"Wow...this is really comfortable," I sighed to myself, sinking into the bed.

I was currently in a guest bedroom in the Goldway royal castle.

​​

Once we had reached the gates of the country, the guards let us in, after which they led us to the castle. The castle was in the center of the country, and from where we entered, we would have to make our way through the country's slums.

FYI, the slums took up nearly half the land of the entire country, which I guess made sense since the vast majority of the population were peasants, people who basically had no human rights.

It made me realize why the countries with harsh slavery laws were the most prosperous in this world...they only needed to properly governed half, or even less, of the entire country. It's a lot easier to govern and manage the economy when you're doing it on a smaller scale, and that wasn't the case with the Rustlands, where everyone was treated equally and the entire country is governed evenly.

As we made our way through the slums, Persia appeared rather nervous, but insisted that she was fine, just a bit uneasy. She didn't seem to be bluffing, so I didn't push it further, while subtly keeping an eye on her.

After a couple of hours, we reached a teleportation point, from which we teleported to the vicinity of the castle grounds. By then, it was already dark, so they decided to wait till the next morning to get down to business.

Thus, we were escorted to the guest wing of the castle, where we were each given a room to stay it. We were also told that we could freely explore the guest wing if we felt like it.

As for the rooms themselves...they were pretty great.

Mine was probably a good five times bigger than my room at the inn back in the Rustlands, it had a large bed with an incredibly comfortable mattress and sheets, an attached bathroom that was just slightly smaller than my inn room, and it even felt like it was air-conditioned. They achieved that effect using a crystal known as a Cooling Crystal, it worked similarly to how Light Crystals worked, except that instead of glowing when you ran your Mana through it, it would cool down the air around it, and a high quality one could last for upwards of a good five hours or so.

It was just the right temperature too, neither too cold nor not cold enough. They were pretty expensive, so I had never really considered getting one in the Rustlands, but I might think about getting one now. I could afford it now that I could take on Quests.

The floor was polished marble and the walls were painted white, the room had four Light Crystals, one in each corner. This was probably the nicest room I'd ever stayed in.

It was around 10 PM now, and I really didn't feel that sleepy. I felt wide awake despite the fact that I had gotten almost no sleep last night. How should I pass the time till I'm ready to sleep?

I considered exploring the castle for a moment, but decided against it. I was confident in my skills at sneaking around, but if I messed up and got caught, I might be assumed to be a spy or something, and this whole alliance thing could go up in smoke, at the very least I'd almost definitely be in hot water.

...yeah, that wasn't worth risking.

Maybe I could go hang out with Persia...?

...I really wanted to, but visiting her at this hour at night...I don't think I can quite bring myself to be that bold yet.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as I heard a knock on my door.

Could that be her? I opened the door expectantly...

"Oh, it's just you, Az," I sighed after opening it, "What's up?"

"You seem disappointed. Actually, the Cooling Crystal in my room isn't working, so I thought I'd come here while they fix it."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not disappointed because it's you, I'm disappointed because it wasn't...actually, never mind. Well...uh, come on in, I wasn't planning on going to sleep anytime soon, anyway."

As soon as I let him in, he made a beeline for the bed and flopped down on it face first.

"These are some amazing beds," He mumbled contentedly, "I feel like we could reach unprecedented levels of comfort if we smoked that weed stuff while relaxing on these."

He made an excellent point.

"Huh, maybe we could have snuck out a few buds from one of the crates in the gift cart," I mused, munching on a piece of cheese.

Oh right, these rooms also had a bunch of refreshments, there were a few bottles filled with water or fruit juices, as well as platters of cut fruit, cheeses and other snacks. It kinda felt like a fancy hotel.

"By the way, I noticed that you've been really upbeat since this morning. Did something good happen?"

He's way too sharp for someone who appears to be daydreaming half the time.

"W-well...yeah, I guess you could say that something good happened. Though it is unusual for you to be curious about something. Come to think of it, you're getting pretty talkative these days, at least compared to how you usually are."

