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Riou walked towards the forge with a large sealed box in his hands.

Sturdy locks and chains surrounding it from every angle keeping it completely sealed.

He put it on top of the stone table. Max watched him from afar and approached him with curiosity “What is this?”

Riou touched the locks with his new ring and they opened immediately, the chains also fell down, the chest could be easily opened now.

Rio had a grin on his face. “This damn ring must have 3 to 5 different enchantments to it… all done by this single crest… And you said my research was ground-breaking and revolutionary. What is this ring then? The Mages of this world have no idea what each other are doing. Do you realize how much time and knowledge is lost in this process?”

“Let me see this ring…” said Max, frowning and extending his hand.

“I wouldn’t touch it if I were you… You wouldn’t like to know what the other enchantments do,” said Riou, opening the box beside a pissed off Magus.

After looking inside, nodded very excited, quickly lining up the box’s contents on the table.

Strange large black scales, cracked claws from some huge beast and a large piece of what seemed to be a very old and big tooth.

Strange ores, the first with a pale, white-bluish color. Beside it, pieces of a crystal with a very light blue color and lastly, a couple of larger chunks of ore with a yellowish tone to it.

“This, my friend, is something I got from our common friend… I doubt there is anyone else in the world who could bring all these ingredients together!” said the boy with a joyous tone.

Max looked at the black scales. “These black scales… are they really from what I think they are?” said the mage with concern in his voice, recognizing the shape and size. They were clearly from a big and old dragon. But what concerned him the most was its black color.

“Not only the scales, the claws and teeth as well,” added the boy without concern.

“Are these really remnants of a black dragon? They shouldn’t exist, Arthur killed the last of them long ago” The magus said looking at the items.

“Why are you so concerned? They are here now, that’s all that matters…” said the boy dismissively.

Max nodded. “That’s why Lucian’s crest is a black dragon… he must have salvaged the body and stored it somehow. He must deify the black dragons of the old… being a dragon himself that would make sense.”

“Does it matter? Look at the ores! And by comparing them to what you have here...” said the boy, looking at Max’s supply. “You have nothing of the sort” said the boy, very disappointed.

Riou looked at him frowning. “What kind of Great Magus doesn’t have legendary ores?”

Max laughed. “The kind that focuses on attainable things… Also, I’m not a blacksmith. This small forge is just for creating pendants, single runes or small rings...it never needed anything more extravagant than that.” Max then proceeded to look at the ores with great interest

“These… I never seen this kind of ore before, what are they called?”

“Mithril, Orichalcum and Adamantine” said the boy, separating them. He needed to devise a way to properly work with them. Riou estimated that if he used all of the ores, he would be able to have enough metal for a greatsword.

“I remember having heard of them… perhaps I have some books that might have more information” said Max going towards the library.

The first thing Riou found difficult to deal with was the extremely high melting point of the metals.

There were no crucibles strong enough to sustain such heat. And to achieve what he wanted, he needed to make them pure, a complete liquid state to separate any slag from the metal.

Since he had no tools available in that small forge, he had to resort to magic. Knowing the girls had gone out to train for the day, he felt comfortable enough to try to forge it himself. Not that they would be watching him work, but still, he felt more at ease without the possibility of prying eyes.

He cleaned the forge to prevent the metal coming in contact with any other substance that could degrade the resulting alloy. He then applied a heat resistant barrier spell to the base of the forge and its walls.

Riou couldn’t enchant the rock as it would not withstand the spell, so he created a magical barrier to avoid any issue with the actual structure of the forge.

He prepared 3 separate barriers to hold each individual molten metal and to withstand the high temperature. It was strange to work with mana and objects created out of thin air, but it was very useful.

He spent a lot of mana just in the preparation process, but he judged it to be necessary.

Riou tested a few things on the ores to get a better understanding of their properties. He noticed that mithril was lighter and reacted well to impact and it was much more malleable when compared to the other two.

Orichalcum reacted extremely well to mana, while adamantine was harder than any other metal he previously tested..

The 3 metals showed good characteristics for a blade.

An alloy made of all three ought to give the blade the hardness and malleability it would require, while gaining a greater mana affinity. He then proceeded to put the ores inside the forge in their different compartments.

Thinking of weapons and blacksmith recipes in games, he also added a couple of pieces from the dragon claws to it. As weapons, he thought that it could improve the final result since it was from a powerful dragon.

It was not like he would be able to test them before forging, as the supplies were limited… so he assumed, since it was legendary materials, that they would react well together.

He proceeded to apply heat to the forge, but despite his efforts, the blowtorch spell was not nearly hot enough to provide the required temperature. He needed better heat retention and much more fire intensity to achieve his goals.

Thinking in a way to counter that issue he created a barrier around the forge to contain the fire as he needed to go overboard with it. He took a few steps away and pointed his hand to the forge.

“Hey Max, you will want to see this…” Said the boy as the mage came back.

“I found it here… this is one of my oldest tomes. Elrik gave it to me from his personal collection. Let me see… mithril you said? Extremely rare lightweight ore with great resistance. It can have blue to white color depending on the amount of impurities it contains in its raw state. Due to its rarity, only few weapons were ever forged from it by the great Blacksmith of Andorra…” said Max, losing his words and widening his eyes.

Max spoke slowly “Andorra? That’s a mythical city… the time of heroes and legendary weapons are from that period, Andorra was the most famous city and capital of the world at the time. A period of grave peril. Giant monsters and dangerous beasts roamed the land everywhere. But none of the armaments of the legends were ever found” said Max, while looking at the boy.

“I can’t really help you with history… but if they deal with relics of the past as they deal with magic and enchanting knowledge. I’m sure they are very real and out there somewhere. But for now pay attention here” said the boy.

“This will be a little dangerous… don’t look directly into the fire” he said as fire began to erupt from the forge contained by the barrier he created.

The boy felt his mana draining at an alarming speed as he continuously intensified the fire. It raged inside the barrier trying to break free from it.

Max began to step back as he noticed the intensity of the fire was increasing exponentially. It was something that he couldn’t imagine to be possible.

Riou protected his eyes with mana so the intense light would not damage them while he paid attention to the ores inside. He needed to be sure the alloy would be created perfectly, but he needed an extreme heat for that.

The fire color began to change, gradually going towards an intense white. Riou then used more mana to constrict and reinforce the barrier, as he felt it was getting too hot where he was standing.

The white color began to change to a light blue, and slowly and continuously it went towards a blue-violet color.

He held the spell in place without increasing it for a while, he was getting tired, fortunately he noticed the metal was melting.

Riou stopped but the fire didn’t cease right away and kept the metal in liquid state. He easily removed the slag impurities as they floated up on the liquid metal. He then moved the liquid orichalcum to the first slot on the table and continued to apply heat.

“Amazing…” said the old mage. “Such fire… it could rival the dragons themselves” said the perplexed mage.

Max went back to the library to study and see if he could find reports of the usage of the ores and perhaps even a fire spell as powerful as he witnessed. His curiosity was sparked once again.

Meanwhile Riou repeated the process with the remaining ores.

Riou proceeded to create a cast for the great swords blade that he saw Therese and Leona using. He decided to go with casting as he was not confident with shaping the metal himself.

