----------------------

“So let me get this straight…” said Riou with a long horn-shaped cup in his hand.

“I get that Arthur was someone like me, but too much time passed since he came and I… there were no others in between? No information on how often this happens? How come there are so many legends but no actual people coming in?” questioned the boy.

“None that were recorded… and you are forgetting that people from this world also tried to fully enter the Traverse, but very few were known to have succeeded it, given their legends are true of course.”

Max paused for a moment. “Also, there is one crucial difference between you and Arthur” said the mage drinking from his horn. “Arthur appeared in the spirit world and then was brought here by Brine… you on the other hand was thrown in the Abyss first and then somehow managed to find your way here, so how do we interpret that?”

Riou thought for a moment. “Have you ever heard the term Rift Walker?”

Max pondered for a few moments. “I can’t say I have… well I understand the meaning, but don’t recall being mentioned in any book.”

The boy nodded. “Well, that's what I was called… on the way here I found someone.” Max widened his eyes. “He said he knows something about the traverse.”

Max leaned in interest. “Who? What was said in this encounter?”

Riou looked around to see if Eleanor was not eavesdropping on them. “You remember mentioning Brahm?” said Riou, whispering while Max looked with squinted eyes and a strange interest at the boy’s next words.

“He is actually a dragon and sure looks like someone who knows his stuff around this subject.”

“A dragon!?” exclaimed the mage loudly.

“Shhh!” shushed Riou, gesturing for the mage to not speak so loudly while looking around to see if Eleanor heard them.

“A dragon?” said once again, whispering “That can’t be… I knew he was up to no good… but… a Dragon? Are you sure?”

Riou nodded “Yeah the kind with claws and wings… he paid me a visit on the way here, something about wanting to kill me because I entered his domain… you know, dragon stuff. But the point is that he called me a Rift Walker and knew exactly what had happened to me. That I crossed worlds recently… he said I smelled like the Abyss and he even knew I shrunk into a younger version of me just by looking. He gave the impression that he knew how to send me back… so I need him to talk how to do it”

“Wait, wait, wait… did you just say he knew you went to the Abyss? How did you go from death threats to talk about the Traverse? No… I don’t even find it hard to believe anymore” said Max, drinking large gulps from the cup.

“Yeah, we will prepare a few things, then we will call him here to answer a few questions about it, I was hoping you’d help me with it” added Riou sipping from his mug.

“Call him here? A dragon here? Helping us? Are you out of your mind? We need to inform Ephil and kill the bastard before he does anything else” said the Magus with anger.

“Calm down old man. I get it, you don’t like dragons… but he has been living amongst you for a very long time now. He even has a house name to zeal for… don’t get all worked up all of the sudden, he has always been a dragon and is there for a long time now. Also, he didn’t try to kill me, nor has he tried to kill anyone, right? I guess not at least. And there are no dragons here right? So give it a rest until we have some answers from him” said the boy to the partially convinced mage.

“He probably killed everyone in the House of Brahm and took someone’s place with his foul magic… Brahm’s house is one of the oldest, and he is lying if he says he could open a path for you. No dragon is that powerful! But fine… I will trust you and let you handle this matter your way.

But I must tell you, I never liked him. Dragons cannot be trusted” said the angry mage.

Riou nodded. “Calm down dragon slayer, he is a potential ally for now, so take it easy and behave when you meet him. You don’t need to like him”

Max nodded, once again agreeing with Riou, still he was not pleased in the slightest. “Did he tell you his Dragon name? From which brood did he say he was?”

Riou looked confused. “Brood? As in which family? I didn’t know Dragons had such a thing.”

Riou paused for a moment thinking. He knew he should not say the dragon’s name or risk summoning him before they were ready, so he continued “He did tell me some lame-ass name, but enough talking about Dragons since they make you mad… I want to prepare before getting him here to talk anyway. So, let’s buy some stuff and do it in a couple of days.”

Max sighed and let out a restrained laugh. “Well, you sure need some rest from the long trip, dealing with thugs, bandits, thieves, the Black Rose and even Dragons.” He smiled at the irony while looking at the boy. “You sure know how to draw attention for someone who wants to lay low.”

The mage paused for a moment. “Talking about attention… wasn’t it time already for Eileen to arrive?”

“I think so… can we go to the inn and see what happened?” said Riou standing up.

Max nodded. “I will look. I have my key with me. Astrid may be too strict sometimes. She will react better if she sees me personally.”

“She is Syldis’ sister right? The resemblance is uncanny, '' said the boy.

Max nodded confirming his suspicion “She heard Syldis bought a tavern and wanted to try it out as well, I will go inform Astrid. I will be right back” the mage walked towards the laboratory.

Riou remembered Therese’s request and walked towards the forge as he waited for him to come back. ‘Maybe I could incorporate enhancements into the weapons, some form of enchantments or even make a magic weapon for them… I need to try a few runes of my own and see how they perform.’ He looked at the strange ores the mage gathered… all catalogued with strange markings.

‘I really hope he has some crazy stuff like Mithril, Adamantite or even Orichalcum. This wouldn’t be a magical world without these ores… tomorrow I will begin testing with enchantment if Max is fine with it’ thought the boy when he noticed steps on the main library corridor..

Eileen, Therese and Leona appeared following Max. They looked curiously around as they walked inside the strange place. They never have been in a Mage quarters before, but they walked in with determination as if searching for someone.

“As I expected, Astrid didn’t let them through. So they were waiting at the tables… At least they had dinner there already” said Max, approaching Riou.

