“Heh,” Keith happily chuckled. “I can’t wait to finally go on an adventure!”

Like most young boys, Keith had always wanted to adventure as well. But because of his circumstances, he had never even thought about actually leaving. Only some of the older other princes had departed. They had all gone on journeys with their respective teachers, to gain knowledge, power and show the king what they were capable of. None of the princes had been able to simply leave the Royal Capital on their own. In the fight for the throne, fratricide was strictly forbidden, so some of the princes chose to gain accomplishments to show the king that they were the strongest. But even if it was strictly forbidden to kill their own brothers, some of the princes still found ways to kill off the other contenders for the throne, without implicating themselves.

“Calm down, Keith,” Dillim said. “The journey won’t be that exciting. In Lirix they respect the powerful, so if someone sees me, they will simply avoid us.”

Keith’s eyes started to shine for a split moment. “How will they know that you’re powerful, Dillim? It’s not like everyone knows you, right?”

“When you reach a high level of power, people will start to carry themselves in different ways,” Dillim explained. “The people who may pose a threat to us will automatically see my aura. The more world energy someone has accumulated, the more it shows.”

“What about the people who can’t sense that? Maybe some bandits will come to rob us!”

“Hmph,” Dillim snorted. “If there are any people who can’t see through my aura and still dare to attack me… well, then they can only blame their own luck.”

Dillim had always been a confident man. He might have had troubles killing people before, but nowadays he wouldn’t bat an eyelid to deal with a bandit or two.

Just when Dillim and Keith were about to set off, a shrill piercing voice could be heard. Keith stopped walking and turned around, checking who was stopping them.

“Oooooi,” the 7th Prince could be seen running from the palace to catch up with Dillim and Keith. Behind him, a man with an imposing aura could be seen. He was leisurely walking, but somehow, he was walking with the same speed as the 7th Prince, who was running.

“‘Bad luck thirteen’, you aren’t leaving like that, are you? You haven’t even said goodbye to us brothers.” The 7th Prince had come to a stop before Dillim and Keith. He was wearing royal clothes, especially made for high class nobles, while he had a sword hanging at his waist. He had short red hair, spiking upwards.

Keith could only mumble a bit in response. He never really knew how he should deal with his 7th brother. He was the one who harassed Keith the most. Aside from the eldest three Princes, this 7th Prince was the most vicious among them.

“Can it really be that you have been banished from Lirix?!” The 7th Prince’s surprised voice could be heard, mocking Keith. “I don’t think a prince has ever been banished before, your talent must be exceptionally bad! It’s a miracle you didn’t die from taking father’s blow head on!”

Keith could tolerate a few insults, but the more he was insulted by his brother, the angrier he became. Eventually he couldn’t help speaking up against his brother. “Tenlo, shut up! I haven’t been banished!” Keith countered. “I’m simply leaving with Dillim to start learning magic, mark my words, I will surpass you with great magic eventually!”

“Magic?” Tenlo –the 7th Prince, had a surprised look on his face. Then he started laughing extremely loud. He had never thought Keith would drop so low to become a filthy mage.

Keith had heard a lot of stories from Dillim, but let’s not forget, most people only knew of the common stories that were told in Lirix.

Keith could only grimace at the display of Tenlo. After Tenlo finally finished laughing, he had to regain his breath before speaking up: “Who told you that a mage is anything great? That Dillim maybe? Hah, he can’t even compare to my master.”

Tenlo was referring to the man who stood behind him. He was a grand sword master, who was assigned to teach Tenlo the sword. Tenlo had a grand sword master teach him, because he was one of the 3 heavenly princes from this generation. As said before, they are extremely rare within each generation of the Dominus bloodline. This is also one of the reasons why Tenlo could be so arrogant while doing everything he wants.

Keith was speechless, he could only turn to Dillim.