He applied the liquid metal to the blade’s casting frame with care. He used almost all of the alloy created by the three metals in the process.

After casting the sword, a bit of the alloy was left and he saved it on the forge to keep it warm.

He now needed to remove the gases from within as it cooled off, making the metal dense enough to strengthen it. Confident a regular hammer would not work very well on the metal, he decided to enhance it with mana and create a magical power hammer of sorts.

With magic manipulating the hammer’s strength he created a powerful enough force to strike the blade to constrict the metal and eliminate any air from within.

To make sure the quality was good enough, the boy improved his vision once again in an attempt to verify the blade’s at greater detail.

It was said that a great blacksmith would know their metal just by the sound of the hammer hitting it, but Riou had to resort to more direct methods as he was no blacksmith.

After confirming it was not a failure, he dismantled his dagger to see how the blade was attached to the handle and copied the method used.

The boy created the great sword similar to the ones Therese used, but as the metal was lighter he increased the blade’s width a little. Giving it a more sturdy and reliable look. Now it needed to cool down so he could continue.

He looked at the left overs on the forge ‘Not enough for a longsword, not even a short one… but a dagger?’ thought the boy as he looked at the molten metal left inside the forge. ‘Just need a bit more material and I could craft a good dagger for myself.’

Having an idea to try to increase its volume a little, he took most of the scales and the remains of the claws and teeth. Throwing them inside the forge with the molten alloy… he once again increased the heat.

To his surprise, those dragon scales proved to be even more difficult to integrate and fuse than the metal themselves.

While the forge fire was being slowly elevated, he continued to work on the greatsword blade to gain time. He had to smoothen it and give it the proper details while still a bit hot.

He drew fine lines to delimit the blade from its edge, properly proceeded to thin it as the metal slowly cooled down.

The great sword had a shiny metallic gray to its color, and seemed to have a glow of its own if you paid enough attention.

“To keep it safe for now, let’s stay at six enchantments… this much I’m sure it will hold” said the boy with a chisel in his hand.

As he proceeded with enchanting, he had Therese’s story in mind.

It would be wise to use an unbreakable enchantment to strengthen the blade’s resistances even more, he feared that the other sword could be of a similar fashion to this one, so such caution was necessary.

He needed to be absolutely sure it would not break, that was the most important part.

He then added some buffs to greatly improve stamina along with strength and agility of its holder to give an extra edge in combat.

He put a keen edge spell to increase its sharpness. Despite his efforts on sharpening it, he thought necessary to ensure good results.

As a defense, he thought that a high magic resistance spell would be appropriate. Adding a ‘resist all’ property to the blade that would also extend to its user.

He feared that immunity could be a little too much to explain to the others and he promised Max to keep things simple.

Beside that, he needed to save mana to continue working on the remaining alloy in the forge, as he didn’t want to go through all that work again.

He had consumed a lot of his reserves already, a feeling of straining and tiredness could be felt all over his body, but something was still missing.

As for the last enchant, he still feared that despite Therese and Leona being great warriors, something could happen and they could lose the sword for some reason.

Perhaps, his concerns were founded in recent events in which a certain thief. Still recovering mentally from what happened, he thought to be sensate to add a small constraint to the blade.

He then looked around trying to think of a good countermeasure, and glancing at the ring, he nodded.

“Need to bind the blades to them in a similar fashion as this ring” said the boy, still pondering. “I need to handle it too, so it makes sense for me to be able to use it as well.”

He thought about the idea of causing pain being a bit too much for that blade, so he chose weight. The sword would be extremely heavy for those who weren’t supposed to use it.

“Just like Thor’s hammer. Only thing missing is the lightning effect” said the boy, smiling.

After creating the enchant, he commanded the magic on it to accept him, Therese, Leona and Eileen specifically.

He added the princess since Therese constantly let her use her sword and as she was also her disciple, it seemed natural.

His writing went from the bottom to the great sword very tip, the words were completely glowing in a strong, flashy blue light, showing how powerful it's enchants were.

He smiled wryly at the sight. If he had made it a fire sword sword it wouldn’t get as much attention as it did with that blue light.

“No one will notice…” said the boy, completely lying to himself.

Having finished the weapon, all he needed to do is to take a handle and add it to the blade. Since that was outside of his current materials, he stored the blade with a leather protection and secured it to the side of the table.

He would wait for the girls to come back with one of the handles to swap it.

He was really tired, but he still wanted to continue as the rest of the alloy was ready.

Another fire barrier had to be erected and shaped for the new blade, the one that would be his new dagger.

He then proceeded with the crafting in the same fashion as he did with the greatsword.

The molten material was extremely hot and fitted the shape of the blade with only a small residue still left. Riou then thought to use it to craft a pendant later on so he saved it in his pocket.

He proceeded to chill the casting a bit, so he could start working on the blade. A dark color could already be seen as it started to cool off.

While still hot, he removed any imperfection, adding the details to the blade.

Afterwards he sharpened it to the best of his ability, the problem was that even enhanced tools were not even able to polish the metal.

It’s color was pitch black once cold.

There was no color difference from the blade to the edge after he tried to sharpen it.

‘Did I do something wrong? Or is this the effect of adding the black scales?’ thought the boy while assembling the blade to the old handle and guard of his dagger, storing the steel metal beside the table.

The new dagger and old handle were a perfect fit. With that, the only thing left to do was enchanting it.

The dagger was sturdy by itself due to its alloy, but to be sure, he added the same unbreakable and keen edge to it with a reinforced enchanted chisel.

As this was his dagger he added a similar spell like the one at the ring, making him the sole owner. Anyone else that touched it would feel the same kind of agonizing pain as the ring.

He wanted to imbue it with elemental attributes as well, but he couldn’t quite decide on which one.

Riou walked around the mage quarter, from the forge to the library and then the laboratory… while deep in thought.

He was much more tired now but intended to go as far as he possibly could with that weapon.

While he thought about it, the Dagger’s color didn't leave his mind. ‘Maybe…’ came up with an idea but unfortunately he didn’t have enough mana to create a spell and also attach it to the blade.

But perhaps... he only needed to do the latter part.

He rushed towards a room, away from everyone in a secluded area of the big mage quarters. He looked around to see if no one was nearby and closed the door locking it.

He cut the mana from most of the mage lights on the room.

Riou turned towards the darkest corner. “Noctis Aardwing! We need to talk and I think you will like it! I need another tiny favor” said the boy, smiling.

For a moment nothing happened, but the boy continued waiting.

A giant purple eye began to appear in the dark shadow and looked to the boy for a moment. The eye was as big as the wall itself.

Riou smiled, “I think you will find this request even more interesting than the last one” said the boy to the eye that vanished. A man in black walked from the shadow towards him with a curious expression.

----------------------------- Few hours later.

The boy left the room completely exhausted.

He stretched his neck and arms for a while. ‘That took way longer than I expected… damn, I’m dead tired now, and I only had to attach the spells to the blade… that damn Dragon sure is something else.’

He then reached for the blade on his back. ‘I really liked what he did with this blade… I need to learn his rune enchanting method; it’s much better than mine.’

Riou pulled the blade from its sheath and looked at it, the metal was pitch black now.

His enchant could be seen in small letters near the guard and gave a strong light blue effect to the words at the base of the blade, but what really got his attention, was the purple flame that slowly danced inside the metal.

