember that it was the master who told the disciple what to do, not the other way around," said the dirty man with a cheeky grin.


    The young woman pouted and said, "Master is careless. If I didn''t look after you, you would probably spend months without bathing and remain unemployed. Our current employer gave us a task! It is our duty as honourable Smithsmith to-"


    Blah blah blah. Honour, blah blah blah, kindness,blah blah blah blah blah, sunshine and rainbows. Yeah, I got it, Kid. I don''t care what hat old geezer orders. Master''s task comes first. Master probably felt Old Jaeger too. Unlike you, I actually value my life and don''t enjoy pain, so Imma get to work. Now, leave." Before the girl could rebuke, a large force hit her gut, sending her flying into the skies. Her body soared like a rocket flying into space. She displaced the air around her, causing whirlwinds to form in the sky. As she shot up, her body got slower and slower.


    The girl had no idea what her master had done to get her that hight. Perhaps he had used his hammer, perhaps he had used hers, perhaps he had only used a finger. Either way it didn''t matter. The man had alreay made up his mind to take action, yet that was the problem: her master was no different from a giant. And when a giant took a step, the earth trembled.


    At some point, she reached the peak of her fight, but before she dropped wings made of spiritual energy sprouted from her back. They were white and graceful, like those of an angel.


    She was 10000 meters above her master, so she got a proper look at the ''mountain'' they rested on.


    "I can''t believe he wants to smite that."


    They were not on a mountain. They were actually sitting on the corpse of a spirit or to be more accurate, the corpse''s nose. Just the nose was thousands of meters high while the rest of the humongous behemoth stretched for miles on end. This was a humanoid Colossus Carbonite Golem, the largest type of documented spirit.


    Its body was composed of a strange metallic carbon form that was harder than diamond. In addition, it had the ability to expand any part of its own body at will. This was a spirit that could wipe out a single city with a stomp. The very mention of its name usually sent chills down the spines of those who knew what it could do, Yet, below her master was a Colossus that had been killed only a few hours earlier.


    A large gaping hole where its heart usually was pierced its body. The young woman knew that it was her master who had created his hole, and he had done so with ease. This Colossus hadn''t even been their mission; they had casually stumbled across it while it had been hibernating. The young girl had even initially thought that they had entered a mountain range.


    "When will I become that strong?"


    The girl sighed in admiration for her master. She looked forward to being as strong as he was if she lived enough.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    A large shockwave hit her as she was lost in thought. When she looked at the ground, she saw spirit energy recoiling around the Colossus like an ocean in turmoil.


    "He''s started, but this is ridiculous. Even at this distance, I''m still within range!''


    Realizing that she was putting her life at risk, the young woman flew much higher into the sky, trying to escape the effects of what was happening bellow. It wasn''t until she had doubled the distance that she finally felt safe, but the booms continued on.


    Her master was smiting the corpse with a hammer, but from above, it looked as if nuclear bombs were detonating on after another. Clouds of dust and soot rose up into the skies. Crazed winds howled like wolves in the night. The sound of steel hitting steel echoed throughout the entire area.


    It was like a beautiful symphony of destruction. As the booms continued, the scenery changed, and her master''s intentions took shape.


    The young woman shook her head to escape her stupor. She signed and massaged her temples.


    "I have to tell the General myself. We will probably be weeks late, not to mention that master is using his full force and will, no doubt, exhaust himself. The map for this area will have to be adjusted when he''s finished. Contributions to that ought to count for somethingˇ­"

 23 Jade Sea Serpen

    Four steps and 3 stars. Coming to a total of 12 different sub levels. These were the distinguished power levels of a Spiritknight. What determined what star you are at what the amount of dantians you have absorbed.


    Take Darius for example. He absorbed two dantians, so technically he should be a two star Spiritknight of the 1st step. However Darius had no previous training in the spirit arts. The spirit arts were what allowed humanity to channel the energy gained from dantians to their advantage.


    Lara had plenty of training from the best of the best, that coupled with her incredible talent, assured her mastery of her skills. Darius on the other hand was not in such a position.


    Every dantian had a classification. There were thousands of classes for the thousands of spirits out there. Each class carried with it an assortment of skills. The primary skill and secondary skills. Lara had gotten a dantian of the skill class Binary. The primary skill gave her ambidexterity. The energy arms she grew were a spirit art she had learned from her father, Spirit Arm. It allowed one to manifest spirit energy in the form of an arm. That, accompanied by Binary, allowed her to form two arms.


    When the first test was finished, the intention was to give the candidates dantians from creatures they had slain. If you had slain more than one creature, the examiners would choose the best one and give it to you.


    Lady Katya, who was in charge of the exam faced an unforeseen circumstance, where a dantian created by one of the examinees exceeded one they had made from the spirit themselves. Unsure of what to do, she suddenly received orders from above to supply Darius with both Dantians.


    Such an order was absurd from her point of view, because the human body was frail. One could only absorb one dantian at a time. Then after a long period of training and acclimatization the body would be ready to receive another one. An untrained body receiving two dantians at once? Lady Katya was sure this would lead to instant death.


    Although Darius'' show of brute strength and other skills was impressive, he still knew no spirit arts. Not even a prodigy like Katya could absorb two at once. Orders were however orders.


    Not even Emperor Farlene had the authorization to order her around, so she was shocked when she received them on her mobile device. The clearance was far above anything she had ever seen.


    After that she received further orders to allow a strange old man to take over the ritual rite. His identity was on a need to know basis and she didn''t need to know. All she could do was accommodate him as best as she could as it was also stated in her orders to treat him with utmost respect and follow his orders as if he was her direct superior.


    The old man presided over the ritual and did as required, passing Darius both dantians. The others were far too preoccupied with their own to look at others. In the control room, when Lady Katya saw Darius absorb two dantians she was gobsmacked.


    "Good, good." Like a ghost the old man appeared next to her. Katya was a distinguished Spiritknight of the 3rd step but she couldn''t even sense his presence. All she could tell came only from her eyes; a seemingly weak old man muttering good while stroking his beard.


    "Just who is this old man? None of my other senses can pick him out." Lady Katya seemed calm on the outside but she was quite nervous on the inside. This old man was undoubtedly a powerhouse far stronger than she was.


    His next orders were to gift the young man a hammer strap from the royal treasury. The order was carried out but Katya still raised a brow. Just what was this old man doing here? Who was he? How did Darius absorb two dantians? Lady Katya was plagued by a myriad of questions as she looked at the screen ahead.


    The old man gave out a string of orders as to what he wanted to occur in the next exam. He had no doubt increased the difficulty by quite a bit, but who were they to object to orders from high above?


    The old man grinned mischievously with both hands behind his back while Lady Katya''s guards nervously continued to monitor the exam and their surroundings.


    Everytime one ascended a star, a secondary ability was unlocked. Darius had two stars, so he had the primary indomitable skill and secondary indomitable skill, not to mention the primary skill from that odd monkey. Katya and her guards could not even tell what kind of spirits the monkey and the shrimp were, nor were they in any database they had access to.


    So how on earth had they allowed spirits they didn''t know to enter the exam room? As Lady Katya thought to the events that had unfolded, and the ones currently occurring, she could not help but cast a sideward glance at the old man and think, "A plot is afoot!"


    ...


    Jade Sea Serpents were powerful spirits of the first step. They often varied in strength and abilities, which made them troublesome to deal with. You could never tell what class it was until the battle unfolded.


    "To make it out alive we need to cooperate, so listen closely, we should each take a serpent each. I will deal with the two headed one while you-" Before Lara could finish her sentence, Darius had already bolted, "head for the other one..." Lara was not one used to being ignored, so she could not help but snort when she realized what had happened. Nevertheless she was battle-hardened and followed after Darius.


    The islands were only a few hundred meters in diameter at most, so crossing them was quick. The serpents came from the waters onto the islands, each spirit moving with intent. It seemed as if each spirit already had a target as they split up when they neared the duo.


    Darius could tell that the blood thirsty snake had it in for him, so he instinctively decided to dispatch it first.

 24 IF I KILL THEM THEY CANT KILL ME

    After the old man had spoken his piece, he stood up and walked to the door. Just before he opened it, he looked back and said, "Young man, try not to think so much. You have no training, so don''t do anything fancy out there. Just keep these words to heart: if you kill them, they can''t kill you."


    With these auspicious words, the old man left the room. "If I kill them, they can''t kill me." Darius wasn''t sure why, but these words struck a chord with him, reaching the deepest recesses of his mind. He kept saying them over and over again.


    Darius also noticed that the old man said ''them''. In other words, ''them'' could be anything. Darius quite liked this mantra. As someone who valued his life above all else, killing others to save his own skin was something he was more than capable of. Unbeknownst to the young man, a vicious glimmer ran through his mind as he thought about the upcoming test. He didn''t know it himself, but he was looking forward to the test!


    The third exam was similar to the previous one. The duo was dropped in a seemingly random location without any information on what to do. Under such circumstances, it was clear that they only had to dispatch their enemies to pass.


    As the heir to the emperor, all Lara had to do was pass three tests, and she would qualify to inherit his position. Then, that would be that, yet the previous night, she had received a notice that three more tests had been added to their schedule. As a budding royal, she had her own information network and a plethora of subordinates, so it wasn''t a surprise that she would receive advanced information about the testing schedule; she just hadn''t expected the additions to be so difficult, not to mention that the information would come with a caveat.


    The last three tests were optional for her but mandatory for Darius. Nevertheless, participation in the fourth test and the later ones came with incredible rewards she found difficult to resist. However, she was in no mood to rejoice the vast possibilities. It was clear that these tests were meant for Darius and that she was just a fortunate bystander.


    At first, she had been outraged and humiliated, but after some time had passed, she remembered what Darius had done to those jade sea serpents. Her humiliation quickly turned into plain shock. She couldn''t get around how someone as weak as Darius could become so powerful in one day.


    "Is this the power of the Indomitable ability?" She murmured as she gazed out onto the grassy plains ahead of her. There was only green waving grass for as far as she could see. Cool winds blew from time to time, swaying the weeds like an orchestra of nature.


    Lara only spent a moment to observe her surroundings before quickly turning her attention to Darius who stood right beside her.


    The moment she took a look at those limpid eyes, she knew that something about him had changed, but she couldn''t put her finger on it. He had zoned out the moment they had arrived, staring into nothingness, but had snapped out of it after a while.


    "Welcome back to Earth," said Lara sarcastically.


    Darius laughed shyly and coughed. "Hello, your Majesty? Or is it your Highness?" Darius asked in a high pitched tone.


    "What kind of idiot are you?" mumbled Lara as she slapped her own forehead. She felt aggrieved that such a fool possessed such power while a princess as gifted as she was had to play second fiddle to him. She sighed in resignation and decided to focus on the task at hand. She had attained an Honour level ability, so her foundations were solid. She was confident that given enough time, she would become stronger than Darius. She failed to take into account, however, that Darius would get stronger in time as well.


    "Focus, Darius, focus!" Darius kept mumbling to himself in order to soothe his fraught nerves. He tightened his grip on the hammer as he focused on their surroundings. Lara did the same but to no avail. For the first few minutes, nothing happened. After a while, Lara started to lose her patience and decided to explore the area.


    "Hey! Where are you going?" asked a nervous Darius. There was something about their surroundings that made his nerves stand on edge. As time went on, he instinctually felt as if he approached the jaws of death. It was an unpleasant feeling, yet he could do nothing about it. Lara''s sudden action of walking away did nothing to calm him down. In fact, it made him feel even more nervous because he suspected her next actions would activate the trap.


    "I''m going to explore. Standing around doing nothing has done nothing to help our cause," Lara said in a confident tone. Darius wanted to retort, but he had nothing logical he could say to refute her argument. They hadn''t been given any instructions or any objectives, and unlike last time, no spirits attacked them of their own volitions.


    "This is supposed to be a test, one that focuses on combat, yet we were placed in the middle of nowhere. We have to be proactive and gather information if we want to finish the test sooner," said Lara confidently. As soon as she had finished speaking, she turned her head back and looked at Darius.


    What greeted her was the sight of a terrified Darius. His face was pale, and his lips quivered. She wanted to ask what the problem was when she saw him point to the ground beneath her feet. At that very instant, a premonition of death washed over her body, causing chills to run up her spine.


    Despite being an extravagant princess, Lara had a plethora of battle experience; she was by no means pampered and protected. She had taken the lives of both spirits and men many a time in order to train herself. She was accustomed to killing intent and bloodlust, so much so that she had developed a keen instinct like any other distinguished warrior would develop after the baptism of a thousand battles.


    Many a man could feel the towering shadow of death looming over their heads, but few had the ability to react instantly in order to escape, and Lara was one of those few.


    Without even looking down at what Darius was pointing at, she activated her secondary ability, Double Critical. It was an ability that doubled her reaction and movement speed. Using this newfound speed, she leaped from her position and flitted toward Darius''s position.


    Every ability had a primary and secondary ability. Indomitable was no different. The elder had explained that Indomitable''s abilities were a bit special. The first one, Imperishable, made one''s mind immune to mental attacks while inciting one''s bloodlust and cognitive abilities. The second ability Overdraw increased one''s all-around sensory and physical abilities, allowing one to fully use one''s innate bodily talents.


    Darius was not a fan of the fearlessness side effect of Imperishable, so when they had arrived at their new location, he had only activated Overdraw. The elder had spent quite some time teaching Darius how to use the abilities separately. The elder had warned that Overdraw must be activated from the get-go while Imperishable was something that had to be handled with caution.


    As Lara had started walking away, Darius''s senses had started tingling, and his ears had started to pick up a vibration from the ground. As the seconds went on, his ears had zeroed in on the ground directly underneath Lara. It had been a shuffling noise akin to one moving large mounds of dirt. His sixth sense had started to scream danger, leading to Darius feeling extreme fear and pointing below his counterpart''s feet.


    The old Darius would have turned tail and run at that moment, but within that split second, his instincts had changed from ''I need to run away'' to ''I need to warn her.'' Within that short instant of time, Darius character was revealed: he saw Lara and himself as one entity. It never even occurred to him that he was doing something out of character.


    Darius could hear the rumbling of the earth beneath her feet intensify. He wondered whether he would even get a word out before she was attacked by whatever was coming. To his surprise, she reacted immediately and managed to leap away just in time. Within a split second, she was already beside him.


    "Fast!" Darius did not have time to marvel more at her speed. It was here thatˇ­


    Boom!


    ˇ­


    "What did I ever do to deserve this?" Darius screamed as he ran at full throttle away from the monstrosity chasing him. It was a spirit that looked like an earthworm, with its mouth''s circumference covered in sharp teeth. This mouth was actually just an opening at the front of the worm while the teeth acted as drills, allowing it to freely move through the earth like a fish swimming in water.


    The worm was incredibly thick. Each hole it created through its passing was at least three meters in diameter while it was at least twenty meters long. Its size wasn''t the worst part. For the life of him, Darius could not figure out why the worm was chasing him!


    At first, it had appeared under Lara, who had swiftly dodged its attack, but then the worm had single-mindedly rushed at Darius, completely ignoring the lass.


    Darius cursed his misfortune as he ran for dear life while Lara ran after the duo. Like Darius, she was also confused. From time to time she would catch up to the worm and cut it with her two swords, causing some minor wounds here and there, but her taunting did nothing to sway its actions.


    She was well aware that Spirits had the habit of targeting the stronger person first, but that was only if the gap was significant enough, which she did not think was the case here. Spirits had the ability to judge a human''s strength with their beast-like intuition. Both Darius and Lara were humans of the first step of power, Courage, but Darius was a two-star Spiritknight while Lara was only a one-star Spiritknight. This difference made Darius the primary mark; thus, for its survival, the worm had designated him as its target since while finishing off Lara, Darius could come in like the old fisherman stalking the oriole.


    Lara knew that Darius had received two Dantians in the Knighting ceremony, but she believed that he, like most people, could only absorb one Dantian, so she was unaware of his current greater level of power that justified the Spirit''s decisions.


    Thanks to Overdraw, Darius was incredibly fast. That coupled with his incredible desire to live allowed him to pull out quite a bit of his body''s full potential strength. Multiple times did the worm come close to consuming him, only for him to accelerate and dodge it just in time. Along with Darius''s mysterious ability to sense the worm''s presence underground, Darius had managed to survive his desperate flight. Lara could not understand how he was doing it. After all, he was merely a country hick with some noble blood in his veins, yet as time went on, Darius''s identity had become ever more of an enigma to this arrogant princess.


    Boom!


    Darius narrowly dodged the worm''s materializing from the earth by rolling forward. "This thing is getting closer!" Darius started to get nervous because his chances of survival seemed slim.