“Hey, guess who can talk again!” said the boy greeting the group with a smile.

“It was about time… I think Eileen would fall sick if she had to wait another day to talk to you” said Therese, clearly concerned with the princess, she glanced at the girl who was extremely disconcerted.

Everyone could see she was struggling with something in her mind.

Riou looked at them surprised. “What happened?” Hearing the remark, Eleanor approached as well. “I can’t believe it, it’s really them…” she spoke to herself surprised to see the three there.

Therese looked at Eileen who didn’t seem too eager to explain anything, she shook her head clearly not wanting to bring the subject up. “It’s nothing, I will think a way out of it”

The Lioness and Leona both sighed.

It was too late now to conceal it, the king issued an order, so the lioness thought it better to explain the situation.

“Eileen was recognized and the lords know she is here. They expect to challenge her on the rites over the rest of the summer, that can take a lot of her time”

Riou nodded understanding the issue as Therese looked sternly at Eileen. From that point up it was her turn to speak, if so she wished.

Eileen nodded mustering up some courage, she took a deep breath before starting. “I tried to tell my grandfather that I couldn’t stay,” said Eileen slowly while Riou listened. “But it was to no avail…”

“He began questioning and prying into it… he ended up discovering that I lost a challenge,” she said, looking at Riou. Max widened his eyes, understanding already where the conversation was going.

“You lost?” questioned Riou with surprise not remembering that happening.

She nodded “To you…” she said, surprising him even more. “Remember that day in the training hall, when I asked you to fight me for real?”

He nodded confused “Yes... but that was training right, it was you who proposed it… so It doesn’t count, right? It shouldn’t count for these rites, am I right?”

“For the rites, a challenge is a challenge and must be honored, a response must be given” The princess continued.

“A response?”

She nodded “My grandfather wants you to come before him and state if you want to claim that victory or not.” She said quickly as she kept her eyes on him.

“Ohh, I see, you just want me to explain what happened to him. That it wasn’t a real challenge right?”

Eileen remained quiet for a moment and shook her head. “Actually... I was thinking… I mean, we were thinking...” she glanced at Therese “That if you claimed the victory it would move the rites forward and I no longer would be challenged for them.”

“Oh,” Riou was surprised but quickly nodded “Sure, if that would help you… what do you need me to do?”

Eileen was quite surprised as well on how quickly he accepted such a burden, he didn’t seem to completely understand the implications of it.

“You’d have to participate in the tournament that will take place in a couple days…” She continued lowering her voice a bit ashamed, “you would be presented as my oficial suitor at the time” She looked down, embarrassed, quickly continuing, “Also, since you don’t have a family name, Lord Brahm offered you a place in his household.”

Eileen raised her head and kept her eyes wide open looking Riou expectantly to what he’d say.

Riou could see a fear in her eyes that he couldn’t quite understand. She really seemed overly concerned about that matter. It was clear to him that she gave enormous importance to it.

“Brahm what?” suddenly exclaimed Max after hearing Eileen.

He looked at Riou seriously and with anger in his eyes, but the boy showed him his palm to calm the magus down while he kept looking at Eileen.

“Let me see if I got it right, you want me to claim this victory with your grandfather, join Brahm’s family and win this tournament. Is that it?” He said, looking at her very seriously.

Eileen seemed extremely distressed listening to him in such a serious tone. She was quick to assume he was not liking it.

“I know it’s too much, I know how you feel to be bound to these things so don’t worry, there is no need for you to go through all this… I will tell grandfather that I will take upon the rites and stay… perhaps it will be swift and I will be able to join you all soon and…” suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and stopped talking.

Therese calmed her down, so she could listen.

Riou scratched his head for a moment looking down contemplative… he sighed and looked seriously at the princess' eyes once more.

“I get it why you want to keep traveling and not be held down here now” Riou smiled at seeing Therese by Eileen’s side “But last time I meddled in your business you scolded me… that’s why I’m asking. Do you want me to do this for you or not?”

She stood still for a moment… his dark blue eyes looked calmly at her. He wasn’t mad or angered, he just wanted to know how she really felt about it. And under his soothing eyes she shyly nodded.

“Then it’s settled. You don’t have to worry about it anymore, I will take care of it” He smiled at her.

The heavy weight and stress that had built up on her shoulders during the conversations so far was finally released.

She smiled brightly as her eyes teared up, she felt like crying, a sudden need to hug the young boy took over her.

There was nothing to fear now, he was beside and supporting her. She felt like nothing could stop them now. It brought forth a relief and a happiness that she couldn’t explain.

Riou was suddenly hugged, tightly by her for the first time. She rested her chin on his shoulder and leaned her head against his while curving down a bit. He could feel her hair caressing his cheeks and her arms enveloping him tightly.

He smiled by surprise and embraced her back. Cold wet drops touched his skin where her head was resting.

Riou knew that meant a lot to her and so he held her tighter.

Something stirred inside of him, reinvigorating his resolve to help her to the fullest of his ability.

He couldn’t help but smile at himself, he felt as light as a cloud, roaming the sky near the sun, her embrace was something that he had never felt before.

Max raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked at Eleanor who teared up watching the two. Therese and Leona just smiled at the sight.

After a while Eileen loosened up.

She moved back while still holding him. She was still smiling, while her eyes were a bit swollen and her face was all red. But to him, she was prettier than ever.

Noticing she was still holding onto him, she awkwardly let go, taking a step back.

Therese approached her as the Princess recovered herself. “See? You should listen to your master’s advice more often” said the lioness, patting her on the head with a smile.