After Riou’s enchant, a different black rune could be barely seen inside the blade itself. Only perceptible as the purple flame danced underneath it, very similar to the one in the ring. It was a detailed dragon’s head with horns, teeth and a few claws near it.

The very edge now was of a lighter purple color than the black and as the flames moved towards the thinner blade, its color became even more alive as the metal got thinner..

“A good weapon needs a name. I will call you Shadowbringer in his homage, it was his claws, scales and spell after all.” said the boy to himself sheathing the dark blade.

------------------------- A couple hours later and after a good nap

The trio entered the quarters and walked past the forge room.

Noticing them coming, Riou promptly went to greet them.

“You are finally back! I have a surprise, but before I show it to you…Take all your clothes off” said the boy, as the princess's eyes immediately widened and her cheeks blushed.

“…And weapons. Leave them by the forge,” continued the boy to the princess' relief.

Therese and Leona nodded, while Eileen was still recovering from the shocking previous request.

They quickly went to their rooms and a moment later Eleanor brought the boy the requested items.

Riou firstly dismantled Therese’s great sword handle and attached the enchanted blade.

He proceeded to work on their items as well. He couldn’t go too overboard now as armors are something that are changed from time to time.

To the armors, he enhanced them against slashing and piercing attacks. Since the leather didn’t allow many enchants, he stopped there. For Eileen he switched piercing to magic resistance. As she was still a bit slower than the others, mages could get a jump on her.

‘Finally, all done now… let’s call them’ he thought as he went searching for them.

After a few steps inside the corridor he began to listen to chatting coming from one of the rooms.

He immediately went to it.

The door was opened, he could hear Eleanor telling one of her stories from when she traveled with Max.

The door was open, but he knocked on the door frame and positioned himself to talk to the girls inside.

The three were wearing after bath garments, a small white linen, strapped like a skirt and very loose white linen blouse.

They were light and covered the important parts, but the trim and the way it laid upon their skin let Riou see curves, sizes and shapes that immediately set his mind astray.

His eyes roamed the room momentarily.

Their hair was still wet.

Therese was sitting down on a chair near the fireplace with her hair almost dry. She was turned to the table where Eleanor poured some tea into four cups. Nearby her, was Leona sitting on a wooden chest, right beside the bed.

Eileen was sideways from the door and was sitting on the bed, she was leaning back, holding herself with her arms, which greatly improved the sight from his perspective. She seemed to be straightening her still-wet hair using its own weight.

Riou froze in place when he saw Eileen, the small garments revealing her light and smooth skin from her feet to her thighs were almost hypnotic..

He could even see a bit of her hips, seductively curving towards a lean, uncovered belly as the small blouse waved on her chest, just enough to cover her attributes. She was well covered but her contour was more than exposed, giving the boy a pretty good idea of the secrets that laid beneath those white clothes.

She was, without a shadow of doubt, the most beautiful creature he had ever set his eyes upon. Bewitched, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. His mind went completely blank while looking at her.

Noticing the boy, Therese and Leona weren’t bothered by his presence and just waited for him to speak, looking at him normally.

As Eileen was not fully aware of her surroundings at that moment, it took a moment for her to realize what was going on. So she looked at Therese and Leona calmly looking at the door, she curiously turned to where their attention was as well.

She saw Riou with wide open eyes at the door staring at her.

And that was a bit too much for the princess.

Her face became instantaneously red “Don’t look!” she shouted and promptly covered herself with a big towel she had nearby.

Eileen was also concerned that the other two were too exposed for him to see, so she threw the bed’s sheet and blankets to cover them as well.

“Don’t look!” shouted Eileen completely red. “Turn around!” said the princess loudly in a commanding tone to the boy at the door.

He swallowed hard and covered his eyes with his hand... partially, clearly not blocking his view at all.

Therese smiled, while Leona looked at the princess with a small laugh. “What’s the matter Eileen?” said the wolf.

“I think she is ashamed of him seeing our bodies like this” replied Therese looking at the princess. “Don’t worry Eileen, the boy looked mostly at you” she said trying to calm the princess, while it actually had the opposite effect.

Embarrassed, she dug down the bed to try to cover herself even more.

Eleanor laughed. “It is a good thing you two are already engaged, a Princess should not be seen like this by anyone other than her husband” joked the old woman.

Eileen began to shine and pulse in a bright red color beneath the sheets.

“What is it Riou?” said Eleanor, turning to the boy that was just smiling with a silly expression.

He blinked a few times and nodded a bit out of himself “I, I came to see… I mean, to tell you all that it’s done, come and take a look… when you are ready, that is” said the boy looking at Eileen..

The old woman went towards him. “Well, allow me to grab their clothes… I will be back shortly.”

Eleanor and Riou went back to the forge and assembled the clothes and armors to give back to the girls.

‘Today was a good day,’ thought the boy, remembering the sight with a clear expression of satisfaction. Eleanor just watched him and laughed, he was very easy to see through his thoughts that moment.

The old woman quickly returned to the room and delivered the armors and heavy clothes.

She glanced at Eileen while still laughing remembering his reaction.

“If there were any doubt before my darling… Now he is certainly hooked.” she said as the princess dressed herself.

Therese and Leona listened with care to the old woman’s advice. Nodding with the realization “So, showing skin is how the female in your culture captures the male interest?” said Therese, looking surprised at Eleanor.

She looked to Leona who was also nodding with such realization.

The Lioness turned towards the princess. “You should have done that from the beginning, given his reaction just now, it would have saved you a lot of time.”

Eileen couldn’t reply to that and just hugged the pillow tightly, thinking about what Eleanor had said.

---------------------------------------- Moments later

It didn’t take long for them to go back to the forge area as Riou requested.

They were curious to see what was done. Max was waiting with the boy, while Eleanor and the others appeared.

He had a great sword in hand and gave it to Therese. Her eyes widened as she respectfully received the blade.

Riou glanced at Eileen from time to time, she seemed a bit embarrassed from what happened before.

As Therese held the blade she could feel a strange sensation through her body, the blade seemed to greatly affect her physique.

It was lighter than it appeared and certainly, naturally improved her strength as well. She felt stronger and well rested just by holding the blade.

She looked at the strange blade in awe. The runes glowed intensely all the way to the top of the blade… That was something that she had never seen.

No enchantment that she had ever laid eyes upon was so long and so strong in its color, much less covering the whole length of the blade.

She practiced a few swings and quickly noticed the rare quality of the metal and finesse that the blade had despite its size.

“It’s a special alloy and a bit of dragon claw. It should not be taken lightly, there is nothing that this blade can’t withstand” the boy paused, remembering Therese’s needs.

The Lioness smiled brightly once she heard that, she could tell that the sword would not break easily.

Everyone in the room looked astonished at the blade.

But Eileen thought something was odd. Max looked too impressed for someone who should have created the blade. It was magnificent and a one-of-a-kind, but somehow, to her, it felt like the Magus didn’t even participate in its creation, just judging by his reaction.

She knew that Riou had strange recipes and said he was able to put together the metals if he found them. It was probably Max who had provided them anyway.

But the enchantments? They covered the whole blade. The runes were not elven nor anything she had ever seen.