    Attack? Of course, the notion had briefly entered his mind, but his cowardice would not allow it. Unlike Lara, he was no seasoned warrior after all. Why, just a few days ago, he had never even been in any lethal battles of any sort. While screaming, he would look back from time to time, only to despair upon observing Lara''s futile attempts at injuring the creature.


    His cowardice overshadowed his logic, and he completely forgot that he was far stronger than she was, neglecting the fact that he had wiped out the Jade Sea Serpent by himself.


    From time to time, a burning sensation, akin to a searing heat, would flow from the hammer to his hand. This was the hammer trying to activate the primary ability of Indomitable: Imperishable! Yet, Darius would have none of it. As far as he was concerned, running away was the only way to survive, so using the experience he had gained from the elder the previous night, he completely suppressed Indomitable, keeping only Overdraw active.


    Lara was faster than Darius, so it was quite easy for her to catch up to him. She stayed a few meters away for good measure and yelled, "I have a plan to kill this worm, but for it to work, I''m going to need your help!"


    Darius looked sideways for a split second in order to reply, but his feet immediately tripped on a rock. At this point, the worm underground shot upward. It had felt the vibrations from aboveground indicating Darius''s perilous situation. It accelerated with intense vigor, seeing this as its only chance to get rid of its prickly enemy. Darius cursed as he fell to the ground. All he could do was brace himself and roll up. His concentration had lapsed, and now, all he could think of was how he was about to die.


    "Look out!" yelled Lara as she saw him fall in the most unfashionable way possible. She had no doubt that the worm would take this opportunity to strike. She wanted to help, but Darius was in no way important enough to her for her to risk her life, not to mention that she was anyway too far to do anything measurable. Considering what little damage she had caused the creature, she felt a pang of powerlessness overcome her at this instant.


    Darius''s lapse of concentration, fortunately, occurred when the heat was once more conducting from the hammer. Before he could react, the heat flowed into his arm and spread through his whole body.


    "Oh no!" Darius screamed inwardly, but it was too late. The bloodlust was already getting to his head. He felt his blood boiling as an intense rage washed over his heart. At the same time, a powerful clarity stilled his mind. He clenched his teeth while his eyes instantly became bloodshot. From the center of his body, he felt the power of Overdraw increase along with his sudden emotional stability.


    Overdraw was designed to work best with Imperishable, so the effects of Indomitable could only truly display themselves when both the primary and secondary abilities worked in tandem. The worm rose up, about to swallow Darius and a whole pile of earth along with him, when the young man swiftly reacted instead of falling into a lapse of panic like the creature expected.


    Using his free hand, he slapped the ground, using the opposing force to propel himself sideways. There was a loud noise from the impact, indicating the true strength applied by the young man.


    Darius was propelled ten meters within an instant, shocking the observing Lara. The worm roared in triumph, only to realize that it had solely swallowed a chunk of earth. It squealed in anger and violently shook. The squeal was loud enough to make Lara wish she could cover her ears as she rapidly backed away. Nevertheless, her years of combat training allowed her to resist despite the grimace she wore.


    Darius seemed unfazed as he slowly stood into a steady stance. He had a deadpan expression as he calmly observed the wiggling worm with his bloodshot eyes. He tightened his grip on his hammer as a plan of action quickly formed in his mind. As he was strategizing, the elder''s words from this morning echoed in his mind, "Kill them before they kill you!"


    ˇ­


    The basic premise seemed simple enough: kill your opponent before they killed you, yet the truth was that actually fulfilling the idea was far from simple.


    "Princess, throw me one of your swords! Hurry!" Darius bellowed as he readied himself. Lara heard the boy as she had put down her hands, exposing her ears once again. The worm had stopped squirming and now prepared to retreat underground once more.


    Lara questioned Darius''s motives, but a glare from the later completely subdued the former. Any doubts she had about his actions disappeared as she looked into his bloodshot eyes. His Indomitable skill was in full swing, visible from the bloodlust he oozed, yet the young man seemed eerily calm. He seemed extremely relaxed as if he were in his own backyard. Were it not for his feral grin or red eyes, she would have thought him to be in a normal state of mind.


    The stark contrast between his general appearance and countenance overwhelmed Lara. Before she knew it, she had already thrown her sword to the young man.


    She was shocked by her own actions. After all, two swords were always better than one. By giving him one of her swords, she weakened her own battle strength, not to mention that the worm could attack her at any moment. After all, there was no guarantee that it would continue its sole pursuit of Darius. Despite her logical reservations, the young woman had unconsciously thrown Darius her sword without hesitation.


    As the sword was in mid-flight, Darius ran toward it. His keen intuition and senses were keeping track of the worm''s whereabouts underground. It was a simple-minded creature, thus its attack patterns were rather easy to read. Darius snorted as he ran to the sword. Just as he was about to reach it, the worm burst up from the ground!


    Darius was expecting this, so he nimbly circled the creature, arriving quickly by its side.


    Boom!


    With a swing of his hammer, he smashed whatever portion that had come up straight into the ground. Except he didn''t retrieve his hammer. The worm''s top half remained embedded in the ground with the hammer above it.


    Thanks to the hammer''s special enchantment, only special means could be used to lift this. Darius knew this from experience, and the elder had given him even more information regarding this. The elder had said that this fact had applications for battle, and Darius was using one of them.


    Since he had the worm pinned, Darius quickly turned and lept into the sky. By the time he had landed, he had Lara''s sword in hand.


    He slowly made his way to the worm''s head. It wriggled and tried and much as it could to get out of its predicament but it was all in vain. Lara was not sure how he had done it, but he had somehow managed to incapacitate the worm.


    "His strength is indeed nothing to scoff at." Thought Lara as she walked toward Darius. She marveled at the sheer force of the blow, in which he had blasted the worm into the ground. Plenty of earth had scattered while the worm''s upper body was entrenched into the ground. Lara could not help but wonder where all that strength came from.


    Granted, Indomitable boosted one''s physical abilities, but it could only bring out what was already there.


    The human brain limited the amount of strength one could use from their own body. Overdraw removed those limiters while drawing on the body''s vitality, converting it into raw power.


    "Just what kind of foundation does this boy have? How much training did he have to go through to achieve such monstrous strength?"


    In this day and age, there were plenty of people born with unique talents. One of them being inborn strength. Those with inborn strength would have the strength of a tiger at the tender age of ten. By the time they reached adulthood, they could even match the strength of an elephant! Without any training!


    Their bodies would naturally be incredibly large and muscular as a result. Yet Darius was nothing like that. His build and size seemed normal. He was quite fit, but it was hard for her to see how muscular he was as she had only seen him fully clothed.


    While these thoughts were swirling in Lara''s mind, Darius had already reached the head of the worm. He used the sword to tap the creatures hard carapace as if to test something. It only left a small dent, but it was enough to confirm what he was thinking. By this point, Lara was nearby. She saw his actions and saw the dent. The tap was slow and casual, but the dent caused was similar to one of her full strength blows, as the dent it caused was only slightly smaller than the ones she had caused on the creature. While Lara was marveling at the young man''s strength, the worm decided to shriek once more.


    The noise was quite deafening, causing Lara to once more cover her ears and back away. Darius seemed unaffected as he simply took a few simple steps. Once he had chosen his spot, he relaxed his shoulders and gripped the sword with both hands.


    He closed his eyes and calmed down for a moment, in an attempt to ready himself. When Lara finally reached a comfortable distance, she removed her hands from her ears and focused Darius. The screech from the worm was still uncomfortable, even from almost 100 meters away, but Lara bore with it. She put all her attention on Darius, as his recent actions caught her attention.


    "Don''t tell me he wants to cut it?"


    Lara found the notion absurd. As far as she was concerned, he was strong but not that strong. However, Darius couldn''t care less about her thoughts. He opened his eyes and raised the sword above his head.


    He stepped forward and struck down.


    Swoosh!


    Lara rubbed her eyes in confusion because she could have sworn that the sword and Darius''s arms had disappeared for a moment before they had appeared once more thrust into the ground, but that was not what shocked her; the shrieking had stopped. Since she was standing at the side, she could not see clearly, but the sword seemed to be submerged in the worm. This and the silence could only mean one thing. The worm was dead!


    ˇ­


    "The heavens have eyes! They have not abandoned my family!"


    The Emperor stood up and roared with laughter. James and Peter, Lionel''s two older brothers, had wry smiles on their faces, while Lionel''s face was deathly pale. The third test had ended, and the results had been spectacular.


    Darius had once again single-handedly dealt with a spirit in a most spectacular fashion. The Emperor had a smug grin as he returned to his seat.


    "Lionel, my son, accept your fate! Haha!" The Emperor''s laughter was like the sound of death creeping closer and closer for Lionel.


    ''My life of luxury! Gone!''


    Lionel did the best he could to prevent himself from wailing in misery, lest he lost even more face. Rarely did his plans end up blowing up in his face especially in such a spectacular fashion. Thanks to Darius''s efforts, he was now in the running for Emperor directly in competition with his sister. His sister was still the favorite by a long shot, but this result forced him to act the part of a prince.


    Gone were the days he could fool about. Gone were the nights he could disappear where and when he pleased. Gone were the days he could come up with random excuses for skipping trainingˇ­


    As Lara and Lionel were twins, their talents were not far apart. In fact, Lionel knew quite well that he could best his sister in terms of talent for battle, even at that very moment despite his consistent skipping of practice. He just did not want it to be revealed. In truth, Lionel was already a Spiritknight. He had chosen to find himself his own Dantian in an attempt to convince his father that he was not qualified for the test and thus have the Emperor help him find a substitute. Under normal circumstances, becoming a Spiritknight before the test disqualified one, but the Emperor would have none of that. He had forced Lionel to swallow a pill that temporarily made one a normal human again, much to the latter''s chagrin.


    Lionel was neither a coward nor was he untalented, but he had managed to fool his family into believing otherwise. Now, his years of effort had been thrown down the train by an unassuming hick from the countryside. Now, he had to reveal his true talents. If not, his life would become even harder, and the reason for that was sitting right next to him.


    Contrary to what most might think, the one most unhappy at the current turn of events was not Lionel, but his eldest brother James!


    James was eyeing his father''s throne, and he had already secured Peter''s support. Lara, however, was like the sun, melting any chance he had of seizing power. James had come up with many schemes to take her life, but he would only act once she became a Spiritknight. As a Spiritknight, she would be thrust in many a battle, willingly or not. Not to mention that she was anyway a battle maniac and would probably actively seek out these perilous encounters. There would no doubt be plenty of opportunities to get rid of her in the near future.


    Lionel was a wastrel, so James had not seen him as a threatˇ­ until now.


    The only person who had noticed James''d true intentions was Lionel himself. Despite his lazy nature, there was no doubting the boy''s cunning nature. Part of the reason he had intended to bow out of the race for the throne was his understanding of his brother''s unrelenting avarice.


    Lionel was content with not having to look after his own neck. However, he had now no doubt entered James''s radar. James was greedy, but it was Peter who was the real problem.


    Peter unconditionally followed James. It had been so ever since they were young children. James was more of a warrior while Peter was, much like Lionel himself, more of a schemer, except that he was even more devious.


    It was Peter who had discovered the clause that allowed for Lionel to use a substitute. He had informed Lionel, who had taken the hint, and immediately acted on it. Little had Peter know that his discovery would set into motion a chain of events that would rock the entire empire!


    Now that he had entered James and Peter''s sights, Lionel had no choice but to fight for power in order to better protect himself. If he did not, he would be forced to work under his brothers, which would only make it easier for them to ''take care'' of him.


    Lionel was lazy, but he was not subservient. If he could not lead a life in luxury, then he would lead a life of power. He would be damned if he had to submit to his older brothers, and they knew that very well.


    James had had a sleepless night the day before, but now, his greatest worries had truly cemented in reality. He glanced at his brother who understood the gesture.


    Peter looked at Lionel and said, "Welcome to the fold, brother. We expect much of you."


    Lionel laughed powerlessly and shrank into his seat. He sighed in resignation upon realizing the situation he was in. Nevertheless, Lionel was, after all, Lionel. It only took a few moments, but a plan quickly formed in his mind.


    He sat up straight while a regal disposition oozed from him. This change caught the attention of his brothers. James stared at Lionel, obviously challenging him to enter a confrontation.


    Peter simply smiled and stared at his younger brother. The message was simple: you are either with us or against us. Lionel took a sideways glance at his brothers; he particularly focused on Peter. For a moment, the atmosphere thickened as the brothers read each other''s minds. It was as if sparks flew between the two.


    James was displeased about being overlooked by his younger brother, no, enemy, but he shrugged it off. After all, it was merely Lionel. What could he do? All the crafty plans in the world meant nothing in the face of absolute power. After a moment, he continued observing the battle.


    Peter did not underestimate Lionel as much as James, but he still did not regard him as a worthy opponent, mimicking James''s actions.


    The Emperor was no fool; he was well aware of what was happening, but he pretending as if he saw nothing. The wily old fox was definitely up to no good because a subtle grin suffused his face.


    Lionel''s plan was meticulous, but it required a lot of steps to be taken, and the key was right in front of him. Lionel''s eyes zeroed in on Darius''s visage on the screen.


    "The test has ended. Please rest for a few hours. The second test will begin soon," An emotionless voice resounded throughout the field.


    The test had ended as soon as Darius had taken the worm''s life. They were then teleported from the test site to what seemed like a resting room with luxurious chairs and refreshments. It even had boxes packed with medicine that allowed one to heal themselves. Darius was unfamiliar with how to use these, but thankfully, Lara was quick to help.


    She felt disgraced that she had been so useless in the previous exam, so the least she could do was help the seemingly lost Darius.


    Indomitable''s effects had long since subsided since the moment the worm had been slain. Under Lara''s instructions, Darius went for medicines that rejuvenated his stamina. Indomitable was known for taking quite the toll on the body. In fact, Lara was amazed that Darius could still stand, only appearing slightly fatigued. As time went on, Darius was becoming less and less human in her eyes.


    Each of the boxes were filled with vials containing colourful liquids. The liquid Darius aimed for was sky blue, emanating an odd blue light. Darius opened the vial and sniffed its contents. It had quite a refreshing smell, one that helped him relax. Confident that it was not poison, Darius drank the contents in one gulp. A soothing wave of calm spread over his entire body. Indeed, he was tired, but he was not as tired as Lara believed. He was more distraught than tired.


    Darius lazily sat down on a sofa while allowing the medicine to take effect. He thought about the recent events that had occurred to him.


    The elder had told Darius an interesting piece of information the night before, information he hadn''t trusted until now.


    Indomitable had different effects on different people. The common shared traits were bloodlust and mental clarity, freeing one from negative feelings such as fear and so on, but the degree of change depended on one''s personality.


    Darius was a coward and quite shameless; he put his life above all else and avoided confrontation as much as possible. He would only enter a fight if he was one hundred percent confident in winning. The elder had stated that this same trait would remain even in his Indomitable state. He would still have a desire to battle, but his caution would be in part retained, preventing him from becoming recklessly crazy.


    Take Lara, for example. She was a battle maniac with a fiery temper. If she had an Indomitable ability, she would have constantly been in a battle craze, having little to no regard for her safety.


    Most Spiritknights had a warrior''s disposition. They had an innate desire for feats of strength and victory. This would result in almost every person who possessed the Indomitable ability to be an Asura on the battlefield, risking their lives to rain death. Darius, however, had no such disposition. The combination of his cowardice and cautious personality coupled with his strong desire to live prevented him from going over the edge.


    At first, Darius had thought that the elder was buttering him up to get him to use Indomitable more often, so he had hesitated, but after his experience with the worm, he felt more sure of the old man''s conjecture.


    When Imperishable had activated, Darius had retained a clear state of mind, driven by cognitive reasoning. The only difference between him and his normal self was that his cowardice had been replaced with a desire to battle.


    Normal Darius''s default thought pattern was ''run at the sight of danger'' whereas Indomitable Darius''s train of thought was ''eliminate the danger with as little risk and effort as possible.''


    Recalling the previous incident when he had been under the Indomitable state, Darius felt this to be true; thus, he decided to test his conjecture. He calmed himself and gripped his hammer as he activated Imperishable. Bloodlust took over his body as an overbearing wave of calm surged through his mind. He took stock of his surroundings and immediately simply concluded toˇ­ do nothing.


    Indeed, his final thought was to do absolutely nothing. At least for now, there was no enemy to battle. To prepare for his next battle, it was best to recuperate and shut down Imperishable.


    Overdraw tired the body while Imperishable tired the mind. Thus, after a few seconds of activating Indomitable, Darius shut it down. When he came to, he was gobsmacked. He was surprised that he had not done anything crazy. He had even feared that he would have attacked Lara who was seated nearby due to his desire for battle, yet he had quickly surmised that she was of no threat to him, or at least the other ''him'' had.


    ''So, it is just like the old man said!''


