“Do you all understand? There is not much time.” Nora said.

Many of the survivors were kneeling in the front, some willing, while some were against their wishes. The rest of the survivors were standing in the back, unsure of what they wanted to do. Raising their weapons against a High Nobility was a crime. While it might not be considered a crime inside the trial, the action of raising the weapon against High Nobility was a stigma that wouldn’t leave them for life. They could have tried attacking if they were hidden but Nora had seen their faces.

“He is not far now.” Nora pointed to Mehr in the distance. After throwing Nora on top of the hill, he was walking up the hill while enjoying the view around him. He had strapped the bloody spear on his back and was oscillating his arms in a relaxed motion.

“All of you have already seen what he can do and I’m very sure he will not listen to you all. So, it would be beneficial for you to withdraw now.”

The survivors looked at each other for affirmation. The ones who were kneeling willingly had already made up their minds as soon as Nora flew down the sky and crashed in front of them, and demanded that they all withdraw.

“As you say, Lady Nora.” Specks of light spread around the survivors as many of them withdrew. They were all from the minor noble houses that served the House Forde. Nora’s mere wish was their command.

The rest of the survivors had given up any semblance of hope they had before one of them stepped forward.

“I apologise, Lady Nora, but why are you helping the commoner instead of us nobles?” He said.

Nora looked at the boy who had stepped forward. Hesitation was clear in his eyes and yet he questioned a child of High Nobility. The boy had light blonde hair and deep blue eyes and two small marbles were swirling above his head. The two small marbles looked brittle in appearance but Nora recognised their nature instantly.

‘Heavens’ Gift,’ Nora thought. She stood up from the small rock she was sitting at and walked towards the boy.

“It is impolite to not introduce yourself,” Nora said.

“I apologise for my mistake.” The boy bowed deeply and introduced himself, “I’m David from a minor branch of the House Eastmere.”

“Eastmere? That sounds unfamiliar.” Nora said.

“We are a small Noble House situated near the southern border, Lady,” David replied.

“I see. So David, when was the last time you went to the army camp?”

“I’ve never been to the army camp, Lady Nora,” David answered politely while still looking down at the ground. His hands were behind his back and his posture was a little bent. From his speech to his gestures, he showed deep respect to the High Nobility.

“Never? How is that possible? Which High Nobility does your House serve?”

“House Eastmere serves the great House Albarone,” David replied.

“Ah, that makes sense.” Nora nodded as soon as she heard the name ‘Albarone.’ “Well, let me give you two answers and you can choose whichever one you like.”

David politely bowed again as he listened to Nora’s answers.

“The first answer would be a piece of advice for you, David. Go to a Ruvonnian Army Camp and spend some days there. You will find the answer yourself. Second, I am not really helping him. He trusted me enough to send me here first and I would like to repay that trust. As for him being a commoner, I simply do not care.” Nora waved her hand and gestured to everyone to withdraw and turned around to sit on her rock.

David stood still for a moment before bowing deeply and saying, “Lady Nora, kindly allow me to battle against you.”

Nora turned around and looked at David in confusion, “You’re going to battle me? Do you know what you’re saying?”

David stood silently for a moment. His head was still hung low as he was repeating his words in his mind again and again. He had fought many battles so far in the trial and had come out of each of them without a single scratch. Halfway through his journey to the hill, he had started hearing about the ‘Four Monsters’ and he wanted to fight against all of them to see where he stood. However, he learned that two of the monsters were High Nobles and the other two were commoners. He couldn’t fight against the High Nobles for obvious reasons and didn’t want to stoop down to the level of commoners. And so he continued on his journey until he heard that the monsters were extremely close to the badge. The simplest way to avoid the monsters was to get the badge first, and so he tagged along with the other survivors.

But now, this wasn’t about checking how he would fare against Nora but a necessity. He couldn’t withdraw. He had to clear the trial.

David slowly looked up as the thoughts in his mind settled and for the first time, he looked straight into Nora’s eyes and said, “My House has sent me here with utmost trust and My Lord from House Albarone asked me to win. I apologise for not heeding Lady’s words, but I hope you can grant a selfish wish of mine.”

Nora understood what David was insinuating. He couldn’t say it in front of so many people to avoid sullying his House, but Nora understood it. And that’s why she hesitated.

Worth.

If a child from minor nobility couldn’t accomplish enough to be noticed by the High Nobility, they would be thrown to the side and the House would focus on other children. After all, children were a never-ending commodity. The same was true for minor noble Houses. If they were to keep descending the social ladder, some other House would take their place and that would eventually ruin the entire House gradually.

David was creating his worth. Not only his but of his House as well. He understood what he was doing and what the consequences of his actions would be. But if he won, his House would shoot up the social ladder and be a candy in the eyes of the Great House of Albarone.

Nora couldn’t decide what to do at this point. Accepting David’s challenge was the worst thing she could do right now.

“Lady Nora, I would like to challenge you as well!”

“I as well, Lady.”

“Lady, I -”

Many survivors gained hope from Nora’s hesitation and jumped on the chance. David looked back at the people with apparent disgust on his face but said nothing. It wasn’t his place to speak up.