She couldn’t put aside the feeling that no one other than Riou could have created it, but that was just not possible.

“Only we can use this blade, no one else” said the boy pointing to the four of them.

Therese and Leona smiled and nodded, without even taking their eyes off the blade.

He then grabbed a big lump of steel he had created that morning while testing the enchants.

“This is the legendary stuff that was being sold in Allard… try the sword on it” said the boy putting it on the ground.

Therese looked at him and stepped towards it.

With a single and precise horizontal swing, the lump was easily cut in half without difficulty, like it was not even a metal.

Looking at the blade, not a dent, scratch or even dust could be seen after the clean cut.

Everyone looked amazed at the results, but Therese was without words to express her gratitude to be holding such a weapon. She was sure now to be able to achieve her lifelong goal.

The Lioness approached them both and bowed respectfully. She knew it was all the boy’s doing, but still, without the mage’s help and material it would not be possible.

“With this my journey can finally end. I will be able to return to my land. The Tyrannical reign over the Lion’s clan will be finally over” said the Lioness with a deference Riou had never seen from her before.

“But I’m afraid I will be eternally in your debt” said Therese, looking at the sword. “A kingdom would not be enough to pay for this sword. But I will fulfill my promise to you. Once my ordeal is done, you shall be rewarded, one way or another this debt will be paid” said the Lioness with a dead serious tone.

“That’s fine, don’t worry about it right now”

“Please, do come find me in Khargaz and I will be sure to pay my full debt”

Therese looked at her disciple and nodded. Leona seemed to understand and approached holding a small pouch.

She handed it to the boy.

With his hands he could tell that it was filled with different shaped stones, glancing inside, he could see they were all precious stones.

The boy smiled. “Well, I can’t promise anything, but if I ever find myself in those parts, I will make sure to stop by.”

Riou looked at Eileen and questioned the Lioness “So you will be leaving soon?”

“The tournament will last a day,” said the Lioness with a smile. “I will not miss the opportunity to see you fight.” She then looked at Eileen. “And after that’s settled, Eileen will be able to choose if she will be coming with us or staying with you.”

Therese looked to the boy and smiled faintly quickly adding. “You are welcome to come with us as well.”

Riou scratched his head “I have a lot to do here. I’m afraid I will have to pass on that offer for the time being.” The only lowtone was that he felt somewhat saddened by the thought of leaving the princess once again. He grew used to having her around.

Still, he knew Eileen would be going with Therese, as she wanted to become stronger.

Therese sheathed the new sword. “Now, let’s use the time we have left to test this weapon, we need to get used to it,” said Therese, leading Leona and Eileen to one of the larger rooms of the mage quarters.

Eleanor looked at them both and sighed “That thing can’t be called a sword. I could feel mana emanating from the blade as it was held… are you sure it was the right decision to give them so much power?” she asked the boy.

Riou nodded. “They are good girls. They will know how to handle it. Besides, there are countermeasures, no one else can use that sword.”

“I hope so… I really hope so” said Eleanor.

The boy yawned. “I wanted to make dinner tonight… but I’m way too tired to start cooking now, so if you’ll excuse me, I will go lay down again. Tomorrow we have that tournament to attend.”

That night Eileen was the one to have trouble sleeping, as her mind raced with many different thoughts about Riou. It felt like he held even more secrets than she anticipated.

She looked at her rapier and armor, wondering if they were also enchanted by him.

------------------------------------ Tournament Day

The traditional arena was located behind the castle. It was a two story building with carved swords, axes and shields on its wooden walls and doors, a very decorated and prestigious building.

Inside, a stone arena could be seen, a few steps above the ground.

Around it, at ground level, there were a few benches and chairs with some people sitting down on them. Lots of them were standing around behind them, shouting and talking while waiting for the event to start.

All of them wore the attire of Norse nobles with pelts, golden chains and gold detailed handles and guards on their weapons.

On the second floor, a more sophisticated audience could be seen. Chairs were positioned all around the arena in what seemed to be balconies and booths. They were all open with just a handrail between them and the arena below.

The king, Eileen, Camus and Elise were on the North side of the arena and had much more space than the others.

They were accompanied by a cloaked individual who sat beside them with Therese and Leona.

On the other side there were all other lords sitting down with their houses. Only, one of them had only 2 members. It was Lord Brahm’s house that was sitting beside a boy amongst many empty chairs in one of the reserved spaces. Every now and then Riou could see some of the nobles glancing with contempt toward them while talking to each other.

The chatting was loud but everybody silenced as the king’s powerful voice echoed in the arena.

“Silence!” claimed the king. “Today we begin the festivities to honor the hunt and crops of this summer. But not only that! As you may have heard, today is a special day. My granddaughter and daughter of the King and Queen of Allard graced us with her presence!” said the king to everyone’s clamor.

A deafening shout of excitement shook the arena.

“Eileen sure is popular here…” said Riou to the old dragon as he looked at everyone shouting.

“But, what you may not know yet, is that her maiden’s duty has ended!” continued the king to everyone’s surprise. Silence once again took over the arena.

The men heard the king with disappointment in their faces.

Everyone there looked towards each other, but clearly no one seemed to have heard about that until that moment.

Just one thing was clear, the discontentment was general. Complaints and swears began to surface from every part of the arena.

“And today we present you her suitor” said the king pointing towards the Brahms. “From the house of Brahm, Riou will show us his worth as a warrior, as he now begins his call to arms and takes upon The Path of the Warrior!”

The nobles began to talk even louder at that point. Everyone knew there was no Brahm with that name. And the only one beside Lord Brahm was a small commoner boy, probably a slave. They couldn’t believe he was the one the king was referring to.

The nobles began to raise suspicion that it was some sort of set up to benefit the Brahms, it was too sudden. After all it was just a couple of days since they informed her she was coming.

“Who let a boy in?” shouted a voice in the crowd.

“Someone call his wet nurse! He will need her after the first battle!” shouted another voice.

“Give me the princess’ hand already! I will beat this boy to a pulp!” shouted another.

Countless other clamors amidst the public against the boy.

Lucian turned to Riou with a smirk “They are lively today, aren’t they?”

The king let them talk as they wished, because it was the fight that would settle everything, for good or worse.

“Let’s begin! Who will be the first fighter?” called the king.

“Me and the boy!” “No me and him!”, “Shut up! Whoever fights him first will have a certain victory.”

Suddenly, Riou climbed the handrail and jumped at the arena, landing on his feet down below as if it was nothing.

Everyone went quiet as they looked at him in the middle of the arena.

Riou smiled while looking around. “Since the gentlemen asked so nicely, I will go first… what are the rules?”

*Hahahahaha* laughter broke out in the arena as they laughed at him. “He doesn’t even know how to fight in the tournament?”, “Is it a joke? He’s only the princess suitor because Brahm bought it! There is no other explanation!” Shouts once again erupted even more daring on their claims than before.

“Kill this bastard already so a true Norse can be her man!” seemed to be the most common thought amongst them.

Riou looked at the king and waited.

“Silence! He has the right to know,” said the king once again. “This is a warrior’s fight, to show your expertise with your weapon of choice. Respect the arena boundaries and your adversary. He will then respect you back. Let’s keep it civilized this year, try not to maim or kill each other this time around.”