Max looked at Eleanor sighing and smiling. “Please, show the girls to their rooms, they must be tired and I still need to talk to him.”

Eleanor smiled, guessing the contents of the talk. She promptly embraced Eileen for a moment and kissed her forehead as if blessing the union. After all, accepting the claim would make them both engaged.

The lady then pointed them towards the side of the room, where a door took them to the corridors where the guest rooms were.

Alone, Max looked at Riou who knew what the mage would say and nodded. “So much for trying to be inconspicuous right?” but Riou was still overly joyous, not regretting in the slightest his decision.

The magus sighed once again “That’s the least of my concerns at the moment.”

Max kept looking at him. “A Brahm?” Max shook his head. “I don’t know what that fiend is scheming now, but it is certainly nothing good… for him to be extending a hand like this, there must be some hidden angle we are not seeing, he might be plotting against you.”

“I don’t think you know him very well… He didn’t strike me like the mischievous and lying type. He was very straightforward with me”

Max shook his head “Don’t believe it, he's certainly a menace. But still, despite everything… His name is not to be taken lightly. It would elevate you from commoner to a very high status in the north court.”

“Don’t worry about Brahm. I think I know why he is doing this.”

“You do? You know what he is scheming?”

“He is not scheming,I’m very sure that he believes this will make things more interesting for him to watch. He is just old and bored out of his mind, this is his entertainment” said the boy, still a bit out of himself with a silly smile at his face glancing at the corridor Eileen went by.

Max didn’t seem too convinced but dropped the subject as he noticed the boy’s head was into other things.

The Magus shook his head. “Sometimes I forget you are just a decade older than you look.” He walks towards the cabinet with his liquor.

“What are you going to do now that you will be famous?” questioned the mage getting them drinks.

“I doubt my face will be that well known… so if I keep it quiet, nothing will change” replied the boy.

Max nodded. “And how does it feel to be engaged to a princess?” said the Mage, filling two horn cups and bringing one to Riou.

“Engaged… sounds like an awful lot of work and trouble” said the boy, not able to erase the smile at the corner of his mouth.

Max smiled at the sight. “You sure took your time… making her believe it was a hard choice.” Max paused for a moment as Riou turned to him.

The mage looked at him with a smirk. “When in reality, you didn’t want her to leave, not even for a day… nor could you stand the thought of her fighting there, risking to lose and having to marry some stranger. Not while you could do something about it… and now she gave you the opportunity to do it, am I wrong?”

Riou laughed briefly, while his eyes turned towards the dark liquid in his mug. “Am I really that easy to read old man?”

The old mage nodded. “Regarding her? Like an open book… Not only wrinkles come with old age you know.” He sipped his spirit. “Why don’t you tell her? You won’t get home that quickly.”

The boy's smile finally faded. “I must admit, things are not looking good... my best bet so far is a not-so-willing dragon.”

Max nodded. “So, why don’t you open up with Eileen? Why this secrecy with her? With everyone? Isn’t it about time to show yourself? Your true self?”

The boy looked at the mage. “She is a great girl, smart, strong and funny. It’s really nice to be around her… I really like her” He smiled briefly. “I mean, I could fall really hard for her... in other circumstances.”

The magus frowned and waited for him to continue.

Riou shook his head. “I attract Dragons just by passing by… every animal and beast flees from me. Even Therese tried to kill me the first time she met me… and this body… I’m not only a young boy, I’m a mess Max. I have been feeling some after effects, I think it’s mana related. Something is not right, I can feel it”

The mage remembered that he also almost killed the boy but decided not to bring up since it would make him more depressed.

The boy sipped the drink. “I’ve been thinking about coming clean, let everyone know who I am. But this world… This society's disdain for each other, they are stuck in time and have barely evolved in hundreds of years. What do you think would happen if someone like me appeared from nowhere, all powerful like I am? Do you think they would understand it? Would they let me be?” He shook his head answering the question. “I don’t need that”

Max remained silent, understanding what he meant for he himself had been through a similar path that led him to move away from the kingdoms and politics.

The boy sighed. “And then there is Eileen. I know there is no long term in this... even if she does have some sort of feelings, it’s just something fleeting… some mix of gratitude and admiration. It can’t possibly be love, not really.”

He paused thinking of it for a moment, Max restrained himself from any comment.

“So whatever it is, it won’t last… she will realize it sooner or later and I’ll probably be gone by then, one way or the other”

“Are you sure? What I saw today was a girl very happy to be be engaged to you”

Riou forced a smile. “She knows I would never force this marriage on her. Even if it’s official for a while, I will help her as much as she wants. But the moment things get real and she says it’s enough… I’m out, I won’t hold it against her and she knows.”

The old mage sighed and shook his head. “You are wise beyond your years for so many things… but in this matter, I must disagree. You talk about love and whatnot… but you clearly know nothing about it my friend.”

Riou nodded and take a sip “That may be true”

Max had to laugh briefly at the boy. “You, my friend, are both the smartest and dumbest man I’ve ever come to know… including myself, which by itself, should say a lot about you.”

Riou laughed as well on the on point remark and toasted to it.

“But a word of advice… life is fleeting, don’t let it pass without voicing your heart’s desire, or you will regret it later on.”

Riou looked at him with a serious expression, then down to the drink, pondering on his words.

--------------------------------- At the rooms

“How are you feeling Eileen?” asked Eleanor, sitting down on the bed beside the princess. The room was rather big with stone walls and ceiling, a fireplace was already burning heating it in the corner. It had many comforts, mirrors, cabinets and a very large bed. Max didn’t spare expenses on the place.