Dillim had been observing the whole confrontation without saying anything, but seeing how Tenlo had been harassing Keith, he was starting to get a little angry as well. Now that Tenlo had even aimed his insults at himself, he couldn’t remain silent any longer.

“Airon, you should keep your student under control,” Dillim said, aiming his remark at the old man standing behind Tenlo. “Otherwise I’ll be forced to teach him a lesson myself.”

Airon –Tenlo’s teacher, remained silent while fiercely glaring at Dillim. He was pretty old, having the appearance of a 70 years old. But somehow, he still had youthful features with a smooth skin. He had long white hair that was freely flowing down his back.

The tension was slowly building, and it was almost like Airon and Dillim could explode into motion at any moment, trying to cut each other down. Keith had taken a few steps back and stood behind Dillim. He was afraid that Airon might snap at him too. He had already tasted a bit of another grand sword master’s aura from Reddin; he didn’t want to experience that again.

The one who suddenly broke the tension was Tenlo. He laughed before saying: “Hah, look at you hiding behind Dillim. You’re nothing worth yourself, you can only rely upon Dillim.”

“Hmph.” Tenlo snorted once, before turning his back towards Keith and Dillim. “I can’t waste much more time here, let’s go back Airon.”

“As you wish, my Prince.”

After Tenlo had taken a few steps, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He then, out of nowhere, turned around and looked at Keith. In his eyes, a vicious glint could be seen.

“I know you’re going to leave the Lirix kingdom, but please don’t try to die, alright? You can’t let us princes from the Dominus bloodline lose face,” Tenlo said. “The 4th and 9th prince have already died too; we brothers should cherish each other.”

Keith thought another insult would head his way, but after hearing what Tenlo said, he completely stopped moving. It was like he suddenly realized something, and he slowly moved his head to Dillim. He stood in front of Keith, and you could see that his body was slightly shaking. Dillim’s eyes had become a little red, while he himself was emitting a fierce aura.

Tenlo had intentionally mentioned the 4th and the 9th Princes’ deaths, because they were respectively the most important people to Dillim and Keith. The 4th Prince had died while Dillim was his sworn protector, which had left a deep scar in Dillim.

The 9th Prince was Keith’s favorite older brother. The one Keith always looked up to, and the one who had always been accompanying him. Keith had thought his brother had gone away on a journey, because Dillim tried to protect him from the horrible truth.

“What do you mean with that?” Keith quietly asked Tenlo.

“It means exactly what I said. You seriously didn’t know our 9th brother had died?” Tenlo said. “Ah!” it looked like he had a sudden realization before speaking up: “So that’s why you kept on ‘searching’ for him inside the castle! It was so hilarious to see you look for a dead person, asking if people wanted to help you look for him!” Saying that, Tenlo burst into laughter.

Keith’s head had slumped downwards. His body was visibly shaking and you could hear him gnashing his teeth. Dillim didn’t like to be reminded about the 4th Prince he was supposed to protect, but the remark didn’t hit him as hard as Keith who just received the news of his brother’s death.

“It’s such a shame, the 9th Prince was also a heavenly prince…”

Hearing this last sentence, Keith couldn’t restrain himself any longer. He moved his head upwards again, looking Tenlo in the eyes. Keith’s eyes were clouded with a layer of red, almost as if a few veins in his eyes had burst. Keith moved his body, and began sprinting towards Tenlo.

“I’LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!” Keith screamed with all his might, running straight at Tenlo.

Tenlo simply grinned and moved his hand to his sword. He would be ready the moment Keith came into his fighting distance. He would simply cut Keith down, and that would be the end of him. Tenlo thought that if a heavenly prince were to kill another prince with the lowest amount of talent, that he would have done the king a favor instead. He had kept Keith alive to harass him, but seeing how he was about to leave, he thought it would be better to get rid of him. Even if fratricide was forbidden, if it was a case of self-protection, it should be tolerated by the king.