Said the king as everyone booed. “Everyone is free to challenge whoever stands in the arena, once no more challenges are issued, we will have a winner,” said the king as the others shouted excitedly by his words.

Riou nodded. “Very well, let’s do this,” he said looking around.

Promptly, 5 men jumped at the arena at the same time. They all wanted to fight him first.

The biggest had long, dark brown hair and quickly shoved the others away while holding his large axe.

He glanced at the princess beside the king and smiled with satisfaction.

Eileen didn’t pay any attention to him, as her eyes remained focused on Riou. Elise as well was very curious to see what that boy could do.

“Someone give him a weapon. I can’t guarantee he will not die though,” said the big man.

“The house of Billa will face the house of Brahm,” shouted Camus assuming the call-outs for the king.

But no weapons were offered to the boy.

Suddenly after a moment a wooden club was thrown at his feet.

Everyone laughed at the weapon, “That’s good enough for him. He may fall on his own sword otherwise!” Shouts and laughs broke off once again.

Camus was taking his sword to give the boy, as he looked at his father. The king shook his head and asked him to stop as the boy was picking the wooden club on the ground very calmly.

Riou took it and looked at the club, it was small but sturdy. He then stood there looking at the man twice his size with the club resting against his shoulder with a smile.

“So? Are we doing this or what?” said the boy to everyone in disbelief.

Ephil chuckled and looked at Camus “The boy have guts, that’s for sure”

Everyone laughed once again. “He is crazy, Billa! Put him out of his misery!”, “Such an easy win for Billa. They might even win this year.” Comments once again could be heard all around the room.

The big man rushed with an axe in hand towards the boy.

He swung the axe with its blunt part aimed at the boy’s body. Despite being the blunt side, it was powerful enough to kill if it hit at such force.

The norse was not holding back at all.

Riou quickly stepped back avoiding the hit by a hair, the big man was recovering his axe’s momentum for a downward vertical swing when Riou quickly stepped forwards approaching him, before the man could swing again.

With a powerful upward thrust with the club Riou aimed at the big man’s solar plexus, quickly incapacitating the strong Norse that fell down immediately. He seemed unable to move or breath normally and was clearly out of combat for good.

Camus shouted excitedly and surprised, “The victory is for the House of Brahm.” He looked at his father, but the king opened a large smile and laughed with satisfaction.

No one spoke a word after the big man fell. A strange silence covered the stands and two men quickly rushed in to take the axe wielder away from the arena.

“Lucky Bastard!” Shouted one of the nobles breaking the silence, again an uproar of complaints surged.

“Billa’s warriors are not the same anymore… what a shame” shouted another.

Elise looked at Eileen surprised, still she saw no excitement from her cousin. There was no doubt in Eileen’s mind that the boy would win that fight, realized Elise.

A red haired man quickly jumped in the arena. He had short hair and blue war paintings on his face, three blue finger markings on his cheek. He was holding a round medium shield and a gladius-like sword.

Everyone shouted to the sight of the man. “Now he is done for!” “He can’t handle a shield with that club.”

“Brahm against Erchen!” shouted Camus.

The boy once again stood still, waiting for him to come. The red haired man approached steadily with a raised shield and sword, cautious but ready to attack.

The short sword, despite its reach, had greater mobility and range around the shield. The lack of guard allowed him to use the sword very closely to it with ease.

The boy hit his shield once with the club to get his attention as the man approached.

The Norseman promptly swung against him, he was trying to trap the boy and lead him against the end of the arena by pushing forward, all in an attempt to gain ground.

As the man swung once again, from his right the boy with an uncanny mastery hit his sword with the club, forcing it away, opening the man’s defense on that side. Using the opportunity Riou approached him from the shield side, safely while the sword was away.

In such blind spot, Riou menacingly moved his arm and club back, threatening to hit the man with force in his face.

Noticing it, the man promptly protected himself by bringing the shield up.

But the strike never came to his upper side. Instead he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his left knee.

The boy had struck him with power enough to destabilize him and damage his leg. As his knee collapsed, all his balance now rested on his right leg alone.

The man jumped back with difficulty with one leg only. He was trying to get a distance from the boy to recover.

But Riou just walked towards him calmly, putting pressure back on the norse as if it was not even a challenge.

Everyone watched, astonished by the sudden turn of tables.

The man tried to set his left leg on the ground once again, but his knee wouldn’t allow it.

As Riou walked towards him, the man kept going back, only stopping as the arena ended.

Once Riou was finally in his reach, the man tried to once again swing against him in the best way he still could, a desperate attempt to keep him at bay. Riou dodged it with ease and again went towards the shield side of the man that completely lost vision of him.

The Norse this time tried to protect his wounded leg and part of his body… Such a decision left his right side completely vulnerable.

The boy moved fast and switched sides before he could see it.

And from his open right came a quick strike to his right knee. The man fell immediately once both his legs were damaged. Near the edge, he fell down to the ground losing the fight completely.

“Brahm is once again the victor!” shouted Camus, excited once again and looking at his father. The king nodded with a smirk glancing at his son.

Elise looked at Eileen. “He is very good, but not that good,” said Elise calmly. Yet, such display couldn’t be compared to the skill level Eileen showed her in their duel.

The Allard princess shook her head. “He is just playing around” she replied to her cousin’s surprise.

The boy was winning without breaking a sweat. The lord began to doubt that it had all been arranged for that to happen, the most stubborn nobles were certain these fights were all arranged after seeing that ridiculous display from the norse houses.

Some of them began not only to think but to express their discontentment. Perhaps if not the king, certainly Brahm had bought a few of them to lose on purpose to give the boy some face.

Conflict amongst the nobles began to erupt. Those who defended the houses that fought and the ones that accused their honor to have given the fight for money.

From a corner, an old man talked to his son, trying to convince him to step into the arena.

‘Askjell!’ recognized Riou on the corner as he waited for someone to join him in the arena. He looked at the familiar face of the noble with a devilish smile. He pointed the club to him and then to the arena, clearly calling him to fight.

The young noble saw his eyes. The young noble knew he’d be dead if he stepped in the arena. The last words of the boy still were fresh on his mind. He just shook his head to his father and began to quickly flee amongst the crowd and leave the place.

Another man then began his way into the room and then towards the arena. Silence took over once again as they noticed who was approaching.

He looked very similar to Askjell, with long blond hair and with more braids to his hair. He was clearly older and wore a very fancy pelt and a very expensive attire underneath it.

He definitely held himself better than the ones before him and reminded Riou of the Allard prince in his mannerism of walking and looking. He promptly unsheathed his sword and held it in hand, already on top of the arena.

‘One of the Steel swords crafted by the Allard’s blacksmith’ The boy recognized the steel and the handle from the blacksmith shop.

Everyone seemed impressed by the blade, there was no doubt they all had heard it was not a joke to mess with that weapon. The legendary metal would certainly ensure his victory.

Riou watched him as he turned towards Eileen, bowing gracefully towards her with a lot of pageantry on his gestures, he then turned to the audience with a smile. “I, Arbjorn, from the house of Kalle, holder of the legendary living metal sword, will put an end to this charade” said the Norse, glancing at the princess with confidence.