    Darius was elated by his discovery. This meant that his chances of survival were actually better than he had thought. Not to mention that Imperishable behaved completely different when he was out of battle as there was far less of a bloodrush and instead more of a soothing feeling, Indomitable''s bloodlust did not mean a loss of rationality. Anger had different ways of expressing itself, and Darius was the type to silently bear anger. When he became truly furious, he became even more coldly rational.


    ''It seems that Indomitable determined that I had no active threats nearby, so there was no need to enter a state of battle. Amusing, truly amusing.''


    While Darius was playing around with his ability, Lara sat quietly, observing him. She watched his eyes become bloodshot and his body ooze killing intent, but it was only for a few moments. After scanning around the room, Darius returned to normal.


    Lara was not sure what he was doing, but she was glad that he had not lose his mind. Lady Farah was known for entering a frenzy the moment her Indomitable skill activated. Although it was not known exactly what happened when she activated it, historians assumed that it was likely for her to attack random people who were closeby, especially those that were seen as threats. This behaviour was akin to how a spirit chose its opponent, so it was debated quite often by scholars.


    Lara frowned for a moment when a disturbing thought entered her mind.


    Does he not see me as a threat? Not at all?''


    Darius was messing around with multiple thoughts when several footsteps caught his attention.


    ''Hhm?''


    He looked up to see Lara walking toward him.


    ''Wow, she is really hot.''


    Her luscious curves and short black hair hit Darius''s hot spot. Granted, he had never previously even communicated with a woman of the opposite sex who he was attracted to, but he was now at that age.


    When he had first met Lara, her fiery words had caused him to brand her as dangerous, causing him to lose any romantic thoughts he had about her. In his mind, even fantasizing about her had become taboo. Her previous threat did its job, tempting Darius to cover his lower region, cower, and hide any feelings. However, after remembering that she was not a threat, he calmed down.


    As he stared at her, his intuition indeed suggested that she held no malice toward him. That coupled with the fact that she was weaker than him caused him to lower his guard.


    ''Ah, wait, she is royalty. How am I supposed to greet her?''


    By the time Lara stopped beside him, Darius was at a loss. To her shock, the latter stood up and bowed. Halfway through his bow, he felt that it wasn''t quite right, so he decided curtsy instead.


    ''Wait, that''s what girls do! Maybe men should salute?''


    The result was rather odd. Embarrassed, Darius thought of kneeling to atone for his previous foolishness. He half-knelt, slammed his fist on his chest, and hit his head against the floor.


    ''Since I don''t know which one it should be, I''ll try them all. At least one of them should be right.''


    "Darius Omen greets your majesty, Princessˇ­ Princessˇ­ uhmˇ­"


    That''s when it struck Darius. He didn''t even know her name! At the orphanage he hadn''t paid much attention during social studies, so he didn''t even know who in the royal family held each rank, let alone their names.


    Darius odd stunt shocked Lara speechless. She had wanted to inquire about his past and so had decided to approach him. Lara had done her homework on him, but she had wanted to understand him as a person and possibly recruit him into her retinue. She was creating her own faction of talented young people, and her plan was to make them her vassals once she became Empress. A powerful ruler needed powerful subjects. Darius was more than qualified in terms of talent. The only question was: what was he like?


    She remembered how cruel she had been to him; thus, she had hastily decided to make amends in order to better recruit him later. Although she still felt that he had deserved it, he was no longer the same nameless weakling who she had previously mocked. He was a bonafide Spiritknight, one her age and much more talented, so he warranted her respect. Little had she known that within a moment, he would once again succeed in making a fool of himself.


    It only took a moment for Lara to realize what had happened. She giggled, amused by his antics. At first, she had thought that he would be somewhat scary now that he had come into his martial prowess, but it seemed that he was nothing like what she had imagined.


    "Your majesty is for my father. Your Highness is what you ought to use for me," She said with a melodic chime of laughter. Darius rose up, embarrassed. He felt ashamed that he had used the wrong phrase. He obviously ignored that his gestures had been even worse.


    Lara did her best to stifle her laughter; it would not do to alienate a potential ally. She had never seen a man attempt to curtsy before. It wasn''t even a custom for females in their kingdom: women simply bowed their heads. Thus, she found his actions hysterical. Nevertheless, she had not come here to mock him, so she coughed and introduced herself, "I am Lara Farlene, First Princess of the Pazhe Empire, Heir to the Throne. It''s a pleasure to meet you, Darius."


    She extended a hand to him. Darius appeared to enter another bout of confusion. Hence, she decided to help him out.


    "Just shake my hand. No need to be very formal with me. Treat me as you would any other person equal to your own station.???


    Darius sighed. It was as if a truly massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders. She was a Princess. Nobles were known to be cruel, so he had imagined that royalty would be even worse. While there was Lionel, he had met Darius under special circumstances. Therefore, the Prince''s station had never bothered Darius. After all, how could one take him seriously when he had such a shady disposition?


    Darius shook her dainty hand. "Haha, that makes things simpler then. It is an honor to meet you, Lara."


    Lara was surprised by how comfortable he was with being informal with her. Most people would find it difficult: after all, she was still a princess! However, Darius took to it like a fish in the water.


    ''It''s not a bad thing. It''ll make it much easier to deal with him.''


    Lara herself was a straightforward person, so she appreciated such behavior.


    Darius sat down and gestured for her to sit beside him. The couch was quite spacious, so it wasn''t a problem. The two exchanged some small talk for a while, gradually lessening the distance between them. The more she talked to him, the more she liked his straightforward nature. Few people had ever acted so naturally around her. In fact, only her family had ever treated her with such familiarity. Darius was like a breath of fresh air to her. On the other hand, Darius enjoyed their chat even more.


    ''It seems she isn''t as scary as I once thought.''


    Darius had never before had a long casual discussion like this with a peer, let alone a girl, so he appreciated it quite a bit. The fact that he was attracted to her was just the cherry on top.


    The duo talked about many things. Lara was curious about what it was like to live like a normal person, and Darius was curious about what it was like to be royalty, so they had plenty to talk about.


    "So, Darius, tell me: how did you become so powerful?"


    "Eh?''


    Darius enjoyed the conversation with her quite a bit, almost reaching the point that he fully immersed himself within it. However, Darius was, after all, Darius. In the deep recesses of his mind, he kept asking himself the same questions.


    ''Why is she being so friendly to me? What''s her objective?''


    Due to his past experiences, and his recent incident with Lionel, Darius had started to more often think the worst of other people. As they talked, he kept wondering why she was talking to him.


    ''Is it because she is attracted to me?''


    It took only a second for him to trash that foolish thought. His intuition told him otherwise, and he found it hard to disagree with. After all, what was there to like about him? It certainly seemed that there wasn''t enough to attract a Princess. He was cowardly, poor, and not particularly charismatic. Granted, he was now somewhat strong, but surely that wasn''t enough to warrant a princess''s attentionˇ­ or was it?


    Hence, when she had asked him how he had gotten so strong, the gears in his mind had entered overdrive.


    ''As a princess, she must have access to a wealth of information. She should know plenty of methods to get strong. A country hick like me, on the other hand, knows nothing.''


    Many ideas went through his head until one idea stuck out like a sore thumb.


    ''She wants to know the source of my strength!''


    Nevertheless, she was not the only one curious about this matter. Darius himself wasn''t quite sure. He had even asked the old man about it the night before.


    "If one spent every day doing what you did for hours on end, it would be weird if they didn''t become strong."


    This had been the elder''s answer. Darius had not been satisfied with it because he had suspected that the old man had still been hiding something, but he had kept his reservations to himself. After all, if Darius truly had a technique that made it easy to obtain strength, he would attract far too much attention. He doubted that he could smoke the information out of the wily old fox so easily.


    ''I should just be honest. Well, not too honest.''


    Darius was someone who prided himself in his ability to avoid confrontations of any kind; thus, he had come up with many ways to avoid difficult questions. After all, his daily hammering of the anvil had been bound to have captured others'' curiosity, yet so far, no one had ever managed to get a single peep out of him. Well, except for that old man.


    "To be honest, Princess, I''m not sure myself. I just do some simple muscular exercises. Before this test, I didn''t even know I had this much strength."


    The truth mixed with lies was always the best combination. Darius was not a social person, so he was not confident about lying convincingly. The solution he came up with was half-lying. Hopefully, that would prevent his body from unconsciously revealing his falsehoods. The action he performed with his hammer every day was a muscular exercise of sorts, but it was by no means simple. Before the test, Darius had also been unaware of his strength, so that much at least was also true.


    He had had an inkling that he was stronger than the average person, but he had not believed that it was to this extent.


    The elder had explained that becoming a Spiritknight had unlocked the latent potential hidden in his body, producing his explosive strength. Darius was not knowledgeable on the topic, so all he could do was helplessly accept the elder''s words.


    He didn''t really feel that much stronger, but the old man had had no answer for this, so Darius was not sure either. Darius didn''t buy the elder''s lackadaisical explanation, but there was nothing he could do, so he had moved on.


    The answer was actually quite simple. Using the hammer every day had granted Darius a sublime control over his strength. He didn''t simply hit the anvil ten thousand times a day. He also aimed to produce a certain sound, which required delicate control over his body.


    The action of raising the hammer and striking the anvil involved every muscle in his body. Hence, over the years, Darius had developed an incredible subconscious control over his body.


    Nevertheless, due to his timid nature, Darius always held back in whatever he did. Be it at the orphanage or at Sahid, Darius had tried his best to not garner any unnecessary attention. Thus, his brain would translate this hesitation into his actions, resulting in him not exerting his true strength.


    The extent of his childhood trauma also played a part in this. His cowardice was deeply rooted in his mind and now a part of him. There were many unforeseen side effects of this, the reduction of his strength merely being one of them.


    The elder had believed this to be so but had decided against telling the boy, believing it to be counterproductive.


    All that Darius knew was that if he wanted to, he could exert incredible strength. In fact, he had used his room''s summoning function to have many odd objects brought to test out his strength after the elder had left.


    He would clap his hands and summon metals and objects that he had thought would be either heavy or hard. The results had been quite surprising, and the boy had been shocked by his own strength. While he had not had much time to truly discover his limits as it had already been morning with the test having been only a few hours away, he''d managed to break quite a few valuable metals. At the time, he had put his embarrassment at the back of his head and focused on his constant priority, staying alive.


    "Really now?"


    Lara crossed her arms over her bountiful chest and scrutinized the boy from head to toe. Lara considered herself a good judge of character, but she could not find anything wrong with his expression.


    ''There is no way a country hick could outsmart me, so he must be telling the truth.''


    Her pride refused to let her believe that Darius was good enough to pull one over her, so she let it slide.


    ''So, the source of his strength is inherent. He either has inborn strength or a powerful bloodline or maybe even both.''


    Since talking to him was not helpful, Lara smoothly changed topics, which Darius happily obliged. The two chatted for quite some time until an emotionless voice entered their ears.


    "Please prepare. The fourth test is about to begin. This test is quite dangerous, so take this time to mentally prepare yourselves!"


    Kylian and Donald were seated in their private booth, preparing to observe the fourth test.


    "The first three tests were rather straightforward and fit what you''d usually expect from beginners, but for some reason, someone with an incredibly high clearance managed to throw in two more tests. You know what that means, right, Buddy?" Donald''s chuckle echoed through the room.


    Kylian maintained his usual somber expression as he replied to his compatriot.


    "It means someone else is observing him. The question is, who?"


    Donald shook his head, "Even Katya, that brat, has no idea, and you know who is her backing. If he was actually able to subvert her authority, he must be something special. Should we make a move?"


    Kylian thought for a moment and shook his head. "No, not yet. If our identities were revealed, it would cause a fuss. It''s better to observe this boy longer from the shadows. For us to personally make a move, it has to be worth it."


    "Aren''t you worried that someone will make a move for the kid before we do? He doesn''t seem bad. If we were late, it would be a problem," said Donald warily.


    Kylian crossed his arms and snorted in disdain. "Even if the emperor himself had designs on the boy, he would be powerless. The only person to worry about is the person who subverted Katya''s authority. I would like to see who would dare challenge what I, Kylian Laporte, have set my mind on."


    Donald snickered at his friend. "You know, referring to yourself like that makes you sound arrogant."


    Kylian ignored Donald and focused on the task at hand. Observing Darius was his firm priority. He had no time to waste brain cells on nonsense with his garrulous companion.


    Donald sighed in resignation and relaxed in his chair. ''Kylian''s arrogance will definitely cause him issues. This is why I don''t like dealing with noble-born people.''


    ˇ­


    Katya sat in her chair, closely observing the screen ahead of her.


    ''This is not a test fit for mere inductees. What is that old man thinking?" She slowly tapped her armrest as many thoughts ran across her face. A smile exuding devilish charm rested on her face while she thought of the possibilities of what would next happen.


    ''Well, at least this assignment wasn''t nearly as boring as I had thought it would be.''


    Katya licked her lips in anticipation. Her assistants could not help but gulp at her actions. They were straight women, but they were still enchanted by her beauty, which seemed to transcend common sense.


    ''Let the games begin.''


    ˇ­


    Man''s greatest fear was the unknown: this was a commonly acknowledged fact. Darius had had no idea what the next test would be like, but something about it had made him uncomfortable. He was not sure what it had been, but he had suspected that something would be different. When he was teleported to the test location, he was instantly horrified that his intuition had been right.


    The duo was sent into a swamp-like environment. The ground was covered in damp soil, with the jungle around them providing zero visibility. Darius did not hesitate to instantly activate Indomitable.


    This time, the blood rush came in full swing. His innate senses picked up countless signs of danger in the environment. His eyes became red while his heart rate sped up. His testosterone levels shot through the roof, but his mind remained clear. Killing intent oozed out of his body like lava from a spouting volcano.


    Lara was bathed in the radius of Darius''s killing intent, but she was not the target, so she remained unaffected. On the contrary, it was sort of comforting. Knowing that she had a worthy compatriot in such a scenario was a good feeling.


    Unlike Darius, this test was voluntary for her. She had taken it because of the rewards that had been offered. Hence, she had initially assumed that it would be exceedingly difficult for her, especially if the test had been tailored for someone of Darius''s caliber. However, Lara was not one to give up easily. If she had surrendered to her fears, she would not have reached where she was today.


    "Attention, the goal of this test is to capture the flag. A powerful spirit and its minions are guarding this flag. Your objective is to take said flag from their possession. If one of you takes possession of the flag, the test can be considered to have been passed. The test can also be passed by slaying the powerful spirit. Warning: the spirit is a two-star variant of the Courage step, so tread wisely. Begin!"


    If Darius had not been under the Indomitable state, he would have no doubt cursed his ancestors. The old man had explained the rankings of Spiritknights and spirits, so he had a rough idea of what to expect from this formidable spirit.


    The explosive shrimp was a one-star variant, and it had already been monstrous. Variants were spirits that had gone down a unique evolutionary path, carrying with them incredible power that surpassed their levels. A two-star variant could be as powerful as a normal three-star spirit.


    Lara shuddered to think of the consequences if they were to battle it. She was far from being able to battle a two-star spirit, let alone a two-star variant. She looked over at Darius, wondering what his thoughts were. After a moment, she could not help but ask, "Darius, do you think you can take on a two-star variant spirit?"


    Darius looked at her with his crimson eyes, sending chills down her spine. His bloodlust was not focused on her, but it still made her feel uncomfortable like she was being stared at by a powerful predator.


    "Depends on the type of spirit it is. Before we make any plans, our first objective is to find out what kind of spirit it is and its capabilities. How is your knowledge of spirits?"

 25 Looking For This?

    As soon as Darius was confident that the spirit had truly left, he felt his body weaken. He loosened his grip on the hammer, causing it to fall onto the ground with a thud. Darius felt his legs lose their strength as he flopped to the ground. The blood pumping in his veins slowed, and his body immediately returned to a normal, albeit slightly weakened, state. The insatiable bloodlust he had had a few moments before disappeared as if it had never been there.


    Now, the original cowardly Darius took command of his mental state, and the coward in Darius was not at all happy with what had happened. He scratched his head in a manner that made him seem somewhat insane. Darius shakily stood and paced up and down. "No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening. This cannot be happening! What the hell just happened? Something is very wrong here!"


    It was obvious to Lara that Darius was unaware of what had just happened to himself. While she knew what an Indomitable was capable of, it seemed Darius himself was not as knowledgeable. This led to a situation where Darius feared he had been possessed by some evil spirit or something else along those lines.


    He perfectly remembered the events that had unfolded, but from his perspective, it appeared as if he had been dreaming. The moment the hammer had slipped from his grasp, his normal self had come back. He was now awake, and he could not believe what had just happened.


    "Alright, they did quite well. Let them rest. The third exam will be administered tomorrow," said the old man after some thought.