The princess was smiling. “I’m better lady Eleanor, thank you.”

Eleanor nodded and looked at her concerned. “I hope you know what you are doing by dragging him into this matter.”

Eileen looked down. “I didn’t want to… but I realized that it was worth a try… I knew that I’d never see him or Therese again if I didn’t.”

The old woman smiled. “You really do like the boy don’t you?”

The princess smiled a bit. She began to understand her feelings better. “It’s easy to talk to him, he is so smart and the way he looks at me sometimes. Like he is seeing through me, like I’m not a princess... I never met anyone like him”

The woman approached her and caressed the princess’ hair. “You’ve grown so much. Your mother will be so proud.” She then looked seriously at the princess and put her hands on her cheeks.

“My dear, listen to me very carefully. If you really want to be with that boy. And I mean it, if you really want it, you will have to be strong. Stay by his side no matter what is done or said and never betray his trust. And more importantly, whatever happens from now on, follow your heart no matter what. Don’t let duty, honor or anything stay between you two, trust him and yourself or you might end up regretting it for the rest of your life. If he is the one, you will be together and everything else will fall in place, believe it.”

Eileen looked at her serious eyes and nodded.

------------------------------------------ Later in the night

The boy couldn’t sleep as there was too much on his mind. Giving up on it, he went to the forge, hoping some work would help to calm down.

He had a good talk with Maximilian about the enchanting subject and began to understand how it was done.

Everyone else was still sleeping as he began to test his theories with the copper medal plates.

Before starting, he realized that he didn’t know how to write the elven runes… but since chanting worked in every language, perhaps writing runes followed the same principle.

Using his own world alphabet, he proceeded to engrave a plate.

“Fire”. He wrote on it and then cast a small fire spell on the small copper medal.

The plate just moved with the impact and heated up a bit, but the rune didn’t absorb the spell.

‘How can I infuse the rune with the spell?’ the boy began to think while continuing his attempts.

After a few more failures, he concentrated and created fire in his right hand. He brought the plate with the Fire inscription near it and began to force the spell into the rune with his mana, as if pulling the spell and forcing it into the rune.

The enchanting spell seemed to work, the fire changed its color to blue and streamed into the rune, absorbed by it. Once it finished, the whole copper plate began to burst in flames, while the rune faintly glowed in blue light.

Riou dropped it on top of the stone table. “It seems to have worked… but, how long will this burn? There isn’t a way to turn it off?”

He observed as the copper plate just burned but didn’t seem to gain heat on itself, the metal and its color didn’t change, nor did it begin to melt… it clearly showed signs that it would continue to burn for a long while in that slow, small flame.

The boy forcefully removed the mana on the rune which ceased the fire. And as he thought, the copper plate suffered no damage from the spell. ‘Interesting, it seems like it not only produced the desired effect but also had some protection, like when a mage is conjuring the spell. It makes sense since the mana was infused into it… but does it create full immunity to the element?’

Riou infused the spell into the plate once again, which reignited its flames.

The boy then approached his finger with an even hotter flame and promptly directed towards it. The copper quickly heated up and melted with the external heat source. As the word lost its form the reaction with the spell ceased, bursting the plate into pieces that went flying.

‘Definitely not immunity. Just some resistance and probably restricted to the level of the spell imbued to it.’

The boy continues to experiment, adding more words and mana, trying to test the enchanting limits. He even tried to change the spell colors. To his surprise everything seemed to work somehow. He discovered he could change how the spell manifested itself in many different ways by changing the words on the plates.

He then began to test ideas.

Depending on the spells he created, the possibilities for these enchantments were endless.

The boy then wrote fire immunity on the next copper plate. He then devised a fire immunity spell to be absorbed by the rune, wondering if it would work.

Riou noticed with this experiment that the mana necessary to manifest such a spell was exponentially larger than the common fire spells that he was using so far, not only that, the time for it to be absorbed by the rune was directly proportional to the mana quantity it was used to cast it.

It wasn’t a simple and quick process.

Doing such a thing required an outstanding concentration and ability for mana manipulation. He could see how difficult it was and began to understand why there weren’t so many enchanted items in that world. It wasn’t a simple task.

After awhile, he managed to complete the enchantment, he then dropped the plate inside the small forge and pointed his finger towards it, shooting his blowtorch spell, slowly increasing the heat on the forge.

‘Amazing… nothing, it’s not even getting red.’ He stopped and lifted it from the forge with care. He touched it, it was cold, colder than the other plates despite the extreme heat it was subjected to.

‘How many words can I put in a single plate? How many enchants can I put on a single medal?’ thought the boy, putting the fire immunity metal plate in his pouch. He would show it to Max later.

The boy smiled to himself and continued his testing until long into the morning, creating spells and new enchantments.

---------------------------------------- Morning

Max woke up and walked towards the forge as he heard noises coming from there, he found the boy messing around with it.

“You sure woke up early… so, did you have any luck?” said the mage as he looked and noticed the boy had almost depleted all his supply of copper medals.

“How long have you been doing this?” questioned the mage surprised.

Riou smiled and pulled a plate from his pocket. “Try to burn it, melt it, as hard as you can.” He then tossed it inside the empty forge.

Max looked suspiciously towards him but agreed. He’d used the blowtorch spell on it… but to his surprise it didn’t react to the fire. His eyes began to widen as he noticed that nothing was happening no matter how much heat he put on.