“I will prove once and for all that this boy should have no claim over the princess, I will release her of such a burden so she can be with a proper man of the Norse!” Spoke once again the noble with a strong voice while staring at Eileen.

The Princess remained cold as ice, not an emotion could be seen by the norse noble.

Riou however felt nothing but wicked intentions from that man. ‘He not only looks like Askjell, I bet he is just as rotten as he is’ thought the boy getting angered by his words.

The nobles shouted in unison after the noble’s word. Riou clearly noticed he was some big shot for all the faith they put on him, or perhaps it was just because of the blade.

“Brahm against Kalle!” shouted Camus, concerned. The king and Elise leaned in to see the fight better. Riou would have no chance if the sword even hit the club once.

Eileen and the others there continued unimpressed by the adversary.

Everyone in the arena was completely silent, watching with attention.

Riou smiled and threw the club away… from his back he drew his dagger.

‘It’s an overkill but, oh well… sometimes is fine to impress I guess’

Everyone's eyes were immediately caught by the strange blade the boy pulled from his belt..

The purple glow and dark color alone already surpassed the impression of Arbjorn’s sword. But it didn’t stop there.

Everyone could see that something moved within his blade. An eerie feeling struck every single one inside that arena that looked at the dagger, even those within the boy’s group felt uneasy at the sight of the blade.

The glowing runes were outstanding and the strange purple flame that seemed to dance inside the metal sent shivers down everyone’s spine.

Elise looked at Eileen. “What is that?” she questioned with astonishment. But even Eileen looked unsure towards it.

“The shape and color… seems like his old dagger, but it’s much different than before.” Eileen looked at Therese who also was trying to make sense of his weapon.

The princess looked at the caped man beside Therese for answers, but she could see nothing but terror on his face while looking at that weapon.

“By the elements… What have you created now?” she hears the old man whispering in a concerning tone beneath the cloak.

Eileen's eyes widened in realization after hearing those words, her eyes rushed back to Riou.

The boy held it with an inverted grip on his right hand.

With his left he called Arbjorn to start the fight.

The norse rushed with a thrust towards the boy at a very fast speed. Riou could see that his technique and footwork were very good.

Still, he was not nearly fast enough.

Waiting for him, the boy just swiped his right hand with the dagger towards the incoming blade. The dagger hit the noble’s blade and cut it as if it was an old, brittle wooden stick.

Before the blade fell on the ground Riou quickly attacked again. He brought the dagger near the noble’s throat, taking care to not touch it.

The silence was broken by the sound of the metal hitting the ground.

*Cling*

“Brahm wins,” said Camus after coming back to his senses.

Everyone watched in silence with perplexed expressions.

Camus was looking at his father while not believing what was happening. The King nodded slowly while stroking his beard with glints of satisfaction on his face.

Elise swallowed hard and looked at Eileen, her cousin seemed only absorbed by the dagger, still not impressed by the boy’s display at all.

So the norse princess looked behind her. Therese and Leona were smiling and talking to each other very casually about the movements he was using and also the dagger “So he did forge a weapon for himself after all” said the Lioness finding it very clever of him.

The Norse Princess widened her eyes and looked at the boy once again “Is he really…?”

*CLAP* *CLAP* *CLAP* a single man clapping got everyone’s attention.

Lord Brahm stood up and clapped slowly, alone towards the boy.

His clap echoed, stirring even more contempt in everyone's heart at the arena against the boy.

By doing that, he brought them out of their surprise. Everyone that was still shocked by the display, became angered once again.

Riou looked at the dragon and smiled. ‘That damn dragon doesn’t want them to stand down just yet? Fine by me’

Arbjorn stepped back as he looked at the boy with anger and vengeful eyes. “That was luck… if I had used my full power you’d be dead by now.”

Not only the boy won easily every single fight but now he displayed a weapon capable of cutting a steel sword at the first hit as if it was nothing.

The most displeased lord’s could only find one explanation for it. Brahm had bought the magical weapon for him to win, along with everyone else that lost so far.

They were so stubborn and wouldn’t admit the alternative that the boy was just that good.

But as Brahm stopped, no one seemed eager to try his luck against the boy despite their anger.

“Brahm against Erebor of the house of Karvid, the last year’s champion!” suddenly announced Camus as a lean man that resembled Herger, with his long blond braids on his hair and beard stepped into the arena with a smile.

Arbjorn was still up there and was having difficulty acknowledging his defeat. He wouldn’t leave.

Seeing the two contenders in the arena, Lord Brahm stood up once again.

“King Ephil!” said the Lord, as everyone silenced to hear him speak. “It seems the lords and nobles are not pleased by the display so far… so, to ease their mind and leave no doubt towards my boy’s ability and valor, I propose an exception. Allow those who are distrustful to band together against him” said Brahm with a mocking smile.

He glanced down, mocking all the stubborn lords there “Perhaps this way, these old fools can grow the courage to face a small boy in battle.”

The moment Brahm stopped speaking, a wave of shouting and cursing rushed loudly towards the king and the Lord.

“That’s an insult to all of us!” shouted one, “You cannot allow such comments king Ephil!” said another wanting Brahm to be reprimanded.

Ephil stood up and everybody silenced themselves immediately once again. “This is a strange request… tradition states that the fights should be a one on one.” The king paused for a moment.

“But if it is a request of the lord of the house... and if the fighter is willing” he said as he looked at the boy.

The boy was smiling “The fighter is willing! Don’t worry, I will make sure to go easy on them.” He glanced at Arbjorn.

Everyone went on in an uproar again, the boy’s mockery could not be forgiven.

Elise looked with widened eyes around her once again. To her surprise none of the companions of the boy seemed concerned in the slightest.

The king nodded with satisfaction. Camus smiled with excitement. Eileen just showed a confident smirk while Therese and the others found that all too normal as well, even the cloaked man paid it no mind. He was clearly still thinking about the dagger.

Elise remained silent and watched as one after the other, fighters joined the arena.

6 men stood there together with Arbjorn and Erebor. The champion frowned since he heard the king’s decision, not pleased by it, he jumped down the arena clearly wanting to fight alone.

“So, can we begin?” asked the boy, glancing at Camus behind him on the second floor.

“As an exception was requested, anyone willing to fight can join the arena” waited Camus to see if anyone else would go. “The house of Brahm will fight, Kalle, the three brothers of Jormund, Keldige and the two brothers representing Hartwel!” shouted Camus.

The boy poised and waited for the men to do the same, all them with shields and swords aside from Arbjorn, who received another sword.

He noticed most of the men concentrating mana towards their body. Seemed like the teachings of the beast man were being widely taught in the north. They would definitely be fighting for real from the start.

He smiled as they were getting serious. “Make it count now... I don’t want to hear excuses after this” said Riou, mocking Arbjorn, whose anger intensified even more.

They began to approach in an attempt to surround the boy. Riou rushed towards Arbjorn in the center of their formation without fear.

The swords came swinging at him while they also protected themselves with the shields, a standard tactic of the norse fighters, solo or in group.

****************

Riou quickly moved through their defenses with an uncanny speed and dexterity. Even with mana reinforcing their reflexes and muscles, they were unable to follow the boy’s movements.

Riou didn’t bother and positioned himself directly towards the middle of their small formation, much closer than anyone should.