    "As you wishˇ­ sir. May I know how to address you, sir?" Lady Katya curtsied as she looked down, trying to prod some information out of the old codger, but he was far more crafty than he appeared.


    "Oh, there is no need to worry about that, you can call me anything! I''m just an old man, is all," said the old man as he laughed. As soon as he finished laughing, the old man walked out of the control room, snickering like a naughty boy up to mischief.


    One of the guards finally broke the confused silence and said, "Lady Katya, the next exams are quite difficult. As it stands, it is unlikely that the duo will succeed. Surviving the last one seems like an impossibility to me."


    Lady Katya sighed as she sat down, massaging her temples. "Orders are orders, especially if they come from such a high up place. Even someone with my status has their hands tied."


    "Then what do we do, Milady?" asked the other guard.


    "Continue following his orders but monitor that young man carefully. It is quite clear that he is the old man''s target this time ''round. Also, investigate the boy''s history. Dig up every piece of information you can. We have to find out whatever we can about him."


    "Yes, milady!"


    Lady Katya placed a delicate hand on her flawless chin in thought. "I don''t know who you are, old man, and I may not be able to figure it out. However, I will find out who that boy is!"


    ˇ­


    Darius sat listlessly on his bed. His eyes were empty as he processed the day''s events.


    "I became a Spiritknight. I killed spirits. I have a Smiter. I killedˇ­ it."


    Too many incredible things had occurred to Darius today, none more important than his battle with the Jade Sea Serpent. Remembering what had happened in his childhood, the visage of the serpent-like spirit that had killed his sister, Darius could not help but bite his lower lip and squeeze his shoulder with his free hand.


    That memory had plagued the boy''s mind for as long as he could remember. Now, today''s events had caused it to return to the forefront of his mind.


    "I didn''t run. I didn''t cower. Despite what happened, I wasn''t scared."


    Darius looked at his open right hand and wondered, "What the heck happened to me? When I touched the hammerˇ­"


    That''s when it hit Darius, "That''s right! The hammer! I haven''t done today''s quota!" As Darius''s thoughts pulled together, he quickly ran to the door, only to have it slide open before he could open it himself.


    "Looking for this?"


    The old man who had taken Darius through the ceremony walked in unannounced. The hammer floated above his palm in what seemed to be a bubble.


    Darius pointed at the old man with a shaking finger. "Y-y-you!"


    "You know, back in my day, it was considered rude to point fingers, but I guess things do change after a few centuries," said the old man whilst shaking his head.


    Darius blinked his eyes, trying to clear the fog that must be covering his mind. He dazedly questioned, "Uhm, did you just say centuries?


    ˇ­


    "Yes, I did, but that''s not why I am here."


    Being the wary person he was, Darius did not take kindly to the fact that an old man he did not know could just randomly barge into his room like this. However, nothing was more important than his life, so he put all his thoughts aside and quickly put on his most respectful expression.


    "Respected Elder, I am honored by the sudden visit. I truly am. The fact that one as profound as you would take the time to visit little old me is an honor beyond comprehension."


    The sudden flip in Darius'' demeanor stunned the old man.


    "However, I am in urgent need of my hammer and would be indebted to you if you could let me have it."

 26 Damn It All!

    The old man burst into a fit of laughter after realizing Darius''s true intentions. After calming himself down, he pushed the floating bubble forward.


    "You mean this hammer?"


    Darius nodded.


    "Indeed, Sir, that very hammer."


    The old man stared at Darius.


    "You intend to use it right now?"


    "Indeed, wise sage."


    Darius nodded his head like a chicken pecking corn.


    "To finish your daily quota."


    Darius nodded profusely.


    "Exactly! To finish myˇ­ to finish myˇ­ eh?"


    Darius''s face instantly became ugly to behold. He realized that this had been the second time the old man had made a suggestive statement.


    The old man started stroking his beard while saying, "In my youth, I once heard rumor of such an interesting curse. One that required a hammer just like this one."


    Darius stepped back wearily. "Uhm, really? Isn''t that interesting?"


    "Yes, really." The old man chortled. "It was an odd curse. One had to use a hammer such as this one to strike an anvil a certain amount of times daily. Unless the daily quota was reached, the curse''s flare would kick in."


    Darius nervously gulped as he pulled at his collar. "Is that so?"


    "Yes, I believe it was so." The old man grinned mischievously and continued, "The flare was quite nasty. It would cause an incredible heat to spread throughout the bones of the cursed."


    Darius nervously laughed and said, "What would happen after that?"


    The old man feigned a thinking posture before saying, "It was said that the heat would start in one''s bone marrow, before spreading to the muscles and blood. Eventually, it would become a scorching heat that could torture even the most sturdy of minds to insanity."


    Darius swallowed his saliva so hard it was audible throughout the whole room. "Scorching?"


    "Yes, young man. Scorching. The heat would spread to the soul, preventing one from sleeping or fainting. After countless hours of torture, the heat would ignite flames, flames so hot that they could even burn the soul into nothing, preventing reincarnation. Everything within a thousand miles would be burned into nothingness," said the old man with unusual fervor.


    "Torture? Flames? Soul? Re-reincarnation?" Darius squealed as he tripped back, his backside touching the ground.


    The old man''s face turned grave. "Indeed, this was an incredibly vicious curse created by a cruel Spiritsmith to train his recruits. His name was Pretorius; thus, it was named the Pretorius Curse."


    Darius started sweating bullets. All he had known was that scalding heat would cover his body and kill him, but he had never known that the consequences would be so dire.


    This is not possible. How could something so cruel exist? How could a curse like that exist? Was Pretorius so bored that he just had to mess with our lives? What will I do?


    Darius gripped his head in despair. He started madly pulling at his hair as his mind went into overdrive.


    "Ehem."


    The old man cleared his throat, bringing Darius out of his stupor.


    "Young man, I am sure you know how to break the curse. Why don''t you tell this old man? I may be able to assist you."


    Darius looked up at the old man''s eye. This seemingly harmless old man had a child-like passion burning within his eyes.


    Darius immediately felt like a woman being stared at by a rapist. He unconsciously covered his body and asked, "Why should I trust you? What''s in this for me?"


    Darius was scared, but he was not stupid. The matron''s teachings were torturous, but they had deeply ingrained themselves in his mind. That, coupled with his cowardice and his recent encounter with Lionel, made him raise his guard up against strangers because he knew that even seemingly benign intentions could conceal secrets far more nefarious.


    "Relax, young man. This old man is harmless. Here is your hammer. Time is running out; the day''s almost over. You should get started." The old man waved his hand, resulting in the bubble landing on the ground. The hammer that was within was released, propping itself up against the wall.


    Darius jumped up in fright. He realized that time was indeed running out. It was dark outside, and midnight was fast approaching. Ignoring the gaze of the old man, he quickly picked up the hammer. Darius was stunned for a second. The moment he picked up the hammer, he realized something was different. The hammer felt more familiar as if it were an extension of his arm.


    It was a piece of metal, but Darius felt inextricably connected to it. If the hammer had had so much as a chip come off, Darius believed he would have felt it.


    Darius shrugged these thoughts away and focused on the task at hand. With practiced ease, he brought the anvil out and placed it in a spacious area. Just as he was about to make his first strike, he hesitated. He glanced at the old man.


    The old man calmly stroked his beard and laughed. With a wave of his hand, something in the room changed. Darius wasn''t quite sure what it was, but he knew that something was different. He looked at the old man inquisitively.


    "At ease, young man. Just a simple soundproofing spell. No one outside this room will hear a thing," The old man said smiling.


    If he was a serial killer, I would have sh*at myself right now. Wait, how do I know he doesn''t want to kill me?


    Darius sighed in resignation and raised his hammer. One form of death was definite.


    Damn it all.


    Boom


    Damn this crappy life.


    Boom


    Damn this crappy hammer.


    Boom


    Damn this crappy fate.


    Boom


    Damn this crappy old man.


    Boom


    Damn my crappy fate.


    Boom


    "Damn it all!"

 27 Sweat Does Not Lie

    The last words were not thoughts. They were shouted out. The old man could not help but be impressed by Darius''s smooth and practiced motions.


    The sages were not wrong when they said that ''only sweat does not lie.''


    Each strike of the hammer seemed independent to the untrained eye, but the old man knew otherwise. Each motion was carefully calculated and smoothly launched, almost rhythmically connected to the previous strike. Making use of the rebounding force from the previous impact, Darius would raise his hammer, bringing it down along an exact arc, hitting the same spot, at the same speed, in the same manner, along with the same trajectory.


    From start to finish, each and every strike Darius performed was exactly the same. The old man was gobsmacked. He had seen Darius'' work before, but it had not been at this level.


    Could this boy have broken through mentally?


    The old man was a Master Spiritsmith whose name thundered across the whole realm. No one who used a smiter did not know of his achievements. If the old man dared call himself the second-best Spiritsmith on the continent, few would dare claim they were the best.


    Yet, achieving what Darius had just done, performing ten thousand strikes that were exactly the same without fault, was something he had only been able to achieve when he was in his fifties!


    This was not a mere question of precision. One had to breathe the same way, use the same precise grip, and exert the same force. One would need to have heaven-defying control over their body and extreme strength. This state where one had complete control of their body while working was called the Refinement Realm by Spiritsmiths. Right now, Darius was a bonafide Refinement Realm master.


    While the old man was lost in thought, Darius felt a heatwave sweep through his body. It was one he was quite familiar with; except that, this time, something was different. The heat suddenly changed into a cooling wave that spread throughout his whole body.


    It was such a pleasurable experience that Darius could not help but moan. This was truly unexpected. Magical runes suddenly appeared on his skin. The runes were incredibly small but taken together, they resembled chains that covered Darius from head to toe.


    In a few seconds, the chains started to break, disappearing into the void. The moment they all disappeared, Darius could feel that something inside his body was different. Darius looked at his arms, trying to figure out what had happened, but the old man beat him to the punch.


    "Congratulations, young man. You have broken a part of the curse!"


    ˇ­


    Darius could not comprehend what the old man had just told him. He had broken the curse? The very notion of it was absurd. Darius knew quite well what the conditions were for breaking the curse, and he knew enough to know that he had not achieved what was required. The old man saw Darius''s confusion and sighed.


    "Young man, more often than not, powerful curses can only be broken in stages. The Pretorius curse is one of these types of curses."


    Darius''s eyes glimmered with hope as he looked at his hands. He had subconsciously dropped the hammer during the odd phenomenon. He tightened his hands and loosened them over and over again as if trying to check something. The old man remained silent and simply observed the young man while stroking his well-maintained beard.


    After a while, Darius looked at the old man and said, "I have to break the anvil."


    The old man raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me, young man?"


    "To break the curse, I have to break the anvil."


    An enlightened sigh came from the old man''s mouth. Darius continued on, "The man who gave me this curse demonstrated it for me once. He hit the anvil with the hammer."


    Darius remembered that day as if it had been yesterday. The sound had been no different from the boom of thunder. It had been so intense that his ears had immediately bled. He had screamed while rolling on the ground, wailing in agony. It was an unforgettable moment that had stuck with young Darius, one that would torment him for the rest of his life.


    "Somehow, that man imprinted that sound in my mind, down to the last detail, during his demonstration. Every time I hit the anvil now, I can tell how different the sound is from the one that that man produced. He told me that to break the anvil I had to produce a similar sound, but ten thousand times in a row. In addition, he warned that to delay the curse each day, I should hit the anvil ten thousand times."


    The old man could not help but be shocked. He hadn''t known the conditions for breaking the curse would be so stringent. Reproducing a sound that had only heard been heard once? Even if that sound was imprinted in Darius''s mind, reproducing it, ten thousand times no less, was ridiculous.


    "The volume doesn''t have to be the same, but everything else does," said Darius as he closed his eyes. The old man stroked his beard in thought for a few minutes.


    "Young man, why did you decide to tell me this?"


    Darius had seemed to be quite wary of his presence only a few moments earlier, yet now he was divulging some of his most private information. This contrast stoked the elder''s curiosity.


    Darius scratched his head shyly and said, "My gut told me I should."


    Darius was someone who valued caution above everything else. However, once those chains had broken, a change had occurred within the boy. It was a small change, all-encompassing yet subtle. Like a small stone falling into a pond. The ripples faded from sight, but the energy never truly disappeared. A butterfly''s flapping of its wings could result in a tornado.

 28 Intuition

    These tiny ripples had an effect on the way Darius thought, or rather, on the way he perceived the world.


    The young man suddenly felt a sense of Deja v¨˛. He was sure that he had experienced this sensation before but in a more aggressive manner. That''s when it struck him.


    "...!"


    The hammer! When he had held the hammer for the first time during the second test. That''s when it had occurred, a similar sensation of something changing within him, except that change had been much more violent, much more aggressive. Its effects had been quite obvious and straightforward.


    This change, however, was at the opposite end of the spectrum. It was gentle, subtle, and hard to notice at first, but after some introspection, Darius noticed a few details.


    His intuition! It was almost as if he had gained a sixth sense. Anything and everything he gazed at would give him a strange feeling. One that could only be felt and not properly explained, be it when looking at inanimate objects or the old man before him.


    As he gazed at the old man, Darius felt an odd sense of security. One that was easy for him to identify because he didn''t feel it often. Darius felt no malice from the old man. On the contrary, he felt as if this unfamiliar old man had his best interests at heart.


    When Darius shifted his gaze to the hammer, a different emotion struck him. Violence, anger, power, thunder, fire, familiarity, patience, tolerance, and wisdom: all of the above were felt by the boy as he stared at the hammer.


    At first, Darius wondered if perhaps the old man had done something strange to him, but that thought was quickly struck down by his sixth sense, like a person rubbing off a stupid idea from a drawing board.


    Darius consciously wanted to be wary against the old man, but subconsciously he felt, or rather knew, that he shouldn''t be, as if it were illogical.


    The old man looked on as Darius kept looking around himself like an idiot. He saw the internal conflict within the young man but did not interfere. He wanted Darius to approach him of his own volition. The fact that Darius''s intuition had so quickly swayed the young man intrigued the old man.


    The elder was a good judge of character, and Darius seemed like the cautious type. However, he had chosen to trust a stranger due to his gut feelings? The old man found this laughable. He guessed that the curse being loosened had something to do with this. He kept looking on, curious to see what the effects brought onto the young man were.


    After a while, Darius took a deep breath and calmed himself. He shrunk and stowed his anvil as he always did. Then he sat on a nearby chair.


    "You know I grew up in a simple village," Darius mumbled while gazing at a wall. The old man walked closer to the lad and sat near him. Clearly, the boy had a story to tell, and he was more than willing to listen.


    ˇ­


    "There isn''t much to say about the place. What matters was the way I lived there."


    The elder perked his ears as his eyes shone with a child-like glimmer. Darius had stoked the elder''s curiosity quite well. Darius was far from ordinary, so a tale of his beginnings was well worth his time.


    "I was too handsome; thus, the others shunned me with envy. The end."


    Darius clapped and nodded as if he had spoken like a wise sage from times old.


    "Ehem." The elder was momentarily stunned before he managed to let out an awkward cough. "Young man, surely you jest."


    "Jest? Old man, I just told you my most traumatic experience, yet you dare claim that I was jesting?" Darius defensively crossed his arms over his chest and put on a grumpy expression like he had been severely wronged and demanded justice to be served.


    The elder''s face scrunched up so much that Darius bemusedly thought that the old man''s current expression would be similar to one he himself would wear upon eating a bad lemon.


    The elder knew quite well that he had been taken for a ride, but what could he possibly do in this situation? Intimidate the boy? Well, that could work, but the elder did not want to destroy the "good" impression Darius had of him. In fact, the elder desperately wished that at some point Darius would treat him like a grandfather. After all to hitch his star upon such a talented young man...


    Darius was smirking on the inside. He had finally gotten one over the old man. He finally felt in control of the situation. The past few days had been out of control: he had been tossed into crazy situation after crazy situation, all the while with his meager little life hanging in the balance. Insanity aside, Darius was not happy about not being in control of these events.


    This old man had barged into his room with his hammer in tow. This in addition to the fact that he had taken control of the initial ceremony meant that he was someone of high standing. The only question was why was he interested in Darius?


    The first person of high standing who took interest in him had endangered his life, resulting in his current predicament. So Darius, disregarding his intuition, decided to take a step back and advance slowly. His first step was figuring out the old man''s agenda.


    "Now that I have told you about my grueling and pain-filled childhood, it is the elder''s turn to inform me of something."


    "Hmm?" The old man raised a brow in suspicion. Something about Darius taking the initiative didn''t sit right with him.

 29 Diabolical Darius

    Darius ignored the old man''s displeasure and went on with his intentions. "Why is this honorable elder in my room? Surely an esteemed elder such as yourself would have many things to do at such an ungodly hour."