"I guess. Well, a little bit of talking doesn't take up that much energy...it's not like I have a reason to actively avoid conversation or anything," He shrugged in reply.

Before I could respond, I was interrupted by a knock on the door.

I opened it, and was greeted by a firm hug, along with a familiar scent.

"Persia? Is everything okay?"

She was carrying a small bag.

"H-hey, um...do you m-mind if I s-sleep with you tonight?"

It took me a second to process that...

...

...

Calm down, calm down, CALM DOWN!

She probably didn't mean it like that, d-don't jump to conclusions without hearing the full explanation!

"U-uh, why d-don't you come in first?" I replied, closing the door once she was inside.

"Should I...not be here?" Came a lazy voice that I had briefly forgotten was in the room.

"Wha-! Oh wow, you really startled me, Azyl!" Exclaimed Persia, jumping when he spoke up.

The fur on her tail and cat ears had stood up, going back down as she composed herself.

"Oh...sorry about that. I see, this is why you looked so disappointed when I knocked on the door, Kuro. You were expecting-."

"I h-have no idea what you're talking about!" I interrupted, unconvincingly.

"Uh-huh. This also explains why you've been in a good mood all day. Did something happen between the two of you?"

"H-hey, Kuro...did Azyl always talk this much?" Inquired a bemused Persia.

"I know what you mean, he almost seems like a different person. Uh, to answer your question, Az...well, I suppose you could say that, uh...we're a couple now."

"Wow...that's both not surprising and surprising at the same time. Not surprising because it was obvious that you two were obsessed with each other. And surprising because it only seemed obvious to everyone except you two," He responded, hardly showing any reaction as usual.

"...don't put it that way...even if I might be true," I grumbled.

"Well...congratulations. I don't want to be a third wheel, so I'm heading back to my room. Later," He yawned, as he got off the bed and headed for the door, leaving the room.

"Uh, right...later."

Well, that was...something.

He really had changed. Well, I suppose it would be more accurate to say that he was opening up more instead of changing.

"Hey, you okay? You're looking kinda flushed," I asked, noticing Persia's red face.

"Y-yeah...my heart just kind of skipped a beat when you called us a couple...is that stupid?"

Wow...

"...you are way too cute."

"Wh-wha- where did th-that come from!?"

"Hm? Oh, I think it all the time...guess that's the first time I've actually said it out loud, huh."

"Y-you can't just blurt out whatever you want, you know...its not fair," She mumbled, hiding her face in my chest.

As she did that, I felt a strong urge to call her cute again, but resisted. I probably shouldn't go too overboard with teasing.

Though, I had to admit...I really wanted to.

"Oh, right...I totally forgot. Wh-what did you mean by what you said when I opened the door? And is something in the bag you're carrying?" I inquired, doing my best to avoid drawing my own conclusions in my head.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I asked you if I could...if I c-c-could...s-sleep- wait, that's not what I meant! I m-meant sleep as in the literal sense of the word...n-not the o-other i-implication. As for the bag, it's carrying my nightgown and a change of clothes."

"R-right, that's what I a-assumed, j-just wanted to make sure, so that th-there'd be no misunderstandings! So...are you having trouble falling asleep or something?"

"No, not exactly...I think I can fall asleep just fine, it's just that...I feel a bit nervous and unsettled. The last time I fell asleep in this country, I woke up caged and chained. I know it's probably safe here inside the castle, and I'm being paranoid, but...I-I think I'll feel safer if I s-sleep with you. I d-don't have any u-ulterior motives or anything! So...can I?"

I'd have to be insane to say no.

"S-sure, I don't m-mind. And hey, you're not being paranoid, it's a pretty natural reaction in the face of trauma. In fact, I'd say you're doing well, considering what you went through back then. You can rest easy, alright?"

Half an hour later, as the Light Crystals faded out, we both changed and went to sleep. Well, in my case...tried to go to sleep.

Yeah, not happening.

