《Emperor of Kings》 -2 Gods In the realm of darkness, thunder and lighting went havoc, cutting through the sky as a figure emerged out of a portal. On one side, people with hair that shone even in the dark was startled at this figure arrival, the person who stood in the foremost line approached the figure, his aura radiated powerful energy akin to a sun, his muscle as if ripped through his golden robe. " Supreme God Evan, what are you doing here? Was it because the White God Squad failed to capture the Supreme Demon Queen." Evan stood there for a moment, his face was solemn yet one could notice a hint of urgency within his eyes. "The Supreme Demon Queen''s strength beyond our expectation." The person squinted his eyes, revealing slightly difficult expressions but eventually smiled. "Don''t worry Supreme God Evan, we, the divine Gods can slay that harlot and her minions, we assured you the security of Mortal realms." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Kaya, you don''t get it, I am here because her strength is now comparable to mine." The War Goddess Kaya dropped her jaw, looking at Evan with disbelieve. "How''s that even possible?! You are our supreme, there is never been someone as strong as you, let alone that harlot..." Evan sighed, he looked toward a certain direction as if anticipated someone to appear. "Light exists, so there also Darkness. One complement one after another. The key here is Balance, God Kaya, when the Light is strong, the Darkness will follow." Kaya looked troubled, she has never been the one who liked to think that deep, all she knew that was Demons should be exterminated completely, their presence would cause danger toward the Mortal''s fate. At this moment, a Dark aura appeared at the distant, a shadowy figure with blood-red eyes. "Evan, long time no see..." (chapter God and chapter Mortal realm are not like the main chapters as they serve as a piece to fill the flashback portion and also they were unedited I just uploaded them as auxiliary chapters so don''t rate this book by these two chapters the main story(chapters are much longer than auxiliary chapters) starts from chapter "Return" and the writing is much better in those chapters yes there are certainly mistakes since I am self-taught in English I kindly request my readers to give me your feedback it will be huge help for me to improve myself and this book Thank you) -1 Mortal Realm The mortal realm where various races like Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Druids, Goblins, Ogres, Orcs, Lizardmen, Demihumans, Ancient Beasts, and many mysterious races live. The only law there is in the mortal realm is the survival of the fittest. Every being born in the mortal realm is blessed with the ability to do magic. Even though everyone can do magic, their power is determined by their mana capacity. The mortal realm is divided into 4 continents. This includes many major empires and wasteland called outer lands. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The two major empires in the Avelon continent are the Moon empire and the Star empire, where powerful royals and noble races live rich lives while weak and commoners suffer under the feet of the strong. The majority of the population of these empires are mostly humans and a number of Noble families of other races live here. Moon Empire and the Star empire have always been on the verge of war. They constantly fight for dungeons spawn on the borders. Moon empire is ruled by Emperor Niel Archer the Strongest while the Star empire is ruled by Emperor Willian Flamework the Wicked. The outer lands are the place you will live if you are a weakling or exiled or low class. Two empires do not make an effort to control the outer lands as it lacks natural resources and for the high number of vicious and powerful magical beasts. And also the empires prefer to keep the nonhumans in the outer lands so the empire will always be a place where humans thrive. Like a curse of outer lands the nonhumans always fight with each other for all sorts of reasons and became weaker and weaker compared to humans and started to fall victim to slave trading and many other unspeakable things. They have not realized if they work together the outer lands can surpass the empires in every aspect but sadly without a leader to unite them the horrible fate of outer lands continuing for ages. But nothing lasts forever. No one expects the outer lands to be a force to reckon with in the future. (chapter God and chapter Mortal realm are not like the main chapters as they serve as a piece to fill the flashback portion and also they were unedited I just uploaded them as auxiliary chapters so don''t rate this book by these two chapters the main story(chapters are much longer than auxiliary chapters) starts from chapter "Return" and the writing is much better in those chapters yes there are certainly mistakes since I am self-taught in English I kindly request my readers to give me your feedback it will be huge help for me to improve myself and this book Thank you) 1 Chapter 1 : Return The sky is clear as a clean slate, the mountain peaks are standing like they are going to reach the sky. The sun is slowly setting in the west of the outer lands. A shadow landed on the mountain peak dyed by the sunset. A long sword at his side and a sledgehammer like a weapon on his back, he stared at the sun falling towards the horizon. "12 years....." His eyes filled with a mix of feelings, "I, Don, have returned." he hissed, spitting the name of an empire through gritted teeth. "Moon Empire" "It''s been 12 years since I have left the Moon empire, now I''m finally returned. This time I will make everyone pay for what they have done to me.I, Don will fulfill my promise Sister Elena as well as take revenge on everyone who took you away from me" Nobody had known that his revenge is going to decide the fate of the entire realm. Don jumped down the mountain and started to walk on the only road that seems to be used by humans. "Looks like outer lands didn''t improve at all if my memory serves me right this part of the forests were inherited by white elves, I wonder if they are still here though. It''s almost night I need to camp out in the forest and find someone to ask about the current state of the mortal realm before I make any moves" Don closed his eyes. His hands raised, drawing the structure of a camp. The earth in front of him moved to take an identical shape to what he drew in the air. He scratched his head. "A little clumsy-looking but will do for now. Hey Knight." He raised a ring to eye level "You done sleeping? If you don''t hunt food we will be sleeping on empty stomachs." A bright light emerges from his ring. Landing in front of him, the light forms the figure of a white lion with a majestic mane and angel-like wings. Its form was huge and its muscles were brimming with power. The lion lazily ruffled its mane, turning towards its master. "Knight shrink your form a little I''m pretty sure if someone sees you in this size they will freak out" Knight shrank his body to the size of an average lion. "You humans are small-minded." He chuckled, his deep voice reverberating in the air. "Imagine the audacity! Asking the king of the forest to hunt for you." He shook his head sighing and went to the deeper end of the forest "And I''m an idiot for actually hunting for you..." An hour later Knight returned with a beast in his mouth. "These Horned Bull Deers are pretty weak." He commented. Don shook his head "This place is dangerous don''t let your guard down." Knight rolled his eyes in response. Don sighed "I''ll nap for a while, watch the area for me." Knight grunted an affirmative and sat near Don. After 4 hours, Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Suddenly Knight stood up with his wings spread and teeth and claws out he woke up Don by using the telepathic link, an ability of magic beasts that allows them to communicate with their master using magic waves. "Don wake up I''ve just heard battle sounds and cries from the deeper forest". Don quickly rushed out of the camp and made it disappear in an instant. " Don I''ve searched the nearby areas with my sense of magic. It appears the sounds and heat waves coming far from here, from the sounds I''ve heard I''m guessing some village being destroyed by someone like bandits." Don silently though If I save that village I''m sure they will help me to get closer to my promise and revenge. "Knight how far is that place from here?" "If we fly there we will reach there in minutes" Don hoped on Knight and Knight took off at high speed. Knight soared through the night sky like an eagle, and with his speed, they reached the village in no time. "It seems like this is white elves village and the attackers looks like humans" The humans are overwhelming the white elves by their large number, even though white elves are skilled archers they can''t defend their children and home and attack the humans. In simpler terms white elves soldiers fighting a losing battle. One side the bandits are attacking them ferociously and the other side of the fire set by them are destroying white elves home at the same time. Amid the battle a group of elves children targeted by some bandits. One of the elves children picked up a stick from the ground and standing between the children and the vicious bandits A brave elven child said "If you take one more step I will kill you all" The bandits laughed with killing intent One of the bandits said "You filthy brat! What are you gonna do with that small stick? I will show you a real weapon before I kill you brats." The children are shivering and praying the gods while the bandit drew his long sword and shouting "This is where you''re gonna die brats". Suddenly a swirl of wind crossed the bandit''s face and he looked down and saw a hand holding a sword rolling on the ground. The other bandits are clueless about what happened while the bandit whose arm was cut down shouting in pain. Don appeared in front of the children out of nowhere " You should have picked someone as your own size instead of these children" Don turned towards the children and pat the head of the brave child with the stick "You did good kid, now let me deal with those and stay behind this wall" The children were frightened at the same time relieved and looked clueless for the wall. Don lifted his hand and a wall starting to come from the ground in front of the children. After he created the wall Don looked at the bandits with the terrifying killing intent in his eyes "Being strong does not give you the right to bully the week I hate your kind the most" The bandit with one arm ordered the others What are you idiots looking at?? kill him and the brats slice him up!! Bandits wasted no time and started to run towards Don. A giant fist made of the earth came out of nowhere and blasted the bandits through the trees. With the force of the attack, the bandits stood no chance and started their journey to hell. Don looked up at Knight floating in the sky "Knight attack all the bandits and don''t show them any mercy" After Knight dispatched Don and Knight slaughtered most of the bandits and saved as many elves as he could. He eventually reached the center of the village where many white elves men and women are tied and where a large man with a cut on his face fighting with an elf. Don hide in the shadows and watched what''s going on, "Hmm looks like he is the leader of the bandits and who is the white elf fighting him? I have to interfere with the fight the elf guy might be good at long range combat but he surely cannot win against that guy in close combat and the elf looks like he has already taken many hits. I''m counting 10 bandits including the big one and their costume looks different than the rest of the bandits I''ve killed" 2 Once proud elves Arven was nearly beaten to death by the bandit leader but Arven couldn''t close his eyes and embrace death. Arven stills remember the stories his grandfather told him about the golden days of elves, But now they have become mere creatures and playthings to be sold to slavery. Arven belongs to the sub-race of elves called white elves. They are commonly known as elves other than them. There are Dark elves who are blessed with more magic capacity than elves. One of the reasons elves became like this was the internal fight between these two races. Dark elves always viewed elves as lesser beings. This led to civil war and with the help of humans, Dark elves won the war and elves became declined. Arwen and his sister Amaryll were born in outer lands where they must keep hiding unless they want to taste slavery. Until now they did just that but everything turned to nightmare when a group of bandits started to attack his tribe. Even though elves have less magic capacity than Dark elves they are blessed with extraordinary skills in long-range combat like archery. Normally they would spot anyone who enters their territory and attacks them with deadly arrows but somehow these bandits entered without anyone noticing and the elves immediately lost their advantage of long-range combat. Arwen and Amaryll kept fighting with the bandits in the hope of buying some time for the elven children to escape, but they could not keep fighting with bandits who are trained in close combat battle. The bandits didn''t even have to use magic to defeat them. Arwen''s tribe has more than a hundred elves including children but all it took was twenty bandits to beat them. Arwen knew this was their end of freedom. The best-case scenario for Arwen was he and his sister will be killed and the worst case he will be killed and his sister will be sold as a slave this is why he kept fighting with all his fiber in his body. The bandit leader was laughing at Arwen''s struggle. He was toying with Arwen like a cat would toy with the mouse. While Arwen was fighting oh no more like taking a beating like hell, other bandits rounded up his sister and most of his tribesmen and tied them up. Because of the elves'' proud nature, some noble humans take pleasure in making them slaves and there is a huge demand for female elves because of their beauty. When a female elf caught in the human hands, only hell awaits for her everyone knew this, of course, it includes Arwen. He was more concerned about his sister Amaryll who is extraordinarily beautiful even among the elven race. Amaryll watched his brother taking a beating in a small hope to win the unwinnable fight as tears ran through her cheeks like a fountain. She was in her brother''s care for twenty-four years not a single day she would have imagined this situation. She knew that it''s almost impossible to gain their former elven glory as all she wanted was a peaceful life with her brother and tribe. Watching the bandit leader beats her brother the sadness and hopelessness turned fury and anger as she shouted, her eyes were blood red in anger, her body was trembling "Leave my brother alone you animal!!!".The bandit leader stopped in a surprise of her shout and looked at her menacingly. "Look at this brothers, this little going to be slave wants to save her precious brother". All the bandits around the leader laughed like this is the biggest joke they have ever heard. "Oh my little slave you are not in a position to order me after we sell you and your friends and family here to the slave market you are the one will be ordered around" Amaryll''s heart skipped a beat when she heard this although she knew what was going to happen but hearing it made it worse. "And don''t think I don''t know that you two were fighting with me oh more like taking a beating from me in the hope to buy tome for those little elven brats to escape into the woods "there was an evil smile appearing on his face while saying, he enjoyed this. Amaryll was struggling to get back to reality as she heard the bandit leader. "Wha what what are you saying?!!" "I am saying that your elven brats going to be captured as I sent my best men after them the moment you two came to fight" The bandit leader said calmly. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "You animal bastard I''m going to kill you!!!!!" Amaryll jumped at the leader to bite him as her hands were already tied to her back. Arwen also stood with all his might to attack him because of the fury he felt. One of the bandits stopped Amaryll and pulled her from her hair and slapped her hard as Amaryll fell to the ground as her face hit the ground."Bastard!!!!" Arwen could not hold his anger seeing his little sister get slapped. The rosy red face of Amaryll turned red due to the force of the slap and five finger marks were already seen on her cheek. "Boss enough playing around let''s get these slaves to market and get paid," "Alright let me finish this brother elf of this little beauty," the bandit leader said while walking towards Arwen. Arwen swung his fist towards the face of the bandit leader but his hand was caught by the leader. "Let''s break those arms shall we" the bandit leader punched Arwen''s gut with the force enough to make Arwen fall onto the ground, the bandit leader was going to step on Arwen''s elbow and break it like a twig. Arwen already took a beating and on the verge of death he could not even struggle, Amaryll on the other hand crying and shouting his brother''s name as other tied elves were looking at this scene with a mix of anger sadness hopelessness. Suddenly a person started to walk towards the bandits from the dark shadows. The bandits were startled as the person was not one of their comrades but a handsome young man in a black robe with killing intent radiating from his eyes. "Who who are you?" one of the bandits asked. "I am the one who is going to send you all to hell" The young man in the black robe said with an expressionless face. 3 What goes around comes around Amaryll looked at the black-robed youngster blankly. Arwen''s eyesight has been blocked by his blood but he could vaguely see the youngster''s figure while he walked closer to the bandits. He has raven black hair which is not too short or too long, and a toned body, his black robes were fluttering in the wind. Seeing from Arwen''s place the youth looked like someone in his early or mid-twenties. While Arwen and Amaryll looking at the youngster the bandits looked at his weapons, he had a longsword and a hammer-shaped blunt weapon on his back which formed an "X" shape behind him. Of course, the black-robed youngster is Don. Don kept watching the bandits from the shadows and waiting for Knight to rescue the children and send him a telepathic message. The bandit leader realized that he is only facing a single opponent who is much younger than him, his mouth arced to form a smile. "You ?? a mere brat going to send me to hell hahaha. You should not have interfered here boy now you are going to die just like this elf dog." "Funny this would have been the thought of your brothers you sent to kill the elven kids," Don said calmly and threw something that looked like badges to the bandit leader. The bandits and the leader looked at the badge shape objects, "Boss it''s... it... Its Jordan''s badge he collected from the lady he killed" "This is Kieran''s gold button " the bandits identified the objects as their comrade''s. The bandit''s eyes almost popped out of their skulls they were staggered, there was a mixed feeling of fear and uncertainty in their face. "What have you done?? No...no...it is impossible they were at master-level a boy like you couldn''t have killed them no...no way" "The size of the ants doesn''t matter an ant is an ant" Don''s reply was cold and his tone was more like talking to a dead person no expression nothing at all. "No, I don''t believe you! Lisa capture this brat I will torture him till he says where is my brother''s" Lisa is a female bandit in the group who they used for seducing the traveling merchants or soldiers to, lower their defense or assassinate them silently or simply kidnap them. She is a peak level master magi who could effortlessly capture Don or the bandits thought. Lisa slowly began to walk approach, Don. She wore a transparent veil to cover her face and black tight top and tight leather pants. She played with her red hair by curling it with her fingers. Although Lisa is not a country topping beauty or anything but for the common population, she was a beautiful woman. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Lisa slowly removed her veil and revealed her beautiful face to Don and began to speak seductively. "Shame that you are in a wrong situation at the wrong time honey please surrender obediently like a little kitten this sister will get angry if you struggle" Don just stood there without getting influenced by her charm. Lisa watched Don as a slight shock has appeared on her face for a moment, then she started to cast a spell "Don''t bother woman you won''t complete the spell" Sword''s unsheathing sound was heard, the sword on his back before was now in Don''s hand. The bandits watched Lisa, she halted chanting and stood there like a statue "Lisa move your butt quickly you should have done with him by now," the bandit leader shouted, but Lisa didn''t respond and a red line has appeared across her neck and slowly her hear started to tilt and the blood has begun to spill out of her neck, and finally her head fallen to the ground and her headless body was twitched for a second and followed the head to the ground. Don unsheathing his sword and Lisa''s head cleaved down happened so instantly even until now the bandits were not sure what exactly happened. "Ahhhhhh!!!" one of the weak-hearted bandits screamed at the scene, the other bandit''s face turned pale and their hands shivered in fear. "Lisaaaahhh bastard I am going to kill you a thousand times ahhhhh" the bandit leader screamed his voice was so loud like screeching metal, and the eyes were so red in anger he looked like a demon. Bandit leader loved Lisa. They were like a nail and finger inseparable normally Lisa would operate behind the curtains but today he made an exception because Lisa wanted to see the elven woman and compare her beauty but the leader never would have imagined that his better half would be literally sliced half. Arwen, Amaryll and all the elves were also stunned at the turn of events that occurred. They never would have imagined that a delicate young human could be able to do that to a peak level master magi. There was a small hope that began to rise in Amaryll''s heart in the shape of Don. The other elves looked at the scene without blinking, the children closed their eyes and they were turned pale in horror. The rest of the bandits began to shiver, they were afraid to look at the corpse of Lisa and the fury, the killing intent radiating from their boss. "Get him... kill him no...no...make mincemeat out of him" the bandit leader shouted orders towards his lackeys and subconsciously ran to the body of his beloved. He knelt in front of her body tears coming down from his bloodshot eyes while he picked up her head and held it in his hands. The bandits didn''t underestimate their opponent anymore quickly. They all activated their magic core and enhanced their abilities and took out their magic weapons. There was still no expression on Don''s face, no panic, no fear nothing, he just killed a woman but he seemed like nothing had happened. ''''Hmm there are still eight bandits left and they all seemed to be on the mid or low level of master magi and the leader is surely peak level master, I should quickly kill these guys and deal with the leader himself'''' Two of the bandits were long-range combatants so they threw their magic knives aimed at Don''s head and heart, the knives flew in the direction of Don, they were so sharp that the light from the flames reflected on their surface and shined. Don held there watching the knives flying towards him, he just sneered while he raised his right hand to his eye level, palm facing the knives just like he was ordering them to stop, but who would have thought that the flying knives paused on their path like some big force stopping them from moving forward. That is not all Don slightly turned his palm in 180 degrees so are the knives, the bandits halted at their steps watching this bizarre event but for no longer, they realized that the sooner they kill Don the better, but when they realized this the knives were already started to vibrate. shush! the knives went through the hearts of their owners and came back from their back with blood dripping from their edge, the two bandits looked down at their chest they could believe what happened only the pain in their heart, but the knives didn''t stop at that they continuously flew through the heart and heads of the other bandits too, the bandits that knives pierced their head would instantly fall down but other they had the same reaction as the first two that got killed. Just like Lisa this battle also lasted no longer than seconds. The bandit leader didn''t know what to do. He is indeed stronger than his comrades but he knew that someone who killed them in seconds had to be a lot stronger than him. For the first time in his life, he has begun to fear for his life. "Shall we start?" Don said, looking at the leader¡­. 4 You reap what you sow Bandit leader shuddered when he heard Don. He saw Don as Devil reincarnated. This youngster just killed his comrades like chopping vegetables, what sort of maniac or person could do that he thought. If gods can hear his thoughts they will smite his butt because he was just going to kill Arwen and some elves moments ago. On the other hand, the elves seem to quite lighten up their previously pale face started to return to normal. Their body was slightly loosened up. Arwen''s senses slowly came back to him and Amaryll watched this scene without even batting an eyelid, her eyes held a mix of tension excitement of course fear. Bandit leader cast away all his doubts and shortcomings and readied to battle with Don he clutched his fists so tightly the nails started to penetrate his palms. "I do not know what powers you hold to kill my Lisa and others easily but I''m not them, I will kill you and avenge them with your blood" as he said the bandit leader took his daggers out of his armor and started to inject magic within them, the daggers shone with light green color like sunlight reflecting on a jade stone. "Take out your sword brat I don''t want to kill you with the single attack" the bandit leader shouted threateningly. "No need you are just a bigger ant" Don replied still his voice was cold. Hearing this bandit leader almost coughed up blood due to the anger, he was a leader of a ferocious bandit group and he killed countless other beings he never felt humiliated like this before. A young man who seems not even half of his age comparing him with an ant, how ridiculous is that but he felt that this brat can back his words. "Come on then you don''t want to make your friends wait for you in hell". "Ahhhhhhh bastardddd!!!!!" The bandit leader couldn''t hold his anger anymore, veins on his eyes started to crack as his eyes redder. The bandit leader is going all out in this fight, he is going to kill or be killed. This was his fate. The bandit leader swung his daggers at Don like a madman, there was no finesse or technique in his moments, just fury and anger. Unlike Arwen who is weak in close-combat Don was an expert he simply avoided the bandit leader''s attacks. It was like a perfectly choreographed dance every time he swung his daggers at Don he would simply evade like he knew what''s going to happen. This made the bandit leader more furious his moves became more and more disoriented. He was a peak level master magi, who is just a little bit under great master level. Just like he was toying with Arwen now Don is toying with the bandit leader. "Hmm, how does it feel to be toyed with huh?"Don asked while evading the bandit leader''s attacks. "Bastard stop running fight me head-on if you dare" bandit leader screamed he was getting more inflamed, the veins on his head hands were bulged out. "I just take this as your final wish" as he said Don stopped evading and raised his right hand to his eye level like he was going to strangle the leader''s neck, the leader was confused what his opponent did, but soon he got the answer to his question when the air around him was thickening and ground beneath him came to life and soil turned into hands and started to grab his legs firmly. "Wha what sorcery is this why can''t I see magic fluctuations around you?" the bandit leader shouted and struggled to free himself from the ground. Magic fluctuation happens when magi cast or use magic, no matter the levels, a magi is no exception for magic fluctuation, the stronger the magi or the spell, the stronger the fluctuation happens around him/her. Magi can determine other magi''s power and level with magical fluctuations but the bandit leader could not see a single particle around Don is fluctuating, in fact, he was not wrong this is one of the many secrets he holds. (which I will reveal to my readers later in the story). Don didn''t mind the bandit leader''s words as he started to clench his fist and bandit leader was forced to his knees and daggers in his hands fell to the ground with a sound of ''clink''. "Are you feeling powerless? Not like when you beat innocent people huh? Now I will give you two choices, the first choice is you answer my questions and ill kill you instantly without causing pain, the second one is you don''t answer and ill torture you slowly till you die or answer my question due to pain, so which one do you prefer?" Just when he heard this, the bandit leader began to laugh like a maniac and replied "No matter what I do, you will kill me so why do I want to answer your questions torture me much as you want, I ain''t giving you shite" "Pity I didn''t want to use this so soon" as he said Don flicked his hands, his ring in his right hand let out a small flicker, and a spider-shaped bug appeared in his palm, it was like a mixed breed between spider and cockroach seeing this horrible bug made the bandit shudder in fear. Don brought the bug near the face of the bandit while the bandit screaming and struggling, the bug''s eyes seemed to look in the direction of the bandit and its front two spider legs slowly began to rise, then suddenly the bug jumped on his face and crawled into his body through his nose. The bandit''s mind went blank for a moment and started to scream in agony.``Take it out!! take it out!! I can''t" he could not even finish his sentence as he wrestled with the ground his body was twitching and rolling on the ground. Don watched the bandit''s pain and struggle for a moment, in this silent night only the sound of flame and the bandit''s agony could be heard in the elven tribe. The elves watching this scene could not be happy seeing their captor''s fate, some of the elven women closed their eyes because the pain he seemed to be going through is so horrible. After a while, Don did something with his hands and the bug crawled out of the bandit''s body through his left ear, the twitching and rolling of the bandit leader came to an end. "Who ordered you to capture the elves and how did you manage to reach this tribe so far deep into the woods without being noticed?" The bandit was still in pain but he knew that death is better than experiencing that pain again so he began to tell him the truth. "Mi Mi Minister Brian ordered gave us this mission" "Why?" "Because most of the slave traders are his shops and he.." gulp "He has a weak point for the elven woman " he was afraid to say this because he didn''t want Don to start the torture again so he quickly answered the next question. "As for how did we get here without getting noticed is because we got the precise location of the tribe from one of the elves we captured while ago and we had the support of the mysterious mage he was the one teleported us near the tribe " Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Mysterious mage? How did you meet him and what''s he look like?" "We met him in the manor of minister Brian and I could not see him he wore a hood and black mask and full black robe" "You don''t want to keep things from me," Don said threateningly. The bandit''s eyes went wide as he knew there was an eagle embroidered on his black robe. "There there was an eagle embroidered on his robe near the chest now let me go I answered your questions didn''t I?" the bandit leader started to plead with Don. Don looked at the bandit and he turned towards Arwen and kicked the dagger towards him and the dagger landed near Arwen''s hand. Arwen knew what Don''s intention and he slowly picked it up and picked himself up after a struggle, the bandit also got the gist of the situation. "He is not mine to kill, he is yours," Don said to Arwen. Arwen nodded slightly and limped towards the bandit while the bandit kept screaming "No no don''t kill me have mercy please" he couldn''t continue just when, Arwen placed the dagger on the bandit''s neck and hesitated for a moment. Arwen knew he had to do this and if the situation reversed the bandit leader would not show mercy. Don also noticed the elf''s hesitation but did or said nothing surprisingly Amaryll was the one shouted: "Kill him Arwen he is not worth your mercy" this was the final push Arwen needed as he slit the bandit leader''s throat. 5 Chance for Redemption Arwen looked at the lifeless body of the bandit leader falling to the ground. Even until now, Arwen couldn''t accept the things that happened today, first, they were attacked by the bandits and he was made to walk on the edge of death then, the mysterious young human appeared out of nowhere and killed those bandits. All of it seems like a nightmare and a dream to him. Not only Arwen, but Amaryll also shared the same thought. "Who who who are you human?" Arwen questioned tiredly but his eyes had suspicions and caution against the youth. "Before that" Don said and started to guide one of the knives to Amaryll and made it cut the ropes bound around her hands. Amaryll was slightly relieved to get her hands free and rubbed her wrists for a bit. "Untie them," Don told Amaryll but she already began to cut the ropes of the other elves. Arwen couldn''t stand straight because of the injuries he had but he couldn''t stand down either, because he knew if the human in front of him made a move against the elves, they don''t have a chance, so he kept his guard up all the time while Amaryll freeing the elves. The elves stood up and looked at Don. Some elves immediately went to their kin and hugged them tightly, while Amaryll slowly walked towards her brother and threw his brother''s arms around her neck and supported him in standing. "I know you have a lot of questions but first you should see the others, " ''Knight, I think you have seen enough right now bring the elves you rescued'' Don told Knight telepathically. Amaryll and Arwen didn''t know what he meant by seeing the others, but they discovered out soon, just when a majestic lion with the wings like an angel flew down from the skies its mane was swayed in the wind, and they saw a bubble beside the lion which carried a group of elven children some elven women and men, the lion landed in front of them and ruffled his man in a kingly manner and closed its wings. "Look up there it''s Edrahil my son Edrahil" one elf woman shouted and ran towards an elf. "My husband my husband is alive" another elf shouted did the same. The mood of the elves slowly turned to slight happiness seeing their fellow friends and kin. Like these many elves shouted when they saw their kin, of course, some elves were looking and forage desperately for their relatives. Arwen and Amaryll let out a long breath of sigh after looking at their tribe members safe and sound. Everyone was hugging and crying in happiness while holding their kin but Amaryll was looking at the Human who saved them and the majestic beast beside him. The cold look on the youth''s face before now became expressionless, and the beast beside him had excitement in its eyes like a child seeing something for the first time. As a girl who grew up in the woods Amaryll had knowledge about many magical beasts but not this creature in front of her, it looked like a Lion but has a set of wings and gold color fur that was shining even in the light of fire around them, besides the winged lion looked at everyone like a king look at his subjects, as an elf she felt more connected to the nature and living beings in the forest so she couldn''t help but study the magical beast in front of her. Just when she was admiring and studying the Lion she heard a majestic voice "Haven''t you seen a divine beast before lady?" Amaryll startled and searched for the source of the voice, just when she noticed that Arwen seemed to be heard that too, and he was looking at the Lion with shock. "Did you just speak?" Amaryll asked glancing at the Lion "Yes I''m talking to you" Knight was also studying and glancing at the elves, that was why he had seen Amaryll was checking on him. For Knight, who was born in another realm, he has not seen the other races such as elves. When he first saw the elves he was astounded, they had long pointy ears, had fair skin like white gold, he seen blonde people before, but never seen such golden and silver hair of elves, also they were taller than average humans and every elven woman was beautiful as full moon on the dark sky. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. However, when he saw the bandits ravaging and hurting those beautiful creatures, Knight almost went berserk, he was a being who valued lives, he only kills when he needed and he would never hurt those who don''t deserve it. All the elves paused what they were doing and focused on the beast, who could communicate like a human. Unlike other elves, Arwen was more concerned about the youth, who could defeat peak level master magi in mere instants. Don also conscious of the concerns of Arwen "Don''t worry I won''t harm you or your people I''m here to offer you a chance to get back your former elven glory" Arwen''s heart skipped a beat when he heard this he couldn''t believe what he heard, how can this youth say such things, yes he killed those bandits and he is certainly someone powerful but taking back the elven glory, it''s not so simple even though Arwen''s couldn''t help but wonder is this youth telling the truth? Can he help us? Arwen always dreamt of getting back their honor and glory but he was unable to do so but now he was given an option to do precisely what he had fantasized. But Arwen could not make this decision since he doesn''t know anything about the human offering the choice or what was the reason behind him. He only knows that this young man is a powerful slaughter machine who didn''t even flinch an eye or showed emotion, while he exterminated his own members of the race. "If we desired to harm you we wouldn''t have opposed the bandits," Knight responded overlooking the elves. "You can accept my offer and swear allegiance to me and get back what you have lost or decline and remain to live like loots to humans hiding and dreading" Don stated in a cold tone. The elves were rational beings they knew if he wanted to kill them or capture them to sell as a slave he could easily do that there was no need for him to offer them any choices. Arwen stared at Don for a moment "Who are you? What what do you want from us " Arwen spoke slowly, clearly he didn''t heal from the thrashing he received from the bandit leader, his face was still swollen and blood dripping from the nose and head, his silver hair was almost dyed in red because of the blood, "I am Don and this here is my brother Knight" Don point at Knight beside him. Arwen didn''t respond this time but Amaryll who did "What do you mean by swearing allegiance to you? Are you a human prince why you chose us?" Amaryll''s questions were also the questions of the elves. "I am not a prince, the reason I chose you because you were in a danger as for the allegiance" Don paused for a moment and closed his eyes for a second then opened and said "I made a promise to someone that I unify all the races scattered around the outer lands and lead them to a prosperous and a life without fear," Amaryll noticed the first time emotion from the youth, there was a trace of sadness in Don''s eyes when he mentioned the promise to someone. "But how can we trust you? what would stop you from doing what those humans and bandits were intended to do?" "You are right you have no reason to give me your trust but what have you got to lose? as you overheard from the bandit someone powerful enough to hurt all of you is already made their move, sooner or later you all going to encounter them, do you all possess the strength to defeat them?" Don asked Amaryll, but before she can respond he continued "I know the elves are once a proud race and won''t swear their allegiance to other than your king but do you have a king or do you still have the means to be proud?" Each question was similar to needles that penetrated their heart. Elves were standing there in silence they were reminiscing about their past. Nobody let out a sound for a moment but soon an elf boy came forward to face Don and Knight. The boy had silver hair like the elves and wore a green robe with a leaf embroidered on the right upper pocket, the boy was clutching on the embodiment with teary eyes, two lines under his eyes could be seen on the boy''s muddy face. He looked up at Don and wiped his tears while Arwen and Amaryll were glancing at the boy. Don looked down at the elf boy and recognized him, he was the brave elf kid who was defending his friends from the bandits. The boy looked Don with tearful eyes at Don but there was a question hiding in his little eyes "wu wu wu today I lost my mama and papa" he was tightly clutching his embodiment while he mentioned his parents, "If I chose to follow you, can you give me your word that nobody will lose their mama and papa?" the boy asked while sweeping his teary cheeks. Looking at the boy, Don''s heart started to feel the pain, he knew very well how hurtful it is to lose someone you love. He knelt to face the kid and put his hand on the shoulder of the kid "I promise that nobody will become orphan if they follow me" Don very well knew that if they declined his offer, sooner or later they would face a disaster and he didn''t want them to suffer that but he also knew he can''t protect the people that don''t trust him. The elf boy stared at Don for a movement, there was a battle going in his little heart it showed in his face he was struggling to make a decision but seeing the confidence in Don''s face, a resolution emerged on the face of the kid and he looked like he moved through the kid stage to a young man in a single day he let go of the embodiment he was clutching and stood with the straightened spine, he completely wiped away his tears, he looked straight into the eyes of Don and said in a voice with determination. "Then I Elrond son of Elaran swears my allegiance to you" he made a deep bow which was halted by don in the midway. 6 The Beginning of an Emperor’s Path Elves stared at Elrond with eyes full of doubts curiosity, they were unable to find what was going on inside of this kid''s mind, although they knew that Elrond lost both his parents in the fight with bandits, they didn''t know how could Elrond trust a human so easily, if this happened in human society they will just scold that the kid is behaving out of his age but this was not the state in elven community, their kids must grow faster than human kids both psychologically and physically because the rule of the wild is unrelenting and they wanted their children to know about the reality. Even Don was surprised to witness Elrond gave his loyalty to him, the boy before him had a conviction in his voice, the sadness in the eyes of the boy was replaced with something else. Everyone was puzzled about Elrond but in his heart, there was nothing but ambition and a determination. Arwen and Amaryll were still analyzing the situation, "It seems like you''re gonna prove more than saving their life, Don these elves look like hard to prove" Knight sent a telepathic message to Don. "Yes I''ve expected that even though they were pushed to this far they are still elves, the pride in their heart is so strong, but we need them much as they need us, if we trained them effectively as archers they will be a deadly force to be reckoned with" No one spoke as time went, Elrond walked towards and stood beside Don, Arwen had a difficult expression on his face, eventually, Don broke the stillness, "One year I will give you one-year time before you swear your allegiance to me meanwhile I will make my move to unite other races to build a powerful kingdom," Don stated firmly, a certain spirit in his voice as he declared. The elves stared at him with eyes wide open, no one could speak such thing like it was an easy thing to do, there were so many races with their survival at stake, some of them even started going extinct finding them and uniting them was not an easy thing not at all. Seeing Elrond, Arwen tried hard to come to a decision even though the things the youth said was unrealistic, can there be at least a chance for that to happen? he was fighting with himself but no matter what he wouldn''t be alive if it wasn''t for Don, that Arwen knew obviously, he exhaled a long breath and reached a decision, he knew this was going to alter his life, "I can''t speak for others, I don''t know why you chose to rescue us, but you saved me and my sister''s life and honor. Without you she would have faced the fate worse than the death, that''s a debt I can''t repay even with my life" Arwen came forward limping and faced don with his chin up, Don met his gaze but didn''t respond just stood there. I Arwen son of Cameron swear my allegiance to you from this day onwards till death" as he went to kneel in front of Don but Don stopped him from doing so, "I accept your allegiance but never kneel in front of anyone other than your god and parents" At first Arwen slightly shocked to hear this but eventually Arwen nodded in agreement. Don did that because he doesn''t like it when his friends and companions kneel in front of him and also he doesn''t want Arwen to kneel because he knew about the proud nature of elves. Amaryll didn''t know why her brother swore his loyalty to the human but she knew that her brother would always do the right thing ultimately she decided to follow her brother. "I trust my brother''s decision but I won''t swear my allegiance but I will follow my brother with you but you better don''t have any ulterior motives" she expressed while staring at Don. Arwen felt a little awkward but he didn''t show it on his face. Knight was amused to see this elf woman threatening Don but he respected her bravery and the choice of following her brother. Don didn''t respond but nodded in consent and flicked his fist while a light began to gleam in his ring, but this time a red color potion appeared instead of the torture bug he used on the bandit leader. "Arwen take this potion it will heal your injuries" the portion flew through the air and landed in Arwen''s hands. Arwen pondered at the portion in his hands for a moment, "Don''t hesitate Arwen I expect you in the best form" Arwen was still not convinced but he knew he had no other choice so he took the red portion and drank it in one gulp. Arwen knew about these healing portions a high-tier portion was so expensive since it could even heal a person who is on the verge of death. Obviously, Arwen didn''t know what tier was the one he just drank but soon as he drank the potion he felt a hot wave surging in his body and he looked at his bruises on his hands and they were disappearing, the healing speed was visible to the naked eyes. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "This this is a high tier healing potion!!" Amaryll said. Astonishment and shock are written all over her face. Arwen also shocked to see the effect of the potion and he couldn''t believe that someone would waste this precious potion on someone like him, this was a life-saving potion normally in the human cities high tier healing potion like this would cause a riot but Don just gave it to him like candy. "Thank... thank you and how do I address you" "Just Don would do". Don knew Arwen and Elrond gave their loyalty to him when he had nothing so he would treat and view them as friends rather than subordinates. The elf trio thought Don didn''t want any honorifics because he has neither kingdom or throne and accepted to call him Don so they won''t make this an awkward situation. "What about others, Don what are we gonna do?" Knight questioned Don while looking at the elves. Arwen and Amaryll gazed at Don as they expected his response. " Since they are people of Arwen Amaryll and Elrond they can follow me for a year, I will make sure that no trouble find them after a year if they don''t trust me" he paused for a moment before continuing, "they can do whatever they want and I won''t hold them back". The meaning of this statement was very clear to the elves, I will give my protection to you for a year after that you can swear allegiance to me or get lost I won''t bother about you. Of course, Don knew one year was more than enough to obtain the loyalty of the elves, he was certain about that. The elven trio was happy to hear that Don would protect them for a year after this time in the very least they would relocate the tribe to a more secure place. They didn''t know about Don''s future plans so they had to make arrangements for their fellow elves. After this Don and Knight stepped aside and let the elf trio and other elves make arrangements for the funeral of their fallen brothers and sisters. Initially, hundred and thirty elves were living in this tribe but after the bandit attack, twenty elves have died including Elrond''s parents. If not for Don''s the casualties would have been higher and many remaining elves would be captured and sold as slaves to the highest bidders in the slave market. Elrond couldn''t control his tears when he saw the lifeless bodies of his parents. Normally the funeral ritual takes about seven days to complete. The family gathers either just after or near the day of the loved one''s death. The body is washed and wood is gathered for the pyre. This is normally done at the same time. For larger families, the immediate family members are given a little longer to mourn and the more distant family members gather the wood and prepare the body. After the body was washed, wood gathered. The pyre is built. The size of the pyre depends on the family and is up to the people building it. Normally the pyres are rather small and made for one or two bodies at a time. The body is then wrapped in cloth. At sunset on the following day, a torch is lit at the pyre site. The body is placed onto the pyre an hour before the pyre is to be lit. The people that wish to watch the proceedings gather then. When the sky is dark the fire will be lit. The family will stand near the pyre until the fire burns out. But because of the threat of the mysterious mage, Don asked Arwen to hurriedly finish the ritual, the elves were stricklers to the rituals but they knew about the threat and did as he asked grudgingly. When Elrond''s parent''s pyre lit Don went near him and stayed with him. "Elrond remember this, as long as you remember your parents and make them proud they are alive within you" Little Elrond was still looking at the fire when Don talked to him, "Yes, and I will honor them by making sure that no one would feel the pain I''m feeling now " a determination and purpose rose within his little heart and Don nodded in approval. 7 Otherworldly beings The elves started to pack their belongings which were quite a lot. After a remarkable time, they were ready to move out. Arwen and Amaryll turned to see their tribe on more time before they depart, the fires set by the bandits were almost extinguished but many trees and treehouses were burnt, bloodstains of bandits and elves could be seen on the surface of the ground occasionally. They were born and raised in this village but now they know it''s time to move on so they let out a sigh and started to walk away. Don was leading the group of elves beside him was Knight Arwen and Amaryll who was closely walking alongside Knight. It seems the elf woman took an interest in Knight. Don noticed this and amused inside. Arwen was more concerned regarding the surrounding, he was extra cautious considering the recent bandit assault. Only some elves in his tribe stepped out of their territory boundary. Don wasn''t concerned as Arwen because he knew Knight has the ability of farsight and can scan his surroundings and sense threats in the range of two kilometers. Knight admired the beauty of the forest while walking, he couldn''t move without a plant-touching his skin. The sheer denseness of the foliage had made him feel cozy like in all this space he could still be snug, the thousands of noises such as insect chirping had crashed over him as refreshing as any waterfall, overriding his senses. The forest hums with life all around elves. The sun breaks through the cracks, lighting up the dirt path ahead of them, decorated with outgrown roots, wildflowers, and fallen leaves that crunch underneath their bare feet, the fragrance of minty grass and the damp earth made everyone so comfortable. Each breath was like water, fresh and cleansing, flowing freely into the lungs. As they walked a few magical creatures and beasts tried to hinder but the elven archers were quite talented as they killed them in an instant, not all the creatures tried to pick a fight with such a large group. When the quality and the size of the magic core increase, the intelligent of the beasts also grow, to put it simply in peak level master level beasts can understand human language and have basic intelligence, when reaching grandmaster level they can speak and have human-level intelligence, reaching above grandmaster level is very hard and several grandmaster level beast die trying crossing the tribulation to reach Heavenly level. There were only a handful of Heavenly level beasts found in the mortal realm but they normally live secluded and other races won''t bother them because the wrath of the heavenly level beast is not to be taken lightly as they can destroy a city easily. "Huh, Knight tell me, what magic master level are you?" Amaryll wondered about this for some time and she thought he was a grandmaster level beats since he can talk like a human but Amaryll never has seen a grandmaster level beast before and when she couldn''t arrive at a conclusion and everyone was rather silent hence finally she asked Knight. Knight was somewhat confused since he was not born in the mortal realm so he has pretty much no idea regarding the magic or magic levels. "What''s a magic master level?"Knight responded to Amaryll''s question with his own question. "Hm? Didn''t you really know about the levels of magic? What''s the color of your magic core?" Amaryll tilted her head in wonder. Arwen and Elrond also have taken an interest in the conversation between Amaryll and Knight. Knight let out a sigh, "Lady since I was not born in your world, I have no idea what you are asking me". Small gasps or yelps were heard among the elven group. What does he mean by not being born in your world? Does that mean there is another world? Can other beings like Knight also enter their world? are the gods in their world or are they gods themselves? Many questions were started to rise in their head, Amaryll and Arwen were no exception to this. Looking at the bewildered frightened faces of the elves Knight knew that he kicked a hornet''s nest. Knight stared at Don for help but he just shrugged. "Are you telling the truth? is there actually another world can we travel there?"Amaryll leaned down towards Lion and asked him with a hint of excitement and fear. "No, you can''t go there so don''t think about it" "Then can they come to our world from theirs like you?" Sigh... "I and Don is an exception even for us that was a one-way trip so even if we desired to we can''t travel back there" "Won''t you miss your world, Sir Knight?" This time Elrond was the one questioned Knight. Knight laughed lightly when he heard Elrond call him ''Sir''. "No, I don''t miss my world. I and Don were pretty used to traveling around and also don''t call me Sir simply Knight would do" "So Don also an otherwo..r" before Amaryll could finish the question Knight sent her a telepathic message, " Don''t ask him about his past he doesn''t like to talk about it, but when the time comes he will tell you about it" Amaryll jumped like a rabbit and saw a snake when she heard the voice of knight inside her mind she was not at all used to it. Arwen noticed Amaryll screeched "Are you alright Amaryll?" "Yeah yeah I''m fine just an insect landed on my shoulder that''s all" Arwen looked Amaryll doubtfully but he didn''t ask her further. "That voice I''ve heard in my mind that was you right? How do you do that?" Amaryll whispered to Knight. "Yes, that was me I can send telepathic messages too and don''t wonder you can''t do that" "Why did you stop me? is Don an otherworldly being like you, I knew something was wrong with you two" Amaryll probed Knight but this time her voice was so quiet that only Knight could hear her. "What''s wrong with us, just don''t try to judge so quickly" Knight sent a piece of telepathic advice to her. Arwen also noticed what happened just when Amaryll abruptly stopped when asking about Don''s origins but Arwen was not interested in Don''s past, his only concern was the future as he knew everyone has a past they do not want to share, that was the kind of person is Arwen. "So are gonna tell me about the magic levels you were nagging, lady? " Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Amaryll pondered for a moment she was still cautious about this duo but she chose to answer after a while "There are six levels in magic we have, Beginner, apprentice, master, great master, grandmaster, heavenly. Each level is divided into three layers low mid-peak" Amaryll halted and stared at Knight who was hearing sincerely then continued, "As for the magic core, everyone in the world is born with it. The magic core is located near the heart, when someone dies it would disappear leaving a small trace of magic thread, the color of the magic core determines your level, the colors are light pink, silver, white, red, crimson, purple" (for example, Beginner''s magic core color is light pink while heavenly being''s color is purple) Eventually, she noticed that Knight was still calling her as Lady this made her feel slightly frustrated and she pursed her lips and said, "And one more thing, don''t call me lady, I have a name. It''s Amaryll you should use that" Knight smiled and started to recollect what Amaryll said about magic levels. They walked for a bit in silence, Don was walking with a calm face while Elrond followed him closely behind. "So now it''s your turn to tell me about your powers or sorcery, whatever you use" Amaryll questioned Knight again. She wanted to gain much information about them in case they were a threat. Knight carefully chose his words before answering, "In my world, we aren''t born with the magic core, we just cultivate energy called Battle energy or Battle qi comparable to your magic" "Battle energy huh? Is that you and Don used? Do you have levels in battle energy?" Knight was slightly irritated in the questions of Amaryll but he judged her as an extra curious one so he didn''t mind, "Yes, and yeah we do have levels from low-level to high-level Human, Earth, Sky, Moon, Star, Sun, Celestial level coincidentally each level is divided into also three levels low mid-peak " "So what level are you and Don in?" "I am in peak Skylevel while Don is in the mid-Moon level" Knight stated proudly. Amaryll gasped as she heard "So are you saying that you are a peak master level magi and Don is midlevel great master??" Even Arwen and the other elves were curious to hear the answer from Knight. In the mortal realm, great masters are prominent figures and nobody would dare to mess with them, they were rarely seen in outer lands, besides all of them would be older, as a matter of fact, according to Amaryll''s knowledge the youngest great master was fifty-six years old but Don seems to be in his mid-twenties how abnormal is that? Knight wondered how Amaryll came to this conclusion, "Hmm I don''t think that we can compare level to level using magic and battle energy but I''m looking forward to seeing which one is better," Excitement rose in his hearts while thinking about the battle between battle energy and magic and he was speculating about the results on the way. While Amaryll thought about the matter, at long last the group stopped walking and Arwen began to examine the surroundings. "We should camp here tonight it seems ahead is the region of the druids, we better don''t go into their region but we should stay here" Arwen glanced at the giant trees in front of him and thought about for a moment, "they won''t do anything as long as we keep our distances" Amaryll also nodded in approval because druids lived in deeper parts of the forest and normally no humans or other races attempt to come this far because Druids were dangerous beings. Clearly, the humans knew about this too, but they don''t take any risks coming here, still for Amaryll''s group, this risk was worth it and also they had Don. 8 We can still cultivate The Sun started to rise in the east, the sky resembled like golden covering above the earth. Don gazed up at the sky, while there are thousands of needle-like sun rays seeped through the thick forests in the gapes of trees and glowed like candles. Most of the elves were tired after what occurred at their tribe and the long walk, setting up their camps they were exhausted both psychologically and physically even Amaryll Arwen was sleeping soundly. "You need a good rest we don''t know what''s waiting for us here," Knight whispered to Don. "No, the elves need good rest what I need is to make sure there are no threats around here" his voice showed calmness but his eyes betrayed his feelings there was something troubling him. "I already browsed the area where there are no magical beasts or any other living beings apart from us even the Druid creatures aren''t nearby" "That''s what bothers me this is the border of druid region any intelligent being would not neglect their boundary unguarded, this place should have been crawling with Druid sentries" Knight also thought about this but he didn''t want Don or the elves to worry about, after all, he was an intelligent beast. "What do you think happened to the Druids?" they both were looking at the direction of the druid territory. In front of them were hundreds of big monstrous trees that covered the trees. There was not enough sunlight coming through their branches, even in the morning like this, it felt like a dark night with a cold breeze. "I don''t know for sure but it got to be something to do with that mysterious magi even though elven slaves are demand" Don turned to see the elves with the difficult expression on his face but he finally let out a sigh and turned away "the bandits would not risk a venture into that far, the elves should have been safer there, also master level magi''s do more simple and profitable jobs rather capturing few elves and sell them to the slave market " Don was still looking faraway his eyes were seeking something even with the cold wind breezing through his face he didn''t bat an eyelid. "Do you think we are still in danger?" an alarmed voice asked Don just when he turned to see Arwen''s troubled face, his body was tensed while he was clutching his fist so tightly it''s obvious that he still didn''t overcome last night''s trauma. "Not for a while but we better find a safer and secure hiding place " Arwen slowly nodded in agreement and his mouth was twitching like he was searching for words, after what happened at the tribe he will be safer than sorry but before he could do or say anything he received an extra shock. "I need to pay a visit to Minister Brian" Don stated while facing Arwen, Arwen could see there was a cold intent in Don''s eyes. "What? Why? Don''t you think it''s risky to travel there?"Arwen almost shouted immediately when he heard Don''s plan. "I want to know what''s his association with the mysterious magi" "I understand but is this the right time for you to leave" Arwen couldn''t help but ask. Don didn''t show any emotion on his face, "I will return soon and Knight will be here so you can be at ease" Knight showed his disagreement by squinting his eyes and grumbled in a low voice when he heard Don. "You know you will attract more attention towards us Knight, we still don''t know is there any of your kind in this world" Knight was still in disappointment because he couldn''t go on an adventure but he agreed anyway. There was a heavy stillness among the trio for a while. "If that''s what you want at least take Uncle Dior with you he knows the way around outer lands better than anyone, he can shorten your journey and it''s more helpful to have someone familiar with the land" Don thought about it for a while ''hmm Arwen is right it''s not smart to travel alone in an unknown domain and I could learn more about this place from him and also it will put the elf trio at ease''. "Alright I''ll take him with me we should depart after everyone had their breakfast" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Wait here I''ll go wake uncle Dior and bring him" And they both started to walk towards their camp. Knight stood in the middle still watching the Druids territory and slowly turned away and walked behind Don. Don came to his campsite, the camp he made looked like a small hut but completely made with mud it had a rectangular shape with some holes here and there to allow light and wind to come. Don went inside and sat on the ground in a meditation posture. His eyes were closed, his spine was straightened up and stacked his hands in the lap with palms facing up as right hand on top of his left hand with thumbs gently touching. He was slowly inhaling and exhaling as he proceeded to do so there was a small layer of light started to shimmer around his figure. That light was the battle Energy circulating through his body. Don recalled the things that occurred since he returned to the mortal realm. While he was in a deep meditation knight entered his hut and sat on the ground like a lazy king and started to clean himself by licking his paws and legs just when he noticed a familiar light emitting from Don, Knight''s eyes sparkled with excitement as he watched, he couldn''t wait for Don to open his eyes. After a while, Don gently opened his eyes and glance at Knight, the light he was emitted slowly began to fade away. "Can you still cultivate battle energy since we are in a different world" knight inquired and his voice had an urgency for Don''s answer. "Yes, it''s not much as we used to but this world has battle energy even though it cannot be compared to the magical energy around us" a slight relieved feeling surfaced in his face and mouth was slightly just slightly formed a curve that looked like a smile. "Ha Ha Ha, so our cultivation won''t be hindered here that''s what I like to hear" Knight let out a laugh his golden furred wings were opened and fluttered lightly and happiness, excitement is written all over his face. Don very rarely showed his emotions but even he was gently smiled when he confirmed that they can cultivate battle energy in this world. While they were in a happy mood Arwen brought uncle Dior to Don''s hut and stood outside. Don sensed Arwen and stood up and went outside. He saw Arwen was accompanied by Amaryll and another man. Don guessed he was uncle Dior Arwen told him about. Uncle Dior wore a light golden robe and also had silver hair like Arwen but Don could see its not pure silver there was a hint of blackness in his hair, similar to other elves he had green eyes but unlike the elves, his ears were not pointy as Arwen or Amaryll his skin tone was paler and there was a resemblance to humans in his face. Don knew that uncle Dior must be a Half-elf like the name implies they were offsprings of humans and elves, Half-elves look like elves to humans and like humans to elves hence their elven description as "half-human". "Don this is uncle Dior he can accompany you in your travel" uncle Dior nodded in consent while Don did the same. "We should depart in the afternoon that way we can reach Slave city in the earliest" Uncle Dior declared firmly, his voice was more mature than Arwen and there was a roughness to his voice and Don could sense there was also a hint of anger or disappointment within his tone. Don didn''t know why but he knew that Uncle Dior had something to say. 9 We are not here to survive but to rule In the morning a frosty chill hung in the air. The sweet surrendering scent of the morning dew filled the campsite of the elves with a fragrance that did not belong on land, the cold wind breezed through the four people and a winged lion standing at the campsite. Obviously, these four were Don, Arwen, Amaryll and Uncle Dior, and the winged lion was Knight duh. Uncle Dior was telling Don to depart in the afternoon so they can reach the Slave city without any hurdles. Amaryll still didn''t know that Don is planning to go there. "What you''re three up to?" Amaryll walked towards the gathering while yawning and rubbing her eyes, her golden hair was ruffled up in the wind, she was crossing her hands and gently rubbing them to get some heat, her eyes still had weariness because of recent events, she looked at Arwen then a small surprise appeared on her face when she noticed Uncle Dior. "Uncle Dior" "Good morning Amaryll" "Good morning uncle, is there any problem?" Amaryll asked and looked at Arwen and Don, Uncle Dior didn''t say anything as he just glanced at Don and Arwen. Amaryll stared at Arwen for an answer but Arwen didn''t give her one quickly while he sulked for a moment before answering "Uncle Dior is here to accompany Don to Minister Brian''s manor in the Slave city." "What!" "What!!" Amaryll and Uncle Dior yelled at the same time. Amaryll saw genuinely shocked uncle Dior when he heard about going to Brian manor, she realized Uncle Dior was also in the black. "Arwen you didn''t say anything about going to Brian''s manor are you mad?" Uncle Dior shouted at Arwen even though he stared at Arwen, the question was directed towards Don. Arwen knew that but he just scratched the back of his head and glanced at Don. For a while, only the chirping and the sounds of trees moving in the wing could be heard as the group stood in silence. But Amaryll was panicked when she heard about Brian''s name and her face went pale. If the bandits caught her last night, Brian''s manor was the place she would have ended up she knew that very well so she immediately turned to face Don "Don, why are you going there? are you trying to get yourself killed?" Amaryll began to shiver while asking. Everyone was looking at Don to see what was he going to tell them, but Don calmly looked at Amaryll, the girl was still slightly shivering not due to the morning cold more like in the fear of Brian. "The bandits he sent were just lackeys he was the head, we should kill him before he realizes his lackeys failed" Knight nodded in approval he knew that destroying the head and the body would fall apart and he always supported Don. Don''s true purpose in engaging Minister Brian was to gather information about the mysterious mage, killing Brian was just icing on the cake but he didn''t want to remind them about the mysterious mage or his real plan. Arwen knew Don''s motive and why he didn''t reveal to Uncle Dior and Amaryll, his sister was already pretty shaken up, reminding her of the mysterious mage was just asking for trouble. Uncle Dior and Amaryll couldn''t come up with a counter-argument as they know it must be done. "So will you come with me?" Uncle Dior knew why he was chosen for this journey and he knew killing Brian would mean less trouble for them but he couldn''t just agree to go with him he needs assurance. "I can show you the quickest way to the Slave city but if you want me to come with you, I need time to think about it" Amaryll was going to say something when Arwen shook his head. He knew Uncle Dior was a cautious person and he wouldn''t just agree to go with Don but they couldn''t talk so freely with shivering Amaryll beside them. "Amaryll go and see how Elrond is doing" Amaryll just stared at Arwen and she found out that he was quite adamant in sending her away by looking at his stubborn face "I am not a little girl you know" she pouted and started to walk in the direction of Elrond''s camp which was made by Don. Uncle Dior waited till Amaryll was out of listening range. "By the way, I know why you really going to Brian''s manor Don" Arwen and Knight looked surprised when they heard Uncle Dior. "You wanted to know more about the mysterious mage the bandit leader told you about" uncle Dior sneered when he talked about Bandit leader, a hint of irritation could be found in his voice Knight frowned at the tone and the way Uncle Dior was behaving, he doesn''t like when people talking to Don like that, Arwen also noticed Uncle Dior''s tone and Knight''s reaction, he was ready to jump between them at the second if the situation elevated but for his surprise Don calmly said "You have something to say?" Uncle Dior was a clever man. He could sense no threatening vibe was coming from Don, so he decided to give him peace of his mind. "I am thankful for what you''ve done for us but killing the bandit leader was a wrong move, he could have more valuable information about Brian and the mysterious mage" Don didn''t interrupt or argue with, he just listened to Uncle Dior while Uncle Dior continued "If you didn''t kill him we would have gained more valuable information about Brian and the mysterious mage" "Yes you are right, that was a mistake I''ve made. I am used to killing my enemies without giving them more time" The three of them were shocked at the fact that Don admitted his mistake including Knight, especially uncle Dior. He thought the young man would behave arrogantly or argue with him. This made a good impression on Uncle Dior, he would appreciate a person who was honest with himself and admit his own mistakes. "I won''t make that mistake if you were there with me when I deal with Minister Brian" Uncle Dior could see that Don''s not acting but honestly admitting his fault, he lived long enough to tell when people lied, it was one of the skills he learned through experience. So because of this skill, Uncle Dior knew that Don was telling the truth since he made sure of that, he didn''t need to argue with him and agreed to come with him. "Alright I''ll pack somethings for the travel and meet you here in a while" Uncle Dior began to walk towards his tent and Arwen followed after him. In Uncle Dior''s perspective, only fools would not acknowledge their shortcomings, following a fool would only get yourself killed and now he knew that Don is not a fool. If Don argued with him or acted arrogantly he would have shown him the way to the Slave and let him go alone, after all, he was a half-elf, he had more arrogance than a human by nature. Knight waited till they leave, he was still knitting his brows because of Uncle Dior''s attitude, "What were you thinking Don? You should have kicked his elven butt" Its obvious Knight didn''t like Uncle Dior. "If you admit your fault they will think you were weak" "I would have kicked his butt if we were in the Divine continent and we are not" "What''s the difference you know better than anyone it''s the rule of the jungle only the strong survive, this world is not an exception " Knight declared in absolute certainty. "We are not trying to survive anymore Knight we are here to rule, not every problem can be solved by brute force, we need " he didn''t finish his sentence just tapped his head. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "And you think we don''t use our brains" Knight frowned while saying. "Not always we need to change if we want to succeed, to change we need to learn from someone who uses their brain more than their fist" Knight started to get the point Don is making, "Uncle Dior was just like that someone, we need people like him" "But didn''t he get captured by the bandits?" "Did he?" Knight started to reminisce about yesterday''s events and remembered that Uncle Dior was not with the group of elves captured along with Arwen and Amaryll but with the elves Knight himself rescued. "I didn''t notice in the heat of battle but Dior wasn''t in danger when I saw him he was just stood there along with some injured elves" "See even if you didn''t come here he would have escaped... brain" he tapped his head again. "What about his people? what about them if he just escaped" "What could have he done? if he just went to rescue them he would have ended up dead, self-sacrificing is a coward''s way just people labeled it as heroism" Knight knew he was right when he considered the things Don said, he came to this world not too long ago but he was learning and starting to change the way he was thinking. "It''s hurting me to say but we do need people like Uncle Dior," Knight said with gritted teeth and addressed him as Uncle Dior. 10 Out of the woods "Glad you understand Knight". "Just try not to kill too many people in the Slave city'''' "You know about me" Don declared. "That''s what I am afraid of" Knight frowned and ruffled his hair, let out a small laugh. ********* Uncle Dior packed the things for the journey and came to meet Don near the hut, Amaryll was also present in the situation with Elrond. Uncle Dior wore a black robe with a hood to hide his pointy ears and face. "Uncle Dior is everything ready for the journey" Arwen couldn''t help but ask, the forest was equally dangerous as it was beautiful so Arwen didn''t want them to be unprepared. "Yes, We can depart when Don arrives" everyone looked at Don''s hut and expected him to come out. "What is he doing?" Amaryll was not good at waiting so she wanted to go inside the hut and drag him out but before she did that she had a bold out of the blue as another youth came out of the hut. Everyone expected Don to come out but the one stepped out of the hut was definitely not Don, this youth had a brown long hair, he was not handsome as Don just an average looking guy, he wore a worn-out brown robe matching his hair color. The elves were startled to see the mysterious youth but they quickly recovered from the initial shock and got into a defensive position. Arwen immediately took out his bow and aimed an arrow at the youth while Amaryll took out a dagger and came in front of Elrond and guarded him with her body, Uncle Dior took out a weapon which looked like a small-sized crossbow and aimed at him. "Relax it''s Don" a lazy voice came from the hut as Knight stepped out. The elves looked at Knight then the youth whom Knight claims to be Don but the elves didn''t let down their guard. Knight saw that the elves didn''t believe him, he shook his head "Don take out that mask before they hurt themselves with those weapons" Don nodded to Knight and took off his mask and revealed his real face. The mask flickered light when he did that, the mask looked like it was made of porcelain, there was no hair attached to the mask but it was a magical feature of it. The elves were visibly startled but seeing Don made them relax, Arwen lowered his bow. Amaryll unsheathed her dagger and stared at the mask with sparkling eyes, Uncle Dior hid his crossbow and loosened up his tensed body. "How how do you? what what is that thing" Amaryll couldn''t finish the sentence she was too excited as she ran forward to Don and took out the mask out of his hands and started to inspect it, she first tapped the mask with her fingers then felt it surface then held it over her head and looked at in the sunlight. Don knew about the curious nature of this elf so he let her play with the mask for a bit while Arwen looked a little embarrassed with his sister''s reaction. "So what is this thing?" Amaryll asked again. "It''s a magic mask" Don answered. "Obviously" Knight retorted looking at the elf but the elf didn''t seem to mind and put the mask on her face, Arwen and Uncle Dior watched this scene with an open mouth, she didn''t even ask Don''s permission to look at the mast let alone trying it on. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Arwen wanted to pinch Amaryll''s pointy ears with all his might, he was too embarrassed. "You can''t use it, the mask only works with battle energy" Amaryll seemed disappointed at Don''s answer she held onto it for a moment before she handed over him the mask in an embarrassed manner. Don took the mask from Amaryll''s hands and placed it on his face, the mask let out a small glimmer of light and altered its size to fit his face. Don''s face started to shift into the previous youth''s face while his raven black hair disappeared and the brown long hair started to grow. "Uh uh" uncle Dior cleared his throat "Can we go now? We have a long journey before us" Uncle Dior started to slowly walk away. Don nodded and took off his ring and threw it to Knight. "Use it if you face any Dangers you can''t handle '''' Don didn''t wait for Knight to answer just as he put his hood on, nodded facing Arwen and followed uncle Dior in the direction of the Slave city. Knight too didn''t say anything as he touched the ring on the floor, just when Knight touched the ring, it started to shine and coiled around Knight''s leg. Knight lifted his ring leg to his eye level and examined it "Hmm fits well" Then Knight joined with Arwen who was staring at the direction Don and Uncle Dior went and waited till their figures faded into the woods. "Let''s go" Arwen took Elrond and went to his hut leaving Amaryll and Knight behind. Arwen would have taken Amaryll too but he saw that sparkling eyes of her pop up when he saw the ring Don gave it to Knight, so he knew his sister wouldn''t come with him even if we pleaded. ************ Don and Uncle Dior were walking through a dense forest filled with the chirping of the birds and chitter-chatter of diverse insects. The duo was traveling in silence admiring the elegance of the surroundings. The sound of water falling and the smell of the lush green plants and the fragrance and the beauty of wildflowers were so refreshing for them. Don wanted to protect this forest and the beings living in it, he knew sooner or the human empires will try to conquer the outer lands when they do they will just destroy the nature for their selfish reasons, its the human nature. While they traveling many magical creatures, as well as normal predators, tried to hinder their path, normal predators can''t feel the magical fluctuations or use their intelligence, they just do whatever they supposed to ''Hunt'', Uncle Dior didn''t make any move against them as he wanted to see how Don was going to deal with them. Small predators such as snakes and raccoons didn''t dare or they knew they couldn''t handle this hunt but some big predatory animals such as cheetah, bobcat, cougars were brave enough to pick a fight however Don didn''t kill them he just knocked them out by manipulating the old logs or tree branches around him. As for the magical creatures, they thought the trio would be an easy kill, Don had no magical fluctuations around him and Uncle Dior was low-level magi, so they made their move without considering much. Uncle Dior looked at Don who is traveling beside him, he saw Don watching around their surroundings for any threats. "There are no magical beasts above the peak master level in this part of the forest so you can relax" however before Uncle Dior could finish, A Big black panther jumped down from one of the trees and stared at the duo, "What the!" The black panther gently started to move towards them, Uncle Dior slowly took out his small-sized crossbow while Don slowly walked backward "Do something" Uncle Dior hissed. Any sudden move could make the panther agitated so Don made his move very very steadily and slowly. First, he moved his hands to his back, with one hand he controlled the logs leaves and dust around him while on the other he retrieved a small throwing knife. If he was alone he could just take his sword and go kill it but he was here with Uncle Dior, despite the fact, it couldn''t kill him but the panther could easily attack uncle Dior in an instant so he manipulated the surroundings to confuse the panther which could buy him some valuable time to save Uncle Dior and kill the panther. The Black panther confirmed that the two prey in front of it did not pose a threat to it. So the panther finally bared its teeth and dashed forwards, unanticipatedly to the panther, the logs, vines, leaves, and dust wrapped around it and halted its pace the panther was confused, without wasting the opportunity Don threw the throwing knife straight at the panther, the knife was controlled by battle energy so it flew so fast like it could cut the wind itself and pierced through the panther''s head. The panther died with opened eyes, it couldn''t have known how it was killed, everything has happened in a flash. "What the heck is a mid great master level beast doing here!" Uncle Dior said with the gritted teeth, his face showed a concerned look. Uncle Dior inspected its body "Shame such a majestic beast, let us take its magic core it will fetch us a good price" It took several minutes to cut open the beast and retrieve its magic core, The pure red core was glimmering in Uncle Dior''s hands and he was smiling at the core. "Let''s go before any more damn beast comes" Uncle Dior put the core in his side bag and moved hastily. The denseness of the forest gradually reduced and some man-made paths have begun to appear at long last they were out of the woods literally, by the time they were out, the sun started to set and the sky turned into a golden red color, some man-made structures could be seen, at the far distance, Don could see the big walls. The Slave city of Outer lands 11 Better than a chameleon The slowly setting sun painted the gray walls with a dull brush of silver, the shadows from the small trees reached down the hillside towards the town. The city was surrounded by moat and walls made of stone. The only way into the city was through the huge main gate which was guarded by a group of guards. There were also guards on the circular tower overlooking the main gate and the city. The guards didn''t wear a full armor plate with chainmail rather a simple steel plate top of white shirt and black leather pants with big boots. The only noticeable thing about the guard was their steel helm with a ''T'' shape nose cover, on top of the helm there was a bunch of feathers, Some guards had blue color while some of them had white color. Don and Uncle Dior followed a merchant caravan to the city gate, Don could hear grumble and growl from the caravan, he looked at the caravan through the gapes of the sheets which covered the caravan. Don could vaguely see some figures inside their mouths were taped up hence the growl and grumble. He guessed this merchant''s merchandise were not things but slaves. Don didn''t know what race they were yet he knew he couldn''t save them or not yet. "Damned Slave traders" Uncle Dior cursed in a low voice. The caravan stopped moving and the merchant took out a pouch and walked towards a guard with a small note in his hands. Don noticed that this guard had red feathers on top of his helm. The merchant addressed the guard with the utmost respect and handed over him the pouch, the guard seemed very happy and took the pouch and put it inside his pant pocket and nodded to the guard beside him to open the gates. The merchant took the caravan and walked inside the city full of smiles, and the guard with the red feathers turned to look at Uncle Dior and Don, the smile he had just a moment ago magically disappeared and replaced by a stern look. "State your business" Uncle Dior knew Don was not a talkative type so he answered instead "We are just wandering adventurers passing through Sir " The guard gazed at the two for a moment "Twenty-five coppers, pay it or get lost" guard reached his hand out. Uncle Dior took out some coppers from his side bag and paid the guard, the guard didn''t even count them as he handed it over to the guard beside him, then the guard opened a small gate near the main gate and allowed them to enter the city. The city had muddy roads which led to a very busy street, but fairly straight. A building with a board saying "Blake bakery" was on the left next to an old worn-out building and the market square was a few hundred yards further in. Some buildings looked like they were made from red brick while others built using wood and mud, there were no structure or order in the buildings were built, they were jumbled together. The people on the street were mostly humans but Don could see some demi-humans, halflings. The humans didn''t strike him as rich they were all wearing some old clothes, their faces showed neither happiness nor sadness. "Welcome to the City of Windsville gentlemen" a voice greeted Don and Uncle Dior from out of the blue as they looked in the direction of the voice to see a small boy. "I am Rook, the best Windsville tour guide I''ll be happy to show you around the city for eight coppers" the boy gazed at the duo with an ear to ear smile. "No need for a tour just tell us where is the nearest tavern" Uncle Dior declined the boy''s offer whilst Rook''s ear to ear smile instantly vanished. "Three coppers" "Two coppers and you show us the way" Uncle Dior bargained with the little boy. "Alright follow me" the boy started to guide them through a complex irregular network of path and passages they were quite glad to have someone like Rook to guide them in this labyrinth of a street, eventually they came front of a two-story building, there was a board named "The Cob Web". "Hmm you look like someone who knows the city very well" "Yeah yeah just give me my coppers I''ll be on my way" Rook seemed not very interested in chit chat. Uncle Dior handed over the two coppers to Rook, the boy gladly took the coppers and put it in his pockets and took off like a bird to see his next customers. "We should stay here for the night and try to get some information on Minister Brian" Don nodded in approval while the two of them entered the ''Cob Web''. The tavern evoked a sense of sadness and dirty debauchery, some people in the tavern were drunk some were depressed, in the corner there was even a bar fight going on. The floor was so dirty and muddy with boots marks all over it, there were two female servers in black maid uniform running around carrying drinks and foods while one server started to lit the candles. The bartender was a dark-haired woman who seemed to be in her mid-forties, she was serving a man and there were two free stools beside him. Don and Uncle Dior sat down on the stools whilst Uncle Dior called the bartender "What do you two have? special is 8 coppers stew would be six and 3 for beers" "We have two beers thanks" "Six coppers," she said while filling two mugs with beer and handed them over to them. Uncle Dior drank the beer in a single gulp, Don didn''t drink it but listened to the discussions going around to see if there was any information valuable to him. "Are young going to drink that?" while Don listening to other conversations, the man beside Don asked him while pointing his fingers to Don''s beer. Don turned to face him and studied the man, he was a middle-aged man with curly red hair and a goatee, he had a joyful face and appeared to have an easygoing attitude so Don guessed he could get some information out of him. "Sure take it" Don slid the mug to the man. "HaHa, you are a good man" he took a sip from the mug. "I am Mike" Don took off his hood and extended his arms. The man glanced at the brown-haired youth beside him "Akihiro the bright scholar, you can call me Aki" the man shook Don''s hands. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "So Mike what brings you to this fine establishment" "I and my friend here is just passing through" Akihiro looked at Uncle Dior who was still wearing his hood. "These are a dangerous time and place to pass-through Mike" Don glanced at him like he is confused at what Akihiro said, "Look you remember me my brother, so I''ll give you some free advice" Don glanced Akihiro with eagerness, Akihiro took another sip and continued "There is going to be a war" "I don''t follow you, brother Aki" "You know, war between Moon and the Start empire " Don knitted his eyebrows a little "Aren''t they always ?" Akihiro took a long sip "Yes, but this time they really going all out" "How can you tell brother Aki?" "How can you not? The taxes, weapon prices everything went high," Akihiro took a sip from the beer mug and continued "When I first came here a year ago, I only paid ten coppers now what twenty-five Twenty bloody five" Akihiro stretched the last part with a wave of slight anger in his voice. "It could also be Minister Brian''s new taxation right?" Don mentioned Brian''s name for the purpose of getting some information on him from Akihiro. Akihiro looked like he choked when he heard Brian''s name "Lower your voice Mike are you trying to get us killed" "What''s wrong brother Aki?" "Don''t say that name aloud in Slave city unless you want to be a slave" Akihiro said in a husky voice, Don made a confused face "You really don''t get it, do you?" Akihiro finished his beer with another long gulp "That bastard is a very cruel man Mike, this city''s original name is Windsville but you know, how people call it Slave city, he is the reason for it" "Isn''t he afraid of the god of his sins?" Uncle Dior almost coughed up the beer he was drinking when he heard Don especially when he saw that genuine expression he was making. If Uncle Dior didn''t meet him before, he would believe Mike was a religious man with the way he talked about God and sins. The previous emotionless silent guy changed himself like a chameleon change its color. Obviously, Akihiro believed Mike so he looked at him like an innocent puppy dog "Sigh brother Mike you are too innocent for a man like B, gods aren''t worth a penny" again he said in a husky voice and addressed Minister Brian as B. "If he is that bad, why does the Moon empire or some righteous people punish him?" Akihiro shook his head "There are no righteous people and why would the empire take action against him? He''s sending so much gold to the treasury so they turn blind eyes to the things he does also..." Akihiro paused a moment and looked left and right to make sure nobody was listening "He is sending beautiful women to some important people in the capital, sigh those poor souls were captured by his goons and made into playthings" "He does?" Don asked him like this was the first time he is hearing something like this. "Bastard B owns half of the shops in the slave market and" "Do you need a refill?" unexpectedly the bartender interrupted Akihiro "Yes brother Aki beers on me" Don glanced Uncle Dior who reluctantly took three more coppers and paid the bartender. "HaHa you are too good to me brother Mike" Akihiro laughed and patted Mike in the back. "Brother Aki you were saying" "Where was I? Huh, do you know Thousand arms auction house?" Don shrugged. "It''s the biggest auction house in the city if you want to sell or buy anything this is the place you want to go" Don noticed Akihiro was going outside of what he wanted to hear "Brother Aki you were saying something about B" "Huh yes yes, I heard from one of my friends in the auction house" Akihiro looked left and right again before he continued "B is going to participate in the auction tomorrow morning, he said the auction house has something he really likes" Akihiro took a sip from the newly filled mug. Don pondered about what Akihiro said for a moment "Isn''t it too dangerous for B to be in public like this?" "What danger to B? He is danger" he took a sip and giggled "Not him" "What do you mean brother Aki?" "He is no danger but his bodyguards are" "Are they that powerful brother Aki?" "Powerful? They are freaking monsters, you know about how powerful a mid-level great master is right?" Don nodded "Yeah I have met one" Uncle Dior laughed inside, this guy didn''t just meet one he bloody killed it. "Then you know how powerful they are, B has five of them as his personal guards and they never I mean never leave his side " Akihiro gasped and shook his head "Enough of B brother Mike let''s talk about some pleasant things" After that Akihiro started to blabber about his adventures and his homeland which Don didn''t bother to take in, just nodded here and there. Eventually, Akihiro left them alone and went to take care of his business but he gave his magic card to Don and told him to contact him if anything he needs help with. Don gave the card to Uncle Dior and said to keep it safe "We should call it a day" Uncle Dior said and made a hand signal to call the bartender "Do you have any rooms for us to stay?" "Double room for a night fourteen coppers single room eight meals cost extra five" "Alright we take two single rooms Do...oh Mike do you want to take meals?" "No thanks" "Two single rooms and a stew for me" "Twenty-one coppers rooms are on the second floor the first two rooms on the right corridor" She took two keys from the cupboard and gave it to Uncle Dior before they went into their rooms Uncle Dior exclaimed "Ah Mike you owe me, fifty-five coppers" Uncle Dior laughed out a little and went to his room and closed the Door leaving Don behind. Don just smiled a little when he heard him and went to take a rest he deserved. 12 Minister Brian The morning sun started to rise in and painted the cloudy black sky into a vivid blue sky like an expert artist. The white puffy clouds started to resume their journey and slowly moved away as the curtains on the tavern rooms added an orange glow to the morning light while the sunlight under the door glowed like a ghoul''s grin. Soon after the lively morning rays had started to warm up the room, Don woke up and sat on his bed in a meditation position and started to cultivate battle energy for a while. Today he had plans to meet Minister Brian luckily he was presented with an excellent opportunity in the form of Thousand arms auction house. "Enjoy this day Minister Brian" a cold killing intent developed in his eyes. ************ At same the moment in another place A man was lying on the bed half-naked, beside him there was a bulk under the bedsheets, the curtains in the room were closed as one or two sun rays came through the gapes that looked like light needles. On the floor were some clothes and liqueur bottles, Seeing the bottles he vaguely remembered him partying and bringing a woman to his room He guessed that the bulk under the bedsheets was the woman he brought but before he could remove the bedsheets, (Knock knock) The man seemed irritated when he heard someone knocking his bedroom, "Who is there" "Minister Brian it''s me, Jacob" the man outside the door answered politely. "What do you want? Don''t you know it''s too early to bother me" "Sorry Minister Brian but you asked me to remind you about the Thousand arms auction" "Idiot don''t you know they won''t start the damn thing without ME!! Their lord" Minister Brian shouted but the man outside the door didn''t say anything. "Go and ask them to prepare the breakfast and ask Rosaline to come here" "Yes Minister Brian" Minister Brian heard the sound footsteps fading as he turned to see the woman sleeping under the bedsheets, he tapped which felt like her shoulder she didn''t respond, then he shook her "Damn woman, get up before I strangle you while you beauty sleep " still she didn''t say or respond to him, this made him very angry. finally, he tugged away the bedsheets that covered her to see the body of a young woman, a pair of lifeless eyes stared at him, there was a deep bloody cut across her neck and dried blood all over her dress and the bed under her. Minister Brian jumped out of the bed in terror, naked of course "Oh, shit" he was scared to see the dead body suddenly, And jumped again in fear when he heard someone knocking the door, (knock knock) "Who is that " his voice had a small wave of nervousness to it. "Minister Brian it''s Rosaline" a feminine voice answered Brian''s question. He relaxed a bit when he heard her and took one of the robes lying around on the floor and put it on himself and went to open the door. The woman stood outside the made a small bow, this woman was the head of the five mid great master level personal guards Akihiro told Don about, Rosaline. Minister Brian made a gesture and let her in, She dressed in a red mage robe while her black hair wavy hair touched the shoulder, Rosaline held a red staff which was decorated with magical runes and had phoenix figuring on top of it. Minister Brians looked at the woman in front of him and gasped, in deep down in his heart he wanted to bed this woman but he couldn''t, for him she was too hot to handle literally since she was a powerful fire mage, he made some moves for a while when he first saw her but when he witnessed Rosaline burned a man alive for hitting on her, he backed down and never tried anything silly. He didn''t admire the fruit he couldn''t eat so pointed his finger at the bed and asked, "Who is this woman why is she dead?" "She killed herself," Rosaline flatly said. "Why?" Rosaline stared at the body of the dead woman for a bit, "You brought her from one of your shops" the response of Rosaline contained a slight disgust, "Then you tried to **** her but she broke one of the liqueur bottles and cut her own neck" "Idiot" Minister Brian exclaimed but Rosaline didn''t look at him or replied to him for a while "You should get dressed, the auction starts in a few hours" "Hmm like they start without me" he sneered but started to walk in the direction of the wardrobe. "I''ll go and check-in with the guard detail" Rosaline curtsied a little bow and left the room without looking back. "Tell the guards to dispose of this body" he ordered Rosaline while walking. When all said and done, Minister Brian stood in front of the mirror and stared at the reflection to see a plump fat man looking at him. He had short golden hair, he was not too short not too height, but those eyes staring at him were red due to the hangover. He whistled and rubbed his hands in excitement about the auction "Who is the beauty I''m having for me tonight" an evil smile emerged on his face while thinking about the night. ***************** Amaryll didn''t get a good night''s sleep yesterday. She was thinking about everything that happened recently and the fact Don went to meet Minister Brian was piercing her heart like a needle for some reason, when the first light of the sun came to her hut she woke up and tied her ruffled golden hair loosely and walked outside. The forest was lush green. The grass was bathed in the morning dew and glittered. The trees were skyscraper tall. Some magical creatures were scampering away from the campsite whilst the morning stars were glistening like silver snowflakes through the thick dense forest leaves. The peace of the morning was soul-soothing to Amaryll and the forest''s smell was fresh and organic. She admired the beauty that nature had offered and looked at the colorful wildflowers on the floor with awe eventually she picked a wildflower and went to put it on her head while a thunderous roar of a lion startled her, she turned at the direction of Don''s hut in an impulse to see a bright light that resembled a moonlight was covering the hut. "What... What is happening?" Arwen came out of his hut holding his bow ready to fight and covered his eyes when he saw Don''s hut, "I don''t know but I think it''s Knight" Amaryll shouted. Again the thunderous roar came from the hut but there was also a high pitched noise made all the elves in the campsite close their ears, the light glowed brighter and brighter, Amaryll took a peek at the light through her fingers to see the shadows of two wings besides a dark figure which seemed like a body of a lion. They closed their eyes and ears tightly for a while. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Finally, the light started to dim and the high pitched noise reduced, this made the elves uncover the eyes and ears, they stared at Don''s hut frightened. "HaHaHa, finally the moon level" Knight walked out the tent with happy smiles and ruffled his mane in a kingly manner and spread its long wings. Knight knew he made a big ruckus while breakthrough by seeing the terrified faces of the elves in front of him, they were pale and some children tightly hugged their mothers'' legs. Amaryll came out of the initial shock and found out something wrong with Knight "Knight what the hell was that you scared all of us and huh" she paused for a moment and stared suspiciously at Knight "What happened to your hair," Amaryll asked in wonderment. Knight ruffled his mane again with an arrogant look "What''s wrong with it aside from being astonishing" Knight will get cocky whenever he talked about his mane, Don knew about this but the elves didn''t, Amaryll giggled and looked funnily at Knight when he saw that cocky look of his, "Ha, then why are you white" she teased him. Knight smiled proudly and stepped forward "That Amaryll because I''ve reached the Moon level" 13 Thousand Arms Auction House Don was sat on his bed and cultivated the battle energy with eyes closed, there was a layer of light coated his body and glowing but the light flickered just when he suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look at the direction of the forest of the outer lands he came from, there was a small smile on his face "Knight made a breakthrough to the moon level" Every breakthrough provides the cultivator with a huge leap in power to manipulate the battle energy. Even between the sublevels like low and mid, the power gap was tremendous, often a low-level cultivator wasn''t a match for a mid-level cultivator in the same realm(level). This wasn''t a fact only true for battle energy but for magic level too. Every ally he can trust is important for him to achieve his goal so Knight''s breakthrough made him happy since he was like his brother, now Knight can easily defeat two or three low or mid-level, great masters. Don couldn''t linger at the moment for longer. He had plans today, very important plans so he quickly put the hood on and went outside to meet Uncle Dior. The tavern was not crowded as yesterday evening, some adventurers were eating and drinking on the corner as some of them hitting on the waitresses while some soldiers had a beer at the bartender''s counter and a hooded figure enjoying his hot stew on the table nearby. Don knew he was Uncle Dior so he walked towards him and sat on the chair opposite of uncle Dior. Uncle Dior looked up and saw so Mike''s face. "You should eat something before we go out," uncle Dior said while having a mouth full of hot stew. Don just shook his head "No, thanks" "Your loss, this stew is so tasty" in a few minutes Uncle Dior licked the bowl clean and put the coppers for the stew on the table and went out followed by Don. "While you were sleeping I asked one of the waitresses about the Thousand arms auction house" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Uncle Dior seemed to know the way so Don listened to him and followed him by side. "Apparently Thousand arms auction was a franchise, they have many branches across the moon empire" Uncle Dior took a turn to the left and led Don into a narrow alley. "They deal with all sorts of stuff including slaves" Uncle Dior gritted his teeth while saying the latter part "Is that so?" Uncle Dior stopped moving and stared at Don "Don''t get any ideas they have a grandmaster protecting each of their branches so stealing from them " he paused for a moment "Is like taking a gold chalice from a dragon" "Grandmaster huh? what about the guards?" "Oh yes the waitress said the guards were all just for the show as they were just apprentice magi''s" Don was silent when he heard this so uncle Dior thought he was confused so he started to explain "According to the waitress since slave city was not a commercial or trade town, the auction house was closed on most days, they will only open or start an auction if they got something special " As they were talking they walked into the market square, in the center of the market square was a statue of a plump man with many women at his feet. The statue was decorated in flowers and incense sticks were burning. Around the statue was an empty square and the people in the market square didn''t even dare to look at the statue let alone go near "Minister Brian" Don murmured and followed uncle Dior who didn''t even take peek at the statue "Where was I?" "You were saying about the guards" "Ah yes since they only open for few days in a week, why would they want to hire powerful guards also who is dumb enough to rob an auction house guarded by a grandmaster" Eventually, they came front of a majestic three-story building, the steps and lawn was made of marble they were so shiny and clean you could see your reflection on its surface, the stairs connected with big eight marble pillars which were decorated with some paintings made by high-quality paint, the eight pillars supported a triangular structure which had a writing of ''Thousand Arms'' while two banners covered the top half of each four pillars, the banners had a logo of sun and the rays coming out of it looked like close-fisted arms. There was a blue carpet made by the first-rate fur, leading to the main door which was guarded by two blue feathered helm guards. "Let''s go inside and sell the magic core, and try to look at the auction" Don was glad they encountered a magical beast if not there could have been some problems getting inside the auction house with empty hands. The guards didn''t seem to mind the two of them as they went inside. The inside of the auction house was more marvelous than the outside, there were some fancy furniture located here and there and some magical plants were growing on the pots. Don could see there were many paintings of some old people and magical beasts on the wall when he heard a soft feminine voice, "Welcome to the Thousand Arms Auction house honored guests" a beautiful woman wearing a kimono greeted the two of them, she had a bright smile on her face just as her hair was made into a bun style. "I am Yuki honored guests is there anything I can help you with" "Ah yes my co-worker and I came across a magic core, so we thought we sell and have ourselves a drink " Uncle Dior didn''t take off his hood but he conversed with Yuki like talking to a good friend which made Yuki smile brighter. "Of course, of course, let''s go to the reception so we could appraise it and pay you a good price" They went straight to the reception and Uncle Dior took out the spotless red magic core they got from the black panther Yuki''s bright smile was replaced with shock and surprise she lost her previous demeanor and looked at the magic core like a kid drooling for a candy "Is is that a great master magic core" her eyes sparkled while she looked at the magic core and reached out her hand Uncle Dior knew she wanted to touch the magic core but he didn''t give it to her "Yes I want to know how much I''ll get by selling this" Yuki recovered her senses as she took back her hands and cleared her throat "I am not authorized enough to make this transaction so if the honored guests allowed me I can bring my senior to help you in a second "Alright we wait here" Yuki gave them a happy smile and went inside the door behind the reception, the duo looked around the hall and waited for Yuki''s senior. After a while, Yuki brought two men with her, one was a bald old man in a golden robe and the other was a middle-aged man with short white hair in a brown robe, the white-haired man was the manager according to the badge he was wearing on his left chest side. "Yuki these are the gentlemen with the great master magic core?" The manager asked Yuki "Ah yes sir they are the one" "Gentlemen if you could please show us the magic core please" The manager reached out his hands towards them "Ok here it is" uncle Dior handed over the magic core to the manager The manager looked at the core carefully and gave it to the old man behind him, as the old man took the core from the manager''s hands and held it over his head and looked through the light then he weighed it in his hand and closed his fist tightly. The manager and Yuki looking at the old man expectantly just as the old man nodded and confirmed "Yes this is a genuine mid-level great master magic core and I''ll bet it came from a black panther" The manager looked happy but not as happy as Yuki, it seemed she get a commission from transactions made by the customers she handles "Gentleman we could buy this from you for let''s just say" the manager considered for a bit "Two hundred silver coins" but before Uncle Dior could respond to the manager''s offer " you can also choose to auction the core but we don''t guarantee about the selling price" Uncle Dior acted as he considers the options "What if no one buys the magic core in the auction? do we need to pay you for your troubles?" "No you don''t have to but of course there will be a small fee if your magic core is sold" Finally, they had a way into the Auction to see Minister Brian. "We try our luck in the auction" Yuki was a little disappointed in her customer''s decision but she couldn''t do anything so she retrieved a token which was made of pure silver and handed over to uncle Dior. "I''ll take this magic core to the auctioneer, Yuki you take these gentlemen to the auction hall" The manager left carrying the magic core with the old man while Yuki led Don and Uncle Dior to the auction hall on the second floor and showed them the door. "Minister Brian here I come" Don calmly said and opened the door. 14 Auction is about to begin The auction hall was divided into two sections, the VIP area, and the common area. The VIP area located on the balcony under it was the public area, the public area had curved rows of seats so everyone could able to see the stage. Don and Uncle Dior entered the public area to see the crowd of people buzzing like a beehive. Luckily the duo could see some free seats scattered around ahead of them. Don led Uncle Dior and headed for the front row so he could get a good look at the people on the balcony. He was more interested in the people on the balcony rather than the stage in front of him. There were not so many people on the balcony as in the public area, the VIP area was covered in glass and had the best view of the stage. Don saw some people who he guessed as nobles or wealthy people by the way they dressed through the glass. They were enjoying drinks and some fruits occasionally Don witnessed some noble youths playing with a woman. The stage was screened by a red curtain made of more elegant cloth, and part of the people was still entering the area while some of them were seeking a good place to seat themselves. "The auction is about to begin" a magically enhanced voice reverberated throughout the hall. ********************* (A few hours ago in Minister Brian''s manor) Minister Brian was sitting before a massive table filled with various delicacies, he was stuffing his mouth with everything he could take. Rosaline poised on the corner of the dining room and looked at Brian with disgust. The scene in front of her resembled a fat pig eating manure. She was only protecting him because of the capitol asked her to but she soon found out later she came to the slave city, the one needed defending are the people here from Minister Brian. He does every sin and crime in the world such as ****, steal, gamble, drink and so on so forth if you tell a name of the crime, Rosaline know he would have done that already, in her point of view he was a walking talking pile of shit and the best in the bad. Rosaline not in any sense knew why the capitol wishes this man protected or even alive but she recognized it''s her and her team''s duty to protect him and that''s what she''s going to do. Eventually, Minister Brian had his fill and washed his mouth and dusted away the food crumbs on his black silk robe. "Rosaline lets go" he smirked and head out to jump in his caravan in the front yard. Rosaline followed Minister brian and was greeted by four people. They were Rosalin''s team sent with her to protect Minister Brian from the capitol. The four people in front of her were young two of them were women while the other two were men. One of the women wore a green mage robe with decorated staff in one hand and a book on the other. She had light-toned skin and silver hair. She was not incredibly beautiful but she had likable features and a bright smile on her face. She was the team''s Healer Aster low-level great master magi. Beside Aster was a dark-haired woman in tight blue leather pants and tops. She had a long black bow on her hands and a quiver with magical arrows on her back. She had light brown skin and a stern look. She was the team''s Archer Chase, also a low-level great master magi. The two men looking at Rosalin were twins, they had blonde hair and a well-built body and blue eyes and were six feet tall. In their hands, one had a big shield while the other had a long sword and they wore blue capes, grey chainmail and plate armors like knights. The one with the shield was Alexander the elder brother and the one with the sword was Willian the younger brother,mid-level great master magi, they were the warriors of this group who fought and defended in the frontline. The four of them were curtsied a bow in respect facing Rosaline as she nodded in response. "Alexander Willian you two drive the carriage Aster go inside the carriage and stay with Minister Brian Chase fly on your broon maintain a following distance from the carriage" They didn''t question her orders but followed them like good soldiers and Rosalin stepped on her magical broom to follow the carriage with Chase. The Carriage Minister Brian using were pulled by four pure white pegasuses, they were extremely rare magical beasts and only wealthy nobles and royal family used them to pull their carriages. This showed Minister Brian''s wealth and influence to the people around him. Not only the pegasuses but the carriage itself was built to show extravagant, it was embedded with magical runes to make it lighter and provide comfort to the passenger. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Alexander and Willian hopped on the driver''s seat and Alexander took the reins and the pegasuses galloped to the Auction house. After a comfortable journey Minister Brian reached the Thousand Arms Auction house, Rosaline and her team were very vigilant during the travel they never slack off even for a second. The manager who Don met before was waiting in the entrance to welcome Minister Brian with a beautiful woman beside him. "Welcome Minister Brian I hope the journey was a comfortable one" Minister Brian laughed and laid eyes on the woman beside the manager, "Thanks to my new carriage and my guards the journey was safe and pleasant one" "I''m glad to hear that where are my manners? Come, Minister Brian lets go inside " the manager winked at the woman to escort Minister Brian inside. The woman took seductively took Brian''s hands and put around her waists and accompanied Brian inside while Rosaline and her team closely shadowed him. "Mr.Xing what the special today?" Minister Brian licked his lips while asking the manager. "Minister Brian you knew we won''t reveal anything before the auction" "Come on it''s me" The manager Xing knew refusing to answer shall only cause more problems. "Let''s just say you will be very eager to buy, I hope you brought your purse, Minister Brian" "Humph who''s going to compete with me huh?" "Minister Brian normally they won''t but today we have something very very rare so the noble families do their best to get their hands on the merchandise" Every word of the latter part piqued Minister Brian''s interest "Alright let''s get the show on the road shall we" Minister Brian rubbed his hands and walked towards the VIP area with the beauty on his arms. 15 Water spirit and a Woman in the box Don sat with his eyes closed in meditation after confirming that Minister Brian hadn''t arrived yet, without noticing the people in the public area around him. This auction looked similar to a beehive of people. If he didn''t want to personally see Minister Brian he wouldn''t have traveled or participated in the auction. Don knew getting near Minister Brian without gaining some information about his guards would be far too difficult! "Honored guests of the Windsville city, you have waited long enough! The Thousand Arms Auction will begin now!" The curtain slowly began to rise to see at the very center of the auction stage, a beautiful and flirtatious woman standing. Don could see that at the center of the auction site, a woman was wearing a milky white dress standing there. She was gentle and beautiful, with skin like milk and a perfectly structured body. She had a playful look in the eyes that attracted the hearts of men. Overall, she was incredibly beautiful. Moreover, what was the distinctive feature of the woman was two white fluffy bunny ears. She was a member of the demi-human race. At the center of the auction stage, there was also a magic array disc floating in the air. It would project an image of the auction items so that everyone could able to see them. "Look like some royal family members also came to participate" Uncle Dior pointed to the VIP area to Don. They were all extremely well dressed and one could see the magical runes on the superior quality robes and these people were all seated at the uppermost, reserved seats. While Don was searching for Minister Brian, he looked over a group of people sitting in the reserved section. The man sitting with a woman on his lap was a fat ugly man which remembered Don the statue in the market square, Minister Brian, finally Don found him as for the others stood behind him Don knew they were his guards. The group had three women, one with black hair in a red dress, silver hair in green dress and a dark black hair with the bow in her hands and two look-alike men who wore a full chest plate and chainmail. All around Don, the people were constantly talking and discussing all of the exciting events that were recently occurring in the empire as some of them pointing at their fingers in the direction of the auction stage and talking excitedly. "That is the Everlasting sect''s core disciple Whitehoney Amara. I didn''t think she would be the auctioneer." From their conversation, Don guessed the Everlasting sect was some kind of big power in the empire, he met many disciples and sect''s while he was on the divine continent so he knew how dangerous and powerful they are so he didn''t want to mess with them at least not yet. "She is so¡­ wow, I heard that Whitehoney Amara''s talent is extremely high, not inferior to the three prodigies of Cold Moon Mansion. Countless suitors are chasing after her. With her auctioning, those rich young elites will crazily kick up the price in their burning desire to please her!" Don now found the reason to see so many noble youths in this backwater city. "They would be so brainless if they pay too much for impressing some random beauty" Don sat down, keeping his heart and mind calm and clear, planning how to deal with Brian''s guards. At this time, the first auction item was placed on the stage. For every auction in the Divine continent, where Don came from, the best items would naturally be placed at the end. But, the very first item would be of high quality too, with value no lower than those that would come at the end. This was to rouse the good mood of the guests and to bring a grand opening to the event but here this didn''t seem to be the case. Whitehoney Amara patted the box near her and gently smiled. She said in a clear and flirtatious voice, "Thank you, distinguished guests, for your support. In this Thousand Arms WindsvilleCity Auction, there are over 30,000 guests present. This is the first auction item for this magnificent auction! What could it be? Not even I know!" Just like her name, Whitehoney Amara''s voice was just as sweet as honey, making many youth''s hearts beat faster. She was skilled at stirring the mood of many young elites. Many people in the public area shouted, asking her to immediately open the box and start the auction. "The first item up for auction is¡­" As Whitehoney Amara spoke, she slowly opened the box, revealing the finest looking blue magic crystal. Through the projection of a magic array disc, one could clearly make out every single inch and texture of the crystal. And beside this magic crystal was a card. Whitehoney Amara picked up the card and looked over it. She looked at the card for a moment and said, "The first item for auction water spirit crystal! Hehe, so it was something like this! I know that many magis present will be competing in the Acheron kingdom''s annual magic competition next year. A first-rate magic item could determine the victory if you lose because of an item your opponent used, then that would truly be regretful! "This water spirit crystal can be used to nourish a spirit artifact''s artifact spirit! I think that there is no need for me to mention just how useful an artifact spirit is to a spirit artifact and what benefits a stronger artifact spirit would bring. With a superior item such as this, the battle is already half won! This water spirit crystal has a base price of 200 gold coins, and the minimum bid increase each time is 50gold coins. And now, it is time to begin the auction!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Water spirit crystal! Many of the young men present gulped. The first auction item was actually a spirit crystal! One couldn''t forget that this auction was aimed at the young men and women participating at Acheron Kingdom''s annual magic competition. A Magi using a spirit artifact? Just what kind of advantage was that! This sort of spirit artifact required a top grandmaster elder to expend a great deal of time and magic energy so that a young elite could be attuned to it. Besides the disciples or juniors of super influences or royal family, no other Magis could possibly be so prodigal. From this alone, one could see just how luxurious and lofty this auction was! Some poorer young magis felt their hearts ache. They had obtained the lowest amount possible to hopefully join this auction, but they couldn''t even be able to afford a fifth of the starting bidding price. "Kingdom of Acheron, Enjoy your peaceful days the day I set foot there the day you start to suffer" Don clenched his fists as a cold and murderous look emerged on his face. In the meanwhile, Don didn''t care about the water spirit crystal as the item was not even remotely useful to him. He never wanted to lose something useful to him because he had no money to buy. It appeared many items in this auction would be aimed at young magis. "300 gold coins!" In the VIP area, a youth called out, suddenly attracting the envy and admiration of many others. This proved that this youth had a spirit artifact as a weapon. His background could be imagined! This youth didn''t even look at the crowd as if this wasn''t something worth mentioning. But in the next breath of time, another person raised the price. "350" "400!" The young men started to raise the price higher and higher but Don didn''t care about it nor he had the money to buy. Eventually, the crystal was sold to a young man in the VIP area for 500 gold coins. As auction goes by many moderate items were shown as well as cheap items too. Uncle Dior laughed very happily when he saw the great master realm beast''s magic core sold to a young man in the public area for 600 silver coins. Clearly, the young man plans to raise his level using the crystal to compete in the annual competition of Acheron Kingdom. Don noticed that Minister Brian has not yet bid for anything as he was just playing with a woman on his lap. "Alright distinguished guests the time for the main event has arrived I don''t know if you are wondering about the final item but I''m sure is" The auction staff brought a human-sized box to the stage, the box was covered by a red cloth. "Let''s not waste a moment even I couldn''t hold curiosity," she said while slowly took off the cloth-covered the box revealing a woman in her ragged clothes, just like the previous items the people could see her through the projection of a magic array disc, Don glanced at the projection, he could see two slightly pointy ears, her face wasn''t very clear because it was covered in mud and dirt, she was chained as she lifelessly lied there in the box, clearly she was sedated before bringing her here. Whitehoney Amara gasped when she saw the woman but she wasn''t disgusted or anything just as she picked the card and giggled seductively "Honored guests the woman in front of you is a rare creature, it is a half-elf born to an elf and a mid grandmaster but it''s not the interesting part the thousand arms house appraisal master personally inspected it to find, it was indeed a peak master level magi with the potential to reach grandmaster realm" The crowd was shocked when they heard Amara say she had the potential to reach grandmaster realm, everyone knew reaching grandmaster realm is not so easy as a magi needs an abundance amount of resources. "It was made a slave in the war her kingdom fought, you all know that hardworking magis like you deserve a good time so what''s better than having a peak master realm creature as your slave who could do anything for you " Amara gave the crowd a seductive wink and smiled. "This creature has a base price of 1000 gold coins, and the minimum bid increase each time is 100 gold coins don''t hold back your desires honored guests I''ve always liked men who took the initiative" the coy voice she made was enough to make the young men go crazy as they started to kick up the price. "1200 gold coins" "1300!!" "1500!!" All the shouts came from the VIP area because no one in the public area could afford the fraction of the starting bid. "2500" a voice called out while the crowd became silent and looked at the source of the voice with envy and jealousy, Don didn''t need to look because he knew who called out the price MINISTER BRIAN. "2500 going once" "2500 going twice" "This is your last chance Honored guests" "And sold to the gentleman on the Number 4 VIP area" "Bastard how many of my people need to die before someone punishes that fiend" Uncle Dior gritted his teeth and murmured, his voice had a tinge of sadness and hopelessness with anger. "Don''t worry this his life ends today" 16 The Plan The crowd in the auction hall slowly began to lessen. Don and Uncle Dior looked at the closed stage for a while imagining the fate of the woman sold to Minister Brian. Uncle Dior was clenching his fists so tightly that the nails caused his palms to turn red. The matter that depressed Uncle Dior the most was that he couldn''t save his own member of the race from the horrible fate fallen on her in front of his eyes. Don looked at Uncle Dior and saw his clenched fists and trembling body with anger it''s true that he did not know Uncle Dior very well but he knew even when the bandits attacked the elven tribe he didn''t react like this, Don knew what was Uncle Dior feeling right now, the hopelessness resentment towards the society and angry with himself for beings so weak "We''ll save her" Don patted on uncle Dior''s back lightly and reassured him. It was simply four words but it felt like finding a lake in the middle of a dessert to Uncle Dior, he knew if anyone could save her its Don. Uncle Dior personally experienced the power of him when he slew the black panther in a matter of seconds so when Don said "we will save her" a hope appeared in his heart and he let go of the anger and resentment as he breathed a sigh. "Let''s go collect our money and get the hell of this place" While they were walking out, Uncle Dior saw Minister Brian on the VIP area, he gritted his teeth in anger when he saw the happiness and excitement on Minister Brian''s fat round face but Uncle Dior''s angry face let out a small smile under the hood when he saw Don stared at Minister Brian for a moment with cold murdering eyes. "The Devil has laid his eyes on you fat pig" Uncle Dior muttered. ************************* An old man with the bald head dressed in a gold robe stood in the center of the room, he had a human-sized cage with a person inside beside him. He was the old man who appraised the great master level magic core before. Next to the old man stood the manager with Whitehoney Amara who was the auctioneer a moment ago. Minister Brian was led by the beauty he was playing with shadowed by Rosalin''s group to the center of the room. Manager Xing waved his hands approaching Minister Brian with a big smile and greeted him "I assume Minister Brian had a good time" Minister Brian rubbed his palms together and licked his lips in excitement "Not like I am about to" Minister Brian stared at the woman in the box like a dog looking at the bone but he retained a respectful posture when he saw Whitehoney Amara "Oh miss Amara I didn''t notice you pardon my manners" Amara''s lips curved an arch and she outstretched her hands towards Minister Brian as he stepped towards Amara and took her outstretched hand and turned the palm downwards gently by the fingertips bent his hips and kissed her hands without touching her hands. "Would Miss Amara grace this humble Minister''s house by coming to dinner tonight?" Rosalin grossed out to see his etiquette and gentleman acting. "Sorry, Minister Brian Miss Amara had to leave Slav...Windsville city asap" Manager Xing answered Brian before Amara could say anything, he had not thought this idiot would hit on her the moment he saw her. "A toad wanting to eat swan meat," he thought She only came to this backwater city because manager Xing called in a favor from his friend in the capital city Thousand Arms branch, who asked Whitehoney Amara to come and be the auctioneer here as a help. Manager Xing never wanted this insolent fool to anger or even slightly irritate Miss Amara as everyone knows the influence and the power Everlasting sect has in the empire, flirting with her is like asking for a disaster to befall down on the Slave city. Luckily for Manager Xing Amara didn''t mind Minister Brian''s invitation or his intention and said "Manager Xing is correct Minister Brian, My master wanted me to return soon as possible to the sect" "Oh another time then," Minister Brian said while making a disappointed face "Besides I bet Minister Brian has an appointment tonight" Whitehoney Amara giggled and winked at the cage near her. Minister Brian looked at the woman in the cage again, both of his fists were clenched tightly barely able to contain the excitement he felt at this moment, even so, his body trembled slightly. "Here Minister Brian key to the cage" Manager Xing gave the key to Minister Brian while the old man stepped forward and asked "Please give me your hand Minister Brian" Minister Brian kinda had an idea about why he is asking so he outstretched his arms The Oldman closed his eyes and chanted something as a white light appeared near his chest and moved towards Minister Brian''s heart and merged with him. The body of the woman in the cage jerked when the light merged with Minister Brian. "Minister Brian the Master bond has been successfully transferred to you, the creature is already marked in her magic core with the slave bond, so you can do whatever you want using your master bond" the Oldman took out a scroll from his robe and handed over to Minister Brian, "This scroll contains the instructions and the spell to transfer ownership of this creature Minister Brian" "Minister Brian we can immediately transport it to your mansion after you sign this " Manager Xing gave a parchment to Minister Brian as Minister Brian took out a card from his pockets and held it against the parchment, a small projection came through the card and showed -2500. This was the payment procedure of wealthy people as they carry only the magic payment card which can be instantly frozen if someone stole it instead of a pouch full of coins. "Wonderful always a pleasure doing business with you Minister Brian Hope you enjoy the product" "The pleasure is mine Manager Xing" Minister Brian waved at manager xing and headed out to his mansion licking his lips. *************************** Sun sank lower in the sky, the light of day draining away, giving way to the velvety dark of night, crickets chirping, stars started to glimmer in the dark blue sky, Don and Uncle Dior were watching a big beautiful manor from afar. Guards dressed in chainmail and armor walking around the manor with spears and shields. Don scanned the manor to figure out a way to get into the manor without alerting Minister Brian or his five great master guards, he was not afraid of the guards but he was a person who never gives the enemy any chances to prepare a counter-attack. Eventually, while Don was looking at the patrolling guards a fancy looking carriage pulled by four pegasuses arrived at Brian''s manor. "Brian," Uncle Dior confirmed. "So what''s the plan?" Uncle Dior urged Don for an answer. Don leaned on the tree with arms crossed and asked "What do you think?" Evidently, Uncle Dior thought of himself as more of a brain guy than brawn guy, he knew Don also valued his inputs so he racked his brain for a better way to reach Brian, Don already had a plan but he wanted to get some inputs from Uncle Dior as he might give some ideas or ways he forgot in his plan. "We saw the guards looked tired so the guard changing may come at that exact moment there will be some holes in the security especially at the back because of that huge wall, no one would think that someone will climb or fly over it" "Why?" "You kidding? Except for that huge wall in the back, other walls around the manor are covered with magic runes to detect intruders as for flying there also security measures in place especially someone''s home like Brian''s so if we can figure out a way to climb over the wall..." Uncle Dior started to formulate a plan. "You are right mostly," "You have a plan?" Uncle Dior saw Don''s I mean Mike''s relaxed face and couldn''t help but ask, "Yes as you said the guards are tired but they won''t switch them all at once, they do it, group by group " "Hmm makes sense, doing it like that, minimize the security risks but it will be bad for us right?" "Yes if there aren''t any great master magis" Uncle Dior confused to hear that, "You lack battle experience," Don exclaimed and continued "The guards were so alert before because if anything goes wrong they are the one will be blamed but we saw the great masters return so the guards will relax and let down their guard a bit" "Hmm, what about that huge wall did you also plan to climb?" "You sure that the huge wall is not covered with magic runes?" "Yes I couldn''t see any magic fluctuations around it" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "As I said battle experience, they want you to think that way" "What? Are you telling me it was covered in magic?" "Yes if someone wants to get inside they choose that wall because they think there are no magic fluctuations but it''s similar to walking into a trap" "So how are we going to get inside and save the poor girl?" Uncle Dior started to shake in fear thinking about the half-elf girl "We are not I am, the walls only detect someone with the magic core, in another word everyone else besides me," Uncle Dior noticed a sudden mix of anger and sadness in Don''s voice while he talked about the latter part. Don''s plan made sense to him because the guards or even the great masters won''t expect someone from another world without magic core would come knocking. "But what about the five great masters? are you sure you won''t get noticed" "There is no such thing as SURE in a plan but since Brian brought that girl, he wouldn''t let the great masters look at him while he is playing" He was going to say raping but by noticing Uncle Dior''s reaction before he went with the word playing, "Didn''t that Akihiro guy mentioned that they never leave his side?" "Never leave his side is not means keeping him in front of them all the time don''t worry" As they were discussing the plan, the guard switching time arrived, a group of guards went inside the barracks while the new group of guards came out, just as Don said the new guards seemed, relax "Its time, you change your robes and go and wait for me hiding outside the city walls don''t talk to anyone and don''t act suspicious" "Alright I''ll see you there" as he heard Uncle Dior, Don started to walk towards Brian manor, "Ah, Don" Don looked over his shoulder, "May Corellon be with you," Uncle Dior said as Don nodded and initiated his plan. 17 I want your Miserable life Standing in front of the huge wall, Don circulated his battle energy to make the jump over the wall. At this moment he is not planning to land on the ground but jump straight onto the manor''s rooftop. Don knew the manor was surely trapped with detection magic and motion sensor magic, but he is not at the very least worried because he had no magic core hence no magic fluctuations to be found by the security mechanisms. However, the thing he worried were the guards around Bryan, although he is sure that Bryan won''t let his guards watch while he is playing with the half-elf, yet Don was aware that there is no perfect plan so he didn''t want to barge in knocking down the roof. ****************************** (A few moments ago) "Please let me go!!!! let me go!!!!" a scream reverberated throughout the corridor, apart from the screams of a woman only a few footsteps could be heard, Rosaline was walking behind Minister Bryan while the twins carrying the box with the shouting half-elf in it. She still remembers the lifeless body of the last woman he played with yet Rosaline was glad that woman chose to end her own life before this animal claims it. As for the half-elf in the box, she could only feel pity, this half-elf and Minister Bryan were bonded by the master-slave spell, he would be able to control her so committing suicide was hopeless, although a master won''t be able to control the slave completely like a puppet, but partial control was enough for Minister Bryan. He was cruel enough to enjoy the screaming and crying of the half-elf, he was laughing and hitting the cage-like training a wild animal. During the moments of her stay with her master in the capital she heard that the master-slave bond spell will be nullified if the slave would reach ''Heavenly level'' yet reaching that level was so hard to even for prodigies like herself, therefore, the half-elf didn''t even have a tiny bit of hope. Rosaline heard that the half-elf was a peak master level magi, first, she was completely shocked to know because the other races in this part of the empire were hunted and captured like rabbits, so reaching peak master level at this age while one the run without proper resources was simply an incredible feat. However, the gods struck down this poor half-elf by let this animal capture her. The half-elf screamed and cried while shaking the cage like an animal since she regained her consciousness, the half elf''s eyes were bloodshot red from the dizziness caused by the spell or the crying, her clothes were dirty and ragged only clean thing on her body was the chain she wore. The half-elf was clutching the chain and crying, "Help me somebody help me" The Healer Aster couldn''t walk like nothing is happening, she wanted to help the half-elf so bad but Rosaline shook her head, as a hybrid between a human and a druid Aster herself was a half-human so it was natural for her to feel sympathy towards the half-elf, be that as it may, she was unable to do anything without Rosaline''s permission. Eventually, the group had reached the Minister Bryan''s bedroom entrance, the screaming and crying were lessened as the half-elf was exhausted. "Put the cage inside the room and give me some privacy will ya?" Although it sounded similar to a request, Rosaline knew it was an order, as a result, she just nodded towards the twins and raised her hands and drew something on the air and started to cast a spell around the room, as she finished casting the spell a blue layer of light surrounded the square room then vanished without a trace¡­ "How kind of you Rosaline, you personally cast the Trap magic for me " The spell she cast was one of the protective or defensive spells ''Trap magic'' it will alert the one cast the spell and slow down or immobilize the intruder based on the caster magi''s power or the intruder''s power in another words if the caster was powerfull than the intruder the spell will immobilize the intruder if not it will only just slow down him/her. "Cast the Flower Volley spell too, I want this to be a wild romantic evening " he rubbed his palms together and grinned a devilish smile, Rosaline was sickened to hear him speaking, he was like a disgusting pig in her view, Minister Bryan noticed Rosalin''s silence as he laughed and said "Alrighty I can cast that spell myself " After casting the spell Rosaline never even looked at Minister Bryan she simply walked out of the room followed by her team, once they left Bryan hastily shut the door and turned to see the half-elf, "Before we start" as he said he raised his one arm to his eye level and cast a spell "Flower Volley" once he finished casting the spell, fragrance of many flowers covered the room and the scenery of the room slowly transformed into a flower garden. Seeing the devilish grin in the face of the human before her, she failed to keep her tears contained, she was born in a noble family in Venus kingdom in Elvenor continent however, she never thought her family will be destroyed along with her kingdom in a single night, her parents sacrificed themselves to let their daughter escape the kingdom but after spending many years on the run she was caught by her enemies and sold as a slave to Avalon continent, where the other races crushed under the feet of the humans. Thinking about her parents and their faces and the fact their sacrifice was in vain felt like her soul had been ripped apart, she prayed for a miracle even though she knew it was unlikely that someone would help her, its all she can do now, Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Let''s play shall we" Minister Bryan advanced with his trademark devilish smile and opened the cage to see the half-elf suddenly lunged at him, she started to attack him with her cuffed hands, "You Bitch!!!" Bryan ripped her the cloth-covered her upper body slapped the half-elf which caused her to fall on the cupboard filled with liquor bottles, the bottles fell on the ground and shattered with "chal" sound. Collection of his precious wine bottles shattered made Bryan mad he activated his master bound and used it to cause tremendous pain to the half-elf, she was covering her breasts with both arms while crouching and screaming in pain just when she tripped small statue on a table. The statue met the same fate as the wine bottles, seeing his statue broken into pieces caused Minister Bryan boil in rage, he gritted his teeth and kicked her in the back, the force of the kick pushed the half-elf to hit the wall, "It seems like I have to punish you for not being a good dog" he took out a whip from one of his cupboards and whipped the ground as he moved towards the half-elf "It''s so much fun" he laughed like a maniac and whipped the half-elf who was curled up in pain she closed her eyes in an impulse seeing the whip However, the whip never hit her as she slowly opened her eyes to see someone else in the room standing behind the devil with the whip, He wore a brown robe with a hood covering his face, he was clutching the whip with his one hand. Minister Brian felt like the whip was stuck, he kept pushing forward the whip to hit the half-elf but it never moved as he slowly turned to see someone was behind his clutching the whip. "Who ar¡­." before Minister Bryan could finish saying, a strong punch landed on his face causing his nasal bone with the popping sound, he covered his nose with both of his hands and fell on a chair, the blood was coming out of his nose like water coming from a hose wetting his palms. "Ahh¡­." he wanted to shout but the man before him took the whip from him and gagged him with it, then the man in brown robes ripped his robes and tied his hands and body with the chair without giving him any chance to move his body. The man in brown robes was Don he used the shattering and screaming sound to cut open the roofs with his battle energy to break into Minister Bryan''s room from the roofs on top. At this moment Don was holding his knife just inches away from Minister Bryan''s neck "I''m going to ask you some questions but if scream or started to cast a spell" Don touched Minister Bryan''s neck with his knife, "ill slit your throat you understand" Bryan nodded his head. Don removed the whip from his mouth "What how did Rosa" Don slapped him hard "You don''t ask questions I do" Minister Bryan nodded again and spit out a tooth with some blood, "What do you know about the black-robed mage with eagle symbol" Minister Bryan''s face showed fear overcoming his pain "No no, I... I cant" Don put back the whip around his mouth and slowly stabbed through his right thigh and twisted the knife "Hmmmmhmmmm" Minister Bryan couldn''t even shout, he was twitching and shaking his body "Do you want to tell me now?" Don stopped twisting the knife and removed the whip from his mouth, After experiencing such pain he never wanted to feel it again, he thought if he could buy him some time by telling what the man wants, he presumed Rosaline could come and save him anytime "I...I never met him before...he just came from nowhere and gave me a huge amount of money to capture the elves in the outer lands forest" The Half-elf was looking at this scene with bewilderment, a moment ago she was screaming, shouting and attacked now the attacker of her going through worse suffering than her, she wanted to speak but before she could open her mouth the brown dressed man put his one finger on his lips and shooshed her and continued his interrogation "Why" "I...I don''t know he just...just said that the extermination is coming" "Did he mean the other races?" "Don''t know¡­. please that''s all I know let me go ill give you money a huge amount of money...i¡­.ill give you woman¡­elf half-elf demihumans I get them for you..." He was desperate to save his skin, he was unable to tell why Rosaline hadn''t come yet so he did his best to negotiate and get some time. "You do have what I want" A small glimmer of hope appeared on Minister Bryan''s face as he laughed despite the pain "Hahaha I knew you want something tells me ill give you my word I swear just let me go" "I WANT YOUR MISERABLE LIFE," Don said as he covered Minister Bryan,s mouth with one a=hand and drew his knife out of his thigh and stabbed Bryan''s heart, the blood started to flow through the gap where the knife stabbed, Bryan was twitching and struggling against the chair the color on his face was slowly beginning to turn pale while the life on his eyes was little by little faded away. This was the end of Minister Bryan''s life, beaten, gagged, tied to a chair and tortured then stabbed through the heart. 18 Like a princess in Knight’s arms The Half-elf looked at the dead body of Minister Bryan, eyes flamed with fear, her throat swallowed nervously, then turned back to look at the man who killed him. The several pieces of broken glass were all over the floor, as the man slowly walked towards her, she couldn''t see his full face only saw some strands of his brown hair dancing on his shoulder, the knife on his hands was dripping blood drops, seeing the blood drops she trembled in fear, the killer came near her step by step. Her heart was beating so fastly with every step of his, her heart would punch against her chest as it wanted to leap out, she struggled to stand up but she was unable to do, she searched the floor near her to get something to defend herself, only to find a broken piece of glass from a wine bottle, she picked it up and aimed at the man walking towards her. "Don''t...Don''t come near me I ¡­i...will kill you" the half-elf was shivering, she curled up and covered her bare chest with her knees and pointing the broken piece of glass towards Don. Every step of the way, the glass pieces made a crunching sound under his feet, he saw the shivering half-elf and her weapon pointed towards him, she was crouching down in fear. Don was standing near her, only an arms-length distance between him and the curling half-elf. "Relax I''m not going to hurt you" as he said he removed the hood and his brown robe revealing his arm cut shirt, black leather pants, and his handsome Mike''s face. Don sat down on one knee before the girl and looked into the eyes of the scared half-elf, Don didn''t say anything just wrapped his brown robe around the half-naked elf. On the ground, the half-elf instinctively tried to stab Don when he tried to wrap his robes around her but he just stopped her hands in the mid-air and knocked off the piece of glass and wrapped his brown robe around her without a hitch. The half-elf girl didn''t refuse the robes as she just put around herself and held it firmly and tried to stand up only to fall on the ground because exhaustion and the beating she took from Minister Bryan. Seeing the struggling half-elf, Don grabbed one of the hands and helped her stand up on her feet, but at the exact moment a small ball of light departed from Minister Bryan''s chest and started to float towards Don, the half elf''s body trembled and tighten when she saw the light. Don had not an idea at all what this ball of light is but just it''s flying towards targeting him or the half-elf, Don quickly shielded the half-elf with his body as he came in front of her facing the ball of light because he knew he had the power to defeat whatever this light ball is. Still, Without stopping the ball of light flew right into Don''s body, Don didn''t know what''s going to happen as he just touched the spot the light entered with his hands instinctively. At the moment the half-elf jerked her body as something also entered her body but that feeling faded instantly. A moment later, nothing happened to either of them. "Interesting" Don said in a calm voice as he realized what happened. He felt like he grew an arm out suddenly when the light merged with him, he was able to tell that this is the master bond of the half-elf, Don realized if he wanted to he can do whatever he wants with the half-elf. When he killed the master of the slave bond, the ownership of the half-elf transferred to the killer of the master. The half-elf is not a fool, she felt the master bound in the human before her, she became aware that her current master is the killer of her former master Minister Bryan. "You..you what do you want?" she was still shivering as she asked in an exhausted voice. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Don didn''t look at her while speaking, he just started to walk towards somewhere, "I''m not like him...we should get out of here unless you have a better way" The half-elf was not in the position to disagree and also she was not able to feel the menace she felt from Minister Bryan, he didn''t look at her like a creature or lesser being but as a being with feelings otherwise, he wouldn''t have given his robe to her. Also, she felt safe with him for some reason which she was unable to put her finger on. Don knew she would follow him because she had no other way so he didn''t wait for her as he walked towards the hole on the roof which he made to jump down but while he was walking he heard a squeaky sound on the floor. Don stared down the ground beneath him and retraced his steps slowly and stopped moving just when he heard the same sound again, he thumped the ground beneath him with his shoes and felt there was something wrong with the ground. "Step away from the carpet," Don said to the half-elf before him then she stepped away from the carpet as he said. "What were you hiding Bryan?" Don cut the carpet around the area that the squeaking sound. The floor looked normal. It was made of Red oak wood which was polished clean and reflected the light a bit. Don saw a little bump on the floor "Hidden safe huh" Very quickly Don pried open the safe with his knife and saw some documents and a pouch full of coins, he took and folded the documents and put it inside his pant pockets then he opened the pouch and saw many shining gold coins. "I''ll take this but..." he realized he couldn''t put it into his pant pockets as its too big "Put it inside the pocket" Don threw the pouch towards the half-elf and stepped away from the hidden safe and stood to look up the hole on the roof, the half-elf caught the pouch with her two hands and hesitated for a moment but eventually she decided to put it inside the pockets. "Let''s go" Don motioned the half-elf to come near him with his hands. She wanted to ask where and how however she knew the guards would come knocking soon at that time she couldn''t hope to escape, the only way out of here was with the human before of her. "Ok," she said with a little fear and stepped near him just when she did that a pair of strong hands lifted her from the ground, she was in the arms of the human, like the princesses in the stories she heard from her mother. "Put your arms around my neck and hold me tightly" she had no time to react to what the human said before she was flying in the air. She couldn''t believe her eyes, the wind was strong as it caused her hair to fly into her face, she quickly put her hands around the human and held him tightly. Flying through the air Don didn''t look at the half-elf in his hands, only thing was going on his head was that what the mysterious mage said, he had a bad feeling about it, What did he mean by "extermination", is it only him or an organization? "Either way I need to get stronger and build an army soon," he told himself. "Who are you?" the half-elf finally asked Don, as he looked down at the half-elf in his arms "I am Don," Don calmly said. "Don" the half-elf muttered his name and slowly closed her eyes in exhaustion and tiredness. Half an hour later, Don landed outside of the city walls where he and Uncle Dior planned to meet but as he looked around there was no one in the vicinity only some big trees before him, he was sure Uncle Dior would not leave him behind but just when he was thinking about Uncle Dior a figure came out behind a big banyan tree. "Holy! What took you so long" Uncle Dior questioned just when his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the half-elf sleeping in Don''s arms. Clapping his hands gladly, he almost shouted out loud: "You saved her" Don nodded his head lightly "Bryan what... what happened?" Uncle Dior mumbled. "He''s dead" Uncle Dior breathes out a heavy sigh of relief when he heard Don although he believed in Don, he still wanted to hear from the man killed Bryan himself. "We should get out before the guards come looking," Don said. "Can you walk fastly carrying her?" "We are flying," Don said simply and controlled the air element around Uncle Dior using his battle energy with his fingers and took off from the ground at high speed like an eagle, the dust on the ground they were standing, wiped away from the force Don took off. It made a distinctive nearly a six feet radius circular mark on the ground. "You son of a ahhhhhhhhhhh" 19 The Destined One Back in his hut in the elven forest in the outer lands, Knight sat on the ground thinking back to the moments from the Divine Continent, both Don and him were inseparable there, this is the first time in a long time Don went somewhere without him. Knight realized that they are going to face many more unique situations here than the Divine Continent. Ever since they arrived at this new world and rescued the elves, Knight knew they are not alone in this world and if they are going to face powerful enemies they need to protect the elves, at least until they turn this group of weak elves into deadly warriors. Aside from that, Don and himself also want to increase their cultivation, now they were both at Moon level(realm) but to rule this continent they had to reach peak Star level. While Knight was intriguing, a figure entered his hut. Knight ruffled his hair and slowly stood up to see the figure entered the hut, it was Amaryll with a worried face. Her emotions were not easily hidden on her innocent face. Her confusion and worry were evident in the crease of her lovely brow and the down-curve of her full lips. But her eyes, her eyes showed her soul. As Knight looked into her eyes he knew, she was still thinking about the bandits and Minister Bryan, she was clutching her green skirt tightly and her mouth was twitching like she needed to speak but couldn''t find the right words. Knight knew what she was going to ask, the same questions she asked him countless times since Don''s departure "What do you think happened to Don?","Do you really think Minister Bryan will be dead?" "Are we safe here?" After a couple of times Knight reassured her, he started to get irritated to answer this cute little elf as he gently shook his head stepped towards her, "Look Amaryll you starting to get into my nerves" Amaryll didn''t look surprised or shock to hear Knight, her face still showed the same worried expression when she entered the hut, "I''m sorry but where''s Don? He should have come back by now right" She asked while she walking towards Knight and sat before him crossed legs and one arm on her chin supporting her head, Knight breathed a heavy sigh "I told you everything will be alright what are you so afraid of?" She avoided Knight''s gaze reply for a moment her body was tensed then eventually she looked at him "I...What if something happened to Don and Minister Bryan found us?" "Hahaha" Knight started to laugh at the moment she finished talking his white teeth was fully exposed as he laughs Amaryll was surprised to see Knight''s reaction as she couldn''t find the reason for his laughter her worried expression turned into pouting "What''s so funny?" "You think a puny Minister in a puny city is gonna kill Don" A simple line of words, but Knight was extremely arrogant and domineering "Why do you trust him so much? You are a magical beast and he''s a human" The laugh on Knight''s face vanished in a second when he heard Amaryll''s words, he frowned his eyebrows he looked straight at Amaryll''s eyes but his gaze was sharp "You know nothing about me and Don...For you, I''m a magical beast and he''s a human but for us we are brothers" Amaryll sat there on silence as Knight continued "Don never easily trust anyone but he doesn''t betray the people who trust him" "I''m not trusting a stranger, a human at that although my brother seems to trust Don I don''t know why" she breathed a sigh and said, "Because your brother doesn''t want to live the rest of his life hiding and running" Knight calmly replied as he ruffled his mane which he likes to do many times a day, "Can Don do something like that I mean uniting all the races and building a kingdom?" Knight neglected Amaryll''s gaze and continued to ruffle his man and said, "Of course I and Don can do that but not with you questioning the man who saved you and your entire tribe" The elf narrowed her eyes as she leaned forward a little "I''m not being ungrateful or anything it''s just his ambition seems unrealistic that''s all" "You will see" Knight simply said three words but his tone was full of confidence and arrogance, Amaryll wanted to ask how he''s being so confident just when Arwen rushed into the hut his face had a little smile, after Don''s departure to slave city Arwen also pretty tensed up like Amaryll but now his body language was changed and relaxed "Don and Uncle Dior are back" Amaryll quickly rose up as for Knight he just smirked at Amaryll and swaggered out. ****************** Leaving the slave city, Don did not take any detours, heading straight to elven camp. By the time he reached the camp, it was already past morning he would have reached sooner if not for Uncle Dior shouting in fear to fly and wanted to throw up a couple of times, even with all Uncle Dior''s shouting and flying the half-elf had not woke up, she was still sleeping in Don''s arms like a baby. Uncle Dior was not able to guess how can she sleep like this in the arms of a stranger, he could see her arms were still around his neck and Don brown robe was wrapped around her and proving her with comforting heat, the half elf''s face was calm and serene while she was sleeping it was exact opposite of what he saw in the auction. Just as he landed on near his hut, he saw Arwen walking towards him with Knight and Amaryll beside him. "Don Uncle Dior, what took you so long?" Amaryll asked, but it only took her a moment, as her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a half-elf in Don''s arms. Clapping her hands in surprise and shock, she almost shouted out loud: "Who is she? What happened to her?" "It''s a long story we saved this poor soul from Minister Bryan. Don, you should bring her to Arwen''s hut" Don nodded and began to walk towards Amaryll''s hut carrying the half-elf. After a few steps, Don came in front of Amaryll and Arwen''s hut, It was a makeshift hut crudely made by some woods and branches and covered in long big leaves. The hut was six feet tall and two people could share the floor comfortably, there were no beds or anything just an animal fur spread to sleep and a cloth bundle as a pillow as in front of the hut was a small fire pit to warm-up. Don entered the hut and knelt before the makeshift bed and gently dropped her on the bed but the half elf''s arms were tightly wrapped around his neck. Seeing this Amaryll walk towards them and removed half elf''s hands around him as Don finally put down the half-elf on the bed. Don gazed at the half-elf for a moment and gently stood up and walked outside while Amaryll, Arwen, Knight followed him behind. "Don is he dead?" Amaryll couldn''t help but ask with the nervous voice Don who was watching the late morning sky, his brown hair was blowing in the wind Don neglected her gaze and continued to look at the sky "Yes he''s dead" This was just mere words but it lifted the huge burden in Amaryll''s heart as her face revealed a relieved look and breathed a heavy sigh but Arwen was not relieved not much as Amaryll. Arwen knew the true purpose of Don''s visit to Minister Bryan, it was not simply to kill him but to know more about the mysterious mage. For a few breaths time nobody spoke, the five of them just remained there in silence just when Don pulled out some folded papers from his pant pocket and reached his hand towards Uncle Dior gesturing him to take the papers. With a confused look on his face, Uncle Dior stepped forward to take the papers from his hand, the papers looked aged and made of finer material as he opened the papers to see a map of outer lands and a red X'' mark on the map. "It''s a map...map of outer lands and wait¡­." Uncle Dior frowned and stared at the map confusedly. At the moment everyone was looking at confused Uncle Dior including Don, "It''s the map of outer lands alright but this X points to the middle of nowhere" "Let me take a look" Amaryll stepped towards Uncle Dior and peeked at the map over his shoulder. "Hmm there should be nothing there except trees and more trees" Amaryll exclaimed. "Arwen do you have any ideas on what is on there?" Amaryll grabbed the map from Uncle Dior and handed it over to her brother as Arwen took the map and stared at it for a while and studied the map and ran his fingers through the surface of the map. Seconds later Arwen eyes lit up in realization as his hands started to shake a bit he slowly looked at the people who were watching him with surprise and urged to know his answer. "It''s the castle it must be the castle," Arwen said and his body was trembling "What castle? Arwen what are you talking about?" Amaryll urged him. Don and Knight looked at each other and turned their gaze to Arwen "It...It''s the lost castle of Dragon King" Arwen was still trembling as he said "No, it''s not possible I thought the castle was destroyed along with Dragon King" Uncle Dior''s voice had a tinge of fear while speaking to Arwen. "No, it''s not destroyed my grandfather told me the Dragon king teleported the castle and hid it with magic before he died" before Arwen could finish Amaryll asked "Then how do you know it''s the castle of Dragon king?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Because grandfather told me before the Dragon King died that he made a map and sent it away with his trusted bodyguard..." Arwen recalled his memories for a minute and continued "Grandfather told me that the Dragon king ordered the guard to hid the map safely so that only someone with the world-changing Destiny could find the castle" "This couldn''t be the map the guard hid right? I mean how could you possibly tell what that map looked like?" Amaryll couldn''t believe Arwen. "Because this is not an X its the symbol of Dragon king" Arwen pointed at the X on the map to Amaryll and Uncle Dior, "Look closely and touch the X you''ll see it''s not X but two dragons crossing each other" Amaryll quickly grabbed the map from Arwen''s hands and stared at it closely and rubbed her fingers on the X and shouted in surprise, "Yes Yes Yes you were right Arwen it is two dragons is it really pointing towards the Dragon King''s castle?" Uncle Dior watched the excited Amaryll for a moment and turned towards Don, "Don where did you get this map?" "It was in the hidden safe of Bryan" as he said the excited look on Amaryll''s face vanished "Why did he have this map? Is he found the castle" Amaryll held tightly the aged map and stared at Don "No he didn''t, if he did why was he not in the castle" "Don''s right, if what Arwen said is true only the one with the destiny could find the castle right? Then how could our dead minister be the destined one" Knight spoke in confidence and certainty. "What Knight said makes sense it''s not someone like Bryan can find the Dragon king''s castle" Arwen agreed with Knight. "We have to find this castle" Don stepped forward and removed his magic mask and revealed his real face as he said. 20 Destiny begins I Having heard Don''s plan, the elves were visibly startled. "Relax, the Dragon King wanted us to have that castle so that''s what we are going to do," said Knight after pondering for a moment. "Are you sure you want to go there?"Uncle Dior hesitated before asking, he was shivering inside because he knew about the power Dragon King possessed if he hid his castle it won''t be a simple task to find it. Don didn''t mind Uncle Dior''s hesitation, he never knew much about this Dragon King and he wanted a safe base to operate without fearing about the safety of the elves for a time. "Yes I''m sure and we are going tomorrow morning at the first light" Uncle Dior knew he can''t change Don''s mind so he just sighed heavily and grabbed the map from Amaryll and studied it for a moment "Alright if we go there by walking it''ll take almost a whole day to reach" Uncle Dior said as he looked Don for confirmation but what he received was a huge boulder to the heart. "Ah no no no no" Uncle Dior almost shouted and shook his head vigorously. The Elf sibling was unable to see why Uncle Dior was acting this way, they were watching Don and Uncle Dior with confused faces as for Knight, he already had an idea regarding Uncle Dior''s behavior, Seeing the clever and fancy pants Uncle Dior acting like this Knight curled up a smile, "Oh don''t be a baby flying is not that bad" At that moment Uncle Dior almost coughed up blood when he heard Knight, He experienced the torture of flying with Don, he was fast almost too fast as Uncle Dior threw up a couple of times on the way to the camp from the slave city. Uncle Dior was still a mid-apprentice-level magi so he couldn''t fly even if he used magical brooms and flying on the broom was not the same as flying without the support of anything. He remembers vividly the moment Don took off at the slave city carrying the half-elf girl with him, his heart almost jumped out, he was a calm man but the flying made him scream and at like a child who saw a giant snake on his bed, He promised himself that he never ever act the way he did but now the same scenario going to happen and now this arrogant lion telling him that the flying is not bad, it made him angry and shiver in terror at the same time "Don I don''t like flying so you should get that thought out of your mind if you want me to tag along " "No flying is the best way we don''t know how many black panthers we face this time" Don said in a firm tone, he felt that the guards of Minister Bryan will soon start the full investigation about the murder so he needs a safe and secure place to lie low and increase his strength. "Yes you and Don needs to go and check out that place immediately we don''t need someone coming knocking down here" Knight agreed with Don as he always does. "I thought killing Minister Bryan would end all the trouble" Amaryll couldn''t help but ask when she heard Knight. Knight sighed again, Amaryll was a too innocent and naive girl but Knight knew there is no place for innocence in this world or in Divine Continent. Knight wanted to work hard towards Don''s goal every time he saw Amaryll, A kingdom for an innocent girl like her to live without fear without being discriminated against. "You are too naive Amaryll even if the city law doesn''t conduct an investigation the empire would, at that time we don''t want to be here" "Bu...but how could they find us? Don did you leave any witnesses" "No the only witness to the kill was the girl I brought" "Don what about those personal guards? can they find it''s you that killed Bryan?" Uncle Dior questioned Don, he wanted to ask this on the way to camp but he was busy screaming and throwing up. Everyone looked baffled when they heard about the personal guards as they stared at Don for an answer but the one answered them was Knight "Why are you looking at him like that? There is no perfect crime" "So are you saying they will find us?" "Might" Amaryll didn''t say anything as she pondered about something god knows what in her mind. "We go there tomorrow check the place out if we find the castle we come and bring you all there" Don explained the plan to the group. "But what if you don''t find it?" Arwen asked with a worried face. "Then we find another place to settle" "No, we don''t" Amaryll suddenly interrupted Don "Why do we have to run? Yes, you saved us and I''m grateful for that but it''s you wanted to kill Minister Bryan. It''s you brought that witness girl here so WHY DO WE HAVE TO RUN WITH YOU?" The group was shocked to see Amaryll''s behavior, they knew why Don killed Minister Bryan it''s for their good but now Amaryll is questioning him, Knight knew her paranoia and fear turned into angry, she didn''t know the reason behind Bryan''s murder so from her perspective Don was on the wrong so he didn''t mind the elf talking like that, if not she would be dead by now. "AMARYLL!!" Arwen gritted his teeth in anger as Amaryll immediately closed her mouth when she heard Arwen voice, she turned pale because she never saw her brother being angry at her "Amaryll we need to talk" Uncle Dior quickly stepped forward and grabbed Amaryll''s elbow "Excuse us for a moment Don" as he said Uncle Dior brought Amaryll away with Arwen, to tell the truth about Minister Bryan''s killing. "Don''t mind her Don she''s just afraid of everything" "Yes I know but we should have told her about the mysterious mage" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Knight didn''t disagree with him he just nodded his head "Yes this girl needs to know about the reality of the world, she is too innocent and naive the sooner she learns about the world the better" Don nodded his head lightly and looked around the camp like he was searching for someone, "Knight where is Elrond?" Knight let out a small smile "That boy is quite something after you went to slave city he came to me and asked me to train him" "What?" Don was a little surprised. "I couldn''t simply reject him he was so adamant so I just gave him the first page of the Asura Archer book" "Asura Archer huh? Good if he worked hard he can be a deadly archer with that book but..." Don pondered about something in his mind as Knight said "He is a hard-working kid just like when we were children" as he said Don and Knight started to recall their childhood a bit and Knight smiled "And don''t worry we can do something about the battle energy when he reaches the 4th volume of the book" "I think we might have something," Don said. "What do you mean?" "It''s easier to show" as he said Don opened the telepathic connection between him and Knight to show what he saw in the Bryan manner. Knight could see what Don saw when Don allowed him to enter his mind telepathically and Don could see what Knight saw if he allowed Don to enter his mind. (I hope my readers won''t get confused bcz of my bad writing) When Knight was in Don''s mind he felt everything Don felt, he was seeing everything as Don. After a moment Knight''s eyes opened wide when he saw the magic light merged with Don as soon Don broke the connection and they came back to reality. "So the magic in that spell merged with your battle energy it''s a hell of a thing Don" "Yes, so there has to be a way to replace battle energy with magic and magic with battle energy right?" Don asked Knight who was still in amazement. "Ah yes if not how could that magic merge with your battle energy, if we can find someone with knowledge about the magic we trust we can use many things in this storage ring" Knight raised his front leg and looked at the ring. "What about the girl you brought you can control using battle energy just like magic?" "I don''t know about using magic but yeah I can control her with my battle energy it''s like having another hand" "Enough of me how do you feel reaching the Moon realm?" Don asked Knight. "HaHaHa, I thought you forgot about it... I am feeling pretty great actually I can''t wait to face some magis here" as he said Knight ruffled his white mane in a kingly manner and laughed. "Soon you will" Don declared as he thought about the five personal guards of Minister Bryan, his face showed a calm expression but his eyes betrayed him, they had pure killing intent in them. "I am waiting..." Knight''s mouth curved up and made an evil smile but after a moment he turned to his usual self and stared at Amaryll''s hut "The half-elf girl what are you gonna do about her?" Don sighed. "She has to come with me on this trip, the only connection between me and Bryan is her so leaving her might bring some problems" "What if they still find you using her even after we settled in the castle" "I don''t think so seeing Arwen and Uncle Dior''s reaction I bet the Dragon King was a big shot in the magic world so how could his castle be found so easily by mere great masters?" "Hmm, it makes sense... Anyway we must find this castle before anyone else does but what are we going to do after we find the castle, Don? " "We are going to train an Army" Simple words but it showed Don''s confidence arrogance and dominance. At this moment the war for the continent is begun. 