    The elder grinned in understanding. He had already gained a rough idea of Darius''s intentions. Wanting to maintain a good rapport with the boy, he decided to speak the truth, "It''s a bit of a long story, young man, one not for the light of heart.


    Darius recognized the provocation in the elder''s tone and decided to take the bait. "I have plenty of time, have a heart of steel, and am extremely handsome. Have I mentioned before how handsome everyone considers me?"


    The elder found Darius''s little skit amusing and continued on.


    "If one reaches the peak of any vocation or art, they will eventually come across a wall that cannot be overcome by talent or hard work."


    The sudden switch to a serious topic drew in Darius''s attention. Satisfied that he had the boy where he wanted him, the elder continued.


    "The arts are extremely varied. The types of paths one can take to reach the top are as infinite as the stars in the night sky. Thus, if you were to examine two masters of any vocation, you would notice many differences in the way they practice their works. These differences come from the different thoughts, philosophies, skills, and emotions the masters have mastered. After all, one can only be called a master when they have reached the peak of their arts. Yet, beyond reaching the peak of the already existent, there is a greater challenge. The more talented masters create new skills. These are called grandmasters! The peak of the highest mountain! The greatest of the greatest!


    Pick any grandmaster within a vocation, and you will discover that their names roared across the continent at one point in time. The skills they created have left behind eternal legacies for others to behold, a great honor for any craftsman. Alas, that honor comes with a burden: the wall I just spoke of earlier."


    The elder took a moment to rub his forehead and sigh. He was clearly vexed by something. Although Darius had grown up in a tiny village, he could tell how grand the elder''s words were. Indeed, grandmasters of any craft were incredible.


    As he was growing up, Darius would often hear that a grandmaster of a craft could make a noble beg. The noblest of all craftsmen, Spiritsmiths, were in a whole different league. It was said that a grandmaster spiritsmith had a status similar to that of the Emperor!


    Many thoughts ran amok in Darius''s mind. This old man, just who was he? Was he a grandmaster? Since he was able to subdue his hammer so easily, could it beˇ­


    "The ultimate wish for any grandmaster is to pass on their skills to a worthy disciple, but these are incredibly difficult to find. The arts require a strict skillset. The more revered the art, the more strict the skillset must be. My craft is incredibly difficult, and as such, finding a disciple worthy of my grand masterpiece is nigh impossible.


    Most grandmasters are forced to take in faux disciples to partially inherit their skills. A grandmaster with a true disciple was as rare as a phoenix. I have had many faux disciples, but I have yet to find one worthy of being my true disciple. The skills I created require an extremely rare set of skills, skills that have mostly been lost to the sands of time."


    The elder showed a pained face as he reminisced about his struggles. Darius was too stunned to speak. He had a growing feeling that he knew exactly what this old man wanted.


    "To inherit my set of skills, above incredible talent in the field, one must also possess three other talents: extreme tolerance for pain, extreme tolerance for the mundane, and extreme shamelessness. Finding one talented in those four things is rare. I thought it was impossible. Then I met you."


    Darius felt his spine tingle as he heard the old man''s words. Anything that required those traits was not something he wanted to be associated with. He raised his hands defensively instantly. "Hold on old man-"


    The elder ignored Darius''s rude behavior and continued, "You impressed me with your pain tolerance when the curse broke. That should have hurt, but you took it in stride. Very impressive."


    Darius stood up and started backing away. "What? Pfft, I don''t know what you are talking about, old man. I''m pretty sure I screamed in agony. I''m a real big baby when it comes to pain."


    The old man stood up while vigorously pointing at Darius. "Being able to do ten thousand strikes a day is evidence of being able to handle the most mundane of tasks. When I first saw you at the Smitersmith guild, I knew you were special.


    Darius vigorously shook his head. "I actually get very bored very easily. In fact, sometimes I get so bored that I feel like dying would be much better. Wait, how do you know all this? Have you been stalking me, old man?"


    The old man closely followed Darius with each word. "I''ve heard of how shameless you are, kneeling in front of someone in public without hesitation. Such shamelessness is incredible!"


    Darius kept backing away with each word. "What? I am very shy. For every affront I receive, I will learn that man''s name and gain vengeance for my honorˇ­ or was it my peace of mind? Either way, it doesn''t matter. The point is that I was super affected by kneeling to the point where I thought I would vomit blood. Oh, the shame! Oh, the agony! I was just planning my revenge!"


    Darius tried to feign a distressed face and had there been true actors here, they would have surely clapped their hands. Unfortunately, his only spectator was not fooled.


    "Bah! You can''t fool this old man, not again. I know what you can do, young man, and I will bring the best out of you. This will be a night you will never forget."


    "Ah, please don''t do this!" Darius pleaded with his back trapped against the wall.


    The old man laughed; he wasn''t quite sure what Darius was so scared of, but he decided to clarify things later. Seeing Darius like this right now was too amusing. "I will do as I see fit. It must happen!"


    "No, it doesn''t have to!"


    "It must!"


    "Do not do this! It''s not fit for your station!"


    "I will do it."


    "It can''t happen!"


    "It will happen!"


    "Please don''t **** me!"


    "Haha, I will ra-..." The old man paused. After noticing the oddly small distance between the two, his creepy demeanor, and that Darius was trembling with his back against the wall, the old man''s forehead broke into a cold sweat!

 30 Kylian and Donald

    Let''s rewind time a bit to just before the second exam started. The location to be examined is a private viewing room overlooking the exam.


    They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yet it is always still dependent on who the beholden is. Currently, there was a certain man, if it would be appropriate to even call him so, sitting among the many observers present at Darius''s trial.


    He had a beauty that was unbecoming of a man. He had big round eyes, a skinny well-defined and pointy nose, and big reddish lips that could make even the most enchanting women in the world full of envy. His pale white skin made him seem otherworldly, like a mermaid. It was almost as if the man were made out of the purest jade and sculpted by the hands of Mother Nature herself.


    His long black hair draped over his shoulders, cascading down like an unfettered waterfall. His hands were not rough and huge like those of a typical man, but soft and quite nice-looking instead. He wore an army green blazer with numerous golden buttons sewn on its front. On his shoulders were a cluster of badges, enough for one to think that this man had conquered the world. He wore pointed tan shoes that gleamed like sunbeams as if they had been dipped in a tub of cooking oil. He was clearly a man from his dress and disposition, yet his feminine beauty made him seem otherwise.


    Beside him sat a burly, bearded man. This man was the epitome of masculinity at its finest. Were Darius here, he might have mistaken them for husband and wife. He had wide, broad shoulders and eyes that made it seem like he was bred to dominate and overcome any obstacle life would bring his way. The man had eyes that gave straight piercing looks and attested to his authority. His temperament alone made it impossible for those of weaker will to be anywhere near his presence. One look at him was enough to intimidate anyone. His fiery red hair made him resemble a blazing fire.


    "Old friend, do tell me what you think of this young man. I am quite curious to know your thoughts on his performance so far," said the bearded man to his feminine counterpart.


    "Well, we are not here to sightsee. We are here to observe our future empress''s performance," replied the feminine man.


    The bearded man crossed his arms and snorted, "Hmph! We are men of the military, not tourists. Anything that concerns the military might of our country will definitely catch our attention. Granted, the princess is impressive, but her partner has outshone her in terms of martial skill. Have you forgotten how our nobility was chosen long, long ago?"


    The feminine man could not help but squint his huge beautiful eyes. His bearded partner did indeed raise a very good point. He sighed heavily, looked up, and straightened his body like a person being asked difficult questions in an interview. He seemed to be deep in contemplation as if this were a matter of life and death itself.


    Many a century ago, the entire world experienced a major transition in terms of how it was structured due to the arrival of the Spirits. One''s ability to fight became more important than anything else. This ability was often passed down from generation to generation through genetics. It was a priceless and valued inheritance that had to be maintained over an endless time span. Thus, at that point in time, those who had powerful bloodlines came to become the rulers of the world. In exchange for their power and nobility, these families were obligated to vehemently protect all those under them and fight against different kinds of spirits. While a mere simple feudal system, it had worked.


    Thus, such families were always the first to arrive in battle and were always the last ones to fall at the hands of the enemy. It was clear from the way Darius was handling himself that he must have some powerful bloodline flowing inside his veins. That was the only logical explanation for his previous performance. However, it was clear the boy had never had any training because his movements were haphazard, impulsive, and often uncoordinated, and he usually seemed to feel true surprise at his success.


    Those with powerful bloodlines were blessed due to many factors: the most prevalent one being that they didn''t need to train as much as others and would still reach the same heights.


    From the feminine man''s point of view, Darius was fighting as if he were a rich, talented, foolish, young noble. Little did the feminine man know that he could not be further from the truth. It was only just before Darius and Lara were about to perform the second test that the old duo received information on Darius'' history.


    Both men had very high positions in the military. Their positions were even more powerful and influential than that of the young lady hosting the exam. It would not be a stretch to say that even the Emperor would have to be courteous when talking to these two men, so learning of Darius''s history was an extremely simple task for them.


    When the duo learned of Darius''s history, they were utterly flabbergasted. Their reactions showed their different personalities. The large burly man swore multiple times and spewed profanities while the feminine man crushed the armrest of his seat.


    The burly man was an expressive human being, one who did not inhibit himself in any way. More often than not, he did not care about what other people thought about him. He was not bothered by how he was seen through the eyes of others; in essence, it would be fair to say that this man was solely concerned about his own perspective toward himself, the true definition of arrogant. Speaking in a vulgar manner and acting like a ruffian were staples of his character.


    This was Donald McLeod, a man''s man, or at least, that''s what he thought he was.


    Kylian Laporte was the name of the effeminate man standing next to him.

 31 Lady Farah

    Kylian seemed conservative by nature, which often fooled people into misjudging his true nature. Kylian was actually quite sadistic and egocentric in terms of his character. He was one of those soldiers who wouldn''t think twice about stabbing someone''s heart with a sword if there were a need and couldn''t care less about the dying orphans in the streets.


    He had a stone-cold, frosty, hard, and unbreakable kind of disposition. He thought the world revolved around himself even though he adamantly shirked from displaying his true feelings in public. He had an ego bigger than an avalanche. He only cared about himself and his duties.


    Kylian had gained these traits because he was raised in a militaristic family that had a strict creed, one of which was self-restraint.


    The combination of self-restraint, his effeminate appearance, and his intellectual ego resulted in many people completely misinterpreting him. Nevertheless, he had an even shorter temper than Donald, but he just didn''t show it most of the time.


    Donald knew Kylian''s true character, so when he saw the latter''s reaction, he instantly knew what was on the other''s mind.


    "Well, it''s rare to see someone ruffle your feathers to this extent, old friend," laughed McLeod. Kylian said nothing and merely continued watching over the proceedings.


    It was at this point that Darius and Lara were about to face the two serpents.


    Although McLeod had just mocked Kylian, regarding Darius, he was just as perturbed as his friend was. A boy with no history and no nobility actually possessed such monstrous talent. The idea in and of itself was absurd. He was completely stunned.


    ˇ­


    Now, let''s move back toward the present. While Darius was having his discussion with the old man, Kylian and Donald were having one of their own in a lobby.


    As the duo was of esteemed status, their rooms were actually suites provided with many amenities and a lot of space.


    The duo sat opposite one another, each one deep in thought. The events of the day had left quite an impression on them. Even if Darius''s performance during the first exam could be termed amusing, then his performance in the second one was most decidedly impressive.


    Donald stroked his beard for a while. Then, he sighed in resignation, "I never thought I would see someone outshine the Princess in this exam."


    Kylian nodded in reply. "Indeed. She is quite the talent in her family, and considering how weak this Empire is, she is already impressive, yet somehow an unknown boy from the countryside completely outperformed her. The very notion sounds absurd."


    Donald''s large frame leaned on his chair as his fingers tapped the table. "I never thought I would see an Indomitable again after Lady Farah perished. I don''t know whether to envy the lad or pity him. Truly a heavy burden to bear, but still. What an ability..."


    Kylian massaged his temples, "The Indomitable ability is both a blessing and a curse. It can free one from all fear, unlocking their potential through inciting pure bravery and courage. However, at the same time, those with the ability are often brash and act irrationally. The ability comes with a certain arrogance toward fighting. This type of fearlessness often leads to an early demise."


    Donald added on, "The Indomitable skill is extremely rare and powerful. You''re forgetting just how important it is." His voice rose as he spoke with great admiration, "The last person known to have it was Lady Farah of the Desolate Wastelands in the vast deserts that lay to the south of the of Valar Empire.


    Although she died over a hundred years ago while defending the Southern borders from a Spirit Horde, the likes of which had never been previously seen, she is still remembered as one of the greatest Spiritknights to ever live.


    She was said to have laughed at the face of death and could draw energy from allies who fell in her presence, be they fellow Spiritknights or civilians, using it to fight all the harder in their names.


    In the battle for the southern borders, she had been the first to arms and the last to fall. Without her, however, the southern borders quickly became infested. The blitzkrieg skirmishes still rage on to this day."


    Kylian raised a brow at his compatriot''s words. "You are speaking of these events as if you had not been there yourself."


    Donald shrugged his arms, "I was a mere recruit at that time, so to be honest, I didn''t experience much except for wave after wave of spirits."


    Kylian found Donald''s words ridiculous. "You may have been a recruit, but you were also Sir Humphrey''s squire. As he was Lady Farah''s confidante, this should have given you exposure to at least some of her battles."


    Donald shrugged once more. "It''s not that simple, old friend."


    "Why not?" Kylian questioned.


    Donald sighed in resignation. A hint of melancholy could be seen on his face as he looked upwards, gazing into nothingness.


    "Aye, I was Sir Humphreys squire, and aye, he was her confidante, but whenever she fought, everyone made sure to steer clear of her path.


    I only saw part of her battle once. I was miles away, and even though it''s been a century, I remember the chills I got while watching her battle with the Spirits... Nay, that was no battle: it was a massacre."


    Kylian could not help but have his curiosity piqued. Lady Farah was a legend and a half. Her tales of power, skill and bravery enticed anyone on the Spiritknight''s path.


    Donald continued, "It was only when I saw her fight that I understood why no one was allowed near her. The spirits came in their millions, flooding the desert as far as the eye could see.


    Many a Spiritknight fell that day. I almost fell as well, but it was not by a Spirit''s hand.


    One of Lady Farah''s attacks landed near me. The explosion nearly blew me to pieces. The Spirits around me were reduced to ash."

 32 His Rare Smile

    Kylian recalled that Lady Farah had been an expert in fire type magic. That coupled with a hot desert and her temperament must have created a hell on earth.


    "When I finally opened my eyes, it was like hell. Fires raged around me as smoke rose to the skies. The screams of my fellow brothers were doused by the sounds of her epic battle. I looked toward the source of the sounds and saw something I will never forget.


    Fireballs the size of meteors rained from the skies with devastating effect. Flames scorched the sands, turning all into molten glass.


    Lady Farah herself was covered in a halo of flames, illuminating the battlefield like a second sun. More often than not, I was blinded by the light and forced to cover my eyes. To be honest, I''m not even sure what I saw for those few moments. What I can tell you is that after she finished and moved off to find her next opponents, there was nothing: no Spirits, not even remains, not even a piece of debris.


    Her flames had flattened the earth and scorched it into a magnificent glass-like spectacle.


    After that, I immediately returned to camp to rest. That was when I learned from the others of her ongoing slaughter.


    Being Indomitable made her incredibly powerful, magnifying both her power and splendor, but it also brought out her hubris and bloodlust, making it impossible for her to fight cooperative battles with other Spiritknights. This allowed the powerful Spirits to plot against her and take her down, even if it was for a huge price."


    Donald''s somber recollection brought chills to the usually stoic Kylian. He could not help but wonder what she could have achieved had she lived longer. It was believed that she had not even yet reached the peak of her power and that she could have grown stronger. Alas...


    "Indomitable effects differ from person to person. This is affected by their ability class and the user''s personality."


    (*Editor''s Note: This is kind of repeated in Ch. 18, but it has some new info so I left it here*)


    Spiritknights were separated into multiple levels of power. Each level contained 3 sub levels.


    The four main levels were Courage, Honor, Valor, Glory, with Courage being the weakest and Glory being the highest. This resulted in there being 12 sublevels of power, with each group of 3 sublevels representing an entire stage.


    To advance to the next sublevel, one had to absorb a Dantian of that level. One could only do so once their body was capable of doing so. Raising the quality of one''s body to receive a Dantian required a lot of training physically and mentally. Talent also played a crucial role.


    Each sublevel was called a star. Since Darius had absorbed two Dantians, that meant that he was a 2-star Courage Spiritknight.


    Each Dantian brought with it an ability. These abilities are also arranged by the four levels in the same manner Spiritknights were. The higher the level of the ability, the more powerful its effects were and the more demanding it was of the person using it.