They swung their blades at him without constraint, some even tried to bash him with their shields in an attempt to unbalance him. Nonetheless, the boy was never hit by any of them. He dodged and moved around with extreme agility and dexterity. To the spectator of such display, they could easily see that he was not struggling in the slightest against them.

Suddenly he changed the grip on his dagger and began to use it to defend himself.

The blades that touched the boy’s dagger were instantly broken and fell down to the arena floor.

Elise looked at him, holding her breath, every swing that went against him was dodged by a hair, every attempt of surrounding and blindsiding was foreseen and promptly avoided with quick wit and footwork.

She knew Eileen was faster than what the boy was displaying, but still, being able to fight so many shield bearers without protection while using a small dagger was a feat to be recognized even by the norse princess.

Elise looked at her cousin, “He is very good, that dagger is something else, but I still don’t see how he could have won against you… especially after what I saw you doing yesterday.”

Eileen answered without taking her eyes from the fight “He didn’t use that dagger against me we both used the same weapon grade at the time… and now he is just showing off to prove a point.”

Elise was shocked, that couldn’t be possible true.

Without swords, the norsemen continued the advance with their shields, desperately trying to bring the boy down.

He switched the dagger from the right to the left hand and began his attack by charging at the last man to the right of the formation.

The others tried to bash him as he approached.

Riou stepped to the side and using the back of the dagger as a claw, he used it to pierce the shield and hold it in place, away from the man defences. His right hand was now free to attack. He punched the man in the open defense, right in the side of the body, a kidney shot with a violent force due to his mana reinforcement.

Before the man fell to the ground, the boy was already moving towards the back of the next one beside the falling norse without him even realizing it.

The other shield bearer was already turning to intercept him and trying to push the boy while holding the shield with both hands forward. Riou sliced the shield with his dagger like it was nothing.

The group was very close together now, Riou once again charged against the remaining shield bearers with his shoulder, carrying the weight of his body, he used the dagger with its edge inverted as a claw once again.

The dagger still was able to stir up massive damage on the shields, they easily broke in pieces one after the other as the tip ripped the wood as he forced the dagger while moving forward.

The men began to get fearful as all their weapons and defenses were completely destroyed one by one, weaponless they quickly gave up on the fight and went down the arena, leaving Arbjorn alone once again.

Riou turned to Arbjorn slowly, he clearly had left him for last. The nobleman was holding what was left of the second sword in his hand.

The boy stopped and sheathed his dagger on his back and took an empty handed fighting poise, calling the noble to the fight.

Infuriated, Arbjorn threw the broken sword at the boy and rushed to attack him.

Riou dodged the first few blows easily with a quick head wobbling, his hands were down, just to demonstrate he was not concerned with the noble’s attack. The arena was silently watching that display as the fight intensified.

There was no doubt remaining at that point. They saw Arbjorn desperately trying to hit the boy without success, they could see the anger in his face and the desperation of trying to land at least one blow to the boy.

Once Riou had enough, he kicked the noble in the leg, near his knee just to destabilize him and bring him to his height.

The boy followed up with a hook to his jaw, so powerful and precise that it knocked the noble out immediately.

As Arbjorn fell, a loud explosion could be heard right outside the arena.

*BOOM*

Most of the men immediately opened the doors and went out to see what had happened.

Few remained inside, when another explosion could be heard, closer now.

Riou looked up as he felt something approaching very fast from above.

Shortly after it the ceiling gave in and three mages entered the room. All covered in a dark robe, floating down without difficulty, stopping by the king’s level.

Riou glanced at the booth where Brahm was, but the dragon was gone already.

The boy jumped up, reaching the handrail in front of the king without thinking. But as he landed on it, the dark mage in the middle of their formation switched targets. From the group he turned towards the boy.

“Begone worm, I don’t have time to lose with children” said the dark mage as a powerful spell blasted Riou away with such force that it sent him through the walls on the side of the arena.

Eileen and Elise widened their eyes and looked for a moment where the boy was sent, Elise was sure he was dead after that spell.

The dark mage fixed his eyes at Therese “That is a curious weapon that you are holding” He then said looking at his followers “Be sure to take it from her dead body”

Therese, Leona and the cloaked one were already positioned protecting the king along with Camus and both princesses.

The cloaked man beside Therese removed its hood. “Why is the council attacking the north?” said the Great Magus, preparing himself to fight.

The dark mage seemed satisfied to see the magus there “We knew you were alive… And I came here personally to put an end to that.”

With a quick chant, Max pushed the three dark mages back, getting some room for everyone there.

“Leave while I hold them off, Riou will be back soon, we must hold until then” said the mage to Therese and Eileen.

The Magus once again began to chant, lightning began to appear in front of his hand that pointed to the enemies.

Eileen was relieved after hearing his words, she knew she had to help and move them out, but she also wanted to stay and fight as well.

Therese noticing her indecision ordered her “Go now Eileen! Protect them” The princess knew she lacked power to fight against such opponents and cursed her inability once again.

The 3 black mages waited for the royal family to escape to the corridor on the back. They watched everything while preparing to receive the magus spell.

More dark mages and fighters began to arrive in the lower level of the arena and a battle broke loose. The few nobles downstairs began to either flee or fight the invasion force.

The moment the Great Magus shot his spell, the dark mage in the middle broke it with a chantless evocation. The impact was fierce and hit the old mage's pure purple energy. The great magus protectictive runes were all gone with a single hit of the enemy.

Free from the danger of the magus, the two dark mages left immediately towards the royal family.

“Damn, go protect them” said the mage to the Lioness and her disciple as he stared at the dark mage that was clearly after him.

Without delay, both cut corners by jumping across the arena’s second floor quickly reaching the royal family.

Both of them poised to intercept the 2 dark mages.

Therese vanished and was already swinging against one of the mage’s neck as he desperately tried to protect himself from the blade, he promptly erected a magical barrier to stop it.

But her blade went through it as if it wasn’t even there, cutting everything in its path with extreme power, easily shredding all the dark mage’s defenses in one hit.

His head fell down and rolled to the floor as Therese pushed towards the second one without hesitation.

Noticing the dangerous weapon at her hand, the mage immediately pushed everyone back with a desperate move. He frantically began to send a blast of energy everywhere around him and especially towards the Lioness in an attempt to push her back.

He began to cast spells randomly and quickly, desperate to keep her and Leona at bay. He immediately floated up to avoid them.

From the hole where the boy was sent flying, yet another dark mage appeared, this one floated with ease through the second floor above the arena towards the great magus.

The floating mage then promptly pointed his palm to the Lioness and her disciple. With a few words he shot a massive energy orb with dark lightning raging from within. It was massive and quickly advanced against them.

Therese jumped forward to protect Leona and used her sword to withstand the impact.

The explosion pushed her back, but she was able to withstand rather easily using her sword as a shield.

The dark mage was impressed by the display, especially by the blade. Despite not being able to see his face beneath the hood, Therese knew he was looking at the sword and its runes with great interest.

The power of the spell and its impact was supposed to erase her from existence but the sword had not a single sign of damage after receiving it.

Therese couldn’t help but smile and prepare to continue the fight. There was no time to lose as she noticed another spell was being cast from behind her.

Leona and Therese jumped to the side of the corridor, above the handrail and into the ground floor to dodge a lightning that hit the place where they were.