21 Destiny begins II Having heard Arwen and Uncle Dior''s explanation, it became clear to Amaryll why Don went to kill Minister Bryan, and why he brought the half-elf girl here. Amaryll felt pretty ashamed of herself for acting like that, she heard about the mysterious mage from the bandit leader while Don was interrogating him but she neglected to admit the mysterious mage''s existence due to fear. She turned to look at Don who was still talking with Knight, she looked at him with guilty eyes. "You should apologize to him Amaryll" Arwen said. Amaryll sighed and said "Yes" Amaryll walked towards Don just as Don and Knight halted their conversation and looked at the guilty-looking elf. Arwen and Uncle Dior didn''t follow her, they just gave her and Don some space. Don looked at Amaryll without saying anything, she was unable to look into his eyes and speak, her face showed the expression of something stuck in her throat that she couldn''t get it out after a few breaths of time, finally she mustered her courage "Don I''m sorry for talking like that" "Ok, from now on you''ll know everything they do" Amaryll was confused when she heard him as Don gestured at Uncle Dior and Arwen to come nearer. "I''m going to let you know what Bryan told me before his death" "But Don...." before Arwen say anything further Don just signaled him to stop with his hand, "She needs to hear this too, you can''t protect her forever from the reality Arwen" Arwen knew sooner or later Amaryll was going to learn about the harsh reality that is worse than the bandit attack she faced, he also knew he wasn''t much different from Amaryll in experience but he spent more time with their grandfather than Amaryll, as a result, he learned more about the world than Amaryll. "Before Minister Bryan die he said extermination is coming" he never planned to hide this from the elves, the more they know about the threat the better. "Wha...what did he mean by that?" Arwen had a bad feeling about what he heard from Don he knew these simple words held more weight. "If I have to guess I say something big going to happen not only to elves for all the races" Amaryll''s heart jumped out when she heard Don, she was trembling, everything she wanted was peace but now it''s becoming a dream, she was struggling to find a way to disagree with Don but she couldn''t. "How do you know?" Uncle Dior asked. "I don''t but I dealt with people like the mysterious mage before they always operate in shadows and as a group. " "But it''s all your guess right what if he works alone or a madman?" "Madman? He teleported more than twenty people from slave city to here if he''s a madman, he sure is a powerful one in that and he himself said extermination is coming" Don looked at everyone sharply and said "It''s a threat... at least we have to treat it as one" "Don''s right people operate from shadows and using others to do their jobs are dangerous, don''t forget he purchased the service of a Minister, a nobody can''t do something like that no matter which world it is" Knight explained his point of view to everyone loud and clear, they faced this type of cult people in Divine Lands, you cant find who is your real enemy with these people anybody could be your enemy. "After we safely settle somewhere we need to find the other races" Nobody questioned or said anything as they knew if Don''s guess is right they need to unite and stand together or they will be exterminated. Don could see the worried and stressed faces of the elves while he was walking away, Amaryll was practically sweating like she is in middle of the desert, Arwen was trying his best to keep the anxiety from showing on his face while Uncle Dior was acting like he is calm but Don could see the panicked eyes of Uncle Dior. ********************** "Where am I?" the half-elf girl slowly opened her eyes and saw a crudely made roof suddenly her memories came flooding back as she clutched her aching head tightly. She recalled the things happened to her, she was born in a noble family but because of the war in her country she fled her homeland and lived years in hiding and fearing and she was captured by slave traders and sold as a slave to Avelon continent and saw her first owner/master get killed in the hands of a stranger a human. "Don" she remembered the young man who saved her those brown eyes that looked at her an equal not like a creature, she lived alone and suffered enough to know about this cruel world, nobody in a long time helped her except her parents. "Ah you are awake" she turned to look at the direction that voice was coming. The half-elf saw a beautiful green dressed elf looking at her with a worried face, she had green eyes and golden hair, pointy ears. "Who are you" she slowly asked the elf in fear, "Don''t worry you are safe here" as the elf said she stepped forward and sat before her. "I am Amaryll you are now safe we don''t treat you like those despicable humans did" Amaryll reassuringly patted the half-elf girl''s back. "Don" she said again. "Don yeah he is there in his hut I should get something for you to eat" Amaryll wanted to get something for the half-elf girl but her hands were grabbed in the midway "What is this place why did he save me?" the half-elf girl asked with a worried face Amaryll sighed. "Just like you, a group of bandits attacked us" the half-elf girl started to shiver "Relax fortunately we were saved by Don and Knight and they escorted us to this place from our tribe" "But how me?" the half-elf girl mumbled. "One of the bandits said he was sent here to capture us by Minister Bryan so Don went to kill him in order to keep him from sending more bandits, after that, you know what happened right?" "Ye...yes" the half-elf girl slowly nodded. "Alright, you rested enough I''ll bring you to see Don and Knight they should know you are awake" while she said Amaryll felt that the half-elf still has some reservation towards them. "What''s your name?" "Ar...Arrora" the half-elf girl said in a low pitched voice. "I know you are afraid but you don''t have to be. I know Don could be how''d you say cold-blooded but he''s a kind of a good guy and he saved you right?" Arrora recalled the scene him killing Minister Bryan and giving his robe to cover herself and carrying her in his arms and nodded "He also saved me and my brother although he won''t talk too much, you can trust him he''s not like other humans" Amaryll started to trust and viewed him differently. "Come on let''s go" Amaryll reached her hands out towards Arrora gesturing her to take her hands. Arrora hesitated for a moment but eventually, she took her hands and stood up and followed Amaryll outside, The stars hung above them as if strung in the air by invisible strings and the half-moon shined like a pearl on the beautiful dark blue starry night sky. "That''s Don''s hut he made it himself cool, isn''t it? He probably is there with Uncle Dior and my Brother and Knight" Amaryll pointed to a sturdy hut made of mud, Arrora could vaguely see some figures standing in front of a small fire pit but as they walked towards them she started to see them more clearly. Arrora saw an elf with the bow on his back, he resembled Amaryll a little and a half-elf besides him he was a bit older than the elf but he was taller and wore a brown robe and looked at the figure opposite to the half-elf as Aurora''s eyes went wide the figure was a white Lion with two big feathery wings what shocked her more was this lion was talking and smiling like a person. Besides the lion was either a youth or a man, seeing him she felt if she blinked she might miss him. Tall, lean and cloaked in shadow, he wore long black robes reinforced with ornate steel plating that glinted in the half moonlight. A deep cowl hid his face behind him, she could see something on his back formed a shape of ''X''. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Everyone looked at the newcomers especially Arrora, "Girl are you fine?" just while she was looking at the man in a black robe, the half-elf man came before her with a concerned look, Before Arrora could answer Amaryll said "She is fine Uncle Dior since she was awake I thought she should meet you" "Arrora this is Uncle Dior and this is my brother Arwen" Amaryll pointed the elf behind Uncle Dior. "And this is Knight" Arrora said looking at the white Lions as Knight made his signature move, ruffled his mane in a kingly manner. "You already met Don right" she pointed at the black-robed man when he removed his hood and revealed his expressionless handsome face, he had dark black eyes and raven-colored hair and she could see the toned body hiding beneath the robe. Arrora stared his face carefully but she could see any resemblance to the brown-haired human who saved her, she was confused "Ah you have seen his Mike face, this is his real face" Uncle Dior exclaimed. "Mi...Mike''s face" but before she could think about anything Don took his magical mask out and put it on his face. At the moment he did that, Arrora''s eyes went wide in shock and surprise while his face transformed into the face she saw before and when he took off that mask, that face has gone, "Don" Arrora said. "That''s amazing right? It''s called a magical mask. He could change his face anytime but don''t get confused. This is his real face is it Don?" Don nodded and put his hood on again. "Did you eat anything?" Knight asked Arrora but before she could say anything her stomach growled answered that question, Arrora''s face slightly turned red in embarrassment. "Right I''ll go bring her something" Amaryll turned away and ran towards her hut. She awkwardly stood among the group "Here drink this you feel better" Don gave her the healing potion to her. "This ...is this a healing potion?" She looked puzzled. "Yes you will feel better drinking it" Arwen said. Eventually, she started to pour the potion into her mouth under the gaze of everyone as soon as she did that the pain she felt was lessened and felt invigorated. "So do you have anyone we could take you to?" Uncle Dior asked but when he asked Arrora''s eyes turned watery and two teardrops flowed on her cheeks. "No my parents...they were killed I have no one" her voice was full of sadness, they felt her pain in the heart from the voice alone. "I am sorry if you want we can take you to your homeland" Arrora shook her head while wiped the tears from her face, "My kingdom my home it''s all gone they took it away" Her sadness turned into anger and the red blood vassals in her eyes became visible. "Who? Where is your home?" "Ve...The Venus Kingdom in Elvenor Continent" at the moment she mentioned the Venus kingdom the wind started to blow violently around them the fire before they started to go out, the trees began to bent like they were being pushed by an invisible force, simply they felt a mini storm without rain. "Don" Knight shouted and Arrora looked at Don to see he was clenching his fists tightly and his body trembled, there were some fire sparks coming out of his clenched fists, and an immense killing intent radiated from him it made them hard to even breath. She was certain that only after she mentioned her kingdom''s name he became like this but she had no idea why? 22 Destiny begins III "Don stop it" shouted and spread his wings to cover Arwen, Uncle Dior and Arrora from the debris. Amaryll came running back when she saw the mini storm in the camp. "Don what are you doing? Are you trying to kill us stop!!" Amaryll shouted as loud as she could as the storm slowly calmed down. "Who took away your kingdom?" Don asked looking at Arrora, his voice was serious very serious, Amaryll slightly shuddered when she heard him. Although she never understood Don long enough to know his moods, she could tell that now he''s extremely angry. "Sta...The Starith Kingdom " Arrora said with the gritted teeth but underlying that anger she showed a tinge of fear towards Don seeing what he did. "The Starith Kingdom... good very good "Don exclaimed as he was faintly breathing heavily in anger, Knight understood the reason behind his behavior as Knight himself was angry at the Starith Kingdom and he knew they just made a very serious mistake. "I''ll let them live for a little longer" as Don said everyone near him felt the killing intent he was radiating. At that moment nobody spoke for a moment while Don slowly looked up at the starry sky and closed his eyes, "Little Don" " you are a king born to rule" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Remember your promise little Don" "I''ll always be with you" "Little Don I''m proud of you" Don heard the sweet-sounding voice of a woman and saw a stunning half-elf woman playing with a skinny little kid in his mind and let out a small smile while a small teardrop came out his eyes. "Sister Elena" Don mumbled. "Don it''s okay we''ll make them pay" Knight stepped forward as his body gets bigger, he put his paw on Don''s shoulder and reassured him. Seeing this Arwen and Amaryll felt the brotherly bond between them, a magical creature and a human, this is the first time they saw Don and Knight acting like this usually, Don would be cold and calm while Knight behaves little relaxed and lively. Eventually, Don placed his hand on Knight''s paw and patted as Knight smiled and shrunk his size to normal, "Arrora we''ll take back your kingdom and avenge your family" Arrora heard the resolution in his voice as it''s just like a matter of time to take back her kingdom when she was desperately in need of help. He was the one who appeared out of nowhere to help her so she believed him somewhat that he could do what he says. "Hmm" she gently nodded. "Here you should eat this" Amaryll placed a round white bread in Arrora''s hand, for a moment Arrora held the bread and hesitated but her hunger overcame her nervousness and started to eat the bread, she finished the bread in an instant due to her hunger. After Arrora finished the bread Amaryll gave her a glass of water to quench her thirst, this was the first time in a long time she felt relaxed as nobody wanted to capture her or kill her, this was somewhat felt like home to Arrora. "Alright, Arwen Amaryll lets go and have a shut-eye," Uncle Dior said while walking towards his tent, after a moment Amaryll and Arwen walked to their tent as well leaving only Arrora, Don and Knight. "Why did you save me?" Arrora asked Don. "It''s because I made a promise to someone besides I couldn''t leave you" Arrora was unable to find any signs of him lying through his voice. "The promise you made it''s to someone from Venus kingdom isn''t it?" Don sighed, "Yes" it was one word but Arrora could feel the sadness in his voice and thought this is something he doesn''t like to talk about so she decided not to ask him further about the person. While Arrora thinking about all this Amaryll came carrying something in her hands, "Sorry I forgot here you should wear this and give him back his robes" Amaryll gave Arrora one of her dresses. At that moment Arrora realized that she was still wearing the robes that Don gave her and blushed a little. "I know its a cold night but you should get a bath before wearing any of these" Amaryll chuckled and made Arrora blush even more in embarrassment. "Follow me I''ll help you in your bath" Amaryll didn''t wait for Arrora''s answer as she just grabbed the girl and hastened towards her tent. After a while, Amaryll and Arrora came before Don and Knight, Arrora was wearing a dark blue dress and her raven black hair was shining in the moonlight. Don could see her clean fair face, she was not a ravishing beauty or stunning girl like Amaryll or some young misses he met in Divine Continent but she had a unique charm to her that made her beautiful and pretty. "Here" Arrora gave Don his robes back as he just flicked his wrist and a layer of light covered the robes then disappeared along with the robes. "Space ring" Arrora said in surprise. "You knew about this ring?" Knight asked in surprise as well. "Yes my father had one it was very expensive" "So this world has space rings too huh" "Alright, I''ll go to my tent before Arwen comes searching" Amaryll began to walk to her tent leaving the trio behind. "Tomorrow we are going to find Dragon King''s castle" Don said looking at Arrora. "We? You mean you and me?" She was a little bit confused. "Yes you, me and Uncle Dior" "But I won''t be much help to you" "As you''ve already guessed you and I are bonded its better you stay with me" as he said he activated the slave bond in Arrora''s body with his master bond using battle energy when he did that a small light appeared on Arrora''s chest. Arrora thought about it for a moment and eventually nodded in approval to Don''s plan. "I don''t like making people as slaves so I won''t treat you like one" "But what if I try to kill you and get myself free of this bond" Arrora asked mustering her courage but Don didn''t react too much as he simply said "Then I''ll kill you before even thinking about trying" Arrora felt the weight of his words. It was a simple expression but she knew he meant every word he said, if she tries to cross him he''ll kill her as simple as that however she had no reason to betray the man who saved her. Arrora felt deeply grateful towards Don for the mercy he showed to her. Promise or not he wouldn''t have to save her as people break their promises all the time she knew very well about that. "Don thank you" Arrora said after a moment she meant every single word of it. Don didn''t say anything but simply nodded. "You should get some rest, take this hut I can make a new one" Don said while pointing at his hut to Arrora but she shook her in disagreement "Don''t worry I''m not going to sleep but you should" as he said don sat on the ground and looked up at the starry sky with Knight. "No, I already got enough rest so if you don''t mind," Arrora asked and waited for Don''s permission to sit beside him, after a few seconds he gestured her to sit beside him and knight. The three of them sat there and looked at the beautiful starry night in silence. "Don is it going to be dangerous tomorrow?" Arrora couldn''t help but ask thinking about the journey that''s waiting for her. "I don''t know we''ll see" Arrora wasn''t very assured to hear this answer. "Wha...what if I became a burden?" it was the question that running havoc in her mind especially after she saw Don created a mini storm moments ago, he was very powerful so to stay at his side and get his protection she has to be useful to him not be a burden. "What''s your cultivation?" "Peak master level why?" "After we find the castle ill train you and help you breakthrough" "You''ll do that?" Arrora was surprised she realized how hard it was to breakthrough due to lack of resources while she was on the run but now she heard Don saying that he''ll help her breakthrough if he could do that she would reach great master realm, at that point, she would be powerful enough to protect herself from most of her enemies while not being a burden to Don. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind, "If he could help me reach great master level what level is he at? Can he be a grandmaster?" Even a simple thought about the grandmaster level intimidated her. "If he really is a grandmaster" her home was burning, her parents dying in front of her, the life she had on the run, the faces of her enemies all of them were playing in her mind vividly making her eyes turn to red in anger, "I''ll earn Don''s trust and with him, I''ll make them pay every last one of them" Although Don himself said he''ll make them pay but she wanted to take revenge with her own hands before she met Don she had no such ideas nor any means to take revenge but now she has him. Unknowingly to herself, she started to depend on Don. 23 The Fury of Rosaline (Several hours ago before Destiny begins) "Minister Bryan" Jacob the butler of Minister Bryan knocked on the bedroom door to wake up Bryan. "Minister Bryan, Sir you''ll be late for the meetings" as said Jacob started to knock on the door with the little force, Jacob knew about Minister Bryan''s purchase from thousand arms house and guessed he overslept after an eventful night but time goes by without Minister Bryan''s response he started to panic. "Minister Bryan!! please sir open the door" Jacob couldn''t help but shiver in panic and fear, his legs turned to jelly yet he found what he had to do. Jacob had a bad feeling about this, he lived long enough to feel something was amiss here and he doesn''t want to get killed because of this fat pig in his old age as he cursed Minister Bryan in his heart he ran towards Rosalin''s room downstairs. As closer he gets to Rosalin''s room his heart slowly started to calm down because in his perspective a great master is like a mountain not only that, he knew Rosalin was specially appointed and sent to protect Minister Bryan by the capitol itself, a person trusted by capitol is not a small thing, as thinking about this he reached the front door of Rosalin''s room. The door was visibly decorated with magical runes as the door itself was painted in fire red striking fear into Jacob''s heart. "Miss Rosalin" Jacob gently knocked on the door despite his panic, there was no response from Rosalin''s room either but before he could knock again the door slowly opened and Jacob saw the red-dressed Fire mage Rosalin. "What''s the matter?" Rosalin calmly asked. "Its...Its Minister Bryan miss Rosaline he is not waking up" Jacob explained the situation like a mouse in front of a cat. "He''s probably still sleeping try again after a few minutes" Rosalin didn''t panic like Jacob because she knew her defense magic was still in place without disturbed by anyone. "I did miss Rosalin I knocked on his door several times, usually he will at least shout at me but today there was nothing, not even a sound coming from his room" Rosalin could see Jacob breaking down in fear and panic, seeing Jacob in this state she realized at least she could try for the sake of giving this old man a closure. "Follow me" Rosaline took her staff and walked towards Minister Bryan''s room. After a few breaths time, Rosaline had reached the front door of Minister Bryan''s bedroom and she could feel that her defense magic is still in place. "Minister Bryan" Rosaline called out but didn''t get any response from the other side. "Calling of fire spirits" Rosaline closed her eyes and cast a spell to scan the room without entering when she finished her spell she suddenly opened her eyes, if someone was before her they could see the anger and confusion in her eyes. "Go out and call the other guards immediately nobody gets in or out without noticing me" her voice was so dominant and had anger hiding within thus it made Jacob shiver uncontrollably as he nodded and quickly ran downstairs to give Rosalin''s order. "Flare of hell" Rosalin pointed her hands towards the door just as a dark purple color flames came out through her fingers and burnt the door in a second. Rosaline was stunned to see the scene in front of her, there were broken glasses and bottles all over the floor as well as bloodstains and broken tables but the thing shocked her most was what was in the middle of the room. At this time, the guards, maids, and experts of the Bryan Residence all alerted bt Jacob and brought to the main hall as for the personal guards aka Rosalin''s team headed for Bryan''s room. Minister Bryan''s lifeless body tied to the chair before Rosalin, his upper clothes were ripped and used to tie him to the chair while a deep knife stab mark on his chest was visible to Rosaline, there was also a big bloodstain on his left thigh it seems he was stabbed there too. Seeing everything in the room made Rosaline doubt her abilities, she remembers clearly that she cast the defense spell before she left and as of now there were not any disruptions in the spell, there were only two conclusions to be made with this, one the spell didn''t work second the killer found a way to disable or evade the spell just when she investigating the crime scene her teammates entered the room. "Oh my god" Aster the healer almost threw up when she saw the horrible scene as the other three were not reacted like Aster but they were too nauseated and a little bit afraid of the scene. The team''s Archer Chase stepped forward and knelt and investigated the bloodstains then looked around the room and began to study the dead body of Minister Bryan beside Rosaline. "There was a little struggle between two people here" Chase pointed at the place where Minister Bryan let out Arrora and beaten her. "There are some rosy red bloodstains besides Minister Bryan I bet it was the half-elf''s" Chase moved towards the place where Arrora fall and broke the wine bottles, "And then it seems she also broke Minister Bryan''s statue, the statues have the same rosy red blood stained fingerprints on some broken pieces" "You think the half-elf killed Minister Bryan and escaped?" aster asked Chase in doubt but the one answered her was Rosaline "No look up" Rosaline signaled Aster to look at the broken roof "The killer came this way" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "But how could he without triggering the defense magic," Aster asked the question that everyone asking themselves and looked at Rosaline for some answer. "Chase the defense magic is still in place right?" Rosaline asked Chase to make sure whether her defense magic was effective or not. "Yes the spell is still in place if anyone other than us or Minister Bryan or the half-elf came to this room the spell would be triggered" "But clearly the spell didn''t work right?" Aster asked in a low pitch voice as she didn''t want to undermine or underestimate Rosalin''s ability. "There is nothing wrong with the spell" Rosaline answered and pondered about the possibilities for a moment. "But the killer seemed to have found a way to evade the spell or he might be a heavenly level magi" Chase answered. "What!!?" Not only Aster the twins were shocked to hear the mention of heavenly level and Aster almost shouted "It''s unlikely that a heavenly level magi would come sneaking around to kill him" Rosalin heard about the heavenly level magi''s from her master and realized there were only a few heavenly level magi''s in the empire and they would not come out of seclusion for mere assassinations like this and also she already found a weird fact "The killer left no magical fluctuations I can''t even see a little bit of magical fluctuations aside from the master-slave bond" as she said Rosaline lifted her staff and cast a spell "Solar Net" The room turned to slight orange when she cast the spell, this was one of the spell''s to see or analyze magical fluctuations more vividly, the team could see two bright waves in the air they didn''t see before and a bright blue thin layer around the room. The bright waves were the master-slave bond fluctuations and the blue layer was the defense spell Rosaline cast, they could also see a faint layer of light and waves radiating from the bodies of the people in the room this was the magical fluctuation of magi. The layer of light will become brighter and waves stronger as the magi levels up or use powerful spells, the fluctuations caused by the magi could be seen by some spells like the one Rosaline used, no matter how powerful the magi is no one could hide the magical fluctuations they leave behind this was the unchangeable rule in the magic world but now it seems someone found a way to change it. "How is it possible?? no one could do that" Willaim said. "Yes we have to notify the ministry of magic in capitol about this" Rosaline could not find a way to explain this phenomenon so she decided to notify her master and her superiors. "Why didn''t minister Bryan shout for help and where is the half-elf?" Aster asked Rosalin but Chase answered her question instead. "He would have if he got the chance" Chase stepped near the dead body and pointed at the whip around his mouth. "The killer tortured him for a moment, his nose was broken and stabbed through his left thigh as for the half-elf the killer probably took her with him" Chase concluded her investigation and waited for Rosalin''s orders. "Chase is correct but what did the killer want from Bryan and also what did he take from him" Rosaline signaled others to look at the torn carpet near Bryan. "Hidden safe, It seems Bryan was hiding something even from us" Chase said. "If we find what did he hide we may have the chance to find the killer" as Rosaline said the anger within herself rose and erupted through her eyes literally, the teammates never seen Rosalin got this angry she looked like a fiery eyes Pheonix to them. "When I find the killer I''ll roast him alive" Rosaline never liked Minister Bryan even a bit but she knew it was her duty to protect him, it was personally given to Rosaline by her master as a test yet she failed her test and duty miserably, she felt humiliated thinking about her failure she never felt this way before in her life but now someone forced her to, Rosaline was a prodigy she reached great master realm in the age of 24 which was shaken the whole empire when she received this job from her master she thought it as a time waste and a simple job for a prodigy like herself but she respected her master and accepted this job, now she realized why her master gave her this job this was never a simple job, to begin with. Rosaline''s pride and Arrogance of a prodigy were shattered and she was angry with herself for treating this job as simple and being careless, for the first time in her life she was beaten and worst of all she had no idea about the one beaten her. Chase had an idea why Rosaline acting this way so she chose not to console her or anything she knew it would be gone to waste right now the only thing she could do was send a message to Capitol and Rosalin''s master about the murder of Minister Bryan. "I''m going to send a message to the capital you guys should investigate the parameters and everyone in the manor for some clues" Eventually, Rosaline was left behind alone in the room, her fury wasn''t calmed till now, Rosaline felt as she was made naked in front of a crowd thinking about her failure, she wanted to kill the half-elf and Bryan''s killer it was the only way to reclaim her pride. "Whoever you are you just made a big mistake" 24 Dragon King The morning sun began to rise and covered the dark blue sky with its sunlight like a golden blanket. "Don you should get ready" Knight who sat beside Don reminded him. Arrora was sitting with them and enjoyed a peaceful night until she couldn''t hold back her sleep and slept on the ground. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Arrora" Don tapped her shoulder gently to wake her up as she slowly opened her sleepy eyes and yawned while covering her mouth with her hands. "We have to go" Don said to Arrora while she collected her ruffled hair, tied it up and threw it to her back. She looked very pretty when she did that, her previous worried face has seemed a little relaxed and her cheeks started to regain the rosy red due to good sleep and food especially the healing potion she took. "Go where?" Arrora questioned, she was still didn''t fully awakened, a little bit of sleepiness could be found in her voice. "Are you gonna tell her Don?" before Don could answer Uncle Dior questioned Don and walked towards them. "We are going to find the castle of Dragon King" Don said. "Hmm, a castle where?" Arrora had not reacted like Arwen or Amaryll, she really never heard of Dragon King before but when she looked at Uncle Dior''s disbelieving expression she guessed that Dragon king must be a prominent figure in Avelon Continent. "Don''t look at her like that Uncle Dior she is not from Avelon Continent remember?" Amaryll and Arwen joined the group surprisingly the hardworking little elf boy Elrond also with them. When Elrond saw Don he came forward and held out his little makeshift bow. Before anyone could answer Amaryll''s first question she shot another one at Elrond" "Elrond what is that?" Amaryll got curious when she witnessed the boy''s gesture towards Don. "This is how Archer''s curtsy their lord at Divine Continent" Elrond honestly answered Amaryll. "Who told you that?" "Knight taught me when I was practicing" Elrond pointed at Knight. Amaryll''s squinted her eyes when she realized that Elrond called Don as lord. "Lord?" "You don''t have to call me lord Elrond" Don said before Amaryll finds any more questions. The little boy nodded his little head and put his bow behind him. "Don give me the teleportation scroll before you leave" Knight asked Don because he knew it''s better to be safe than sorry, the teleportation scroll as its name implies teleport the user to another area, how far it could teleport depends on the scroll''s power the most powerful one could not only teleport its user but the people within its effective area. "Here" Don flicked his wrist while his ring began to glow and in an instant, a golden color scroll appeared in his hands as he threw that to Knight. The glow on his ring hadn''t disappeared as a sword appeared in his hands, the sword was made of fine steel it was bright silver with a red handle which was decorated by obviously a fine craftsman, there were two small dragons coiled around its handle and gave the sword a dominant and powerful appearance. Don held out the sword towards Arrora and gestured her to take it, seeing Don giving her the sword she dawdled a moment before she grabbed it from Don and studied the exquisite design of the sword. "It''s for me?" she was in disbelief, how could he give such a beautiful sword to someone like her, the half-elf he met not long ago but looking at his face she guessed that he didn''t care about the sword very much. "Take it you might need it" Don simply said and turned to look at Elrond who was on the verge of drooling staring at the sword, "If you practice well I''ll give you a bow Elrond" Elrond''s eyes started to sparkle when he heard whats Don said, "I won''t disappoint you" Elrond confidently said. "Alright let''s go" Don nodded at Arwen as well as Knight and started to control the wind element around Arrora and Uncle Dior to take off just when Arrora interrupted him "Can...Can I hold your hands?" Arrora asked with hesitation and embarrassment a slight redness appeared on her face, she knew she was asleep during their journey but now it''s not same as that, it''s going to be her first flying with her being awake therefore she was afraid, Everyone around Don was staring at him to see what''s he going to do, Don looked at Arrora and understood that she was genuinely afraid, he realized she asked him to hold his hands because she had no other choices she didn''t throw a tantrum like young misses if she did anything like that he would not care about it, not even a bit however Arrora acted nothing like that, as a result he agreed to let her hold his hand, "Thank you" Arrora slowly stepped beside him and gently grabbed his elbow while seeing this Uncle Dior rolled his eyes and got ready for the horrible trip. After confirming everyone is ready Don started to control the wind element around him again, Arrora''s gentle hold turned into a tight grip while the air beneath them started to rotate like whirlwind and the trio took off from the ground higher and higher, Amaryll waved her hands while her, everyone near her figures started to get smaller as Don flew higher. ************************** (Somewhere else) A silhouette emerged on the air and opened its eyes, "He''s coming hahaha finally" the figure laughed like a mad man and slowly faded away. **************************** "Don the mark it seems down there" Uncle Dior pointed down, Uncle Dior realized he should be excited or a little bit afraid to come into the territory of Dragon king but ending of this long horrible flying made him relaxed when he reached the destination. When they had reached their destination it''s almost evening, The sun cast its golden rays down upon the clouds of billowing smoke, turning them bright red; fire red. Don could have come sooner but he noticed Uncle Dior''s feelings about flying so he flew smooth and slow as he could to make the journey less horrible to Uncle Dior, as for Arrora she was a little afraid in the beginning but after some time she composed herself and enjoyed the flight. "Alright lets land" as he said he slowly descended to the ground, while Uncle Dior was glad to find solid ground beneath himself. Don however, had no time or mindset to enjoy the ground as he was looking and scanning the area around them. There was nothing but a dark forest around them, Don led the two and walked towards the way Uncle Dior pointing. The bare branches spiked into the sky - no sign of life to be found anywhere. It was so dark they were barely able to see where they were going. There were only small sounds of rustling bushes and the howl of the wind. Don didn''t know what laid in the dark forest, all he knew was that it wasn''t going to be a peaceful journey. After maneuvering through the thick forest they could hear a sound of water falling. As closer they got they were able to see from a distance, the waterfall had been like a silent white stream cascading over the rocky outcrops. As they had drawn closer the noise had increased steadily until they were only a few hundred meters away. They could no longer even shout to one another over the deafening roar of the water. "It''s here the mark" Uncle Dior shouted so Don could hear what he is saying due to the sound of the waterfall. Don took the map from Uncle Dior''s hands and studied it, he noticed there was a symbol that looked like a waterfall on the map closer to the red mark but when he was studying the map the roaring sound of the waterfall stopped, just like that in an instant it stopped. Uncle Dior''s eyes went wide when he witnessed the stopping of the sound while Arrora unsheathed her sword and Don got ready for a battle. "A human an'' half-elves oi" a voice echoed around them just when Don tried to locate the source of the voice a silhouette emerged before him. Don cautiously looked at the silhouette as it slowly took the form of a short man, he was nearly four feet in height with the stout, broad body and had a long thick beard as well as wore a black robe but his figure seemed slightly transparent like a ghost. Don could not feel the magical fluctuations around the man but Uncle Dior and Arrora was able to, the power of the energy radiating from the man nearly choked them, they had a hard time breathing before him however when the man noticed Don was unaffected by him a mix of surprised as well as shocked emerged on his face but he quickly hid it. "Who are you?" Don asked the man after studying him for a moment, "It seems I have been gone for too long yeh, I be Dhorfir Thunderbolt tha dragon king" the man said with a thick accent. "Dra...Dragon King?!!" Uncle Dior almost shouted when he heard the man. "ha, it''s nice ta see someone still recognize this old dwarf" Dragon King laughed looking at Uncle Dior who was shivering in fear. "I''m looking for your castle" Don calmly said as Dragon king stopped laughing when he heard Don and stared at him for a moment. "Nae a talkative type yeh I like that but if ye want me castle ye have ta prove yourself brat" "What do you want?" Don knew well enough this was not going to be simple so he was already prepared to face anything. Hearing the human before him, a mischief smile surfaced on Dragon King''s face, "Nae much ye just have ta defeat me" 25 Battle with the Dragon King Uncle Dior''s gaze was on Dragon king and was just as surprised as Arrora beside him when they heard the Dragon king''s challenge to Don. Initially, he had thought that they had to search or destroy some traps and reach the castle by any chance but he never thought the Dragon Kings himself would appear and ask Don to defeat him. Before Uncle Dior could collect his thoughts Dragon kings turned to look at him and Arrora "ye two shou'' stay away" Dragon Kings just raised his fingers while an invisible barrier appeared between Don, Dragon kings and Arrora and Uncle Dior Arrora and Uncle Dior tried to move but they couldn''t in other worlds their legs refused to, Arrora started to sweat seeing Dragon king''s power because she never saw someone like him before. "He''s a heavenly level magi" Arrora mumbled in shock and terror as she turned and stared at the expressionless face of Don, the hood was removed by the force of the wind near the waterfall so she could see his handsome face more clearly. Even facing a legendary magi like Dragon king Don''s face refused to show any fear or any emotion at that, despite the fact Don was unable to see or feel magical fluctuations around Dragon King he could guess Dragon king was extremely powerful and this battle was not going to be a simple one. "shall we start brat" the Dragon King said while the smile until now Dragon king''s face had turned serious when he said that. Facing the Dragon king himself Don didn''t dare to take this fight as easy so he quickly took his black sword from his back as well as started to control the wind and earth element around him. Arrora had seen the small storm Don created in the camp however the storm around him now was a little weaker than the first, yet what amazed her now was the dark purple flame covering the sword. Even with some barrier before her, she could feel the heat coming from the sword. The Dragon King as well didn''t waste any time as he floated to meet Don while a huge double-headed battle-axe emerged on his hands. When he was about a hand reaching distance from Don he swung the axe targetting the human before him, If the ax met Don''s body he would be cleaved in halves just when the axe come a few inches closer to his head Don moved to dodge the attack. Dragon King''s axe cut the ground where Don stood a moment ago but before he take the axe to attack again, Don came behind him and swung his sword straight across Dragon king''s neck. "clink" However the sword met some sort of force shield and halted its movement. Dragon King was a little surprised at Don''s speed, if not for the force shield the sword attack would have reached him. "ye are a quick one" Dragon Kings said and threw a punch to the face of Don, Don couldn''t dodge this one because the speed of the punch was so great, when the punch landed on his face he felt like some gigantic hammer hit his face. If the punch had more force he knew his jaw bone would have broken yet even with this much force Don moved back a few feet while a little bit of blood flowed through his nose. "Don" at the same time Uncle Dior and Arrora shouted in an impulse. Don didn''t care about the blood as he simply wiped it away with his hands and prepared to attack Dragon King again. He quickly moved towards Dragon king with the use of wind elements around him but didn''t attack him directly rather he manipulated the earth element close to Dragon king to form a wall around him to restrict his movements. The Dragon King hadn''t realized there is mud wall behind him as well as his left and right until it made him looked like a trapped rat but before he could do anything Don stabbed towards him rather than slashing at him, Don felt the force field of Dragon King was strong so he didn''t slash but tried to pierce the shield with his sword point covered with hellfire, just as he thought his plan paid off, the shield was pierced by the sword not much he expected but it touched Dragon king''s chest yet Don felt like he touched nothing. "Good one brat" Dragon king said but little away from him, Uncle Dior saw a tinge of satisfaction appear on Dragon king''s face but soon it was replaced with an impartial look. Don put his full force and tried to pierce Dragon King''s chest, Dragon king was unable to swing his axe because of the walls around him, regarding this the axe in Dragon King''s hands disappeared and he simply elbowed the walls, the walls didn''t stand a chance against Dragon King''s brutal strength. At that moment Don withdrew his sword and jumped back from Dragon King. When the walls destroyed the battle axe appeared again in his hands "it''s time ta end this" Dragon Kings said as he clutched his battle axe with his two hands and held it over his head and started to chant something, Don figured that the Dragon King is going to use his trump card so he did the same, Arrora and Uncle Dior could see the spike in the magical fluctuation waves covering Dragon King, the fluctuations grow stronger and stronger as he continued to chant but suddenly Uncle Dior and Arrora heard thunder clapping like a huge storm brewing near them as they turned to look at Don before the Dragon king. They saw Don holding a Warhammer in his hands, the handle of the hammer was pure black and engraved with some designs they couldn''t clearly see, the Warhammer was two-headed one head was blunt and another was pointy, it was little longer than the sword Don had previously. The sound of thunder clapping grew higher and higher as bolts of lighting started to emerge from the Warhammer and covered it, in seconds the bolts turned to full-sized lighting, the crackling sound and blue flashes started to match the effect of the magical fluctuations Dragon King was emanating, the dark forest started to get darker. The Dragon King opened his eyes while his battle-ax was covered by some blood-red energy as two shadows of two Dragons emerged from dragon king''s behind and coiled around the battle-ax and roared. On the other side, Don''s Warhammer was covered and emanating lighting, The air element he was controlling started to create a whirlwind around the battle-ax to enhance the power of the lighting. holding their weapons Don and Dragon Knight moved toward each other and attacked at the same time. "BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!" At the moment the Warhammer and battle-ax collided, a massive force produced, it cleared the surroundings, destroyed all the trees within nearly a 5-meter radius even the big trees couldn''t stand a chance against the force. Dust, tree logs, leaves almost all the things on the ground flew around them against the gravity even though the barrier protected Arrora and Uncle Dior from the force they still closed their eyes instinctively with their hands. Arrora and Uncle Dior couldn''t see Don and Dragon king as dust and debris covering them and affecting their view. The sound of thunder clapping, as well as magical fluctuations emanated from the Dragon king, were stopped. Slowly the dust started to settle down, Arrora and Uncle Dior were glad to have the barrier before them, if it wasn''t for the barrier they would have been killed or broken all their bones because of the force produced by Don and Dragon King''s attacks. Arrora and Uncle Dior wanted to know who won the fight, they both witnessed the full power of Don and Dragon Kingat the last moment of the battle. Eventually, the dust completely settled down and their surrounding came to normal but before Arrora and Uncle Dior only one person was standing still, It was the Dragon King a few meters away from Dragon King on the ground lain bleeding Don, his black robe was nearly destroyed there were so many holes on them, the Warhammer he held was nowhere to be found. When Arrora saw Don as this strange feeling emerged on her heart, Uncle Dior beside her hitting the barrier in the hope of reaching Don. Uncle Dior expected Dragon King to win because he knew the terror he caused from the stories he heard and Don to lose but seeing this in reality, was something he didn''t imagine. The Dragon King saw the two of them as he flicked his wrists and made the barrier stopping them disappear. Don was struggling to stand up but he couldn''t, he sensed his ribs were broken as well as bones in so many places in his body, the pain he was feeling was so much, his heart started to beat fast as battle energy circulated through his body to heal his failing organs. He knew he was not far away from death and wanted to close his eyes and embrace it but the voice of sister Elena, Knight''s face as well as Arwen, Amaryll, Elrond''s faces stopping from closing his eyes. The promises he made gave some strength to fight the death he didn''t want to die as he knew he had so much to do. Just when he was fighting with death he saw a worried face before him, in a second he saw another worried face calling out his name, the faces he saw were Arrora and Uncle Dior. In his mind, there were so many scenes that appeared and disappeared, one of them was a little skinny boy practicing sword skills with a half-elf woman another one was a little boy running carrying a little lion cub in his hands. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Don" Uncle Dior and Arrora shouted, Arrora took his head and placed it on her lap while Uncle Dior took his water pouch and slowly poured the water into Don''s mouth only to see Don cough out more blood. Unknowing to Arrora tears started to come out of her eyes and dropped on Don''s face, she could see his hands were broken and looking weirdly as well as most parts of his body. "The healing potion¡­ it''s in his rings take it out" Uncle Dior suddenly remembered the potion he gave to Arwen and Arrora as he went to search for the ring. When Arrora heard about the healing potion a small hope appeared on her eyes, "Don stay with us" Don would have taken it and drank if he had the control to his hands, he couldn''t even move his pinky let alone manipulate the battle energy and open the ring. He wanted to tell them that they can''t open the ring but unable to open his mouth. "How how do I open the ring?" Uncle Dior scratching the ring as well as injecting magic energy into the ring, he even tried biting the ring but the ring didn''t show any reaction. "Do something!!"Arrora was trembling and shouting at Uncle Dior who was still trying everything to open the ring but after a moment the light in Don''s eyes started to fade away as Uncle Dior slowly shook his head, Arrora was able to feel the body heat of Don dropping. The sadness and hopelessness struck Arrora, its true that she only met him days ago but he was there when she was hopeless and helpless, if not for him she would have faced a fate worse than death, all of this made her cry more and made her feel just as hopeless and helpless like before. The man who saved her now dying in front of her while she couldn''t do anything to prevent that. "Don don''t die please stay with us" Don couldn''t hear the shouting of Arrora while darkness slowly started to cover his vision. 26 There’s a War Coming At the moment when all the hope was lost, they heard the voice of the Dragon King who was until now didn''t move or do anything. "give me that space ring" Dragon King said to Uncle Dior and pointed his fingers towards the ring. A ray came out of Dragon King''s finger and covered the ring then in an instant the healing potion emerged from the ring and floated towards Arrora. When Arrora saw the potion coming she didn''t waste a single second she just grabbed it and poured the potion into Don''s mouth. The moment the potion touched his lips, the healing started. Don tried hard and swallowed a little bit of the potion while most of it flowed outside of his mouth, the wounds on his body began to heal at a visible rate and the broken bones started to mend as the healing process continued Don slowly regained his control over battle energy in his body, the battle energy was almost depleted in the battle with the Dragon King yet a small amount of it sped up the healing process. Seeing Don''s wounds healing and his limbs started to look at what they supposed to, made Arrora''s tears stop while her mouth curved and let out a relieved smile, "Let''s help him up" Uncle Dior said when he saw Don was trying to stand up and failed. Arrora and Uncle Dior gently helped Don stand up while Arrora still had Don''s hands around her neck to support him. "Ye are a strong one boyo" Dragon King said. Don almost coughed up more blood when he heard Dragon King, he had almost stared death in its eyes yet the Dragon King said he was a strong one. "I failed to beat you" Don strugglingly said but when he said that the Dragon King started to laugh, Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "ye doomed ta fail since tha moment we begin boyo" "What?" Arrora shouted in shock and surprise. "ye shold be proud boyo if I''m alive i cou'' have crushed ye with me pinky" The Dragon King laughed and raised his pinky. When everyone heard Dragon King they were confused, what did he mean by if I''m alive but they didn''t have to wait for long to know the answer. "what ye see now be just a piece o'' soul I left behind" "Left for what?" Don asked Dragon King he was still standing with the support of Arrora, the healing potion would have fully healed a normal person but to him, it took longer. "To guide you my successor boyo" Before anybody could say anything Dragon King continued, "There be a war coming boyo tha war that decides tha fate o'' tha world" Don was confused while Uncle Dior''s eyes went wide when he heard about the war, Dragon King didn''t even give him a second to process what he said a second ago as he continued, "the current yeh can''t survive tha war boyo nae in a million years" Don felt the power of the dwarf in front of him so he knew if he is talking about the so cold war seriously it must be a major and terrible one, But in his mind some questions started to emerge, He knew he was like an ant compared to Dragon King. "What is this war? Even the Dragon King reacting badly? how long do I have?" Seeing Don Dragon King gave him a little reassurance. "but ye have still some hope boyo tha war be nae coming any sooner" Hearing Dragon King, Uncle Dior felt a little relaxed like he dodged a bullet but soon he realized it''s just a temporary one. "this piece o'' soul o'' mine be just a heavenly level but ye couldn''t beat even this" "What!!" Uncle Dior shouted when the Dragon King mentioned heavenly level, for him heavenly level is like a god-level but now he heard that a mere piece of a soul was heavenly level, he couldn''t even imagine what level the Dragon King was when he was alive. "in me time tha heavenly level was a child''s game boyo but tha magix energy became scarce as tha time went by but once again tha magix energy started ta replenish in the world... use this time ta raise ye power an'' build a powerful army an'' a kingdom boyo " Coincidently Don had always planned to build an army and a kingdom, the war and Dragon King''s advice just made him more motivated. "Why me?" Don asked the question that''s been bothering him since the start. "ye be a chosen one boyo tha one born wi''out a magical core I had some doubts about tha prophecy but after seeing ye I guess its all true" "What prophecy?" Don again asked a question but the Dragon King''s body started to flicker, "I don''t have much time boyo I used most o'' me energy ta battle ye but i''ll try ta answer your questions ''afore I fade away" "What is the prophecy? Who I am going to face in that war and how do I get stronger since you know I can''t use magic" Arrora and Uncle Dior couldn''t believe their ears, Uncle Dior thought Don was an otherworldly being but now he realized he was born in this world but without a magical core, he never heard such phenomenon before or ever. In the magical world, the magical core was equal to the brain, the one without it could be considered as a corpse obviously no one was born without it he never heard of it until now "the dragon born without the ability to breath fire is the only one can light the fire that extinguishes the darkness" Dragon king''s figure became more transparent. "I don''t know who ye be going ta face boyo but tha enemy be not someone tha current ye can fight" the Dragon king''s body almost turned into smoke "tha magix energy tha battle energy ye use be all energies boyo energies but i dinna have tha time ta explain i left some magix stones in tha castle use it wisely ta power up your army conquer everything you could ''afore tha war, only together ye can win boyo" Dragon King paused a second as he looked at a faraway distance with a sad look on his face " an'' help my people Don" This time Dragon King addressed him as Don instead of boyo or brat, it sounded like he''s asking a last favor from his successor. But just before the Dragon King disappear Don asked, "Are you really dead?" but Dragon King didn''t say anything just winked at him and completely disappeared. Looking at the place where Dragon King floated just a moment ago the three of them stood in complete silence each with their own thoughts and plans. After a moment Don took his hands out from Arrora''s neck, his wounds now mostly healed but the clash between two energies at the last moment of the battle took a toll on his body as he was still experiencing some pain. "Cloaking spell deactivated" suddenly a mechanical voice echoed in their ears, when the three of them turned to see the source of the voice but the scene before them was shocked them even Don, The waterfall they saw slowly split opened in the middle as a bridge made of which seems like light or energy(the one like was on the Asgard) came out of the waterfall. "Let''s go," Don said while he already started to limp toward the light bridge, the Dragon King said he was his successor so he guessed the castle now belonged to him and the bridge was the gateway to the castle but the two behind him was little afraid to follow him. However Don didn''t wait for them so they had no choice but to follow Don. As Don slowly walked towards the waterfall he couldn''t see anything before him but full darkness in front of him, walking towards the darkness reminded of him the dark portals in the Divine Continent which used to travel one domain to another. The darkness was just a few inches away from him, the water falling beside him was blocked from wetting him by some kind of force field. "Here we go" Don exhaled a long breath and stepped into the darkness. Unexpectedly soon after he stepped into the darkness he was welcomed by a very beautiful site to be exact a new dimension. ( i wanted to use realm but dimension seemed more suitable if you have better name tell me in the comments) "Oh my god" two shocked and astonished voices came from behind Don. "What is this place?" Uncle Dior asked as his eyes were sparkling seeing the beauty of the place in front of him just when a sweet childish giggle of a little girl reached their ears. "This is the Castle of Dragon King" Out of nowhere a magical projection of a little girl in a white dress appeared in front of them, the girl clapped her hands together in joy, she had a very bright smile like she found her long lost mother seeing them and she was extremely cute particularly that ponytail of hers. Before they could even react seeing the cute little girl, she called out again looking at Don "Welcome to the Castle of Dragon King brother" 27 The Castle and Catalie Lise Leavi Uncle Dior and Arrora felt like they stepped into heaven itself the castle was not even close to what it looked like in their inferior imagination. In between these grass-covered mountains, surrounded by trees and flower plants, rises the Castle of Dragon King. It''s so massive and artistic that it''s highest cone-shaped towers were covered in clouds. The milky white old stones from which it was made are somewhat covered in moss and some vines while golden barred windows in each tower. the watchtowers of the castle that reflect the blue sky, it had arched doors that point to the heavens, elegant rainbows encircled it with appreciation to the craftsmanship of the castle, surroundings of the castle were nestled in a nest of trees in the valley of deep while green grass spread across the acres of empty land. Hearing the little girl calling him "brother", Don''s gaze was on the little girl and was just as surprised as Arrora and Uncle Dior. "Who are you and do you know me?" Don asked with a confused tone, he never saw this little girl before yet this girl behaving like they were close friends or something. "I am Catalie Lise Leavitt" the girl cheerfully introduced her and made a little curtsy touching her white skirt. "Catalie?" Don was a little surprised to hear such a name and guessed whoever named her must have some sort of weird sense of humor. ( the author hides his head lol) "Ahm ok, I''m Don and who are you again?" Don questioned the little girl as she answered with a bright innocent smile, to Don it seems the little girl''s smile was almost too innocent. "Oh silly me" the girl pinched her cheeks "I am the guardian of the castle you know keeping the bad guys away from it" the girl clenched her little fist and made a punching action. "Oh, I saw everything including father went overboard on beating you brother" as she said she stopped smiling and stared at Don with a concerned look. "Father? you mean the Dragon King" Uncle Dior asked in surprise from behind Don. "Yes Dragon King is for others for me its father" her previous joyful face turned replaced by a sad face. "Hey are you alright?" Arrora asked the little girl who was now looking very troubled. "Yeah but now I have a brother now so I don''t need that smelly old man" she said while pouting. "Don''t look confused brother, father said you would come and you did, I saw you battle with him" "Anybody could have battled with him" Uncle Dior said. "No father said only the one worthy can wake him although I didn''t know what he meant by worthy i''ll ask him when I see him again" the girl said and started to think about the worthy matter a while. When she said that, Arrora and Uncle Dior looked at each other, they didn''t have a soft approach to tell the girl that her father is dead even though she was just a projection. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Catalie your father is not coming back he''s dead" while Arrora and Uncle Dior thinking about whether to tell the girl or not, Don calmly broke the little girl''s heart. At the moment she heard Don, the girl''s eyes went wide, her face turned red they could see the tears forming in her eyes as she violently shook her little head "No no no father is not dead why would you say that brother I just saw him with you" the girl started to cry while Don let out a sigh and said "You said you saw everything right? Then didn''t you hear him saying that it was just a piece of soul he left behind" Catalie heard everything Dragon King said but she didn''t want to admit or rather she couldn''t. "Don why did you tell her that she''s just a little girl" Uncle Dior got a little angry at Don for telling her that her father died like a simple matter. "Catalie when did you last see your father beside not with Don a moment ago?" Arrora asked with a sweet motherly voice seeing the crying little girl. "It was...when father put me to sleep" "And how long ago was that" Arrora asked as the little girl thought about it but she shook her heads showing she was unable to tell. "Uncle Dior how long ago since the Dragon King you know?" Arrora didn''t say the word died to not hurt the little girl further. "Nearly seven hundred years give or take" when the little girl heard Uncle Dior her eyes went wide in shock "You were sleeping all that time Catalie? I thought you were guarding the Castle" Arrora stepped forward and stood beside Catalie and asked. "I don''t know I was only supposed to wake up only any intruders broke the defense parameters" Catalie said as she was still crying and weeping. "But we didn''t break anything and why did you call Don as brother?" Catalie looked at Don like she has something to tell but couldn''t "I..I don''t know...father told me I have a new brother or sister when I woke up that''s all" For a moment everyone stood silently the only sound they heard was the crying of the little girl. "Look Cat I''m sure your father had his reasons for not telling you and we all lose something we love you just have to learn to live with it" Don said to the little girl and started to walk towards the castle, he knew the little girl was heartbroken but she has to learn to live with it if she wants to be around him because this world won''t show mercy to anyone it''s a cruel place for an innocent girl like her. Catalie had nothing to say as she just followed him behind with Arrora and Uncle Dior. After a long walk, they eventually reached the front door of the castle, the arched door was as tall as a two-story building and it was engraved with two Dragons at each side of the door. When they came in front of the door, it made a heavy rumble sound and slowly started to open as the dust as well as the dirt began to drop down from the cracks of the door. What was on the other side of the door was a green garden which looked like emerald fields while it was split open by a water pond and top of it was a pathway to the inner castle made of which looked like marble. The closer they got to the pathway they realized the castle was not maintained at all since the grass fields grew out the shape and the water pond was full of dirty water and leaves and all sorts of specks of dirt floating on it. Seeing the expression of Catalie Don realized that this was surprising to her just like to him. Eventually, the four of them reached the inner castle and the doors made the same heavy rumbling and slowly opened to let them into the main hall. Before them, stood magnificent braziers surrounding each of the fourteen ivory pillars light up the entire throne hall and paint the hall a range of yellows and oranges. The paintings of legendary Dragons on the oblique ceiling dance in the flickering light while memorials and marble icons look down upon the porcelain floor of this marvelous hall. A delicate red rug runs from the throne down the center and loops back from both left and right while Dragon banners with burnished corners decorate the walls. Between each banner hangs a lantern, almost all of them have been lit and in turn illuminate the artistic depictions of divine beings below them. Elegant, stained glass windows depicting various designs and drawings are shrouded by draperies colored the same carmine as the banners. The curtains have been adorned with decorated tips and gilded linings At the end of the hall a grand throne of marble sits in front of a giant painting of the Black and Red Dragon and is adjoined by four similar, but undecorated seats for visiting dignitaries. The throne is covered in hallowed engravings and fixed on each of the elegant armrests was a sapphire Dragon. The thin pillows are a dark cardinal and these too have been adorned with decorated corners. Those listening to their King can do so on the few decorated, but somewhat uncomfortable brass benches, all of which are lined up perfectly symmetrical. Those of higher standing can instead take a seat in the extravagant mezzanines overlooking the hall. "Holy" Uncle Dior dropped his jaw and let out a small yelp seeing the extravagant of the hall. Don began to walk towards his seat the throne followed by Arrora, Uncle Dior and Catalie but before he gets closer a projection similar to Catalie appeared before him it was the Dragon King''s. "Welcome ta me castle me successor if ye be seeing this I''m probably gone an'' ye passed me test unlike tha soul part ye faced this be just a recording so dinna ask questions I made this recording ta tell ye something" "Father" Catalie reached out her hands towards the projection while others stood without talking. "being me successor means yu have great power but great power comes with great responsibility like me people said use this place ta increase your strength an'' your army''s ye cant do everything by yourself ye need loyal subordinates, this be why I left ye Catalie Lise Leavitt... don''t ask me why I named her that though haha" The Dragon King started laughing when he said the little girl''s name and he looked like he was reminiscing about something in the past. "she was me greatest creation an'' look after her well an'' little girl I made ye sleep because i did nae have tha guts ta leave ye alone in this place for so long, tha real guardian job o'' yours starts now I''m proud o'' ye, help me successor in every way ye can girl an'' remember I always be proud o'' ye " As he said that the projection slowly faded away, however Catalie didn''t cry as before. Hearing the Dragon King Catalie found her goal assisting Don in his path to become King she was going to do just that from now on. "Don what now?" Uncle Dior asked after staying quiet for a moment. "It''s time to put the plan into action" 28 The Hunt begins "Cat do you have any way to teleport people into this place?" Don wanted to test this place whether it''s only beauty or it has some functionalities he could use. Catalie didn''t take long to answer. "Yes brother father installed a powerful teleportation array we could use that why?" The answer Catalie gave made Don smile a little because now he had a safe way to transport everyone in the camp safely and discreetly to the castle. "Show me the way" Don said to Catalie and followed her to the teleportation Array, the array was not far away from the throne room it was just built adjacent to it although it was not big as the throne hall it was however very spacious. The Array was a gigantic circle that was engraved with magical runes and inside of the circle one could fit a minimum of two hundred people but there were some cracks on the arcs of the circle. "It seems like the array is damaged but we can use it a couple of times" Catalie said after inspecting the array for a moment. "It''ll do for now" It seemed the river of time took a toll on the castle and its functionalities but Don never thought he could get everything he asks so he didn''t mind it for now. "Cat can you leave this place?" Don asked. "No brother I can go anywhere in this dimension but outside of that I can''t I''m sorry" Catalie looked very uncomfortable when she realized she couldn''t help Don but in an instant, she had an idea. "But brother you can contact me anytime from anywhere using the Khals" As she said, Catalie projected a pair of small circular objects. "What is this?" "They are called Khals, we can use these to communicate with each other no matter where you are you just need to put it inside your ear" "And we have those in the castle?" Don asked in surprise because he knew it will provide him more help in the future as he wouldn''t need to physically be here to talk to Catalie to give orders or something. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Yes, we have those in the Magical Items room you wait here i''ll bring those in a jiffy" Catalie''s projection flickered and went out. "Don what do we do now?" Arrora asked Don while Uncle Dior still touching and feeling everything in the castle with sparkly eyes. "You two stay here" "What about you?" "I''ll go to the camp and bring everyone here" "Can''t you use the teleportation Array to bring them here without going there " "I don''t know this Array can do that even if it can how would they know i''m the one using the teleportation array Knight could simply use his teleportation scroll to run away the moment he saw something weird" Don never used a teleportation array like this before so he was not sure he could just beam the whole camp to be teleported here as he was thinking about it Catalie''s projection appeared before him again with the Khals floating beside her. "Here Brother take this and place it on your ear" one Khal floated towards Don as he took that one and carefully placed it on his right ear, when the Khal was touched his skin it suddenly vibrated and merged with his ear and disappeared. "Ahh" Arrora jerked and shouted in shock at the scene while Don touched his ear to make sure everything was alright. "Brother don''t worry the link-up process is completed now we can talk to each other without dimensional restrictions" "If I gave the Khals to some of my people I can talk to them also right?" "Yes of course I just have to link their Khal to yours and your connections will be verified " Don was happy to hear Catalie''s answer, he realized the amount of help the Castle and Catalie could provide him in his path to be a conqueror, now he only needed to bring Knight and the elves here to start building an army. "How is this teleportation Array work Cat?" "Uh it''s like this the Array was not completely finished as the array is still in its initial stage" as she said Catalie could see the confused look on Arrora''s face and thought about for a moment to make it sound simpler. "To simply say the ruler of the castle you must be in that precise area to teleport anyone or anything in that area into the castle..." "Alright" Don said. "When you want to initiate the teleportation just call my name and i''ll lock your coordinates and start the process it won''t take long" "Ok you two stay here" Don said to Arrora and Uncle Dior and walked towards the door while Catalie followed him behind like an obedient child, Uncle Dior obviously didn''t have any plan to disagree with him because he had enough flying in a single day while Arrora knew she would just be extra baggage to him if she wanted to follow him. After a few minutes, Don and Catalie reached the main gates away from Arrora and Uncle Dior. "Uh brother can I ask you something?" Catalie nervously asked Don. "Yes" Catalie was still couldn''t question him simply but eventually, she decided to quietly ask him "Brother the people you are going to teleport can you really trust them?" Don stopped walking when he heard Catalie and he stared at the nervous girl for a second. "Don''t worry if anyone tries to betray me I simply kill them" Don calmly said but he knew the elves wouldn''t betray him because they have no reason to and he won''t give anyone a chance to betray him because he doesn''t blindly trust them. Catalie was little shocked to hear him simply saying kill them as she was just a little girl and all of this was new to her as she was in shock she head Don before he disappeared into the dark portal, "Anyone can stab you in the back Cat you just have to not show your back to them" Catalie just stood there watching the portal while repeating his last words. ******************************* (Several hours ago) An old man with white hair was running towards a room in a manner, everyone''s face seeing the old man was pale they were shivering in fear. "Miss¡­.Miss Rosaline your...there is someone here to see you" the old man was none other than Jacob the butler of late Minister Bryan. When he heard Minister Bryan was murdered his heart was almost stopped beating he was unable to guess how someone could kill him in his own house that surrounded by hundreds of guards and five freaking great masters. But what made him nearly pee his pants was the scene Rosaline burned a group of drunken guards who were on patrolling duty when MInister Bryan was murdered, she and her team investigated everyone including him and turned every stone in the manner to find something about the killer and the half-elf. However, nobody had a single clue about how the killer past the defense parameter set by the great masters or how he escaped so rosaline''s team had no choice other than to report this and call for help from the capitol. Hearing Jacob Rosaline figured that someone from capitol already come to investigate the murder, she was little surprised at the speed the capitol responded to the report as she thought that the ugly pig was indeed someone important to the capitol but the thing bothered her at this moment was whether her teacher arrived here or not. "Lead the way" Rosaline didn''t show her troubles and thought on her face as she calmly said to Jacob. Jacob simply nodded and led Rosaline to the hallway to see the newcomers from the capitol. Every step towards the hallway made Rosalin''s heartbeat a bit faster, she didn''t want her teacher to see her at her miserable failure but her worst fear came true when she saw her teacher standing in the hallway looking at her. "Teacher" Rosaline respectively said and bowed her head seeing her teacher. Rosalin''s teacher was a well-built man with white hair, he wore a black robe engraved with silver linings and had moon tattoo on the center of his forehead. Beside her master stood one wrinkly old woman in white robes and a young man in blue robes which was engraved by magical runes which shined in the light around him, he was extremely handsome and had blue eyes which matched his robes perfectly but he had a slight resemblance to Rosaline. "Brother" seeing the young man Rosaline said in a respectful tone there was a tinge of embarrassment that could be found in her voice. "Rosaline before we proceed, meet my teacher Aqualis the greatest water mage" Rosalin''s brother introduced his teacher to Rosalin proudly as his voice was full of arrogance and pride. At the moment Rosalin heard the name Aqualis she was startled because she was a peak grandmaster mage just like her teacher but mage Aqaulis was older than her master and more powerful compared to her master, being her student is a great feat because she wouldn''t teach anyone but most talented magis, the cream of the crop so Rosaline realized her brother had the reason to act arrogantly as well as proudly before anyone. "Nice to meet you dear and I''m just a simple mage unlike Hayden described" Aqualis had no trace of arrogance or dominance Hayden showed, she really looked like a humble harmless person to Rosaline but she knew the appearance can be misleading. Rosaline bowed her head showing respect to Aqualis while her team came behind her and greeted both the teachers. "Enough pleasantries I gave you one simple job to do Rosaline one simple job" Rosalin''s teacher said, he was truly furious at Rosaline when he heard Minister Bryan was murdered, Rosaline was his star student but now she ashamed him thoroughly. "Don''t be angry at your student Sears everyone makes mistakes" Aqaulis interrupted Sears before he continues to vent his anger on Rosaline. "Not my student Mage Aqualis not in the simple job like this" This was the first time Rosalin being scolded in front of people in her entire life especially before her own brother but she realized its truly her fault and she deserves this. "Rosaline dear show us where Minister Bryan was killed" Aqualis knew the temper of her colleague so she didn''t try to cool him down as she decided to investigate the crime scene. Rosaline nodded and led them to Minister Bryan''s bedroom while Rosalin''s team followed them to the room. After a few moments, they reached the room. "Dear where did you say the killer come from?" Aqualis asked Rosaline but she didn''t look at her as she was scanning the room for something while Rosalin''s teacher Sears examined the dead body of Minister Bryan. "The killer came from by breaking the roof and directly jumping into the room" Rosaline said. "But the killer didn''t trigger your defense spell did he?" Aqualis asked. "No, the killer didn''t" it was a simple answer but it was what mostly bothered Rosaline how he evaded the spell. "It should be impossible to evade the spell I taught her" Sears said. "But the killer did now the question we should ask is how to find him or her " Aqualis said but there was a troubled look that emerged on her face for a moment. "Finding the killer would provide the answer for how did he evade the spell" Hayden got the point that his teacher meant. "But how can we find him?" Chase couldn''t help but ask Aqualis. "Dear I cand see there are two magical fluctuations in the room beside us right" Aqualis answered Chase''s question with another question. "Yes Minister Bryan''s and the Half-elf''s" Chase answered just when a smile appeared on Aqualis''s face. "So the one you need to find is that half-elf, find her you''ll find the killer" Aqualis said with confidence. "Teacher what if the killer killed that half-elf too" Hayden asked Aqualis. "If the killer intended to do that he would have done here why would the killer risk take her with him and then kill her" It made sense to everyone what Aqualis said, the killer could have simply killed her along with Minister Bryan and left her body. "I tried teacher Aqualis but the magical fluctuations were so weak, it disappeared after a few meters away from the manner" "Dear, you know what a magical fluctuation is? its a form of energy It''s like a fingerprint it''s unique to each person even if all of us use the same spell with same power one with experience and expertise could differentiate the magical fluctuations and find who used the spell" as she said that she made a sign in the air and a bubble wrapped the part magical fluctuations left by half-elf. "It would have been so much easier if you have done your job properly in the first place" Sears scolded Rosaline again but before she say anything he sighed continued "Its a tedious process but thankfully we have the sample of the magical fluctuations and knew whom it belonged to this makes it less tedious" Hearing this Rosaline was little glad to call for help because she knew if they took longer the magical fluctuations would become weaker and disappear. "Hayden send a note to every tracer in the capitol about this job and mention agreeing to the job will get a spot token in the examinations of Cold Moon Mansion and I Aqualis will personally owe them a favor if they successfully complete the job " Everyone in the room was shocked to hear the rewards of the job because it may seem simple token and favor but its a token which could earn them a spot in one of the best Magical school in the empire, some wealthy people spend millions of gold trying to buy a token for their daughters or sons. As for the favor its worth even more, a grandmaster teacher of a powerful titan like Cold Moon Mansion owing you favor could nearly get you anything, with a correct plan you can simply achieve what you want. "I''ll do it as you say teacher with this much of rewards even the best tracers in the empire will make this job their top priority and find the half-elf" "And the killer my child and the killer" as Aqaulis said with an evil smirk. 