    Donald continued his explanation, "Judging from what we saw, I think it''s safe to assume that the boy''s Indomitable is at least at the Valor level. There is even a small chance of it being at the Glory level!"


    Kylian could not help but be impressed. Glory level abilities were extremely rare and ridiculously powerful. If Darius''s Indomitable ability was at the Glory level, then it immediately made the young man an important asset. Not just because of the ability''s class, but because it was his first ability!


    ˇ­


    The soil on which one plants a tree is a determining factor in how much the plant will grow. The same applied to Spiritknights, with the first skill they gained being the ''soil.'' If one had a high-class ability as their foundational ability, one''s future was limitless.


    "Glory level Indomitable as a foundational ability. Sigh, even I am now getting jealous," said Donald with a hint of envy.


    "Don''t jump to conclusions," barked Kylian, "It could still be just a Valor-class ability. The gap between Valor and Glory is extremely large."


    Donald could not help but nod at his compatriot''s words. "So Kylian, do you want to recruit him?"


    Kylian sat back in his chair, deep in thought. Donald valued his opinion quite a bit, not to mention that Kylian was much better at observing potential than the brutish man was.


    "I''m not sure. On one hand, we have a clearly incredible talent, potential Glory class foundational ability, and an incredibly well-trained body. On the other, we have an uncertain bloodline history and a volatile ability, not to mention that we are hardly the only ones observing this test. Ethereal Forge Academy is a den of dragons and tigers. It would not be an odd thing for one of the old monsters hiding within these old walls to fancy the boy."


    "Bah! Nonsense! If anyone wants him, they can only get him if we aren''t interested," scoffed Donald.


    Kylian ignored his old friend and fell deep into thought. It was not that simple. Kylian was a cautious person by nature, so he wanted to make sure everything was what it seemed to be before making such an important decision.


    "There is more time. Let''s see how he performs in the next exam. Besides, we haven''t even seen the class of the second Dantian he got. Who knows what ability it''s hiding?"


    Donald scoffed at his friend''s words and went to sleep. He was not one to waste time on things he couldn''t deal with or guess at without any firm evidence. Kylian brought up some recordings from the day''s earlier events on his mobile device. He kept going over Darius''s various encounters, trying to see if he had missed something. He didn''t notice it himself, but a slight smile was on his face while he watched the young man struggling to survive. A smile on Kylian Laporte''s face was quite charming, and even more so, rare.

 33 Mental Struggles

    Back to Darius and the Elder, the old man coughed violently for a few moments then he breathed heavily to regain his composure.


    After a while, blatant anger apparent on his face, he glared at the smug Darius who was sitting in his chair as if nothing had happened. Darius was doing everything in his power not to laugh. Once again, he had thrown the old man off his perch. It was quite a pleasant feeling for the young man. The old man wanted to shout but didn''t quite know what to say.


    Someone of his esteemed position had never had to deal with such blatant disrespect. Then again, the young man before him probably didn''t even know who he was. After thinking things through for a while, the elder sat down opposite Darius and sighed.


    "Young man, how much do you know about Spiritknights? About their abilities and classifications?"


    Darius was intrigued by the elder''s words. Indeed, he knew absolutely nothing, which was an unpleasant situation, especially for one as cautious as himself.


    "Ehem, esteemed Elder, would you mind enlightening me on a few topics regarding these issues?"


    The elder smiled and nodded. This was more along the lines of what he wanted: a chance to hold the boy''s attention for a while and teach him a few things. Granted, he would have preferred to have taken it slowly, but the boy was quite cunning and elusive, so the elder had to throw him a bone and hope to gain his trust.


    For the next few hours, the duo discussed all the general information Darius needed to know about the world of Spiritknights. The duo also discussed many other details, such as what an Indomitable could do, how to activate the ability, and its value. Darius couldn''t wrap his head around how he had something so amazing. Feeling the old man''s goodwill, Darius asked him how to access the ability he had gained from the other Dantian.


    Quite some time was spent by the old man in helping Darius understand his own power. As time when on, Darius started to truly understand the advantages of following the old man. His new-found sixth sense told him that things would only get better if he followed this old codger. Darius lowered his guard somewhat and became more obedient. He at least knew what the old man wanted from him, so he was better informed than when he had been dealing with Lionel.


    The only issue was the matter of the old man''s requirements. Tolerance for pain and the mundane as well as being in possession of shamelessness. Shamelessness and the mundane were nothing to Darius, but the word pain stuck out like a sore thumb.


    There is no young man in their right mind who did not fear pain. Being the coward he was, Darius naturally feared it. Not nearly as much as death, but the fear was still there nonetheless.


    However, the old man constantly reminded Darius of the rewards that would follow his hard work like riches, fame, and power. Anything he desired would be at his grasp so long as he was able to master this elder''s skills.


    Multiple times did Darius ask one question. "Will this kill me?"


    Nonetheless, the elder also reassured Darius multiple times that becoming his disciple would not be lethal in any way. Rather, becoming his disciple would guarantee his safety for life. This was the true attraction for Darius.


    It was obvious that this old man was someone important. If being his disciple could guarantee his survival in this cruel world, then Darius was all for it. Then again, Darius knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. The old man would most likely work him to the bone and then some. Judging from his initial requirements, being his disciple would be no walk in the park.


    Darius had too much going on in his mind even by the time their conversation reached its end. He was not at all sure about what to.


    Should he agree? Yes, the old man guaranteed his survival and happiness, but was it worth the pain or the risk? Not to mention the hard work. In fact, who knew if this old man was even telling the truth? Maybe this new sixth sense was a trick manipulated by the old man to get him to lower his guard. Maybe this was all an insidious plot to trick him againˇ­


    After a mental struggle, Darius decided to gather more information both on the old man as well as his own abilities. If the old man was correct, many powerful people would approach Darius to recruit him after the tests. Perhaps there were people more powerful than the old man, people who were better suited to guarantee his safetyˇ­


    By the time their conversation had finished, it was already dawn. Darius had a sturdy body and mind, so he could go a few days without sleep, and everyone would be none the wiser.


    After the old man had spoken his piece, he stood up and walked to the door. Just before he opened it, he looked back and said, "Young man, try not to think so much. You have no training, so don''t do anything fancy out there. Just keep these words to heart: if you kill them, they can''t kill you."


    With these auspicious words, the old man left the room. "If I kill them, they can''t kill me." Darius wasn''t sure why, but these words struck a chord with him, reaching the deepest recesses of his mind. He kept saying them over and over again.


    Darius also noticed that the old man said ''them''. In other words, ''them'' could be anything. Darius quite liked this mantra. As someone who valued his life above all else, killing others to save his own skin was something he was more than capable of. Unbeknownst to the young man, a vicious glimmer ran through his mind as he thought about the upcoming test. He didn''t know it himself, but he was looking forward to the test!

 34 Imperishable and Overdraw

    The third exam was similar to the previous one. The duo was dropped in a seemingly random location without any information on what to do. Under such circumstances, it was clear that they only had to dispatch their enemies to pass.


    As the heir to the emperor, all Lara had to do was pass three tests, and she would qualify to inherit his position. Then, that would be that, yet the previous night, she had received a notice that three more tests had been added to their schedule. As a budding royal, she had her own information network and a plethora of subordinates, so it wasn''t a surprise that she would receive advanced information about the testing schedule; she just hadn''t expected the additions to be so difficult, not to mention that the information would come with a caveat.


    The last three tests were optional for her but mandatory for Darius. Nevertheless, participation in the fourth test and the later ones came with incredible rewards she found difficult to resist. However, she was in no mood to rejoice the vast possibilities. It was clear that these tests were meant for Darius and that she was just a fortunate bystander.


    At first, she had been outraged and humiliated, but after some time had passed, she remembered what Darius had done to those jade sea serpents. Her humiliation quickly turned into plain shock. She couldn''t get around how someone as weak as Darius could become so powerful in one day.


    "Is this the power of the Indomitable ability?" She murmured as she gazed out onto the grassy plains ahead of her. There was only green waving grass for as far as she could see. Cool winds blew from time to time, swaying the weeds like an orchestra of nature.


    Lara only spent a moment to observe her surroundings before quickly turning her attention to Darius who stood right beside her.


    The moment she took a look at those limpid eyes, she knew that something about him had changed, but she couldn''t put her finger on it. He had zoned out the moment they had arrived, staring into nothingness, but had snapped out of it after a while.


    "Welcome back to Earth," said Lara sarcastically.


    Darius laughed shyly and coughed. "Hello, your Majesty? Or is it your Highness?" Darius asked in a high pitched tone.


    "What kind of idiot are you?" mumbled Lara as she slapped her own forehead. She felt aggrieved that such a fool possessed such power while a princess as gifted as she was had to play second fiddle to him, but then again he had gained the ability with his own power. She sighed in resignation and decided to focus on the task at hand. She had attained an Honour level ability, so her foundations were solid. She was confident that given enough time, she would become stronger than Darius. She failed to take into account, however, that Darius would get stronger in time as well.


    "Focus, Darius, focus!" Darius kept mumbling to himself in order to soothe his fraught nerves. He tightened his grip on the hammer as he focused on their surroundings. Lara did the same but to no avail. For the first few minutes, nothing happened. After a while, Lara started to lose her patience and decided to explore the area.


    "Hey! Where are you going?" asked a nervous Darius. There was something about their surroundings that made his nerves stand on edge. As time went on, he instinctually felt as if he approached the jaws of death. It was an unpleasant feeling, yet he could do nothing about it. Lara''s sudden action of walking away did nothing to calm him down. In fact, it made him feel even more nervous because he suspected her next actions would activate the trap.


    "I''m going to explore. Standing around doing nothing has done nothing to help our cause," Lara said in a confident tone. Darius wanted to retort, but he had nothing logical he could say to refute her argument. They hadn''t been given any instructions or any objectives, and unlike last time, no spirits attacked them of their own volitions.


    "This is supposed to be a test, one that focuses on combat, yet we were placed in the middle of nowhere. We have to be proactive and gather information if we want to finish the test sooner," said Lara confidently. As soon as she had finished speaking, she turned her head back and looked at Darius.


    What greeted her was the sight of a terrified Darius. His face was pale, and his lips quivered. She wanted to ask what the problem was when she saw him point to the ground beneath her feet. At that very instant, a premonition of death washed over her body, causing chills to run up her spine.


    Despite being an extravagant princess, Lara had a plethora of battle experience; she was by no means pampered and protected. She had taken the lives of both spirits and men many a time in order to train herself. She was accustomed to killing intent and bloodlust, so much so that she had developed a keen instinct, just like any other distinguished warrior would develop after the baptism of a thousand battles.


    Many a man could feel the towering shadow of death looming over their heads, but few had the ability to react instantly in order to escape, and Lara was one of those few.


    Without even looking down at what Darius was pointing at, she activated her secondary ability, Double Critical. It was an ability that doubled her reaction and movement speed. Using this newfound speed, she leaped from her position and flitted toward Darius''s position.


    Every ability had a primary and secondary ability. Indomitable was no different. The elder had explained that Indomitable''s abilities were a bit special. The first one, Imperishable, made one''s mind immune to mental attacks while inciting one''s bloodlust and cognitive abilities. The second ability Overdraw increased one''s all-around sensory and physical abilities, allowing one to fully use one''s innate bodily talents.


    Darius was not a fan of the fearlessness side effect of Imperishable, so when they had arrived at their new location, he had only activated Overdraw. The elder had spent quite some time teaching Darius how to use the abilities separately. The elder had warned that Overdraw must be activated from the get-go while Imperishable was something that had to be handled with caution.

 35 Look Out!

    As Lara had started walking away, Darius''s senses had started tingling, and his ears had started to pick up a vibration from the ground. As the seconds went on, his ears had zeroed in on the ground directly underneath Lara. It had been a shuffling noise akin to one moving large mounds of dirt. His sixth sense had started to scream danger, leading to Darius feeling extreme fear and pointing below his counterpart''s feet.


    The old Darius would have turned tail and run at that moment, but within that split second, his instincts had changed from ''I need to run away'' to ''I need to warn her.'' Within that short instant of time, Darius character was revealed: he saw Lara and himself as one entity. It never even occurred to him that he was doing something out of character.


    Darius could hear the rumbling of the earth beneath her feet intensify. He wondered whether he would even get a word out before she was attacked by whatever was coming. To his surprise, she reacted immediately and managed to leap away just in time. Within a split second, she was already beside him.


    "Fast!" Darius did not have time to marvel more at her speed. It was here thatˇ­


    Boom!


    ˇ­


    "What did I ever do to deserve this?" Darius screamed as he ran at full throttle away from the monstrosity chasing him. It was a spirit that looked like an earthworm, with its mouth''s circumference covered in sharp teeth. This mouth was actually just an opening at the front of the worm while the teeth acted as drills, allowing it to freely move through the earth like a fish swimming in water.


    The worm was incredibly thick. Each hole it created through its passing was at least three meters in diameter while it was at least twenty meters long. Its size wasn''t the worst part. For the life of him, Darius could not figure out why the worm was chasing him!


    At first, it had appeared under Lara, who had swiftly dodged its attack, but then the worm had single-mindedly rushed at Darius, completely ignoring the lass.


    Darius cursed his misfortune as he ran for dear life while Lara ran after the duo. Like Darius, she was also confused. From time to time she would catch up to the worm and cut it with her two swords, causing some minor wounds here and there, but her taunting did nothing to sway its actions.


    She was well aware that Spirits had the habit of targeting the weaker person first, but that was only if the gap was significant enough, which she did not think was the case here. Spirits had the ability to judge a human''s strength with their beast-like intuition. Both Darius and Lara were humans of the first step of power, Courage, but Darius was a two-star Spiritknight while Lara was only a one-star Spiritknight. Under normal circumstances this would make Darius the stronger one, but the lack of bloodlust said otherwise.


    This difference made Darius the primary mark; thus, for its survival, the worm had designated him as its target, then it will be able to face the real threat Lara.


    Lara knew that Darius had received two Dantians in the Knighting ceremony, but she believed that he, like most people, could only absorb one Dantian, so she was unaware of his current greater level of power. If she was she would find the worm''s action even stranger. His power level should have been enough for the worm to offset the threat from her killing intent.


    Thanks to Overdraw, Darius was incredibly fast. That coupled with his incredible desire to live allowed him to pull out quite a bit of his body''s full potential strength. Multiple times did the worm come close to consuming him, only for him to accelerate and dodge it just in time. Along with Darius''s mysterious ability to sense the worm''s presence underground, Darius had managed to survive his desperate flight. Lara could not understand how he was doing it. After all, he was merely a country hick with some noble blood in his veins, yet as time went on, Darius''s identity had become ever more of an enigma to this arrogant princess.


    Boom!


    Darius narrowly dodged the worm''s materializing from the earth by rolling forward.


    "This thing is getting closer!" Darius started to get nervous because his chances of survival seemed slim.


    Attack? Of course, the notion had briefly entered his mind, but his cowardice would not allow it. Unlike Lara, he was no seasoned warrior after all. Why, just a few days ago, he had never even been in any lethal battles of any sort. While screaming, he would look back from time to time, only to despair upon observing Lara''s futile attempts at injuring the creature.


    His cowardice overshadowed his logic, and he completely forgot that he was far stronger than she was, neglecting the fact that he had wiped out the Jade Sea Serpent by himself.


    From time to time, a burning sensation, akin to a searing heat, would flow from the hammer to his hand. This was the hammer trying to activate the primary ability of Indomitable: Imperishable! Yet, Darius would have none of it. As far as he was concerned, running away was the only way to survive, so using the experience he had gained from the elder the previous night, he completely suppressed Indomitable, keeping only Overdraw active.


    Lara was faster than Darius, so it was quite easy for her to catch up to him. She stayed a few meters away for good measure and yelled, "I have a plan to kill this worm, but for it to work, I''m going to need your help!"


    Darius looked sideways for a split second in order to reply, but his feet immediately tripped on a rock. At this point, the worm underground shot upward. It had felt the vibrations from above ground indicating Darius'' perilous situation. It accelerated with intense vigor, seeing this as its only chance to get rid of its prickly enemy. Darius cursed as he fell to the ground. All he could do was brace himself and roll up. His concentration had lapsed, and now, all he could think of was how he was about to die.


    "Look out!" yelled Lara as she saw him fall in the most unfashionable way possible.

 36 Kill or Get Killed

    She had no doubt that the worm would take this opportunity to strike. She wanted to help, but Darius was in no way important enough to her for her to risk her life, not to mention that she was anyway too far to do anything measurable. Considering what little damage she had caused the creature, she felt a pang of powerlessness overcome her at this instant.


    Darius''s lapse of concentration, fortunately, occurred when the heat was once more conducting from the hammer. Before he could react, the heat flowed into his arm and spread through his whole body.