I was even more awake than I had been earlier. Her nightgown was a light, loose sleeveless black dress that went down to her knees. It was simple, but she looked absolutely incredible in it.

As for me, not that it matters much, but I was wearing a loose, black tank top and black shorts.

She was just a couple of inches to my left, I could slightly feel her body warmth next to me, and her scent was entering my nose, sending my brain spinning. I was also having to resist the urge to stare.

"Kuro?"

"Y-yeah?"

"U-um...if it's not too much to ask...could you hold me?"

You're killing me here, Cat Girl! But, again...there was no way I was going to say no to that!

"...o-okay," I replied as my head started feeling dizzy.

I turned to face her, and pulled towards me, wrapping her in my arms. So...warm and soft.

The difficulty level of falling asleep just went up several notches, but...this was nice.

She then caught me off-guard as she pulled herself even closer towards me, till she was firmly pressing up against me. She must be more nervous than she had let on. I tried to force myself to calm down, I can't have my head in the gutter while she's potentially suffering from trauma-!

"Kuro?" She interrupted my thoughts, as she stared into my eyes.

"Y-yeah, what's up?" I responded, as she closed in further.

How do I calm down, I could barely think straight, with her warm breath brushing against my neck, her slender arms around my body, her boobs pressing into my chest, her thigh that was pushing against my- okay, getting less calmer by the second!

"W-well...I'm sorry, I kinda...lied."

Huh?

She had a slightly guilty expression on her face, but it seemed to be more embarrassed guilt than serious guilt...I wonder what she's talking about.

"Uh...about what?"

"Earlier, I said that I didn't have any ulterior motives, but the truth is...," She trailed off, kissing my jawline as she bent her knee a bit, pressing her thigh more firmly against my crotch.

Nothing assassination-related had ever gotten me feeling this overwhelmed, my body heat was rising like a furnace.

"Y-you trying to make me pass out or s-something?" I managed to stammer, unable to think straight.

"Well, if you don't want to-."

"I d-didn't say that! H-hold on, I need a sec to let my brain catch up- mfph!"

She cut me off with a kiss, before pulling back and smiling seductively at me.

"Still need a sec?"

I doubted that even a priest could resist temptation of this caliber.

"...nope."

I kissed her as she rolled on top of me, her hands on my chest. I caressed her cheek as I felt her tongue brush against my lips, as she began kissing me deeper. As we pulled back to catch our breath, she stared into my eyes and sat up a bit.

"Hey, just so you know...you don't need to hold back...I'm certainly not," She whispered, taking my hands and guiding them up to her boobs.

Whatever restraint was left in me vanished with that, as I flipped us over so that I was above her. She tilted her head and blinked up slowly at me, bending her leg slightly and pushing her thigh up against me. I leant down and kissed her, my hands massaging her boobs, as I felt her hand stroke my chest, before moving down lower and lower...

I'll leave the rest to your imagination, but let's just say that it was...an eventful night, I barely got a wink of sleep till hours later....I'm pretty sure it was close to dawn by the time we finally conked out.

...

...

The next morning, I woke up with a sneeze, startling me awake.

I yawned, rubbing my eyes as sunlight streamed in. I scrunched up my nose, as I felt something tickling it. I blinked my eyes open, to see Persia's tail in front of my face, the fur brushing against my nose.

Guess that's what woke me up.

I groggily sat up and stretched my arms, before glancing at the clock in the room. It was a little past 9 AM. We had all agreed to gather by 10 AM at the entrance of the guest wing, before being escorted to meet with the king of Goldway.

Of course, only the Rustlands' prince and representatives would be involved in the private meetings regarding the alliance and non-aggression pact between the two nations, but before that, we were all expected to greet and pay our respects to the king of this land.

Ugh, that probably meant more kneeling and bowing. Formalities were so unnecessary and stupid.

I should probably wake Persia, we had less than an hour to get ready. She was sleeping on her front, her face half-buried in a pillow and one of her legs sprawled across my lap.