29 We Figh (presently) "Teacher Teacher you''ve got to hear this" a girl wearing glasses running towards a messy room, there were so many items, charts, and maps all over the place. "Slow down Arya you going to destroy my works" from the center of the messy room a middle-aged man in green robes said. However, the girl didn''t mind what the man said as she came closer to him and put a piece of paper in front of him blocking what he was doing. "Arya!!" the man shouted at her in annoyance and grabbed the paper while the girl was grinning with excitement. "Teacher read it read it" she was urging the man to read the paper as he was still concentrating on his work without paying much attention to her for a moment but seeing Arya''s look he finally chose to read the paper. "Alright jeez what is it?" the man searched through the stuff on his table for something as Arya rolled her eyes and took the glasses out of his robe pocket. "Ah teacher here''s your glasses it was in your pocket" as she said, the man took the glasses from her hands and put it on with a gentle smile. When the man looked at the paper to read his gentle smile had been replaced by an irritating look and he tore the paper and threw it away. Seeing her teacher tearing the paper Arya almost coughed up blood in shock "Teacher what the hell are you doing? Do you know what that is? Opportunity a golden stuffing opportunity" "I want nothing to do with that Cold Moon Mansion or that sly old woman" The man said and started to focus on his work again, he was building something there were nuts and bolts as well as some weird liquids on his table. Arya sighed and looked at his teacher and the messy room they were in, "Teacher I know you hate that place but we need money to conduct our experiments, you are the best tracer in the empire but look around you... we are so poor" The man in front of her was indeed the best tracer in the empire, he spent almost all his life researching about magic energy and the various other energies rather than playing detective for powerful places like Cold Moon Mansion because of that nobody realized his potential except Arya. "Arya I don''t do this for money I want to achieve something greater...one day I''ll let them know my idea''s and researches are not crazy and make them pay for kicking me out and treating me like a mad man especially that Cold Moon Mansion" He could still remember the days he was thrown out of the front door of the Cold Moon Mansion, like a crazy person when he presented his theories to them, they called him the mad magi Benedict and made fun of him. The only person believed him and his theories were Arya because she was far more genius than the rest of the world who labeled him as a crazy person. "Look Arya I know my achievement is not far away, this is it" as he said he took a small umbrella-like object "This energy detecter is picked up an energy signature far stronger than the magic energy days ago! you were there right" Benedict''s eyes were brimming with excitement while he said that. "But teacher it might have been also some kind of mistake or fault in the detecter" Arya was in fact there when the detecter picked up the energy signature it was out of the charts yet she found it hard to believe that such powerful energy existed, it was even more powerful than the magic energy. "No I''m absolutely positive it came from the direction of the south..." but at the moment he said south he had a sudden realization. "Arya this job where did it come from?" he was looking at Arya for an answer like a Dog waiting for its meal, as seeing the weird expression of her teacher Arya squinted her eyes and said "It came from the slave city why?" When he heard the answer Benedict''s lips curved up and his face show was brightened "Yes this must be it, the energy the detecter picked, came from the south now that sly woman sending a job to trace energy also from the south its not a coincidence it can''t be" "Hmm the rewards did seem a bit over the top and thinking about it it seems something weird going on the south" Arya agreed with Benedict after pondering about the issue for a moment. "Arya you still have your friend working at the Ministry right?" "Yeah Sherine why?" but before Benedict answer her question she already found out why on her own. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "You want me to ask her more about the job isn''t it?" Hearing Arya, Benedict started to laugh and rummaged through his stuff "Yes do whatever it takes and get her to tell what''s so important about this job that the old woman herself giving the job, and then pack your stuff we are going to the south" ********************************* Don was flying to the camp without stopping yet it took almost half a day to reach the camp. The moment he reached the camp the first thing he did was checked and scanned the ground for any threats but thankfully the camp seemed peaceful as he left. "Don you back" as he landed Knight came to greet him with a cheerful face then Arrora and Arwen came to receive him. "Don what happened did you find the castle?" Arrora couldn''t stop her curiosity when she saw Don. "Yes" Don calmly said like it was nothing but the moment Arwen and Amaryll heard him they yelped even the usually quiet Arwen but Knight didn''t react like them because he believed in Don to accomplish this task. "You all need to pack your things we are going now" even before Amaryll and Arwen could come back from the shock of him finding the castle he gave them another shock. "What?!!" Amaryll shouted in surprise while Knight rolled his eyes and said "Why are you acting surprised didn''t we plan to move there when we found that place?" When Amaryll heard Knight she closed her opened mouth and gave him a death stare. Don ignored the two of them and looked at Arwen "Arwen destroy the huts and everything you''ve made" Don said. Arwen did not need any explanation for the order he was given because he knew a single clue could reveal their enemies that they have stayed here so he just nodded and went back to do his work while Don turned to look at Amaryll and Knight. "Knight help Arwen and make sure we don''t leave anything behind and Amaryll bring back everyone here After Knight and Arwen have done with their work" Amaryll wanted to ask him more about his adventure but seeing his cold expressionless face she decided that before she finishes her job she wouldn''t get anything from him so she went back to gather the elves. It took nearly an hour to destroy the clues and gather the elves around in one place. The elves other than Amaryll, Arwen and Elrond had no idea what was going on, they were very confused but they trusted Arwen and Amaryll so they went along with them. When Don saw the faces of the elves he decided to give them some idea about what is he going to do. "I know most of you don''t know whats going on but you''ll know everything very soon" as he said he made the connection to Catalie in the castle through the Khal. "Hello Brother is everything alright?" Catalie''s childish voice had heard in his ears. "Yes Cat I''m all set, activate the teleportation array" Amaryll, Arwen and even Knight looked at Don confusedly and wondered about who is this Cat he was talking to and how. "Ok brother I''ve locked on your coordinates there are 132 people beside you including you and a magical beast" "Activate it" Don ordered Catalie after confirming there were indeed 132 people around him. "Teleportation process begins 1...2...3" At the moment she said three, a powerful strange beam appeared from the skies as Amaryll closed her eyes when she saw the bright light, the beam enveloped them and in a second it disappeared along with them, there was nothing not even a single person could be found where they''ve stood a second ago. Amaryll was tightly clutching Arwen''s hands when she slowly opened her eyes. She was standing in a spacious room and before her was a projection of a little girl in a white dress. This is the first time in a long time they were seeing or being inside of a room and for some of the elves, this is the first time ever including Arwen and Amaryll. "Welcome to the Castle of Dragon King everyone" the girl in white dress happily said and floated towards Don to be beside him. At the moment they heard the words Dragon King the elves began to chitter-chatter and looked afraid as well as shocked. Don didn''t mind the elves "Follow me" he just simply said and made his way to the throne room followed by Knight, where Arrora and Uncle Dior were waiting for them. Elves stood there for a moment but as soon as they saw Arwen and Amaryll following Don they chose to follow them. Eventually, the elves including Arwen, Amaryll, and Elrond reached the throne room and saw Arrora and Uncle Dior beside Don who was standing in front of a majestic throne like a king looking down on them. "Cat show them what the Dragon King said" Don was thinking about how to convince the elves to join his army willfully from the moment he found the castle and finally found a way when Catalie said she recorded the battle and the whole thing that happened after that just in case. What''s better than actually showing what the Dragon King himself said he thought. Catalie nodded her small head and raised her hand as a beam came out of her palm and projected what happened from the moment Don met the Dragon king. The elves were terrified when they saw the Dragon King and shivering in fear, while the projection of battle came everyone was startled and shocked and looked at Don with a mix of respect and admiration even when he was beaten to death by the Dragon King. "Son of a" however when Knight saw Don was beaten like this by the Dragon King, he was furious at the Dragon King then after a moment when he saw Dragon King helped him by opening the space ring to provide him the healing potion he calmed a little. After a few minutes, the projection ended and the elves stood there trembling in fear, their skins turned pale. There was only one thing going on their head, it was the great war the Dragon king mentioned. "Now you all know what is going to happen" Don broke the silence in the hall and continued "The bandit attack you''ve faced was actually orchestrated by Minister Bryan in Slave city and a powerful mysterious mage" Every word he said was like pouring ice-cold water on them. "The peaceful life you had till then was over, now you have two options before you first, you can choose not to fight and die or enslaved in the war or in the hands of the mysterious mage" Don made sure to highlight the word ''Enslaved'' when he talked because he knew about the proud nature of the elves, they would die rather than being a slave. "The other option is you choose to fight, fight for your lives fight for your freedom fight for your future and children" Don tried to rekindle the fire within them by his words and gladly his tactics seemed to work as a little determination appeared in their eyes. "I don''t know when the mysterious mage going to make his move or when is the great war is coming but what I know is if we don''t fight we die or would be sold like toys to be played with" just when he said that even the female elves looked determined to fight because they knew about the reality of slavery and imagined themselves as slaves for a moment, of course he could see some cowardly elves in the group but he won''t force them yet. "So are you going to follow me to fight or die like cowards?" even before he could finish the chorus of the elves reverberated the hall "We fight!!" most of the elves didn''t stop, they shouted with all their strength including little Elrond. Seeing the elves like this made him a little happy because now he could really turn them into a deadly force. "Brother what now?" seeing the chorus of the elves Catalie asked Don quietly "Catalie we have a training room right?" 30 Hellish Training The Training Room was huge and had dummies, punching bags, martial arts wooden dummies and all the things needed for training, the walls of the room were made of some strong metal-like material to withstand heavy blows and there was a stage built on the end of the room to observe the training more clearly. According to Catalie, this room was just a training room specially designed for physical combat and there were also other rooms, that were especially used for spell casting training as well as more complex training regiments. There were 58 male 47 female 27 children in the elven camp yet the ones joined in Don''s army were only 47,25 male and 22 female including Amaryll. With Arrora, Knight, and Elrond Don now had a 50 member army but except Knight, he knew without training others could only act as cannon fodder on the battlefield, because of that and nobody around to train them Don and Knight themselves involved in personally training the elves. "Alright everyone, gather around" Don jumped on the stage and looked down at the elves gathering before him, only Knight and Arrora stood beside him as Arwen, Elrond and Amaryll were on the front of the crowd while Amaryll shivering and avoiding eye contact with Don while he spoke. "You all are weak as ants not even a single Apprentice level magi among you" Don decided to give them a harsh reality check before starting the training. The elves didn''t seem like being called ants but they couldn''t voice their disagreement because the battle between him and Dragon King was etched into their memories, even though he was beaten he actually fought for some time, they wouldn''t even have the guts or strength to last a second. "A little magical fox can kill the current you much less a bandit or human" As he said Knight beside him had a good chuckle over that which was further embarrassed the elves. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "The training here will be like hell and this is the last chance to retreat from the hell you are going to walk into" Even though he was saying that the elves didn''t back off, the elves before him had a determination to fight, noticing nobody had backed off Don and Knight were a little happy. "Good, now I want you to remember the day you faced the bandits, how you were beaten and captured like animals" at the moment he said that many of the elves started to tremble but some of them clenched their fists in anger. "You are all weak" Don said and looked at the elves for a moment. "But you are also born with nimble bodies" The elves may be helpless in physical strength but they were quick in movement or action because of the environment they were born in and lived. "So your training will have two parts, first you''ll do physical exercises to increase your overall strength" As he said that Knight became very happy for some reason and grinned an evil smile looking at the elves. "Then you''ll be trained at what you can do best" he paused for a moment and said "Archery" In a blink of an eye, a week went by. Uncle Dior traveled and explored most of the rooms and facilities in the castle with Catalie except for the training room. After Don started the training he wanted to check it out but when he got closer to the training room and peeked at the room, he was shocked at the scene that welcomed him, there was blood and sweat everywhere as well as broken arrows, bows. The only sound he heard in the room was an evil laughing sound of Knight along with the cries of his fellow elves. At the moment he saw that he knew why Arwen and Amaryll were shouting in their sleep. At the moment, Don was standing under a tree with a branch in his hands before him, lay down on the ground was Arrora and some feet away from her was the sword Don gave her. Catalie was looking at the half-elf with pitiful eyes, there were red marks on her body caused by the stick of branch Don was holding. "Stand up pick up the sword" Don said but there was nothing in his voice no mercy nor pitifulness. Arrora never thought her training going to be this devilish when Don broke a branch of the tree to train her sword arts on the first day of her training, At the moment she felt like she was being underestimated. But soon she got to know the reality, she couldn''t even land a hit on him using her sword but with the simple stick, he beat her like a dog for a week. "I told you I''m not going to be gentle with you because you are a woman" Don said and looked at the struggling half-elf on the ground. "Don''t underestimate me!!" Arrora gritted her teeth and gathered all of her strength to stand up, at this point all she wanted was to hit him at least once. "Brother, your training is too merciless " Catalie said as Arrora finally stood up and picked the sword to fight again. Don didn''t mind Catalie, "You are fighting using the sword, not with the sword, treat the sword as an extension of your arm" just when he said that Arrora leaped towards him to attack but Don just simply dodged the attack and landed a hit on her back. "Don''t be impulsive and emotions control your movements" this time he didn''t wait for her to attack but he made the move and hit her again. "Your stance, your movements are all wrong, you are trying to mimic my movements but you are a woman" Arrora got angry every time he said ''woman'' as she thought it as he mocking her or underestimating her. "Your body shape influences you" he hit her hips with his stick, Arrora couldn''t stand after being hit by him again because she was very tired and exhausted. Seeing her falling on the ground, Don didn''t continue further as he started to walk away while he said one last thing before leaving her. "Anyone can wield a sword and kill but not anyone can be a swordsman" Eventually, Don reached the throne room and sat on his throne as Knight came to him and sat on his own seat beside Don. "Knight, how is training?" Don asked yawing Knight. "Yeah although they are weak they are quiet hard working...from tomorrow I''ll start training them using the Asura Archer Book" It''s the same Asura Archer Book that Elrond trained with, the book had 10 volumes in total, anyone can master the techniques described in the book till the volume 4 if they put enough hard work but after volume four they need battle energy and higher cultivation level to progress further. Another month passed away like a wind. ***************************** "Arya wake up!! wake up!!" Benedict shaking the sleepy Arya violently, Arya slowly opened her blanket and rubbed her eyes to see her teacher. Even in this darkness, Arya was able to see the excitement on Benedict''s face in the moonlight. "Teacher, what are you doing?" Arya asked Benedict in an exhausted voice because she was tired searching for the mysterious energy in the outer lands. "Arya the detected its picked up the energy signature again its¡­ it''s coming from that direction" he showed the device which was making some weird noise and flickering. When Arya witnessed the device''s doing her sleepiness disappeared in a second as she too couldn''t hold her excitement, her eyes started to sparkle with excitement. "Oh my god! What is this energy?" Arya shouted in shock and surprise. "Soon we''ll find it come on let''s go now" Benedict urged Arya to pack her belongings but Benedict didn''t have to tell her because she already rolled up her blanket and put on her glasses to get going. "Teacher I''ll go notice Ronan and his group about this" After a few moments, Arya walked towards a group who was sitting around the campfire and drinking, there were six of them one had a long beard and a long deep cut on his face he was well built, beside him were three men and two women. One of the three men was a bold paper-thin old man, the other two men beside the old man were two young men one had long brown hair while the other had short spiky black hair. They were chatting and laughing with two red-haired women in black mage robes. "Miss Arya I thought you were sleeping?" the long-bearded man said when he saw Arya walking towards them carrying her backpack. "I was Mr.Ronan but we have to go now" Arya said to the bearded man, the man was surprised as he said. "In the middle of the night? Where?" Arya pointed the far away distance, if Uncle Dior was here he would find that she''s pointing towards the direction of the castle of Dragon King. "I won''t urge you if it''s not important Mr.Ronan but we have to go like now" Arya said and stared at them to get moving as Ronan sighed and stood up. "Alright you are the boss, let''s go team" Ronan said to his teammates. *************************** (two days after) "Brother what are they doing there?" Catalie asked Don looking at the projection of the group of people roaming near their territory. Don was not worried about this group, his face didn''t show any emotion like always because he knew without his permission nobody could step into this dimension but what bothered him was how did they find come closer to the place where the entrance to the dimension located. Arwen, Amaryll, Arrora all of them could see the projection, the group of people just battled with the mid master level python, one of the women in the group was injured by the python as she was clutching her bleeding abdomen while a bearded man angrily arguing with a man and a girl wearing glasses. "You!! Where the hell did you bring us?" Ronan never thought this job would become like this, the more they walked in the direction Arya showed them, the more ominous and freakier the forest became. They only had little rest past two days as they were rushed to this hell of a place, the tall giant trees, the poisonous plants and all sorts of insects and magical beasts filled this location. The group fought many beasts in their adventures but never faced any beasts in a place like this, normally they would defeat even a peak master level beast with their superior coordination as a team but this time the thick forest had disrupted their teamwork and the python was in its home ground so it had the most advantage and ambushed them. What''s worse was the injured member of his adventure party is the healer, the python obviously knew about this as it targeted her first. After a long battle, they finally killed the python but the team was exhausted and injured, simply this job was gone way out of their payment. "You...You knew about the risks in this job" Arya had a bad feeling when she saw the face of Ronan as something bad was going to happen. "Hell I didn''t know you bring us to this ominous place, look at us! We are in the middle of nowhere and my team was nearly killed by that bloody python" "Im...I''m sorry" Arya said. "Sorry!! You''re sorry?!! Bitch you''re going to pay for all the troubles you put us through" as he was saying Arya saw the bald old man come beside Ronan and whispered something into his ears. "What you want?" Benedict asked Ronan who now had a devilish grin on his face. "No much just a couple of thousand gold coins more than we bargained, let''s just say five thousand" Ronan said but he was staring top to bottom at Arya. "What!?" both Benedict and Arya shouted at the same time when they heard Ronan. "You going to pay with gold or" Ronan paused and licked his lips "Pay us using Ms. Arya" "I was hoping for a different kind of villains but it turns out they were just another group of run of the mill scumbags" Knight said from beside Don looking at the projection and his face was full of disappointment. "Let''s wait and see how our trainees deal with them" 31 The Arrival "Don''t you dare" Benedict came in front of Arya and shielded her when he heard Ronan. Seeing Benedict''s action, Ronan shook his head and looked at the young men beside him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Boys" as Ronan said the two young men started to walk towards Benedict and Arya, Benedict was doing his best to not show his fear on his face while Arya rummaged through the dirt beneath her and grabbed a wooden stick to defend herself. The two young men laughed mockingly when they saw Arya taking a stick to defend herself while Benedict had nothing but an empty fist. "Mr.Benedict if you cooperate with us like a good dog we may let you take a turn with Ms.Arya before we kill you" Away from the two young men Ronan said with the devilish grin on his face. From the moment he laid eyes on Arya, he was fallen for her but not in the good old love because of that he agreed to this mission without any questions and for a minimum amount of payment. He always planned to play along with them to complete the mission and get paid and get laid but he never thought they would actually face death in this horrible place. His team ventured into the outer land''s forests many times thus he led Arya and Benedict through safer ways avoiding the magical beasts but this is the first time they had ventured this deep into the forest and they paid for it. "I will kill you" Benedict''s eyes were red in anger as he leaped towards Ronan ignoring the two young men, however at that moment he felt extreme pain in his stomach and fell down. "Teacher!" Arya screamed when her teacher got punched in the guts but it didn''t stop at that as one of the two men kicked Benedict''s face with a force, Benedict''s mouth sprayed blood because of the kick as well as it caused his face to swollen, he started to feel the dizziness and overwhelming pain as the man kicked him again and again while Arya screaming and shouting at him. "Get it over with Hela already lost so much blood" the woman in the group urged Ronan and the young men. "Can''t she heal herself she''s a healer after all" Ronan retorted at the woman as the woman picked a little stone and threw at him. "She would have if she didn''t use all her magic power to heal you idiots" the woman said in anger and irritation while holding her friend in her arms. "Alright alright jeez Rina, men kill Mr.Benedict and capture my little flower, Ms. Arya" The two men and also the bald old man had a weird evil grin on their face when they heard Ronan. However at that moment, a sudden rustle noise came around them like something was running around in the dark forest. The group startled by the sudden change in their surroundings as they looked around with fear and bewilderment on their face. "Old man you said there are no magical beasts around the area anymore" Ronan was angry but he didn''t shout as he whispered to the old man with gritted teeth. The two young men stopped beating Benedict and took out their swords and scanned their environment. Arya didn''t mind what''s happening around her as she rushed forward and knelt beside Benedict and wiped the blood on his face with her clothes. The rustling sound became closer and closer towards the group but they could also see some shadow figures running very fast in the dark forest before them. "Who''s there? show...show yourselves" Ronan swallowed his saliva in nervousness and fear, only he didn''t get any answers but a whoosh sound. After a second, a thud sound like something heavy fallen to the ground followed the ''whoosh'' sound, "Ahhhhhhhh!" Arya''s scream in fear reverberated the forest as Ronan and his group immediately turned to look at her to see the blood-covered face of her and beside her on the ground was the body of the young man with a nearly destroyed skull, his body was still slightly twitching and blood flowing to the ground. "Mi..." other young man just realized that his buddy was dead and lying on the ground and called out his name in instinct but before he fully said his name another ''whoosh'' came followed by the same thud sound. Ronan quickly reacted when the second ''whoosh'' and saw an arrow piercing Jackey''s head and destroys it, seeing this Ronan''s fighter instincts kicked in and he turned to look up at the trees to locate the source of the arrow. After carefully looking at the trees he found a small human-shaped figure but it disappeared by leaping to another tree in the thick forest. "Shit shit shit we are going to die in this godforsaken place" the old man started to tremble and shake in fear. "Do something" the woman holding the bleeding healer, Rina trembled. "There''s nothing to do except dying" a feminine voice answered her question. Ronan and his remaining teammates looked at the direction the voice coming to see a woman in a white dress slowly walked towards them from the dark forest, Ronan couldn''t clearly see the face of the woman but he could vaguely see her slightly pointy ears and a silver sword in her hands. Arya was now sitting on the ground near the woman that came out of the forest, she could see the woman gazing at her and her teacher and turned to look at Ronan. Seeing the woman alone made Ronan a little relaxed but before he breathed a sigh another figure came forward and stood beside the woman, the person was holding a bow and aiming at the old man. Rina was a long distant combat mage so she tried to cast a spell using the darkness as a cover however a pointy metal touched her back of the head making her stop casting the spell. "Who are you woman? What do you want?" Ronan didn''t show his fear or anger in his voice because he knew the odds were stacked against him also he didn''t want to use his life-saving item yet. "Let us go and we''ll forget everything that happened" Ronan said. "What do I want? Not much just your life" the woman started to move towards him while her sword let out bright light, just as Ronan took out his spear from his back to fight. Everyone stood still except the woman and Ronan who were fighting with all their might but the others could see the woman getting the upper hand of the battle, they had never seen such sword skills from anyone. "Ah!" the woman made a deep cut on Ronan''s shoulder, she was breaking his defense and cutting him as the time went by, Ronan realized he couldn''t win the battle as he received another kick to his gut from the woman and when he held his gut with one hand, the back of her sword hit his face and made him fall to the ground, blood was flowing through his wounds and nose. "Ronan" Rina and the old man shouted when they saw Ronan fall on the ground however after a second a weird smile appeared on Ronan''s face and he decided to use his item after all. "Good very good, you are the one who made me use this bitch" As he said he took something out of his pockets and swallowed it, the woman stepped towards him to attack but a force field around Ronan stopped her from attacking. "He...he''s breaking through" Arya mumbled when she saw the light around Ronan''s body, the magical fluctuations around his body were rocketing as Ronan let out a laugh like a mad man. "Hahaha, the effects of the crimson pill are truly magnificent although it only lasts for thirty minutes it''s more than enough time to deal with you all! Bitch, you are very lucky to die on the hands of the great master" "Haha, Ronan I knew you had something" the old man laughed seeing Ronan moving towards the woman to attack. Ronan didn''t mind the old man as he started to slash and stab at the woman using his spear, the woman dodged and evaded most of his attacks but he could see the woman getting exhausted and tired as his attacks started to land on her. "Oh, I''m going to enjoy killing you" Ronan devilishly smiled and started to attack her aggressively. The woman tried her best to dodge his attacks but finally, Ronan landed a big hit on her that made her body flew away a few feet and land beside Arya. Arya wanted to help the woman but suddenly the detector started to flicker as well as made the weird sound again. Seeing this Ronan halted his movements and stared at the device. At that moment a thunderous roar came from above him. Despite his injuries, Benedict looked at the device with excitement and teary eyes then looked at the direction of where the device pointed towards however he didn''t need to look further as a majestic winged lion descended on the ground between the woman in white and Ronan. "It''s...It''s the energy it''s coming from it" Arya stuttered seeing the winged Lion. "You dumb idiot" only a three simple words came from Lion''s mouth yet that made everyone around it tremble in fear because only a grandmaster beast can actually talk like a human, Ronan''s initial evil sile faded away as he began to shiver before the Lion who was now slowly stepping towards him as the lion''s body got bigger and bigger and matched Ronan''s height. Seeing the terrifying winged Lion, Ronan''s heart started to beat faster and his body became stiff due to the overwhelming fear. "You don''t give all the details about an item you use in the battle to your opponent, idiot " "Wha" but before Ronan could reply to the Lion, others around him saw the lion''s front paw slapping Ronan''s face and make his head rotate for a moment. And finally, his head stopped rotating after a moment as his lifeless body hit the ground. 33 Dwarves After a brief conversation with Knight, Don went to do his routine works which are training the elves and Arrora. When they were alone, Catalie wondered and asked Don why is he training her this much but Don didn''t give her an answer however he had his own reasons. "Cat how are all these elves doing? Any progress on their magic levels?" Don asked Catalie standing on the stage while watching the elves'' training. "There are some elves who broke through to Apprentice level and oh Arwen is on the threshold to reach peak Apprentice level thanks to the magic stones you gave" Catalie said enthusiastically. In this world, magic stones were used to speed up the cultivation of magic. When the magic energy would condense in some random places called repositories, then it would be mined using various methods to get the magic stones, the repositories were very scarce in the empire because of that they were extremely valuable, usually the kingdom which had a repository could become a superpower in every aspect compared to those who hadn''t. Thankfully the Dragon King left him a huge amount of stones which he called ''some'' helped some elves he trusted to level up quickly. "Arrora" Don called the half-elf training a few meters away from him, she was sweating as her white dress almost drenched in sweat, Don could see she was exhausted doing all the physical exercises he taught her yet Arrora never showed her tiredness or exhaustion before him while she was walking towards him. "Take a day off" "No I''m fine I can train more" Arrora''s voice had a tinge of anxiousness to it because she thought Don was disappointed in her battle with Ronan but Don stopped her from talking further. "You''ll start your next phase of training from tomorrow you need your strength, take a rest" Catalie was shocked to hear instead of Arrora, the little girl had seen the torturous beating the half-elf got from Don in the name of training every day for past few months, but now he said he''s going to take the training to next level and she wondered how brutal it''s gonna be. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Arrora knew she couldn''t say anymore when she saw the resolve in his eyes so she just nodded and wiped away the sweat with her hands. "And unless you want to question your enemy, you should always go for the kill asap" Don gave her a piece of advice before leaving the training hall which made her realize that she should have killed Ronan quickly, she guessed from Don''s tone he already knew that she had prolonged the fight to test her skills which given him the chance to use the red pill that nearly killed her. Seeing his figure fading away Arrora breathed a sigh and prepared herself to face another hellish training from to tomorrow and made her way towards her room to get one last good night''s sleep. The morning time in Dragon King''s castle was as beautiful as God''s land as the chirping of the birds as well as the colorful wildflowers on the emerald green grassland; it was simply a breathtaking view. "Cat did you know anything about Dragon King''s people?" Don was taking a morning stroll on his lands along with Knight and Catalie while the elves were training and cultivating. "No, but I remember him mentioning a guardian or something" Catalie answered after pondering her mind for an answer. "Alright Catalie gather everyone at the throne room in a moment and ask Uncle Dior to meet me here now" "As you wish brother" as she said her projection disappeared in a flash leaving Knight and Don alone. "You are planning to return to the outer lands, aren''t you?" Knight asked. "There''s nothing to do here except watching the elves training" "You''re wrong my friend, we need to expand our small army, build some weapons like in Divine Continent, and hell we need some people to do farming or whatever the crap they do to produce some food, we can live without food but others can''t " Knight explained while looking at the vast empty fertile land before him. "You think I''m planning to flirt with some girl in the outer lands?" Don seriously said but Knight felt the little bit of ridicule in his voice. "Nah you just can''t, not with that stone face of yours" Knight chuckled happily thinking about his reply. "Only fools would chase beauties Knight, real men chase power with power you can buy the beauties" "Glad we''re on the same side" Knight laughed proudly when he heard Don and patted his back with his wings. After a few moments of discussion between Don and Knight, Uncle Dior came with Catalie to meet Don. Uncle Dior saw Don and Knight''s back as they were looking at the green land before them. "Don Knight" Uncle Dior slightly lowered his head to show respect to the ruler of this land as well as his trusty sidekick. Don and Knight stopped talking and turned to look at Uncle Dior when they heard him. Knight could see Uncle Dior gained some weight and looked happy compared to the time he first met him and he was happy to see the attitude of this half-elf had changed towards them. "Uncle Dior, what do you know about Dragon King''s people?" Uncle Dior was surprised to hear such a question "You mean the dwarves?" as he said Don saw a slight enmity appeared in his eyes when he mentioned ''Dwarves'' "Yes" At that moment Arrora walked towards them looking for Don but when she saw he was talking to Uncle Dior she just stood away from them before Don nodded towards her to come to join with them. "Those grumpy bastards, why are you asking about them?" Uncle Dior seemed to be very irritated and upset. "You know why" Don didn''t seem to care about anything as he simply said. Uncle Dior was not ignorant, of course he knew why. He heard that Dragon King asked Don to help his people, the dwarves and it seems Don decided to do just that. Seeing Don Uncle Dior realized he has to tell him about those grumpy bastards, there was no way to back off from this. Uncle Dior heavily sighed and began to talk "During my travels, I heard those bastards were hiding in the Barren Hills" But before Don could say anything Uncle Dior asked the question that bothers him even though he guessed the answer. "But you''re not planning to bring them here right?" The answer he received from Don made him very uncomfortable. "Yes" "Why? you can''t trust those bastards they are dumb as hell, hotheaded, smelly and I could think of a hundred reasons like this" While Uncle Dior cursing and disagreeing with him, Don noticed that Arrora seems like she wanted to tell something but she hadn''t the courage to interfere. "Arrora if you have something to say, say it '''' Don ordered Arrora, she was startled a bit but she chose to share her opinions with the group as he said. "I don''t know why Uncle Dior hate the dwarves but" before Arrora could finish Uncle Dior intercepted her "But what?" however he gulped his words when he saw Don raised his hands to stop him from saying anything else. "They are also very skilled in building things and crafting not to mention their battle prowess" Hearing Arrora''s claims Uncle Dior couldn''t disagree with her because the things she said were all true about those grumpy bastards. "It''s settled then you''ll show us the way to his Barren Hills" Knight said and ended the discussion. Uncle Dior sighed and started to walk away before he asked one last question "What if they don''t want to come?" Arrora looked at Don to see his answer for this question as Don calmly said. "I don''t think they are in the position to refuse any help" After that Uncle Dior said nothing as made his way to the castle, "Arrora take this" Don flicked his wrist and a blue color potion and a scroll appeared in his hands from his space ring, they floated towards Arrora while she looked at them without touching them. "Drink two drops in the morning and evening, train as stated by the scroll while I''m away" "Ok" Arrora said as she grabbed the potion and the scroll. "Let''s go meet with the others" In the throne room, everyone including Benedict and Arya was waiting for Don and murmuring among them as Don entered the throne room. The elves training under him slightly bowed in respect and fear when they saw him walking towards his throne while other elves stopped their murmuring and stared at him and Knight. Even though the throne room had decorated seats for the king''s minister''s Arwen, Amaryll or anyone didn''t sit on it as they just stood before Don looking up at him on the throne in the huge hall. "I will be gone for a time to bring the dwarves in the Barren Hills here" as he said the crowd started to murmur again in shock and shook their heads a bit to show their disagreement. However, the elves he was training particularly seemed a little happy and relaxed when he said that he will be gone. "Well, the elves look like they really started to think this as their home" Knight sent a telepathic message to Don when he saw the elves. Arwen could see that Don had already made his decision so he knew there''s nothing to say as he just stood there in silence without showing any disagreement with the plan. Don didn''t care about the chattering elves because he already made plans for the dwarves. "Arwen pick a team and scout the area around the castle, Amaryll record everything Arwen finds while I''m away" when Arwen and Amaryll heard his orders they came forward and bowed slightly to acknowledge his orders. Don nodded and continued "Catalie will help you if you face any dangers" And Don turned his gaze towards Arya and Benedict who were waiting for their orders "Here it will occupy you for a time" Don''s space ring shined as a dark purple stone emerged from the ring and floated towards Arya and Benedict. "What is this?" Benedict asked in confusion when he saw the purple fist-sized stone before him. "This contains pure battle energy" at the moment he said that Benedict grabbed the stone and held it against his chest with stars coming out of his eyes in excitement. "Teacher" Arya elbowed Benedict and hissed at him to bring him back from the excitement. "Ah thank you" Benedict said looking at Don but his eyes were still shining with anticipation. Don again nodded and looked at Gael "Gael, I leave the training in your hands, I want the training to continue as always while I''m away" Don ordered Gael as the faces of the trainees showed a heavy disappointment when they heard him. Gael stepped forward and bowed his head "You can trust me, my lord" "That''s all" Don dismissed everyone and called Catalie through his Khal. After a few seconds, Catalie''s projection formed before him "Cat look after everything while I''m away and be ready to activate the teleportation array at any time" Don said to the smiling little girl as she enthusiastically nodded her head. "Don''t worry brother leave everything to Catalie" she referred herself in the third person and made a cute punching action. "Let''s go Don it''s time I had some action" 34 Virnam "Come on, walk faster" Knight was urging Uncle Dior who is very tired because of the long walk towards the Barren Hills. "Just wait a moment" Uncle Dior was inhaling and exhaling heavily, he was exhausted. "Flying would have been better wouldn''t it?" Knight asked in ridicule and continued to walk with Don. "Oh no, I''m okay" a single thought of flying made Uncle Dior shudder in fear as he mustered all his strength and chased after them. "Why are you torturing that man?" Don sent a telepathic message to Knight. Knight didn''t say anything but chuckled quietly and walked beside him, followed by Uncle Dior. When they chose to leave the Castle of Dragon king to reach the Barren Hills, Uncle Dior was adamant not to fly there but against his wishes, Don and Knight dragged him with them while he was screaming and threatening them to throw up. However, after flying a few hundred kilometers, they descended on the ground and started to walk towards the direction Uncle Dior showed them. Seeing that Uncle Dior thought they had enough of him screaming and they finally chose to walk but the truth was Knight found there were human movements on the ground and Don had not wanted to be found flying without a magical item or broom raising suspicions. Since they were crossing paths with humans, Knight had shrunk his size and transformed himself that similar to a puppy dog with wings, he would have hidden his wings too but simply he couldn''t. Even with his small size Knight was a faster walker than Uncle Dior, he had battle energy to prevent him from being exhausted or tired. After a long walk, the trees and green were replaced by stones and barren lands. Tall mountains of various shapes started to appear in their eyesight in the distance, the cool breeze they felt till now was gone and hot dry air warmed them. The man-made path became visible as they continued to walk as well as some humans and carriages moved by horses. "What''s the place we are going?" as he asked Uncle Dior, Knight made a leap towards Don and comfortably landed on his shoulder then wrapped his small tail around his neck for more comfort. "Virnam the city of mining" The trio stopped for a moment and gazed at the huge walls that were made by nothing but completely stone, there were not any man-made beams or pillars could be seen on the walls, this place had been provided defense by nature itself. "Legends has that the walls were carved and put around the city by the Dwarven God Berronar" "Don move faster. I want to see the city" Knight urged Don with excitement. Don sighed inside and walked a bit faster to enter the city along with Uncle Dior. As they got closer to the city entrance, Don saw the guards standing in front of the gates. Unlike the guards in the slave city, these guards wore full pate chainmail armor, an eagle symbol was carved on their chest. "What''s that eagle symbol?" Don asked Uncle Dior while walking to the guards "That''s the symbol of the kingdom Emir" Don didn''t respond as he walked while Uncle Dior started to give him some details about the city. "Until five years ago Virnam was an independent city ruled by the circle but the king of Emir waged war to covet the mines in the city and won hence it became a part of Emir" "What''s a circle?" Knight asked. "The people of Virnam chose seven representatives among themselves to govern the city, they had no King but the seven people called the circle " "Oh that''s a weird idea" As Uncle Dior and Knight finished talking they reached the front gates as well as the guards, seeing Don and Uncle Dior a middle-aged muscular bearded man stopped them. "What''s your purpose of coming to Virnam?" the man asked. "We''ve come to Virnam to buy some Kornite " Uncle Dior said to the guard with a little curtsy to show him respect. The guard looked at them for a moment but when he laid eyes on the cute puppy sitting on Don''s shoulder his eyes showed some surprise but he didn''t ask anything about the animal, he just signaled them to enter the city. The town was a maze of narrow winding streets, as complex as the human body. The streets were paved with some kind of gray stone. The sound of the smiths, beating iron and metals into shape, was the constant and dull pounding that repeated through the streets. Unlike in the slave city, Don could see there were many people from various races other than humans walking on the streets. Most of them were demi-humans and half-orcs. He could even see some half-elves here and there but compared to the humans they were still less in numbers. "So what''s the plan?" Knight whispered to Don and Uncle Dior. "We should find a caravan or anything that going to Emir, some of them pass through Barren Hills to make the trip shorter " "Alright but before any of that, I need to eat some meat! this King had survived enough with energy" Knight licked his lips while thinking about meat. Don knew there''s no way to deny Knight of his meat so he started to walk towards it in the hope to find some restaurant. "Don go straight I can smell food" Knight started to get a whiff of food as he instructed Don towards the source of the smell. Eventually, after taking many left and rights Don and Uncle Dior reached the destination that Knight was eager to see. The shiny red bricks gave the two-story building a rich charm, on the top of the building a board with fine writings in black ink hanged to show the restaurant''s name. "Royal Dine huh? It''s a suitable name for a place I''m going to eat" Knight''s voice was full of arrogance when he said that. "Come on go inside what''re you waiting for?" Knight urged Don as he made his way to the front door of the restaurant. "Welcome Welcome to Royal Dine guests" the first thing they saw when they entered the restaurant was a young man in red dress welcoming them with a smile. However, at the moment the young man saw the puppy that was sitting on Don''s shoulder he squinted his eyes and showed a troubled look on his face. "Guests I''m sorry you can''t bring in pets" the young man clearly didn''t want to be rude as his eyes never looked directly at Don. "Pet? Are you blind look at it, it''s a rare exotic beast I''ve just bought for fifteen hundred gold you hear me fifteen hundred" Don said, but seeing his acting Knight was actually proud to have someone with good acting skills. Uncle Dior didn''t seem very surprised at Don because he knew when Don put on his mike face that he would turn into a very different person to mingle with the crowd. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The young man trembled just when he heard the amount of gold he said to buy the beast. This amount was nothing when you''re in the rich kingdoms such as the Archeron Kingdom or Capitol of Moon Empire but to a faraway city as this, it''s a gigantic amount. "Oh I''m sorry I''m sorry my lords! Even though I had eyes I''ve failed to recognize Mount Yarver " The young man bowed up and down to reduce any chances of having the brown-haired young men wrath. "It''s ok but don''t make the mistake again" as he said Don started to walk towards an empty table across the room. While he was walking he saw many rich youngsters and young women eyeing him and Knight but he didn''t mind. He pulled up the chair and sat facing towards Uncle Dior just when the young man came running with the menu on his hand. "Here''s the menu my lord" the young man handed over the menu to Don and nervously waited for the response. "Don order the B?uf bourguignon, Coq au vin,Jambon persill¨¦ and Cr¨¨me br?l¨¦e for dessert" Knight sent him a telepathic message of the items he chose from the menu. Don knew Knight was a picky eater so he just went along with him and decided to order him the food. "Uncle Dior what would you have?" Don gave the menu to Uncle Dior, however at the moment Uncle Dior laid eyes on the menu, his eyes went wide and hands started to tremble. Uncle Dior never saw or had anything as expensive as the items on the menu, every item on the list was higher than 5 gold pieces. "Can I have a glass of water please?" Uncle Dior said to Don in a husky voice. "Give me the menu" Don knew why Uncle Dior was so afraid, therefore he grabbed the menu from his hands and ordered something for him. "Waiter we''ll have two plates of B?uf bourguignon, three Coq au vin,two Jambon persill¨¦ and three Cr¨¨me br?l¨¦e" the waiter noted everything on his notepad. "Sir what wine do you prefer? we have almost everything" the young man asked. "Just give him the one bottle of your best wine" Don didn''t need to ask Knight about the wine because they both won''t drink alcohol so he just ordered one for Uncle Dior. "I''ll be right back with your orders sir" the young man bowed again and ran towards the back of the restaurant. "Don are you mad? Didn''t you look at the prices?" Uncle Dior whispered to him in an angry tone but Don just waved his hands to stop him from saying anything else. "When you''re in a rich place you need to act like one" Don said. "Don don''t look quickly, a young miss is looking at us" Knight sent him a telepathic message and signaled Don with his eyes at the direction of a group of young people sitting next to Don''s table. "I''ve noticed" "I''ll be mad as hell if this scenario turned into a cliche scene where young miss asking to buy the cute pet and the arrogant hero fight with her group to fall in love or kill her entire sect one day" Knight would get very irritated every time when a fight breaks out in the restaurant because of some arrogant young master''s couldn''t give up their seat or young misses want to buy a cute animal for her in Divine Continent. "No, I don''t think so let''s just wait and see how it''s going" . 35 Cold Moon Mansion Again A while after getting the orders from Don the young back became with the plates that he had ordered. "Here you go, sir" the waiter neatly placed the plates on the table as Knight jumped to the empty chair beside Don and looked at the plates with excitement. Even though Knight was hungry for meat and drooled inside when he saw the plates, he had still kept his table manners to perfect. Don grabbed the handkerchief from the table and tied around Knight''s neck as Knight started to eat with fork and knife in each hand like a human being. Seeing the magical beast eating like a real human being, the group of the girl that looked at Don and his companions was shocked and their mouth and eyes opened wide in surprise. "How did he train that animal?" one of the men from the girl''s group asked silently. "Let''s just ask him that " the girl said in a husky voice and stood up. "Jemma, If you like that puppy I''ll get it for you, you don''t need to ask a stranger " a young man in a silver dress said to the girl. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "You can''t just get other people''s stuff here as you did in the sect Mervan" The girl rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "Who can stop me from doing that here? People here will probably give their daughters to me if they know I''m an inner disciple of the Cold Moon Mansion" Mervan looked so arrogant and proud while he said that, but the girl still didn''t let him do anything. "No Mervan I''ll do this like a civil person, you''ll let me do it right?" the girl gave him a wink and innocent puppy dog eyes that made Mervan sigh and raised his heartbeat On the opposite table, Don noticed every move the girl and her group made with occasional glances. He guessed the girl planned to come here and just as he guessed the girl started to walk towards him. "You have such a cute pet" the girl''s sweet voice reached Don''s ears as well as Knight''s and Uncle Dior''s. The girl before him was young and beautiful, There was sunshine in her smile and her voice so gentle and sweet, Her silver-colored clothes were looked like they were made from fine silk and decorated with gold lines resembled small flowers and stars; each strand of her raven black hair was moving freely in the breeze, a compliment to her stillness. Her smile was so beautiful that it could melt any young man''s heart in a second. However, Don''s mike face didn''t show any expression but a gentle smile just for the sake of not showing his true nature yet. "Yeah he is very cute" Don calmly said without falling for her beauty, the girl smiled widely yet a bit of surprise appeared and disappeared in a second seeing he''s not behaving like the young master''s she met in the capitol. "Brother, do you mind I pet him?" she didn''t wait for Don''s answer as she reached out her hands to touch Knight. Seeing the girl going to touch him, Knight bared his teeth and growled at her. Jemma hadn''t thought the puppy would behave like this as she quickly took back her hands and looked disappointed. "He doesn''t like other people touch him" "Brother, Do you mind if I sit here with you?" Jemma asked pointing towards the empty place between Uncle Dior and Knight. Don was slightly confused thinking about what game this girl is playing but after a moment he just signaled her to sit with him. "Help yourself" Jemma smiled at him and waved her hands at the empty chair as the chair moved towards her and placed itself behind Jemma. "I''m Jemma Ariel" Jemma introduced her with a smile and waited for the young man''s answer. "You can call me Michael and this is my friend Hugo and this little guy is Day" Don introduced himself, Uncle Dior and Knight using fake names to Jemma. (Avoid handshakes to minimize the chances of spreading coronavirus) "It''s nice to meet you, Brother Michael do you live around here?" "No, I''m from a faraway kingdom, just traveling around to train myself" As Don said he finished eating and passed the wine bottle to Uncle Dior who was trying his best not to shiver in the presence of this expensive bottle of wine. "Oh, do you mind telling me what level are you?" Don hadn''t given her an answer immediately as he took a sip of water "I''m at the master low-level " There was a slight relief that emerged in Jemma''s eyes as she quickly hid it with a smile. "It seems brother Micheal is a prodigy, you would have been an inner disciple if you were in our Cold Moon Mansion" "Cold Moon Mansion huh?" Don realized that this is the second time he''s meeting someone from the Cold Moon Mansion. He met Whitehoney Amara from the auction house before this. "You''ve heard about our sect?" Don took another sip from the glass "Yeah I''ve heard about it" "Oh, do you have any plans to join the sect? I could give you a recommendation" Jemma said with a genuine voice and smile. "No, thanks but I will definitely visit your sect one day" Don''s tone was neither too respectful nor too polite. "Sure but if you change your mind just ask from anyone in our sect for me and I''ll make time to meet Brother Michael" Don simply nodded. "So what''s Brother Michael''s plan from here?" "I''m planning to see the Kingdom of Emir next" Don didn''t reveal his plan to visit the Barren Hills to James because he didn''t trust the beautiful innocent girl before him. When Jemma heard Don her smile became even brighter. "Then you should rent a caravan Brother, it''ll take a toll on you if you fly there on a broom" Jemma looked at Knight while she said that and turned her gaze towards Don again. "That''s the plan but I don''t know where to find one" Don said as he took one last sip from the glass. "You don''t have to worry about that brother I''ll arrange one for you just meet me at the town square after you finish everything and ready to go" Jemma said as she smiled happily. "Nice of you to offer, but I think" but before Don could decline the girl''s offer, "I insist brother besides I''ll be very sad if something happens to the little guy" Don could have rejected her offer of help if he wanted to but he wanted to see what game is this girl playing with him and besides he would have got a caravan anyway so he chose to play along with her. The magical mask and the teleportation array in the castle gave him the means to accept her offer because if he faced any threats that he couldn''t face, he had Catalie to teleport him away quickly. "Alright I''ll meet you there in thirty minutes," Don said as Jemma smiled brightly and stood up to say goodbye. However, at the moment she stood up she went off balance and started to fall in the direction of where Uncle Dior was sitting. Seeing the girl falling towards him Uncle Dior quickly grabbed her hands and prevented her from falling completely. "Thank you, Mr.Hugo " Jemma said and let go of Uncle Dior''s hands. "No it''s fine " Uncle Dior said. "Ok brother Michael I''ll take my leave now and meet you at the town square" After seeing Jemma regroup with her friends, Don asked for the bill that made Uncle Dior nearly cry to the waiter and paid the bill with the gold he took from Minister Bryan. "Hmm, it indeed did not turn into a cliche fight that happens in Divine Continent Don" Knight sent a telepathic message and wiped his mouth and paws with the tissues on the table. (Wash your hands with sanitizer on a regular basis to minimize your chances of getting coronavirus) "Let''s get out of here " Knight said as he jumped back on Don''s shoulder to go out. "Don put this inside your ring" Uncle Dior held out the bottle of wine towards Don and insisted him with his eyes. Don couldn''t know whether to laugh or be angry at the stingy half-elf but looking at him made Don realize he couldn''t leave the wine bottle without making Uncle Dior cry. After a moment the ring on Don''s hand started to shine and light from the ring enveloped the bottle then disappeared with it leaving nothing. Uncle Dior was relieved to see that the wine bottle was not left behind as he could get it from Don after he reached the castle. "Alright now we can go" 36 Ambush Plan "Don lend me some money" Uncle Dior asked Don before exiting the restaurant. "Why? Do you want something?" Don asked but he had already put his hands into his pocket to take the gold pouch. "It''s not for me, it''s for the people in the castle they need some clothes and food" Don almost forgot about those things, he and Knight were always flown solo in the Divine Continent so they had no experience maintaining an army or people depending on them. Arrora especially had no clothes of her own and wore the clothes that were given to her by Amaryll. However, Amaryll was no better than Arrora as she always wore the same green dress, now that he''s in the city he decided to buy them some clothes and food for them as Uncle Dior said. "Alright hey come here" Don signaled the young waiter who served them a while ago. The young man quickly ran towards Don when he saw Don calling him. "My lords, is there anything else I can do for you?" "Yes, I''m looking to buy some clothes do you know any shops around here?" The young man was taken back by such a question at first but after a moment of searching for an expensive shop in his mind, he found a high-end store that could satisfy a rich brat like the young man before him. "Luther and Granner, it has the most collection that suits my lords, it''s just around the corner" "And do you give takeaways?" Don thought he could buy the elves some food other than the porridge the elves always have. "Yes yes my lord" before the waiter could continue Don took two gold coins and tossed it towards the young waiter. The young waiter instinctively caught the coins but when he realized what happened he was confused. "It''s your tip for the takeaway" the young waiter''s legs turned into jelly as he heard the word tip however Don picked up a menu to give the orders. Even though the young man seemed very young, he was extremely good at his job as he started to write everything Don said without asking again. The young man was extremely happy inside because he got two gold coins as tips and now he''s going to make the biggest sale of his career and a promotion chance is in his grasp after this. "I''ll bring the food in a jiffy my lord" the Don saw the young man ran towards the kitchen with a wide smile on his face, it looked very real compared to the moment he first welcomed them into the restaurant. "Don, did you really have to buy food from here?" Uncle Dior was fighting with the feeling of dizziness when he saw Don spending the money like this. "My people deserve best" Don flatly said but Uncle Dior was shocked in surprise and his opinion on Don went a notch higher. Don learned many tactics from the family heads and patriarchs of powerful families and sects in the Divine Continent. One of the lessons was if he only focused on his paths and goals without spending some money on his followers eventually their loyalty would fade away he had to treat them well and with respect. Only showing power without any givings would turn him into a dictator, Don''s goal was to be an emperor. An emperor needs an army and people who were extremely loyal to him, loyal to the point they were ready to die for him. After a few minutes, the young man came out of the kitchen but Don couldn''t see any packages or people carrying them behind him. "Here you go my lord" the young man held out a small ring towards Don. "Everything you''ve ordered and some complimentary of the house is inside of this my lord" Don found that the customer service of Royal DIne was pretty good and he took the ring from the waiter. "The ring?" "You can keep it my lord its a gift from Royal Dine to show our gratitude" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The young man said with a wide grin as Don gave the ring to Uncle Dior because he couldn''t open the ring that was sealed with magic energy. "Thank you " Don said and turned to walk away towards the exit as the young man followed him till the entrance and sent him off with a bow and a face full of smiles. "Wow, they really treat their best customers well " Uncle Dior said when they stepped out of the restaurant. "The ring still has so much space left " Uncle Dior said, injecting his magical energy into the ring and inspecting the items inside. "Come on let''s go to the Luther and Granner" Knight was excited to see the new place. Luther and Granner was a high-end store that sells any kind of clothes for all kinds of beings including other races. The store had five stories and made of glass that Don could see the inside of the shop and the male as well as the female dummies which wore exquisite clothes that welcomed him. As Don and Uncle Dior walked towards the door as it opened automatically using the magic runes. "Welcome to Luther and Granner Sir" a well-dressed woman with glasses welcomed them, she wore tight leather pants, a white shirt, and a black long coat. "Huh?" Knight squinted his eyes and looked closely at the woman to see a black tail moving behind her as well as two fluffy ears on her head. "I heard you are the best store around here to buy clothes and stuff " Don said to the demi-human woman. "You''ve heard right, I''m Rachel what kind of clothes sir is looking for?" "All kinds, I''m planning to gift my family and friends with some fine clothes " "Oh what a wonderful thought, follow me sir I''ll show you the choices we have" ******************************* At the town square, Jemma and her group were talking with the bold man beside a luxurious carriage. The bold man was well built and wore a blue robe, behind him stood a group of hooded men in black robes. "Uncle remember you have to go through the Barren Hills" Jemma said as the man laughed and ruffled Jemma''s head to show his love towards the young girl. "Uncle!! You are embarrassing me, I''m not a little girl anymore" however the man ruffled her head, even more, when he heard her. "You are always a little girl for me Jemma " the man pinched her cheek which made Jemma''s cheek turn red in the place he pinched. "Uncle enough playing you remember everything right?" "Yeah yeah I need to escort that brat to the barren hills where these dirty dwarves ambushing people to rob them and using him as a bait to kill those dwarves" The man recalled the plan that Jemma lectured about. "But why go through all that trouble Jemma? We could just kill him here and kill those dwarves after " Mervan asked Looking at Jemma. "What if he had some big power behind him and he escaped?" Jemma was irritated at Mervan''s dumbness but she didn''t show it in her face. "This way either he kills the dwarves or they''ll kill him and " before Jemma finish "I''ll kill who remains" the man''s laugh and happy face completely disappeared while he said. "Uncle I want that puppy alive or dead for my studies, don''t forget" Jemma imagined as the puppy was in her hands and her eyes began to sparkle in excitement. "Here uncle give this to your team it''ll help you in case he tried to escape" Jemma took out a crystal ball and handed it over to the man. "Bounty ball huh? You cheeky little devil" the man started to laugh again as he took the crystal ball from Jemma''s hand and threw it to one of the black robbed men. "And bring the heads of those dwarves Uncle I can''t get the rewards without them in the sect" The man started to rub his forehead as he looked at Jemma "Jemma you do realize I''m a professional, as well as a great master, don''t you?" However, Jemma didn''t say anything but hugged him tightly and said "I know Uncle but this mission is so important to me" The man patted her back then Jemma let go of him and looked at her watch on her wrist. "It''s time where is he?" Jemma looked left and right like she was searching for someone. After a few looks, Jemma saw the black-robed youth walking towards her with a cute animal on his shoulder followed by a hooded man. "Brother Michael here" Jemma waved her hands at Don and called out his name as the man looked at the youth with pity. "It''s a shame he has to die today" 37 The power of a Great master After two days of tiresome travel through the mountains, Uncle Dior could see the grayish Barren lands and alone dragon-shaped dragon. The man who was sent by Jemma to accompany Don just drove the carriage without speaking a word but he would glance at Uncle Dior occasionally when he got out of the carriage to answer nature''s call. The morning sun rays were penetrated through the cracks of the carriage that Don, Knight and Uncle Dior was traveling. During the two days, Don and Knight had not even opened their eyes as they just started to meditate from the moment they stepped into the carriage. "Huh?" While they were traveling the carriage suddenly stopped with a creek sound however before Uncle Dior could ask what happened the carriage driver gave out an "Ah" sound and the horses reared as the carriage was shaken violently. Uncle Dior had not any idea what''s happening outside as the carriage continued to shake. "Don wake up" Uncle Dior held onto the wooden frames inside the carriage to steady himself from being shaken up by the rearing of the horses. After a moment Uncle Dior called Don he slowly opened his eyes as the thin light layer covered his body before, started to fade away. "We have guests " Knight said as he opened his eyes yet his mouth curved into a devilish grin. Without saying anything Don stood up from the meditation position and opened the carriage doors to step out. This is the first time Don felt and saw the sunlight in two days, Don put on his hood and jumped out of the ground and looked around the carriage as Uncle Dior nervously stepped out while Knight directly jumped onto Don''s shoulder. Uncle Dior slowly sneaked in front of the carriage to see what happened to the man but what he saw was a body without any movements. "Don he...he''s dead" Uncle Dior''s heart started to beat faster when he saw the arrow sticking out of the carriage driver''s chest. The horses were still kicking and shaking their heads in fear. Having heard what Uncle Dior said, Don and Knight walked to the front of the carriage to see the dead body of the man, Don looked at the body for a moment but after a moment he turned towards the empty vast barren land before him. Not a tree or plant could be found in his view but only some big boulders and small hills made of stones and sand. "You can come out now " Don''s voice was not too loud but Uncle Dior trembled slightly in fear as he looked at the direction where Don was looking but he couldn''t see anyone. "Who?" Uncle Dior wanted to ask who Don was calling but he didn''t need to as four figures gradually came out of behind the boulders and some hiding spots before him. "Dwarves" he mumbled under his breath when he saw the four short bulky figures in front of him. Besides Uncle Dior Knight actually seemed very excited seeing the new race, Unlike the elves who were taller than average human and clean these Dwarves were short and had a greasy long beard and long hair. "How did ye know boy?" One of the four dwarves asked looking at Don, he had a long axe in his hands but unlike the other three dwarves, his axe seemed less rusty. The armor the dwarves wore was turned into brown color due to the rust the same as the weapons in their hands. Despite the hate towards the dwarves, Uncle Dior''s face showed a hint of sadness and pity when he saw the beggarly looking dwarves, they were obviously malnourished because he could see the tiredness in their eyes and not a single sign of plumpness or excess fat could be seen in their bodies, even the torn cloth they are wearing was not a fit for their body as it seems loose for them. "It does nae matter give me your all belongings food money everything" the dwarf continued without giving any chance for Don or anyone to speak. "Or?" Don simply asked the Dwarf, but when he said that Don was able to detect some sadness and reluctance in the dwarf''s eyes yet the dwarf didn''t back off he gripped his rusty axe firmly and looked at Don with determination. Seeing the dwarves getting ready to move towards him, Don slightly raised his hands to stop them. The dwarves couldn''t understand why this young man is so calm, the only possibility they guessed was the young man is a peak master level magi but they rejected that possibility when they saw some glimpse of his young face under the hood he was wearing. However seeing the young man asking them to stop, the dwarf leading the group subconsciously halted his steps. "It''s better if you come out now " Don said but he didn''t look at the dwarves this time, Uncle Dior was confused when he heard Don, he looked back and forth to see if there''s someone else here besides the dwarves and them until he heard a sound from the carriage. "You found us!" The dwarf saw the man lying on the driver''s seat with an arrow sticking out of his chest, started to move. When he and his friends were waiting to ambush the carriage, suddenly an arrow from somewhere appeared on the driver''s chest. At the moment he saw the arrow coming out of nowhere he wanted to back off from the ambush but the starving children and people back in his village gave him the nudge to continue the plan just for the sake of some food. The scene before the dwarf was very confusing because a moment ago the man was appeared to be dead but now he''s starting to move. However the young man''s body language was still calm, not even some trembling or fear could be found on him. After a few seconds the man talked to Don, some figures appeared out of thin air literally and slowly started to circle them. Every one of them wore a black robe and hood covered their head, some of them had staff in their hands while the others had sword or bow. "I should work on my dead guy act " the man said as he jumped down from the carriage, Don looked over his shoulder and turned around to face him. "Tell me how did you find my associates, and I''ll kill you painlessly if you do" a long metal chain appeared in his hands as he said. Don was stood there without saying anything for a moment. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "They never hid from me " Don calmly answered the man. Due to Knight having the ability to scan the environment they found out they were being followed from the moment the black-robed men started to tail them also Don saw the way the man looked at him when Jemma introduced him to the man, it was the same look that a predator would give at the prey. Only thing surprised him a little in this journey was the ambush set up by the dwarves, it was a lucky coincidence for him as he was planning to look for them but when Knight said there''s another group ahead them and the man attacked by the arrow at that exact same time as well as a group tailing them, connecting the dots Don realized this is a classic bait and kill scenario that Don was being the bait to lure the dwarves and this whole being dead was just a stage act. When the man heard Don''s answer he was surprised and shocked at the same time. "Did you hear that men? You are getting sloppy at your work" the man yanked his chain on the ground and shouted at the black-robed men. "Give me that beast puppy of yours obediently and I''ll consider leaving your body intact" the chain in his hands started to let out a bright orange light as its getting hot. "You are a good man " Don said as Uncle Dior slowly moved behind him to get some cover. "Oh why?" the man tilted his head in confusion he couldn''t understand how a man could be so calm when facing the death and complimenting his going to be killer. "Because I won''t leave your body intact " Don said as the killing intent started to radiate from him and Don activated the battle energy inside him as the sword on his back slowly unsheathed itself and floated into his hands. "What the?" The man didn''t see any kind of magical fluctuations around Don from the moment the sword started to float to land on his hands. He was carefully looking at him for the magical fluctuation to see when he was going to start cast a spell or try anything yet he never saw anything. "Kill those dwarves and the half-elf" the man shouted at the blacked robe men and started to move towards Don to attack however he was welcomed by another rude awakening. "Do I look like a puppy?" The dwarves were never run away from a battle as when they heard the man saying kill the dwarves, they decided to fight despite the odds stacked against them yet when they wanted to fight it happened. The puppy that was standing beside the youth began to transform into a majestic six feet Lion. It had huge white feathery wings and a shiny mane that flew in the wind and gave the Lion a Kingly vibe. However what shocked them more was that the Lion actually talked they knew for sure because it wasn''t a voice of the half-elf or any man, the voice it sounded like a high pitched roar. "Great master" the dwarf mumbled to himself as all the blacked robed men looked at the Lion with fear and shock. "What who are you?" the man asked Don, his tone now had a small tremble. He was a mid-level great master with a small gap to reach the peak level so when Jemma told Don was a master he felt like this is a simple mission to complete before killing the dwarves but now he''s going to face another great master beast who would have the upper hand because of its physique of a magical beast. "Don you handle him I want those guys, a simple kill isn''t enough for me" Knight said as he ruffled his mane and locked his gaze at one of the black-robed men with the bow in his hands. "I am a great master too!!!!" the man shoved the fear and uncertainty in his mind to the corner and yanked the chain aiming at Don as he shouted. Seeing the iron chain coming towards him Don grabbed in the mid-air just before it could reach him, "So am I" He didn''t care to tell him about the battle energy but he said he was a great master to give his opponent a mental attack. "Wha" before even the man could react the hot chain became even hotter and turned into dark ominous purple color. "Ouch! hell" The man shouted and let go of the chain when the heat reached the point that he couldn''t handle it. At that moment he saw the lion rip apart one of his men. "Shit " the man said to himself and took out a sword from his space ring. Don threw the chain away and let the hell flame cover his sword to face the man. The man was very experienced in this kind of battle so his movements were perfect and not influenced by any emotion, like Don''s hellfire covered sword his sword started to be covered by a dark red flame. A close combat mage, who is a terrifying force because they only need a small time to cast a spell to attack, unlike the long-range mages. Don could see that his opponent was a trained swordsman as his moves had some kind of technique and perfect flow. He didn''t go offensive for a moment and chose to defend while looking for an opening. Uncle Dior ran behind the carriage to get himself some cover. When he breathed a sigh in relief as he reached a safe place he heard another body ripping sound. "Why are you guys dying so easily?" to a being like Knight that could be compared to the great master these peak master guys were a small game. "You put up some fight?" Knight laughed and leaped towards another man holding a sword. "No no !!!!" but the man''s scream was stopped mid away as he saw a headless body then full darkness covered him. "Ah it''s so boring Don let''s wrap this up " As Knight said the dwarves saw the Lion stopping its attacks and spreading its wings. "It''s time you go to hell" 38 A Bad Idea Knight''s wings started to radiate a bright light as his feathery wings slowly turned into like steel blades. The man noticed the lion is going for the kill shot but he couldn''t do anything because he himself was struggling to fight the youth before him. "Blade Rain" The dwarves heard the lion saying and thought it was kind of a spell however at that moment the lion flapped its wings in the direction of the black-robed men. "Ahhhhh" the man heard of his comrade shout in pain and glanced at the scene, for a moment he stopped fighting and looked at the scene before the lion without fighting with Don.the gory scene made his heart tremble, last night he had drinks with his comrades laughed and ate together but now they were lying on the pool of their own blood. Their bodies were mutilated by the lion''s last attack, some of the men''s arms were cleaved clean off by the blade feather as others had their legs cut off.it was a merciless massacre none of his comrades had a complete body to bury, the man could even see some heads rolling on the ground with eyes open. "We just planned ta rob this freaks yeh " one of the dwarfs said in a husky voice seeing the bodies of the black-robed men. On the other side behind the carriage, Uncle Dior was trying very hard not to throw up while Knight closed his wings and it turned to the usual feathery wings instead of steel blades. Just a thought of a time when he argued with Knight made him shiver in fear, he had seen his fair share of killing before but not a gruesome massacre like this, from the beginning to the end this was not a fight it was a massacre. "It''s time to end this" the man came back from the shock of seeing his comrades'' death when he heard the youth speak. The anger within him erupted in an instance towards the youth and the Lion. "I''m going to slice you into so many pieces, no no no I''m going to torture you then cut your flesh little by little " the man cursed angrily at Don and jumped back a few feet away to use his deadly attack. "He''s going for his last move" A few meters away from the fight, the dwarves saw the magical fluctuations around the man skyrocketing and at the same time a huge knuckled fist shape appearing on top of his head. "You are next! you filthy beast" the man shouted looking at the lion, the lion had a smirk on his face he couldn''t understand why or he didn''t care. He put all of his magical energy into the wind fist, his signature move the move gave him the name ''Wind Killer''. Facing him, Don was a little surprised to see the quickness of the spell he used. It only took him a few seconds to conjure the spell yet Don was slightly disappointed at his opponent''s killing move and shook his head. The man couldn''t hold his anger anymore seeing the youth before him didn''t even try to run or hide, he just stood there and what made him angrier was that he shook his head like he was disappointed.the veins his face popped up as he punched towards Don just as the fist made of wind rushed towards Don. The fist made a booming sound as the dust stones were forced aside and headed in the direction of Don, Uncle Dior partially covered his eyes to prevent the dust reaching into his eyes and the man stood there waiting for the fist to destroy the youth. However, he didn''t get the result he was expecting. He saw the youth standing there raising his hand towards the fist like he was ordering to stop and the wind fist did. "How what?!" The man''s mind was a mess seeing his signature move the wind fist just stopped before the youth. He was unable to guess how he could control the spell he cast. He could still feel the control over his wind fist yet it''s refusing to move forward like it was being stopped by a bigger force. The wind fist started to move behind Don like a servant standing behind the boss which made the man cough up blood due to his overuse of magical energy on controlling the fist against Don. The man realized he was running out of magical energy. "Trying to use an Element spell before me, bad move idiot" Don calmly said and made the fist move towards the man using his battle energy. The man saw the fist getting bigger and bigger as it moved towards him, after a moment he finally looked up over his head and saw a giant knuckled fist forcing him to kneel against his wish. The fist top of his head was nothing like he cast it was gigantic. He had already used half of his magical energy trying to control the fist and realized he''s going to die as the anger within him turned into fear, fear of losing his life. " No no you can''t kill me I''m from the Ariel family " the man decided to use his family''s power to negotiate. " Boy if you leave me I''ll forget about everything and I''ll even give any price you ask " The youth didn''t say anything and a small glimmer of hope appeared in his mind. "Jemma Ariel" the man''s heart skipped a beat when he heard his little girl''s name coming from this monster''s mouth as his full mind went blank thinking about him meeting Jemma. "Don''t worry I''ll send her to accompany you in hell" "Nooooo" but the man''s shout was overridden by a huge booming sound like something heavy suddenly dropped on the ground. Seeing Don finished his enemy and the dust storm caused by the fist had been settled, Knight walked towards Don to see the place the man stood there a moment ago was turned into a crater. "You really did a number on him Don " Knight complained but his face had an evil grin as Don turned back to notice Uncle Dior was busy with throwing up. "Knight destroy the bodies " Don said to Knight then made his way towards the carriage that Uncle Dior was hiding behind. The dwarves witnessed the whole fight looking at each other''s face, they wanted to run away but their dwarven pride was holding them from doing so. Eventually, Knight finished destroying the bodies by burning them from the face of the earth and joined Don to meet the dwarves with Uncle Dior. "Stodmer it seems this be our last day yeh " one of the dwarfs said to the dwarf before him when he saw the youth and the Lion walking towards them. The dwarves clutched tightly their rusty weapons to face two great masters and formed a four men defense formation. "We don''t go down wi''out a fight " the dwarf in front of the formation said. Witnessing the courage and dumbness of the dwarves, Don understood why Uncle Dior said that they were hotblooded dumb beings. Don didn''t say anything to the dwarves as he just removed his hood and revealed his mike face to them and Uncle Dior did the same. Stodmer was shocked to see a half-elf accompanying a human and a magical beast but the shock was turned to enmity and hate toward the half-elf in a moment. He and the half-elf looked at each other like two old enemies meeting again, seeing Uncle Dior and the dwarf''s staring contest Knight shook his head slightly and smiled. "What are you doing?" Knight asked both of them as the dwarf backed off from the staring contest and looked at Knight and Don with hostility. "Relax, I''m not going to fight you " Don said yet the dwarves didn''t seem to care. "Lower your weapons idiots, how long it''ll take for him to kill you if you fight" Uncle Dior mocked the dwarves however deep in his heart he didn''t want them to make the wrong move. "Shut up ye elf bastard we be nae going ta trust a human" the dwarf behind stodmer shouted with anger and resentment towards the half-elf. "Do you trust the Dragon King?" mere simple words came out of Don''s mouth yet it made the dwarves look at him with shock and disbelief. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The mention of the name Dragon King created a ripple in stodmer''s heart, the golden age of dwarves, the time the dwarves lived without worrying about food and shelter or hiding from the humans. To put simply, Under the rule of Dragon King they prospered. Of course, these were all the stories that stodmer heard from his ancestors when he was a child with his friends. After so many years passed the world almost forgot about the Dragon King but not them, he was a king who can be compared to the gods to the dwarves. Don could see the dwarves were still in shock. "The Dragon King asked me to look after his people that''s why I''m here " Don said looking at Stodmer because Don knew he was the group leader as well as the most struggling when they heard the name, Dragon King. Even though Stodmer heard all the stories about the legendary Dragon King he couldn''t believe the human before him saying that he was asked by the Dragon King himself to look after them. "Do ye take us for fools human? tha dragon king died long ago" Stodmer said but before he could say any more the ring on the human''s hands began to shine. Don knew he had to prove that he''s a real deal who really met the Dragon King so before he leaves the castle he asked Catalie about having anything to convince the dwarves. Like Don thought the little girl had met with the dwarves long ago and told Don to bring up some dwarven creations that only the Dragon King possessed. Stodmer was unable to tell what the youth''s doing as some things started to float towards him and his friends. The first thing Stodmer saw was a small circular object with some engraving on it however when he looked at it closely his eyes went wide in surprise and shock. "This this be Khal" but before he could come back from the shock another object made him tremble further. "Craytine it''s a craytine dagger" the dagger was pure silver in color and anyone could see the sharpness of it just by looking at it. Stodmer couldn''t hold his hands but take the items in his hands, he was shivering, excitement thrill joy everything he never felt till now emerged in his heart. He was not the only one; his friends beside him almost broke the defense as they looked at the items in his hands, one of them even had a tear flowing through his eyes. Finally, Don took out the picture of Dragon King and some bulky dwarves standing together that Catalie gave him and sent it floating towards the shivering dwarves. At the moment Stodmer saw the picture he dropped his rusty axe and knelt on the ground without any control of his body. The happy faces of his ancestors beside the Dragon King made his eyes watery and seeing the dragon king himself was a dwarf in a real picture made Stodmer feel ashamed of himself and be proud of being a dwarf-like the Dragon King at the same time. Despite the enmity towards the dwarves he felt as an elf, Uncle Dior felt sympathy for the dwarves before him when he saw the always happy dumb hotblooded dwarves actually showing their vulnerable side. He knew once-proud races like dwarves, elves and all the other races now had no reason to be proud, they lost everything to the human''s their dignity, their lands everything, Uncle Dior himself would be turned into a slave if it wasn''t for Don. "Is it true elf?" Stodmer finally turned his gaze away from the picture and asked Uncle Dior, even though dwarves hated the elves'' stodmer still trusted the elves more than a human. He knew the elves were no different than the dwarves, the wrongdoings of the humans were the same to all the races. "Yes it''s all true, Don is the successor of the Dragon King" Uncle Dior pointed his finger at Don while he said. "Successor?" Stodmer and his group couldn''t believe the Dragon King would choose a human to be his successor but witnessing the power he showed them before in the battle with a great master they had a small idea about why the dragon king chose him yet their hearts still had some doubts. Don knew he couldn''t make the dwarves believe him completely with those items but they will when they see the castle and the projection of the Dragon King that Catalie recorded. "Where''s the rest of your people?" Don calmly asked Stodmer, despite being unable to trust the human completely, Stodmer couldn''t find any ill intent in Don''s voice towards his people and more than that they are already facing a very dreadful situation. 39 The Dwarven Village Even after seeing the dwarven technology and the picture as well as hearing the half-elf saying that Don is the successor of Dragon King he still couldn''t trust the human to see his people''s location. In his mind, he was still thinking and imagining about the Dragon King as If the half-elf and Don were saying the truth, this could be the very first step towards reclaiming their former honor and glory but for now, he was unable to think about anything else because he and his people had a bigger concern than the human before him. After a moment Stodemer decided to break the silence among them. He still had his doubts in his mind and it showed in his voice while he spoke. "We are living far away in the mountains " but before Stodmer continued the lion interrupted him. Despite the fact, Don showed some shreds of evidence to prove himself that he''s not a threat the dwarves seemed like they still didn''t trust Don and Knight could see it in the eyes of the dwarves and Stodmer''s voice. "I know you still haven''t trusted us but if we truly wanted to harm you and your people we would have done it by now also you heard the man right? If we didn''t kill them you think you can face a great master and ten masters by yourself" The dwarves looked at each other while Knight spoke, they knew they would have died by now if they faced them head-on, even though they were hotblooded they are not stupid. After Knight spoke to the dwarves he turned to look at Uncle Dior, Uncle Dior already understood why Knight was looking at him at this point. Normally Uncle Dior would have shown some kind of disagreement with Knight and DOn to bring dwarves to the castle but after seeing the pitiful look of dwarves and the massacre Knight did a moment ago changed his mind. Uncle Dior let out a long breath of sigh and said, Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Look I know how you feel now trust me I know, I and my people didn''t trust Don first either but he proved that we could trust him and he''s the reason I and my people are alive today instead of being dead or slaves " Uncle Dior said as Stodmer and his group looked at Uncle Dior and Don without batting an eyelid. "There''s a force out there hunting other races like ourselves so if we didn''t unite not we will be doomed and I saw the Dragon King himself chose Don to unite all of us if you care about your people you''ll lead us to your people" The moment Uncle Dior mentioned the other forces Stodmer''s eyes betrayed him and he had a sudden realization. "What forces?" Stodmer asked as his voice had a tinge of anger within it. "You already met someone didn''t you?" Don answered his question with his own question when he saw the faces of the dwarves when Uncle Dior mentioned other forces, their faces betrayed their inner thoughts. "Someone in a black robe with an eagle symbol on his chest" At the moment Don described the mysterious black-robed mage dwarves clutched their fists so tightly in anger as Stodemer gritted his teeth and the veins on his forehead protruded. "How did ye know boy?" "Because he''s the one ordered Minister Bryan to kill and capture the elves" Don said and Stodmer looked at Uncle Dior to see him nodding his head. "If you have already met him you don''t have much time " Don said and looked at dwarves for their answers. If they still couldn''t trust him he decided to leave them alone and let the mysterious mage do whatever he wants with these stubborn people. However, the dwarves sighed and looked at Don, "Yes we know at this point we don''t have much choice other than hoping for a miracle, come with us" Stodmer sighed and picked up his rusty axe on the ground and started to walk towards his village as Don, Knight and Uncle Dior closely followed them behind. Eventually, after a long walk in the scorching sun Stodmer and his group reached their village, the dragon-shaped shadow was the only shade Uncle Dior got after this long walk. The gigantic dragon-shaped mountain stood tall before them as Don could see some small house-like structures. The closer he got to the village the more he could see the other dwarves in the village, the village was not very well built but there were some weird machinery which Don had no idea what was it supposed to do, some dwarven children had a wooden board in their hands and a four-wheel carriage that ran without anything pulling it. On the other side of the children stood a group of dwarven women with water pots as a machine pulled water from the ground and poured it into the pots without any force or magic. However, the thing that attracted most Don''s notice was everyone seemed so weak and thin, they had no trace of happiness on their faces and all of them were walking towards something carrying some meat legs and water pots. When the children playing saw the Stodemer and his group coming, their mouths curved to form a bright smile as they ran towards them shouting his name. "Uncle Stodmer is back, mother Uncle Stodmer has returned" the children shouted towards the woman with the water pots as they jumped at Stodemer and hugged him while the woman walked to greet Stodmer and his group. "Stop!!" some thick voice reached their ears as well as an arrow a couple of inches away from Don''s feet. Don didn''t do anything as he just stood there, Stodmer looked at the direction of the voice while other dwarves started to round up his and Don''s group with hand made weapons in their hands. "Grandfather," Stodmer said while Don saw an old man with a white beard with a crossbow walking towards Stodmer and him, the old man seemed very tired and weak but he kept his crossbow aimed at Don steadily without any shake. "Stodmer why tha hell did ye bring a human an'' a half-elf ta our village?" The old man asked Stodmer with gritted teeth. "Grandfather ''afore I explain everything do ye recognize these" Stodmer heard most of the Dragon King''s stories from his grandfather since he was a child so he knew his grandfather could make sure that the items had given to him by Don were fake or not but far as he knew they were the real deal. The old man was stepped closer to Stodmer with his crossbow aimed at Don however the moment he laid eyes on the items in Stodmer''s hands he dropped the crossbow. "How where did ye get these?" the Oldman was trembling as he took the Khal from Stodmer''s hands and looked at it closely as his eyes went wide and before he said anything Stodemer showed the picture of Dragon King to the old man. "My king" the Oldman dropped to his knees with the picture in his hands, Stodmer never saw his grandfather like this before this is the first time he''s seen his grandfather crying. Stodmer put his hands on the Oldman''s shoulder to reassure him, the Oldman slowly wiped away his tears and looked at Stodmer while still shivering. "He gave o'' of this grandfather" Stodmer pointed towards Don to the Oldman as the Oldman turned to see Don but before the Oldman asks Don anything, Stodmer started to tell him everything including the fact that he''s claiming to be the successor of the Dragon King. Don just stood there while the Oldman looked at him with wide eyes occasionally as Stodmer telling him everything, the dwarven woman seemed afraid and the children however looked at him and Knight with curiosity on their faces, some of them even slowly stepped forward towards Knight but pulled back by their mothers. Finally, after a few minutes of telling the Oldman everything he saw and heard, Stodmer looked at his grandfather for his response. The Oldman didn''t say anything as he stepped forward near Don and looked directly into his eyes and asked "Be it true that ye be tha successor o'' me king?" "Yes" at the moment he said the dwarves around him started to murmur and looked at him with shock and surprise. The Oldman breathed a sigh "''en ye have nae problem proving it by meeting our guardian right?" "Grandfather!" "Grandpa!" "What!?" Not only Stodmer everyone heard the Oldman shouted in shock but the Oldman raised his hands and stopped them from saying anything else and looked at Don for his answer. "No, I will meet your guardian" Don had no fear or doubts in his mind and also he had already heard something about a guardian from Catalie but she didn''t know many things about the guardian. "Follow this path into the cave and you''ll meet our guardian," the Oldman said and pointed towards the cave where some elves carried meat and food before. Don just nodded and started to walk but before Knight and Uncle Dior could step forward to follow Don they were stopped by the Oldman "Only he shou'' go" the Oldman said to Knight, Knight wanted to disagree but seeing Don Knight knew he chose to meet the guardian alone. Knight and Uncle Dior stood there without moving and saw Don walking into the caravan and disappearing into the darkness of the cave, the Oldman sighed and slowly walked towards Stodmer leaving Knight and Uncle Dior. "Grandfather, be this a good idea?" Stodmer whispered to the Oldman. "Don''t worry even with her condition she can burn one great master easily if he''s nae tha successor that be" the Oldman said and looked at the cave without batting an eyelid. Don was walking into the cave for some time but he couldn''t see where the guardian is the Oldman spoke about but he could feel the heat in the cave steadily rising as he moved forward as well as a sound of a growl. Finally, after a few minutes of walk Don was able to see some light before him and fasten his pace towards the light, the closer he got to the light the more heat he felt and the growling sound got closer. At the moment Don reached the other side of the cave his heart skipped a beat and his body stiffened in shock. "Dragon" 40 It’s a Dragon The Dragon before Don laid as still as the dead. With its all-red scales, Don was beginning to suspect it was either dead or the beast was sleeping without noticing anything. A thrumming came from the dragon''s jaws and nostrils, and wisps of smoke, but its fires were low in slumber. Beneath him, under all its limbs and his huge coiled tail, and about the dragon on all sides stretching away across the unseen floors, lay countless piles of precious things, Gold items, gems and jewels, and many precious things. However, the most attractive thing to Don among all the wealth was the golden spherical object near the Dragon. This was the first time Don seeing a Dragon this close, in the Divine Continent there were many stories about the mysterious powerful Dragon race but none of them seen one in centuries yet a real mighty Dragon before him lay before him. Don slowly but carefully stepped forward, at that moment the Dragon opened its eyes as Don halted his moments and stood there without moving. The Dragon glared at Don, behind those eyes of dragonish glare, in a language carved before the age of ice, is the mind of the serpent king, the beast of the darkened cave. The wisps of hot smoke from the Dragon''s nostrils reached Don as the Dragon slowly uncoiled its tail and stood up. Don was wondering how dwarves could be hunted by humans with this mighty beast as their guardian, this dragon seemed like it could easily topple a three-story building in this world, it could easily kill a powerful mage with its pinky as far as Don concerned. However, when the Dragon stood up Don was able to see its bones were visible to him like it was starved, behind those eyes of the Dragon was tiredness and exhaustion. \"Finally you are here the successor of Dhorfir Thunderbolt\" Hearing the Dragon speak Don was taken back by surprise and shock not because it could talk but the mightiness of the voice he just heard, Don had always imagined the Dragon''s voice would be like a growl or something different from the human''s but the voice he heard was a sweet feminine voice yet its echoed through the caves because of the power contained in the voice. \"do you know the Dragon King?\" Don asked the Dragon as another wisp of hot smoke touched and passed through him. \"My ancestors know him and I have their memories, now tell me successor, why are you here?\" The dragon glanced down and asked him. Don stared at the Dragon for a moment before he answers the Dragon. \"I am going to bring the dwarves their home, the land of the Dragon King\" Don said looking directly at the Dragon''s eyes, he didn''t show any fear or emotion on his face. When the Dragon heard Don it shook his head and sent another wisp of hot smoke towards him, \"Don''t lie to me successor, I can see the anger and pain within you behind the calm face of yours\" Don was startled to hear the Dragon, \"You don''t do anything that doesn''t get you closer to your revenge successor, you are here because you want the dwarves and their knowledge\" Don couldn''t disagree with the Dragon because of first what the Dragon said was all true and second he could get crushed or burnt if he argued with the Dragon so he chose to tell the truth \"You are right I need the dwarves\" Don paused for a moment and stared at the Dragon \"But you also knew they need me and I guess you are not well, are you?\" Don asked the dragon as the dragon sighed and looked at the golden spherical beside it. The dragon seemed surprised at Don''s question but after a few seconds it sighed and said \"I''m not successor I''m not, I don''t have much longer\" Don could see the sadness on the Dragon''s eyes, the Dragon looked at the exit of the cave like it wanted to go out one last time. \"And you are right successor the dwarves need you, with I''m gone the dwarves don''t have anyone to protect them\" Don was unable to understand why the Dragon is dying because he couldn''t see any battle marks or wounds on the Dragon''s body and after a moment he chose to ask the Dragon \"What happened to you, a dragon-like yourself could easily destroy an army of mages\" The dragon looked like it was sadly smiling when Don asked it \"I could have successor \" the dragon looked the spherical object beside it for a moment and said \"I could have before I gave birth to my child \" Don looked at the spherical object with surprise. He couldn''t believe the object before him is a real egg of a Dragon but still, he didn''t get the answer why the Dragon saying its dying. He was thinking, if the Dragon just gave birth to its child the dragon could not have been too old, it must be in its prime. \"I can see you cant believe me successor, the birth-giving process is not life threatening to a dragon-like myself in normal circumstances but\" The dragon was looking at the egg but Don could guess the dragon was heartbroken at something \"The dragons are vulnerable when giving birth and require abundant amount of magical energy to successfully giving birth, the humans somehow knew this and cut off all the magical energy around the mountain\" Don''s anger within himself started to skyrocket when he heard the Dragon,this is like killing a mother and her child at the moment of her child''s birth. It''s the most despicable thing a person could do, he and Knight did some terrible things in the divine continent but they never killed a pregnant woman or a beast especially during the birth. \"Without much magical energy, I burnt my own life energy to give birth that''s why I''m at my last moments those stubborn dwarves trying to save me by giving their meals poor bastards\" The dragon giggled when it talked about the dwarves but Don could see the sadness behind her giggle. \"I couldn''t protect them and failed my ancestors, successor since you are the heir of Dhorfir, you are the only person I could trust leaving the dwarves and my child\" The Dragon slowly moved its claws towards the egg and lifted it gently \"Promise me you''ll protect my child and my people successor \" Don was looking at the Egg and the Dragon up and down and after a moment of thinking he shook his head \"Do you expect me to beg you successor?\" the motherly voice of Dragon reached Don''s ear as he still shook his head and looked at the Dragon''s worried face \"You can''t just give your child and yourself so easily \" the Dragon was surprised and confused at the same time hearing what Don said \"Didn''t you hear me successor, my life essence is gone in a few days I will be dead\" The Dragon couldn''t even imagine leaving her child and the people she swore to protect knowing the danger they would face without her. The only hope she had now was the human before her but he was refusing her last wish. \"What do you want to help me successor? I don''t have anything to give you\" The dragon''s voice was breaking in sadness and helplessness, the only thing she could do now is, beg the human before her to help her. Don stared at the egg in the Dragon''s hands and the Dragon''s teary eyes, it was love for her child and the dwarves, the pure motherly love he never felt. \"Will you still give your child to me if I say i can save you?\" As he said Don injected his battle energy into his space ring and fist-sized white crystal appeared in his hands. The Dragon''s eyes went wide in surprise when she glanced at the Crystal, the dark cave turned into like a day due to the light the crystal emanating \"A soul stone\" the Dragon murmured. 41 Recruiting a Grandmaster \"Where did you get this?\" the Dragon was shaking at the presence of the Soul stone. Soul stones like the name suggest containing the soul energy of a powerful being. They were extremely valuable and rare. It has the ability to restore the user''s life energy. The healing potions on the other hand, could only heal the physical wounds it couldn''t heal if the damage had been done to the soul(life essence), unlike the soul stone. \"There are so many things you don''t know about me\" Don sent the crystal floating towards the Dragon as it gently placed the egg in its hands on the ground and looked at the crystal without batting an eyelid. Even though the crystal could heal her, the dragon was still hesitating to use the crystal because the dragons were noble race and wouldn''t like to be indebted to others. Don could see the hesitation of the Dragon in its eyes. \"I''m not giving it to you as free, you can think about this as an exchange \" Don said as the Dragon looked confused \"Exchange for what?\" Don carefully chose his words in his mind for a moment before saying anything \"As you know I have my revenge to get, to do that I need every powerful being like you I can get\" The Dragon didn''t need much explanation as she already got the point of the human before her \"You need me to fight for you, don''t you? But what if I kill you and take the stone for myself\" The Dragon''s body started to shine as the wisps coming towards Don became hotter. \"You can''t because I have someone waiting to teleport me away in a flash when I want and also you cant fight me with your child beside you, the force of our attacks could easily kill the child inside the shell\" \"Hahaha\" the Dragon let out a laugh when it heard Don as the shine emanated from its body gradually faded away \"You are indeed a careful one successor but I have some conditions if you want me to fight for you?\" She already knew she was in no position to negotiate but she had a feeling that this human would be reasonable, unlike the previous Dragon King. \"What do you want?\" Don calmly asked the Dragon because he knew even the elves had shown some resistance to serve under him let alone a noble arrogant Dragon like this one. \"First I want my child to be released from the guardian line I want my child to be free\" Don would never make someone serve him against their wishes, he was already confused at the fact how did the Dragon King made the Dragons serve him and protect the dwarves all these times, it was like a master-slave bond and Don thoroughly hated and disgusted to be a master of someone. It''s something his heart never let him even though he and Arrora shared the master-slave bond he didn''t treat her like a slave, not even a bit. Of course, he beat her during the training but it was training and he would never hit her for fun like Minister Bryan. \"Next I won''t kill innocent people and you can''t make me do anything against my wishes\" Don looked at the Dragon for any further conditions but the Dragons didn''t say anything else as it looked back at him waiting for his answer. After a moment of thinking about the conditions, Don made his choice \"As the heir of the Dragon King I, Don accept all your conditions\" Don placed his one hand on his chest and swore to the Dragon. Seeing Don swore the Dragon was visibly happy for her and her child as she took the soul stone in her hands and felt the energy the stone is radiating. After a few moments the Dragon took the soul stone, the light it was emanating slowly started to fade away as the Dragon''s golden scales regained their shininess and the previous tiredness and exhaustion in the Dragon''s eyes disappeared and it looked very healthy and full of life. \"How do you feel?\" Don asked the Dragon who now had a happy smile on its face. \"Great although it couldn''t fully restore my magic level it did help me restore my life essence \" The Dragon was checking on its body and wings while he said \"What level were you before giving birth?\" Don asked without holding back his curiosity. \"I was at the mid heavenly level now it seems I''m just a mid grandmaster\" Don almost coughed up blood when he heard the Dragon saying just a mid grandmaster because he knew how rare and powerful a grandmaster is yet this Dragon seems to be looking down on the grandmaster level, also he couldn''t help but wonder how powerful was the Dragon King because just a small part of the soul he left behind was equal to heavenly level magi. Despite all of this Don was very happy to get a grandmaster level being in his army, with the help of this Dragon he could conquer most of the small kingdoms and cities easily but now he had to know the name of this Dragon. \"How may I address you?\" The Dragon stopped checking itself when it heard Don and looked at him before saying its name \"You are in the presence of the mighty Reghys the lady of the skies successor\" the Dragon proudly introduced herself as Don could see the real nature of the Dragon is emerging the desperate helpless dragon Don saw a moment ago was now nowhere to be found. \"Ok Reghys we have to leave this place I can take the wealth here with us if you allow \" Reghys shook her head and giggled a little when she heard Don \"You humans are sure greedy take much as you can I''m more of a knowledge-seeking girl unlike my ance...\" Her speech was halted and her eyes went wide in surprise when she saw mountains of wealth around her disappearing into the light that comes from Don''s hand. In a few moments, all the wealth around her was nowhere to be found as only an empty floor and her egg was there. \"How much space do you have in your space ring?\" Even though she cared less about the gold and wealth she was very upset when she saw the empty floor around her but she shook her head in regret of saying take much as you can to a freak like Don. \"Don''t worry I''ll put this all in the castle''s treasury you can get much as you want\" Don said after realizing that he heard stories about the greedy nature of Dragons to horde themselves the gold and shiny things but when he saw the wide eyes on Reghys face he was glad of saying so. Reghys just slightly nodded without saying anything because she decided to choose her words carefully the next time she wants to talk to Don. \"Let''s go outside Reghys the dwarves are waiting for me\" At the moment outside Knight was yawning and waiting for Don to come back from the cave with Uncle Dior beside him. He could see the dwarves standing there and watching the cave entrance without even moving anywhere. During the time of Don''s absence, some dwarven children would wave their hands at him and talk among them while looking at him with curiosity. Some dwarven women would glance at him from time to time but they will just look away in fear when Knight looks back at them. Knight wanted to contact Don through the Khal but before he could do anything the ground shuddered beneath him like something big coming stepping towards them as he looked at the dark cave entrance. Uncle Dior beside Knight was also looking at the cave entrance as the ground shook more and more as the time went by. After a few seconds of looking at the cave entrance, Uncle Dior saw something. He could see two bright blood-red lights coming from the cave. \"Guardian!!\" the dwarves shouted and knelt when they realized the red light was the eyes of their guardian, the Dragon Reghys. A few feets away from the cave entrance, Knight''s jaw dropped in surprise when he saw the mighty beast at the entrance. He saw some pictures of the Dragon race when he was in the divine continent but this was the first time he''s seen one in real life. \"Dra... Dragon\" Knight''s thoughts were disrupted when he heard Uncle Dior beside him mumbling as he turned to see Uncle Dior shivering and trembling in fear. \"Guardian, why did ye come out?\" the Oldman asked Reghys, Reghys didn''t say anything as it signaled them towards the cave entrance. The dwarves were confused at Reghys but they realized what she was signaling them when they saw Don stepping outside from the dark cave. But before the dwarves or the Oldman could say anything Reghys said \"The human is indeed the heir of the Dragon King, I could feel the energy of his mark on Don''s body\" The Old man was shocked when he heard Reghys as he stared Don a few minutes then he dropped on his one knee before him followed by Stodmer and his group and in a few moments, every dwarf around him dropped on their one knee and bowed their heads toward Don. At this moment only two words echoed through the mountains \"My King\" 42 Aftermath At the moment inside of a room made of pure marble stones stood three figures as another one walked faster towards the three figures in the middle of the room. \"Teacher you need to hear this\" the newcomer was a red-haired youth in a blue robe. The figures were indeed Aqualis, Sears and Rosaline and the youth were Rosalin''s brother Hayden. Aqualis was frustrated at the point that she had no clue about the killer of Minister Bryan, she hated the feeling of being in the dark but seeing her student''s smile on his face she knew he had some information that was valuable to her in the pursuit for the killer. \"Does it have to do anything with the killer?\" Rosaline could see the excitement in her brother''s eyes, he was doing his best to keep his calm demeanor \"It very well might be Teacher\" As she heard Hayden a cold look emerged on her face but Aqualis quickly hid it with a charming smile and looked at Hayden \"Spill the beans Hayden \" Sears couldn''t wait to hear what is Hayden has to say about the killer \"Come with me teacher, you should hear it from her than me\" After a few minutes of following Hayden Sears, Aqualis and Rosaline came in front of the healing room of the Cold Moon Mansion. None of them asked any question of why they were going to the healing room as they just followed Hayden inside. At the center of the room, Rosaline could see a group of girls and boys standing and murmuring among them. \"All of you get out except Mervin\" Hayden shouted at the group as he walked towards the group followed by Aqualis Rosaline and Sears. Everyone who heard Hayden was startled and turned around to see Hayden was walking towards them with his teachers and sister. Seeing their usually secluded teachers coming to investigate the scene made everyone realize this is not something they could poke their noses in as they left the room without even uttering a word leaving a girl and Mervin behind. When the students left the room Rosaline could see a girl sitting beside a couple of buckets as she had one in her lap as well, the girl was pale and shivering as her eyes were blood red due to what seems to be crying. When Hayden and the group stepped forward towards the girl she raised her head and tried to stand up to show her respects but before she could do that Rosaline saw the girl throw up in the bucket. \"Jeez, what happened to her?\" Sears asked when he saw the poor girl. \"Hayden, what does this girl have to do anything with our search?\" Aqualis didn''t care about the girl, not even a bit. \"Teacher she is Jemma, Jemma Ariel\" at the moment Hayden said her name everyone''s eyes opened wide in realization and shock except Mervin. \"She''s the daughter of Abran Ariel?\" Aqualis asked in surprise as she saw Hayden nodding in confirmation. \"Yes she''s the one\" Hearing she''s the heir of the Ariel family Aqualis started to care about the girl \"Little one what happened to you?\" Aqualis asked in a motherly voice as the girl lifted her head away from the bucket and looked at her \"Uncle my Uncle he \" but before she could say anything she started to throw up again. \"Mervin tell us what happened again\" Hayden realized she wouldn''t talk even if she wanted to so he asked Mervin. Although Mervin seemed fine compared to Jemma, he was extremely afraid and shivering inside however seeing the grandmasters before him he gulped his saliva and mustered all his courage to tell them what happened a few hours ago. \"It happened¡­. ******************************** (a few hours ago) \"Jemma what are you thinking about?\" Mervin asked Jemma who was looking far away with a worried face. \"I don''t know but I have a weird feeling like something bad happened\" She was clenching her fists while she said, Mervin wanted to reassure her but before he could do that he saw a group of men flying towards them. \"Jemma why are your family members coming here?\" Mervin realized they were Ariel''s family members at the moment he saw the giant crane carrying the blue-robed men. He knew only the Ariel family-owned white cranes to carry them around instead of a magical broom. After a few moments, the crane landed as Jemma looked at them \"Jemma when did you last see your Uncle Robert?\" one of the blue-robed men asked Jemma in a serious tone. The moment Jemma laid eyes on Uncle Evar before her she confirmed that her feeling had just become true. She knew Uncle Evar is the head of security of House Ariel and he wouldn''t leave the compound if it wasn''t something serious and now he''s here to ask her about Uncle Robert, the same man she sent after Micheal. \"Uncle Evar why what happened to Uncle Robert?\" Jemma''s eyes already started to turn watery \"Robert''s life light went out\" the moment Jemma heard Uncle Evar her heart skipped a beat. A life light is a tiny bit of soul left behind, as long as the person who left the life light is alive the light will continue to burn. Obviously, Jemma knew the meaning behind Uncle Evar''s words, someone''s life light went out means the person has died. \"No!!!!! It can''t be\" Jemma shouted as she leaped towards Uncle Evar and hugged him tightly, Evar could feel his shirt turning wet by her tears. \"Jemma it could be a mistake, you are the last person he met right? So tell me where and when did you meet him?\" Even though Evar said it could be a mistake he knew that''s not the case but seeing the poor girl he had to at least provide some kind of comfort to her. Seeing this Mervin realized Jemma was too sad to say anything so he stepped forward to answer Evar \"We met him two days ago and he went towards the Kingdom of Emir\" Mervin didn''t say anything about the ambush they planned with Uncle Robert because he thought it would be better if Jemma told Evar about it. \"Its... its all my fault\" Jemma''s voice was breaking due to her sobbing while she said \"What''s your fault but we have to hurry let''s go you can tell everything on the way\" Evar said as he took Jemma and Mervin on his crane and started to fly towards the Kingdom of Emir. \"Sir Evar we found the battle site\" the scout of Evar''s group flew towards him and said, Jemma was still crying but hearing the scout her cries became louder. After a few minutes of following the scout, Evar could see an empty Carriage on the barren lands and a crater near it. \"Ah SIr Evar\" Evar saw the scout has something to say but he was hesitating \"What is it Patrick?\" Evar asked the scout before descend \"Sir Evar you should leave miss Jemma away\" but before Evar could say anything Jemma started to shout like she was mad \"No, I want to see I want to see Uncle Robert\" seeing how Jemma behaving Evar realized he couldn''t do as Patric suggested as he slowly descended towards the scene. Some of Evar''s men already landed and scanned around the place, when Evar landed he could see some of his men slightly trembling looking down at the crater. At the moment Jemma''s feet touched the ground she ran towards the crater to see Uncle Robert. However, when she laid her eyes on the ground below her, she fell down and crawled back in shock and fear. Her legs refused to go near the crater again because of the scene she just saw. Mervin couldn''t understand why Jemma was acting this way until he himself looked down. The scene he saw was horrible beyond words, in the center of the crater he saw Uncle Robert''s body or what''s left of it. He was mashed to the ground, the body Mervin saw was not a complete body but just a meat paste. Even Evar was taken back by shock when he saw Robert''s body, the scene was similar to roadkill, Evar was unable to guess Robert''s legs from his hands, the blood was already dried and dyed the ground around the body in red. Some bones and teeth of Robert seemed to have survived as they decorated the red meat paste with their white color. Robert''s death was horrible to the point that if they wanted to bury him they needed to scrub him off from the ground first, even if they do that they won''t get his full body. Evar couldn''t hold his anger towards the killer of his brother but he didn''t show his anger to the others. \"Sir Evar you need to see this \" another one of his men said to Evar as he started to follow the man when Jemma stood up to come with him. Evar had never seen Jemma like this before, she was their little and raised her like a flower in a greenhouse but now she was welcomed by the terrible reality, Her skin turned pale in fear as her eyes looked lifeless. \"Uncle Evar I need to see it\" The man informed Evar nodded his head towards Evar to let him know Jemma could see it, Seeing the man before him Evar knew the next scene was not horrible as Robert''s body so he let Jemma follow him. While following the man Evar could see he''s leading him towards the carriage and just as he guessed the man stopped at the carriage. The moment Evar laid his eyes on the side of the carriage he heard someone falling to the ground, it was Jemma who fainted. Evar could understand why she fainted because what she saw was indeed meant for her to see more than that it was written in which Evar guessed the blood of Robert. ''WE WILL MEET AGAIN JEMMA ARIEL'' 43 Aftermath II \"This is what happened\" Mervin finished telling what happened to Aqualis, Sears, Rosaline, and Hayden. While he was telling them Jemma already threw up a couple of times. Even though they heard Mervin recalling the scene they couldn''t believe him, Rosaline knitted her brows while Aqualis and Sears looked at Mervin with a doubtful stare. \"So the infamous Wind Killer Robert finally pissed off the wrong guys huh?\" Sears didn''t like Robert very much so he cared less about his life. \"Sears, this is not the time to mock the dead\" Aqualis said to Sears with a firm tone. \"What does it have to do anything with our killer?\" Finally Rosaline opened her mouth to ask a question as a grin appeared on her brother''s face. \"Mervin tell us what Evar told you?\" Until now Mervin''s face showed a slight fear but when Hayden asked this question Mervin kept opening and closing his mouth several times before forming words. However seeing everyone are looking at him he finally chose to tell them, \"Uncle Evar and his men searched for the parameters they found nothing\" \"What do you mean nothing?\" Aqualis questioned Mervin Mervin took a deep breath and let it out again slowly \"I mean we only found the magical fluctuations of Uncle Robert and his men but not the killers\" at the moment Rosaline heard Mervin, she had a heavy feeling in the stomach. Unlike Rosaline, a slow smile surfaced on Aqualis'' face as the surprise sinks in. Aqualis then flicked her wrist as a small round pill appeared on her palm. \"Boy show us the location and you take this pill it''ll calm your nerves\" The pill on her hands flew towards Jemma and landed beside her. ***************** \"Miss Aqualis Mister Sears\" Evar greeted them with a small bow when he saw them descend. He was still securing and searching around the barren lands to find any sort of clue about his brother''s killer while he saw Mervin brought visitors from Cold Moon Mansion. \"I''m sorry for your loss Evar \" Aqualis said as Sears already started to walk towards the Crater with Rosaline. As Rosaline and Sears got closer to the Crater a foul smell reached their nostrils. Brought her hand up to cover her mouth when she finally saw the body and realized why Jemma''s been throwing up \"Sick bastard\" Sears gritted his teeth in anger, despite the hate towards Robert he never wanted him to die like this. On the other side, Aqualis was standing before the carriage and staring at the writing Don left behind. \"Micheal\" Aqualis was repeating his name, if Sears was with her he would see the cold killing intent in her eyes After a while of checking the body of Robert, Sears and Rosaline joined Aqualis and Hayden to see the writing that Aqualis staring at \"So the killer''s a man huh \" Sears said as he read the writing in blood. Aqualis hid her killing intent and turned to look at Sears \"Did you check the magical fluctuations?\" Sears scratched at his cheek and rubbed his chin for a moment before answering \"There should have been two magical fluctuations but I could only find one, just like at Bryan''s home\" Anger boiled deep in Rosaline''s heart, as hot as lava remembering her failure. However, Aqualis had a cold grin on her face \"There was more than one killer\" as she said Evar beside her nodded towards Sears in agreement. \"Even though our Micheal is a great master he couldn''t have fought with ten peak masters and a great master like Robert\" Aqualis said as she slowly walked away from the carriage as everyone followed her. Standing on the empty barren lands Sears searched his surroundings as he said \"Hmm there was a battle here too I assume it was with Robert''s men\" Sears rubbed his chin and said. \"Yes they were all peak masters according to Evar and all of them were experts who fought hundreds of battles\" Sears frowned as he walked past Aqualis and grabbed a handful of soil where the battle occurred \"You didn''t find the bodies did you?\" Sears asked Evar as Evan shook his head. A small grin emerged on Sears''s face like he found something \"They were burnt without a grandmaster fire mage like me you wouldn''t have found the trace\" But before anyone could say anything Sears let go of the soil as he continued \"They used some kind of mystical fire to burn the bodies I''ve never seen a fire mark like this\" Aqualis tapped her lips with her fingers as she thought about everything that happened related to the killer as Sears looked at Mervin then Evar \"What was Robert doing here on this barren land?\" however Evar didn''t answer him as he just looked at Mervin. Until now Mervin didn''t tell anyone except Evar that why Robert came here, but now he''s been questioned by a grandmaster. Mervin was shaking in fear as Sears slowly stepped forward towards him, as a small snake made of fire appeared around Sears'' hand. \"If you leave anything out I''ll put this little fella in\" Sears put his hand on Mervin''s shoulder as the snake moved towards Mervin, at that moment Mervin couldn''t think about anything as he started to narrate the things happened from where they met Micheal, Jemma''s desire of Micheal''s pet, the ambush she set for the dwarves to complete the task that given by the Cold Moon Mansion using Micheal as bait and sending Robert to clean up the work. Mervin said everything to Sears as Sears withdrew his hand and his snake from Mervin. Having heard the full story Aqualis breathed a sigh and let out a small smile \"Evar Cold Moon Mansion will provide all the help to bring the killer to Justice\" hearing Aqualis Evar didn''t decline her help because he knew that combining the force of Ariel house and Cold Moon Mansion would speed up the process and increase the chances of catching the killer. \"Rosaline send a lotus serum and a sketch artist to Jemma, I want their faces drawn and distributed through the entire continent \" \"Put a bounty on Micheal''s head for hundred thousand low-quality magic stones\" Hayden''s jaw dropped when he heard the amount but he quickly hid his shock and nodded. The magic stones were like universal currency in the empire, the magic stones were categorized as three which are low quality,mid-quality, and high quality. A single low-quality magic stone can be converted into gold coins but not the other way around. With the amount of bounty on Don''s head, a person could easily live his or her life well off. \"Now the question is whether Micheal or whatever his real name is a one-man or he belonged to a group \" Aqualis said and looked far away. \"A killer who leaves no trace of magical fluctuations like an Ultimate Assassin this world has never seen before, We need to capture that bastard asap before he does more damage\" Sears said as he took his flying broom from his space ring to take off however before he takes off he looked at Rosaline \"This is your only chance to redeem yourself, Rosaline capture him\" Sears didn''t wait for Rosaline''s answer as he took off leaving her behind \"I will make you beg for death you sick bastard\" 44 Reports At the moment Don was sitting on his throne in the castle without knowing anything about the bounty that was put on his head by the Cold Moon Mansion. On his right, Knight sat on his royal seat and his left Arrora stood behind him like a loyal bodyguard while Catalie stood between him and Knight overlooking the crowd before her. Sitting on his throne Don could see the two separate groups, they were dwarves and the elves, between the dwarves and the elves Reghys occupied the space with her huge body. The dwarves looked annoyed and showed their hostility towards the elves, while the elves were more concerned and feared the dragon rather than showing their hostility towards the dwarves. Even the usually curious Amaryll was shivering in fear in the presence of the Dragon, Don could see Arwen trying his best to not show any fear on his face. Everyone in the throne hall was waiting for Don to speak but he was waiting for Benedict and Arya to join them but they didn''t keep him any longer as they entered the hall. However at the moment they entered, a scream echoed through the hall. \"Ahhhhhhhh\" The dwarves and the elves turned their heads in the direction of the scream to see a human girl wearing glasses standing there pale in fear beside a middle-aged man. \"Is that a Dragon?\" Benedict had a sudden urge to flee from the hall when he saw the huge Dragon standing in the room. \"I don''t eat humans\" seeing the girl and the man''s pale face Reghys giggled. Arya and Benedict grasped air when they heard the Dragon''s sweet female voice but before they could do anything their legs moved towards the crowd when they saw Don''s gaze at them. \"Brother everyone''s here\" Catalie informed Don after confirming everyone''s in the castle is present at the throne hall. Don slowly stood up from his throne and looked at the crowd as they looked back at Don to see what he''s going to say, \"I don''t know what happened between the elves and the dwarves, I don''t care about the past between you\" The dwarves and elves started to murmur among themselves when they heard Don, \"But what I care is the future, you can be dwarves elves orcs goblins humans demihumans half-elves or anyone to the outside world but here in my kingdom, you all are my people a single entity\" Don knew if he spent his time mediating between the races with their petty grudges he would never be the Emperor he wanted to be. \"In the future, this place will be home to many other races but if anyone can''t put aside their rivalry this is not the place for them \" Don said in a serious tone as he released his aura to suppress the group and show his power. The aura he released turned the lighted room into a darkened place. No one uttered a word seeing Don''s aura, even Reghys couldn''t understand what is this energy he''s releasing because she couldn''t see any magical energy or fluctuations beside him. \"If all the races stood together against the humans all of you would have been living in your own kingdoms instead of being hunted by the humans like animals \" The elves and dwarves clutched their fists in anger and frustration but they realized the truth in Don''s words. Even when the humans waged war against them, they didn''t set aside their feud and unite but the humans stood together in the war against them, as a result, the other races lost while the humans won the war and prospered unlike them. \"I won''t tolerate any frictions among my people don''t forget that if anyone has a problem with this feel free to leave\" Don looked at everyone to see if anyone leaving but like he expected no one dared to move. Don knew they wouldn''t have left because of fear or understanding but he didn''t care why they chose not to leave as long as they live without fighting amongst them. \"In Unity there is power; you can even move the mountains when you''re united but without unity you are victims\" Reghys looked very surprised at Don and she looked forward to his achievements in the future because no one dared to unite all the races under the same roof until now. \"Cat arrange a place for the dwarves to stay\" Don said to Catalie as the little girl nodded her head with a big smile and looked at the dwarves. \"Alright, people just follow me\" the dwarves first seemed very hesitant but when they say Reghys nod head they relaxed a bit and followed the little girl''s projection leaving Stodmer and the Oldman behind. Seeing everyone leaving Don sat on his throne while Arwen, Amaryll, and Gael didn''t leave as well as Stodemer and the Oldman. Don knew they had something to report to him but he was surprised to see Benedict and Arya approaching him. The first one came forward was Gael, as he stepped forward he slightly bowed towards Don to show his respect \"My lord there were five new addition to our army two female and three male and\" Gael''s face was shining like he achieved something \"Now we have ten masters in our ranks my lord including myself and Arwen\" Don was happy to hear the improvements and slightly surprised too. If he could provide them the resources for their magic cultivation the elves could reach even higher levels. \"Good you did a great job I will reward you later Gael\" Gael''s eyes sparkled when he heard Don saying that he will reward him because he knew the items Don possessed were extremely valuable like the magic mask, the sword he gave to Arrora and the healing potion. \"It''s my duty my lord\" as Gael said he bowed his head and dismissed himself letting Arwen and Amaryll report. Arwen and Amaryll didn''t bow towards Don like Gael did but a small nod and started reporting to Don \"We covered half of the lands, we have recorded two lakes one big river and two forests one on the south side of the castle and another one in the west\" Arwen read the scroll Amaryll had written for him \"What about farmlands and magical beasts?\" Knight interrupted Arwen \"We have acres of fertile lands as for the magical beasts we found some low-level magical beasts but couldn''t go deep into the forest we suspect there might be some high-level beasts living there\" Stodmer and the Oldman looked very excited because until now they lived in a barren land without being able to grow anything, not even an edible grass however now they heard that there are acres of fertile land to farm. \"Good job both of you, leave the scouting for now and Arwen congratulations for reaching master level\" Amaryll laughed like she was the one who reached the master level when she heard Don as Arwen just let out a small smile but inside he was extremely happy. After dismissing Arwen and Amaryll, Don turned his gaze towards Benedict and Arya who were still shivering in fear seeing the Dragon beside them. Benedict had another problem that is how to address Don because Gael addressed him as ''my lord'' but Arwen and Amaryll just called him using his name however he chose not to use either his name or any honorifics for the moment. \"We studied the stone you gave us and reached some conclusions\" as Benedict said he nodded facing Arya. Arya closed her eyes and started to chant something as a small fireball appeared on her palm \"The fireball was created by using magical energy but that''s it, after something created using magic energy it can''t be manipulated in simple words you can''t change the fireball into fire stick, however the battle energy you use can manipulate the fire particles themselves its nearly ten times powerful than the magic energy but there''s a drawback of using battle energy as well\" Until Benedict''s last words Don and Knight didn''t care much but when he said drawback both of them looked at him with full concentration but Reghys behind Benedict and Arya looking and listening to their lecture with eyes full of sparkle and curiosity. \"The drawback is the more the powerful the spell created suing magical energy the more battle energy you need to control or manipulate it, if you don''t have enough battle energy its better not try to control the powerful spells because the backlash will be severe even life-threatening\" Don was doubtful about the controlling part but he knew about the backlash since he was nearly killed when he fought against the Dragon King''s heavenly level projection. While Don was thinking and reminiscing about what Benedict just said Knight stood from his royal seat \"Can you convert the magical energy to battle energy or battle energy to magical energy?\" Knight didn''t care about the drawback because he knew well enough to run or retreat when facing a powerful enemy than himself. For him and Don, there is no shame in retreat and only fools would pick a fight they couldn''t win. However, turning magical energy into battle energy or vise versa was something crucial to their plan. \"Yeah about that\" Benedict searched his side bag and took out a prism-like object and held it on his palm, there were many nuts and bolts around the object which Don and Knight had no idea about \"It''s a prototype we are working on but we need more resources\" But before Don could say anything Reghys bent down to study the Object on Benedict''s palm, feeling the hot wisp of smoke coming from the Dragon''s nostrils Benedict and Arya went rigid and started to sweat in fear \"Are you trying to implement mage Ruger''s theory on this device\" At the moment Benedict and Arya heard Reghys they were shocked and opened their mouths wide open in surprise \"You... you know about Romer''s thory?\" Benedict stuttered and mispronounced words while he spoke in fear \"Yeah I know more than that like\" As Reghys said she started to explain magical theories and then some using her own knowledge and the memories she gained from her ancestors however except Benedict Arya and Reghys everyone who''s standing in the hall scratched their head in confusion. Don could see Benedict and Arya started to lower their guards against Reghys and discuss more and more without fearing as they did a moment ago with Reghys. \"Alright you three follow me \" Don said as he walked towards the corridor followed by Benedict, Arya, and Reghys the people in the hall. Eventually, Don entered into a huge empty hall. While entering the room Reghys realized she''s too big as she shrank her size to Enter the room without hitting the ceiling of the room. \"You can use this hall however you want and these\" as Don said he flicked his wrist and his space ring let out a small glimmer of light, in just a few seconds Arya saw a pile of magical stones and battle energy stones appear on the corner of the hall. Everyone seeing the scene had nearly fainted because the magical stones he just gave were equal to millions of gold coins but noticing Don''s face they were sure that he didn''t care about it at all. Benedict never had this much of resources for his experiments in his life until now, he had no idea what to do. Should he refuse or accept but before he could choose any Don called him \"Benedict you don''t need to hesitate this project of yours is very important to me I don''t care about these stones I need you to try your best and successfully complete this device\" While he was talking Catalie''s projection appeared in the room beside Don as Don looked at Reghys \"Reghys you can go with Cat here and choose any room you want, Knight let''s go\" Don didn''t stick around to hear more lectures or answer of Reghys as he made his way towards the throne hall with the dwarves and elves leaving behind the energy workers alone. After seeing Don''s figure disappear Reghys turned her head and closely looked at the pile of magical stones he left behind and when she did that her eyes went wide and dropped her jaw a little \"Isn''t these the stones he took from me?\" 45 Gifts Filler Chapter After leaving Benedict, Arya and Reghys in their new hall Don came back to the throne room to talk with Stodmer and the Oldman. \"Do you guys like your new home?\" Don asked the Oldman and Stodemar. Don could see they were acting nervously when he asked them. \"Aye me king this be like heaven ta us \" the Oldman said. \"Glad you like it so how may I address you?\" Don knew the Dwarf that tried to ambush them is called Stodemar but he didn''t know what is the name of the Old dwarf. The old dwarf was startled when he heard Don as he quickly knelt before him \"I''m called Dhursir Grayfall me king\" Don put his hands around the short Old dwarf''s hand and lifted him up \"It''s good to see you accepted a human-like me as your king Dhursir but you don''t have to kneel\" however the dwarf shook his head when he heard Don because the dwarves were sticklers to tradition for them not kneeling before their king was a sin. \"I don''t like people kneeling before me Dhursir except for my enemies so Dhursir tell me, are you my enemy?\" \"No no, me king I don''t dare \" Dhursir gave a quick bark of laughter to hide his fear however he wanted to show his disagreement to not kneel but seeing Don, he knew that arguing with him would yield no result. \"Just keep your respect and loyalty in your heart and now you two go meet with your people and take rest we''ll take later\" \"Aye me king\" Stodemar and Dhursir bowed awkwardly as they controlled their impulse to kneel. After dismissing the dwarves only Knight, Arrora, Arwen, Amaryll and Gael stood before him in the throne hall. Don activated his Khal to contact Catalie \"Cat bring Uncle Dior to the throne hall\" \"Yeah I''ll be there with him in a jiffy\" Just like the girl said Catalie came to the throne hall with Uncle Dior in a few minutes.Seeing Uncle Dior yawning and stretching his hands Don guessed he was sleeping when Catalie dragged him here \"Uncle Dior, the ring from the royal dine is with you right?\" At the moment Uncle Dior heard Don his eyes went wide as he hit his own forehead for his forgetfulness \"Yes I forgot to give it to you\" Uncle Dior went to remove the red color space ring on his finger but Don stopped him with a wave of his hand and turned to look at Arwen and Amaryll \"Arwen take some people with you and hunt some game we should have a feast tonight\" Arwen was surprised at first but after a moment he nodded and turned to leave but Knight jumped in front of him with a grin on his face \"I''m coming with you to hunt\" Knight didn''t even wait for Arwen''s response as he walked towards the door as Arwen sighed and followed him after. Seeing Knight leave with Arwen to hunt,Don turned his gaze towards Amaryll \"Amaryll can you organize everything?\" When she heard Don, she quickly nodded her head enthusiastically without even thinking because she would do anything to escape from Gael''s hellish training, seeing Amaryll''s grin from ear to ear Don knew why she seems very happy to organize the feast but he chose to let her have her fun just for today. \"Uncle Dior you help her with this and do what you see fit with other things and Arrora take a day off from the training \" as Don said he circulated his battle energy to control the wind element around him as Uncle Dior saw Don''s figure became a blur as he disappeared just like that leaving him Amaryll, Catalie and Arrora behind. Arrora couldn''t even open her mouth to respond when he disappeared from the hall. \"No matter how many times I see him he is still a freak of nature\" Amaryll breathed a heavy sigh when she saw Don disappear as Catalie squinted her eyes and pouted when she heard Amaryll cursing her brother. \"You will thank him when you see this\" as Uncle Dior said he took the dress they bought in Virnam for the elves. Amaryll looked surprised when Uncle Dior flicked his wrist and took something from the space ring. However, When she saw the dress appear in Uncle Dior''s hand her eyes started to sparkle The silvery gown in Uncle Dior''s hands looked like it was made from the finest silk as the silver and gold lines decorated and gave a shiny touch to the borders. \"What are you looking at? take this\" Uncle Dior held the dress towards Amaryll and shook the dress to urge her. Amaryll was shaking in excitement and surprise as she slowly reached out her hands to take the gown. \"This is for me?\" Amaryll held the gown tightly against her chest and asked Uncle Dior with a shaky voice. Uncle Dior rolled his eyes and took another dress from the space ring. If the gown he gave to Amaryll was for a delicate woman, the robe Uncle Dior took from the ring now if for a warrior woman. The robe looked like it was made of thick cloth to protect the wearer from cuts and physical attacks.it was dyed with black color with shiny metal plates covered the chest area and engraved with silver lining to add some extra charm to the robe and it also had a sword sheath which was decorated with ancient writings and designs. \"Arrora it''s for you\" Arrora couldn''t believe her ears when she heard Uncle Dior, just by looking at the robe she was able to tell it would have cost a lot to buy the robe. She never had something expensive as this after she left her home. \"I can''t take this it''s too valuable\" but Uncle Dior forcefully put the robe in her hands with a smile \"Just take it it''s rude to reject a gift \" Amaryll hesitantly held the dress in her hands \"Uncle Dior where did you get the money to buy all this?\" Amaryll frowned her eyes and asked Uncle Dior because unlike Arrora she didn''t want this dress to be taken away from her if Uncle Dior bought the dress by taking a debt. When Uncle Dior heard Amaryll he didn''t know whether to laugh or cry as he shook his head \"Don bought all this\" as he said Uncle Dior took all the dresses he bought for the elves out. Amaryll and Arrora let out a yelp in shock when they saw the pile of dresses before them. Seeing the pile of clothes Arrora realized they would never have to worry about new clothes for a time being. With a shiny new gown in her hands, Amaryll couldn''t wait to wear it and show it to Arwen during the feast because of that she was motivated to organize the feast even more. \"Amaryll it''s your responsibility to distribute the clothes to the woman I''ll take the clothes for the men\" While Amaryll and Uncle Dior sorting the dresses Arrora stood there with teary eyes. She felt extremely grateful towards Don because not only he saved her from being a slave, he was treating her like she''s matter. Until now only her parents brought her but now she got a gift from him yet he didn''t even ask anything from her. Even though receiving a gift from someone was not a big deal for others but for a person like herself who was being on the run fearing for her life and treated like dirt by humans, a mere gift made a significant impact within her. At the moment in her heart, the loyalty she had for Don jumped up a notch and she also felt happy and safe to be here. \"Arrora come on help us with this \" Arrora wiped her tears and walked towards Amaryll to help her with a lightened heart and smile. 46 The Celebration Long oak tables loaded with delicacies line the walls. Everything you could think of, and things you have never dreamed of, lie in wait. Whole roasted cows and pigs and goats radiated hot air around them. Tabletops layered with trays of the most delicious food and drinks lined the walls, delicacies capable of making one''s mouth water, a whole roast deer with sprigs of rosemary threaded through its antlers and stuffed with bacon and rye bread, marinated chicken, grilled trout with lime, and a pineapple glazed pork, mounds of fragrant wild rice, mashed potatoes and diced pumpkin smeared with butter and spices baked on hot stones, and all sorts of varieties of salads and side dishes. A tureen or two on each table contained either hot soup or a hearty casserole. The dining hall in the castle echoed with the laughter of dwarves and the elves. On each side of the oak table, the dwarves and elves kept stuffing their bellies with the delicacies cooked in the castle and the food Don bought from the Royal dine. Elves were more focused on food and kept their tables while the dwarves drank till the wine flowed out of their mouth however some elves joined the dwarves and drank with them as well as started to sing and dance. On the front of the hall, Don watched the joy on everyone''s face Don guessed it was their first celebration in a long time including him. Amaryll was laughing and showing her dress to Arya and Arrora as having a girl talk among them. Stodemar and Arwen on the other side having a drinking contest as the Dhursir already on the verge of falling due to hangover. Elrond and some elven children sat with the dwarven children chatting happily without any reservation from one another. Uncle Dior and Amaryll did a good job of preparing the feast and distributing the new clothes to the elves as the elves looked very clean and elegant in their new clothes. When the feast started Arrora came to thank Don for wearing the robe he bought for her, she was very emotional when she thanked him but Don just gave her a nod and asked her to enjoy the fest yet the girl still glance at Don occasionally and say thank you. \"Wow, the girl can really cook Don?\" Knight said as he already licked the bowl clean. \"Who Amaryll?\" Don didn''t start to eat yet \"Arrora she prepared this for us and Amaryll''s dishes were tasty too\" Knight pointed at the chicken dish before Don when he mentioned Arrora''s name. After seeing Knight staring at his dish Don decided to eat before the lion steal his food and when the moment the chicken meat touched Don''s tongue he realized why Knight kept looking at the dish. for a man like him who ate meat roasted in a campfire, it was extremely delicious even delicious than the food he had in Royal dine. \"Uncle Dior how much it cost him to buy all these food from Virnam?\" as Amaryl asked she took a sip from the wine glass, \"Wow\" Amaryll''s eyes sparkled when the wine touched her tastebuds and she gulped the wine without taking the glass off her mouth as Uncle Dior breathed a heavy sigh \"Let''s just say the sip you just took was the most expensive thing you did in your lifetime\" Amaryll almost coughed up the wine she drank when she heard Uncle Dior and looked at the wine bottle with wide eyes. \"Arya, do you know how much this bottle is?\" When Amaryll poured the wine to Arya she saw Arya''s jaw drop slightly and stopped her from filling the glass but she didn''t think of it much however when she heard Uncle Dior she turned to look at Arya. Seeing the squinty eyes of the elves Arya knew she couldn''t evade the question so she tilted towards Amaryll and whispered the price of the wine bottle into her pointy ears. Amaryll turned red when Arya finished telling the price of the wine bottle as she started to shiver. Seeing Amaryll everyone around her couldn''t keep their mouth shut as they started to laugh at her \"I need to have a talk with Don about his extravagant ways\" Few meters away from Amaryll''s table Don couldn''t understand why Amaryll gave him a death stare as he took a sip of water. Eventually, after a dance and songs the dwarves and elves couldn''t standstill. Some of them had their heads on their friend''s shoulders and slept while some of them laid on the ground without moving due to hangover including Arwen and Stodemar. Thankfully some female elves and dwarves didn''t get drunk as men so they took the children away to sleep in their rooms. Arya dragged the fully drunk Benedict to his room while Amaryll took sleepy Elrond. Reghys didn''t come to the feast because when Don asked her she said that she needs to stretch her wings and took off carrying her egg accompanied by Catalie. After a full meal and long day, Don and Knight went towards their rooms to call it a day. *********************** The next day everyone stood before Don in the throne hall waiting for his plans. Sitting on his throne Don was able to see the red eyes of many elves and dwarves, especially the drinking contest participants Arwen and Stodemar. \"Alright I hope everyone had a good time but now it''s time to focus on more important things\" As he said Don turned his gaze towards Amaryll \"I''ve been told that I''m being wasteful so first I''ll choose Amaryll to take over the treasury\" At the moment he entered the throne room earlier Amaryll ran towards him carrying the wine bottle then started to lecture him about saving money and scolded him angrily. Having heard all the lectures on how much he can do with the price of a single wine bottle he realized Amaryll is a perfect person to take over the treasury. Even though Amaryll knows nearly nothing about prices of somethings especially the fancy stuff the higher class people use in the world but with the help of Uncle Dior she has the chance to learn and would never leave a penny unaccounted for. He just needs to bring her to the outside world more to make her learn about the prices and get some knowledge. The important reason he chose her for this job is that Knight recommended her, apparently he saw this half-elf girl have the potential to be a leader and a good accountant, as well as Uncle Dior vouched for her so he decided to give her a chance. However, some dwarves frowned and looked uncomfortable when they heard Don putting an elf to control the treasury but didn''t speak their disagreement \"Amaryll will be fair to all of you if she doesn''t I''ll replace her but remember I''ve already said there will be no feud between races here don''t make me say this again\" Seeing Don''s stare, the hall became deathly silent and the dwarves who showed some hostility towards elves shut their mouths and looked frightened. \"Stodemar Dhursir I heard you guys are experts in building stuff?\" At the moment Don asked them this question the atmosphere lightened and dwarves had a proud grin on their faces ''''its nae only me an'' stodemar me king every dwarf be a born architect, with enough resources we cou'' build anything\" Dhursir said as his voice was full of confidence and determination. \"Good you will be responsible for building houses for everyone here and everyone else should help them\" Don looked at everyone in the hall when he said the last part. The meaning for his look was very clear to them that they need to work together, the dwarves should help elves and the elves should help the dwarves in the construction. The Oldman Dhursir seemed very happy to receive Don''s order as he nodded his head enthusiastically and gave him an ear to ear grin. \"Next the most important thing is our forces, after building houses I want every able-bodied dwarf to join the army and start training I won''t force you it''s your choice to join or not\" Don expected to see the dwarves hesitate but unlike he thought the dwarves seemed very motivated and bumped their fists together like some tradition. Even some female dwarves had excited faces when they heard Don. \"They really are hotblooded and battle lovers Don\" Knight sent a telepathic message to Don when he saw the dwarves seemed very happy to join the army. \"Every person here will get their wage according to their contribution to our kingdom\" Don knew even if they get the wage from him they don''t have anywhere to spend their money yet. However, when he starts conquering and expanding, this land would turn into a real kingdom. At that point, everyone who contributed to the kingdom could enjoy the life they wanted. Don knew that time isn''t too long in his heart. \"but me king we do nae need any training we dwarves have battle skills in our blood\" Stodemar stepped forward with his buddies and punched the air to show his eagerness \"Is that so?\" When Knight saw Stodemer and his group he slowly rose from his seat and stepped forward with an evil grin. On the other side, the fifty members'' elven force couldn''t help but shook their heads and looked at the dwarves with pity. They very well knew the meaning behind the evil grin of Knight. \"They''re going to regret every word\" Gael murmured under his breath and felt bad for the dwarves thinking the hellish training Knight is going to put them through as he did with them. 47 The Bound Energy Don and Arrora had finished their training and strolling around the castle to see the construction works of dwarves. \"good morn me king\" along the way dwarves greeted Don with a small bow as Don nodded back and continued walking. It''s been two weeks since the construction works started yet Don could see the progression as they almost build the houses for all of them. The houses they built were two stories as box-shaped with its front door dead center, four small windows near each corner and constructed of the same red brick and wood. A path made out of leftover bricks made a shallow S-shape between the gate and the front door. Also seeing many elves were helping the dwarves and working together as Don said made him happy in his heart. On the other side near the river, Dhursir and some old dwarves were plowing the land while singing as some of them were trying to fish in the river. Don wanted to go there and have a talk with Dhursir however at that moment a bright beam of light appeared in the castle with a huge boom sound. The dwarves and elves dropped everything they were doing and looked at the light beam coming from the castle. \"Arrora stay here\" as Don said he dashed towards the castle without wasting any time. After a moment of running towards the castle, Don could see the light beam coming from the room he gave to Benedict for his experiments. However, when he got closer to the room the beam of light slowly started to fade away as a loud female laugh reverberated the halls, he knew the voice it was Reghys. At the moment he entered the room Don could see a sphere-shaped light floating in the center of the room as Reghys, Benedict, Arya stood around the sphere. Benedict looked away from the sphere and saw Don walking towards them but before Don came near them Arya ran towards him to welcome him with an excited smile on her face. \"We did it we did it\" Arya repeated the same words and Don could see the girl couldn''t hold her excitement and joy, she was jumping in joy while clutching her hands against her chest. \"Did what?\" suddenly Catalie appeared inside the room and asked Arya but before Arya could answer her the little girl opened her eyes wide and floated towards the sphere. \"The converter... it works \" Arya said as she and Don walked towards the sphere. The sphere radiated dark purple energy as Don could feel the energy coming from the sphere. \"Don let me introduce you to the new energy that this world has never seen \" Reghys pointed at the purple sphere as her voice was so full of proudness and confidence. \"I thought I heard it''s a converter\" Don turned his head to see Knight entering the hall with Dhursir, Stodemar, and Arrora. ''\"It can do that too come let me explain\" Benedict rolled up his sleeves and looked happy beyond words, Don could even see some tears flowing from his eyes. \"You know the battle energy is more powerful than the magic energy right?\" Benedict asked looking at Don and Knight as they nodded their heads \"It''s too powerful that we couldn''t even convert a bit of battle energy into magical energy the existing materials cant handle that kind of power\" Everyone around Benedict looked at him without even batting an eyelid as he continued \"So we tried the other way, I won''t bore you with the device''s architecture but what we did was increase the amount of pure magical energy we extracted from the magic stones with the help of Reghys\" Reghys gave them a half-shrug as she stood, chin up chest out. \"After a huge amount of pure magical energy we did it we created this strand of battle energy\" as Benedict said he gently took out a small vial from under the device. \"Just this mu... holy\" seeing the vial from away Knight was disappointed at the amount of the battle energy inside the vial but when Benedict held the vial closer to Don and him, Knight almost fainted in surprise and shock. \"Yes i know, its ten times more pure and powerful than the battle energy stone you gave us\" Just like Knight Don was shocked too because ten times pure and powerful meant their cultivation would soar through if they used this pure energy. \"Good great job and this is?\" Don was really happy and excited to improve his cultivation because there will be more grandmasters and heavenly level magis would appear since the magical energy in this world had already started to replenish. \"Until now what I''ve said is only the secondary objective of the device what''s super awesome is this\" Benedict pointed his both hands towards the purple sphere and proudly said \"I call this the bound energy\" Even though the name is weird but Don understood its Benedict''s achievement so he could call whatever he wants however Don still couldn''t understand why this energy is the main output of the device or what he would do with this energy. Seeing the confused look on Don''s face Benedict chose simple words to explain \"Bound energy was created when we mixed the two energies together as in we increased the purity and the amount of magical energy and sent it through less amount battle energy from the stones it was an extremely delicate and dangerous process\" Don realized if he doesn''t interrupt or ask any question Benedict would go on and on about the process \"So this bound energy, what can we do with it?\" \"What can''t you do with it? Your people could use this energy instead of magical energy to cultivate it''s more powerful and since bound energy partly made of battle energy they could do things a normal magi couldn''t of course they would still be weaker than pure battle energy users like you two\" Having heard all the information on the device the only drawback of the device seemed to be the abundant requirement of magical and battle energy stones but he had a huge amount of battle energy stones in his space rings and thanks to Reghys and Dragon King he had magical stones as well. However, the desire to acquire more wealth started to rise in his heart because it''s always best to have more than enough wealth. \"Are there any side effects of using this bound energy?\" As he asked this question everyone standing in the room looked at Benedict for his answer Benedict however just had a wide grin on his face \"If being more powerful and awesome than normal people counted as side effects, yes there are\" Hearing Benedict Don and Knight were very excited and happy because this is like getting a juicy steak after starving for months for them. However, after thinking about everything Don''s face showed a serious look \"You did a good job all of you but I want this place locked down immediately\" Benedict was shocked to hear DOn but before he could say anything,Catalie''s projection appeared beside Don \"Catalie lock this place down I don''t want anyone coming here without noticing me or Knight\" \"Yes brother as you wish\" Don saw Benedict was shocked and looked like he wants to say something \"I know you have questions, follow me\" Don didn''t wait for their answer as he walked away from the hall towards the throne room. Benedict and Arya couldn''t know why he''s locking down the place after getting this breakthrough as they followed him without speaking anything After a moment of locking down the energy converter, Don was now standing in the throne room before Benedict, Reghys, and Arya with Knight, he even dismissed Arrora and the Dwarfs out of the throne room. \"I did what I had to do, what do you think would happen if someone we couldn''t trust finds out about the converter?\" Benedict and Arya didn''t need to guess the answer because they already knew the answer. If the world hears about this new energy or the converter it would make the entire empire panic and covert for the device. The powerful sects and kingdoms would use all kinds of reason to wage war against Don and his people to put their hands on the device. \"What should we do?\" Benedict asked in a shaky voice his previous excitement had turned into fear. \"Don''t worry it''s only temporary I know what I need to do\" Seeing Don''s confidence and demeanor Reghys knew he has a way to ensure the safety of the device and them. \"You have a way?\" Arya clutched her hands and looked at him without blinking for his answer \"We need an oath-taker\" When they heard Don their eyes went wide in a sudden realization. The oath-taker was an ancient magic-infused mirror used by the kings to ensure the loyalty of their subjects, it was different from master-slave bond because if the subject is forced or in some kind of duress while taking the oath the mirror would not take it from him/her. The oath-taker must be willing to take the oath and the one possessing the mirror the king would also need to take an oath. In simple words, the oath-taker mirror is like an agreement between the two parties. If the subject or king didn''t oblige by the oath they took they will face disastrous consequences. However, some rulers use some loopholes in the oath they take to deceive the people who take the oaths. Normally the oath-taker mirror would be infused within the ruler''s body to ensure the mirror''s safety and only taken out in the case of transferring the mirror to someone else, usually that someone would be the heir of the king. \"Don the mirror would cost a fortune?\" Reghys knew the rarity and the value of such a magical item besides Don didn''t have a lot of people so buying a mirror would be extremely wasteful unless he''s planning to buy a small one. \"For now a thousand oath-taker is enough\" Just like Reghys thought Don decided to buy the small one yet the small one isn''t cheap either. \"The only place you could buy one is\" Before Arya could name the place Don interrupted her with the correct answer \"The Thousand Arms Auction House\" 48 Rest In Peace \"Meanwhile I have an important job for the three of you and\" as he said Don called Catalie through his Khal. \"Brother?\" The little girl''s projection suddenly appeared just after Don called her \"Cat tell Dhursir and Stodemar to come here\" The girl nodded her head with a smile and disappeared. A few breaths after Don saw the Old dwarf and Stodemar walking towards him and bow their heads \"Follow me you guys should see this\" as Don said he started towards the corridor. Eventually, after a few moments of walking followed by the dwarves and the energy working trio, Don reached the teleportation hall. This is the second time the dwarves and Reghys were in the teleportation room, when their first time they were not in the mood to study the room. However, for Benedict and Arya this is the first time they had seen the teleportation room. Before even Don could say anything Benedict already started to study the big circular teleportation array, he was fascinated by the array. \"Go check the array\" Don looked at the dwarves, Arya and said as they nodded and walked to join beside Benedict with Reghys. \"Brother, do you think they can fix it?\" The girl''s face didn''t hide her worry as Don could see Catalie knitting her brows and looking at him with a worried face. \"Even if they can I''ll find a way to fix it\" while he was thinking about alternatives way Dhursir waved his hand at Don \"me king some parts o'' tha array be damaged but if ye can give us some achils an'' potril we can try to fix it\" as he was saying Arya walked forward \"Even if you do that the array won''t work\" Dhursir looked like he wanted to argue with the girl but Don stopped him with a raise of his hand \"The runes on the array is the real problem they''ve been deteriorated with the time\" \"You can fix it right?\" Catalie seemed like she was on the verge of crying but Don could see a wry smile appearing on Arya''s face \"I have some knowledge in runes I can temporarily make it work but for completely repair it you need a runemaster\" \"Alright Cat tell Uncle Dior to go to Virnam and buy whatever Dhursir ask him to, he can get the coins from Amaryll\" Even though Arya said she could fix the Array temporarily Don knew its a dwarven technology and he should value Dhursir''s suggestions as hearing Don Dhursir looked relaxed thinking about his King value''s his idea. \"Brother is it safe to send him alone?\" \"Yes I have to cultivate, besides he has Khal to contact me if anything goes wrong Arya how long it''ll take for you to fix it?\" Arya rubbed her chin and adjusted her glasses \"Hmm two days three days maximum\" \"It''ll take him two days to reach Virnam if he departs today and we''ll be able to teleport him away if he faces any dangers\" Catalie sighed heavily when she heard Don as she disappeared. After leaving the training of the dwarves and the elves in the hands of Knight as well as the training of Arrora, Don went into close door cultivation. Before sending Uncle Dior to Virnam Don explicitly told him to contact Catalie immediately if he faced any kind of danger. Uncle Dior seemed startled when Catalie told him to go to Virnam alone but after she told him that she can teleport him away he was relieved. During the close door cultivation, Don didn''t even open his eyes as he was cultivated with full concentration. He chose not to micromanage everything and take time off. Gladly no one disturbed him, Amaryll sorted and accounted everything in the castle treasury with the help of Catalie while Arrora trained herself according to the scroll Don gave her. The dwarves were the busiest during Don''s absence as they trained under Knight in the morning and worked in their construction project. The bound energy device was completely sealed with the hall by Catalie and in the meanwhile, Benedict and Arya worked with Dhursir and Stodemar to fix the teleportation Array. However, Don''s peaceful close door cultivation didn''t last long as on the third day Catalie appeared before him with tears flowing on her face. *************************** Somewhere else an assembly of people stood at the front of a huge monumental. Everyone''s heads were down. Some of them looked like they were showing respect while others couldn''t get their heads up to look at the monumental as they looked too afraid to look at what was coming. However everyone had one thing in common, they all wore black clothes and their faces were pale, every one of them had puffed red eyes. After a while, a group of people descended before the monumental \"Today we are opening this monumental as a sign for the lives we lost a year ago, hundred and sixty good souls were taken away from us\" The man in a black robe with red hair said. The man''s face looked like he was grieving but his eyes turned red in anger. \"But we avenged every single one of them, we killed the devil incarnate who was responsible for our loss and showed the world that our Heavenly Sword Sect will always pay their debts\" At the moment the people heard the man they started to shout their sect name with all their might as some of them started to shed tears. Far away from the scene, two figures stood inside a glass room looking at the crowd shouting. If a man was there in the room his heart would beat faster seeing the beauty of the girl before him. She had long wavy blonde hair, eyes dark, and a figure of a perfect hourglass. She wasn''t just flawless in her bone structure, her skin was like silk over the glass and she radiated an intelligent beauty. The golden robe with small swords engraved on it added another layer of charm to her. However, her emotions were not easily hidden on her innocent face. The pain in her heart was evident in the crease of her lovely brow and the slight down-curve of her cherry lips.And her eyes, her eyes showed her soul as they were deep pool grief and anger. \"Do you think he''s really dead?