However, amidst all the commotion, a sizzling sound was heard by everyone. They all stopped and looked around trying to find the direction but the sound increased in intensity. Some of them looked up in the sky as it got darker suddenly and found a large number of spears raining from the sky.

The survivors didn’t have the time to get confused as they scurried here and there for cover but not everyone was lucky enough to survive. The spears stabbed many people fatally while many lost their limbs and flesh. David was still standing on his spot without moving and the two marbles over his head were still swirling. Every time a spear would come close to him, a marble would shoot up and either demolish it or divert its course. David looked around the mayhem and couldn’t put his head to the cause.

‘What sort of power can do this?’ He thought.

The power, or rather a person, was soon revealed.

“When you’re given a chance to drink a cup, do not demand the entire jug,” Mehr spoke with his amplified voice.

David watched as Mehr walked towards him, his hair was sticky and his face was still bloody. The giant spear on his back was covered in cloth that had also turned red due to blood. David looked into Mehr’s eyes which seemed to be laughing at the chaos.

“I’ll take your offer,” Mehr said while rubbing his shoulder that had gone sore from all the spears he had thrown. The people who survived had also noticed Mehr and were looking at him with maddened eyes. However, Mehr just smiled and dashed towards David while taking his giant spear off his back. He uncovered it and stabbed straight at David’s face but the strike was promptly stopped by the marbles swirling around David.

David unsheathed his sword and went for a horizontal strike but Mehr had already shifted his spear to parry the attack.

‘Oh? Quite talented.’ Mehr thought as he ducked down to sweep David off his feet but David had twisted his body to kick Mehr in the face. Mehr grabbed the kick and put force in his hand to lift David off the ground. David struggled a bit and tried to stab Mehr’s shoulder but Mehr had already thrown him back.

Mehr kicked the ground and dashed towards others, stabbing them at a speed they couldn’t comprehend. The noble children who had only sparred against each other without ever encountering a fatal hurdle were bewildered. Specks of light filled the area as Mehr continued his massacre. However, he soon had to stop and put his focus on one person again, David. David had circled back and came to the front of Mehr. Even when he had a chance to attack Mehr’s back, he never even considered it. But the other people weren’t as honourable.

As soon as David attacked Mehr again, several people sent mana-strike to Mehr’s back. Mehr would create some distance and grab the freshly killed people as shields or just materialise it for himself. He had broken many shields and his back had started bleeding by now. However, not many people remained alive. He had killed tens of survivors while fending off David’s marbles and keeping a distance from him. He would summon several weapons at once and use the mana like a small tidal wave to trip people up. The weapons would then be thrown at the unbalanced survivors, which would turn them into specks of light not long after.

“I withdraw.” The rest of the people withdrew without hesitation after they realised it was realistically impossible to get the badge anymore. Only David was still standing. The marbles were still swirling over his head with elegance, but his body was completely battered.

“Why is a commoner so powerful?” David couldn’t believe what he had seen. He saw the ‘monster’ jumping around everywhere while either dodging or blocking all the attacks from several directions. Even David’s marbles were countered perfectly by him. ‘The monster’ never gave him a chance to close in and only attacked from a distance while engaging with other people.

Mehr was also exhausted by this point. He had been using an immense amount of mana during the fight and his stamina was also at rock bottom. However, he didn’t show it on his face at all. He stood tall with his spear in his hand and still looked at David as if he was looking at his prey. He acknowledged David’s talent and presence of mind. If David was more experienced, this fight could have gone either way.

“So, will you continue?” Mehr asked while smiling. He was putting up a front at his point. He could continue fighting but he knew that his body needed rest right now.

David stood still while looking at Mehr’s bloody body. He truly suited his moniker of lunatic. David sighed and accepted his defeat without thinking about it further. He knew he had been defeated terribly.

“The next time we fight, it won’t go as it did today,” David said to Mehr, but it was a statement made as a vow to himself. David Eastmere, a hero who would one day be called the Light of Humanity, whispered his withdrawal and slowly turned into little specks of light.

Mehr plopped down on the ground and huffed violently. He had pushed his body to the limit and it seemed to be complaining back now. His lungs were burning due to overuse of mana and his limbs were extremely sore. He rested for a while before taking off his tattered half cape and cleaning his spear with it.

“What were you thinking back then, when he challenged you to a battle? Mehr asked casually.

“I was just thinking what my mother would have done. She always has answers regarding everything,” Nora replied while sitting on the small rock.

“Well, good thing I came in time.” Mehr chuckled.

“Good thing? There is not a single good thing about you. Look at all this dirt in my clothes. You don’t just casually throw a Lady like that!” Nora complained while dusting her frock.

Mehr giggled before noticing two people approaching them. One of them was a girl in tattered clothes who was covering her body with a half cape and the other was…

“Late as usual, Sirius. Looks like I won this one.” Mehr said while smiling.

This was the first meeting of the ‘Four Monsters’ of the trial. A meeting that the future generations will remember as the key event resulting in the disastrous fate of the world. A fate, written with the blood of millions.