Her back was scarred pretty badly, as was her torso...they looked like they were caused by whips and coarse cuts, I felt my heart tighten as I saw them.

Just thinking about the fact that she had once been tortured filled me with an indescribable and painful mixture of sorrow and rage...I had never gotten even close to this emotional over my own past torture.

I don't really have a goal in this world, like becoming the strongest or taking over the world or whatever other clichés you could think of, but if there was something I did want to accomplish, it'd be making sure that she never has to go through anything like that ever again, even if that meant taking on the entire world.

I gently shook her by the shoulder and poked her cheeks, until her forehead scrunched up and her eyes opened slightly. She let out a small yawn and stretched, her tail curling relaxedly.

As her eyes slowly blinked open, getting used to the sunlight bit by bit, she immediately blushed fiercely as her eyes widened, burying her face in a pillow.

...what was that about?

"Uh...you okay?"

"I-I...can't believe how...aggressive I was last night," She groaned, pushing her face farther into the pillow as her tail began thudding against the sheets.

"Heh...yeah, you definitely caught me off-guard. It was...unexpected to say the least, but hey, I'm definitely not complaining."

"W-well, yeah...I'm not complaining either, I loved every moment of it, b-but the way I acted was...so embarrassing!" She let out a muffled yell into the pillow.

'Loved every moment of it', huh? That's certainly a massive boost to my ego and confidence.

"If i-it makes you feel any better...I thought it was super hot. Though you should already know that, given my b-body's, er...reactions. Besides, you didn't seem in the least bit embarrassed last night."

"Th-that's be-because...I really wanted to get close to you...you know, ph-physically. H-honestly...during the last couple of months, whenever we were alone, I kept getting urges to do things like hug or kiss you, among other...stuff, a-and...it wasn't easy holding back, I e-even dreamt about it often! A-and last night, since we were alone in bed, I started to feel r-really...y-you know. As a result, I kinda unleashed everything I was holding back, and after that there were no going back. Y-you probably think I'm creepy or something-!"

"Of course, not. If anything, you telling me that you thought about me that much before makes me feel...really giddy and happy," I replied with a grin, stroking her cat ears.

"I-I'm glad...I was afraid you'd tease me about it-."

"Oh, I definitely plan to! Which new nickname would you prefer, Horny Cat or Cat in Heat-?" I grinning, struggling to contain my laughter as she glared at me with a pout.

"I'd better never hear you use either of those!" She interrupted, biting my earlobe, before pulling back and smacking my face with a pillow.

"I'll try not to, but no promises! How am I supposed to resist when you have such adorable reactions?" I replied, continuing to play with her cat ears as the pillow dropped.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you for a while...why are you so into my ears?"

Yikes, this was a potential landmine...I need to answer carefully.

"W-well, uh...in my old world, cat girls were fictional characters in fantasy stories, so when I saw you for the first time...uh, how do I put this-?"

"Are you trying to say that you...only like me because I have cat ears?"

Crap!

Alright, choose your next words carefully, Kuro...come on, you can still salvage this before it's too late!

"N-no, of course not! Sure, it was what I first noticed about you, but-!"

"So...if I didn't have these ears...you wouldn't have noticed me?"

No, no, no...this is bad!

"I-I, uh- wait, hold o-on....let me explain it clearly-!"

"Got you! Calm down, I'm just messing with you! That's what you get for giving me stupid, annoying nicknames...heh, you should see your face right now," She interrupted, as her serious expression broke into a mischievous smile.

I wanted to disappear.

"Wh-whatever, I k-knew that! I, uh...was j-just playing along," I stuttered in reply, not very convincingly, "A-anyway, we should get dressed...it's almost half past nine."

"Hehe...you're so embarrassed."

"...sh-shut up."

We got out of bed and quickly got ready, putting on our outfits after freshening up in the bathroom. We donned our battle gear, since we didn't exactly have any formal clothes. Guess it was a good thing that I saved my last set of proper battle gear, it probably wouldn't go down too well if I showed up in a hoodie or something.