He stopped and Riou removed it from the forge and threw it at the mage, who fearfully grabbed it… realizing it was cold.

He looked astonished at Riou. “How?” He then noticed the strange inscription on the plate. “What is this? What does it say?”

Riou smiled. “Fire immunity.”

Max shook his head “That’s… that’s just not possible. Complete immunity spells cannot be applied to enchants, the runes don’t stabilize and the mana mana necessary for a spell of this magnitude is impossible, not to mention the ability to transfer it, it would take ages...” He looked at the boy who was still smiling and stopped talking.

“Try this one, pour mana here, and then here,” said the boy, showing him another strange writing on another plate and two circles on it.

Max did as he said, and as he poured mana, he could feel a cold air quickly coming from the plate and rapidly cooling its surroundings. “Now on the other, put some mana on it.” As the mage did so the cooling effect ceased immediately.

He looked perplexed at the boy.

“We can have either cooling or heating on demand now with on and off switches! Now it's starting to feel like home, we can add these to clothes and we’d be good for winter or summer times.”

Max didn’t know what to say, he just looked at the copper plates astonished.

Riou smiled “You should have shown me this stuff from the start, old man. So many bad nights could have been avoided with these”

The mage looked at his simple forge “In one morning, you not only learned how to enchant, but created a whole new method to do it…” said the magus looking at the many runes and plates laying around.

“I guess so…”

“Not only that, you even created spells that should not be possible to exist in copper enchants. This metal should not be able to withstand these kind of spells”

“You praise me too much old man. I created nothing of the sort… after I got the hang of it I began to experiment with what I thought would work, and that’s it.”

“That's it? What about this so called on and off switches?”

“Yeah, it was after I got two different enchants to work on the same plate that things really got interesting, it’s like a mana circuit now”

“Two enchants? You mean you can enchant a copper plate with two completely different enchants?” questioned Max with widened eyes and a perplexed expression.

“Sure I can. These copper plates began to explode only at 3 enchants… I think it’s the metal’s limit since the size didn’t seem to matter. It still exploded no matter how big I made the copper chunk.”

Max scratched his head looking at the plate in his hand.

Riou nodded and continued, “Iron behaved in the same fashion as copper… While steel was able to hold safely 3 enchants at once. Which brings me the question, what other ores do you have here? I can’t read these labels here… so I waited for you to tell me which are which,” explained the boy nonchalantly.

But Max couldn’t take it anymore. He needed a moment to process all that. Riou reinvented and perfected enchanting, advancing it by centuries of study, all in a single morning.

“How long have you studied about enchantments in your world?” questioned the mage after a few moments.

“I would dare to say it’s rather common there. Most games and stories have some sort of a system in place. I just kept trying to match what worked best here. But if I’d have to break down into the basics, I’d say this is a bit of math, programming and setting the mana circuitry properly” said the boy while still working on the table.

Max sighed “You can’t show this to anyone, this can turn the whole world upside down.”

“I know, don’t worry. So, I want to try some of these other ores and metals here. Then I will start to enchant the weapons… I should do my armor and clothes as well. Maybe I could do the same for the girls. Nothing off the charts, but enough to provide a good edge in battle.” He winked at the mage.

Max was concerned for his definition of edge in battle. “You can enchant armors too? Leather and fabric? Of course you can… I don’t know why I asked” said the defeated mage.

“Sure, why not?” replied the boy putting his coat on the table. “Tattoos should work as well… I just need to make sure to not overdo it… it would not be nice to explode a part of the body” he laughed at the bad joke while Max just got concerned by the dark thoughts.

At that point the lack of sleep, constant activity and large mana usage was already taking its toll on Riou. “The council already does it. I mean, people enchanting… and I guess the slave crests should follow the same principle, so none of that is actually new”

Max could see It was clearly time for the boy to take a break. He needed to sleep a bit at least before leaving for the castle. So the old mage promptly pushed him to his room before he started another experiment.

-------------------------------------------- That day, Later at the castle

Eileen and Riou were accompanied by Therese and Leona as they didn’t want to miss the occasion. The boy seemed a bit sleepy, but he was always like that.

The group promptly entered the castle and immediately went towards the king’s hall. On the way, Camus and Elise joined the group as the guards announced their arrival.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for them already.

“I’m glad to see you back Eileen, good to see you have made your mind” said Camus, requesting the guards to open the door to the hall, clearly not even noticing or paying attention to a boy following the group.

Elise nodded. “I waited for you yesterday, but since you didn’t appear I imagined you were getting rid of the commoner.” she smiled. “A shame, I was curious to see him” mocked the Norse Princess, laughing a bit at her cousin’s expenses “But I’m glad to see you’ve come to your senses, it will be good to have the old Eileen here once again” she said entering the hall.

Eileen remained silent and followed them inside.

“Eileen!” shouted the old king, standing up from his throne to once again greet his granddaughter with joy.

“So, where is he? What was decided?” questioned the king immediately.

“I brought him here to speak with you” said the princess to the surprise of Elise and Camus.

The king looked around surprised. “Where is he?” clearly not considering the possibility of being the boy in their midst.

Eileen pointed at the boy beside her. He was wearing a common leather armor coat and seemed unarmed at first glance. His hair was messy, his dark blue eyes seemed used to the reaction he was receiving.

The king sat down slowly looking at the boy, deep concern appeared on his face.

“Eileen, if this is a joke… it’s not funny. Did you or did you not bring him here?” questioned Camus looking at the door to see if anyone else would follow. “This boy could never be a suitor,” he added, looking at him once again.