Right before Keith managed to close the distance completely, Dillim suddenly appeared behind him, hitting him on the backside of his neck. Keith was surprised for a moment, but then his body completely lost its tension. He had lost consciousness. Dillim caught Keith’s body, and positioned him between his side and his left arm.

“Tch,” Tenlo clicked his tongue. He would be able to kill Keith under a guise of self-defense, but seeing how Dillim had responded, he would have to drop this idea.

“You two should both leave,” Dillim silently said. “Unless you want me to stop holding myself back.”

Dillim spoke silently, but that made the words he said all the more terrifying. Normally, people would start to yell out of anger, but the people who would speak silently while boiling inside with fury, were instinctively regarded as the most dangerous.

“Let’s return, my prince,” Airon said to Tenlo.

After hearing this, Tenlo just waved his hand and they both walked back the way they came from. Tenlo had a scowl on his face during this, because he hadn’t been able to complete his goal. But he knew, even with his master, he might not be able to do anything to Keith. Everyone knew that Dillim had been the number one knight once, but no one knew how strong Dillim was after losing his right hand. Most assumed that his strength had considerably weakened because the good relationship between Dillim and the king had deteriorated soon after. Dillim had also left the highest Royal Knight Division, leaving people to assume that he had considerably dropped in power. But no one knew exactly how strong he still was, which made Tenlo hesitant to retaliate.

Dillim watched their return with a hidden anger in his eyes. He had seen a lot of cruelty in this world, but the struggle for the throne of the Dominus bloodline had to be one of the cruelest things. Every prince would use each opportunity to kill another prince they did not like.

Dillim had once asked the king why the Dominus bloodline would use such a system. The king had simply laughed, but then he turned serious and answered him. “You’re asking me why we only invest heavily in princes with a high amount of talent? Why we keep harassing the princes with less amount of talent? Why we scorn everyone without sufficient power or talent?” The king simply repeated Dillim’s questions first, as if to taste them. Then he gave his answer. “That’s because they will feel rejected. They will want to acquire that what they do not have. They will work harder than anyone else to gain power and to take revenge. This is the kind of prince that will become the strongest if he is let alone the longest.” The king said, pausing a moment before continuing: “As for whether they will reach a level of someone with a high amount of talent… well, that depends on their own luck. We don’t have to do anything to the princes with a high amount of talent, because they want to fortify their own positions anyway. They instinctively know that should they slack off their whole lives, they will be easily surpassed by the other princes.”

Dillim pondered the answer of the king, and then he looked at the unconscious Keith. He was now peacefully sleeping, but Dillim wondered how he would be when he woke up. Dillim tried to shield Keith from the news that his most important family member had died, but it turned out to be useless. Dillim regretted that he couldn’t prepare Keith for this news in any different way. Keith had always been so enthusiastic and good natured, even when others would keep treating him with scorn. But Dillim knew all too well, it is easier to hate, than to forgive. He hoped Keith wouldn’t be changed too much by this news.

He shook his head resignedly, and carried the unconscious Keith with him. He marched to their next destination; the teleport gate of Lirix. It would take 12 days of walking without any rest to cross the whole kingdom of Lirix, and then they would have to cross a big part of Erelath to reach the academy.

Dillim wanted to avoid this, and use the Royal Teleport Gate of Lirix. Most countries would have an ancient gate that allowed people to appear at other gates of the same kind. These gates had been around as long as anyone could remember. It would be possible to cross the heavily guarded teleportation gate if you were with a group of less than 5 people. You would also have to pay the country a huge sum to be allowed to use the gate. It was impossible to use the gates with an army, because if too many people would try to cross it at once, the gate would temporarily fluctuate, killing everyone using it to travel. This was one of the reasons the teleport gates had heavy restrictions on their usage.

Dillim had already prepared the necessary money, and he knew he would be able to shorten the travel time by a lot if they were to use the gate.

He wanted to leave Lirix with Keith as soon as possible.