Once we were both ready, we left the room, shutting the door behind us.

"Hey, make sure not to show any obvious displeasure, I noticed how rigid you got when we knelt before the king of the Rustlands," She advised me.

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I plan on staying under the radar, I'd rather not cause or get entangled in a political mess," I assured her in reply.

As we began heading to the entrance of the guest wing, someone called out from behind us.

"Good morning, you two!" Greeted Vi cheerfully, walking up to us.

"Hey, what's up?" I responded.

"Oh, good morning, Vi," Replied Persia, with a smile.

She tagged along as we headed for the entrance, where most of the others had already gathered. I spotted Azyl and called out to him.

"Hey, Az. Surprised to see that you're already here."

"I would have liked to sleep more...but being late would have attracted too much attention."

Once everyone was present, a guard led us to the throne room, a massive space in which the king was seated at the end. Guards, Adventurers and men in extravagant clothing, presumably nobles, were stationed across the room, with a straight path in the middle leading to the throne.

The Rustlands' prince and representatives led our group into the throne room, heading towards the king. I swallowed my pride and followed suit as they knelt before the king.

King Aurich Goldway. He looked pretty young, probably in his early-twenties. He had medium-length, flowing golden blonde hair that grew down to just above his shoulders, with the front shortened to halfway down his forehead. He had bright, golden brown eyes, was sturdily-built, and grew a short, pointed beard on his chin.

He was clad in light, golden armor with a red cape, and had a sword strapped to his hip. I had found out that the rare people who possess Light Magic do not develop an Anima for some unknown reason, and sure enough, I couldn't spot any signs of physical mutations on him.

"Please, rise. You need not feel obligated to kneel before me," He spoke, in a gentle yet commanding tone.

I internally sighed in relief as we all stood back up.

"It is an honor to meet you, King Aurich. I am the crown prince of the nation of the Rustlands, Prince Ocroed Rustlands. We..."

The overly polite royal greetings went on for a few minutes, before they finally got down to business.

"I was made aware that you encountered some trouble whilst on the way here. Is this true?"

The prince confirmed it, before calling on Instructor Trocuelo to explain the events of the seventh day of our journey.

He proceeded to describe everything that had happened when we were attacked, as well as what we went through underground. As he concluded his explanation, the Adventurers and nobles around us began whispering amongst themselves, sounding a bit unconvinced.

Well, I can't exactly blame them, a bunch of Student Adventurers fighting off a few hundred enemies without a single casualty didn't sound very likely.

Then, a man standing next to the throne with a face shrouded by a white cloth and just his eyes exposed, approached and whispered to the king. An advisor or something?

"Hm? I do not see why that would be necessary," Replied the king.

"Is something the matter, your highness?" Inquired Prince Ocroed.

"Ah, well...one of my advisors has suggested a friendly duel between one of our Adventurers and one of your Student Adventurers. However, I fail to see an adequate purpose in doing so."

"If I may, your highness...most of everyone here appear to be skeptical of our guests' claims, I believe that a duel would serve well to alleviate those doubts," Justified the man with the shrouded face.

I get it, if one of us holds their own against one of their Adventurers in a duel, it would clear at least some of the doubts. After all, the Rustlands had a reputation of having the weakest overall Adventurers in this world.

"I am not quite convinced, however I do see that you have a point. Very well, we shall issue a friendly challenge, please do not feel pressured to accept if you would prefer not to," Declared the king, extending the duel challenge to us.

They gave us a moment to discuss it amongst ourselves.

Most of us weren't particularly against accepting it, so we decided to do so, but then came the problem...choosing who would represent us.

We quickly ruled out Ekai and Azyl since we probably shouldn't carelessly show off our strongest trump cards. Mijy and Bom were also ruled out, since they're, well- I'll be blunt -weak.

We decided to pick from the remaining six at random, and...I ended up being chosen.

