Ruvonne Kingdom: Hall of Council

*King Acacia Stone’s POV*

History teaches us the mistakes that we need to avoid. Unfortunately, the kings of the past, drunk on their pompous nature, never made any mistakes as per the stories and songs I heard while growing up. In every tale, of every ancestor of mine, they were described as these enigmatic figures that ruled the happy and content masses. And yet, no one remembers their names anymore. I had always imagined that unlike them, I would be a king that would leave behind a legacy so grand that even tens of generations later, my name will be etched in the people’s hearts.

And yet….here we are.

“It is still dormant, Your Majesty. We still have some time.” A man, disheveled in appearance and tired eyes said.

“What did the Prophet say?” My voice, laced with bitterness, sounded venomous. 4 years….. I, the king of the nation of Ruvonne, mightiest of the mighty, could not find a child for four years. The heavens itself seems to be opposing me in my venture.

“The Prophet says that the Star is still somewhere in Ruvonne. However, he can’t exactly pinpoint the location. We have already dispatched a unit of the Royal Army and the Prophet himself has left with them.”

Elation filled my heart as soon as I found out that the child was still in Ruvonne. A mistake, too great to fathom, had been avoided. I sighed as I relaxed back in my chair but soon my heart stirred when I heard the man’s next words.

“However, Your Majesty, the Prophet says that he felt two distractions while searching for the Star. One of the distractions comes from the Kingdom of Leklenia, and the other….. The House Frye.” I sat upright as soon as the name of the House Frye was mentioned.

“Have you looked into what the distraction was, that came from The House Frye?”

“No, Your Majesty, the barrier that surrounds their castle and land was personally made by Maria Frye herself. I do not think anyone would be able to breach it. We can, however, barge in there with your authority.”

I leaned back on the chair, thinking of ways to sniff out what the Frye Family was upto. It was a difficult task, far more difficult than any battle I had fought and so I decided to not touch the hornet's nest this time.

“Leave this issue and focus on the child. I want him, by any means necessary.”

***********

*Mehr Augustus’ POV*

I slowly opened my eyes, that seemed heavier than usual. The cold floor that touched my back had been my only solace for the past 4 years. I slowly tried to get up before feeling a sharp pain in my body. I looked down, at my arms, to see the scabs and fresh wounds staring back at me, asking how I had become so pathetic.

Well, I’ll be able to leave this damn place soon.

I remember the day when I had opened my eyes in this world for the first time and thought that it was a second chance, to live peacefully and spend my life the way I wanted to. That was a mistake. This life had been nothing but a punishment so far. The sins of my past life were being mended through my suffering, I imagined. The parents of this body of mine, might have been among the corpses I saw that day.

At least I was fortunate enough to not be sold to some perverted guy. If that was the case, I was very sure that I would have wanted to die at the earliest. It was strange though, that I could understand their language, which was definitely different from mine, almost as soon as I was born. This made me believe that there was definitely a higher power in play here, and if it was some sort of a God that was dishing out pain and suffering on me, then I surely wanted to meet Him. I wonder if a God would scream if I stabbed my spear in His eyes?

At first, I had thought that this world didn't have any mana, as strange as that might sound. Trying to condense mana in my body was a failure, and I couldn’t even feel it in my surroundings. That was until, I was sold to a merchant of Varay.

I was quite delighted to see one of his guards performing, what seemed like magic. And yet, his magic was fairly odd. Even when people performed attacks in front of me, I couldn't feel any mana.

I could make out the fluctuations in my surroundings, but couldn't quite grasp it. So, I changed my perspective. I put all the knowledge of my previous world aside, and started devouring whatever information I could come across.

First two years in the slave traders base, last two years in a merchant's house.

4 years of information, most of which was rubbish, was what it took for me to learn about the mana surrounding me.