Elise looked at her cousin unable to believe. “A boy… you lost to a small boy? You can’t be serious Eileen.”

Torwald looked to the guards at the door and said loudly at them, “Go and call Lord Brahm, he needs to be present as this also concerns him.” As the guard rushed, the king turned towards Eileen and the boy.

“Approach, both of you.” he said with a rather disappointed tone.

“Is it true that you requested a challenge and lost to this boy here” he questioned Eileen who nodded confirming it to her whole family dismay.

“I fail to comprehend how that could ever happen” said the king stroking his beard for a moment looking at him.

From the entrance the man with black hair and black attire walked with elegance towards the throne.

“Lord Brahm… glad you could come on such short notice, but Eileen has brought the… man”

Ephil said with difficulty and so he continued “I’d like you to be present to see it with your own eyes.”

The black man looked at Riou and the others and nodded respectfully, greeting everyone. Riou smiled and replied in kind.

“I see, is there any problem?” questioned the lord looking at the king.

Camus angrily replied, “A problem? Look at him… he still reeks of milk! He can’t even hold a sword!”

Even Riou found that remark funny, but remained quiet. He knew it would be rough talk so he looked at Eileen to see how she was taking it.

Surprisingly for him, she paid no mind to it either.

King Ephil looked at lord Brahm. “Given the circumstances, if you want to withdraw your proposition… no one will judge you.”

“Nonsense!” immediately spoke Brahm looking at the boy with a smile. “Do you want to be part of my house, to hold and represent the name of Brahm?”

Riou grinned and promptly replied “Sure, why not?” said the boy nonchalantly going with the flow of the Lord.

Everyone looked in awe at them because of such delicate matter that should be addressed and properly discussed beforehand.

Lord Brahm nodded and continued, “Having the elements and the king Ephil as my witnesses, let everyone know that I, Lucian Brahm, head and heir of my house’s name, hereby grant Riou my name and all the privileges and duties that it follows.”

The lord turned towards the king, who witnessed the fast succession of events. “That should suffice” said the lord to the king.

Elise looked dumbfounded to her father, who couldn’t believe Brahm actually would go through with it like that.

Eileen looked at Therese and Leona with surprise. She was sure that Lord Brahm and Riou had never met before… but still such synergy between the two was strange, none of them seemed to be surprised by each other's behavior.

Suddenly the king’s laugh echoed in the hall.

“You never were one to back off on anything Brahm… and I do hope this won’t come to bite you back” said the king, nodding to the Lord and turning towards the boy and the princess, impressed.

“Very well, you are now a Brahm. So, we continue, do you wish to claim victory over Eileen and become her suitor?”

“Yes” said the boy glancing at the princess with a smirk while the princess concealed a smile.

Ephil nodded. “Let it be known that Eileen Strongheart maiden’s duty has ceased, as she fought and lost to the warrior known as Riou from the house of Brahm, who hereby is to take up arms upon the warrior’s call and show his valor until the marriage can be celebrated. May he bring honor to both houses” said the king with a strong voice.

Taking a moment before proceeding, “You will be presented at the tournament in two days as Eileen’s suitor. That will be your call to arms. Fight well and be prepared” added the king.

Riou nodded once again, suspecting what would happen at such a tournament.

Elise was bothered by the fact that everyone was just going along with such a circus . “I can’t believe it, will you really just allow it?” she said, looking at her father. “He may have become a Brahm, but that doesn’t change the fact he is not blood related to them, or that he was a commoner just a moment ago!”

“It’s fine to mock her and make fun of her poor choices… but actually allowing this farse to continue? Don’t you think it’s too much father?” Elise was conflicted, she wanted her cousin's honor to be crushed, but actually marrying a poor commoner’s son was too much.

Camus shook his head. “It doesn’t matter how I feel about it; the tradition must be respected and honored” said Camus to her daughter, who was still displeased. She then turned to Eileen.

“Are you really fine with it Eileen? After fighting for so long, to end up marrying some… kid? He won’t last a single fight in the tournament” said Elise, wanting her cousin to also complain and fight it as well.

Despite being competitive and having mocked Eileen, in her mind she was certain that none of this would go through since both family’s honor were at stake.

But Eileen just smiled and answered her “I am” she replied, bluntly to Elise’s uproar.

Torwald just sat down and leaned back on his chair, while Camus shook his head.

Elise couldn’t understand Eileen. She was a completely different person than she used to know.

“Very well, let’s duel like we used to… I want to see for myself how low have you let yourself and your swordsmanship go” Elise said to her cousin in an angered manner.

Eileen smiled and bowed accepting the cousin proposition.

“Don’t kill each other now, tonight we celebrate Eileen's and Riou’s honor” said the king to both his granddaughters.

He turned towards the boy. “I’m eager to see you in the tournament, young Brahm, don’t disappoint us.” said the king to Riou who smiled to the king and respectfully bowed his head.

Lord Lucian looked at the boy as everyone began to leave the hall. Noticing the gaze, Riou approached him.

“So, we are kind of a family now?” questioned the boy.

The dragon smiled. “Does that displease you? To be kin with a dragon?”

“Not at all, I love dragons… especially those who are nice to me and explain things that I really want to know,” said the boy, smiling.

The black dragon laughed.

“Isn’t that right? We are family… we are supposed to help each other now” joked the boy with the dragon who kept laughing reservedly.

Riou became a bit more serious “So, what’s this talk of being a Brahm all about?”