The dark mage continued his attempt to hit them with lightning spells from above as he followed them down.

The floating dark mage turned towards the king’s group to prevent their escape.

The princesses and Camus stood before the king to protect him.

With a hand swipe, a powerful energy wave threw them backwards against the walls and to the ground. The dark mage then blew forth a brown fog from within his dark hood that quickly spread towards the royal family.

After the strange fog touched them, they were rendered unconscious by the spell effect.

Or so assumed the dark mage, as he began to move towards the other side of the arena where Max was fighting.

Unknown to him, Eileen had resisted the spell and was recovering from the impact already.

She looked at her armor as she noticed the blue glow appearing inside of her chest, which was also driving away the fog from her.

The dark mage downstairs was now joined by other invasors and were keeping the Lioness and Leona very busy. More and more of them kept entering the arena to engage the Lioness and her disciple in battle. They didn’t intend to give them any rest.

Max was in a fierce battle with the first dark mage. His robe was mostly gone, burnt signs on his shoulders and torso showed that the great magus was not just a title.

A hairless pale young man was facing Max, a dead white tone to his skin with black veins. It was clear that no blood circulated through that body. On his torso, many argonian runes went from his neck towards his chest. His eyes were also dead and an eerie red glow took the place of his pupils.

Their surroundings were mostly destroyed. Fire burned nearby on the floor wood, ice covered some of the handrail while pieces of all kinds of barriers remained near both of the mages, slowly fading away.

“It pleases me to know that your title is not only for show” said the dark mage. “But your interference will end today, I will make sure of it”

The great magus began to chant in elven as the pale mage also prepared.

Dark red shards began to be conjured in both of the enemy’s hands, he shot them towards the magus without any warning.

With quick thinking the magus immediately expanded a mana barrier around him and the enemy, turning everything inside of it into a gray shade. Even a couple of red shards that were coming in his direction.

Struck by it, immediately the dark mage’s arm began to glow in response. He instantly recovered his colors and was able to move inside the affected area.

“A time manipulation spell? You didn’t think that would work on me, did you?” said the Dark mage as the Magus began another spell. The dark mage quickly continued to shoot the dark crystals at the magus that already chanted the next spell while moving out of the way of the shards coming in his direction.

As the time spell was undone, everything around the mage went back to normal and the shards stuck on the time barrier were also released, hitting the chairs and the handrail, completely erasing them from existence in a large spherical area around the impact. Max was getting out of space to move as the enemy continued shooting that spell.

From Max’s next spell, a burst of white energy engulfed the dark mage from above. The dark mage struggled after the initial hit and immediately defended himself with a barrier to stop the damage.

The pale one then turned to face the great magus and noticed the old man was approaching him with many fireballs floating around him, ready to throw them at the dark mage.

The dark mage defended from the successive attacks and countered the fireballs with wind spells. Dark one was clearly on the defensive now against the great magus

Max once again activated another of his spells, a whirlwind of fire bursted towards the dark mage shattering his barrier, enabling the white energy to once again hit him from above. More of his clothes and body were burnt in the process. The damage the pale one had suffered was now becoming significant.

To stop the damage, he had to call an even stronger barrier in front of him to stop the damage to his body. Blinded from above and from the front he wasn’t able to hear or see what the old magus was doing at that moment.

Once the fire and the white energy finally ended, he could only see the great magus at a distance with both hands pointed towards him, finishing what seemed to be a long chant.

A white glowing dot appeared in front of the magus and a massive great sword appeared, glowing in white and golden light. “Dragon Slayer!” shouted the mage, as the great sword flew at great speed towards the dark mage.

Once again, he quickly put his best defenses up to stop it, but the sword just cut through it as if they weren’t even there, piercing the dark mage’s chest and disappearing moments after leaving a big hole in his chest.

The dark mage stepped back with difficulty and leaned against what remained of the handrail. He was heavily damaged but still refused to fall down. His undead body was resilient and not a single drop of blood appeared from the wounds.

The magus was preparing the finishing blow, as he summoned a mana sword to his hand. The weapon burned with a blue fire. He began his attack and went towards the enemy, but suddenly, he felt an acute pain to his back and then his stomach.

The sword vanished from his hand as he felt a hot liquid pouring out his belly, flowing towards his leg in great quantity. He looked down.

The tip of a dark spear with a purple aura could be seen for a moment there, before it quickly vanished leaving an open hole in his stomach.

The magus looked behind and saw another dark mage floating in the air, approaching them slowly from behind.

The magus looked to the mage in front of him once again and fell to the ground on his side as blood was also coming out of his mouth now.

“Arstos… were you about to lose?” asked the approaching dark mage.

“Don’t say ridiculous things Tessai… you know this is nothing.” said the dark mage with his hand on his wound. “Besides that, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be waiting for me in Iris?” questioned Arstos.

“I’ve sent this shadow to assure everything would be as planned. The master won’t tolerate any failure at this point. Remember to get the information about the item before he dies.”

“I know Tessai, don’t worry, I have my ways to get that information”

“And Arstos, I need the Allardian Princess for my plans, make sure to bring her to me as well when you are done here”

“I know, it will be done”

Max began to laugh with difficulty while laying down on his side after hearing those words.

Both dark mages turned towards him. “Have you gone mad now that your death approaches?” questioned Arstos.

“You have no idea what you are doing… do you? Haharg…” said the mage, laughing and feeling the pain.

Both mages waited on him to continue as both got curious. “*Cogh* You are messing with the only thing that you shouldn’t… if you harm that girl you are all dead! Hahaharrgg *Cogh*”

“Do you think empty threats will save you? I thought the great magus had more dignity than that” said Arstos.

“Take it as you will, but if anything happens to the princess, I guarantee that you all will regret it.”

Tessai began to flicker and disappear. “Finish this, I’ve spent most of this shadow’s mana already. Find out what he knows about the item before you kill him.”

Arstos nodded as the shadow began to disappear completely.

Therese and Leona were on the ground floor surrounded by dead bodies but the enemies just wouldn’t stop coming.

They were no common dark mages either, the variation and knowledge of spells were high enough to put them in the master ranks.

With the constant influx of invasors inside the arena hall, two more dark mages joined Arstos in the upper floor. “Go and take the princess on the other side… we will leave once I’m finished with him.”

The dark mage walked towards the fallen Magus “Tell me what you know about the item that crossed into our realm, where have you hidden it?”

The magus smiled “So the council was behind the events after all? But why?”

“You should not worry about our reasons, just tell me what I need to know. Where is the item? We know you found it”

Max coughed blood “Oh I found it… you’d be surprised if I told you what it is”

“So you did find it… good, you don’t have to tell me now. I will ask your undead body, you will be an obedient servant in a few days. So we won’t be needing you anymore, not alive at least, time to die, Great Magus” said Arstos with satisfaction pointing his finger to the mage.

The dark mage smirked as a dark energy concentrated at his finger.

“You look terrible old man, do you need a hand?” A voice of a boy could be heard from behind the dark mage and caught him by surprise. There was nobody there a moment ago nor he could notice when the boy arrived there.

With relief, a smile could be seen within Maximilian’s expression of pain. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show up in time…” said the mage, spitting blood and looking at him.