\" the girl beside asked her \"He should be \" the girl asked the question and had a shake when she heard her friend''s answer. She couldn''t help but shiver in fear \"No you killed him right? I saw you put a sword through his heart\" the girl''s voice was breaking while she asked \"Yes but I still feel like everything that happened is my fault\" Every time she closed her eyes she could see him sitting on top of a pile of lifeless bodies of her brother''s and sisters with the sword on his hand that took their lives. She could see clearly the anger and grief he had in his eyes that day, the blood-soaked body of his, even though it was a rainy day the blood on his body didn''t wash away . The cries she heard overcame even the sound of the thunder and lightning. Even to this day, she gets nightmares thinking about that day. At the same time on a lonely mountain peak, a man stood there wiring empathy like his overcoat. He didn''t look like a cold person, quite the opposite but if anyone knew him was there, they could see he''s trying to find a way not to show the grief in his heart on his face. He''d seen more bodies returned to the earth, more souls returned to heaven or hell than most people saw sunrises. \"Rest in peace kid, maybe one day you will be reincarnated into someone else and we will meet\" As the man said he knelt and placed a white wildflower before a tombstone. After leaving the flower the man looked at the tombstone one last time before took off from the ground. While after the man left the tombstone seemed lonely on the mountain peak, It was not a fancy stone or made of marble but a simple gray stone with simple three words engraved on ''Here Lies Don'' 49 The Bounty Poster The Bounty Poster \"What is it?\" Don asked the moment he opened his eyes to see Catalie crying \"It''s Uncle Dior you in the teleportation ro \" but before Catalie could finish her sentence Don''s figure blurred and disappeared. When Don entered the teleportation room he could feel the room filled with killing intent radiating from Knight while Amaryll clinging on Arrora and sobbing. \"Me king \" Stodemar said as everyone looked at Don and made way for him. At the center of the Array, Uncle Dior was shivering beside Knight, his face was pale and his clothes were torn and soaked with blood. Everyone in the room went silent while Don was walking towards Uncle Dior except Amaryll, she was still crying. \"Tell me what happened\" Even though Uncle Dior''s clothes soaked with blood he had no wounds as Don knew it was probably because of the healing potion Knight had. Uncle Dior was trying not to shake as Don knelt on one knee before him and put his hand on his shoulder. Uncle Dior''s hand was shaking without his control while he put his hand into the robe pocket and took a piece of paper. The paper had some bloodstains on it that seemingly Uncle Dior''s blood. Don grabbed the paper from his hand and unfolded it. At the moment he laid eyes on the paper Don knows why Uncle Dior was attacked because what was on the paper were the faces of him, Knight''s puppy form and Uncle Dior''s face. The face on the picture was not Don''s but his mike face, but he couldn''t guess how they found out Uncle Dior using a hood covered the face of his on the paper. Under their faces was a huge amount of bounty were stated ''100,000 LQ magic stones for capturing dead or alive '' \"Shut up!!\" Knight''s roar reverberated the hall as Amaryll gasped air in shock and closed her mouth. Knight would not be angered if they just put his and Don''s face on the bounty poster but they put Uncle Dior''s face and endangered his life. Even though Knight and Uncle Dior didn''t see eye to eye, Knight still considered him as one of his people. If not for Catalie''s quick action and teleportation Array he would have died in Virnam or captured. But still, Knight also had the same doubt as Don, how did the attackers find Uncle Dior using this unclear picture of him on the bounty poster. Apparently Arwen also had the same doubt as he asked Don \"How did they even find Uncle Dior with this picture?\" Even Don had no answer to that question, he was still looking at the bounty poster without turning his gaze away from it. At that moment a white-hot smoke passed through Uncle Dior and Knight saw a yellow light on Uncle Dior''s shoulder but the moment the smoke disappeared the light was also gone. Knight looked at Reghys for her answer as she rubbed her chin with her claw for a moment \"It seems someone put cursed fungi on him\" Knight saw everyone looking like they had a sudden realization but he still had no idea what is this cursed fungi and his face clearly showed his confusion as he tilted his head \"It''s a group of organisms used to track people they are invisible to naked eyes making them a perfect tool to trail someone without them knowing but it''s extremely expensive. Who could have put that on him?\" \"Jemma Ariel\" Knight and Don said at the same time as he crumpled the bounty poster and stood up. Until now Don and Knight hadn''t thought that Jemma stumbling on Uncle Dion in Royal Dine was just a fluke to put the fungi on him. \"Arwen take Uncle Dior to his room and let him rest\" Arwen grabbed Uncle Dior''s elbow and helped him stand up on his feet. Seeing Arwen leaving with Uncle Dior followed by Amaryll who is wiping away her tears and trying her best to keep her mouth shut due to Knight''s roar. \"I''ll go and kill the fungi on him\" with her memories of her ancestors she knew she could find a way to neutralize the fungi on him. After seeing Reghys figure disappearing from their eyesight, Don and Knight stood in the room with Arrora, Arya, Benedict, and Stodemar, Dhursir. Dhursir and Stodemar had a tinge of anger hidden within their eyes as Arya and Benedict looked worried and afraid. \"Don what''re you gonna do?\" although Don seemed calm unlike killing intent radiating Knight, Arrora could see a tinge of killing intent and anger hiding underneath his calm face. \"Nothing yet but they will pay\" as he said a purple flame engulfed the bounty paper and burnt it without leaving a trace. However, Arya yelped in shock when she heard Don as he turned his gaze towards her and Benedict \"Are you talking about the Ariel family?\" she pressed the word ''the'' when she mentioned the Ariel family \"They one of the biggest powers in the empire taking revenge against them is like committing suicide\" \"It''s not about revenge, I killed one of their men and they attacked mine I understand that\" Everyone heard Don was confused and furrowed their brows yet before they could open their mouths, Don said \"It''s about the consequences of messing with me\" Don was not a hypocrite that thinks he could kill anyone and they couldn''t kill him or his people in return. However, he started this feud and he''s the one going to finish it unless they leave this matter and him alone. If they do that he won''t mess with them but if they don''t he will make them regret. Don very well knew now he had neither the power nor a powerful army to face a superpower like the House of Ariel. \"But don''t worry I won''t do anything stupid and endanger everyone \" Arya and Benedict sighed when they heard him as Don started to walk away leaving them to their work followed by Knight and Arrora. \"It''s the right move Don\" Arrora agreed with Don while she was following him to the throne room with Knight. Hearing Arrora Knight''s memories of Divine Continent emerged in his mind. He and Don saw many sects and families get destroyed by young masters single-handedly because the families or the sects were too proud to let a small thing go. Don and he amassed huge wealth just by looting their treasuries after they gtt destroyed because no use leaving precious things to the dead right. Most of the items they have in their space rings were collected like this. Thinking about the nickname they had because of this made Knight chuckle as he mumbled the name \"Evil duos\" Arrora could hear what Knight just said but she saw a smile on his face. Eventually, the three of them reached the throne hall \"Don we need to step up our game we have to get that oath-taker mirror as soon as possible\" Arrora knew it was something Don talked when she was dismissed from the throne hall days ago so she didn''t ask anything about it \"Benedict said you can buy one in the capital of Emir\" But even before Don open his mouth Arrora questioned \"You need to pass through Virnam to go Emir right? Isn''t that dangerous especially after everything that happened with your face exposed?\" Knight let out a chuckle \"Face won''t be a problem\" Arrora saw Don nodded towards her \"Yes let''s not waste any time I can reach Virnam if I go now\" Seeing Don turns to leave Arrora stopped him by moving before him \"Don take me with you\" Don and Knight were shocked to hear Arrora''s request as Knight immediately shook his head \"Are you crazy? You''ll just be a bur\" \"I''ve reached the great master level\" Before Knight could finish what he was saying Arrora dropped a surprise and unexpected shell on them. 50 Singing Cat Tavern \"When?\" Don looked surprised at her speed of cultivation but when he thought about what the Dragon King said about life energy started to replenish in the world it made sense of her speed. \"Just yesterday\" If she was just a master level magi Don would have left her here without even considering but having a great master by his side is another story. Seeing Knight''s opened mouth Arrora tried her best not to laugh as Don looked serious \"Wait here\" As Don said he walked towards the hallway leaving Knight and Arrora behind. \"So how do you feel?\" Knight asked \"I feel like I wanted to kill them\" Knight raised his brows in shock when he heard Arrora, he could see the killing intent in Arrora''s eyes. \"Kill who?\" \"The people killed my parents, the people who captured me and those filthy servants of Bryan\" Arrora had engraved their faces in her heart, when the time comes she pledged to herself that she would destroy all of them. \"Remember this Arrora revenge is not the purest motivator nor is it the most stable, living with that kind of raw emotion can leave your mind clouded and burn you however when you channel it properly revenge can make a fine, fiery, fuel\" Arrora felt like Knight was talking with his own experience. \"I will remember your words Knight \" Knight didn''t say anything as he just nodded his head. Just when he talked about the revenge he remembered about the unfinished business he and Don left behind in the Divine Continent but before he could think further he saw Don walking towards them. Seeing the man coming towards her Arrora instinctively went for her sword but when she looked closer she was able to recognize the gait, it was Don. Arrora was surprised to see his new tanned face, he had a square jaw and clean-shaven, unlike the real Don who had a thin beard as he had red short neck length hair and blue eyes. \"Here wear this\" Don threw a black cloth towards Arrora as she caught and unfolded it. The cloth she had in her hands is a hooded long coat with a sword embroidered on the chest side. When she wore the long coat she felt like it was made for her as it fitted perfectly. \"Knight increase the training difficulty I want everyone ready when I return\" Arrora couldn''t help but open her eyes wide in shock, she had already seen the devilish training Knight put through the elves and dwarves but now he was asked to increase the difficulty. They were talking like playing a game but she sighed heavily when she realized she was not trained by Knight. Knight turned to leave with an evil grin on his face \"But try not to kill them Knight\" As said Don started to walk in the opposite direction followed by Arrora \"Yeah yeah you try not to kill yourself\" Arrora heard Knight giggle while she was walking away from Knight. When she and Don finally reached the portal that leads to the outside world she heard Knight''s devilish trainer voice \"Alright beauties to the training hall now!!\" \"Don what''s the plan?\" After Arrora stepped out the dark portal into the outer lands she asked Don, the late morning sun already let his rays penetrate through the dark forest around her \"We stay the night at Virnam and continue the journey to Emir in the morning\" Don made a gesture with his fingers as Arrora felt an invisible force taking her up with him. Unlike the previous times, Arrora didn''t ask for support from Don and looked very calm and relaxed. Eventually, after a long flight Arrora and Don saw the natural walls made of stone and tall mountains. Don knew people would notice them if they flew too close to the city as he landed on a faraway secluded place to avoid people noticing them. Just with a few minutes of walk Don and Arrora saw the tracks of carriages and footprints of people. Because he was with Uncle Dior before Don didn''t take much time as he directly walked towards the guard near the gate. \"What''s your purpose of coming to Virnam?\" the bulky bearded guard asked them without even looking at them properly as he was busy with writing something on his big notepad. \"Just to buy somethings\" Before the guard response, Don took out a gold coin and placed them on top of the notepad. At the moment the guard saw the youth placing a gold coin on his notepad his eyes started to sparkle with joy as he finally looked at the youth and the girl behind him. \"Of course of course, guard open the main gate for our guests\" The guard guessed that the youth before him must be from an extremely wealthy family otherwise he wouldn''t have tipped him with a gold coin like it was nothing. With a gold coin, he could have a comfortable life for a year even have a child with his wife as he was thinking about the possibilities he couldn''t control his joy but had an ear to ear smile on his face. \"Oh guard where is this singing cat tavern?\" when the moment the guard heard the youth his smile froze on his face \"Young master it''s not a place for people like you if you need room to have fun I can recommend some high-end Inns\" Arrora was slightly disgusted when she noticed the look the guard gave her when he said fun \"I want to have a look around places like that the cheap taverns where the fun happens man\" Hearing the youth the guard realized he''s a stubborn spoiled brat so without having a choice he decided to give this youth the direction. \"Awesome see ya\" Don did a slight two-finger salute towards the guard and walked in the direction he gave to the tavern followed by Arrora. \"Don why do you want to go to this singing bat tavern?\" Arrora asked Don in a husky voice while walking beside him \"Its singing cat if we get lucky we can have some fun and from now on I''m Joseph you are Maria\" If some other guy told this to a girl either she would have blushed or slapped him senseless but it was not the case for Don and Arrora.Arrora knew he was not that kind of a guy but she still couldn''t figure out what he meant by those words or why he was going to this tavern. After navigating through maze-like narrow streets Don and Arrora came before an old building. On top of the front door, a wooden carving of a cat was hanging. From the outside, it looks cheerful, enchanting and pleasant. Bricks and thick, hard wooden logs make up most of the building''s outer structure. It was difficult to see through the windows, but the hustling and bustling from within can be felt outside. As Don and Arrora entered into the tavern through the heavy, metallic door, they were welcomed by the smell of fresh brewed beer and ale. The bartender was working up a sweat, but still he managed to welcome them with a wink. The tavern was as charming inside as it was on the outside. Several walls supported the upper floor and the chandeliers attached to them. The tavern itself was packed. Adventures and Mercenaries seemed to be the primary clientele here, which often indicates a great place to get drunk. Several long tables are occupied by separate groups of people, all enjoying themselves, but they keep to themselves. Don could see the other, smaller tables are also occupied by people who are singing and dancing, occasionally pulling an unsuspecting waitress amidst their dancing group. Although it seemed most of the stools at the bar are occupied, Don was able to locate an empty table as he walked towards it to occupy the table before anyone could take it. Seeing the newcomers a waitress in black skirt walked towards them with a happy smile \"Here''s the menu my lord\" the waitress handed over an old yellow paper to Don. After looking through the items on the menu Don returned the menu to the waitress \"I''ll have vegetable salad and she''ll have the special\" \"I''ll be with your orders in a minute\" Arrora could see Don looking around the tavern like he was searching for someone. While Don was searching the metallic door opened with the creaking sound as a group of people entered the tavern and when Don saw the people Arrora could see Don staring them without even blinking. The group had three men and two women as one of them was a hunched old woman while the girl beside her looked like she was in her mid-twenties. When the group entered the tavern there were no free tables however the gray-haired men who seemed like the leader went near a table occupied by some young adventurers. \"Brat get out of here\" just like the gray-haired men said the young man and his group stood up and walked away from their tables but Don could see the embarrassed look on the young man''s face as the newcomers sat on the chairs like they owned the place. The tavern''s hustling and bustling were replaced by a gloomy feel after the group entered, Arrora could even see the waitress walking toward the group was shivering but trying to put up a fake smile on her face. Seeing the men in the group groping the waitress made Arrora disgust but she didn''t do anything that draws their attention towards her and Don. After a while, the waitress that took orders from Don came carrying the plates and bows with salad and chicken breast for Arrora. \"Here you go, my lord, my lady\" The waitress laid the food on the table as she turned to leave \"Can you grab me two bottles of beer?\" Arrora almost coughed the food she just put in her mouth when she heard Don, she very well knew he and Knight won''t drink but now he was asking for a beer. Seeing him Arrora was not confused but realized that he was indeed planning something. Just a few minutes Arrora saw the waitress coming towards them carrying the beers on an oval-shaped tray however when she came across the group of the gray-haired man she tripped and fell on their table making the food they were eating fly all over the place. The entire tavern went silent seeing this, if they dropped a pin they could clearly hear the sound of it hitting the ground. Before even the waitress stood up the old woman grabbed her hair and threw her away like she was handling a cat. Don could see Arrora trembling in anger and looking at him for his permission to intervene. Coincidently the waitress landed exactly on the floor near Arrora. However, Arrora still didn''t do anything as she was looking at Don. Seeing Arrora and the gray-haired man walking towards the waitress Don nodded his head towards Arrora. After seeing Don nodding, Arrora gently placed her hands on the shoulder of the waitress and lifted her. The moment Arrora helped her up she saw a palm coming targeting the waitress''s face but Arrora grabbed the wrist and stopped it from slapping the waitress. \"It was just a mistake, leave her alone\" Don heard small yelps and gasps when Arrora said as she let go of the hand she stopped. The man had a small shock when he heard the woman before him. He couldn''t see her face because of the dark hood she wore, he also saw a man wearing a small dark hood to cover his face sitting on the table behind the woman. However, being stopped by a woman made him angry, his anger now turned towards the woman in black. Everyone around the scene knew it was a small mistake but they also knew about the gray-haired man. He had a very short fuse because of that his marriage life was a mess and they also heard he was an abusive husband who likes to hit his wife on a daily basis however no one had the guts to confront him because he was a peak master who is just a nick away from the great master level as no one in the master level was his opponent. Because of his intense experience in dangerous missions, his battle prowess was high as he won a battle with a low-level great master level which brought him fame and fearsome reputation in Virnam. \"You just made the worst mistake in your life bitch!\" the old woman had an evil grin on her face as she saw his clenched fist in anger \"You better not touch her \" The man never expected he would be messed up with twice in a single day as he looked at the man standing up. \"What if I do?\" Arrora saw Don slowly walking towards her to stand between him and her. \"Go ahead if you can\" 51 Merciless Beating The man had enough as he went to punch Don in the face but the youth before him dodged it easily. Don didn''t give much time for the gray-haired man, he punched the man in his chest with just using his raw strength. Seeing the fight start, the crowd had excited smiles on their face and cleared the middle of the room and went to stand in corners to see the fight clearly without getting hit by the debris. The crowd expected Bear would be the one to land the punch but instead Bear was the one who flew away due to the force of Don''s punch. The old woman was shocked to see her teammate get hit by the youth however without wasting a second she leaped towards Don but she was grabbed by her hair just like she grabbed the waitress a moment ago. Arrora was now a great master and also because of the training she got from Don made her physical strength increase by folds as she hit the table near her repeatedly with the Oldwoman''s head. \"Grandma\" the young girl in Bear''s group heard a bone-cracking sound while she saw her grandmother''s head hitting the table. Everything happened so quickly that she couldn''t even react till now. Don saw the two men leaping towards him carrying a wooden bat as well as the young girl with the dagger. Arrora was busy hitting the old woman''s head on the table. Until now Don didn''t use any battle energy but his raw strength, seeing the two men Don swinging their wooden bats at him Don didn''t dodge them but grabbed each bat with each hand and kicked the one in his right on the chest. Bear could still feel the pain in his chest as he saw another one of his men fly across the room and hit a pillar and followed by another one. The young girl had not expected they would be beaten just like that but before she could do anything she was grabbed by her hand. Arrora let go of the Old woman, the Old woman''s face was painted red with her own blood. Even though she was bleeding and had a broken nose she was a peak level master so she still had the strength to fight back and when she wanted to fight back she saw a figure hitting the ceiling and falling down. However, she could find who is the figure she was punched in the face again.the crowd didn''t expect the black-robed man would hit a young girl like that without even thinking of her as a woman. They saw the man throwing the girl up like she was a ball to the ceiling. Don saw the gray-haired man running towards him like a mad dog but when he got closer the crowd saw Bear sent flying again with a spinning whip kick to his face. Don grabbed two beer bottles on the nearby table and walked towards the two men running at him. On the other side near the bartender, Arrora and the Old woman were fighting but in the view of the bartender, it was not a fight but a one-sided beating. While dodging the old woman''s attacks Arrora heard a bottle breaking sound but she couldn''t turn her head away from her fight. The bartender saw the old woman taking out a knife from her belt but the woman wearing a cloak grabbed the old woman''s hand simply and twisted her wrist. Arrora caught the knife in the middle way and without giving any time to react she grabbed the old woman''s other hand and put the knife through her palm and nailed it to the bar counter. \"Ahhhhhh\" The girl Don threw to the ceiling was just a low-level master so she still couldn''t get herself up as she saw her grandma shouting in pain at the bar counter. Bear was hit hard in the head, he was struggling to stand up. The two men before Don were clutching their heads and bleeding thick blood all over the place beside them the broken pieces of glasses laid there. The crowd clearly saw the victor of the fight but when they thought the fight was over the crowd saw the blacked robed man taking another bottle and hitting the men before him with it. \"Let the fun begin shall we?\" The young man who gave his table to Bear couldn''t hold his joy however even he was shocked to hear the black-robed man. Don walked towards the wooden bats and grabbed them. Arrora had enough of the Old woman''s shout and cry as she picked up a chair beside them and hit the old woman with all her might. \"Grandma\" the girl seeing her Grandma falling on the ground could only shout for her but when her grandma''s shout ended she heard the cries of her brothers. The young girl couldn''t hold her tears when she saw the black-robed man hitting both of them with their own wooden bats without stopping. \"Bastard stop it\" Bear couldn''t guess how many bones in his teammate''s body were broken. Hearing the gray-haired man Don didn''t stop beating the duo as he hit them repeatedly targeting their hands, legs and their ribs. Don could already tell they fainted in pain but he still hit them with the wooden bat. \"Hey man stop it it''s clear you won\" an old man stepped forward to stop Don but when he saw the black-robed man turning his gaze towards him, the old man was pushed back by an invisible force. \"It''s your turn\" Don stepped on the body of the man he beat and walked towards the gray-haired(Bear) man with blood dripping wooden bat in his hand. However, before Don reaches the gray-haired man the young girl leaped towards him. Don turned to face the girl and grabbed her by the neck when she came closer. Don lifted her up off the ground by her neck while she was twitching but Don slightly loosened his grip so she wouldn''t die. Bear mustered his all strength and stood up when he saw the girl in the black-robed man''s clutch. \"I''m going to kill you\" Arrora saw the gray-haired man running towards Don as she picked up a chair and threw at him. The girl in Don''s clutch saw a chair come out of nowhere hitting Bear and knocking him out again. The crowd couldn''t believe anything that happened. In their mind, Bear could even fight with a low-level great master but if he''s taking this much of a beating, they realized his opponent is at least a mid-level great master. \"Help me please let us go\" the girl could barely speak as another man from the crowd stepped forward when he saw the poor girl begging for help \"My lord you''ve already beat them this much please let the girl go\" \"Yes my lord she''s just a girl \" \"Yeah, she is a girl, how can you hurt her like this?\" Even a woman standing among the crowd before stepped forward and shouted at Don. Don turned his head toward the woman shouting at him \"I believe in gender equality\" as he said he sent the girl flying towards the wooden wall with a simple throw. The woman who had shouted at Don couldn''t close her mouth when she saw the girl hit the wall and fall down, the crowd couldn''t tell the girl was dead or alive as she laid on the ground without moving. Even Arrora looking at the scene was shocked, she never thought Don would throw the girl like that as she saw him walking towards the gray-haired man. \"The half-elf man you attacked yesterday said hi\" Don whispered into Bear''s ears as his eyes went wide in shock but when he opened his mouth to say something everything went dark. The force of the attack on Bear''s head almost broke the wooden bat in half. A moment ago the black-robed man and the woman looked like saviors in the waitress''s eyes but now they seemed like devils walking on earth. \"What''s happening here?\" a group of soldiers suddenly opened the front door and entered the room. However, Don recognized the guard leading the group he was the same man Don gave a gold coin to at the gate. The guard looked angry and shocked at the scene but when he laid his eyes on Don a wide grin appeared on his face \"My lord, what happened?\" the guard asked and walked towards Don. \"Nothing big, just a small fight here\" the crowd almost coughed up blood when they heard him saying a small fight. It was not a bar fight, it was a beating to death. The guard walking at Don saw a coin flying towards him as he caught it with one hand. \"You have someone to clean this place right?\" the man couldn''t believe his eyes, on his palm he had another gold coin. Seeing the gold coin he forgot about everything that he should so in a situation like this but looked at Don with an ear to ear grin and nodded his head enthusiastically \"Yes yes my lord\" as he said the guard saw the youth taking another small pouch from his ring \"Here it''ll help you with the damages\" Don threw the pouch containing some silver coins to the bartender as he started to walk towards the exit followed by Arrora. After leaving the tavern and stepping outside \"Don who are they? \" Arrora asked because she knew it was not a random bar fight as she saw Don beating them like they did something to him. It was clearly an act of revenge \"They are the one attacked Uncle Dior yesterday\" Hearing Don everything that happened made sense to her \"I should have beaten that old bat more \" Don didn''t know whether to laugh or cry when he heard Arrora but he was a little happy in his mind thinking that Arrora was learning from him. \"Come on let''s go and find a room to take a rest\" As he said Don and Arrora walked away from the tavern looking for another Inn to stay. 52 Wounds of the pas \"My lord we only have one room available\" At the moment Don was standing before a reception table talking with a blue-haired woman. After the fight in the tavern, Don and Arrora found this Inn after asking the direction of the nearest Inn. Don knew it was already night time and was not sure about finding another Inn at this time but heating the lady he hesitated \"It''s fine Joseph\" Seeing Don hesitating Arrora decided to stay in the room with him. \"Alright, we''ll take it\" Don took out a pouch of coins after the lady slid him a piece of paper showing the price and the key towards him. \"Room A2B my lord, just head towards the stair and turn left, the second room in the corridor is yours\" Don just nodded and made his way towards his room with Arrora closely following him behind. After seeing the ''A2B'' sign on the wall beside the door, Don put his key into the keyhole and opened it. The room he was standing before was uncomfortably large. The floor was polished concrete, the walls white and the furniture looked like made of fine fabric in a design of clouds. Arrora could see the white curtains were linen, the kind of white that was untouched by hands and devoid of dust. There were no tables, no bookshelves, no dining table, but only three or four chairs arranged around the fireplace which was lit and gave the room a calm and natural feeling as well a large bed inlaid with fine white silk with red roses embroidered so delicately on the bedsheets. Beside the bed, Don saw another Don which he guessed which must be a restroom as he walked inside the room. Arrora hesitantly closed the door \"You sleep on the bed I''ll take the couch\" Arrora heard Don as he was closing the curtains and said without even looking back at her \"No I can take the couch you take the bed\" \"As a man, it won''t be gentlemanly to let you take the couch\" Hearing Don Arrora couldn''t help but giggle as Don stood there looking at the starry night in the small gap between the curtains. \"Then how could a gentleman like you handle a girl like that?\" Arrora still remembered Don throwing that girl into the walls without even thinking about for a second \"Like I''ve said Arrora I believe in gender equality beside that girl shouldn''t have touched Uncle Dior\" Arrora walked towards him and stood beside looking at the sky with Don \"If you truly believe in gender equality then why can''t we share the bed?\" Arrora didn''t care about what others would think about sharing a bed with another man and besides she trusted him to not act like Bryan. She knew if Don wanted he could do anything to her using the master-slave bond but until now he didn''t use it not even for a second. Don was a little shocked and surprised to hear Arrora as he shook his head \"We can''t because I saw many girls fall in love for a lot less than sharing the bed with a guy\" It was true in the divine continent, Don saw many young misses blush and fall in love just because a guy touched her pinky. He and Knight saw enough cliche love stories that destroyed many lives. Just like Don Arrora was also shocked to hear Don but she started to giggle \"Don''t worry I won''t be like those girls\" but before she could continue further Don looked at her \"So take the bed\" seeing the determination in his voice Arrora realized he was adamant so she nodded her head \"So can you tell me about where you came from? I believe its called divine continent\" Don was surprised to see Arrora talk this much and he could see her courage grown unlike the first time he met her \"Yes but it''s just a continent like Avelon Continent here\" \"You were born here right then how did you go to a whole new world?\" When Arrora asked this question she could feel something change in his posture as he shook his head \"That''s a mystery even to me\" \"Don''t you miss that place? Do you have anyone there?\" Arrora never talked to Don this much because he was often going out or surrounded by people but now she decided to get to know him better Don breather a heavy sigh \"Sometimes and yes I have many people there\" Even though he was calm while he said that but a killing intent emerged in his eyes Arrora couldn''t see the killing intent appeared in his eyes \"Do you want to go there again?\" ''''Yes I will go there but it won''t happen any sooner\" a silhouette of a red-haired man appeared in his mind but it was disappeared when Arrora''s voice interrupted his train of thought \"Can you take me with you when the time comes?\" Arroratilted her head and asked Don as he turned for a second look at her before returning his gaze towards the sky \"It depends\" \"Depends on what?\" \"Depends on how powerful you get, even the heavenly level magi here would just be like an ant there before some people\" Arrora yelped in shock when she heard Don \"What!!\" \"Don''t be shocked heavenly level would not be the limit here not anymore\" Arrora knew the meaning of his words because she also heard Dragon King mentioning that life energy(magical energy) started to replenish in the world. Seeing the night get darker Don turned his gaze towards Arrora \"It''s getting late go to sleep we have a long day tomorrow\" \"I need to take a bath we are smelling like blood\" As she said Arrora walked towards the bathroom leaving Don behind. After seeing Arrora locking the door Don raised his elbow and smelt it as he agreed with what Arrora just said. Don slowly removed his black hooded overcoat and started to unbutton his shirt as he let it fall on the ground. Then Don circulated his battle energy and started to control the air and the water element in the room as a small white mist covered Don. Suddenly Arrora opened the bathroom door and stepped outside as the white mist disappeared and showed Don''s bare upper body as well as his new face. Arrora wanted to turn her head away seeing his bare upper body but she was shocked at his body that she couldn''t get herself to turn away He had a chiseled chest and his abdominals were sculptured to perfection as his six-packs pop. She could see his biceps were the size of her head yet lean as his triceps looked like diamonds and completing his masterpiece of a physique, his shoulders were round and protruding and gave his whole look a new flavor. However, what shocked her most was the scars and burn marks on his body. Just by looking at his scars wounds Arrora started to feel like something crawling under her skin, there was not a place on his body that was not scared or not burnt especially at his chest as she saw a deep ''X'' shaped burn mark. Seeing Arrora looking like she saw a ghost Don took another shirt from his space ring and quickly wore it \"What happened Don?\" She couldn''t even imagine the pain he must have gone through when she saw the scars but before she could say anything else \"I should ask the same\" Don didn''t expect a woman like her would only take a couple of minutes to bath but seeing her clothes he realized she didn''t get a bath at all. \"There were no extra robes in there\" hearing Arrora Don sighed and controlled the air and water element in the room again as the white mist started to cover her. Arrora felt like she had a bath when the mist disappeared, she was refreshed just like that and the smell of blood completely faded away from her. \"Now you can sleep\" as Don said Arrora saw he''s sitting on the ground and closing his eyes to meditate. Seeing him she knew that she wouldn''t get any answers from him about his wounds as she decided to get a good night''s sleep. The bed she climbed on was just as comfortable as she guessed when she first saw the bed. However, she was too tired to admire the softness of the bed but before she closes her eyes she looked at Don and said in a low pitched voice that could be only heard by him \"Good night Don\" 53 Journey towards Emir The morning sun had kissed Arrora awake. Slivers of light peeped through the drawn curtains, forming thin golden stripes across her sleepy face. She opened her eyes and slowly, drowsily and let out a small yawn. Arrora saw Don still meditating as the bright layer of light covered his body. She didn''t want to disturb him and decided to wash her face before going out. Hearing the door opening and closing Don slowly opened his eyes while the light covering his body slowly started to fade away. After a few minutes, Arrora stepped outside with her hair dripping with water. Don saw her beauty had risen after she reached the great master realm. Seeing Don''s face she realized there was not even a tinge of tiredness but he looked refreshed yet he quickly covered his face with putting the hood on. \"Let''s go\" Arrora nodded and closely followed Don towards the door. Since Don had already seen the carriages going to Emir, Don led Arrora without asking the direction to anybody. When Don and Arrora walked towards the carriages stand, Don could see some people stepping away from their path when they saw him and Arrora. \"News travels fast huh?\" Arrora whispered to him seeing the behavior of those people. Don noticed some people from the singing cat tavern yesterday leaning on the sides of the buildings and talking with the people beside them while slightly pointing and looking at Don and Arrora. However, Don didn''t mind them and walked in the direction of the carriages without looking back at them. After navigating through narrow streets and pavement Don was able to see the queue of carriages. Some carriages were hooked to cows as others had horses, Don wanted to quickly end this trip so he chose the fancy carriage which stood away from the carriages hooked with cows. Arrora could see runes and engravings on the carriage that Don was walking towards. Four black sturdy horses were hooked to the red-painted carriage. Looking from the outside the carriage seemed like it could only carry three or four people inside. However, when Arrora got closer to the carriages she saw the posters Uncle Dior gave it to Don pasted on the carriages as every single carriage have one pasted on them even some men giving the posters to the people who were passing by the carriage and she could also see a group of blue-robed people stopping everyone before checking their faces with the poster. One of the blue-robed men suddenly pointed his finger towards Don and Arrora as he started to walk towards them. \"You two take off the hood\" Don noticed the moon symbol on the youth''s chest. \"Why?\" Don calmly asked the youth as he saw the others reaching for their swords while the girls clenched their staffs like they were expecting a battle \"We are searching for a murderer that''s why now do as I say\" \"Alright\" Don slowly took off the hood and revealed his new face, the youth raised his one eyebrow as he looked at Don then at the bounty poster then he turned his gaze towards Arrora who was still wearing the hood. \"Take it off Maria\" Before the youth could say anything to Arrora Don told Arrora to take off the hood. Hearing directly from Don, Arrora didn''t hesitate while she took the hood off to reveal her face. The youth''s heart skipped a beat as his eyes went wide when he saw the beautiful half-elf woman before him. \"Can we go now?\" Don could see the youth drooling but when he heard Don the youth regained his previous serious posture and waved them to go. Don nodded at Arrora and started to walk towards the fancy carriage however unlike Arrora he didn''t put his hood again. When Don and Arrora came closer to the carriage an old man wearing a patch on his left eye greeted them with a smile. \"Young master, are you looking for a carriage to hire?\" Even though the Oldman saw two people coming, he only greeted Don because many young masters kept half-elves and women from other races as their pets or slaves and his name would be tarnished if he greeted a slave. Obviously, Don saw the old man only greeting him and ignoring Arrora but Don knew it was not the time or place to start a revolution so he just nodded towards the old man \"Yes I''m heading to Emir\" \"Young master 50 silver coins, I guarantee the safe and comfortable journey within two days\" Arrora knitted her brows under the hood when she heard the outrageous price but she saw Don throwing a pouch of coins towards the old man and sighed. The old man didn''t count the coins but just weighed it in his hands and let out an ear to ear smile as a confirmation.seeing the old man approving it was indeed 50 silver coins just by weighing using his hands surprised Don a bit. After giving the coins Don saw the old man opening the door then walking to take the reins. Don turned his head and gestured at Arrora to enter first as Arrora nodded and stepped inside the carriage followed by Don. \"Young master, shall we go?\" Don heard the old man and the horses neighing \"Let''s go\" \"Young master, did you hear about the bounty?\" After a few hours of a journey, the old man asked Don, seeing the old man trying to break the silence by asking such question Arrora turned her gaze from the carriage windows towards Don \"Yeah I saw the posters in Virnam\" \"Hahaha not only in Virnam young master, the posters are everywhere entire empire would recognize their faces\" Arrora had a heavy feeling in her stomach when she heard the old man \"Getting on the bad side of the cold moon mansion, the three of them have nowhere to got they going to be hunted\" \"It''s a hunt alright\" Arrora saw no fear or worry in his face but his voice had a coldness to it when he answered the old man. \"The Cold Moon Mansion has become more powerful nowadays\" \"What do you mean?\" Don asked the old man suddenly when he heard the old man \"Don''t you know young master? many-core students there reached the great master realm it''s the hot topic in the empire\" Even though Don couldn''t see the old man''s face, he could still tell the old man was shocked beyond words by hearing his voice \"Young people nowadays making the old generation like us look bad by reaching higher levels just in their teenage\" The old man sighed and continued to talk \"Next Archeron competition is going to be so exciting, young master are you participating?\" if anyone could see the old man they would notice stars in the old man''s eyes due to the excitement \"I will be there \" Hearing the youth the old man guessed he wasn''t going to participate as he continued to speak \"I''m betting on King Archeron''s daughter she reached the great master realm at just thirteen after all who knows what her level is now\" the old man gasped air and sighed heavily when he was mentioning the magical level of King''s Daughter. \"Princess Scarlett?\" Arrora didn''t know how he knew the name of a princess from a faraway kingdom \"No the younger one, Princess Audrey\" the old man said when he heard the youth''s question \"I didn''t know King Archeron had two daughters\" Don rubbed his chin as he asked the old man and felt the gaze of Arrora beside him \"I didn''t think you know this much\" Arrora though in her mind and heard the conversation without looking the sceneries outside \"Yep two daughters and two sons last time I''ve heard Prince Harold already started to conquer smaller kingdom with his Uncle Kingdom Archeron is growing every day \" \"What about the second prince and princess Scarlett?\" The old man seemed very knowledgeable and gossip lover so Don decided to get much information from him however sitting beside Don, Arrora still couldn''t get why he was asking this much questions about the Kingdom Archeron \"You mean the Prince Iron arm Spencer, he was training as a general when I last visited the Kingdom and Princess Scarlette is the next ice maiden of the Trinity Palace \" \"Ice maiden huh\" \"Is young master planning to visit Kingdom Archeron next?\" \"No not until the competitions\" After a while, the old man started to blabber about his old journeys and adventures through the empire as Don listened and answered here and there without giving much notice to the old man''s stories. The rest of the journey was uneventful, the old man slept under the carriage in the night as Don and Arrora cultivated inside the carriage without leaving the carriage. \"Young master, where did you say you want to go in Emir?\" Don could hear the people buzzing and merchants shouting which indicated him that they were getting closer to the capital of Emir \"I didn''t just drop us near the thousand arms auction house\" \"As you wish young master\" Finally, the carriage had come to a stop before a five-story building looked like glass and steel strung together. They reflected light as well as any mirror and so incredibly the streets seemed brighter when Don stepped outside from the carriage. Don looked up and saw the huge ''TAAH'' letters made of a shiny metal hanging from the top of the building. \"It was a pleasure to meet young master I hope we meet again\" As the old man said Don just nodded towards him. After seeing the carriage disappearing from their eyesight Don and Arrora walked towards the front door. 54 The face of the pas The interior of the thousand arms was just as fancy as outside, the marble floor reflected the light like spotless mirrors and the walls were decorated with many drawings. When Don and Arrora entered the building just like Yuki a girl welcomed them with a happy smile showing her white teeth. \"Welcome to the thousand arms auction house, my lord\" The girl looked at hooded Arrora but she didn''t greet her as she did Don \"I''m looking to buy an oath-taker you have one right? \" When the girl heard Don her eyes went wide in surprise but her shocked face was replaced with an excited smile after a moment \"Yes yes my lord even though it was extremely rare we do have them\" She gestured towards a room on the left side of the building and started to walk as Don and Arrora followed her The girl took out a card like object and placed it on a device beside the door then she put her thumb on the device as the door slid open. \"Please follow me inside my lord\" Don nodded and stepped inside the room with Arrora, the room had many shelves filled with items lined along the walls however the items were covered with some kind of light. While entering the room Don noticed three people looking at a sword and when Don and Arrora entered the room they turned their heads and looked at them. When Don saw the three of them, Don slowed his steps and turned to look at Arrora, even with a hood on Don was able to see Arrora''s eyes turning red and her knuckled fist. Arrora was shaking a bit in anger and Don felt the killing intent radiating from her, Don didn''t blame her because one of the three people was the Whtehoney Amara who sold Arrora at the auction in the slave city. Arrora still clearly remembers the day she was put into a cage and auctioned like an animal. The woman before her was referred to her as ''creature'' without giving a shred of respect or even a little bit of sympathy, she was trying her best to not take out her sword but at that moment she felt her clenched fist is grabbed by a rough hand and she looked at Don \"It''s not the time nor the place don''t do anything stupid\" The girl saw the youth whispering something to the woman beside him and waited for them patiently. Even though she heard Don she still couldn''t restrain her anger however she understood the situation and let out a heavy sigh as she gently nodded her head towards Don. Seeing Arrora calming a bit Don let go of Arrora''s hand and walked towards the girl After seeing the youth coming at her, the girl walked to the shelf at her right and gently grabbed a hand-sized mirror from the shelf. The mirror before Don looked nothing special but just an everyday mirror yet it was one the powerful and ancient artifacts, that''s going to help Don immensely. \"My lord this oath-taker can take a thousand oaths but if you want we also have the five thousand one\" Don had no idea to buy a bigger one so he was quite happy with this mirror \"It''s enough I buy this one\" The girl''s eyes sparkled when she heard Don but before she could tell the price Amara came towards them followed by two men. \"Mari you look excited\" Don saw the smile on Amara''s face as well as Arrora trying to control her anger when Amara greeted the sale''s girl. When Amara noticed the mirror in Mari''s hand her eyebrows were raised slightly in surprise as she looked at Don The youth before her was not mind-blowingly handsome or anything but had the face of the next door guy. However, Amara knew only powerful and wealthy people buy an oath-taker to ensure the loyalty of their subordinates so she guessed the youth must be either a young lord of a small kingdom or coming from a powerful place and the woman standing behind him like a bodyguard confirmed her thought. \"I didn''t know brother is a young lord?\" Amara tilted her head and asked Don. Don knew she was trying to look cute and get him to spill out some information. If she used this trick on others she would have probably got the youths to drool all over the place but Don felt disgusted seeing her \"I''m not and who are you again?\" Arrora had a smirk on her face seeing Don nose cutting her as Amara''s face showed some weird expression but Arrora was sure she didn''t expect Don''s answer. It was clear the two men behind Amara were startled and angry when they heard Don but Amara quickly let out a giggle and hid her embarrassment and slight anger beneath her fake giggle. \"How rude of me, I''m Amara just a core student in Cold Moon Mansion\" Don felt the tinge of arrogance in her voice as he still kept his calm face without showing any surprise or shock that Amara probably expected from him. Arrora saw Don not saying anything as he just nods his head \"Its two hundred thousand LQ stones my lord\" Don was glad he met Reghys when he heard the price because if he didn''t he would have to give the medium quality or high-quality stones that Dragon King left behind and probably got some unwanted attention to him \"You should buy the slave bond instead, it''s more reliable than the oath-taker\" Arrora gritted her teeth and clenched her fist so tightly that her nails started to penetrate her palm However, Don didn''t say anything but just flicked his wrist as a neatly arranged magical stones stack appeared before Mari. Don could see Mari drawing some kind of symbol on the layer of light covering the mirror and held the mirror facing the stack of stones. A light beam came from the mirror and covered the stacks and in a moment ''200000'' appeared on top of the stacks as the light layer covered the mirror faded away. Amara furrowed her brows when she saw the youth ignoring her however she didn''t show any of thoughts or feelings n her face but stood there with a small smile \"Here you go my lord, it''s a pleasure doing business with you\" Mari handed over the mirror to Don as a light beam came from his rings and disappeared with the mirror and Don turned his look towards Amara \"I''d rather have one loyal subordinate with me than an army of slaves\" Amara was slightly shocked to hear such a saying from the youth but before she could speak the youth turned and started to walk towards the door to leave the room with the woman following him behind. \"I hope we meet again in Acheron brother\" Don heard Amara''s voice before he left the room and Arrora looked at Amara for a second before leaving with Don. \"And making you my slave\" The two men behind Amara saw the evil grin on her face when she said after seeing the youth leaving. After stepping outside the building Don didn''t know what''s going on in the head of Amara at the moment. \"Don what was she talking about?\" Arrora asked Don thinking about what Amara said when they were leaving \"It''s the Archeron competitions I think she thought I''m going to participate\" \"Are you?\" She heard Don saying he is when they were traveling with the old man however she couldn''t guess why \"WE are\" Arrora was startled and shocked to hear Don, she had no idea about this competition \"Do you want to buy anything?\" Even before she could come out of the shock Don asked her another question. Arrora took a moment before answering \"No why?\" Don stretched his arms like he was tired \"Because we are going to be very busy\" 55 The Oath \"Welcome back Brother, Arrora\" Catalie was standing inside the teleportation array room with a smile on her face in front of Don and Arrora. \"Is everyone at the throne hall?\" Before Don teleported back to the castle he asked Catalie to gather everyone at the throne hall and seeing the girl nodding, Don knew Catalie did her job. \"Let''s go\" Arrora and Catalie followed Don towards the hall. The moment DOn entered the room he saw Knight sitting on his throne like a king while the army of elves and dwarves trained by him stood before him in lines like soldiers going to war.Amaryll standing beside Knight as Don saw Arya and Benedict standing on the corner aside from the civilian elves and dwarves. Seeing Don and Arrora walking towards the hall Uncle Dior came running to greet them. \"How was your journey?\" The moment Uncle Dior''s voice came out of his mouth all the people looking at Knight turned their heads towards the source of the voice and saw Don and Arrora. \"It was good\" Arrora said as Don nodded at Uncle Dior and walked forward to his throne. The elves and dwarves line was standing in his way however when they saw DOn coming they made space for Don by moving side by side like soldiers making way for their commander. Don was surprised to see the way they were acting but when he saw the proud grin on Knight''s face he knew it was all his devilish works in the name of training. \"Me King\" \"My lord\" Stodemar, Dhursir, and Gael stood in front of the line as they came forward and bowed their heads towards Don and greeted him. Don gave them a nod and walked the stairs to reach his throne which was now occupied by Knight. \"I was just getting used to the throne\" Knight jumped from the throne with a smirk on his face, while Arrora was following DOn to stand beside him she saw Amaryll coming towards her with hands spread out but before Arrora could do anything she was hugged by the elf. Arwen cleared his throat when he saw the way his sister was acting and Amaryll let go of Arrora when she heard Arwen. \"Don\" \"Amaryll\" After leaving Arrora, Amaryll said Don''s name and nodded towards him and he did the same. \"Where''s Reghys?\" Don couldn''t see the huge Dragon anywhere in the hall so he asked Knight beside him \"She is out there probably flying or hunting in the woods\" \"I am here\" just when Knight was talking about Reghys to Don, a female voice reverberated the hall as the throne hall door slowly opened but when the door opened fully everyone was shocked including Don and Knight. The woman walking inside had fiery red, shoulder-length hair clumsily hanging over a strong, lively face. Red eyes matching with her hair, set tightly within their sockets. If Amaryll was a beauty among the younger generation, the woman walking before Don was a middle-aged beauty, people would not think of her as a Dragon until they could see the red wings on her back. Seeing the woman walking towards him, Don could feel there is something curious about her, perhaps it''s a feeling of arrogance or perhaps it''s simply her aura of a Dragon. Nonetheless, she stood taller and had a noble look to her. \"Guardian\" The dwarves knelt on their knees with their heads bowing down when they saw the woman, she let out a small laugh and gestured to them to get on their feet. \"Did you think I''ve always stayed in my true form\" The woman leaped towards Don and landed beside him and Knight \"Reghys\" Knight couldn''t help but show the stars in his eyes when he saw the human form of the Dragon. He was excited and jealous of seeing Reghys because he always wanted to take human form. Reghys gave a wink facing Knight and looked at Don Even though Don was surprised to see Reghys''s human form he had a more important task to do here so he just nodded at Reghys and took out the mirror from his space ring \"So you bought it huh\" Everyone slightly bent their body forward to get a good view of the hand-sized mirror in Don''s hand. Don knew how this mirror works from he saw one before. Arrora saw Don placing the mirror on his chest and started to feel the vibrations coming from the mirror. When the vibration became more violent Don removed the mirror from his chest as a scroll came outside of the mirror and landed on his hand. However Don didn''t open the scroll, he just tossed it towards Reghys. \"It''s better if everyone knew how it works\" Don realized many elves and dwarves have no idea about the oath-taker so he decided to let Reghys explain how the mirror works because Dragons were a noble race and many races believed they would not lie or trick simple people. Reghys obviously knew why Don gave her the scroll so she decided to be the mediator between the oath-taker and the oath giver. Reghys saw the ancient writing on it and closed the scroll after reading it inside her mind. \"So it works like this, the possessor of the oath-taker that is you\" Reghys pointed her fingers at Don while she was talking to the people in the hall \"Needs to swear your oath to the people and then the oath giver needs to step forward to face the mirror then the mirror would accept their oath of loyalty if the oath giver was not under pressure or forced simple as that\" Arrora could see she''s not speaking loudly but her voice was magically enhanced to reach everyone clearly After hearing Reghys Don exhaled a deep breath and looked at everyone standing in the hall before him. Don knew the mirror needed to reflect himself while he was swearing his oath so he threw the mirror up in the air and controlled the air element under the mirror to prevent it from falling. At the moment his reflection landed on the surface of the mirror, a light beam came out of it and shone on Don like a spotlight \"I, Don the ruler of this realm and the successor of Dragon King Dhorfir Thunderbolt hereby swearing that I will protect my people and provide them the life they desire regardless of their traits, ethnicity or race and vow not to betray their trust in me nor make them do anything against their wishes by force\" Seeing everyone nodding towards him, Don knew they agreed with half of his oath especially the dwarves Stodemar and Dhursir looked very excited and happy \"In return, I require loyalty to me and the kingdom and the citizens of this kingdom secondly I expect secrecy about the existence of this realm for a time being and in the event of someone violating their oath or committing a crime against other races, the citizens of the kingdom or the kingdom itself, they will be punished severely according to the rules of the kingdom\" After a few seconds Don stopped his oath, the light covering him slowly faded away indicating that his part of the oath-taking process had ended. Seeing Don finishing his oath Reghys snapped her fingers as the mirror rotated and showed its reflective face to the people standing below it. \"Now it''s time for oath givers\" As Reghys said Don saw Arwen stepping forward towards the mirror \"I was powerless and a coward who couldn''t even save his sister until I met Don he saved me and my people from the worst fate I can''t repay that debt beside after we started to follow him our lives became so much better than we used to and we are living without any fear or worry here so yes he deserves what he asks and I chose to put my trust in him\" Many elves shared the same opinion about Don as Arwen and it was obvious their gratitude towards Don had increased after they started to live comfortably in this realm away from the outer lands. When Arwen finished talking a bright light covered him just as it did before to Don and disappeared within a moment.Just when the light disappeared Arwen felt like something merged with him but the feeling quickly faded away. Don and Knight was happy to see Arwen think this much about them as they saw little Elrond stepping forward \"I follow you because of the promise you made and you have trained me and given me the power to take care of myself and the people I care about So I, Elrond will repay that debt with my loyalty\" Same as before the light covered Elrond and disappeared. Following Arwen and Elrond many elves including the elves trained by Don and Knight took the oath without any problems but when some elves who were not part of the training failed the oath as the light never appeared from the mirror and some elves refused to take the oath completely. It was slightly a surprise and shock to Don but he had expected it so he chose to let go of them for a time being. \"we lived wi''out anything now we have everything beside ye be tha successor o'' tha dragon king an'' our king an'' we dwarves give our complete loyalty ta our king\" Stodemar stepped forward as the first dwarf to take the oath, just like Arwen the light appeared and disappeared despite his simple oath. Just like the elves most dwarves successfully gave their oath to the mirror as some of them failed or refused to give the oath and just like before Don chose to let go of them. After seeing everyone completing their oaths Arya and Benedict couldn''t stay away as they started to walk towards the mirror under everyone''s gaze. \"You two don''t need to take the oaths now\" Don knew Benedict might have successfully given his oath because of his passion to study the battle energy even further but Arya would definitely fail because even though she was saved by Arrora from Ronan''s group she was still captured by him as a hostage and he did or gave nothing to get their loyalty other than having them work under him. However, he was sure to win their loyalty when the next oath-taking event comes. Just as Don expected both of them let out a sigh and loosened their body. \"Thank thank you\" Benedict didn''t want to mess his chance of studying new types of energy in case he failed the loyalty test of this mirror but seeing Don let them go without doing anything made him relax besides only with powerful people like him and the lion could he take revenge on the people who wronged him in the past. Seeing Arya and Benedict stepping away from the mirror Arrora knew it''s her time to give the oath but before she could take a step forward Reghys stopped her \"You cannot take the oath you and him are already bonded with master-slave bond \" Arrora''s eyes went wide in surprise when she heard Reghys, she didn''t know how Reghys know about the master-slave bond she shares with Don but realizing Reghys is a dragon she sighed and stepped back Finally, Don finished a crucial step in his plans and he grabbed the mirror as the mirror turned into a ball of light and entered his chest just like the light merged with him when he killed Minister Bryan. Don could feel the mirror''s energy within him and he knew if he wanted he could take it out but now he had other plans. \"Cat open the hall I asked you to seal we have work to do\" 56 Pain and Gain \"Don are you sure you want to do this?\" Don was standing near the energy converter as Knight, Arrora, Arwen, Amaryll and the dwarves Dhursir and Stodemar looked at Don from quite a distance behind a transparent barrier created by Catalie. Behind the device Arya and Benedict which seemed like adjusting some nuts and bolts. Don could see the Prism on the center of the device started to shine as one side of the prism was connected to a stack of magic stones. \"Are you ready?\" Benedict walked towards Don with a metal plate in his hands which was also connected to the prism in the center. \"What if something goes wrong?\" Amaryll asked while looking at Benedict placing the metal plate on Don''s chest \"Nothing would go wrong it''s just using more pure battle energy to cultivate\" Even though Knight reassured Amaryll, he himself was worried about Don. Knight knew the ten times more pure and powerful means it would take a toll on his body ten times more than their usual cultivation, it''s the first time Knight seeing someone attempting to use this kind of powerful energy. However, if he successfully managed to cultivate using this device and energy his cultivation would soar through. Standing beside Knight Arrora could see Knight is worried about Don but not showing on his face but Catalie on the other hand, popping her fingers and looking at the device and Don without batting an eye. Finally after much preparation, Benedict and Arya put black glasses on their face to cover their eyes and started walking away from Don and the device towards the barrier set by Catalie. On the other side of the barrier, only Reghys and Don stood there by the device \"Are you ready?\" Reghys asked as Don nodded and sat on the ground to start the cultivation. \"One...two...\" Reghys snapped her fingers, the tubes and wireworks connecting the prism with Don and Stack of magic stones started to glow brightly and Knight could see the hall became dimmer like the device sucking all the light in the hall. Benedict glared at the scene while rubbing his hands together in excitement. Don felt the metal plate on his chest heating up and the pure battle energy strands entering his body but suddenly smoke and fire sparks started to come out of the device. Everyone standing behind the barrier could feel the heat radiating from the device. \"Benedict, What''s happening?\" Arrora was sure that a device not meant to do that when she saw the smoke and fire sparks but seeing Benedict shook his head a bad feeling emerged in her mind. \"Don do you want me to stop?\" Reghys had to raise her voice because of the buzzing sound produced by the device but Don shook his head slowly. Just by seeing how he shook his head Knight realized it was very hard for him to even move his head. The pain flared more and every muscle in Don''s body tensed up. Straining to keep his back straight Don waited for the pain to subside, as the pain got worse and worse. He could tell his entire body screaming in pain to stop what he was doing, stop and find relief from this hellish pain. For a moment Don thought about everything he might lose if he gives in to the pain and everything that would come of it. Fighting through the pain was becoming increasingly difficult as he gritted his teeth and hoped it would minimize the pain he was feeling, but above all else it became increasingly annoying to have to deal with the blood running through his nose. However, Don felt like there wasn''t much that could be done either way and guessed the best course of action was to simply deal with it and continue to circulate the battle energy through his body until the pain began to reduce. By the time went by Don felt exhausted and unable to focus however he was absolutely determined to not let this pain and exhaustion make this day an unfruitful one, so he pressed onward. No one could watch the scene without worrying about his life, Knight had already shouted at Catalie for crying when she saw the blood coming out of his nose but now Knight himself wanted to stop the process. \"Knight he''s going to die if he continues\" Amaryll could see the blood coming out of his nose increasing as now his ears started to bleed \"Knight let us go save our king don''t ye see he be bleeding\" The dwarves would have tried to break the barrier if it wasn''t for Knight stopping them but before Knight could do anything the device started to shake violently \"What''s happening?\" Almost everyone shouted at Benedict when they saw the shaking of the device and the room getting darker \"I think the device is overheating\" Arya shouted at them because of the buzzing noise of the device \"You think\" Knight knew it doesn''t take a genius to figure out the device is overheating and he turned to look at Catalie who is weeping without letting out a sound to not getting scolded by Knight again. \"You take this bloody barrier away\" \"No!!\" At the moment Catalie raised her hand to shut off the barrier Don''s voice echoed through the hall, his voice was so loud but everyone could feel the pain in his voice. \"You will die idiot \" Knight punched the barrier and roared at Don, Reghys couldn''t believe that Don taking this much pain seeing the blood coming out of his nose ears and even his eyes were bleeding. At that exact moment, everyone trying to stop Don a sudden force exploded in the hall and the darker room started to get brighter and brighter \"He''s breaking through\" Knight knew the explosion was Don breaking the barrier between the moon level and star level but he couldn''t smile or express his happiness seeing Don fighting the extreme pain. \"Do not stop the device it could kill him\" Reghys heard Knight shouting from behind the barrier and she could also see him breaking through. Everything hurt. Don''s head hurt, chest and his whole body screaming in pain. The voices in his head told him to stop cultivating and find a way out of this misery. However Soft moans and grunts escaped Don''s mouth as the pain started to settle down. Don could feel the pure battle energy circulating through his veins and healing and rejuvenating his organs. Don felt so refreshed and light. Noticing Don''s face and body loosened up Reghys knew he successfully cultivated this new pure energy yet she was sure that she saw a black mist evaporated from his body but if she asked Knight or Don they would tell her that it was the impure substance in the body which could only be removed through cultivation to prolong the cultivator''s lifespan. Reghys snapped her fingers as the noise coming from the device started to fade away and Don slowly opened his eyes. Reghys was able to see the small glimmer in his skin and she could also tell he put more muscles seeing his body frame. However, she could say anything she saw a furry light hitting Don, \"Knight\" Knight stood in two legs and embraced Don as Don patted on Knight''s back and let go of the bro hug \"Me King\" \"Don you scared us\" Don saw the dwarves running towards him with Amaryll and Arrora. Even though Catalie couldn''t physically touch Don she was circling him and checking if there are any injuries on him. \"I am fine everyone\" Seeing the worried faces of everyone Don said to reassure them \"Don how do you feel? How powerful are you now?\" Arrora gently placed her hand on Don''s shoulder from behind and asked him. At the moment Arrora asked the question everyone stared at Don for his answer and Don saw Benedict and Arya trying their best not to grab him by his collar and ask him the same question because Don knew that they wanted to know the results of their invention. Seeing everyone''s gaze towards him Don circulated his battle energy and a fist-sized dark purple fireball appeared on his hand \"Let''s just say I can kill a great master without batting an eye\" 57 Pain and Gain II Until now Arrora had a glimmer of hope to reach Don''s cultivation level when she reached the great master realm but hearing him say he can kill a great master without batting an eye destroyed that small hope however she still felt happy for him. Dwarves on the other hand, jumping and laughing in joy hearing Don and Arwen knew he didn''t simply breakthrough but fought with death a moment ago \"Benedict is this going to be this hard for bound energy too?\" Don realized how difficult it is to cultivate using this device even for him and he knew if this was the case for the elves and dwarves too they wouldn''t survive the process. Hearing Don''s question Benedict didn''t take much time to answer as he removed his black glasses and said \"It will be hard but not like yours and we can distribute the bound energy to multiple people so the energy won''t be too concentrated and powerful\" Although Benedict and Arya seemed calm yet when they guessed Don was going to send people to cultivate bound energy their eyes started to sparkle in excitement because if Don let them the cultivators of bound energy could rewrite history. Hearing Benedict''s answer Don nodded and looked at Arrora, Arwen and the dwarves before him. \"Are you ready to try the bound energy?\" Arwen''s heart skipped a beat when he heard Don, although he had some ideas that Don will let them use the bound energy but hearing from his mouth made Arwen tremble in excitement as well as a little bit of fear. Amaryll grabbed Arwen''s hand and looked at him with a worried face she opened and closed her mouth without uttering a word but Arwen patted her hand to reassure Amaryll and nodded towards Don. Don didn''t need to look Arrora because he knew she won''t let go of a chance like this to increase her cultivation level and just like he thought she had already given him a nod. \"Let''s do it me king\" the dwarves stood before Don rubbing their palms as well as headbutting each other in excitement, their small stoic body structure made them look like children playing when Don saw the excited dwarves. \"Alright, Benedict Arya lets do it\" before even Don could finish what he was saying Benedict started to walk towards the device with a grin while Arya gave Don an embarrassed smile and followed Benedict to the device. While Arya and Benedict working with Reghys in the device Don saw Amaryll bury her head on Arwen''s chest. Amaryll saw what happened to Don a moment ago and in her mind, Don and Knight were the most powerful people she met but seeing Don nearly die made her shiver in fear and she couldn''t let her brother go through the same process even though Benedict said it would be a different case. While embracing Amaryll, Arwen knew she wants to stop him but he remembered the bandit attack in the village as he let go off all the fear and looked Amaryll''s worried face \"Don''t worry it''s going to be alright\" Unlike the elven siblings, the dwarves Dhursir and Stodemar already started to walk towards the device laughing and singing as Don saw she started to follow the dwarves after she gave him a nod. Finally, after a few minutes of changing the wires and stuff Benedict raised his hands and gave Don and Knight a thumbs up as Arwen patted Amaryll''s shoulder and made his way towards the device \"Brother its look we gonna need a whole lot of stones\" Catalie said as she flicked her wrist to create the barrier \"We will get many times more the stones Cat you''ll see\" The DOn turned his gaze towards Knight \"Knight if they successfully cultivated the bound energy I want you to be the head of the operation\" Knight didn''t need Don to explain further because Knight knew this device was going to be their key to conquer this world so they couldn''t give access to everybody but only to the people who took the oath. Also, Knight was like the commander of their little army because of that he knew the best candidates to put through this device so they don''t waste the precious stones. While Don and Knight talking the device already started to let out its buzzing noise and fire sparks but not much as when it did with Don. Amaryll didn''t even move her gaze from Arwen a bit and looked at Arwen with her clenched fist against her chest. \"Brother they are leveling up\" After a few minutes the device started Catalie saw the magical fluctuations around the dwarves, Arrora, Arwen''s body skyrocketing. When she pointed this out to Don she couldn''t keep her body straight as she giggled and jumped in joy and Don could see the light around them getting brighter by the second. However, Don could also see the four of them trying their best not to shout as everyone knitted their burrows as lines appeared on their foreheads indicating they were fighting against the pain in their body. \"Holy their magical core''s are transforming\" Reghys opened her mouth wide in shock, her eyesight is more powerful than the humans so she was able to see directly their magical core in their chest. Reghys could see the purple bound energy is merging with Arrora''s magical core as well as the other three''s and the magical core becoming bigger and glowing a weird gray color inside their bodies, unlike the normal magical cores. \"What do you mean transforming?\" Benedict and Arya were unable to see the magic cores like Reghys and they looked at Reghys for an answer. The dragon woman didn''t come back from her initial shock but after a few moments she sighed and explained the changes in their magic cores to Arya and Benedict in detail When Arya and Benedict finished hearing Reghys their eyes went wide in shock and surprise because they have never heard of a magical core transforming like this. Even when a mage leveling up the only change that happens in the magical core was a color change and it would not glow or grow bigger like Reghys just mentioned. However, just after a moment of Reghys noticed the transformation they saw Arrora''s body starting to float in the air. \"Don she''s controlling the air element just like us \" Knight couldn''t believe what he was seeing but he was sure about Arrora using the battle energy when he looked at the air element around her. Don rubbed his chin and continued to watch Arrora for a moment before speaking \"Yes she is \" Although she was controlling the air element around her using the bound energy Don could see it''s not as powerful as he or Knight could do because the concentration of air particles around her seemed like a lot less than when he uses the battle energy to control the air element. However, Don could see the possibilities he had now with the army of hybrids as the normal armies of the same rank would probably not even pose a little threat to them on the battlefield. \"Look like they have finished\" Reghys saw the four of them slowly opening their eyes as the device turned off. The dwarves opened their mouths to laugh but when they saw everyone''s looking up they turned to see Arrora floating in the air. \"What ta\" At the moment Stodemar took his gaze away from Arrora she saw his grandfather Dhursir''s feet weren''t on the ground as he was also floating in the air but not as high as Arrora. Seeing both of them floating, Stodemar closed his eyes and tried to feel the new energy circulating inside his body and imagined that he''s flying. \"How are they doing that? Arwen Arwen is actually flying\" Standing behind the barrier Don was shocked and happy to see the four of them successfully controlling the air element around them, of the four Arrora was the one Don saw floating higher than the three of them and Stodemar was the one closer to the ground. Seeing the four of them floating Don decided to try to use his pure battle energy as he raised his hand towards them and started to control the air element the four of them currently controlling. Arrora felt something forcing the particles she was controlling and turned to see Don was the one doing it. Just after a few seconds the four of them landed on the ground without being able to control the air element any longer. \"Its indeed more powerful\" Don said as Knight could see the excitement he''s trying to hide by hearing his voice and Knight couldn''t wait to try the pure battle energy by himself. While the four of them standing up Don and Knight walked towards them with Catalie \"Congratulations you are the first hybrids\" Knight named them ''hybrids'' because they use the bound energy which was created by mixing battle and magical energy together and seeing Knight''s proud grin he knew Knight wouldn''t let him change the name. Arwen raised his hand and stopped Amaryll before she could hug him and embarrass him when he saw Amaryll running towards him with an exciting happy smile and just let her grab his hand. \"We need to study them a while to see what they are capable of\" Reghys stepped forward with Arya and Benedict \"Alright and let me know if they can use this later\" Don took out a magical mask he uses to change his face from his space rings and threw it towards Reghys. The face changer can only be used using the battle energy but Don wanted to check if they could use it with bound energy after all Don knew that the bound energy was partially made of battle energy. Reghys caught the mask and looked at it for a moment and nodded towards Don then turned her gaze towards the four of them. \"Follow me\" \"Brother what''s next?\" Catalie asked Don while Reghys leading everyone except Don and Knight to the end of the hall with Arya and Benedict to check the hybrids. \"It''s time to revisit the slave city\" Knight''s lips curved and made an evil grin when he heard Don''s cold voice because he knew it''s time for some action. 58 Pain and Gain III Sitting on his throne Don was looking at the woman top to bottom before him. She had an oval face, slightly lighter than ivory with a rose-colored tint to her cheeks. Her small hazel eyes were lively, warm, and sparkled with bliss when her lips slightly curved. Her smooth blonde hair with soft curls fell just past her dimpled chin. Her pink, slight, buttoned nose that was just above her delicate lips that always had a faint smile. This was the new face of Arrora, the mask perfectly changed her face by using the bound energy just like the battle energy. Seeing Arrora''s new face Don realized the items in his space rings now can be used by his subordinates using the bound energy. As Don was studying the face changer Knight already started to train his army by using the device and Don was waiting for the first batch to complete their cultivation. Standing before Don, Arrora couldn''t guess what he was planning now. She knew that to describe his facial expression would be like describing a blank sheet of paper. He could have been in a coma for all the life his face showed. Arrora wanted to ask what he was thinking but before she could do that the throne hall doors opened as Knight entered the room followed by a group of elves and dwarves. Behind Knight, Elves were led by Arwen and the dwarves were led by Stodemar. \"Don now we have ten hybrids in elves ten in dwarves all of them just reached the master level\" Uncle Dior almost coughed up blood when he heard Knight and looked at the twenty people while scratching his head a bit. Just yesterday the people standing before Uncle Dior were just a Beginner or Apprentice level but it took just one cultivation session using the device to get their cultivation to reach master level. He knew if they have thirty more master level magis in their army they can go out and start conquering smaller kingdoms. \"Cat give me those\" Don asked and reached his hand out to his right as twenty Khals appeared on top of his hand. Arrora saw the twenty Khals were floating towards the twenty people before her as each of them grabbed one. \"Arrora and Arwen you two are going to lead this mission\" Arwen and Arrora''s mouths hung with lips slightly parted and Arwen''s eyes were as wide as he could stretch. \"Stodemar you the backup if anything goes wrong, create a diversion so they could escape get it\" Although Stodemar seemed a little disappointed to be just a backup, Stodemar knew Arrora and Arwen have more experience working under his king than him as he bowed his head to show his agreement. \"Each of you will lead five elves and five dwarves Arwen put this on\" As he said Don took another face changer from his space ring and threw it towards Arwen. The elves and dwarves gasped mouth full of air in surprise when they saw Arwen''s face changing visibly before them. Arwen''s new face was stern, even a little melancholy, in repose, which was transfigured when he smiled towards Amaryll. He now had a long-boned face, tapering to a pointed chin, black hair instead of his natural silver hair and his pointy ears transformed into human ears. \"But Don what''s the mission?\" Everyone looked at Don for his answer, some of them had excited faces while others had a worried face. \"You are going to attack the slave city\" At the moment those words came out of his mouth small yelps and squeals could be heard in the hall. Hearing Don Amaryll''s eyes and her mouth were frozen wide open in a stunning shock, and although she was staring straight at Don she appeared not to notice him at all. \"Why?\" Amaryll decided to ask him, she never wanted to question Don but she couldn''t find a reason why they have to attack the slave city and also making her brother lead the attack with Arrora \"Did you forget about what the dragon king said?\" Don didn''t shout or raise his voice but the voice was so dominant and reverberated through the hall. \"We cannot win even a small war without having an army let alone the great war he mentioned, you think a hundred people is an army?\" Hearing Don no one opened they mouths as he continued \"Without attacking and conquering the human kingdoms, do you think we can save your people?\" Don wanted them to remember their people who were taken by the humans as slaves \"To save your people to save your family to save your peaceful life here we don''t need cowards we need an army and resources\" Don knew he was not used to giving pep talks but he tried his best to kindle the courage underneath their fear. Standing beside Don Knight noticed the elves and dwarves showing some courage on their faces but seeing them like this after Don''s pep talk Knight couldn''t guess whether they heard a pep before or if Don was actually good. \"And don''t think we going to live here happily and peaceful, happy and peace only happen in children''s storybook if we don''t take the fight to them sooner or later the mysterious mage or someone will find us\" Stodemar and Arwen knew what the black-robed mysterious mage was capable of, especially the dwarves as the mage almost killed Reghys by cutting off the magical energy around the mountain. \"Don''t walk beside me I may not be your friend Don walk before me I won''t follow you but walk behind me I will lead you to the life you all dreamt\" Don looked at everyone to see if anyone had any more questions but no one asked him anything but looked determined than they first heard about the mission especially the dwarves they couldn''t hold their excitement thinking about a battle. \"Good you two will be teleported inside the city walls first and rest of you cover your faces with hoods\" Just like he said the people before Don put on their hoods while Arwen took out his bow and checked the strings and arrows on his back. \"What do we do after getting teleported?\" Arrora never forgot the slave city and she was determined to do some damage to the city when she heard Don. Don could see the fire sparks in Arrora''s eyes. She was trying to hide her anger and emotion from showing on her face but for an expert in hiding the emotion like Don, it didn''t take much to figure her out. \"First you two need to gather intel like is there any grandmaster staying in the city or anyone could threaten your life\" Arrora and Arwen nodded towards Don as he continued to tell them their mission \"Then get information about the slave traders, slave markets in the city and how much security they have\" \"And you want us to rescue the slaves and teleport them back here with us here\" Before Don could say anything Arrora finished his thought and let out a cold grin. Seeing Arrora''s cold smile Amaryll was surprised because she never saw such expression on the half elf''s face before and she secretly blamed Don and Knight for this in her heart. \"Yes bring back many slaves as you can, it''s time they finished their life as slaves \" After Don gave the orders Knight taught them some surviving skills and battle skills to the elves and dwarves while Arwen and Arrora went to their rooms to change their clothes. A moment after, Arwen came wearing the black hooded overcoat Don bought him and Arrora walked towards Don wearing the black warrior robe Uncle Dior gave her before the feast, the same robe that Don bought for her. Arrora and Arwen looked exactly like the army commander in their new clothes, especially Arrora the metal plates and silver lining gave her the aura of a natural-born killer and leader and Amaryll could see the resemblance of Arrora''s clothes to the black robe Don is wearing. While seeing Arrora and Arwen walking towards the teleportation array Don called their names as they turned their head to see Don sitting on his throne \"Don''t leave any slave traders alive\" Hearing Don Arwen gave him a nod and continued to walk as Arrora slightly unsheathed her sword to show the shiny metal \"Oh first I will make them beg for death and then I''ll kill them\" Don and Knight felt Arrora''s killing intent even from standing a few feet away from her and saw her following Arwen behind While Amaryll and Uncle Dior were worrying about their safety they saw Knight grinning like an evil villain. \"This is going to be thrilling Don\" 59 Slave traders \"Give me a glass of water and ale for my friend here\" Arrora and Arwen were now sitting inside the tavern ''Cob Web'', the same tavern Don and Uncle Dior met Akihiro. The bartender was pouring a drink for a customer and made no effort to acknowledge Arrora and Arwen''s presence. The tavern was as dull inside as it was on the outside. Wooden beams support the upper floor while the broken lights are attached to them. The walls are covered in a layer of dust, making it near impossible to see what the few paintings on the walls are about. Arrora could see the tavern itself is almost completely abandoned. The few people inside were silent and they kept to themselves, but whoever they were, Arwen hoped they''d leave them alone, just like he and Arrora leaving them alone. \"Is this place always as dull as now?\" Arrora asked the waitress carrying the water and ale mug towards them. The waitress couldn''t help but smile wryly and sigh \"No not until someone chose to Minister Bryan\" The waitress drew a line across her neck with her thumb when she said. \"But what''s the connection to that and this\" Arrora looked across the dull tavern while the waitress sighed again \"You know when you kill a lion in a forest a group of hyenas would take its place its same as here when Minister Bryan died many criminals and bandits started to target us and then many merchants stopped coming here and then many people chose to leave this hell\" The waitress had not many customers to serve so she patiently answered Arrora''s questions and Arrora decided to get as much information as she can from this waitress because she knew the tavern is the nerve center of gossip and information of a town. \"So who''s in charge of the city now?\" Arwen asked the waitress while taking a sip from the mug \"I''ve heard someone from the capital but it''s clear they don''t care about us at least when Minister Bryan was alive we got customers\" Arrora had no idea the death of Bryan would open the gate to other criminals but she didn''t care much about this slave-trading city and its people. \"Don''t you have guards to fight the criminals and bandits?\" The waitress shook her head and let out a sad smile \"most criminals are the guards, even the thousand arms auction house closed their shop and left with their great master this city is on its last leg\" Arrora could see the waitress''s eyes forming a tear but she quickly wiped it away and let out a smile to hide her sadness. Seeing the waitress Arrora took out a silver coin and placed it on the waitress''s hand. When she saw the silver coin she was shocked because the way Arrora placed the coin in her hand was like giving it to her and the ale and water were only copper coins worth. \"Keep the change\" Arrora said as she planned to get information about the slave traders and she knew nothing would keep the information flowing out of the waitress''s head like a good tip. \"I''m looking to take some slaves with me. Do you know anything that can help me?\" To the waitress who served most of her life in slave city this kind of question was not new to her because most people indeed come here to buy slaves. \"Of course I know\" Arrora could see the silver coin tip is working well when she saw the ear to ear grin on the waitress''s face. \"How many slaves are you looking to buy?\" The mere word ''buy'' disgusted Arrora and Arwen but both of them didn''t show their feelings on their faces as they took a sip from their mugs. \"The more the better\" Arrora cleared her throat and said as the waitress rubbed her chin for a moment \"Hmm the small slave shops are closed now but there are two or three large traders still open to the business, you should look there\" \"Can we get elves or dwarves there?\" \"Hahaha\" When Arwen asked the question the waitress laughed as she shook her head \"Those are hot merchandise you can''t buy them simply in a shop, at least not here mostly you can buy beastmen, goblins, and humans in slave city\" \"Alright give us the directions to those shops\" The waitress nodded and started to give Arrora and Arwen the directions as both of them etched them into their minds. After getting all the information from the waitress Arrora and Arwen took a large sip from their mug and stood up to leave the tavern. \"You should leave the city soon\" Arrora said to the waitress before leaving the tavern without even looking back at her with Arwen. When Arrora and Arwen stepped outside the tavern they could see some people walking on the pavements and roads. The people of the slave city looked gloomy as Arrora could tell they are living a very troubling life. However, she had neither power nor time to help the people as she started to follow the direction the waitress gave her to the slave traders. Eventually after navigating through the maze of a street Arrora and Arwen. From the outside, the building looked impressive for a slave-trading shop. It has been built using mostly redwood and graystones and has spruce wooden decorations. Small, rectangular windows let in a small amount of light inside and have been added to the building in a fairly symmetrical pattern. At the moment Arrora and Arwen opened the door and entered the room they were welcomed by a clean dustless hall but Arrora could smell a tinge of blood inside the hall. \"Welcome my lord my lady\" A sly looking old man in a white robe walked towards Arrora and Arwen with a smile. Because of the face changers and the hoods covered their faces, both of them looked nothing like elves. \"I''m looking to take slaves to my kingdom\" Arrora asked the old man as he nodded his hands and gestured at them towards the couch in the center of the room but Arrora waved her hands and didn''t move. \"You''ve come to the right place my lady, how many of them do you want?\" \"First I want to see what you have in store\" The old man nodded his head enthusiastically \"Of course of course my lady follow me\" He grabbed a big rusty key from his pocket and walked towards a dark door on the corner of the hall leading Arrora and Arwen. \"Marv customers here\" While the old man put the key into the keyhole Arrora and Arwen could see someone looking through the hole in the room from the other side. When the door opened there were three bearded men with scars on their faces standing there waiting for them with lamps in their hands. Without even getting near them Arrora could smell the stench of ale coming from them. \"This way my lady\" Arwen stood behind Arrora and let her take the lead so the old man guessed she was the leader. The old man grabbed a lamp from the wall and started to walk down on the stairs while the three men with lamps followed Arwen and Arrora. As she was walking down the stairs, Arrora started to hear chain rattling and even some loud cries of woman, the smell of blood and sweat made Arrora furrow her brows. However, when she finished getting down on the stairs she was shocked at the scene before her and also Arwen. There were at least a hundred steel cages before her just like the one she was put in. Inside the cages, she could vaguely see the features of the people, some of them looked tall and chained to the cage while some of them had green skin and short structure and she also saw some tails and wings in the lamplight. \"No no don''t hit me please\" \"Water wate...\" \"Let me go please let me go\" \"Kill me\" \"ti vol det kahl humans\" Various cries echoed through the dark underground and reached Arrora''s ears. Under the hood, Arwen''s eyes turning red in anger and veins started to pop out on his face. Seeing the horrible scene before her Arrora wanted to take out her sword and chop the four of them but she controlled her anger by clutching her fist tightly \"How many slaves you have here?\" Arrora didn''t show any anger in her voice as the old man took out a small notebook from his pocket and looked at it in the lamplight \"My lady, are you looking to buy all of them?\" The old man asked her after looking at his notebook a moment \"You could say that\" The old man''s lips curved and formed a sly smile which disgusted Arrora even further \"My lady we have fifty-eight goblins, hundred and twenty beast-men including catgirls, bunnies and eight humans men and women included\" Arwen''s eyes went wide in shock and surprise, nearly two hundred and sixty slaves in a single shop and he couldn''t even imagine how many shops like this are in the entire empire. \"Aren''t you afraid of someone stealing them?\" When Arrora asked the old man shook his and laughed proudly \"No my lady the three of them standing behind you are peak level master and besides we have two mid-level masters as well and also a group of Apprentices so not even air can come and go without noticing our security\" Even though the old man looked proud and confident about his security Arwen had a small murderous grin on his face when he heard the old man. \"I''m looking forward to seeing that\" 60 Lucky Day \"Remember we need to attack the three places at the same time, not even a second after or before\" Arrora was standing in the back alleyway of a building and behind her was two tall figures and one short figure.No once could see Arrora or the figures standing behind her because of the night time, only moon and stars provided the light to the dark alleyway, \"Yes we are ready\" \"I''m ready ta kick some butt \" Arrora heard two different voices in her ears as one was a silvery voice while the other was a rough gruffy voice. The building before Arrora was, of course, the slave trader shop she and Arwen checked before. After checking the first shop Arrora and Arwen checked the other two without taking a break. The second shop was smaller than the first one as they had nearly two hundred slaves while the third one had one hundred and fifty-eight to be exact. Arrora chose the first shop as her target because this one is the hardest to hit among the three shops. As the old man said this shop had five master-level magis guarding it with a group of Apprentices. The second and third shop however only had two or three mid-level magis guarding with a couple of Apprentice magis. According to Arrora and Arwen''s plan, the three shops would have gathered all the slaves in one place in their shops because Arrora specifically told them to do so after giving the slave traders an advance payment and they were happy to accept her proposal. \"Remember, break-in kill them, teleport the slaves here with you, if you think your opponent is more powerful than you escape the place fast as you can\" Arrora heard Knight''s voice as well as Arwen and Stodemar. Since there were three shops to attack, Arrora asked Don to send Stodemar to lead the attack on the third shop and the dwarf couldn''t hold his excitement for battle when he heard Don. \"cover your faces don''t leave your friends behind and don''t leave your enemies alive\" \"As you wish\" \"loud an'' clear\" Arrora, Arwen and Stodemar put on their hoods to cover their faces after Knight told them they were ready to attack the place. \"Hey Marv, where is that lady? It''s getting pretty late isn''t it\" The old man asking the bearded man Marv while looking at the crowd of slaves before them. Some of the slaves were trembling in fear while some others had blood flowing out of their wounds on their chest and face however all of them were taken out of the cages and grouped together. \"Relax after this business we should move the shop to somewhere else this place is dying\" Marv took out a metal flask from his pocket and took a sip from it. \"Yeah lets WHAT THE!?\" Before the old man could close his mouth the ground beneath shook like someone dropped a fireball on top of the building however the old man heard no explosion sound or anything. \"Marv go look what''s happening?\" Marv took another sip and wiped the liquor flowing out of his mouth while the slaves looked at the entrance with a mix of fear and shock. \"No need for that\" When Marv closed the flask and readied to move a feminine voice reverberated in the room as the door on the left side of the room sent flying. The old man''s heart skipped a beat when he saw the door went flying as Marv and his friends took out their weapons. The slaves looked at the scene without blinking as they saw a figure slowly walking out of the darkness and heard a sound like water dripping when the figure walked. Marv still looked relaxed as he stepped in front of the old man with his sword in hand. While Marv was guarding the old man he saw the figure throwing something at his feet. \"Lookout\" Marv shouted and shielded the old man using his body as a shield however nothing happened as he expected. \"Ahhhhh\" A screaming sound echoed through the room as Marv looked down at his feet. The old man''s face turned green when he saw what''s under his feet. It was a head without a body and he could see the opened eyes and mouth of the head. \"Rim\" Marv let out a word when he saw the head, it belonged to the man in the guards'' room as he was one the Apprentice magis Marv was training and in a second he saw many heads like Rim''s rolling towards him with the same opened eyes and mouths. It was obvious to Marv they were killed before they could realize how they had died. \"Who are you?\" The figure standing before Marv was Arrora with the blood dripping sword in her hand. Arrora could see Marv is enraged as she saw the veins on his face popping up in the dim light. A moment before when she entered the guards'' room she saw eight Apprentice level men playing cards as well as drinking and before they could react to the destroyed door Arrora moved like lighting and beheaded them without giving them the time to shout or do anything, she was now a great master who use bound energy after all and it would be a shame to take much time to kill a bunch of Apprentices. While seeing Arrora killing the guards in a flash the elves and battle-hungry dwarves were disappointed a bit but Arrora already warned them there might be no battle to do here this time before entering the room. At the moment many slaves were shaking in fear when they saw the horrible scene before them however some beast-men had a satisfied smile on their faces. \"Why do you care? you going to die anyway\" Arrora flicked her wrist while answering Marv as the remaining blood on the sword sprayed across the floor. At that point, Arrora saw an arrow coming towards her from one of the men behind Marv aiming for her head. Arrora could see the arrow coming at her in slow-motion and wondered whether it was because she reached the great master realm or the bound energy in her body. Seeing the arrow nearing her, Arrora sliced the arrow in two halves. Marv''s eyes went wide seeing the reaction time of the woman before him, he saw the woman slicing the arrow in two halves and he knew anyone could not do that unless she is very powerful than them. \"Kill her\" As he shouted and stepped forward Marv saw the three figures standing behind her in the dark but before he could warn his friends he saw two arrows flying towards him and passing without touching him. \"oi leave one for me\" The dwarf in Arrora''s team saw the elves attacking the one sent the arrow aiming at Arrora before and hitting their target in the chest so he didn''t want them to attack the one with the two-handed sword on Marv''s right and leaving him without any action. \"for glory\" Arrora let out a chuckle when she saw the short bulky dwarf running pass her shouting towards the one behind Marven. \"A dwarf\" Marv couldn''t attack the dwarf running towards his friend as the woman before him dashed forward at him with her sword. The two swords clashed as small fire sparkles appeared, Marv blocked the first attack of the woman but he almost fell down due to the force behind her attack. As Marv and Arrora fighting the Oldman slowly stepped back to escape. The old man successfully stepped back without any of them noticing towards the backdoor and when he noticed the view of the back door getting closer and closer, as the closer he got his lips curved and formed a cunning smile on his face. However, when he reached his hands towards the doorknob a sharp pain emerged on both of his shoulders as his body slammed the door. On the other side the one with bow lying on the floor with a bunch of arrows sticking out of his body, seeing the elves killed their opponent the dwarf''s blood boiled and started to swing his battle with his full might. The bound energy in the dwarf''s body made every swing of his axe more powerful as his opponent had a hard time even to dodge the dwarf''s attack. Seeing his opponent getting exhausted the dwarf put his training under Knight into work. The dwarf used his short stature to his advantage and started to aim the lower parts of his opponent \"You despicable bastard\" The man couldn''t hold his anger when he saw the dwarf aiming his lower parts, he was already tired and because of the dwarf''s tactics, he couldn''t dodge the final attack aimed at his hips. \"It''s time to finish this\" Arrora could have easily killed Marv but she had to give some time to the elves and dwarf to fight and also she heard the fight was still going on in the shops two and three through her Khal. When Marv heard the woman, he could see her attacks become faster and faster as he only saw the blur of her sword. Arrora didn''t aim for Marv''s chest or head but she aimed at his arms. \"Ah\" The slaves saw a hand falling on the ground as blood spraying from Marv''s left shoulder. Arrora didn''t even give him a second to shout as she sliced off his right hand then she swung her sword at his legs. When Arrora''s sword stopped moving the limbless body of Marv fell on the ground with blood painting the ground red. \"You bitch\" Marv''s voice was breaking as he said with gritting his teeth in anger and pain. Seeing the limbless body before her Arrora put her sword through the center of Marv''s eyes and ended his life and turned her gaze towards the slaves in chains. \"Well it''s your lucky day\" 61 A Chance At the second shop which was attacked by Arwen and his group, a group was lying on the ground without moving. Arwen was pulling out the bloodied arrows from their bodies. The same scene was happening at the third shop as Stodemar was wiping the blood off his battle-ax before a pool of blood. \"Me king we are ready\" \"Don it''s over\" \"We are ready too\" Just when they said the bright light beam appeared from the sky and disappeared. However, the three of them heard a loud roar before they teleported away with the slaves. ******************************** \"Welcome to your new home\" Nearly six hundred slaves were standing in a huge spacious hall. Before them, they could see a black-robed youth sitting on the throne. One group of slaves recognized the black-hooded man with a bow in his hand while another group recognized the dwarf with a battle-ax in his hand and finally the rest of them identified the woman with a sword. The three of them were standing beside Don when he welcomed the slaves to the hall. The slaves looked very worried and confused as Don could see the green goblins, the beastmen, and humans in chains around their neck and hands. \"Let me make one thing clear, here you won''t be treated as slaves but as people of this kingdom\" When the words came out of Don''s mouth some slaves looked happy as their lips curved a genuine smile but many of them still furrowed their brows and looked at Don without believing what he just said. \"I know it''s hard to trust someone you just met but believe me if I wanted I could have just bought all of you without all this trouble\" Many of them saw the point in his words, just by looking at the hall and the throne he was sitting on the slaves could see he wasn''t lacking wealth and he could have bought them simply because they were not expensive as elves or other rarer races. \"What do you want from us?\" The young man stepped forward had a hank of dirty blonde hair. He was broad-shouldered and had fair skin under the dirt and mud on his body. Don could see the young man was beaten by a whip and tortured just by looking at the wounds on his body. He looked very weak and malnourished but his eyes had some kind of fire in them. \"It''s more like what I can give you\" The slaves looked at Don without batting an eye as he continued \"I can give you the chance to get your revenge and to buy your freedom back\" Small yelps and squeaks could be heard when Don said this and the youth looked at Don with slightly opened mouth \"I know some of you have a family while others don''t, some of you want revenge some of you just want to get back to your family\" The slaves nodded their heads while the goblins tried to push through the crowd to get a better look at the human on the throne \"You couldn''t have done anything but spending the rest of your lives as slaves somewhere however here you can change that\" The youth could see he is not telling what he is expecting from them but the youth understood he can do anything to them with people like the ones standing beside him. \"Amaryll\" As Don called, the slaves saw a beautiful elf girl in a green dress walking towards them with a stack of paper in her hand. Amaryll grabbed one notice and gave it to the youth first and continued to distribute among the slaves. The moment the youth laid his eyes on the paper his eyes went wide in surprise and shock. The paper was a notice with works and wages written on it in beautiful handwriting. There were many works such as farming, construction, alchemy and of course the military, etc. However, what shocked the youth more was the wages written beside the work; not only the youth the slaves standing behind him also stood there holding the notice trembling. \"The price of your freedom is forty gold coins but of course if you want to settle here as a citizen of this kingdom you will be granted freedom without a dime\" Amaryll said while standing beside Don. Don let Amaryll and Uncle Dior and Dhursir figure out a plan to get the slaves working for him without being forced because he knew forcing them would not earn their loyalty or trust and an army or citizens without trust or loyalty to their ruler would only lead to one thing, failure. And when the three of them came up with this idea, Don and Knight could see this plan would work and they lose nothing by trying it. Obviously the wage for joining the army was much better than the other jobs and let them pay for their freedom quickly but getting forty gold coins by doing other jobs was not impossible too. Don knew no one would choose to settle here just like that but he wanted to let them know they can do that too. \"How can we trust you?\" After seeing the notice the youth knew if the man on the throne telling him the truth he could buy back his freedom or at least he will have the chance to do so unlike in the slave traders. \"Do you have any better options?\" Even though Don answered the youth''s question he looked at everyone when he said. \"Take a day to think about this, Gael\" Gael stepped forward with a group of elves and dwarves to lead the slaves away from the hall towards another hall. \"Don what if they don''t want to be here?\" After seeing Gael taking the slaves away Arrora asked Don as he turd to look at Arrora \"Kill them\" Arrora''s heart skipped a beat when she heard Don even Stodemar has slightly trembled when he heard him \"If they don''t want to take this chance to be free they deserve to be slaves and there''s no place for slaves here\" Before Arrora could say anything she saw Knight walking towards them \"Do you think they had any hope of freedom like this before today?\" Knight heard Arrora''s question and Don''s answer when he entered the hall and he agreed with Don like always. Arrora, Arwen and Stodemar had no answer to Knight''s question because they knew the slaves would not have a chance like this to be free. If Don didn''t send the three of them to rescue the slaves they would have been sold to someone like Bryan or worse at least Don would never treat them cruelly. \"But don''t worry no one is that stupid\" Knight said as Don nodded and looked at the three of them before speaking \"Good job\" The three of them saw Don''s figure disappearing from their view with Knight leaving them behind in the hall. Arrora felt powerful and proud after she saved the slaves while Arwen looked forward to feeling the adrenaline rush again as Stodemar couldn''t wait for another battle. \"Did you two hear a roar before we get teleported?\" Arwen was sure that he heard a loud roar and had a doubt that it was his imagination but seeing the two of them nodding their head Arwen knew it was real. ************************ \"Miss Rosaline\" Currently, a man was waiting outside a hall and waiting for Rosaline''s answer \"Come in\" Rosaline didn''t even look up at the man as she was busy studying a scroll \"Miss Rosaline its... it''s the slave city\" \"What about it?\" She was still studying the scroll without looking at him because she had no business there in the slave city anymore as Minister Bryan was already dead and she was busy with her cultivation to face the killer. Rosaline could already feel the barrier between her current level and the grandmaster level and she wanted to reach the grandmaster level before her brother Hayden. \"The city was destroyed last night\" The moment Rosaline heard the man she finally looked up and see him shivering \"How could a city be destroyed in a night? Where did you get this news?\" She couldn''t believe that someone could destroy a city without the capital knowing or the Cold moon mansion Aqualis. \"It''s true Miss Rosaline and they say they sa\" \"Say what?\" Rosaline stood up from her chair as she heard the man blabbering \"They say a dragon destroyed the city\" 62 Slave city is No more When Rosaline reached the slave city it was still burning and the smoke-filled air gave Rosaline a chill. The charred remains of the buildings stood in the pale morning light like a skeleton. She could feel the radiating heat on her face from right across the street while she was descended to the ground. Looking at the people on the streets made her heart tighten in anger and a bit of sorrow. As far as Rosaline could see there was nothing to be salvaged from the building or even with the whole city. After being disturbed momentarily, Rosaline walked towards a couple of people standing outside and trying to salvage something from the burnt building. Aware that the people won''t pay much attention to her if she just walked at them Rosaline started to cast a spell that could make the heat radiating from the building disappear. \"Ice Wave\" Like a flash of cold wave crashed down on the building as the radiating heat was replaced with a cold chill. \"Great master\" The two men and woman startled when they turned to see the woman who had just cast the spell \"Did you see what happened last night?\" When she asked the three of them looked at each other for a moment before the taller man started to recollect the things happened last night \"We heard a thunderous roar it was so loud we were woken up by it then...\" The man gulped his saliva as his hands shivered slightly \"Then we saw it, the monstrous dragon and the blue fire it breathed \" The man looked at the faraway town center while he was speaking as Rosaline turned her gaze towards the direction he was looking \"Then we saw the dragon breathing fire on all the buildings and we ran, we ran like hell outside of our homes \" After questioning the three of them Rosaline came before the first building the dragon torched. The building before her was completely destroyed only some structures made of graystones stood still even though they were nearly charcoaled \"Ice wave\" Just like before the cold wave hit the building as the heat radiating from the building disappeared in a flash As Rosaline was walking inside she halted her steps and looked around the place while her brows furrowed \"Hmm there was a battle here\" She could see the magical fluctuations left behind in the room but when she closely studied the magical fluctuations she raised her one eyebrow \"I''ve never seen this kind of magical fluctuations\" The gray shiny waves were nothing like she has seen before while thinking about this phenomenon she started to cast another spell \"Great Eye\" The moment the words came out of her mouth a huge two transparent eyes appeared behind her as a flash of light covered the room for a second and disappeared \"Weird\" *************************** \"A mysterious killer before now a rogue dragon destroying cities what the hell is happening? \" Sears said as he was looking far away through the windows inside his office room. \"Does this have any connection to our Micheal? Or is it just a rogue dragon?\" \"Might be might be not\" Rosaline was standing behind Sears''s table and looking at him watching the morning sky Hearing Rosaline Sears turned his gaze towards Rosaline away from the sky \"Although the dragon burnt some buildings all around the city it specifically torched three buildings first and all of them were slave traders\" After checking the first building Rosaline found the other buildings the Dragon personally torched than the buildings that got burnt because of the aftermath of the dragon''s first attack. \"Did you find the bodies?\" Rosaline shook her head \"Not even a trace but it could be also the dragon''s fire burnt them to ashes, however\" Seeing Rosaline stopped what she was saying Sears looked at her and waited for her to recollect her memories \"I found magical fluctuations but it''s nothing like I''ve seen before\" When Sears heard Rosaline he knitted his brows and lines appeared on his forehead \"What do you mean you''ve never seen ?\" \"It''s better if you see it yourself\" **************************** Spending some time looking around the burnt room Sears picked up a pinch of ash and studied it for a moment \"Yes a human\" Rosaline''s eyes went wide in surprise seeing her master coming to this conclusion just by studying the ash from the ground but before she could ask anything Sears walked towards the place where there was a door before \"Another one I''m guessing all of them were killed by the same person or a group that left these weird magical fluctuations behind\" After saying what he has detected Sears looked at the confused face of Rosaline as a grin appeared on his face \"You have a lot more to learn Rosaline\" \"Did you find anything else Teacher\" Thinking of she didn''t find anything she decided to ask her teacher as she saw him rubbing his chin for a moment \"Even though I found bodies on all the three shops I couldn''t find a trace of mass killing sites I mean there should have been at least a hundred slaves in each shop right?\" Hearing her teacher Rosaline nodded her head because she understands the logic behind his reasoning. She knew after Minister Bryan''s death the city became a magnet for criminals and bandits as many small slave traders went to other cities to do their business but these three shops were not small like them and there should have been at least a hundred slaves like Sears said. \"So where are they and don''t you find this weird?\" As he was saying Sears pointed his finger towards the people on the street. She could see that most of the people trying to salvage something from the burnt buildings as some of them crying looking at their house \"It seems the dragon wanted to destroy the city but not its people, except a few most of them survived the attack lets go the capitol should clean up this mess\" \"But Teacher do you think this has anything to do with Micheal?\" Hearing Rosalin''s question Sears pondered the possibilities in his mind \"It''s as you''ve said before it might be him or might be not\" 63 The Army \"If you want us to cook dinner like yesterday you should kidnap some more cooks Don\" Don saw the elf girl looking very tired as she had black lines under her eyes showing her lack of sleep yesterday but Arrora''s cheeks were rosy as ever there was no exhaustion on her face. \"Don''t worry you can take many helpers as you want\" While he was saying that the slaves from yesterday walked into the hall led by Gael and his friends. The slaves in front of him and the slaves he saw yesterday were two completely different people. After a lavish dinner cooked by Arrora and Amaryll, their skin glowed with vitality and they looked full of energy. Everything seemed like a dream to the slaves, and they felt that they were losing their judgment. As they were made a slave and dragged out of the cage-like cattle with chains around their neck and legs and hands, they were thought they would soon be starting their life as slaves. However, after coming out of the cage, they saw their masters getting brutally killed and found themselves in a magnificent hall before a youth. Then, a bunch of elven girls and dwarven women flooded their table with various delicacies and foods as they(slaves) left not an inch of empty space in their stomach. \"Are you willing to get your freedom back or ?\" Don didn''t finish what he was saying but looked at the slaves before him for their answer especially he was eyeing the blonde hair youth in front of the crowd. \"We are willing...\" Finally, a group of beastmen stepped forward and looked at Don and awkwardly said as they didn''t know how to address him \"Its Lord, lord Don\" Seeing the three beastmen awkwardly standing before Don without knowing his name Arrora let them know his name. The three beastmen before Don were a man with wolf-like features as he had a bushy side beard and eyes of a wolf, besides the wolfman stood a man with a tiger head and long-tail behind him. If Don didn''t see him standing on his two feet like a human he would mistake him for a tiger as he had black stripes on his golden fur. The last one standing between the wolf and the tiger was a cute girl with long bunny ears, aside from her bunny ears Don couldn''t see any animalistic features on the girl. Seeing the youth''s gaze the bunny girl didn''t dare to lift her head. \"Hey bunny girl we won''t eat you\" While standing before the youth the slaves heard a calm male voice, the bunny girl was startled when she heard the voice and she nervously lifted her head to see a majestic white lion with feathery wings like an angel descending beside the youth on the throne. As a beast himself, Knight felt more intrigued towards the beastmen standing before him and felt some kind of connection between them. Seeing the Lion standing near the throne, everyone was shocked especially the beastmen. The wolfman and the tiger''s legs wanted to kneel before the lion without their control but they fought against the feeling with all their strength. \"A grandmaster\" Hearing the lion speaking the slave''s mistaken Knight as a Grandmaster level beast. Knight had a grin on his face when he heard the crowd mumbling ''grandmaster'' in a low pitched voice. \"How did you become slaves?\" Watching the three beastmen looking at him Knight asked them and he could see the wolf and tiger clutching their fist and their eyes turning red in anger when he asked them Since the youth on the throne and people beside him looking at them the wold gritted his teeth and decided to tell his story \"We ar were from a faraway little village, the only thing we did is hunt and look after the village we never left our village or fought with other villages our lives were very peaceful and happy until\" Don could see his canine teeth growing and coming out of his mouth as the bunny girl grabbing his big hand with her small hands \"Until the green-robed men come to our village, they wanted us to fight for them but we were peace-loving village so we refused then it happened\" While he was speaking tears started to form in his eyes and the tiger placed his hand on the wolf''s shoulder to reassure him \"That night I''ve heard the screams of my people and when I went out of my hut there was blood all over the place they slaughtered my people they didn''t even show mercy to our children I can still hear them, their cries\" At that moment the wolf couldn''t stand straight as he dropped on his knees, tears were coming out of his eyes like a fountain. Seeing his friend like that the bunny girl also couldn''t hold back her tears however the tiger didn''t cry, he turned his gaze towards Don to continue the story \"our leader Morgi''s father gave his life to let the three of us escape but before we could escape they caught us we fought but we were not a match for them and when we opened our eyes we were chained and put into a cage \" The hall went deadly silent when they heard their story. Only the cries and weeping of the wolf and the bunny broke the silence. Knight couldn''t stand still when he saw the wolf crying as he leaped from his place and landed before the three of them. \"Don''t cry, tears make your anger disappear don''t let that happen\" Knight put his paw on the wolf''s shoulder as the wolf slowly lifted his head \"We can''t resurrect your village but we can avenge your people and make sure what happened to you would never happen to someone else\" \"I know every one of you has a story like this, you''ve lost everything but if you are willing to follow me I promise you will get what you want, it might be revenge or peaceful life\" Seeing the anger in many of the slaves'' eyes he guessed they would go for revenge, only an army that driven by ambition would be a deadly and an effective force. Don knew this very well if he wanted just an army he could have bought slaves from all over the empire with just the wealth the dragon king left behind for him. What he wanted was an army that fights for them, fights for their future and fights for Don without feeling forced, with that he can have his revenge as well as expand his army and empire, one stone two birds. \"What do you want?\" \"Revenge!!\" \"Revenge!!!!!\" \"Revenge!!!!\" The chorus of the slaves echoed through the halls when Don finished, of course he could see some women and men standing there without shouting for revenge and they can do other works in the Kingdom as far as Don concerned because he knew a kingdom needs other workers too, other than a strong military to thrive and be prosperous. Watching the slaves shouting Arrora knew with the help of the device Don and Knight going to be an unstoppable force and with their help she could have her own revenge as well besides that rescuing the slaves, seeing their smile, killing those scumbags slave traders made Arrora wanted to do it more. \"Gael, Amaryll\" The two elves stepped forward when they heard Don and faced the slaves \"The ones joining the army follow me\" \"Others follow me\" Just after Gael and Amaryll gave the instructions the slaves separated into two groups. One group which mostly had beastmen and human males followed Gael towards the training hall while most of the human females and the female beastmen followed Amaryll leaving behind the three beastmen and the blonde hair youth \"We want to fight but we barely survived our last fight\" The tiger said as the wolfman stood up and wiped his tears away while the bunny girl stood between them. \"You don''t need to worry about that when I''m done you two will be an unstoppable force\" \"I...I want to fight too\" Knight almost coughed up blood when he heard the cute bunny as she tried to look brave. Knight looked top to bottom at the bunny girl, no matter how he sees her he couldn''t find a suitable position for her in the army. \"She''s cute Knight, that can be used as a deadly weapon like any other\" The bunny blushed a little when she heard the Don and looked at Don coming towards them with the half-elf woman. \"Hmm I will turn you into an assassin yes that''s it follow me\" Arrora could see the evil grin on Knight''s face, the same evil grin he makes before starting a devilish training. Seeing Knight leaving the hall with the three of them Don turned his gaze towards the blonde hair youth. \"You are a spy, aren''t you?\" 64 Joel’s Story \"How how did you know?\" The youth spoke before Don was so nervous he was unable to speak clearly. \"You had table manners, the one like nobles yet your body showed the hard labor you did so you are not a young master\" Hearing Don the youth''s eyes went wide in surprise but before he could say anything Don continued \"And before you stepped forward yesterday you perfectly blended with the crowd and when you did, you didn''t show any fear like the others so I guessed you were either a soldier or spy and then I saw the wounds on your body you were tortured by a professional weren''t you? \" The youth slowly nodded his head \"Usually a mere soldier won''t be tortured like you, I guess the ones tortured you wanted some kind of information from you and looking at the state of you I bet you had already spilled what they wanted or you wouldn''t be here alive and talking so connecting the dots I guessed you must be either someone in the upper ranks of the army or a spy but seeing your age and magic level you couldn''t be an upper-rank officer that left only one option, spy\" Looking at the youth nodding and Don''s reasoning Arrora was shocked but quickly understand all the logic behind it and waited for whats Don going to do about the blonde \"Yes, you are correct your high¡­.lord...lord Don I was a spy from Kingdom Emir\" \"What''s your name spy from Kingdom Emir?\" \"Joel my lord Joel Berkfloth\" Joel was very nervous, but at least he did not stammer like before. \"So Joel what''s it gonna be army or civilian work?\" Don asked. \"I don''t know my lord I don''t know I feel like I''m a failure I failed at the one job I know how to do\" Joel said as he shook his head and started to tremble. \"What made you think that you are a failure? \" Hearing Don''s question Joel slowly lifted his head as Don could see the young man''s fury in his heart just by looking at his eyes. After a moment Joel decided to tell his story \"King Hedor hmm good\" The story Don heard from Joel was indeed a little cruel and sad one. Initially, Joel worked for King of Emir Hedor as one of the spies the King deployed around the empire. Joel was assigned to the nearby Kingdom of Emir, Kingdom Bracidia, a small yet resource-rich Kingdom than Emir. According to Joel, the Royal family of Moon Empire in the capital conduct an empire wide inspection of its all kingdoms and rank them based on a kingdom''s wealth, army power, and its people''s life standard once every three years. Then the kingdoms were categorized into four ranks which are, Rank 1 to Rank 4 as Rank 1 being an extremely powerful and wealthy kingdom while Rank 4 is the exact opposite. If the Kingdom was ranked 4 for three consecutive times the empire would take out the privileges provided for a kingdom which basically means ending the kingdom and distribute its lands to the adjacent upper-rank Kingdoms. Coincidently King Hedor had an eye for Bracidia''s lands and its natural resources in Joel''s story. Since Bracidia was ranked 4 for two consecutive times, King Hedor made plans to make it three. Based on Joel''s story King Hedor asked him to poison Bracidia''s water sources but Joel couldn''t agree to it. \"What happened to Bracidia?\" Arrora interrupted Joel with a question. \"Bracidia is no more \" Joel said. \"Did you do it?\" Don could see the half-elf is just a second away from killing Joel if he answered yes and honestly Don would let her if he really poisoned the water source because there are many ways Joel could have poisoned the water and then prevented the people from drinking the poisoned water. \"No no, I didn''t have it in me to do that\" \"But someone did right?\" Don asked. Joel slowly nodded his head \"Yes I didn''t know who\" \"That still didn''t explain how''d you get that wounds\" \"When I said no to King Hedor I knew it won''t end well so I''ve started to hide from him and gather information about the King that would prove all the cruel things he did before the Royal Family and I''ve put all of them in a safety box including the letters he sent while I spied for him in Bracidia\" \"But you were found by the King I guess\" Hearing the story and the state of Joel Arrora knew it doesn''t take a genius to figure out how the things went down from there. However, Joel shook his hand and clenched his fist till the nails started to dig into his palm \"I didn''t found out but betrayed, betrayed by the woman I''ve loved\" \"What?\" For a moment Arrora suspected that she had heard Joel incorrectly. \"She was the only one who knew where I stayed at that time when the King''s men captured me no one knows except her\" tears started to flow out of his eyes when he said. \"You should be a spy again\" Don calmly said as Arrora and Joel looked at him with wide-opened eyes in shock and surprise \"First I don''t have any spies second only through failure one would improve himself so you are the perfect guy I''ve got\" \"But...but lord Don I couldn''t last long while they tortured me, what kind of spy I am who couldn''t even withstand one day torture?\" Joel said. \"Anyone can be broken Joel with a right kind of torture even I''m no exception to this but a true king would never allow his subordinates to be tortured I give you two more days to think \" As he said Don started to walk towards the outside with Arrora leaving Joel behind. \"Don do you think he''s telling the truth?\" Arrora asked Don when they stepped out of the throne room into the castle garden. \"Yes I am but I might be wrong after all spy-like him is professionally trained to lie\" \"Then why did you want him to be your spy?\" Arrora asked, at this point she almost gave up to figure out this human beside her. \"There are many other ways to extract the truth from someone without torturing, Arrora\" \"I hope he''s telling the truth, It would be a pity to kill a valuable asset like him \" Arrora said. \"You are turning into a ruthless woman Arrora \" Don said when he heard Arrora talking about killing Joel. \"Is that a bad thing? I''ve learned it from you and Knight\" Arrora honestly didn''t know whether to be angry or to laugh as she let out a subtle smile which added a different charm to her face. After a few hours of training Arrora and strolling around the castle, Don came to the throne hall and sat on his throne while Arrora stood beside him. \"Here you are\" Don saw Amaryll walking towards him while rolling her eyes. \"Read this I''ve put the people to work according to their previous history\" Amaryll handed over a scroll to Don, as he opened the scroll he saw Amaryll''s beautiful handwriting. The scroll showed how many slaves chose civil work as well as how many in each work. However, when he laid his eyes on the last section of the scroll he was surprised and confused. \"What do you mean no work for goblins?\" Don asked. \"I don''t know what gibberish they are speaking and also what can the little buggers do except making my ears bleed with their shrills\" Hearing Amaryll Don realized that the goblins speak a different language than most of the races. \"I''m sure someone knows goblin language in the castle, put out a notice asking their help and also I''ve heard goblins are skilled in accounting and building I don''t know which is true ask Uncle Dior he may be able to help you with this\" Don gave the scroll back to Amaryll. \"What do I do with them till then?\"Amaryll asked. \"Just let them be and ask Elrond to monitor them, he can do target practice with them if the goblins try anything funny\" Elrond is practicing the Asura Archer book that Knight gave him so monitoring or even killing a bunch of weak goblins should not be very difficult for him also Don felt that the little guy wanted something more to do other than practicing. \"Are yo\" \"How is your training Amaryll\" Before Amaryll could say anything Don interrupted her but when Amaryll heard Don the color in her cheeks drained as her skin turned pale in a second \"I''ve got to go I smell something burning from the kitchen see ya\" Seeing the elf running without looking back made Arrora chuckle. 65 Everligh \"My King, what are we going to do?\" An Elf in battle robes asked the man sitting on the throne. He had gray hair and a gray beard. The man looked tired and aged as he lifted his head slowly and looked at the elf. \"How much time does Commander Ken need?\" Hearing the man on the throne the elf shook his head \"My King, pardon me but I don''t think the machine would work we already tried at least a hundred times before\" The man let out a tired smile as the castle began to tremble \"We don''t have a choice Mervan if it doesn''t work, this is the end of the world \" \"Come out come out my little nephew\" A flirtatious feminine voice echoed through the hall as the king looked at the direction of the voice. ************************************* \"Don''t fail me princess kill the people but I want the descendants of the founders alive\" \"Yes my queen you can be assured that this is the day, the great empire of Everlight falls \" A hunched woman speaking to herself while looking at the magnificent castle before her which is covered with a blue energy bubble. \"Are you seeing this my dear brother, I''m going to destroy everything you''ve built\" As she said an evil grin appeared on her face. ******************************** In the middle of the battlefield, a woman and a dragon stood facing each other. The battlefield was painted in golden-red blood as countless claws wings and dragon heads laid on the ground. One could never see as many dead dragons in one place like this. The sky almost turned red and gave the horrible battlefield a hellish look. \"Why are you still fighting you filthy reptile?\" \"Till Everlight stands you can''t win Aathreya\" The Dragon had so many wounds on its body as golden red blood flowing through them and bathed the dragon in its own blood. \"Everlight huh from today it will be Everdark\" As the woman said a sword made of dark energy appeared in her hand \"I miss killing dragons in future\" \"I''ve failed you, ancestors\" The dragon closed its eyes expecting death as a sharp pain emerged on its neck \"Is this the mightiest Dragon Army of the Everlight? Pathetic\" Standing on the Dragon''s body the woman laughed as she looked at the dead dragons and sneered \"Don''t fail me princess kill the people but I want the descendants of the founders alive \" the woman said. *************************************** \"Please help us\" At the moment a woman knelt before a group of statues and cried. Many statues before her were damaged as some of them missed their head while some missed their upper body. Only two statues stood completely intact belonging to a man and a winged lion. \"How can you cry like this when you have the blood of Great Amaryll flowing through your veins, Farryn? \" The woman suddenly stopped crying when she noticed a muscular green-skinned woman walking towards her. \"Glasha\" Farryn knew Glasha don''t like people crying because she thought of crying as a weakness and disgrace. However, Farryn couldn''t hold her tears back when she saw her orc friend \"How can you not Glasha?\" Farryn asked while the tears started to wet her rosy cheeks. \"Why do I want to cry? My brothers and sisters died on the battlefield for our proud empire and I will do the sa\" but before Glasha could finish what she was saying Farryn leaped towards her and embraced her tightly \"No you can''t go Glasha, you are the last one of your kind\" Glasha felt her chest becoming wet due to Farryn''s tears as she looked at the broken statues and sighed \"If the founders chose not to go to the battlefield we wouldn''t be standing here Farryn, we failed them but at least we can try to make them proud by dying a warrior''s death \" \"Come out come out my little nephew\" \"Its seems time''s up Farryn\" Hearing the voice, Glasha let go of Farryn and wiped the tears away from her friend''s face \"May our great protector Arrora give us the strength to fight the evil\" Farryn and Glasha said looking at a broken statue of a woman holding a sword behind the man''s and lion''s statue. ************************************** \"Grandpa Ken how much more time do we need?\" A young woman in glasses asked the gray-haired man working on a human-sized machine. \"Just a few more minutes Maya a few more minutes \" the Oldman said. \"Are the energy stones in place? Check the target time\" \"Everything in place grandpa just like the last time and before that time\" Maya smile but Ken could see the tears forming in her eyes \"It will work it will work it must work\" Ken tried his best not to shake and show his fears before his granddaughter \"Grandpa, do you think the king made the wrong decisions?\" Hearing Maya, Ken''s eyes went wide in shock but soon he shook his head \"We don''t question the king, Maya\" \"Do you think it matters anymore grandpa? look at us the last settlement in the entire world\" Ken heavily sighed \"I think yes the king made wrong decisions especially opening our borders to the whole world but everything he has done is to bring peace to the world he wanted to unite the world through peace, not war \" \"Look where it got us, the founder''s left us the rules for a reason, he neglected them and Everlight paid the price for it\" Ken didn''t say anything because deep down in his heart he knew King Daniel''s peaceful nature let the Everlight be invaded by spies and enemies which compromised their defense. The moment King Daniel decided to open their borders to the outside world and let their technologies be used by the whole world Ken almost begged him not to. However, the King said he wanted his empire to help people and the technologies could help millions of lives other than his citizens. Ken knew King Daniel was a good man with a stubborn attitude to help people but his ways ultimately failed the empire. \"With this machine, we could fix everything Maya we have to find him he''s the only one could stop this\" \"I hope it works this time grandpa\" ********************************** \"Great mother I''ve failed you I''ve failed all of you \" The gray-haired old man the king was standing before a young woman in pearl white dress with the Elf Mervan. Hearing King Daniel, the woman shook her head and let out a beautiful smile but Daniel could see the sadness behind her smile \"If it''s the fate that Everlight must fall, it will fall you know what we say right?\" \"We rise and fall together \" Daniel said as a crowd of people slowly entered the throne hall and knelt before him.No matter what race they were everyone had tears forming in their eyes. Seeing the people Daniel turned his gaze towards them and sighed \"I know many of you think I made the wrong decisions, ignored what the founders said however the things I''ve done, I did for the world I wanted everyone to prosper and thrive just like our greatest empire Everlight but I failed I failed all of you and I''m ashamed to call my self the descendent of the greatest emperor\" \"Emperor Don\" The people started to chant the name Don before Daniel could speak as the castle started to tremble more violently \"STOP!! STOP SAYING HIS NAME\" the old woman''s voice reverberated in the castle \"Ken I hope everything is ready\" Daniel said to Ken through his Khal \"Almost just a couple of minutes\" Ken said. \"Your shield can''t protect you forever my little nephew\" the previous rage in the old woman''s voice disappeared and now she sounded like a sweet old grandmother \"Take care of them Daniel\" as the woman in white said she stepped forward just to be stopped by Daniel. \"No Great mother its all my fault it''s me she wants if I go now at least I can buy some time for Ken take this as my last order Great mother\" \"My King let me come with you\" Hearing King Daniel, Mervan put his hand on his chest and knelt before the King. However, Daniel just gently placed his hand on Mervin''s shoulder and let out a small smile \"You''ve done enough for me Mervan now it''s time for your King to do something he should have done a long time ago\" Mervan lifted his head to see the gentle smile on Daniel''s face as his figure blurred and disappeared from the hall. 66 Ken did i \"Oh you came\" \"How could you side with evil like those?\" Daniel said as the hunched woman started to laugh out loud. \"My dear nephew who is eviler my queen or your greatest emperor the man you people are calling god the man who killed his own family my brother little X\" The hunched woman said but Daniel could see her red eyes under the hood. \"Why don''t you say his name? Even after hundreds of years, Are you still afraid of him?\" Hearing Daniel, the old woman clenched her fists tightly but she quickly let out a laugh \"It doesn''t matter what''s matter is I''m here and he''s not\" \"But I''m here and that''s enough\" Seeing the golden light appearing around Daniel and the sword made of light the old woman slightly dropped her jaw. Just like a flash Don''s image appeared and disappeared before her in the form of Daniel. ************************ \"Hail our King Daniel\" The people of Everlight saw the fight between their king and the old woman, the thunder and lighting around the two of them shocked the crowd as their king''s power. \"Brother, are you seeing this? where are you? Knight where are you? \" Mervan saw the tears running on Great mother''s face but he couldn''t find any words to reassure her. \"Commander Ken it''s all up to you\" ************************* \"No no, it can''t be I can''t lose no not again not to his descendent\" The old woman started to blabber as blood flowed all over her. Even after so many years she still couldn''t beat the King of Everlight. \"It''s time you die! you old bitch\" As he said Daniel dashed towards her and swung his sword aiming at the old woman''s neck \"No no please don''t kill me have mercy I''m his sister HIS!!\" When Daniel heard the old woman he stopped his sword as suddenly a grin appeared on the old woman''s face but before he could do anything he felt something piercing through his stomach. \"My KING!!!!!\" Thousands of voices echoed through the castle seeing Daniel get stabbed by the old woman. Seeing the knife sticking out of his abdomen, Daniel let out a small smile as he pulled close the old woman by her neck \"I''ve said it''s you die\" Daniel circulated all his bound energy to his fist and punched the old woman with all his might. \"NO!!!!\" The old woman screamed as she felt her heart being grasped by Daniel''s hand but her scream suddenly turned into a mad laugh \"I''ve already done my part! you can''t escape her she will come\" Daniel withdrew his bloody hand from the old woman''s chest and saw her lifeless body falling. However, before he could breathe a sigh Daniel could see a beautiful woman flying towards him. Daniel felt his body weakening by the poison on the old woman''s knife \"seems it''s indeed a lion cub won''t be a dog\" the woman said \"Queen Aathreya\" ************************ (A few minutes earlier) \"Grandpa we don''t...don''t have mu tim\" Maya started to shutter and mispronounce words in fear when she saw King Daniel stabbed by the old woman. \"Come on come on \" \"Rudhra starting up... loading...\" suddenly a voice appeared from the machine as Ken''s eyes went wide in surprise \"Its...its working Maya we did it\" The human-sized tablet like machine started to get brighter and brighter as it produced a loud buzzing sound \"What how oh great \" Seeing the machine working Maya couldn''t hold her tears anymore as she leaped towards the old man. \"Ken\" Suddenly in the room, the woman in white dress appeared as Maya let go of Ken and both of them bowed their heads a little to show their respect \"Great mother we did it, it''s working\" The woman''s eyes went wide in surprise however a sad expression appeared on her face \"Go before she gets here don''t waste any more time\" \"Grandpa I''m going to miss you \" Maya said as she saw Ken start to walk towards the machine. \"Initiating the starting process...Welcome Commander Ken...please select the target time\" The emotionless voice sounded in their ears as Ken touched the buttons and looked at Maya and the woman \"When you meet him say Le roi dragon triomphe toujours and Ken tell Cat missed her brother so much\" The machine started to light up brighter and brighter as Ken saw the tears coming out of Great mother''s eyes and nodded his head At the moment Daniel saw a bright light beam emerging from the castle towards the sky. \"What''s what''s happening?\" Aathreya had a heavy feeling in her stomach when she saw the light beam and she looked at Daniel''s grin on his face \"You think the Greatest Empire would fall before a scum li.. Huh\" Aathreya didn''t want Daniel to finish what he was trying to say as she stabbed him with her sword through his heart However, when she saw Daniel''s face there was no struggle or sadness on his face but he let out a proud grin \"He beat you before and he will do it again, good luck facing Emperor Don bitch\" when the moment the words left his mouth Daniel closed his eyes and embraced the death Aathreya let go of the lifeless body of King Daniel \"Evan and Don left you a long time ago my child now it''s the reign of Queen Aathreya\" ******************************* Don was now sitting on his throne and looking at Joel and beside Don Knight sat on his throne and Arrora stood beside Don. \"With or without your help I''m going to conquer Emir Joel\" But before don could finish Joel knelt before him \"I am honored to serve you, my lord\" During these two days, Joel noticed the kingdom growing and well as the powerful army Knight building. Every one of them was trained to the level that they could easily conquer a small city without a loss. Joel knew Emir was not a small city but hearing from the elves and dwarves Don just started to raise his army for a year. With just a year of time, Don gathered an army like this and Joel could see how powerful he will be in another five years or so. Thinking about all of this, Joel decided to stick with this powerful man so he could get his revenge on the king of Emir as well as be a part of something great. Aside from all these reasons, the main reason he chose to work for Don is the dragon guarding the kingdom. When he first met the magnificent dragon Joel almost peed his pants in fear and the moment he heard the dragon was a part of Don''s army, the deal was sealed for Joel. A dragon is paramount of existence in this world and it''s working for Don made Joel tremble in fear. \"Good choi what the\" Knight''s voice was cut off by a huge thundering sound as a bright light of beam appeared out of nowhere inside the throne hall. Everyone in the castle ran towards the throne room to see what''s happening as Knight and Arrora stepped forward before Don like shields \"What''s happening me King?\" \"Don are you teleporting someone here?\" Don could barely hear the shouting of the dwarves and Amaryll due to the thundering sound the light beam creating \"Cat did someone activate the array?\" Seeing Catalie appearing beside him Don asked the little girl and saw Catalie shaking her head. \"Where am I?\" Everyone heard a man''s voice as the thundering sound and the light beam slowly faded away. \"Attack him men protect tha king\" Stodemer didn''t waste any time when he saw the old man stepping out of the light beam he leaped straight at him with his battle-ax in his hand. Seeing the dwarf leaping towards him the old man flicked his wrist instinctively and everyone saw Stodemer''s body went flying back and hitting one of the pillars behind him. \"Bound Energy\" Don mumbled under his breath when he saw the old man attacking Stodemar. The moment everyone saw the old man sent Stodemar flying they took out their weapons and formed a defense formation but when the old man laid his eyes on the throne his legs refused to stand straight as he dropped on the ground \"My King I did it Maya Great mother I did it everyone I did it\" Ken looked at the ceiling and let all his tears out \"Is he talking about you Don?\" Knight asked. \"Who are you?\" seeing the sudden appearance of this weird old man Don circulated his battle energy to capture him Ken didn''t hear Don as he continued to cry saying that he did it again and again. \"That''s it \" as he said Don started to control the swords and spears in the hall and aimed at the old man. Hearing something coming at him Ken lowered his head and saw a bunch of pointy swords and spears flying towards him however he couldn''t get his bound energy to stop those in other words his body refused to \"My King don''t don''t kill me I''m from Everlight\" even though the old man started to shout his words didn''t make any sense as Don continued to send the weapons at him aiming at his hands and legs. Ken''s mind went blank as the swords and spears got closer and closer \"Le roi dragon triomphe toujours!!Le roi dragon triomphe toujours\" \"Brother STOP!!!\" The weapons fell on the ground as Don stopped controlling them when he heard Catalie screaming at him. Don could see the little girl''s skin turned pale as she shivering \"How how do you know this?\" Catalie asked as she was still trembling and looking pale \"You said it, Great mother\" \"Huh?\" \"Don I''ve had enough let''s capture him I''ll make him spill the beans\" Ken almost peed his pants when he saw the Great Knight he heard about in the stories started to walk towards him with an evil grin \"Let me explain I...I am coming from the future I was sent by your descendent my King\" 67 The Man from the future?? For a moment Don couldn''t find any words when he heard the old man, not only him but everyone standing in the hall stared at the old man with slightly opened mouths. \"Old man are you alright in the head?\" Knight couldn''t help but ask. \"Who did you call Great Mother and how did you know what you have just said?\" Seeing Catalie''s face Don guessed the old man said something he should have known as he stood there watching Catalie''s figure floating towards the old man. \"You are our Great mother, before I activated the time machine she said to say this line when I meet King Don besides how can I use bound energy if I am not from here\" \"What happened here? If she, which is me did say that the situation must be catastrophic right? \" Even Ken didn''t know what is that weird saying meant but hearing the little girl hitting spot on Ken nodded his head \"Yes before I depart the whole world had fallen before the dark queen only Everlight stood as safe heaven but we have failed too\" Ken''s voice started to break when he said the last part. Every citizen in the Everlight loved their kingdom that was the reason it thrived and prospered even during the dark queen''s time. \"Dark queen? everlight? coming from tha future? if ye be a spy trying ta escape through lying ye be doing a pretty bad job\" Dhursir said. \"All of it was true, the bound energy was created by Sir Benedict and Miss Arya right with the help of Dragon Queen Reghys and Protector Knight Born in the Heavenly thicket in Divine Continent and my King your were born without a magical core\" Knight''s eyes went wide in surprise as he opened and closed his mouth searching for words. Even Don was surprised and shocked hearing the old man saying exposing the things that no way he could have known. \"Great Protector Arrora you had a crush on a boy named Risel when you were eleven and Protector Amaryll you named your bear Noma\" The two girls stood with blushed cheeks and embarrassed especially Amaryll looking at the old man like she just saw a ghost. \"And Protector Arwen always keep a broken arrowhead under your pillow, Protector Stodemar hated Protector Dhursir for locking you inside the creepy hut just because you stole a cookie from him when you were sixteen\" \"what what be ye talking aboot\" Don could see Arwen twitching his eyes as Stodemar shook his head violently but he avoided making eye contact with Dhursir.It was so obvious to Don that what the Oldman said about the two were true. \"My King you had a birthmark of a half-moon on your left chest\" Don''s heart skipped a beat when he heard the old man as he touched his left chest without even his control. At that moment Don knew the old man was not someone sent by his enemies but a man who knew every word of his life because Don never told anyone that he had a birthmark nor anyone had seen it, not even Knight. \"Who are you old man?\" Don asked in shock. \"My king, Protectors I am Ken Ragnaill 137th Commander of Everlight Defence and Offense Force\" Ken did a salute facing toward Don with his spine straight as a stick. \"Don is this guy really huh came from the future?\" Knight sent a telepathic message to Don and Don could hear Knight''s voice was breaking because he couldn''t still believe all of this \"There''s no way he could have known all of this Knight, no way\" Ken awkwardly stood still in his saluting position seeing Don''s silence \"Put the fixer into his brain like you did to Joel at least it''ll give us a headway if he tries to do anything funny\" Knight said. The fixer was a kind of ancient insect Don and Knight found in a cave of a Celestial level cultivator. Many Kings and Sect masters put this insect into their target''s head without them knowing. When the bug enters the head it''ll read the thoughts of its host and when or if the host thinks anything that could endanger its master, the insect will send out a signal to him/her. The only downside of this ancient insect was its extremely rare and had a short lifespan. However, Don decided to use this insect on Joel and until now the insect didn''t send the warning signal to Don and now hearing Knight''s suggestion Don really wanted to put a bug into Ken''s head but he couldn''t see a trace of enmity in his eyes nor his face showed that he''s lying. Don could see the old man looking at him and the people in the hall like looking at the gods inside a temple, his eyes showed full of devotion towards them. \"Alright Commander Ken, let''s just say you really did come from the future\" Hearing Don Ken''s body slightly loosened up and his heartbeat slowed a bit \"But you must have a reason to do that right? Tell me what made you do that\" \"It''s because they faced someone they couldn''t defeat and she forced to destroy this pocket realm isn''t it\" Don expected an answer from Ken but the one answered Don was Catalie. The moment Catalie answered, the blood on everyone''s face nearly drained as they looked very shocked like they had seen a horrible ghost before them. Seeing Ken nodding his head and Catalie''s shocking answer even Don couldn''t help but feel a chill in his spine. \"The saying it was not meant to be used otherwise when father created me he said only when only a threat that''s evil beyond words tries to get into the castle and we couldn''t defeat it, use the self-destruction spell he said it will not only destroy this pocket realm but half of this world along with that evil\" The hall went completely silent, not even a sound could be heard as everyone stared at Catalie and swallowed their saliva in fear and shock including Knight and Arrora. \"It''s all true my King, the only one defeated her is you and you have to kill her again my King\" \"I defeated her?\" Don confusedly asked Ken as for a moment he thought he misheard Ken. \"Yes my king in the future you will meet her and this time we must kill make sure she stays dead\" \"Who is she?\" While thinking about someone destroyed everything he built Don''s anger within his heart started to erupt like a volcano. Hearing Don''s question Ken could help but remember all the evil she has done and her figure appeared in his mind as he gritted his teeth to make it go away from his mind \"She calls her self Queen Aathreya my King, we don''t know where she came from or what was her story or how she came back after you killed her\" \"Didn''t I leave anything behind to help you?\" Don felt like everything that happened in the future was his fault. \"No my king we only knew the battle lasted seven nights and seven days and you and Protector Knight scattered her remains throughout the entire world\" For a moment Don''s mind went blank hearing Ken. He knew if the future him chose to do that she must have been someone very very powerful as he even decided to scatter her remains throughout the world. However, Don knew he''s going to face her again eventually and vowed within his heart that this time he''s going to end her life permanently. As everyone looking afraid, Don sat on his throne and put his one leg over the other and looked straight into Ken''s eyes \"I killed her once and I will kill her again but this time she won''t come back\" Seeing the confidence and Dominant aura of a true king around Don Ken realized why this man was like a god for them. He never saw a Dominance and kingly aura around the man before him in Daniel. Ken knew and respected Daniel''s peaceful nature but what the people of Everlight wanted is a King like Don and he decided that this time he''s going to fix every mistake they have made in his future. While everyone was thinking about the Evil Queen and the upcoming battle, Stodemar had other ideas as he stepped forward and looked up at Ken \"So tell me did I get married in tha future\" 68 The Past, Present, and the Future. Ken stood without saying a word when he heard Stodemar''s question as he first thought the dwarf''s being funny but seeing the genuine look on his face Ken realized Stodemar is really asking that question. However, Ken couldn''t answer Stodemar''s question because he knew the rules about time travel well the first one was, not to mess up the timeline too much. Simply his existence in this time period is a huge ripple in the time river and he didn''t want to cause more by telling the protectors their future. \"Please forgive me, Protector Stodemar I can''t answer your question\" Ken slightly bowed his head and said. \"why? dinna ye tell that ye come from tha future old ma\" Hearing Stodemar Ken shook his head \"I can tell some small I mean small things Protector but the thing you have asked is something that''s going to influence your future and if it doesn''t happen naturally but influenced by me, it might cause very disastrous outcomes \" \"Ah?\" Stodemar couldn''t understand what the old man trying to say as he tilted his head a bit and looked at the old man \"Let''s just say Protector Stodemar normally you would hunt and eat the meat for breakfast but if I tell you that you would definitely eat meat tomorrow you might think you''ll get meat without hunting and obviously you won''t without hunting and then in the same day, you might meet a bunch of bandits but you might not have the strength to fight them because you didn''t eat any breakfast and you might get defeated and the bandits might kill you and that might make your friends seek revenge and that might cause a battle between them and the bandits and in the battle, your friends might get injured or killed and that might cau \" \"Hell stop it old man\" Stodemar couldn''t hear more of this old man''s weird example as Ken let out a small smile \"See Protector if I didn''t tell you what will happen tomorrow those things couldn''t have happened\" Even though Don didn''t completely understand Ken''s reasoning and theories of time traveling, he knew if Ken started to tell their future they might take it easy in the present and that could ruin the future they are going to face. However, Don had other ideas about utilizing the time traveler''s expertise \"Ken, how did you come here from the future? Did you use any spells?\" Don wanted to know whether Ken used a spell or a device like an energy convertor that Benedict and Arya invented. Although Don guessed the probability of time travel is very low by using a spell because if a spell-like that existed somebody would have used it or at least the world would have known about its existence. \" I used a time machine my King even in our time we don''t...didn''t have a spell to time travel\" As he was saying that Ken couldn''t help but remember his granddaughter Maya who helped him and supported him all the way in the creation of the time machine. \"Did you have an oathtaking mirror or¡­\" \"I will be honored if you take my oath my King\" Before Don could finish Ken knelt where he stood and placed his hand on his right chest. The moment Don started to talk about the oathtaking mirror KEn realized where he is getting at and for Ken serving under the greatest King and help him create the Everlight again was like a dream come true. While Ken was growing up in the Everlight, he heard the stories about the Protectors who created the empire with their blood and sweat from the stories and history book especially the first Emperor Don. In the Everlight everyone devoted him like he was a god, Ken saw many parents name their kids ''Don'' and tell stories about him, worship him. Even Ken himself wanted to name his kid ''Don'' but unfortunately, he had only daughters. Ken never even thought he would actually meet the Don, let alone serve him under his banner so when the moment Don asked him about the oath-taking mirror he couldn''t help but kneel down and show his enthusiasm and loyalty towards Don as hoped he would accept his loyalty. Seeing Ken kneeling without even blinking an eye before him to take the oath made Don believe the old man even more.No one in the hall was able to find any doubt or unwillingness or acting in Ken''s face but only full of devotion and loyalty towards Don. Even Arrora started to believe the old man when she saw his eyes which had no trace of lying or wickedness. \"Good\" as he said, Don took out the oath-taking mirror from his chest and sent it floating towards Ken. *********************************** After taking Ken''s oath Don led him towards the energy converter hall to meet Reghys, Benedict and Arya. Even though Ken looked surprised all the way from the throne hall to the convertor hall. Don could see he obviously knew the way very well just by looking at his body language. While Don was walking towards the convertor hall he couldn''t help but think why the trio didn''t come to the throne hall like everybody else. \"Wow so this is how the first Apex looked like huh \" Ken''s eyes sparkled when he saw the energy convertor as Arya and Benedict walked towards them. \"Sir Benedict Lady Arya\" Ken couldn''t believe he''s actually meeting the famous people who created the Apex. Seeing the old man looking at them with a wide open mouth Arya and Benedict didn''t get who he is or where he came from. \"Sir Benedict Lady Arya it''s an honor to meet you in person\" Arya and Benedict almost jumped back when they saw the old man suddenly kneeling before them and calling them as Sir and Lady. \"Ah have we met before?\" Benedict asked. \"This is Ken he came from the future\" Don calmly asked and saw Benedict and Arya looking at him like he was being funny. \"Wait what! Are you serious\" At first Arya thought Don was joking but looking at his face and the Old man she realized Don was telling the truth. \"Ken you should tell your story\" Don turned his gaze towards the kneeling Ken and said. \"I am Ken¡­...\" After a long explanation and answer to both of their questions, Ken saw the two geniuses of this time period started to believe him. \"So the shaking and energy beam appeared earlier were you stepping out of the time barrier huh\" Benedict said after a long pause. \"What were you two doing?\" Don couldn''t help but ask as Arya pointed her fingers at the energy convertor. \"We were modifying and doing some improvements to the convertor and thought someone activated the teleporting array\" \"You three should work together from now on the man who built the time machine will certainly be a help for you\" At first when Benedict heard Don he wanted to disagree but the moment he heard the time machine part Benedict nodded his head without any disagreement. However, Don could see Ken is trying to disagree but couldn''t speak before him. \"Ken I know you have some theories and rules about revealing our futures and I agree with that\" Don knew for example if Ken would have said Amaryll will be a heavenly level magi in the future the Elf wouldn''t even take a step into the training hall thinking she will get to the heavenly level anyway and ultimately fail. \"But other than that we must use your skills and what you know to our advantage, think about it just your existence in this present have already affected the future\" Even though Don was not an expert in time-traveling Ken understood the logic behind his words. \"I will do my best to help you, my King\" as he said he tried to kneel again before Don but stopped by Don in a middle way \"You don''t have to always kneel Ken, keep your respect and loyalty in your heart and show them through your works\" Don patted the old man''s shoulder and turned to walk away \"Where''s Reghys by the way?\" \"Probably roaming around the forest\" Arya said as Ken''s eyes again opened wide thinking he''s about to meet the first Protector of Dragons in real life. \"So the convertor''s name is Apex huh?\" Seeing Don''s figure disappearing Arya asked Ken. \"Yes yes Lady Arya but you can name whatever you want if you didn''t like it\" Ken awkwardly said as he didn''t know whether to kneel or stand straight and seeing this made Arya giggle a little \"Just call me Arya no offense but you should be my grandpa''s age and you are calling me lady making me feel old and weird\" Ken couldn''t help but seeing his granddaughter Maya''s resemblance in Arya as he let out a small happy smile \"And you agreed with him to not tell us about our futures?\" Hearing everything happened when he met Arya and Benedict with Ken, Knight questioned Don. \"At least let me ask him what happened to us in the future Don\" Don knew the real meaning of Knight''s question by looking at his face. When they were in the divine continent Knight always dreamed and talked about reaching the highest level in cultivation and turn into an immortal or even enter the godhood but after hearing Ken''s story Knight seemed a little disappointed and a little sad. \"Don''t worry my brother what matters is the future, the future now we are going to build not the future Ken came from and what''s the matter? if we die we die that''s it what''s matter is what we leave behind hearing Ken I say we left behind a legacy and an empire\" As Don said Knight gave him a wry smile \"Yeah also an incompetent Decedent can you believe your descended was huh will be a peace-loving guy I mean how much chaos we created in the divine continent back in the day\" Even Don sighed when he heard his descendent was turned out to be a peace-loving guy who almost destroyed everything he and his bloodline built \"This time I will make sure this kingdom will be always ruled by someone worthy but enough of this future talks, Cat\" as Don said Catalie''s projection appeared before him but her usual smile was replaced by a gloomy sad expression \"Cat are you worried about what Ken said?\" Don asked and saw Catalie slowly nodding her little head \"Remember one thing Cat, if you worry about the day of death the days to live will turn into hell\" Hearing Don Catalie tried to hide her worry and let out a small smile \"And besides I''m right here aren''t I? I''ll make sure that clown calling herself queen regret crossing my path \" 69 Assassins Don knew If he wanted to develop his empire, he would have to put down roots on the world out there. Fortunately, he found the kingdom for his liking to conquer. \"Joel, what do you think about returning to Emir?\" Don asked Joel and when the blonde heard Don he was shocked as he nearly jumped back. \"Don''t worry we are not asking you to meet the king, just do a little intel gathering\" Standing beside Don Knight said. Joel knew his master bondholder Arrora standing behind Don and he doesn''t have a chance of disagreeing with Don and Knight. After a few breaths of time, Joel nodded his head but his heart was pounding his chest in fear as he couldn''t forget the torture session he had in Emir and the woman who betrayed him. Seeing Joel''s reaction, Don knew what things could be running inside Joel''s mind as he flicked his wrist and took out a Khal and sent it flying towards Joel. \"Take this, you can contact Cat through this if you meet with any problems you couldn''t overcome and she will teleport you right away to here\" The fear and doubts he had until this moment reduced a bit when he took the device on his hand and heard Don. \"My lord, what do you have in particular you wished to know about?\" \"Everything about the King of Emir, what time he will wake up? whats will he have for breakfast even what color underwear he has\" Arrora wanted to leap at Knight and smack him on the head when she saw the evil grin on his face while he talked about the king''s underwear shamelessly. \"I was kidding about the underwear relax\" Seeing the gaped mouth Joel Knight let out a laugh and ruffled his mane. \"When do I need to depart my lord?