“Nothing much, my house is one of the oldest and more respected. The humans have always been trying to topple it.” said the smiling lord.

“I thought you were trying to help, but it sounds like you are just making things even harder for me,” retorted the boy mockingly as it was nothing. “But really, what does it mean to have your name… tell me straight, imagine you are talking to someone who is not from this world”

The dragon smiled and nodded. “I founded the house at the beginning of this country, it ended up being one of the oldest, most prestigious and honorable names of the North by human standards. I rule over the trade of gold from here all the way down to the beast plains, so you can imagine the wealth that comes with it after a few centuries.”

Brahm paused for a moment. “And for the name, humans tend to envy wealth and success… also they will expect you to act accordingly as a noble.”

Riou nodded. “Gold hum, even in my world dragons love gold… I never understood that connection”

“Want me to explain that as well?” questioned the Dragon.

The boy smirked. “Nah. But I know what you are up to… You know I will stir stuff up from now on. You expect me to cause chaos and conflicts, don’t you? You’d not have rushed things if you weren't sure of how things would turn up.”

The dragon laughed once again. “Indeed, it was a good choice to bring you under my wing… so, take this.” Brahm gave Riou a golden ring with a big round black jewel with the top flattened with an even darker dragon crest carved inside of it.

“This is my house’s crest; only those carrying the name of Brahm may use this ring.” The lord applied a dark purple mana to the ring that quickly penetrated the black jewel. “Anyone but those of my name can hold it. They will agonize in pain by the mere touch of this ring”

“Did you just enchanted this ring with a spell? So this dragon crest is some sort of rune, interesting,” said the boy, looking at the ring and promptly wearing it on his index finger of the right hand.

The dragon seemed pleased by the remark. “Show this ring and everyone will recognize you as a true Brahm”

“The black dragon crest is very fitting of you,” added the boy smirking. “So, what does being a part of the main house of Brahm mean?”

“That you are in direct line of succession and in command of the minor houses, being able to represent the heir in his absence” explained the lord.

Riou was impressed. “This is really a big deal then… aren’t you afraid I might kill you to get all your stuff? Or mess around with everything you build so far? ” said the boy in a quick manner.

The dragon showed a smile from ear to ear. “You are welcome to try and you may do as you please.” clearly not concerned by any of that.

“I see… so who is part of this main house?”

The lord continued his explanation “The humans think it’s me, my son and now you. But in reality, there is only me and you… since you know my secret, I found it fitting to have you stand with me, it’s been too long since I had someone to share it with.” said the Lord.

The boy looked at him with weirdness . “You must be really bored to do all this.”

The dragon nodded. “Boredom is a curse… you slowly stop caring about everything. But so far, the humans are still a bit entertaining, perhaps now with you it will be even better.”

Riou agreed… he could somehow understand the Dragon. He himself had been bored a lot of times after just a while in this world. He could only imagine how it would be for him who was already thousands of years old.

“If you need anything, let me or my men know, they all have this crest marked on their shoulders, it should be easy enough to recognize my soldiers” added the dragon.

“Now that you mentioned it, you wouldn’t have any adamantite, orichalchun... maybe some mithril laying around? Oohhh, some old scales, chipped teeth and claws would be nice too! I mean, just if you’re not using it” asked the boy. “I really could use some for some tests.”

The dragon squinted his eyes looking at him sideways for a moment until finally smirking.

---------------------------------------------------------------- Late in the day

Riou spent most of the day roaming the city and buying spices and all kinds of food. He also bought more copper and iron ore while gathering a few other things he could get his hand on to use on his experiments. The next day he wanted to finish enchanting everyone’s armors and start with the weapons.

As they returned to the castle for the night feast, Elise was already waiting with crossed arms at the castle entry hall.

She looked at Eileen and didn’t speak a word, just signaling to the side door that led to the side courtyard.

Eileen followed her.

Curious, Therese, Leona and Riou went as well.

Riou sat down at the wooden steps while Therese and Leona remained standing.

Both cousins seemed to have done this countless times. The side courtyard was not very big, stone walls around it and a well at the center. It was private enough for a duel.

They both took positions apart from each other. Eileen unsheathed a great sword.

“You sure have changed… have you forsaken your beloved toothpick? Is that thing on your side just for show now?” mocked Elise. The great sword was much slower than the rapier. For Eileen who used to rely heavily on speed, it was clearly a bad choice.

“It’s my master’s orders; I can’t use the rapier for now” replied Eileen.

“It’s your loss then…” said Elise, taking her sword out.

Elise rushed forward with a horizontal slash. The princess prepared to deflect it but the attack was not aimed to hit.

The motion was a bit away from Eileen’s sword, avoiding it completely. Elise’s real intention was on the following attack. And with sheer power she returned the sword against her target, from outside of the princess' defense in an attempt to catch her off-guard.

*Shing*

To her surprise Eileen’s great sword was quickly positioned to defend her flank despite the weight and initial movement.

The Allardian princess continued the motion after the block, dragging the smaller sword of her cousin away and with sheer strength, she exposed the attacker’s chest, opening her defenses to an attack.

While maintaining the pressure on the sword, holding it in place, Eileen quickly moved towards her cousin’s body, hitting it with her shoulder with enough power to destabilize the opponent and making Elise fall on her rear end.

When she looked up she could see Eileen’s large sword was pointed at her face.

Eileen then stepped back and took position once more. And with a cold tone she addressed her cousin “That’s one for me… stand up, let’s go again.”