    "Oh no!" Darius screamed inwardly, but it was too late. The bloodlust was already getting to his head. He felt his blood boiling as an intense rage washed over his heart. At the same time, a powerful clarity stilled his mind. He clenched his teeth while his eyes instantly became bloodshot. From the center of his body, he felt the power of Overdraw increase along with his sudden emotional stability.


    Overdraw was designed to work best with Imperishable, so the effects of Indomitable could only truly display themselves when both the primary and secondary abilities worked in tandem. The worm rose up, about to swallow Darius and a whole pile of earth along with him, when the young man swiftly reacted instead of falling into a lapse of panic like the creature expected.


    Using his free hand, he slapped the ground, using the opposing force to propel himself sideways. There was a loud noise from the impact, indicating the true strength applied by the young man.


    Darius was propelled ten meters within an instant, shocking the observing Lara. The worm roared in triumph, only to realize that it had solely swallowed a chunk of earth. It squealed in anger and violently shook. The squeal was loud enough to make Lara wish she could cover her ears as she rapidly backed away. Nevertheless, her years of combat training allowed her to resist despite the grimace she wore.


    Darius seemed unfazed as he slowly stood into a steady stance. He had a deadpan expression as he calmly observed the wiggling worm with his bloodshot eyes. He tightened his grip on his hammer as a plan of action quickly formed in his mind. As he was strategizing, the elder''s words from this morning echoed in his mind, "Kill them before they kill you!"


    The basic premise seemed simple enough: kill your opponent before they killed you, yet the truth was that actually fulfilling the idea was far from simple.


    "Princess, throw me one of your swords! Hurry!" Darius bellowed as he readied himself. Lara heard the boy as she had put down her hands, exposing her ears once again. The worm had stopped squirming and now prepared to retreat underground once more.


    The stark contrast between his general appearance and countenance overwhelmed Lara. Before she knew it, she had already thrown her sword to the young man.


    She was shocked by her own actions. After all, two swords were always better than one. By giving him one of her swords, she weakened her own battle strength, not to mention that the worm could attack her at any moment. After all, there was no guarantee that it would continue its sole pursuit of Darius. Despite her logical reservations, the young woman had unconsciously thrown Darius her sword without hesitation.


    As the sword was in mid-flight, Darius ran toward it. His keen intuition and senses were keeping track of the worm''s whereabouts underground. It was a simple-minded creature, thus its attack patterns were rather easy to read. Darius snorted as he ran to the sword. Just as he was about to reach it, the worm burst up from the ground!


    Darius was expecting this, so he nimbly circled the creature, arriving quickly by its side.


    Boom!


    With a swing of his hammer, he smashed whatever portion that had come up straight into the ground. Except he didn''t retrieve his hammer. The worm''s top half remained embedded in the ground with the hammer above it.


    Thanks to the hammer''s special enchantment, only special means could be used to lift this. Darius knew this from experience, and the elder had given him even more information regarding this. The elder had said that this fact had applications for battle, and Darius was using one of them.


    Since he had the worm pinned, Darius quickly turned and lept into the sky. By the time he had landed, he had Lara''s sword in hand.


    He slowly made his way to the worm''s head. It wriggled and tried and much as it could to get out of its predicament but it was all in vain. Lara was not sure how he had done it, but he had somehow managed to incapacitate the worm.


    "His strength is indeed nothing to scoff at." Thought Lara as she walked toward Darius. She marveled at the sheer force of the blow, in which he had blasted the worm into the ground. Plenty of earth had scattered while the worm''s upper body was entrenched into the ground. Lara could not help but wonder where all that strength came from.


    Granted, Indomitable boosted one''s physical abilities, but it could only bring out what was already there.


    The human brain limited the amount of strength one could use from their own body. Overdraw removed those limiters while drawing on the body''s vitality, converting it into raw power.


    "Just what kind of foundation does this boy have? How much training did he have to go through to achieve such monstrous strength?"


    In this day and age, there were plenty of people born with unique talents. One of them being inborn strength. Those with inborn strength would have the strength of a tiger at the tender age of ten. By the time they reached adulthood, they could even match the strength of an elephant! Without any training!


    Their bodies would naturally be incredibly large and muscular as a result. Yet Darius was nothing like that. His build and size seemed normal. He was quite fit, but it was hard for her to see how muscular he was as she had only seen him fully clothed.


    While these thoughts were swirling in Lara''s mind, Darius had already reached the head of the worm. He used the sword to tap the creatures hard carapace as if to test something. It only left a small dent, but it was enough to confirm what he was thinking. By this point, Lara was nearby. She saw his actions and saw the dent. The tap was slow and casual, but the dent caused was similar to one of her full strength blows, as the dent it caused was only slightly smaller than the ones she had caused on the creature. While Lara was marveling at the young man''s strength, the worm decided to shriek once more.


    The noise was quite deafening, causing Lara to once more cover her ears and back away. Darius seemed unaffected as he simply took a few simple steps. Once he had chosen his spot, he relaxed his shoulders and gripped the sword with both hands.


    He closed his eyes and calmed down for a moment, in an attempt to ready himself. When Lara finally reached a comfortable distance, she removed her hands from her ears and focused Darius. The screech from the worm was still uncomfortable, even from almost 100 meters away, but Lara bore with it. She put all her attention on Darius, as his recent actions caught her attention.


    "Don''t tell me he wants to cut it?"


    Lara found the notion absurd. As far as she was concerned, he was strong but not that strong. However, Darius couldn''t care less about her thoughts. He opened his eyes and raised the sword above his head.


    He stepped forward and struck down.


    Swoosh!


    Lara rubbed her eyes in confusion because she could have sworn that the sword and Darius''s arms had disappeared for a moment before they had appeared once more thrust into the ground, but that was not what shocked her; the shrieking had stopped. Since she was standing at the side, she could not see clearly, but the sword seemed to be submerged in the worm. This and the silence could only mean one thing. The worm was dead!

 37 True Lionel is Here

    "The heavens have eyes! They have not abandoned my family!"


    The Emperor stood up and roared with laughter. James and Peter, Lionel''s two older brothers, had wry smiles on their faces, while Lionel''s face was deathly pale. The third test had ended, and the results had been spectacular.


    Darius had once again single-handedly dealt with a spirit in a most spectacular fashion. The Emperor had a smug grin as he returned to his seat.


    "Lionel, my son, accept your fate! Haha!" The Emperor''s laughter was like the sound of death creeping closer and closer for Lionel.


    ''My life of luxury! Gone!''


    Lionel did the best he could to prevent himself from wailing in misery, lest he lost even more face. Rarely did his plans end up blowing up in his face especially in such a spectacular fashion. Thanks to Darius''s efforts, he was now in the running for Emperor directly in competition with his sister. His sister was still the favorite by a long shot, but this result forced him to act the part of a prince.


    Gone were the days he could fool about. Gone were the nights he could disappear where and when he pleased. Gone were the days he could come up with random excuses for skipping trainingˇ­


    As Lara and Lionel were twins, their talents were not far apart. In fact, Lionel knew quite well that he could best his sister in terms of talent for battle, even at that very moment despite his consistent skipping of practice. He just did not want it to be revealed. In truth, Lionel was already a Spiritknight. He had chosen to find himself his own Dantian in an attempt to convince his father that he was not qualified for the test and thus have the Emperor help him find a substitute. Under normal circumstances, becoming a Spiritknight before the test disqualified one, but the Emperor would have none of that. He had forced Lionel to swallow a pill that temporarily made one a normal human again, much to the latter''s chagrin.


    Lionel was neither a coward nor was he untalented, but he had managed to fool his family into believing otherwise. Now, his years of effort had been thrown down the train by an unassuming hick from the countryside. Now, he had to reveal his true talents. If not, his life would become even harder, and the reason for that was sitting right next to him.


    Contrary to what most might think, the one most unhappy at the current turn of events was not Lionel, but his eldest brother James!


    Lionel was a wastrel, so James had not seen him as a threatˇ­ until now.


    The only person who had noticed James''d true intentions was Lionel himself. Despite his lazy nature, there was no doubting the boy''s cunning nature. Part of the reason he had intended to bow out of the race for the throne was his understanding of his brother''s unrelenting avarice.


    Lionel was content with not having to look after his own neck. However, he had now no doubt entered James''s radar. James was greedy, but it was Peter who was the real problem.


    Peter unconditionally followed James. It had been so ever since they were young children. James was more of a warrior while Peter was, much like Lionel himself, more of a schemer, except that he was even more devious.


    It was Peter who had discovered the clause that allowed for Lionel to use a substitute. He had informed Lionel, who had taken the hint, and immediately acted on it. Little had Peter know that his discovery would set into motion a chain of events that would rock the entire empire!


    Now that he had entered James and Peter''s sights, Lionel had no choice but to fight for power in order to better protect himself. If he did not, he would be forced to work under his brothers, which would only make it easier for them to ''take care'' of him.


    Lionel was lazy, but he was not subservient. If he could not lead a life in luxury, then he would lead a life of power. He would be damned if he had to submit to his older brothers, and they knew that very well.


    James had had a sleepless night the day before, but now, his greatest worries had truly cemented in reality. He glanced at his brother who understood the gesture.


    Peter looked at Lionel and said, "Welcome to the fold, brother. We expect much of you."


    Lionel laughed powerlessly and shrank into his seat. He sighed in resignation upon realizing the situation he was in. Nevertheless, Lionel was, after all, Lionel. It only took a few moments, but a plan quickly formed in his mind.


    He sat up straight while a regal disposition oozed from him. This change caught the attention of his brothers. James stared at Lionel, obviously challenging him to enter a confrontation.


    Peter simply smiled and stared at his younger brother. The message was simple: you are either with us or against us. Lionel took a sideways glance at his brothers; he particularly focused on Peter. For a moment, the atmosphere thickened as the brothers read each other''s minds. It was as if sparks flew between the two.


    James was displeased about being overlooked by his younger brother, no, enemy, but he shrugged it off. After all, it was merely Lionel. What could he do? All the crafty plans in the world meant nothing in the face of absolute power. After a moment, he continued observing the battle.


    Peter did not underestimate Lionel as much as James, but he still did not regard him as a worthy opponent, mimicking James''s actions.


    The Emperor was no fool; he was well aware of what was happening, but he pretending as if he saw nothing. The wily old fox was definitely up to no good because a subtle grin suffused his face.


    Lionel''s plan was meticulous, but it required a lot of steps to be taken, and the key was right in front of him. Lionel''s eyes zeroed in on Darius''s visage on the screen.

 38 Useless royalty

    "The test has ended. Please rest for a few hours. The second test will begin soon," An emotionless voice resounded throughout the field.


    The test had ended as soon as Darius had taken the worm''s life. They were then teleported from the test site to what seemed like a resting room with luxurious chairs and refreshments. It even had boxes packed with medicine that allowed one to heal themselves. Darius was unfamiliar with how to use these, but thankfully, Lara was quick to help.


    She felt disgraced that she had been so useless in the previous exam, so the least she could do was help the seemingly lost Darius.


    Indomitable''s effects had long since subsided since the moment the worm had been slain. Under Lara''s instructions, Darius went for medicines that rejuvenated his stamina. Indomitable was known for taking quite the toll on the body. In fact, Lara was amazed that Darius could still stand, only appearing slightly fatigued. As time went on, Darius was becoming less and less human in her eyes.


    Each of the boxes were filled with vials containing colourful liquids. The liquid Darius aimed for was sky blue, emanating an odd blue light. Darius opened the vial and sniffed its contents. It had quite a refreshing smell, one that helped him relax. Confident that it was not poison, Darius drank the contents in one gulp. A soothing wave of calm spread over his entire body. Indeed, he was tired, but he was not as tired as Lara believed. He was more distraught than tired.


    Darius lazily sat down on a sofa while allowing the medicine to take effect. He thought about the recent events that had occurred to him.


    The elder had told Darius an interesting piece of information the night before, information he hadn''t trusted until now.


    Indomitable had different effects on different people. The common shared traits were bloodlust and mental clarity, freeing one from negative feelings such as fear and so on, but the degree of change depended on one''s personality.


    Darius was a coward and quite shameless; he put his life above all else and avoided confrontation as much as possible. He would only enter a fight if he was one hundred percent confident in winning. The elder had stated that this same trait would remain even in his Indomitable state. He would still have a desire to battle, but his caution would be in part retained, preventing him from becoming recklessly crazy.


    Take Lara, for example. She was a battle maniac with a fiery temper. If she had an Indomitable ability, she would have constantly been in a battle craze, having little to no regard for her safety.


    At first, Darius had thought that the elder was buttering him up to get him to use Indomitable more often, so he had hesitated, but after his experience with the worm, he felt more sure of the old man''s conjecture.


    When Imperishable had activated, Darius had retained a clear state of mind, driven by cognitive reasoning. The only difference between him and his normal self was that his cowardice had been replaced with a desire to battle.


    Normal Darius''s default thought pattern was ''run at the sight of danger'' whereas Indomitable Darius''s train of thought was ''eliminate the danger with as little risk and effort as possible.''


    Recalling the previous incident when he had been under the Indomitable state, Darius felt this to be true; thus, he decided to test his conjecture. He calmed himself and gripped his hammer as he activated Imperishable. Bloodlust took over his body as an overbearing wave of calm surged through his mind. He took stock of his surroundings and immediately simply concluded toˇ­ do nothing.


    Indeed, his final thought was to do absolutely nothing. At least for now, there was no enemy to battle. To prepare for his next battle, it was best to recuperate and shut down Imperishable.


    Overdraw tired the body while Imperishable tired the mind. Thus, after a few seconds of activating Indomitable, Darius shut it down. When he came to, he was gobsmacked. He was surprised that he had not done anything crazy. He had even feared that he would have attacked Lara who was seated nearby due to his desire for battle, yet he had quickly surmised that she was of no threat to him, or at least the other ''him'' had.


    ''So, it is just like the old man said!''


    Darius was elated by his discovery. This meant that his chances of survival were actually better than he had thought. Not to mention that Imperishable behaved completely different when he was out of battle as there was far less of a bloodrush and instead more of a soothing feeling, Indomitable''s bloodlust did not mean a loss of rationality. Anger had different ways of expressing itself, and Darius was the type to silently bear anger. When he became truly furious, he became even more coldly rational.


    ''It seems that Indomitable determined that I had no active threats nearby, so there was no need to enter a state of battle. Amusing, truly amusing.''


    While Darius was playing around with his ability, Lara sat quietly, observing him. She watched his eyes become bloodshot and his body ooze killing intent, but it was only for a few moments. After scanning around the room, Darius returned to normal.


    Lara was not sure what he was doing, but she was glad that he had not lose his mind. Lady Farah was known for entering a frenzy the moment her Indomitable skill activated. Although it was not known exactly what happened when she activated it, historians assumed that it was likely for her to attack random people who were closeby, especially those that were seen as threats. This behaviour was akin to how a spirit chose its opponent, so it was debated quite often by scholars.


    Lara frowned for a moment when a disturbing thought entered her mind.


    Does he not see me as a threat? Not at all?''

 39 She Is Really Ho

    Darius was messing around with multiple thoughts when several footsteps caught his attention.


    ''Hhm?''


    He looked up to see Lara walking toward him.


    ''Wow, she is really hot.''


    Her luscious curves and short black hair hit Darius''s hot spot. Granted, he had never previously even communicated with a woman of the opposite sex who he was attracted to, but he was now at that age.


    When he had first met Lara, her fiery words had caused him to brand her as dangerous, causing him to lose any romantic thoughts he had about her. In his mind, even fantasizing about her had become taboo. Her previous threat did its job, tempting Darius to cover his lower region, cower, and hide any feelings. However, after remembering that she was not a threat, he calmed down.


    As he stared at her, his intuition indeed suggested that she held no malice toward him. That coupled with the fact that she was weaker than him caused him to lower his guard.


    ''Ah, wait, she is royalty. How am I supposed to greet her?''


    By the time Lara stopped beside him, Darius was at a loss. To her shock, the latter stood up and bowed. Halfway through his bow, he felt that it wasn''t quite right, so he decided curtsy instead.


    ''Wait, that''s what girls do! Maybe men should salute?''


    The result was rather odd. Embarrassed, Darius thought of kneeling to atone for his previous foolishness. He half-knelt, slammed his fist on his chest, and hit his head against the floor.


    ''Since I don''t know which one it should be, I''ll try them all. At least one of them should be right.''


    "Darius Omen greets your majesty, Princessˇ­ Princessˇ­ uhmˇ­"


    That''s when it struck Darius. He didn''t even know her name! At the orphanage he hadn''t paid much attention during social studies, so he didn''t even know who in the royal family held each rank, let alone their names.