Mana, in my old world, was found in traces. It was like a creek for the entirety of a desert. People needed to take whatever amount they could get to purify and condense it in their bodies. While here, it felt like I was drowning in mana. As if I had been thrown into an ocean while the only water I knew before was a slight drizzle. Mana itself made this world operate, or so I've heard from the people around me. They called it life itself.

For someone who had been living for years with just some droplets of water, an entire ocean was outside of comprehension.

I also found out the reason I never managed to feel the mana around me. The mana in the surrounding was purified from the beginning.

People here didn't need to purify and condense it within their bodies, it was available for anyone and everyone to use. This is the part I found most amusing and rather refreshing.

No royal blood that has an unfair advantage, no children of nobility that roamed as if they owned the world.

Everyone was on equal footing here. Only your comprehension ability mattered. No talent, no blood, only your attunement to the world itself.

That is what I have been doing for many months now. And I could tell that I was close. Every time I concentrated, I could feel as if the mana around me moved to take me into its arms. As if it was helping me like a mother would help her son. The warmth in its soft embrace was alluring and I felt protected with it around me.

Or it might just be my delusions. After all, I had been hungry for a day now, on top of being injured.

I slowly got up and walked towards the small brook behind the slave quarters. The mild sunlight tickled my face while the cold breeze rustled my hair.

I kept moving forward slowly and not soon after, I could see the fresh water flowing in the brook. I stripped off my clothes and jumped into the water.

The cold water seemed to sizzle on my fresh wounds. I washed my body and hurriedly got out of the water. I put on my dirty clothes as I started walking towards the chambers of the merchant's son.

I was assigned as a servant to the 5 year old child, but I was more like a ragdoll that the son used to release his anger and frustration on. Well, nothing I could do about it. It's not like I would kill a child in his sleep.

I could have tried if there weren't so many damn guards, but I digress.

I picked up my pace and started to run lightly towards the chambers.

"Oye, mute!" I heard someone call me from behind just as I reached the main house. I turned around to see a middle aged man, standing tall, with his head full of shiny red hair.

"Why are you late today, mute? Looks like you couldn't understand yesterday's disciplinary teachings properly, huh?"

Now this was a man I would definitely kill before leaving. I could see his annoying face with a smug smirk looking down on me.

I remember when I first came to this house, I was given tasks such as cleaning the floor and dusting around the mansion and not long after that, I was told to stay around the little young master. I never spoke a single word in front of anyone. I was not sure how a child of my age spoke normally, so I just stayed quiet. Looking at the little young master gave me some clues as to how to act with other, but I genuinely thought it was better to stay quiet than to act like a stupid little runt.

And I came to be known as mute. An insult to me, but also my name.

The gentleman in front of me was the guy who was teaching the young master to fight. I remember, vividly, some of the first few classes that he gave, as I was the 'target' he had assigned for the young master. And that damn child also took glee in hitting me with a wooden stick.

"Hurry up now, the young master is waiting impatiently for his sparring partner." The red haired man, Dorian, smirked and started walking into the side stables.

I followed him closely behind, just before entering the small open area that was cleaned to be a makeshift training area. A strong damp smell wafted into my nose as I moved inside the clearing.

I could hear the grunts of other guards as they went about their physical training. Some looked our way before hurriedly going back to what they were doing before.

Dorian held my shoulder tightly and shoved me ahead so hard that my shoulder popped out of its place. Now, this was nothing new. However, I knew what was going to come next, and I didn't want to risk losing my hand entirely.

While in the air, I changed my body position very gradually so as no one would notice. I held my left shoulder with my right hand as I got ready to hit the ground. I slowly tilted my upper body in a way that my left shoulder would hit the ground first.

Bam!

I bumped into the containers of cheap alcohol and tables beside them. But I had been successful in what I wanted to achieve, my shoulder was back in its place without anyone noticing.

I slowly got up and acted a bit disoriented before the annoying red head's words entered my ears, "Get in place mute, it's time to spar with the young master."

Ah, yes. I will definitely kill this guy.