Elise dusted off her clothes and looked at the spectators briefly and then to Eileen “That was just luck.”

After a brief moment she once again lunged at Eileen, this time with less intent, attacking while considering defense.

She entered Eileen’s reach and thrusted her sword towards the princess’ chest. Eileen quickly brought the handle of her sword up while pointing the tip of the sword down. She used the center of gravity of her sword to easily deflect the thrust to the right, and by pushing the tip of her sword towards Elise, she not only maintained the opponent’s sword away and was unable to attack but also locked it outside of Elise’s defense once again.

Ending up with the longer great sword tip pointing at Elise’s chest. Elise was getting angrier.

“Damn!” screamed Elise furiously while stepping back.

Eileen took the position once again, while she waited for her cousin to do the same.

Once Elise was in position, Eileen nodded at her. “Are you ready? This time I will not hold back.”

Breathing quickly and angrily, Elise took poise once again.

This time, it was Eileen who rushed towards her opponent at great speed.

Elise smirked as she prepared to attack. She saw Eileen’s motion in an open horizontal swing that was easy to deflect and counter. But before she realized it, Eileen was not in that motion anymore, she wasn’t even in front of her, suddenly Elise instincts screamed for her to flee, she immediately did it without even thinking.

Without the notion of where Eileen was, she jumped to the side, rolling on her back and quickly standing up once again. She looked at the spot she was standing in just seconds ago, and saw Eileen standing there looking at her.

“You always had great reflexes and instincts Elise... but you only escaped that because I’m still lacking training” congratulated Eileen and then once again rushed at her cousin.

Elise could barely take poise, holding her sword in front of her, as Eileen was already there. Before Elise could properly react, a powerful swing hit her sword.

The speed and power was so great that the impact was too much for Elise’s grip to withstand. Her sword went flying from her hand.

Still feeling the sensation of the blow on her palm, she shifted her gaze to where her sword flew to.

“How… how could you lose when you are this strong? I never saw anyone moving like you… not even Bolgan” said Elise, perplexed looking at her cousin.

Therese’s ear twitched by hearing that name.

Eileen smiled, looked at her cousin and glanced at the three that watched their duel. “I’m the weakest of that group, for now”

Elise looked at the boy unable to believe it… there was no way that Eileen couldn’t win against him being this good, but she knew her cousin was not the lying kind, so even doubting it, she couldn’t help but begin to wonder how strong the boy really was.

Therese walked towards the Norse Princess once she noticed they ceased fighting.

“You mentioned Bolgan. He is from the clans, isn’t he? Where is he hiding?”

-------------------------------- At the dinner feast

With the cousins’ dispute settled, everyone entered the castle and went towards the dining hall. The tables were all disposed of and many were attending.

Riou and Eileen sat one at the king’s right and one at the king's left, Therese and Leona sat in front of them, followed by Elise and Camus to their side. Lord Brahm was sitting beside Riou, as members of the same house should.

“For those who yet don’t know, today we celebrate my granddaughter and her suitor, as well as the new addition to the house of Brahm. May the elements bless this union and allow you both to bring honor to our houses” the king spoke loudly, as every noble and lord there looked with displeased expressions at the boy that was being presented.

Quickly the food was distributed at the tables, whole cooked chickens and big roasted meat chunks served together with bowls full of bread; mead flowed like water on the mugs.

The king looked at Therese with expectation. He was clearly aware of her customs and intended to honor them as host by letting her go first. After all, everyone knew the legend of the Great Lioness. Everyone at the table followed the king’s request.

Therese however wasn’t moving.

Riou sighed and brought his hand to his face. “Not this again…” He whispered to himself.

He looked at Therese and swiftly pointed with his head towards the food, trying to tell her to do it.

But she was too stubborn for it.

She, on many occasions, had told him she’d not break her custom.

He leaned towards Brahm. “She is waiting on me, why can't she help me out? Once would be too much?” whispered the boy complaining.

“It’s her custom to wait for the strongest. It’s her tradition, you are the one delaying the meal in her eyes” retorted the dragon whispering back.

“You are strong too, you go first then” whispered back the boy.

“I can’t, I’m just a regular human” reasoned the dragon in a whisper.

Riou cursed and quickly lunged at a bread hoping no one would see it, in an attempt to end this torture.

But Therese was paying attention to him and as everyone was paying attention to Therese, one by one they looked at what she was looking at and noticed that the boy had now food on his plate.

Therese then proceeded to serve herself as if nothing had happened, while everyone looked at the boy disapprovingly.

“I believe you have traveled long enough with Therese to know of her customs… couldn’t you wait and honor her tradition as well?” questioned Camus, looking at the boy disapprovingly.

Riou just sighed and looked down, not having the energy to argue about it again.

The dragon restrained a laugh and only let slide a small smirk.

Eileen, noticing her uncle’s harsh remark, couldn’t help but intervene. “She always waits for him,” she said with a smile.

Riou held his breath when he heard that and looked around without moving a muscle.

Everyone that was sitting on the table looked at the Lioness waiting for an outburst, as she should have taken offence by the boy’s actions and now by Eileen’s remark. After all, it would be inconceivable that he was the stronger one.

But the lioness on the other hand, was very calm minding her own business eating as if everything was in order. Not only her, but her disciple as well, completely fine with it.

Camus and everyone looked at the king with surprise, waiting for him to say or do something.

The king looked at Riou and lord Brahm and then then turned to Eileen… he bursted into laughter, despite everyone’s urge to address the subject he just shouted, “So be it, let’s eat then!”