    Darius odd stunt shocked Lara speechless. She had wanted to inquire about his past and so had decided to approach him. Lara had done her homework on him, but she had wanted to understand him as a person and possibly recruit him into her retinue. She was creating her own faction of talented young people, and her plan was to make them her vassals once she became Empress. A powerful ruler needed powerful subjects. Darius was more than qualified in terms of talent. The only question was: what was he like?


    She remembered how cruel she had been to him; thus, she had hastily decided to make amends in order to better recruit him later. Although she still felt that he had deserved it, he was no longer the same nameless weakling who she had previously mocked. He was a bonafide Spiritknight, one her age and much more talented, so he warranted her respect. Little had she known that within a moment, he would once again succeed in making a fool of himself.


    "Your majesty is for my father. Your Highness is what you ought to use for me," She said with a melodic chime of laughter. Darius rose up, embarrassed. He felt ashamed that he had used the wrong phrase. He obviously ignored that his gestures had been even worse.


    Lara did her best to stifle her laughter; it would not do to alienate a potential ally. She had never seen a man attempt to curtsy before. It wasn''t even a custom for females in their kingdom: women simply bowed their heads. Thus, she found his actions hysterical. Nevertheless, she had not come here to mock him, so she coughed and introduced herself, "I am Lara Farlene, First Princess of the Pazhe Empire, Heir to the Throne. It''s a pleasure to meet you, Darius."


    She extended a hand to him. Darius appeared to enter another bout of confusion. Hence, she decided to help him out.


    "Just shake my hand. No need to be very formal with me. Treat me as you would any other person equal to your own station."


    Darius sighed. It was as if a truly massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders. She was a Princess. Nobles were known to be cruel, so he had imagined that royalty would be even worse. While there was Lionel, he had met Darius under special circumstances. Therefore, the Prince''s station had never bothered Darius. After all, how could one take him seriously when he had such a shady disposition?


    Darius shook her dainty hand. "Haha, that makes things simpler then. It is an honor to meet you, Lara."


    Lara was surprised by how comfortable he was with being informal with her. Most people would find it difficult: after all, she was still a princess! However, Darius took to it like a fish in the water.


    ''It''s not a bad thing. It''ll make it much easier to deal with him.''


    Lara herself was a straightforward person, so she appreciated such behavior.


    Darius sat down and gestured for her to sit beside him. The couch was quite spacious, so it wasn''t a problem. The two exchanged some small talk for a while, gradually lessening the distance between them. The more she talked to him, the more she liked his straightforward nature. Few people had ever acted so naturally around her. In fact, only her family had ever treated her with such familiarity. Darius was like a breath of fresh air to her. On the other hand, Darius enjoyed their chat even more.


    ''It seems she isn''t as scary as I once thought.''


    Darius had never before had a long casual discussion like this with a peer, let alone a girl, so he appreciated it quite a bit. The fact that he was attracted to her was just the cherry on top.


    The duo talked about many things. Lara was curious about what it was like to live like a normal person, and Darius was curious about what it was like to be royalty, so they had plenty to talk about.


    "So, Darius, tell me: how did you become so powerful?"


    "Eh?''

 40 Pride and Prejudice

    Darius enjoyed the conversation with her quite a bit, almost reaching the point that he fully immersed himself within it. However, Darius was, after all, Darius. In the deep recesses of his mind, he kept asking himself the same questions.


    ''Why is she being so friendly to me? What''s her objective?''


    Due to his past experiences, and his recent incident with Lionel, Darius had started to more often think the worst of other people. As they talked, he kept wondering why she was talking to him.


    ''Is it because she is attracted to me?''


    It took only a second for him to trash that foolish thought. His intuition told him otherwise, and he found it hard to disagree with. After all, what was there to like about him? It certainly seemed that there wasn''t enough to attract a Princess. He was cowardly, poor, and not particularly charismatic. Granted, he was now somewhat strong, but surely that wasn''t enough to warrant a princess''s attentionˇ­ or was it?


    Hence, when she had asked him how he had gotten so strong, the gears in his mind had entered overdrive.


    ''As a princess, she must have access to a wealth of information. She should know plenty of methods to get strong. A country hick like me, on the other hand, knows nothing.''


    Many ideas went through his head until one idea stuck out like a sore thumb.


    ''She wants to know the source of my strength!''


    Nevertheless, she was not the only one curious about this matter. Darius himself wasn''t quite sure. He had even asked the old man about it the night before.


    "If one spent every day doing what you did for hours on end, it would be weird if they didn''t become strong."


    This had been the elder''s answer. Darius had not been satisfied with it because he had suspected that the old man had still been hiding something, but he had kept his reservations to himself. After all, if Darius truly had a technique that made it easy to obtain strength, he would attract far too much attention. He doubted that he could smoke the information out of the wily old fox so easily.


    ''I should just be honest. Well, not too honest.''


    Darius was someone who prided himself in his ability to avoid confrontations of any kind; thus, he had come up with many ways to avoid difficult questions. After all, his daily hammering of the anvil had been bound to have captured others'' curiosity, yet so far, no one had ever managed to get a single peep out of him. Well, except for that old man.


    "To be honest, Princess, I''m not sure myself. I just do some simple muscular exercises. Before this test, I didn''t even know I had this much strength."


    He had had an inkling that he was stronger than the average person, but he had not believed that it was to this extent.


    The elder had explained that becoming a Spiritknight had unlocked the latent potential hidden in his body, producing his explosive strength. Darius was not knowledgeable on the topic, so all he could do was helplessly accept the elder''s words.


    He didn''t really feel that much stronger, but the old man had had no answer for this, so Darius was not sure either. Darius didn''t buy the elder''s lackadaisical explanation, but there was nothing he could do, so he had moved on.


    The answer was actually quite simple. Using the hammer every day had granted Darius a sublime control over his strength. He didn''t simply hit the anvil ten thousand times a day. He also aimed to produce a certain sound, which required delicate control over his body.


    The action of raising the hammer and striking the anvil involved every muscle in his body. Hence, over the years, Darius had developed an incredible subconscious control over his body.


    Nevertheless, due to his timid nature, Darius always held back in whatever he did. Be it at the orphanage or at Sahid, Darius had tried his best to not garner any unnecessary attention. Thus, his brain would translate this hesitation into his actions, resulting in him not exerting his true strength.


    The extent of his childhood trauma also played a part in this. His cowardice was deeply rooted in his mind and now a part of him. There were many unforeseen side effects of this, the reduction of his strength merely being one of them.


    The elder had believed this to be so but had decided against telling the boy, believing it to be counterproductive.


    All that Darius knew was that if he wanted to, he could exert incredible strength. In fact, he had used his room''s summoning function to have many odd objects brought to test out his strength after the elder had left.


    He would clap his hands and summon metals and objects that he had thought would be either heavy or hard. The results had been quite surprising, and the boy had been shocked by his own strength. While he had not had much time to truly discover his limits as it had already been morning with the test having been only a few hours away, he''d managed to break quite a few valuable metals. At the time, he had put his embarrassment at the back of his head and focused on his constant priority, staying alive.


    "Really now?"


    Lara crossed her arms over her bountiful chest and scrutinized the boy from head to toe. Lara considered herself a good judge of character, but she could not find anything wrong with his expression.


    ''There is no way a country hick could outsmart me, so he must be telling the truth.''


    Her pride refused to let her believe that Darius was good enough to pull one over her, so she let it slide.


    ''So, the source of his strength is inherent. He either has inborn strength or a powerful bloodline or maybe even both.''


    Since talking to him was not helpful, Lara smoothly changed topics, which Darius happily obliged. The two chatted for quite some time until an emotionless voice entered their ears.


    "Please prepare. The fourth test is about to begin. This test is quite dangerous, so take this time to mentally prepare yourselves!"

 41 Dangerous Spirits

    Kylian and Donald were seated in their private booth, preparing to observe the fourth test.


    "The first three tests were rather straightforward and fit what you''d usually expect from beginners, but for some reason, someone with an incredibly high clearance managed to throw in two more tests. You know what that means, right, Buddy?" Donald''s chuckle echoed through the room.


    Kylian maintained his usual somber expression as he replied to his compatriot.


    "It means someone else is observing him. The question is, who?"


    Donald shook his head, "Even Katya, that brat, has no idea, and you know who is her backing. If he was actually able to subvert her authority, he must be something special. Should we make a move?"


    Kylian thought for a moment and shook his head. "No, not yet. If our identities were revealed, it would cause a fuss. It''s better to observe this boy longer from the shadows. For us to personally make a move, it has to be worth it."


    "Aren''t you worried that someone will make a move for the kid before we do? He doesn''t seem bad. If we were late, it would be a problem," said Donald warily.


    Kylian crossed his arms and snorted in disdain. "Even if the emperor himself had designs on the boy, he would be powerless. The only person to worry about is the person who subverted Katya''s authority. I would like to see who would dare challenge what I, Kylian Laporte, have set my mind on."


    Donald snickered at his friend. "You know, referring to yourself like that makes you sound arrogant."


    Kylian ignored Donald and focused on the task at hand. Observing Darius was his firm priority. He had no time to waste brain cells on nonsense with his garrulous companion.


    Donald sighed in resignation and relaxed in his chair. ''Kylian''s arrogance will definitely cause him issues. This is why I don''t like dealing with noble-born people.''


    ˇ­


    Katya sat in her chair, closely observing the screen ahead of her.


    ''This is not a test fit for mere inductees. What is that old man thinking?" She slowly tapped her armrest as many thoughts ran across her face. A smile exuding devilish charm rested on her face while she thought of the possibilities of what would next happen.


    ''Well, at least this assignment wasn''t nearly as boring as I had thought it would be.''


    Katya licked her lips in anticipation. Her assistants could not help but gulp at her actions. They were straight women, but they were still enchanted by her beauty, which seemed to transcend common sense.


    ''Let the games begin.''


    ˇ­


    The duo was sent into a swamp-like environment. The ground was covered in damp soil, with the jungle around them providing zero visibility. Darius did not hesitate to instantly activate Indomitable.


    This time, the blood rush came in full swing. His innate senses picked up countless signs of danger in the environment. His eyes became red while his heart rate sped up. His testosterone levels shot through the roof, but his mind remained clear. Killing intent oozed out of his body like lava from a spouting volcano.


    Lara was bathed in the radius of Darius''s killing intent, but she was not the target, so she remained unaffected. On the contrary, it was sort of comforting. Knowing that she had a worthy compatriot in such a scenario was a good feeling.


    Unlike Darius, this test was voluntary for her. She had taken it because of the rewards that had been offered. Hence, she had initially assumed that it would be exceedingly difficult for her, especially if the test had been tailored for someone of Darius''s caliber. However, Lara was not one to give up easily. If she had surrendered to her fears, she would not have reached where she was today.


    "Attention, the goal of this test is to capture the flag. A powerful spirit and its minions are guarding this flag. Your objective is to take said flag from their possession. If one of you takes possession of the flag, the test can be considered to have been passed. The test can also be passed by slaying the powerful spirit. Warning: the spirit is a two-star variant of the Courage step, so tread wisely. Begin!"


    If Darius had not been under the Indomitable state, he would have no doubt cursed his ancestors. The old man had explained the rankings of Spiritknights and spirits, so he had a rough idea of what to expect from this formidable spirit.


    The explosive shrimp was a one-star variant, and it had already been monstrous. Variants were spirits that had gone down a unique evolutionary path, carrying with them incredible power that surpassed their levels. A two-star variant could be as powerful as a normal three-star spirit.


    Lara shuddered to think of the consequences if they were to battle it. She was far from being able to battle a two-star spirit, let alone a two-star variant. She looked over at Darius, wondering what his thoughts were. After a moment, she could not help but ask, "Darius, do you think you can take on a two-star variant spirit?"


    Darius looked at her with his crimson eyes, sending chills down her spine. His bloodlust was not focused on her, but it still made her feel uncomfortable like she was being stared at by a powerful predator. Compared to the coward she first met, it was like looking at a different person altogether.


    "Depends on the type of spirit it is. Before we make any plans, our first objective is to find out what kind of spirit it is and its capabilities. How is your knowledge of spirits?"

 42 Stage Four: Clear!

    The creature was a 2-star variant, which meant that the creature was a true creature possessed by a spirit, mirroring the abilities of a 3 star spirit. It had many baby anacondas at its side. One was the length of two men while their thickness was the same as that of a car tire. These were plastered all over the swap.


    The flag was placed on top of a small hill made up of mud. The snake reared its head in a certain direction. A visitor was arriving.


    Darius was sprinting full speed toward the flag while maintaining superb balance. Lara followed him in tow. When any snakes tried to attack, they were smoothly dispatched by Darius who could predict where they attacked from. Whether it was the mud or the waters, the snakes gave off their positions to Darius. Lana never changed direction, but Darius moved all over her surroundings dispatching the enemies.


    His agility really impressed the princess. Darius'' greatest attribute was not his strength but rather his ability to control it. This made him incredibly agile. Sometimes he would blast from the harder mounds of soil, while he would smoothly glid on the weaker mounds of mud.


    Agile, powerful, balanced and aware of his environment. Lara could not help but marvel at her partner''s skill set. If she wanted to she could become faster and more agile but she had little experience moving at high speeds in such an environment, and neither did Darius, but he took to it like a fish in water, leaving Lara to lie in stupor!


    ''I must do whatever it takes to get him!''


    Fire burned in Lara''s eyes as she ran for the anaconda variant. She was willing to do anything to make Darius hers. Even if it meant using underhanded methods.


    ''He is a pervert, so I will offer him wives with noble positions! He has powerful noble blood that would no doubt strengthen any bloodline. No family would refuse such an offer! The only question is who, who should I offerˇ­"


    Lara had many female vassals that were heirs to powerful nobles. She was already thinking of which girl to sell to Darius. To her this was in poor taste but she doubted her vassals would refuse such an opportunity. Anyone who became the wife of Darius would without a doubt be Lara''s left hand as the right hand was no doubt Darius.


    Lara was already thinking about life as an empress when she realized that they were approaching the anaconda, but this was no dumb snake. It decided to strike first at these weaklings. It went for the less agile looking one, Lara, and this is when Darius made his move.


    Lara knew quite a lot of spirits but there were simply too many different types. Some like the shrimp from before she had no clue about, while others like this anaconda she knew well as it was a local spirit.


    It was a beast with a temper, and it was straight forward in its attacks. If approached by multiple enemies who are close it will attack the one who seems weakest physically. Hence it went for Lara. This was an anaconda, but its pounce was far from slow. A massive boom cased destruction to rage around the snake but the mound with the flag was surprisingly solid.


    But what greeted the snake was an uppercut hammer strike. The snake was shocked as Darius was strong enough to send it dozens of meters up, far more than its length. The observers of the exam gasped once more at Darius'' strike. He had managed to predict where the snake would attack and strike a weakness of the spirit under its chin.


    At first Lara had not believed him when he told her he could do it. Because his confidence came from intuition. ''I feel I can do it, if you won''t help me I will do it myself.''


    This sounded ridiculous, not to mention that they were finding in a swamp, there was no soft soil to stomp on. But Darius physical control was superb, shocking her once again.


    Then Letty jumped toward Darius. The snake was dizzy from the head strike and the mid-air flight, but it could faintly make out an odd scenario. The humans were fighting each other!


    Of course, this is not what had happened. Darius had used his hammer to fling Lara ahead. She landed on the hammer with her feet, bent and jumped forward as she was launched, being flung dozens of meters in a second.


    The snake was fast and could match Lara but there was a problem. It was still in mid-air! Lara landed on the muddy hill same time as the snake landed on the ground. The snake immediately tried to bolt forward, but a shocking event occurred. The snake ripped into two!


    "Woah." Said a surprised Lionel.


    This was of course Darius'' doing. As the snake fell, he placed himself right by the tail. The snake was too concerned about protecting the flag to notice a weight being placed on its tail. This was indeed the hammer. But it was not that simple. The tail did not land on the ground! It had landed on another hammer!


    This was the ability he had gained from the second dantian, Weapon Clone!


    This was a low-level skill, but for Darius it was invaluable. Its primary skill, Dual Weapons allowed Darius to clone his smiter. The second ability, Replication, allowed the smiter to be copied enchantment and all. This meant he now he two hammers if he so wished! But creating the second hammer was draining if he used both the primary and secondary abilities.


    Darius did not trust the soil beneath him, so he decided to give the tail a proper ''hard ground'' to seal it in. The snake''s ability to pounce forward quick became its undoing. With its tail caught its body ripped in two. Every spirit had a weakness, and the main weakness of this snake was a section in the middle. Weak Spirit hunters who can''t just cut it, hold the tail of the beast with a contraption and have it kill itself due to its odd physique when it tries to bolt forward.


    Darius had learned about this from Lara and formulated a plan. And it had worked perfectly, down to the last tee. Lara was holding the flag while the top half of the spirit wriggled to death. Both conditions: Clear!