David chatted with William as the boy made his way towards the Giant Gate in the distance. According to the God of Shepherds, William needed to clear twelve trials before he could challenge the Heaven's Army that was guarding the Gate of Heaven.

Each checkpoint would unlock part of William's power. The First Trial would allow him to upgrade his Shepherd Job Class to its next stage.

David didn't tell him what the trials were. He only pointed in the direction that Wiliam must travel. After walking for a day, William arrived at a small clearing surrounded by stone pillars.

At the center of the clearing stood a two-meter tall Goblin Shaman. With just a glance, William was able to determine that the Goblin was not a regular Goblin Shaman. It was a Goblin Witch Doctor that was two stages higher than the Goblin Shaman.

"Class A straight off the bat," William frowned. "As expected, this isn't going to be easy."

"When has life been easy? Defeat him and you will be able to ascend to your next stage," David said using telepathy. "Goodluck!"

William summoned his wooden staff and walked towards the clearing with steady steps. He felt the irony of this trial because the first ever monster that he had faced in his life was a Goblin.

It was his first life and death experience after being born in Hestia and, because of that incident, he became a Shepherd.

The Goblin Witch Doctor started chanting and created two shadow copies of itself. The three Goblins chanted and summoned six pairs of spectral hands that hovered around them.

William knew that he had to fight seriously in order to overcome his First Trial. For some reason, the bracelets on his wrists and ankles had also been replicated when Eros used her powers to mold his body.

The Half Elf removed the bracelets and tossed them aside. This was the first time that he was going to fight with his full power, using only his physical strength. Truth be told, William was also curious to know just how strong he was now.

For him, this trial was the perfect opportunity to test his progress without holding anything back.

-----

Meanwhile inside Ravenlord Citadel...

"Your Highness, we've succeeded!" a pretty maid reported as she entered Prince Rufus' room. "My cousin managed to retrieve the box that the Crown Prince had been safeguarding.

"Very good," Prince Rufus replied with a smile. "Give it to me."

"Yes, Your Highness." The maid bowed and presented the ornate box to Prince Rufus with both hands.

The Second Prince of the Hellan Kingdom took it and checked its contents. He grinned when he saw the key inside the box. The years he had spent bribing the Crown Prince's personal maid attendant had finally paid off.

This was why he was confident that he could acquire the ornate box from his Older Brother's hand. Outside, Prince Lionel was the perfect image of a gentleman but behind closed doors, he would torture his subordinates to vent out his stress and anger.

Most of them hated Prince Lionel, but they were helpless against him. They were afraid that if they disobeyed him, they would be dead the next day.

This gave Prince Rufus the opportunity to gain these servants' loyalty and have them secretly spy on his Older Brother.

The Oathkeeper Key that Prince Lionel had managed to acquire from his father was now in Prince Rufus' hands. The Second Prince couldn't stop himself from grinning because he could tell how mad his Older Brother would be when he woke up the next day.

The Crown Prince's personal maid had served Prince Lionel a tea that contained a very potent sleeping drug that Prince Rufus had acquired before leaving the capital. This was his backup plan just in case Prince Lionel managed to acquire the key before him.

After gaining the key, he immediately contacted the agent that was assigned to him by The Organization and asked for a meeting.

An hour later, Prince Rufus, along with a man wearing a black robe, entered one of the secret passageways of Ravenlord Citadel that led outside the fortress. It was too dangerous for them to meet inside the Citadel where the Hellan Army was on high alert from the invasion of the Aenashaian Army.

In a spacious artificial cave that was hidden a kilometer away from the fortress, several men wearing black robes stood behind a man sitting on a black chair.

Prince Rufus walked towards the man seated on the chair and presented the ornate box to him.

The man seated on the chair smiled and took the box, but he didn't open it right away. He made a gesture and one of the men behind his back moved forward to take the ornate box from his hand.

"Check it if it's genuine," the man ordered.

"Yes, My Lord," the black-robed man opened the ornate box and used a monocle to check the "Oathkeeper Key" that Prince Rufus had brought with him.

Prince Rufus didn't say anything and waited for the examination to be over. After checking the key, the Black-Robed Man whispered to his Lord and backed away with the ornate box in his hands.

"Prince Rufus, you did well in stealing the Oathkeeper Key from your Big Brother," the man praised the Second Prince. However, his next words made Prince Rufus' jaw drop in disbelief.

"However, the key that you presented to us is only an imitation," the man continued his explanation. "Isn't that right, Your Highness, the Crown Prince?"

"That's right."

A black-robed man entered the cavern and glanced in Prince Rufus' direction. He then removed the hood hiding his face and sneered.

"Little Brother, you are far too naive," Prince Lionel said in a teasing tone. "Do you really think that you can bribe my subordinates? This is just wishful thinking. Isn't that right, Isabella?"

The Crown Prince's personal maid servant appeared behind Prince Lionel and looked at Prince Rufus with ridicule.

"Your Highness, Prince Rufus, please, don't think bad of me," Isabelle said with a smile. "I am the Crown Prince's personal servant, and my loyalty belongs only to him."

Isabella looked at Prince Lionel with an infatuated gaze, and the latter smirked, pulling her closer to him.

"Little Brother, I find it funny that you tried to bribe my woman," Prince Lionel stated. "Isabella had been my bed warmer for years. You really think she would switch over to your side just because you promised to give her a thousand gold coins? Ridiculous."

Prince Rufus gnashed his teeth in anger. After thinking about it rationally, he had really been naive in thinking that he could bribe his Older Brother's personal maid servant to switch sides.

Also, it didn't take him long to realize that this whole incident was a set up by his Big Brother in order to lure him out of the Citadel.

"You got me good, Big Brother," Prince Rufus said through gritted teeth. "Are you going to kill me now?"

Prince Lionel rubbed his chin as he gazed at his Little Brother who had always been butting heads with him.

"It is a very tempting offer, but I don't like to dirty my hands by killing my own kin," Prince Lionel replied. "Sir, please imprison my brother and make sure that he will be there to witness my coronation when I become the Emperor of the Southern Continent."

"Done." The man seated on the chair nodded his head. "Take him away, but treat him as a guest instead of a prisoner. Although he failed in his attempt, he was still loyal to The Organization. We do not treat our accomplices badly."

Prince Rufus wasn't the type to sit idly as they tried to capture him. He invoked his strongest spell in order to kill everyone inside the cavern, but The Organization was not full of fools and had already anticipated his action.

All it took was a single chop at the back of his head to knock Prince Rufus unconscious. He was then dragged away by two black-robed men to be imprisoned in one of their private dungeons.

Prince Lionel watched as his little brother was taken out of the room, but he didn't show any signs of remorse. Instead, the Crown Prince looked at the man seated on the chair and asked the question that mattered.

"When will you honor your end of the bargain?" Prince Lionel asked.

The man smiled as he stared back at the Crown Prince that betrayed his own Kingdom.

"Three days from now, Your Highness," the man replied. "In three days, the lands of the Southern Continent will never be the same again…"