I wasn't sure how to feel, I was curious to see what Goldway's Adventurers were capable of, but I didn't really like the idea of showing off all the tricks up my sleeve to a bunch of potential enemies. The alliance was still far from certain, after all. Oh, well...I guess it'd be a waste not to enjoy myself.

After we accepted their challenge, we were all guided to a large room that appeared to be a training hall. They cleared away the equipment to make room in the middle, and then set up a barrier as my opponent and I took our positions.

It appeared to be a similar barrier to the one that was used in the Brawl of Glory.

My opponent was one of Goldway's S-Ranked Adventurers, a lean, lanky guy with wind magic and was equipped with a pair of...nunchucks.

Now that's a weapon I didn't expect to see in this world.

He was ranked ninth among the sixteen S-Ranked Adventurers in Goldway, Einn Olbaw, eighteen years old, having graduated from Goldway's Adventurer Academy just a couple of months ago. He had a fair complexion, spiked up brown hair and brown eyes.

He had a tail covered in brown fur, though I wasn't quite sure from what kind of animal. It didn't seem to be a type of cat. Well, no point in baselessly speculating.

I drew out my short-sword and subtly withdrew poison needles in my left hand, getting ready to strike.

The king declared the start of the fight.

"Begin!"

I immediately flung the poison needles at my opponent, who swung one of his nunchucks across, blowing away my needles.

Okay...looks like he first used Stream to wrap his weapon in wind, and then rapidly increased and compressed that wind around the nunchuck, and as he swung it, he simultaneously decompressed it rapidly, resulting in a sort of makeshift whip-like powerful shockwave.

This was the most unique application of the Stream technique I've seen so far...this should be interesting.

He then swung both nunchucks across in my direction, sending a couple of wind blasts towards me. I evaded them without needing to activate Lightning Boost, flinging more poison needles at him as I dodged.

Instead of either firing from his hands or Streaming around his weapons, he combined the two to fire from his weapons...Streaming the wind from his hands to his weapons and then blasting them out like slingshots.

His attacks had power, but I happened to have a lot of experience against Wind Magic.

Still, his control and creativity was impressive.

When he swung each nunchuck at me, he used Stream to compressed wind only at the ends of each of them, before decompressing them right when they're at an angle that would blast them forward towards me.

He was effective using his nunchucks as mini-catapults to throw rapid, expanding blasts of wind at his opponent.

I began to charge up lightning inside my left wrist, while streaming lightning through my short-sword, extending its reach by a few inches. I'll set Lightning Boost aside for now, I'll use it if he turns out to be a user of Propulsion instead of Flight.

I was having fun, but I'd still prefer to end this without revealing too many of my abilities.

I then dashed forward towards him, flinging poison needles at him. As he deflected them away, I threw a smoke bomb by his feet, it exploded and shrouded him in a thick, black cloud of smoke.

I then stopped and continued to charge the lightning in my wrist.

He was probably waiting for me to charge in, but the real reason I'd thrown a smoke bomb at him was to be able to tell exactly which direction he was moving in if he decided to escape the smoke. Also, to buy a little extra time to get my lightning blast ready to end this in one shot.

The dark smoke suddenly dispersed in the blink of an eye, with him standing in the middle. He must swung both nunchucks across each other to create a shockwave to blow away the smoke.

Not bad at all.

He swung one of them up and across in my direction, hurling a blast of wind towards me. I narrowly sidestepped it, the force of the decompressed wind that shot past me left a cut across my cheek and shoulder.

That wouldn't have been pretty if it had hit me directly.

He then began rapidly spinning the nunchucks, charging up a violently twisting wind storm around him.

Can't let him fire that or I'm screwed, time to end this.

As he arched his arms back to swing and catapult all that accumulated wind in my direction, I sliced off my left hand, inciting exclamations of surprise from the spectators.

He swung the rapidly spinning nunchucks at me as I fired my lightning blast, planting my back foot firmly to balance out the recoil.

No time to yell out the attack name, even in my head.

The two blasts collided, the impact sent me flying back till I crashed into the barrier wall with some force, shattering a part of my spine. I coughed out some blood, before reorienting my senses.