\" \"As soon as you can, and just like Knight said collect everything about the kings especially what he likes what his activities are but don''t get too close or get caught\" \"Yes my lord \" As he said Joel bowed towards the three of them and started to walk away but before he reaches the door Knight''s voice stopped him \"And don''t do anything foolish like finding your lover \" \"Ye...Yes my lord\" Joel''s voice stuttered as he turned and replied to Knight. \"Don''t we need to know about his army and defenses Don?\" Arrora asked Don seeing Joel''s figure disappear as Don sat on the throne \"Why? did you think we were gonna wage a war with our little army?\" Until this moment Arrora thought when Don said he''s going after Emir that he''s going to wage war on the kingdom however now hearing his tone she realized she was wrong \"Yes \" Arrora said doubtfully. \"There are too many uncertainties in war especially we are in a separate plane from the outside world\" \"So we are going to blackmail the king or something?\" Arrora still couldn''t get what this two are planning as she tilted her head and asked Don \"No, we are going to use him you will see\" Knight didn''t want to reveal their plan to Arrora yet and wanted the half-elf to ponder and guess what they are planning for a bit \"Cat how''s the work going outside?\" Seeing Catalie''s projection appearing Don asked the little girl \"Good brother the dwarves are very talented as they almost finished building a hundred houses with just a little resource and you should see the farming land I can already see the tiny little leaves coming out from the soil \" Compared to yesterday when she had a gloomy face now Catalie seemed very happy and Don could see her usual lively nature returning \"Knight what about the hybrids and training?\" Don turned his gaze at Knight \"It''s going well we now have almost four hundred soldiers including sixty hybrids and I''m guessing we will turn our first hundred fighters into hybrids within next three weeks\" \"What about the newcomers?\" \"They really surprise me Don, I think they have this fire within them \" Knight clenched his paw and tried to find the correct words to describe them but couldn''t \"Particularly the beast-men they are training like hell you know how I train them right even I''m impressed by their hard work I bet we will have an unstoppable army if we continue training them\" Hearing Knight, Don was really surprised he knew if Knight was impressed by them they were really doing great in training and Don wanted to check them out himself. \"The soon they take the oath the soon we can turn them into hybrids I will leave that matter to you Knight and use everything you want, all I want is a deadly force in the battlefield \" \"Cat ask Commander Ken to come here\" Don said as the little girl nodded her head and disappeared. While waiting for Ken to come Don had plans for Arrora \"Arrora I need you to pick a few candidates and train them by yourself\" Arrora was surprised a bit because she knew that she was far from being a teacher like Don. Seeing the half-elf looking at him without blinking Don decided to explain what he has in mind \"I and Knight can''t do all the grunt work by ourself at least not in the future so I decided to let you lead a group to do just that\" \"What grunt work?\" Arrora wanted to lead a team deep in her heart ever since she attacked the slave trader shop \"You know just assassination blackmail the things that nobles do often\" Knight rolled his eyes and said when he saw the confused face of Arrora \"I need a team to work in the shadow Arrora and you are the perfect person to lead them\" \"But why not choose Arwen?\" Although Arrora knew she was the third powerful person in the kingdom next to Don and Knight she wanted to know the reason why Don chose her instead of Arwen, the man followed Don longer than she. \"He will lead his own team in the future but now I want you to train a group of people and turn them into assassins of course me and Knight help you along the way\" \"And don''t say you didn''t want to lead your own team woman I can read you like an open book\" Arrora was taken back by surprise when Knight said exactly what was in her mind and tried to hide her embarrassed face with a gentle smile \" you are a great master now Arrora and a hybrid, besides you train hard and have a ruthless personality when comes to dealing with enemies you will be an excellent assassin, just don''t be arrogant\" even though Don said all this the main reason he chose Arrora was that he trusted her to be his left hand. Don was never going to tell her that because he didn''t want her to be cocky. \"When you choose your team take Elrond with you I have a feeling he will make a fine assassin\" Don saw Elrond''s training and the skill he had in archery because of the Asura Archer book Knight gave. Thanks to the bound energy now Elrond had the chance to cultivate Asura Archer book to the highest and be a deadly long-ranged fighter this world has never seen. \"I will start the recruiting right away\" Don and Knight could see Arrora trying her best to hide her excitement just by looking at her face and Don couldn''t help but remember the time he saw her in a cage crying afraid of him like a cat when he first met her but now the woman before him is a ruthless killer and simply put she''s now turning into a female version of him and Knight. \"My King\" While the three of them talking about the plans Ken entered the hall with Catalie leading him \"Commander Ken I presume you had these where you came from\" Don took out a magical mask from his pace ring and threw it towards Ken When Ken caught the mask he had no surprise because in Everlight they had bunch of magical masks the better ones at that \"Yes my King but put it bluntly these are considered to be old in my time\" \"Oh?\" Don considered these masks as one of his best items but hearing the old man saying these are considered old he was very surprised and shocked \"I can tweak these a little with the materials we have here my King\" Ken said after looking at the mask up and down as he wanted to impress Don with his ability \"What can these tweaks do?\" Knight also very much intrigued to hear the old man as he wanted to know what this old man is capable of \"As you know Protector this mask can only change the face but with a few works I can make the mask to change the wearer''s body shape too, of course it won''t be perfect with current materials we have\" \"I''m impressed Commander Ken \" Don clapped as he retrieved a couple of more masks and gave it to Ken. \"Thank you my King\" Ken couldn''t keep his face from showing an ear to ear grin when he heard Don. \"Now the only thing we need is Joel''s information about the King of Emir\" 70 Joel in Emir This day, the weather wasn''t good, the sky was always gray and clouded with rain clouds, Joel''s mood was just like the weather, depressing to the extreme. Walking on the stone street, Jeol could see the people in Emir walking past him. In this town, Joel was born and raised. At Emir those noble children with money went to school, attended a different kind of college, but for a poor orphan who was left in an orphanage had no chances to even see the front gate of the school. Joel still remembers the day he did all kinds of odd jobs before he ended up the King''s army due to enforced recruitment. While he was growing up Joel developed one life-saving skill, talking. Orphans like him had to talk and lie to people like experts to get their bellies filled because of that, Joel''s commander at that time chose him as a candidate for spy and Joel excelled in spying until the King asked him to poison the bracidia''s people. \"Hey, did you hear King Hedor is recruiting again?\" \"Thank god my son is just an infant\" \"Shit I just want to live my life without all these wars.\" At ordinary times Joel would ignore the conversations going around him, but today he listened to them, without saying a word. Since he was betrayed by the woman he loved, in his eyes Emir appeared to be flawed. He was angry at the world and with himself for being such a weakling when he was tortured by the guards yet he couldn''t do anything to them. Joel even wanted to commit suicide when he was marked as a slave but he never thought he would be rescued and sent to the same place that he never wanted to return. However, the more he remembered everything that happened to him his anger erupted within him. If he was a slave in chains he could self blame him or the fate because he knew revenge on King Hedor would just be a dream but now everything has changed. Joel heard his inner voice shouting, \"you were beaten like a dog made into a slave the woman who said she will be with you forever betrayed you but the person responsible to all of this is living his life as a King, use this chance you are not alone\" Even though he had limited access in Don''s castle and Joel felt someone was always watching him, he got some juicy information from some drunken dwarves and elves. According to what he heard, Don and Knight had some kind of spell that could turn their army more powerful and effective in the battlefield and also he himself saw Arrora cutting three masters like they were vegetables while he was in the slave traders. During his stay in the castle, Joel''s gut told him that Don is not a person to be trifled with as well as he could do what he says and as a spy Joel trusted his gut very much. The thought of spying about the king himself made Joel swallow a mouthful of saliva but the anger he had towards King Hedor and thought of having a person like Don behind him gave Joel the motivation and courage to complete the mission he has now. As he was thinking about all of this Joel reached his destination and he planned what he is going to do exactly. Joel was now standing Inside the Alehouse which is famous for its redlight activities in Emir. He could see the drunken people on the dancing floor and the array of blues, acid greens, hot pinks and gold lighting around the stage as many beautiful young ladies and youths from noble families. However, Joel didn''t look at the beautiful woman but the muscular bearded man sitting and drinking in the bar beside the dancing floor. The man Joel looking at was the vice-captain of King Hedor''s mansion''s security team. While Joel was training in Emir he saw this man many times and heard about his drinking addiction but the reason he still had the job was that his magic level, the peak master. In a small kingdom like Emir, every master magi considered as a powerhouse because of that reason this drunkard still had the job of vice-captain. Usually, Joel prefers the safer way to get his information and try his best to stay as far as possible from guys like him but today he had a secret weapon that Knight gave him. \"Alright let''s do this\" ******************************* \"Wow the world is spinning \" In the alleyway behind the Alehouse Joel was looking at the vice-captain mumbling and walking very unsteadily as if he was going to fall any time. Seeing this Joel breathed out a heavy sigh. The reason for the Vice captain''s mumbling and dancing on the street was not because of the liters of ale he had but the something Joel slipped into his mug when the man was hitting on the bartender. \"Oh what the heck...\" Joel finally started to walk towards the man when he saw the vice-captain fall on the ground due to the effect of the poison he put into his mug. \"Mr.Bates how''s the effects \" as Bates heard the voice he tried to lift his head but when he did he couldn''t clearly see the face of the person before him as everything seemed blurry to him. When Joel saw the Emir''s crest on Bates''s chest he couldn''t help but kick him in the chest. \"Son of a huh...what?!\" Joel saw Bates try to circulate the magic energy to cast a spell but before he could do that blood started to run through his nose and ears. \"Don''t try anything Bates, the more you struggle the faster the poison kills you\" Bates coughed up more blood as he heard the person before him. \"Now you either answer my questions and earn the antidote or die like a dog in this alleyway\" ***************************** \"My lords is it safe to leave the body like this\" Don and Knight heard Joel''s voice through their Khals. \"You don''t need to worry about that the poison will take care of the body you just leave the place without being spotted\" Knight ordered Joel and cut the connection between them. When Joel heard Knight he immediately turned to leave the alleyway as he could see Bates''s hands starting to turn into green goo and realized what Knight meant by the poison take care of the body. \"So now we know King Hedor doesn''t even trust his guards and stopped leaving his palace because of an unknown reason, how can we get this guy without massacring his guards now\" Knight frowned as he said. \"But we also know the guy''s love for fire spell scrolls right? if he waged war on a sect just because for a scroll how hard can it be to lure this guy into a trap with another ancient fire spell scroll\" According to Joel after a long conversation with Bates, it was revealed that King Hedor stopped getting out of his palace after getting the lands of Bracidia for some reason also Bates said that the King is now sending his spies to many small kingdoms to choose his next target. All of this information did not get Don''s attention as the information Bates said about King''s lust for ancient fire spell scrolls. Joel said that the King Hedor is not a man who could be seduced by a woman or other precious things but however according to Bates the King is a collector of spell scrolls especially the fire spells. \"We don''t have any of that scrolls not unless we give him the spells we use in Divine Continent\" \"But we have a dragon and a man from the future Knight\" 71 King Hedor I \"My King making the scroll look ancient won''t be a problem but I don''t know any ancient spells it was never my kind of thing\" Ken scratched his head a little. \"I can take care of that but Don do you really need to give him the original spell?\" Reghys asked. Ken thought Reghys would be a huge dragon with claws and look terrible but when he saw the elegant woman with wings he couldn''t believe his eyes. Even though Reghys appeared before him in her Human-like form, it took several minutes to make Ken stand up from kneeling in front of her. Hearing the man kneeling before her from actually the future Reghys''s eyes went wide in surprise as she started to discuss all the theories and other stuff until Knight couldn''t hear any more mumble and stopped them. \"I''ve already told Joel to spread the rumors about the scroll, if my guess is right the King would have heard it by now\" Don said. \"Ok but who''s going to deliver the scroll to him, and what happens when you give him the scroll do you think that king will leave you alive?\" Reghys found many holes in Don''s plan and couldn''t help but raise some questions. Just by seeing the dragon woman Don knew she has many questions and found his plan a little undercooked but according to Joel King''s mansion plans and his new daily routine after conquering Bracidia had become super-secret and no one knew how many magis are guarding him. Don and Knight knew if they had more time or more spies like Joel they would have found something but now Don had to go with what he has and Don knew if push comes to shove he could disappear using the teleporter without a problem. \"He''s a collector and normally these people know in and out of what they are collecting so we can''t give him a hundred percent fake but\" just as Don paused Reghys had a wry smile on her face \"You want me to write a spell that would not be found as a fake right? I know some ancient spells I will tweak them a bit so you''ll get some time before he realizes its a fake\" \"That''ll be enough\" Knight said. \"But my King, who is going to deliver the scroll you cant send Joel king Hedor certainly know his face\" \"It''s time I met another King don''t you think?\" ******************************** \"Your Highness our spies reported that there are rumors going about someone looking to sell an ancient spell scroll \" a soldier in full plate and chain mails said to a man sitting on his throne. As the soldier reported to him, the man on the throne slowly lifted his head and looked at the soldier and the soldier could see the excitement in his king''s eyes. \"Is there any truth to the rumors?\" \"Your highness! Your highness \" Before the soldier could answer the king another soldier came running towards and knelt before him \"What?\" the man asked the soldier with a slight irritation on his face \"Your Highness a few moments ago Mr.Meng the manager of the Peacock sent us a message saying that there is a duo looking to sell what you are looking for\" At the moment the soldier finished reporting the king stood from his throne with a face full of smile and rubbed his palms together in excitement. King Hedor valued his life among all the things and after he started to expand his kingdom through any means he got various death threats and even some assassination attempts. Until he got Bracidia''s lands King Hedor would remove the threats to his reigns within his kingdom by any means necessary but when he saw the evidence about his crimes that Joel collected, he became extremely cautious with his actions and also the threat he received from that prince made him stay inside his palace most of the day. Even though King Hedor was told to be very cautious, he had a weakness when comes to his collection of ancient fire spells. The lust he had for them even made him wage war against small kingdoms and also ordered the merchants and Auction house managers to report him if anything related to ancient scrolls emerged. \"Did he say anything else about that duo who has the scroll?\" King Hedor always liked to get what he wants without paying for them but he didn''t want to mess with the wrong people when he could have bought them using the money in the treasury because he knew there are many powerful people that could destroy him and his entire kingdom in a few hours in this world like that arrogant prince and princess. \"Your Highness he didn''t say anything about that\" the soldier stuttered when he spoke. \"Idiot!\" King Hedor wanted to send some soldiers and beat the hell out of Meng when he heard the soldier. \"Send Leo after them I want where are they coming from, what''s their levels, how did they get the scroll everything\" \"Yes Your Highness\" ********************************** \"My lo huh Archer why is he taking this long?\" After some discussion with Knight Don took Gael with him this time to execute his plans. Don and Gael went to a few of the shops and auction houses as sellers and all of them quoted their price on the spot when they laid eyes on the scrolls but he didn''t sell it because he looked for King Hedor''s man who would pass the message about the scroll to King somehow and just as he guessed the manager of this particular auction house acted very suspiciously when he saw the scroll and went to the backroom asking them to wait in the lobby. And just when Don opened his mouth to answer Gael the manager came towards them with another man. \"Sorry for the waiting young masters, this is Mr.Leo he''s very interested in buying the scroll \" Meng said as he waited for Gael who was standing in front of Don to answer. \"Oh how much is Mr.Leo willing to pay?\" Gael asked. \"Hahaha whatever you want young master,my employer is a very generous person but he''s also a very cautious person\" Leo had many ways to find the truth about the youths before he came to the auction house but when he saw the innocent faces of these two he decided to take a more direct route. \"I don''t get what you mean Mr.Leo\" Gael tried his best not to show any weird expression on his face as he saw Leo laugh a little \"I mean my employer wants to know about the people he''s going to do business with\" Seeing Leo, Don hoped he won''t ask the scroll and give them the money right here because he wanted to meet the King himself, not his servant dog. \"What does he want to know? We are just roaming adventurers we got this scroll from a dungeon in Lanthaneer \" Gael answered Leo using the information he got from Joel. Based on Joel''s information there was a dungeon that appeared in Lanthanner which caused the entire empire to covert its wealth as dungeons usually had ancient spells and weapons and many other precious items. Leo knew about the dungeon as everybody in the entire empire and continued to ask the youths some more questions \"No offense young masters but you two seem very young how did you get your hands on something precious like that scroll\" Gael knew Leo was trying to make them reveal their magical levels just like Don said before \"Well you can''t say WE got the scrolls rather it was our grandfather who got the scroll but the poor man passed away fighting a thundering Viper all by himself\" Gael shook his head and looked very upset which made Don appreciate Gael''s acting skills. \"If I was not just a low-level master I would have ripped that snake in half\" as he said Gael let his bound energy fluctuate around him a little. Leo saw the magical fluctuations around the youth for a second and confirmed that he''s indeed a low-level master but just for a second he thought he saw something weird in the magical fluctuations. However, seeing the two youths who were not as half old as his experience he blamed the ale he had last night for what he saw. \"I''m sorry young master but what about the young master behind you\" Although Leo nearly confirmed these two were harmless to King Hedor, he wanted to know everything about them When Gael heard Leo he again shook his head and rubbed his forehead a moment \"He can''t even kill an injured cat let alone a thundering Viper, my cousin here is not even an Apprentice Magi without me keeping him around a kid could beat him\" Don didn''t know whether to laugh or cry when he heard Gael. Don was the one told him to improvise but he didn''t think Geal would go this much. Hearing the youth before him Leo''s eyes went wide and stared at the youth behind him top to bottom for a moment \"I know some pills that could help him raise his magical levels young master\" as Leo said he walked towards the youth and gently patted his shoulder like a concerned teacher. The moment Leo placed his hand on Don''s shoulder he felt like something scanning him and looked at Leo to see him frowning a moment before taking his handoff. \"What a weakling\" Leo heard his mind voice when he couldn''t even find a trace of magical energy within the youth. Don knew for someone like Leo, he wouldn''t consider the point of not even having a drop of magical energy within him but think Don as a weakling just like most of the world. \"No thanks, Mr.Leo I''m planning to settle in life after selling this scroll not spending money on my cousin here\" Gael mocked Don once again. \"Wise choice young master now if you come with me I guarantee you will get the best price from my employer\" Leo first planned to kill these two in the way but when he saw the space ring on the youth''s finger he decided to let the King handle them because he knew to break open a space ring is not a simple job but a complicated one and if the ring has any special security measurements the items inside the ring would be destroyed when someone tried to open the ring forcefully. \"Alright lead the way Mr.Leo\" as Gael said he started to follow Leo towards the exit. 72 King Hedor II \"Wow Mr.Leo I never thought your Employer is the King of Emir\" Gael tried his best impression to make Leo believe that he was actually surprised. Walking past the gates and guards Don and Gael were welcomed by the Palace of King Hedor. The sculptures in front of the palace had been made long ago by masters of the craft. They were set on pedestals amid the water of the fountains and the perfectly manicured hedges that looked like different animals. The moment Don stepped into the palace he saw the marble floor, All stair rails were ornate mahogany, carved and polished so that it shined. Many Pictures which Don guessed as Family portraits of King Hedor were painted in oils and hung in gold frames. Furniture was all handmade by master craftsmen. The air inside the palace was scented with fresh flowers as he and Gael were led towards the spacious corridor. \"Come on young master King Hedor is waiting for you\" as Leo said he opened the huge door. When the door was opened Don saw a man sitting on the throne at the end of the hall with two men standing beside him at each side of the throne. The throne the man sitting on was carved of fine oak, crested with several jewels and decorative metals forming an elegant coat of arms. Although the seat of King was impressive, it was a mere stool compared to the throne Don sought to take. Seeing King Hedor, Don was slightly surprised.the figure Don imagined was a bulky man with a big fat belly and a beard with a fox-like smile. However the man before him was an elegant man with blonde, short hair gently hanging over a thin, cheerful face. Bloodshot green eyes set gracefully within their sockets, watch carefully over him and Gael. A beard gorgeously compliments his mouth and Don realized King Hedor would have been a dream boy for many young girls in his teenage but Don could see something wicked about him behind king Hedor''s gentle smile. Seeing the King Hedor Leo bent his hip and bowed towards the King as Don and Gael did the same. \"I cannot wait to see the scroll, Leo\" Don heard King Hedor as Leo turned his gaze towards Gael. Don could see the king directly coming to the point without any sweet talks. \"I hope your highness gives us the fair price \" Gael lowered his head a bit and took out the scroll from the space ring. King Hedor''s eyes started to sparkle when he saw the yellowish scroll Gael took out from his ring and handed over to Leo. Leo slowly walked towards the king while holding the scroll very gently as King Hedor grabbed the scroll from Leo like he was taking a baby from its mother. Don and Gael stared at King Hedor as Don looked at the four men beside the King and scanned his surroundings. Reading the scroll King Hedor couldn''t hold his excitement, the scroll seemed genuine as it was written in an ancient language and what made him more excited was the length of the scroll. The spell written on the scroll was very lengthy and complicated as he couldn''t wait to try the spell by himself. \"Your Highness we expect thirty thousand low-quality stones in exchange for the scroll\" Seeing Don lightly nodding at him Gael asked King Hedor. However, the answered Gael received was just a burst of evil laughter from the king. Seeing King Hedor and the youths, Leo felt pity for them. \"How about you run fast as you can from here since I''m in such a good mood\" There it is the real face of King Hedor, Don thought when he saw the evil grin on Hedor''s face. As King Hedor said Gael saw the five men beside Hedor releasing magical energy and showing the peak master level and surprisingly Leo was the powerful among them as he was a great master. However, Gael didn''t even feel a little bit intimidated when he saw them because he had Don standing behind him. \"Your Highness this all we have you can''t do this\" even though Gael expected everything, he couldn''t reveal their true natures yet. Hearing the youth before him the grin on Hedor''s face disappeared and a cruel look emerged on his face \"Boy are you ordering ME!! The King of Emir\" Hedor''s shout echoed through the hall. \"Idiots! Do you think I''m going to pay even a single coin to you? Nobodies like you don''t deserve to possess something this precious because of that you are going to die, Leo\" As King called Leo, he started to walk towards the youths while casting a spell under his breath \"Don''t blame me for your death kids blame your bad luck\" A small knife made of jade appeared in Leo''s hand as he got closer to Gael. However the closer he got Leo could see the youth is grinning rather than fearing for his life \"Boom\" Don calmly said as suddenly the scroll in Hedor''s hand exploded with a bright flash which made the king and the four beside him stunned for a moment. Leo wanted to turn his head and see what''s happening behind him but before he could do that he saw the youth''s figure who was said to be a weakling blur and in a blink of an eye the youth appeared before him. \"Blame the king \" Leo heard the voice coming from the youth before he felt a sharp pain in his neck. Leo wanted to raise his hand and speak but he could do either of that as slowly darkness started to envelop his eyesight. Gael was unable to believe the speed at which everything happened before him. One second Don was behind him and another second he was standing before Leo while his sword was sticking into Leo''s throat. Don knew the guards beside Hedor would recover in a moment from the effects of the explosion as he circulated the battle energy inside his body and controlled the air around him to move faster. King Hedor sensed a burning sensation in his hand but he couldn''t open his eyes. As Hedor tried to open his eyes he felt something wet splashing on his face. \"LEO!! What''s (cough) happening (cough) ah?\" While he tried to shout at Leo King Hedor''s neck was clutched by a strong hand. Seeing Don grabbing HEdor''s neck like a chicken Gael quickly searched the body of Leo to find anything valuable just like he was taught by Knight \"Who\" before King Hedor could finish what he wanted to say, he was slapped by Don on the back of his head. \"Ah\" Hedor fell on the ground due to the force of Don''s slap. Seeing the King Hedor crawling beneath him Don took out a small dagger and a magical mask from his space ring. The moment King Hedor opened his eyes, all he saw was a pool of blood where his guards stood a moment ago and the youth searching Leo''s body a few meters away from him. Don had no time to waste as he threw the dagger in his hand aiming at King Hedor''s head. ''Pulch'' Gael turned his gaze towards Don to see King Hedor''s body twitching as the thick blood started to form a circle around him. While Hedor''s body was still twitching, Don bent and took out the dagger from the back of Hedor''s skull and held the blood dripping dagger at the top of the magical mask and let the blood drops fall on the mask. \"Gael quick wear this\" after seeing the blood drops disappearing from the surface of the mask Don took off King''s Hedor''s dress and threw the mask along with King''s dress towards Gael. Catching the mask and Clothes Gael didn''t waste any time as he quickly put on King''s dress and placed the mask on his face. The moment Gael placed the mask on his face, his jawbones and cheekbones started to transform as little by little Gael''s original face disappeared and his face began to resemble King Hedor. \"My Lord is it good?\" For a moment Don was shocked and mistaken Gael for King Hedor because Gael looked exactly like the King. \"Talk less\" even though Gael now looked like the king, his voice still sounded like Gael, not the King and as Don said an orange flame appeared in his hand. \"After I get away from here, call the guards, then you know what to do right?\" Don threw the fireball at the dead bodies and watched them burn to ashes. \"Yes my Lord\" Just as he said Gael couldn''t help but show an evil grin on his face thinking about what is about to do. 73 Punishments Humble braziers attached to one side of each of the six alabaster columns light up the lower levels of the throne hall and cover the hall in warm oranges and dancing shadows. The countless gems on the layered ceiling dance in the flickering light while gargoyles and sculptures look down upon the wooden floor of this majestic hall. A ruby rug splits the entire room in half from the doors to the throne while rectangular banners with burnished trimmings cover parts of the walls. Between each banner sits a shrine-like ornament covered in candles, all but a few have been lit and in turn illuminate the paintings of war heroes below them. Extensive, stained glass windows of intricate mosaics are enclosed by curtains colored the same ruby as the banners. The curtains have been adorned with fancy tassels and gold leaves. An elegant throne of porcelain sits beneath an almost entirely close baldachin (canopy) and is adjoined by two equally impressive seats for those closest to the royal highness. The throne is covered in byzantine designs and fixed on each of the slim ears is an elegant trident. The broad pillows are a light ruby and these too have been adorned with ornate fringes. Those seeking the wisdom of their royal highness can do so on the plethora of opulent, albeit uncomfortable alder benches, all of which are lined up perfectly symmetrical. Those of higher standing can instead take a seat in the extravagant balconies facing the throne. On the throne Gael who was now wearing King Hedor''s face sitting on it and facing the few ministers. \"Your Highness we are doing everything we can do to find the culprits who attempted this assassination \" A tall clean-shaven man in full plate armor said while kneeling before Gael. Seeing the man Gael couldn''t help but notice a tinge of hatred towards him from the man. \"You should have prevented the attempt in the first place General Hozai\" suddenly a plump fat man stood up from his seat and yelled at the man. However, the General didn''t answer the fat man but looked at Gael \"Your Highness please let us know your schedule like before so we can do our duty and protect you\" Hearing General, Gael made sure that the original King Hedor had indeed become more secretive after some sort of incident like Joel said. \"You know you are right General Hoka\" (clearing his throat) \"General Hozai\" Gael said as he tried his best to mimic KIng Hedor''s voice. \"Your Highness are you alright? You sound different Shall I call the healers?\" Gael wanted to strangle the fat man when he found out the difference in voice. \"Its nothing but a side effect of that spell I used before\" Just like Don said Gael called out the guards and told them a story of Leo with some people attempted assassination on his life which he heroically survived by using a powerful fire spell on the attackers. \"But General Hozai, why do I have soldiers when I the king has to defend himself?\" General Hozai had a bad feeling when he heard the king. \"I need to punish those who couldn''t do their duty right ?\" as Gael said he looked at the fat minister because he knew the fatty would back him up just by noticing his eagerness to please the King. \"Yes your highness they must be punished\" the fatty said with an ear to ear grin. \"How about cutting the salary of the soldiers by half? That should teach them a lesson\" General Hozai knew about the cruel nature of this gentle-looking man on the throne so he expected something bad still he never imagined the salary cut by half but before he could say anything the King continued \"Also let them starve in nights and mornings for the next three months, minister you should make sure they don''t eat anything not even a rise grain\" First Salary cut and now taking the soldier''s meals away, General Hozai got pretty furious but he knew he couldn''t do anything. The ministers sitting before Gael looked at him with a slightly opened mouth. They knew from King''s previous actions he is a cruel person but they also knew he treated his army well because of his lust for expanding the kingdom but now they have heard him punishing the soldiers to this extent. \"Yes Yes your highness I will make sure that none of them get any food not even a scrap\" even the fatty minister was shocked but he quickly regained his senses and said. \"Your Highness if you do this the morale and the strength of our army will hit rock bottom\" General Hozai said. \"I don''t care they made a mistake so they need to be punished this is my word and my word is the order\" Gael''s voice echoed through the hall as General Hozai realized there is nothing he can do now. \"That''s it for today \" as he said Gael started to walk towards his chamber to call it a day. \"My lord I did as you told\" After having a delicious dinner Gael reported everything that happened today to Don through the Khal. \"Now proceed to the next phase good luck\" Gael heard Knight''s voice in his head. ********************* (Day 2 as King Hedor) \"I saw our treasury running low on funds don''t you think?\" Gael said looking at a man in gold robes next to the fatty. \"What!!\" the man almost screamed when he heard the King. After plundering and conquering many smaller kingdoms including their recent conquest of Bracidia, Emir had nothing but wealth. \"Your Highness please forgive me if I am wrong \" the man in a golden robe stood up from his seat \"The way I see it we don''t lack in wealth Your Highness, we can even run the kingdom without imposing taxes on our citizens for a couple of years\" Gael could see the other ministers nodding in approval to the man. \"Are you saying that I''m stupid minister?\" Gael said and stared at the man. The man trembled when he heard the King as he shook his head and knelt before him in a flash \"No I don''t dare Your Highness I don''t dare please forgive me \" the man started to kowtow and beg Gael \"Is our treasury running low on funds or not?\" Gael calmly asked the man again. \"Yes yes your highness you are correct\" the man didn''t dare to disagree with him \"So why didn''t you raise the tax?\" \"Its that it''s your highness\" the man started to blabber without knowing what to tell the king before the King interrupted him \"Raise the tax by eighty percent, no one should be exempt from this not even you ministers\" the ministers almost coughed up blood when they heard the King. Until now they taxed forty percent of someone''s wage, even that number was considered too high by the peasants and nearby kingdoms but now the King has raised the tax by double and hearing that not even the ministers could be spared from this made everyone sweat just by thinking about the tax. \"Guards!\" Just when everyone was sweating and swallowing a mouthful of saliva Gael called out the guards. \"Your Highness\" two guards with spears in their arms walked towards Gael from nearby and knelt before him. \"Take our Minister to the dungeon and whip him a hundred times, during the hundred whips make sure he is repeating the words I''m stupid if not whip him till he says it clearly\" \"Yes...Yes your highness\" the guards were shocked to hear such punishment and on the other side the minister started to cry and kowtow till his head turned red. \"No no, your highness please\" the minister''s screams echoed through the hall as he was dragged by the guards. \"Your Highness\" seeing his colleague getting dragged away the fatty stepped forward carrying a pigeon while shivering in fear. \"Huh?\" Gael could see the fatty''s legs shaking and the sweat on his face \"Korrinth princess sent this pigeon with a message this morning\" the fatty said. \"Oh what''s the message says?\" \"It''s that your highness she wants us to call back the soldiers we sent to camp near her kingdom''s borders\" Unlike Emir, Gael heard something about the Korrinth kingdom that they love peace and not wage war on their nearby kingdoms. However, when he saw the fat pigeon a funny idea appeared in Gael''s mind that could even anger the peace-loving princess. Just as he tries to hold his grin Gael stood up from his throne and walked towards the fatty. \"Hmm this pigeon looks very well-fed minister\" Gael grabbed the pigeon from fatty and weighed it in his hand then gave it back to fatty Seeing the smile from his King''s face fatty knew something bad is about to happen \"Ask the cook to fry this fat birdy and tell him to add more butter I''m in a mood for a fried pigeon\" \"WHAT!!!\" Fatty''s mind voice screamed at him when he heard the King but he couldn''t do anything but nod his head to save his skin unlike his colleague before. 74 The Resistance \"Did you hear that the king has gone mad?\" \"Hey give me a mug of ale?\" \"One silver coin\" \"WHAT THE!!!\" Joel could hear so many frustrations and angry conversations among the customers in the tavern. Even though Joel was sitting in the tavern, he could see no one is drinking or having anything as King''s tax made everything unaffordable to citizens. \"I heard there''s a king rising in the outer lands is that true?\" \"I''ve heard that too but not sure it''s true or not\" During Gael''s cruel regime Don gave Joel and some others to spread the rumors about a king rising in the outer lands as Joel and others spread the rumors across the kingdom and turned it into a hot topic to gossip. As Gael''s punishments to ministers and high tax rates made the lives of citizens hard, a group of people formed a resistance group in the shadows to take out the king. Joel was now going to meet them after a vigorous searching for their hideout. ********************************** \"Your Highness our spies reported the Korrinth princess is not at all happy that you fried her pigeon\" The fatty reported to Gael. The fatty''s face was apple red and his belly was covered in bandages because of Gael''s punishment to the fatty when the fatty came a minute later to the king''s court. The punishment was to cut out a big chunk of meat from fatty''s belly so that he could run faster and not be late to the court. In this two months after Gael took the form of King Hedor, Gael had to ponder his mind about new cruel punishments to his ministers and new ways to make the people''s lives miserable before leading them to a better life, the rule under his lord Don. \"Of course she would be mad but I don''t care what else?\" Gael asked as the fatty started to shiver in fear. \"Your Highness there...we heard there''s a group of resistance forming in the kingdom against you\" \"What!?\" Gael acted like he was shocked and surprised but he already heard about the resistance from Joel and secretly providing them the support to the uprising against him. \"Your Highness our spies know the location of their next meeting if you give the orders we can annihilate them once and for all\" Now hearing the fatty Gael was truly surprised at the effectiveness of the spy group of Emir. \"Resistance huh? Send our men to capture those bastards I will kill them myself self oh no I''m going to torture them first hahaha\" Gael''s evil laugh echoed through the hall as the fatty almost wet his pants in fear. \"No what are you waiting for? all of you get lost\" Gael waved his hand and dismissed the ministers while walking towards his chamber. \"Joel the resistance group''s hideout have found out by the spies get them out of there it will be a good chance for you to infiltrate them\" \"I''m almost there\" Joel''s voice reached Gael''s ears through the Khal. ************************* \"Is everyone here? Loren give out those bread to our brothers and sisters\" Warren said looking towards a young woman. Since two months ago Warren was a soldier in Emir''s army however he chose to leave the army when he saw the miserable lives of his fellow citizens. He knew King Hedor was a cruel man and the tax rates he imposed on his citizens were higher than the other kingdoms as the citizens couldn''t have any servings because of that. However, two months ago the King announced the new tax rates and few rules that nearly destroyed many livelihoods of the citizens and now everyone in the kingdom barely has something to eat because of the laws and new tax rates. Seeing the people''s sad suffering faces Warren gathered a group of young men and women to form a resistance against the king. Surprisingly a small group he started now became a group of fifty people and someone started to fund his group from the shadows. Because of the benefactor, Warren could provide food to his group and people in the Emir. \"Thank our benefactor brothers and sisters without them we couldn''t have made it this far\" \"We thank our Benefactor\" the group chorused. \"You all know why are we gathered here right? You know why we are eating a piece of bread like it''s the most delicious thing while there are starving children out there? You know how many people are forced to close their business because of the new laws and taxes? '''' Warren asked as the group slowly nodded their heads. \"There is only one reason to all of this KING HEDOR\" just as Warren said the name he could see his brothers and sisters trembling in anger. \"Last two months he made our lives hell while he was sitting in his palace and living his kingly life without even bothering to see our people\" Warren didn''t have to repeat the prices and horrible things the King had done because they already knew everything. Warren wanted everyone to think on their own before fully committing to abolish King Hedor''s regime. \"Until now we only helped our people, held meetings in dark alleys, even tried to ambush the wagons going to the palace but do you think it''s enough? DO YOU THINK ITS ENOUGH!!!\" Warren''s shout echoed throughout the darkroom. \"NO, IT''S NOT!!\" Everyone standing in the room has been affected by the King''s laws and tax rates some of them even lost their lands and stores so they didn''t need a push to see what the king has been doing to their lives. \"Good because from now on we are going to oppose the king publicly\" The moment these words came out of Warren''s mouth the whole room went deadly silent as one could even hear pin drop sound. \"Brother but?\" Loren asked in a husky voice standing beside Warren. \"Look around us if it''s not for the mysterious benefactor we couldn''t even have afforded a loaf of bread and how long do you plan to depend on them? It''s time we push forward or we will be starved to death what''s your choice ?\" While Warren was looking at the group he suddenly heard someone thumping the door as Warren unsheathed his sword. Warren slowly stepped forward while a couple of men took out their weapons and started to follow Warren as Loren got ready to lead the group out through the backdoor. \"Who is there?\" Warren tried to calmly ask the figure who is thumping the door on the other side. \"Open up the soldiers discovered this place they are on their way to here\" Warren''s heart skipped a beat when he heard the voice and he turned to see the frightened look on the men following him. \"I think you are mistaken we are a simple family we don''t have anything to hide\" Warren couldn''t just simply open the door and admit what he was doing. \"So your simple family needs nearly fifty loaves of bread huh? \" as Warren heard the voice a piece of paper slid onto him through the crack under the door. Seeing the paper Warren signaled one of the men to take it and when the man laid eyes on the paper his eyes went wide in surprise. \"Warren take a look\" The man showed the paper to Warren as again Warren''s heart skipped a beat because the paper had a list of items the benefactor sent to them until now. \"You don''t have much time I know you are planning to revolt against the king and I can help you besides it''s also my employer is the one sent all the items to you\" there were many thoughts running in Warren''s head like if the other person is telling the truth he should open the door but if he was a soldier they would have been already surrounded. Seeing that he had no choice but to open the door Warren''s grip on his sword tightened. He knew if he started to send the group out by the back door they would be captured the moment they step outside because surrounding the enemy''s place before entering is the basic tactic of an army. Finally, Warren decided to slowly open the door and when the door opened he saw a blonde hair youth standing before him and nobody else behind him. \"Come on we don''t have much time, the soldiers are already on their way quick follow me I know a safe place\" the blonde-haired youth urged Warren and his group but Warren couldn''t help but hesitate a bit even though the youth said he was employed by their benefactor. \"If you hesitate now you all are going to be captured, King Hedor''s spies are already surrounded the place you have nowhere to escape without my help\" while saying the youth signaled Warren towards a street merchant across the road. The merchant looked no different than the ordinary merchant but when Warren looked carefully he saw the iron boots under the merchant''s robe which was not worn by an ordinary merchant. \"You see come on follow me\" seeing the merchant Warren started to believe the youth as he nodded towards his group to follow him. \"Quickly come this way\" even though Warren''s group had nearly fifty people the youth lead them through the maze of alleyways without anyone following them. Eventually, after navigating through the alleyway Warren''s group reached an empty building in the city''s outskirts. \"We are safe here \" Warren heard the youth. \"Who are you? How do you know all this?\" Loren asked as she stepped forward to stand beside Warren. \"I''m Joel and I was sent to help you by the same person who was helping you all these time\" the blonde youth was indeed Joel and because he was a spy and along with the fact that he practically grew up running around the dark alleys he knew the layout of the city like his backhand. \"So who is helping us? When can we meet him or her?\" Loren asked. \"You will meet them soon but before that, we need to stop KIng Hedor''s rule once and for all\" 75 The Next Phase "My lord I have gathered them all in one place, we can move forward with our plan now" Gael communicated with Don and Knight through the Khal while sitting on his bed. "Good proceed to the next phase" Gael heard Knight''s voice in his head. "Yes my lord" The next day after Gael''s contact with Knight, he was sitting on his throne and looking at the worried as well as terrified faces of his ministers. "Your Highness it''s not our soldiers'' fault by the time we got to the location of the said resistance''s place the place was empty " General Hozai said in a worried tone. "Why do I have to feed those idiots if they couldn''t even catch a bunch of rebels?" Gael''s shout echoed through the silent hall. "Punish them by giving every soldier in the army hundred whips that''ll teach them a lesson and General Hozai you will now personally search the city for those rebels I want them captured and brought to me soon as possible DO NOT FAIL ME" as Gael said he stood up and walked away from the throne room towards his chamber. "Your highness!!" General Hozai couldn''t get the attention of King Hedor. "What the hell is wrong with him our army has already become very weak by all his punishments and now he is punishing us even further" Over the next few days, the barracks were filled with soldiers crying and hissing in pain while General Hozai ravaged through every single place in the city in the hope to find the rebels but he simply couldn''t find a clue. "My lord the soldiers have become very weak and angry towards the king and according to Joel more and more soldiers and people are joining the rebellion I''ve heard even some ministers looking to fly the kingdom" Gael said. "Hmm it''s a good thing Emir doesn''t have any big sects or powers in play or they would have already made their move Joel''s already working on his little project you should be able to give them a blast on the day after tomorrow hehehe" Gael heard the evil laughter of Knight before the connection with Knight broke. Meanwhile in the middle of a dense forest a group of people sitting around a campfire. "Don''t get me wrong but how couldn''t even General Hozai find us till now?" Loren asked as everyone sitting beside her went silent. "We should thank Joel for that he''s the one gave us the idea of splitting us into smaller groups and gave us the coordinates of the hideouts " Warren said as he raised his mug towards Joel. After joining the rebels Joel was helping Warren in organizing the rebels and keeping them from being captured by the soldiers as well as recruiting new rebels. Even though Joel was doing everything discreetly and cleverly as possible, he had a feeling deep down that General Hozai didn''t put much effort as it looked while searching for the rebels. Joel knew the reputation of the infamous General Hozai while he was working for the real King Hedor before, General Hozai was a powerful low-level great master who played a major role in capturing nearby kingdoms through war but even when the face of a great victory General Hozai wouldn''t even a tinge of joy on his face which lead to many speculations about General Hozai around the kingdom. Also, Joel was slightly terrified at the plan that Knight and Don put together as everything was happening just like they had planned. Just when Joel was about to raise his mug towards Warren he felt a tinge in his brain. "Excuse me gentleman" as Joel said he stood up and walked away from the group. "It''s creeping me out seeing him talking to himself " a bulky man sipping ale said while looking at Joel''s walking figure. "He said he has some kind of magical item that let him talk with his employer" Loren replied to the bulky man. Joel didn''t reveal every detail about Khal but let out small hints to prevent any suspicions from rising when they see him talking to Don and Knight through Khal. "My lord" "Joel, how''s your thing going?" Knight asked. "I''ve found a few abandoned places and placed it just like you''ve said" "What''s the status of the people there?" "My lord the punishments and the taxes made people''s lives a living hell as for the soldiers more and more of them joining the rebellion against the king I think even General Hozai want the rebellion to succeed" Joel said and waited for Knight''s reply for a moment "Hmm that''s expected of him he''s a good guy he''s probable stuck between his morales and duty but that''s aside me and Don think it''s time to proceed, gather the rebels and make your move Stodemar will meet you with the supplies you will need at the place I''ve told you good luck" as Knight said he cut the connection while Joel let out a long breath of a sigh. "Look Joel''s back" "What''s the news Joel? You look a little pale" Loren asked as everyone stared at Joel. "I just talked with my employer and he said it''s time to make our move against the King" the moment Joel said everyone''s eyes went wide "I know its a big decision but if we don''t make our move now we probably wouldn''t have a kingdom to take back from the King" "What! What do you mean we wouldn''t have a kingdom?" Warren had a bad feeling hearing Joel. Joel didn''t answer immediately when he heard Warren but stood there in silence without saying anything for a moment "Dammit Joel say something" the bulky man from before shouted at Joel and broke the stillness among them. "As you know my employer''s informant in King''s palace, according to him the King is planning something bad very bad" Joel said. "How bad?" Warren couldn''t help but ask. "Like kingdom destroying bad" Even though Warren knew someday he had to come out of hiding and make his move against the king, he didn''t expect it to come this soon. Hearing Joel there were hundreds of things running and wreaking havoc inside Warren''s mind "You don''t have to worry much my employer also said we will get the necessary supplies to make our move " Warren let out a long breath of sigh and made his decision "Brothers and Sisters we knew this day was coming it''s what we have prepared for Joel when will we receive the supplies" "Soon we just have to go to the coordinates that my employer gave me" "But brother even though we have many people most of them are just farmers or normal citizens the king has an army of trained soldiers and magis" Loren interrupted Joel as she asked her brother. "True but king''s punishments to the soldiers made them resent the king just much as we are and not to mention they have become weaker because the king restricted their meals even a master magi couldn''t survive without healthy food" Loren saw the former soldier in King''s army answer her as others nodding their heads in agreement with him but she could also see the people other than the soldiers looking worried. Obviously Joel noticed everything just as he trained to "If push comes to shove my employer will take care of everything Loren" Everyone relaxed a bit when they heard Joel as they knew the mysterious employer of Joel is the one taking care of them and their families and providing the food as well as necessities till now. Also, from what they have heard from Joel about his employer''s power, the people have come to believe that he or she will save them from the clutches of King Hedor''s cruel rulership. "Alright, we will gather our brothers and sisters and march towards the kingdom when you say Joel" Warren said. Meanwhile in the palace of King Hedor "Your Highness the builders successfully built the stage you have ordered them to" the fatty minister reported to Gael. "Good General Hozai also failed to capture those rebels and now I will show him and the entire kingdom how to get the job done" Hearing the king and seeing his evil grin the ministers had a very bad feeling in their guts. "We have a hell of a show coming people" 76 The Mad King "Don people are going to die today if we proceed with the plan?" Standing in the throne room Arrora asked Don. "People always die Arrora besides these same people once slaughtered weakly kingdoms to conquer them" Arrora couldn''t even find a shred of sympathy in Don''s voice and looked a little worried. "If it makes you feel good we told Gael to order his army to try to capture the rebels alive and the same to Joel" Knight said. "But me king why didn''t we send our army ta conquer them? It''s like they stand a chance ''afore us" Dhursir the old dwarf asked while running his hand through the new battle axe. The Old dwarf''s full white hair now had stripes of black hair as he looked more healthy and bulky. Not only Dhursir, but even Arwen also looked a little tall and gained some muscles which gave him a warrior''s look. Hearing Dhursir''s question Don stood there without answering and let Knight explain things to the dwarf "First no matter how powerful our army is they are still like greenhouse flowers so we will have casualties in our side if we go to war with a trained army" Knight paused for a moment before continuing "Second we are outsiders in the eyes of people of Emir and the same goes for the empire itself, the moment such outsider makes a move against one kingdom the nearby kingdoms will definitely form some sort of alliance and wage war against us we don''t want to go against such alliance with our little power do we?" "Huh no?" Arrora couldn''t help but let out a giggle when she saw the confused face of the old dwarf. However, it was not surprising for anyone because everyone inside the throne hall knew about the dwarves now that these dwarves are not much of strategists but pure hot-blooded creatures who love to fight without planning or thinking about anything. "Still how are we going to make these people accept us? Just you have said we are outsiders to them right?" Arrora asked Knight and Don but she only got a grin from Knight as an answer. ************************* In the center of the city, a huge stage stood tall overlooking the entire city and before the stage, the people in various clothes stood looking at the man on the stage. Unlike the crowd before the stage, the people situated on each side of the stage looked more elegant and noble.the stage was protected by rows of various armies like infantry, cavalry, Archers, and a group of mages. Even though the army seemed grand, the men wearing the armor looked tired and skinny for a soldier and the horses stood like they were going to fall dead anytime. The people of Emir looked no different than the soldiers except the armor the soldiers were wearing and some of the people praying for the rebels to defeat the army to stop the reign of this mad king because they knew that if it''s not for the rebels to silently smuggle the food inside the city for them, most of them would have starved to death. While the battle with the rebels is about to happen the soldiers prayed for their family''s safety unlike the blessed people before them who had some sort of connection with the nobles in the kingdom to reach here before the King enforced a kingdom-wide lockout. "Your Highness the rebel army reached our city gates and marching towards us" the fatty minister came running to Gael with a terrified face. "Hahaha, fools let them come to greet their death" as Gael said he stood up from his seat and lifted his one hand towards the city. "boom" Everyone around the stage felt a cold chill running in their spines when they heard a sound of explosion as well as the evil laughter of the king. "What the!!" everyone around the stage looked terrified when they saw a mushroom-like green cloud emerging far away from them. However, before they could come back to reality from the explosion another mushroom cloud emerged with a loud booming sound. Seeing the explosion, most of the people gathered around the stage as well as some soldiers started to scream. "No!!!!!!" "My family!!" Some of them even fainted on the spot when they realized that the explosion happened near their houses. "Your Highness people are living there please stop this madness" General Hozai couldn''t stand still while the king destroying his kingdom and its people. "Shut up you imbecile!! if you have captured the rebels I wouldn''t have made this choice the collateral damage is on your head" The explosions didn''t stop as they continued to destroy the city. ************************** "Brother what''s happening oh no no no!!" Loren started to scream and cry when she saw the huge explosions happening in the city. "We are too late too late" Warren''s courage and valor disappeared in an instance as the sword in his hand fell to the ground. "No it''s not over Warren my employer have already sent his men to rescue them if anybody could save your people it''s them" Even though Warren and his men nearly reached their breaking point, hearing Joel''s voice of confidence gave them the strength to move forward. "Joel, do you think whoever your employer is could have saved those people?" Loren was pretty shaken up seeing those green mushroom clouds and couldn''t believe that the people near the explosion could have survived. "Yes they can and they must have saved them even before the explosion now it''s our time to kill this mad king let''s move " Warren''s worry turned into rage and anger with time as he picked up his sword and rushed towards the castle with the resolution to behead the king and whoever stands in his way. While running forward Joel was able to feel the heat coming from the explosion and his attention towards the explosion was broken by the row of army standing before him. Warren gripped his sword tighter when he saw the soldiers and his rage lowered a bit as he got closer to the soldiers. The soldiers before Warren were not in the shape to fight and he could see that most of them had black lines under their eyes and stood very weakly like they had been starved. "Remember they are not our real enemy try not to kill them" Joel shouted and rushed forward to meet the weak soldiers. Seeing the huge crowd of rebels rushing towards them with bloodshot eyes, the courage and will to fight started to disappear in soldiers'' hearts. "Don''t fight for this mad king soldiers drop your weapons" Joel shouted at the soldiers before him. Hearing Joel, the soldiers looked at each other but some of them had already started to fight for their king as they rushed toward the rebels with swords in their hands. "Idiots" Joel cursed the foolish soldiers and moved forward to meet them followed by Warren and his men. Warren and his men were very well trained and fueled with rage met the weak soldiers. For a moment Joel could only hear the clinks of metal clashing and crying of people around him. "No don''t kill us we surrender!!" seeing their fellow soldiers losing their body parts the remaining soldiers couldn''t keep fighting for a mad king and started to beg for their lives. "Get out of my way" Warren didn''t mind or gave much thought to these mere soldiers as he continued to rush towards the castle. "Arrora send your team down there and save whoever still alive" After seeing Warren and his men leaving the battle site beneath him Don ordered Arrora. "You heard the king " Arrora raised her finger as several figures floating behind her wearing a black hood with silver lining started to descend carrying a box of blood-red vials. "I''m done here Don" Don heard Knight''s voice in his head before dashing towards the castle to see the final act. ******************* "Are you opposing your own king, you peasants?" realizing that their king is destroying their kingdom and killing innocent people, some of the soldiers and most of the people standing around the stage started to push forward like a pack of angry wolves. Usually, the people would have not had this strength or courage to move against the king but today they had black sheep among them, the people Knight placed among the group to start a riot, to kindle the hate towards their king. "Stop them, I want everyone who opposing me captured and sent to the dungeons" Gael shouted at the remaining soldiers who still looked like have loyalty towards him including General Hozai. "HEDOR!!!!" but before the soldiers step forward, an angry voice reverberated around the stage. "Who DARE!" Gael''s shout stopped in the midway when he saw the enormous horde of rebels rushing forward towards him. Until now Gael heard about the rebels from Joel but he never imagined it would be this much of a crowd. "What are you idiots looking for? go capture them for me" Hearing King''s order the remaining army tried to rush forward but they couldn''t because they were already fighting with angry soldiers and people around here and the soldiers looked at General Hozai for his leadership and orders. However, General Hozai stood beside the king looking at the rebels and the explosions without moving a muscle. "General we can''t hold them much longer without killing them please do something" a soldier shouted at General Hozai. Seeing the situation is out of control General Hozai let out a sigh "Soldiers deal with the people here. I will take care of the rebels Minister Takami please escort your highness away from this place safely I will buy you as much as time I can " as he said General Hozai''s figure blurred as he dashed towards the rebels. "How are you Warren?" Warren halted his steps when he heard a voice as General Hozai''s figure appeared before him and his men. Black, long hair tight in a ponytail reveals a strong, solemn face. Darting blue eyes set sunken within their sockets, watch vigilantly over the people standing before him and his body radiated a powerful aura that would strike fear into his opponents. This is General Hozai, a true victor and idol of Emir. Seeing General Hozai Warren sensed something troubling on General''s face, perhaps it''s a feeling of shame of serving a king like Hedor or perhaps it''s simply a feeling of coldness. But nonetheless, Warren and his men must face General Hozai before reaching the King himself. "General why are you defending that murderer? You don''t have to do this" Warren couldn''t get himself to fight the one who he worshipped as a hero and his idol. However, hearing Warren General Hozai let out a weak smile "It''s my duty to defend my king Warren but fight with all you''ve got don''t let me stop your pursuit" The moment the words came out of General Hozai''s mouth his figure dashed towards Warren in a lightning-fast. Warren could barely defend the strikes of General Hozai but his men behind him fell to the ground one by one without even being able to defend themselves. General Hozai moved among the rebels like a tornado and the rebels couldn''t even see his figure clearly let alone attack him. "He''s good" seeing how a single man knocking down the rebels like they were a bunch of children impressed Arrora as she turned to look at Don. "Don let me fight him" 77 End of the Battle "Come on he''s just one man, not a god" one of the rebels shouted as Warren tried to defeat General Hozai. The battle between Warren''s men and General Hozai was not coming to a stop and General Hozai''s superior battle prowess and experience nearly made him invincible as he knocked out most of Warren''s men. Watching the fight from afar Gael cursed at General Hozai in his mind and the soldiers who started to revolt were terrified at seeing Warren''s men getting knocked down one by one. However when the battle seemed to be going in General Hozai''s favor, suddenly a bolt of light struck the middle of the battlefield. General Hozai halted his offense on Warren''s men and looked at the place where the light struck cautiously. While looking General Hozai and the others could vaguely see a figure with feminine features slowly walking towards General Hozai. "Half elf" Warren mumbled under his breath as the woman came closer to them. "Who are you?" seeing the half-elf walking towards him General Hozai asked the half-elf and firmly gripped his sword as his instincts told him that the half-elf before him is a very powerful individual. Obviously the half-elf was Arrora and when she heard General Hozai''s question she didn''t answer it quickly but looked at the awestruck men around her for a moment. Even though General Hozai was very powerful compared to Warren''s men, Arrora noticed he didn''t kill them but just injured them. "You are not fighting against the rebels but fighting against these people''s hope and freedom General" Arrora didn''t shout but her voice was magically enhanced so her voice could reach everyone''s ears. The moment her gentle voice reached their ears the people who were previously shouting, the soldiers who were revolting and all of them near the stage went silent and stood watching Arrora in a shock. Although General Hozai has seen elves and half-elves, this is the first time he has seen a half-elf without slave chains and ragged clothes. "It doesn''t matter who I am General, stand down and let these people have their freedom and hope back" General Hozai didn''t answer her but shook his head and let out a deep breath "It''s my duty to defend my king even though he''s like King Hedor" General Hozai said. "Then I have to stop you General" as Arrora said her silver sword appeared in her hand. Recognizing the battle with the half-elf is eminent General Hozai and feeling the powerful aura radiating from the half-elf, he leaped towards her with his full speed to attack. Warren and his men''s eyes went wide when they realized that this is General Hozai''s true power as they saw the magical fluctuations around his body. However their eyes opened even further when they saw Arrora''s figure blurred as she disappeared and appeared near General Hozai in a flash. No one could see General Hozai and Arrora''s figures as they could only see two blurs moving around. General Hozai didn''t expect that she would be this fast since he could barely dodge and block her attacks and even though he had a feeling that she''s not attacking him with her full power. As time went by General Hozai couldn''t block all of her attacks and sustained some injuries from her silver sword. While fighting her General Hozai was able to see weird magical fluctuations around her body, he has never seen such magical fluctuations. "What are we waiting for? come on" Joel''s shout broke the silence and made Warren and his men turn their attention towards the remaining army of King Hedor. General Hozai couldn''t stop them this time as he was already having a hard time-fighting Arrora and seeing the rebels running towards them the remaining soldiers went pale and prepared to defend their king. "FOR EMIR!!!!" The rebels shouted as they clashed with the soldiers, some of the nobles used this chaos as a distraction and slipped away while others picked weak-looking rebels and started to fight with them. Warren didn''t waste his time fighting the soldiers as he leaped on the stage and knocked down the two soldiers guarding King Hedor. "So you are the one leading this rebellion huh?" Gael asked Warren while taking out his sword from the sheath. "Your reigns end here King Hedor" "Is it?" Gael said with a devilish smirk on his face. The city square was now turned into a battlefield as only metal clashing and screams of soldiers could be heard. Gael knew he could easily defeat Warren but for Don and Knight''s plan to work he must be defeated by Warren in a long fight. "My lord we healed everyone like lady Arrora said" on the sky above the battlefield the hooded figures reported to Don. "Good now go to the battlefield and heal everyone there but do that as everyone can see you" Don calmly said while looking at the battle between Gael and Warren. "Yes my lord" they bowed towards Don and started to descend to the ground. After a lot of exchanges, Warren could see King Hedor getting tired and exhausted. Gael gritted his teeth in pain as blood started to pour out of some of the wounds caused by Warren''s sword. "Surrender now King Hedor you lost" seeing General Hozai couldn''t beat the half-elf who he guessed as someone sent by Joel''s employer as well as the remaining soldiers getting defeated one by one in the hands of his men. Seeing King Hedor didn''t say anything Warren pushed his offense as his slashes made more and more wounds on King Hedor''s body. While attacking King Hedor Warren found an opening on King Hedor''s defense and decided to land a final blow and end the fighting. Gael prepared to defend himself as he circulated the bound energy through his whole body when he saw the magical fluctuations getting stronger around Warren''s body as he knew Warren is going for a final blow. "This is the end, King Hedor" Warren let out a shout as he gathered all his magical energy around his sword and slashed at King Hedor with all his might. "Oh shit" the fatty minister screamed when he was pushed back by the force of Warren''s attack. The guards and the people almost stopped what they were doing when they heard a loud boom sound coming from the stage where the battle was going on between Warren and King Hedor. Warren was breathing in and out as he was exhausted after his final attack which nearly drained all of his magical energy. Warren could only see smoke and vaguely see a deep cut on the stage where King Hedor was standing before but he could not see any signs of King Hedor. However, when the smoke started to clear Warren was able to see King Hedor standing a few feet away from his previous place. Just as the smoke disappeared completely Warren couldn''t believe his eyes because King Hedor didn''t die as Warren had thought. King Hedor was a bloody mess, the force of Warren''s attack smashed King Hedor''s nose and his eyes almost shut with swelling. His arms are wrapped around his guts like he''s holding them in and to be honest he looked like he''s beat so bad as he could be. King Hedor''s beautiful hair now looked burnt and messy as his clothes were torn and blood started to pour out of his wounds but he was alive. "Hahaha you think you can defeat me ME!!" the fatty minister almost wet his pants when he saw the bloodshot eyes and devilish look on King Hedor''s face. "How how is this possible?" Warren mumbled under his breath while a red-colored scroll which was decorated with dragon pictures appeared in King Hedor''s hand. "I wanted to use this to destroy Korrinth but now I''m gonna destroy this land of rebels and imbeciles if I can''t rule this kingdom nobody can" Everyone who heard King Hedor felt a cold chill in their spines. "Warren kill him before he uses the scroll!!!" Warren heard Joel shouting at him but he couldn''t move his feet towards King Hedor as he felt some force stopping him from doing so. "Fire it up" Warren heard King Hedor''s voice before a sudden explosion with a thunderous boom sound and bright light which made everyone close their eyes. The stage where King Hedor was standing now looked like it''s containing a small sun as the heat and light made everyone tremble and expect a cruel death. "Did I fail my people?" Warren couldn''t help but ask the question while his clothes were disappearing due to the heat coming from King Hedor. However, when everyone thought they were going to die, the heat started to cool down as everyone slowly opened their eyes to see a force field containing what looked like a small sun to them. Above the force field, Warren saw a black-clothed man descending towards the stage. "Who are you?" Warren couldn''t stand still when he weakly asked the man before him. "My lord" but before the man could answer Warren saw Joel running towards him and kneeling before the man. Seeing what''s happening on the stage everyone stopped fighting and looked at the black-clothed man without even blinking including General Hozai. "My lord is the one helping all of us Warren, he''s my employer" the rebels gaped a mouth full of air as Warren wanted to thank Joel''s employer but he couldn''t muster the strength to do so. Don didn''t say anything to Warren but lifted his arm as the force field which containing the bright light flew higher and higher and when everyone thought that the light has disappeared into the skies, they saw the light exploding. Even from afar, the explosion sent heat waves as Warren realized that if it exploded on the ground the kingdom would have been thoroughly destroyed. "What happened to King Hedor?" After seeing the explosion finally disappearing Warren couldn''t help but ask about King Hedor. "He''s dead" Don said. Just after the soldiers heard that their king is dead they dropped their weapons and started to surrender one by one because now they don''t have any duties or king to protect. Everyone knew by the size of the explosion and the heat it produced, there was no way that King Hedor would have survived. "Mother" "Lisa you are alive" "You are alive" Many soldiers and people stepped from the line while their eyes were slowly filling with tears. Before they knew it, they were hugging their families tightly who they thought had died in the previous explosions King Hedor set, Loren''s tears dripping from her cheeks onto her white shirt. Some of the soldiers'' arms were encircled around their wives, while others were hugged by their parents making everyone forget for a moment about the battle they have witnessed just before. After a moment of their reunion, the people started to realize that they were saved by the mysterious black hooded people who are now standing behind the black-clothed man on the stage. "Thank you" everyone who was saved by Arrora''s men bowed their heads towards them and said as their eyes were filled with gratitude and relief. "Come meet me at the castle when everything is taken care of" Don said looking at Warren and turned his gaze towards Joel and Arrora''s men who were now standing behind him. "Help them" As Don said his figure blurred and disappeared along with Arrora leaving Warren and Joel behind. 78 Be a king under an Emperor After all the chaos and battle today, Warren wanted nothing but to get a good sleep but he was invited to the castle by Joel''s employer, the mysterious black-clothed man. "Brother what''s he going to ask of us?" Loren was accompanying him to the castle with Joel leading the way. "Whatever he asks don''t deny it Warren I''m saying this as a friend" before Warren says anything to Loren Joel answered instead. "Besides it''s better to have someone powerful behind you Warren" Joel said. Warren could see Loren''s worried face as he himself wasn''t so sure about what Joel''s employer is going to ask of him. After hearing about the injuries inflicted on General Hozai by the half-elf girl and the healing potions used to heal Warren''s men as well as the injured soldiers, Warren had some idea about how powerful Joel''s employer compared to him and his men. Finally, the three of them reached the doors to the throne hall as Joel slowly opened the doors. Warren had no mood to enjoy the beauty of the throne hall as his eyes were locked onto the two people standing before the throne. The moment Loren saw the half elf girl her eyes went wide in surprise and shock. The half-elf girl wasn''t beautiful in a classical way, no flowing golden curls or ivory skin but had raven black hair and bluish color eyes. She was taller than average and certainly prettier than any woman Loren ever met, she didn''t wear any fancy clothes or armors but something radiated from within that rendered her irresistible to both genders. Men desired her and women courted her friendship. Unlike Loren, Warren was amazed by the powerful aura radiating from the man before the throne. He had black shoulder-length hair, which was thick and lustrous. His eyes were a mesmerizing dark sky black. His face was expressionless, strong, and defined, his features were like molded from granite. He wore a set of black shiny armor as the shoulder plates were fairly rounded, very wide. They were decorated with a dragon''s head on each side. The upper arms were protected by rounded, half covering rerebraces which sit nicely under the shoulder plates. The lower arms were covered by vambraces that have a row of long, curved spikes on the outer sides. The breastplate looked like it was made from a couple of layers of carefully crafted leather, mimicking dragon scales as the upper legs were covered by pointed, layered leather cuisses and the lower legs were protected by leather shin guards which have layers of crafted leather, mimicking dragon scales as the breastplate. Thick leather pants were worn beneath this all. "My lord" Joel said as he went to kneel but stopped by Don in a midway. While Warren and Loren stood awkwardly without knowing whether to bow or kneel. "So Warren how''s everything outside?" Don asked. "Its uh many building were destroyed by the fire and fortunately we didn''t suffer many casualties just a few thanks to your people" "Good we will provide all the help you need but you have to do something for me" Don said and retrieved a scroll from his space ring. "I want you to pledge your loyalty to me and rule this kingdom in my stead" The words struck Warren and Loren like a thunderbolt. Even though Warren knew that he was the one who helped him feed all his people and helped their kingdom avert a disaster, Warren couldn''t get himself to pledge his loyalty to a mysterious youth and the biggest shock was to him that he was asked to rule this kingdom. Warren was a soldier so he realized that Emir has now become powerless and leaderless as anyone had the power could conquer them without much effort. "Don''t think too much Warren if you don''t do it someone else would and I have many people who will happily accept such offer" Don calmly said. "But why us? You just said you have many of your own people who would accept this" Don was a little surprised to hear Warren''s sister speaking before Warren. "Its because you born and raised here in Emir, your people won''t accept me as their king for them we are outsiders but if their king is someone who they trust and that someone bends their knee to me they will follow their king without any doubts" Don paused for a moment to let the information sink into Warren and Loren. "Read this" as Don said he sent the scroll flying towards the both of them. Seeing the scroll floating before them Warren slowly grabbed the scroll and opened it to read the contents on it. As Warren and Loren read the contents they realized it as an agreement between two kingdoms. Loren carefully read the contents to see anything that could be disastrous to them in the future before agreeing. However, all she could see is the arrangement in trade between Emir and Everlight which Don named his kingdom after knowing that it was how his kingdom was called in Ken''s time beside he kind of liked the name. The next thing Loren''s eyes caught was the small sum Emir had to pay to Everlight as Everlight''s child kingdom which is pretty common for a kingdom to pay a sum to the empire which they were paying to the capitol of Moon Empire till now. Loren could see the people of Emir easily pay this tax compared to the hellish amount of tax King Hedor imposed. Finally, there were a bunch of common statements such as if Everlight is going to war Kingdom Emir should provide all the help they can and vice versa. However when Loren laid her eyes on one of the last statement she frowned "Slavery is a crime punishable by death?" Loren mumbled under her breath. "Yes there will be no mercy to those who deal in slaves and as the last line suggests you must treat your citizens equally no matter what their race is" Arrora''s said as her voice was full of dominance. After reading the scroll over and over Warren let out a heavy breath of sigh and looked at Don "It''s a decision that will affect not just me but also my people can you give us some time to consider this?" "Two weeks I will give you two weeks to make a decision and meanwhile my people will help you provide all the help you need until then there won''t be a king in Emir" as he was saying Don noticed that Joel is trying to say something but waiting for his permission. "Joel you have something to say?" Don asked looking at Joel. "Yes my lord, I think the nobles and ministers might prove to be quite troublesome about this matter " "Arrora order your unit to investigate every noble and minister in Emir then I will let the king of Emir decide what to do with them after a week" Joel knew that this answer was different from what he was expecting but he knew Don didn''t care about the nobles and ministers in Emir and he could simply kill them if they prove to be troublesome. "Yes my lord" Arrora said as she didn''t want to call him Don before his would-be subordinates like Warren and Loren. "Joel" Don raised his hand towards the door as Warren and Loren bowed slightly and followed Joel towards the door to leave the throne room. "Don what now?" after seeing the three of them leaving the throne room Arrora asked Don. "Now we earn these people''s trust and loyalty with coins" Don said as he looked at the direction of the treasury room. "You think he would accept being a king under you?" "He didn''t ask time to consider whether he should be a king a not rather he asked time to think about pledging his loyalty to me" Don said. Arrora knew someone with the least brain would accept such an offer and dare not to cross a powerful man as Don. "Cat send them in " Just after a few seconds, the light beam of teleportation appeared before Don as a group of dwarves stepped out of the light. "Kimreack Goldengrip son o'' Fostaic Goldengrip greets me king" the dwarf leading the group bowed his head towards Don as well as the dwarves standing behind him. "Kimreack I believe you have already briefed by Knight about why are you here" Don asked. "aye me king we will rebuild all those burnt houses in nae time leave that to Kimreack" the dwarf punched his chest and looked Don with full of confidence. "Good then I will leave you to it" as he said Don and Arrora started to walk towards the treasury room leaving the dwarves to plan their work. After a few minutes, Don and Arrora reached the front door to the treasury as Arrora pushed the door with a force of wind using her bound energy. The moment the door opened Don almost couldn''t believe his eyes as he felt like he entered into a small treasure trove. "Amaryll going to have fun with all this wealth" Arrora giggled as she said.