Did I manage to teleport him out?

I focused on healing my damaged spine as quickly as I could, before getting back on my feet.

As the dust cleared, I raised an eyebrow in surprise as I saw that he was still on his feet too. He too had gone crashing into the barrier, but since he had been relatively close to the barrier wall to begin with, he probably hadn't broken anything.

His arms were a mess though, the skin had been electrocuted and badly burnt past his elbows. His weapons were scorched too. I began to pull out a poison needle, but before I could make a move, the barrier suddenly deactivated.

"I believe we should end this here! There is no sense in letting major injuries be inflicted in a friendly duel, after all. And besides, I think we have seen enough to alleviate any doubts around the strength of our guests," Declared the king, ending the bout.

I put away my sword with a sigh and rapidly jerked my left arm back, to pull my severed left hand back towards me. I had connected them by tying wire around my wrist as well as my middle finger. I just had to make sure that I don't cut the wire when I sever my hand to fire lightning, and then I can pull back the severed hand after I'm done.

I wouldn't have minded that fight going on for a bit longer though, I was holding back a lot after all, without using either Lightning Boost nor Bloodlust Mode, and it had started to get fun.

I had a feeling that my opponent hadn't gone all out either.

The king approached him and raised a hand towards him, which began to glow brightly. As the glow intensified, Einn's burnt arms began to heal rapidly, good as new within a matter of seconds. Wow, so that's the healing power of Light Magic, huh.

The king then turned towards me, his eyes shifting towards my left hand.

"Oh, uh...I'm totally fine, so no worries, er...your highness," I said, lifting my arm and rotating my left wrist.

He looked surprised for a moment, before nodding and heading to talk to the Rustlands prince.

"Well fought, kid. Are you really just a Student Adventurer? I suppose the rumors about the Rustlands' Adventurers being weak isn't quite accurate," Greeted my opponent, extending a hand towards me.

"Uh...thanks, I think," I replied awkwardly, shaking his hand.

"I'm Einn Olbow, it's nice to meet you," He grinned.

"Oh, uh...I'm Kuro, er, Black," Yeah, I seriously regret that last name, "It's nice to meet you, too."

"I'll see you around, Kuro. Perhaps we'll get another chance to duel while you and your group are staying here, in which case I'll make sure you don't hold back on me again!"

He seemed nice enough, I guess.

"Sure, right back at you," I replied with a polite nod.

As he left, Goldway's king and the Rustlands' prince announced that they would soon begin the meeting regarding the alliance, and informed all of us that we were free to explore the country if we wanted to.

Sweet, I was curious to see what this place was like, especially compared to the Rustlands.

"Hey, congrats on the win," Applauded Persia, approaching me from behind.

"Thanks, I-."

I was interrupted as the king's advisor, the veiled dude who had suggested this duel, walked towards me.

"That was an impressive showing. Allow me to congratulate you."

"Uh, thanks...sorry, I'm not sure how to respond to someone whose face I can't see," I blurted out, before I could stop myself.

Crap, that could easily be misinterpreted as a rude comment, I just meant that it's hard to hold a conversation when you can't see the other person's expressions.

Normally I'd just stick with it, and this is so not my style, but...I'll explain what I meant to avoid a misunderstanding, it'll be a pain if I end up triggering a war or whatever over something so trivial.

"That came out wrong, let me-."

"Oh, how rude of me...my apologies, I simply forgot that I was wearing this thing," He replied, taking off the shroud over his face.

He appeared to be in his late-forties, with graying hair and slight wrinkles around his eyes. He had three diagonal scars on his face, they looked like slashes from a lion or tiger or something. I was tempted to ask him about it, but managed to control myself.

I began to speak, but stopped as I felt Persia stiffen and seize up behind me.

At the same time, the man in front of me stared at her, before his eyes widened in recognition. And then, for a fraction of a second, I felt it. It was just for an instant, but I felt it as clear as day.

...bloodlust.

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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP