The elf king was currently inside a hidden dungeon of the Galahad castle. His court mage has recently had a few intriguing discoveries and has invited him to her lab for a small demonstration. Hearing this news made Aldol beaming with excitement. The young king has always been a fan of Astrea, or rather Odium’s works. It wasn’t just because many of these experiments helped improve their military power but also because the nature of these experiments, which was not for the faint of heart.

He has seen many of the subjects and each time their sufferings gave him a twisted sense of pleasure. To Aldol, the kingdom of Malatas was his playground and everyone was his toys. But now the toys were used and things started to become boring again. He needed new toys, with new environment.

Walking down the dark alley leading to the secret dungeon, Aldol could hear the moaning of the prisoners. But unlike a normal prison, the prisoners were not asking to be free. Instead, they were begging to be killed, to be free from their torment. In one cell on his right, a heinous creature with half of the body being a lump of rosy flesh and the other half still retaining his original form: an elf. A part of his face was melting into the bump of flesh with only the left side remaining unharmed. His words were almost intangibles due to the swelling on his neck, making it difficult to even breathe.

“Ki…Ki..llll…..mmmm….eeee!” the sad soul tried to form words with half of his mouth.

“Oh poor creature! So you failed to become something more and ended up with this ugly appearance. Perhaps I should grant you mercy….if you beg for it.” Aldol grinned.

The poor creature repeatedly bowed his head until he kept hitting the ground. Blood spurted out of his flesh but he didn’t stop. He just wanted this to end. This kind of pain was nothing compare to what he has endured so far.

“My my how diligent! Come here and I will give you what you want!”

Hearing this voice that seemed like the voice of an angel who has come to free him from this nightmare, the creature moved clumsily toward the cell’s door. Because of this lump of flesh attached to his body, he could not walk properly and must crawl on the cold and stone hard ground. Crawling even faster, the creature tried to move his head through the bar of the cells but it was too big to pass through. Aldol’s hand touched the visage of the creature playfully with just a finger, as if to ease the pain of this poor soul.

But when the beast looked up to Aldol with his only eye, the last thing he saw was a knife coming toward it. A dagger plunged into his socket as he shrieked in pain.

“Ha ha ha you stupid beast! You really think I will let you die that easily? Stay there and agonize for my amusement! Hahahaha!” Aldol laughed maniacally. If that was a normal person, the dagger would have been enough to finish him. However, the instinct to live, especially coming from a beast, was a frightening thing. Despite the wound and the blood it has lost, the beast still lived and moaned in pain, begging to be released from this world.

Many other cells were similar, filled with monstrosities no words could describe. Their moaning sufferings were like an orchestra, gentle music to the king’s ears. Yet there was one totally different from the others.

The cell that caught Aldol’s attention was a special one. Instead of metal bars, glass walls were covered in all directions like a tank, crafted by the best craftsmen in the kingdom. Often used to display a treasure of the royal family or a powerful artefact, at least that was what one would think of when seeing this kind of decoration. However not even their creators, in their wildest imaginations, would realize that they were now being used for such atrocities. Filled with a murky water, Aldol came closer to the glass and pinched his eyes to see what was inside.

Suddenly something hit again the glass, a pale hand with three fingers. However, the fingers were webbed together like a palmate, a distinct indication of an aquatic creature. And it finally showed itself. A pale red haired woman with an astonishing beauty few could resist. Her pupils were slit like snakes, dangerous but enchanting at the same time. Yet even with such beauty, something about the girl was odd. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she did not shy away despite being naked and in front of a man. Or perhaps because her lower half was the tail of a fish adorned with brimming scales she could attract the attention of her preys even in the darkest water. Webbed spikes poked out from her back, allowing her to travel in water at sound speed. But what good was it for when she was trapped inside this small tank?

The woman looked at Aldol with cold eyes. The experiment has completely erased her previous memories and even now she did not understand why she was here. But she envied him, being able to roam freely outside while for her, the only world she knew was inside this tank.

The young king of the elves stared at the creature in front of him. Her monstrous appearance overall would shun away any sane man, even with that face. But what Aldol saw was no monster. Through his twisted eyes, he saw a blooming flower, one that was more refined and graceful than any woman he has seen. All of the sudden, he felt a certain urge inside him. Was it like before? Was it like when he spotted a cute girl in the street, the only thing he wanted was to kill her, to make her scream in pain? No it wasn’t like that. It was something else. But what? His heart was beating rapidly to the point he was feeling nauseous. What could be this strange feeling he has never experienced before?

“Do you like her?” a voice interrupted him. From the shadows, the court mage Astrea made her entrance, surprised the young king. Seeing Astrea, the woman quickly swam and hided in a corner of the room behind the murky water.

“What is she?” asked Aldol.

“One of the unexpected results I had from my experiments. I call her ‘mermaid’. Currently I am trying to combine different races together with monsters and she is one of the few who survived. I suppose this is the creation of a new race. Perhaps this is how God feels when he first created the Primes. A feeling of superiority, knowing that those you created would always be below you. But I wonder how would a God react to see that their creations have surpassed them? He he!”

“Mermaid…it has a nice touch to it but not very personal…” Aldol muttered.

“To me she is only a combination of flesh and mana. If you want to give her a name, then go ahead! I don’t mind.”

“The first of her race….then I will call you Eve, the first mermaid!”

The woman, hearing what Aldol just said, slowly drew nearer to the glass wall. But she didn’t do anything nor did she show any reaction to her new name. Could she even understand what Aldol just said or has the transformation turned her mind to that of a beast?

“Do you think she like it?” Aldol said as he observed the mermaid’s every move.

“How do I know? Come! I have something else to show you!”

Aldol reluctantly followed Astrea to the deepest level of the dungeon. Usually he would be excited about going there but for the first time he wanted to remain, watching Eve in her tank.

Deep in the dungeon, Aldol walked into a chamber which looked just like used for torture. Chains were hanging on the cell. Blood splattered on the ground, some still warm and wet. In the middle of the room, an unconscious soldier of Galahad was laying on a table, chained on his limbs to it.

“So what will you show me today?” Aldol asked.

“Our next war with the beastmans will not be just a hunt for ingredients, I want it to be a test field for some of the things I created down here. To ascertain our victory, I decide now would be a good time to use this.”

Astrea took a black liquid and poured it into the mouth of the soldier. At that moment he began to wake up. Finding himself chained, the soldier had no idea what would happen to him.

“Wh….where am I? Your Majesty? Why are you here? Someone tell me what is going on?” the soldier struggled hardly to no avail.

Suddenly he began to convulse heavily. Black liquid poured out of his mouth, his nose, his ears and even his eyes. Then his body started changing. His muscles inflated abruptly, breaking his armor and showing blood vessels clearly on his arms and legs. His size also doubled and with just a swing, he freed himself from the chains.

“This is…” Aldol uttered.

“Not only his strength has increased exponentially, he also obeyed to our very words even if we order him to kill himself. The perfect soldier! And this is only one type. I have also others with different types of transformations depending on the situation required.” Astrea proudly said.

“So we are ready then?”

“Indeed we are!”

“Good! I am feeling a bit weird now. I need something to distract myself. A war should be enough.” Aldol realized that he has been feeling strange ever since his encounter with Eve. On his way down here, he has seen plenty of others people being tortured, subjected to cruel experimentation. Yet how come he did not feel the same pleasure as before? How?

“Oh my….don’t tell me that you have feeling for that mermaid? You fell in love with her!!!” Astrea spoke playfully. What she did not expect was Aldol’s reaction to her statement.

“SHUT UP! Don’t you ever…EVER talk to me about love!” Aldol put his hands on Astrea’s neck and pulled her up against the wall, strangling her.

After a short struggle, Aldol regained his senses and released Astrea. The court mage fell to her knees and gasped for breath.

“ *cough* *cough* If you understand that…then good! Know that both of us will never find love. That’s what we signed up for when we decided to do this!”

“I know….I…sorry about that Astrea! I didn’t know what took over me” Aldol rushed to her side and helped her get up.

“It’s alright. No need to feel sorry about that! We don’t have time for such useless sentiment. A war is waiting for us!”

* * *

“To all the lords who have gathered here, today we will test whether this young man has the strength and the wisdom to become the next heir of the Zagon throne. Two tests, all prepared by the council and the judge of those tests will be minister Svelt! Everyone please give a round of applaud to lord Svelt” said the announcer.

Svelt walked up to the stage in a pompous manner as if he owned the place. As a matter of fact, he did. Even the announcer was already bought with his pocket before this event. Everyone knew that Svelt has probably arranged things so the boy would never pass his tests. Some already showed a bored expression, knowing already the result of this futile event. What was the point of staying there when you already knew what would happen? But did they?

“Ehem. As the judge of this fair exam, I wish the best of luck to the candidate. We will now begin the first test: the Trial of Wisdom. This will take place inside the Maze of the Lost.”

Just mentioning the name of the place where the trial would take place shocked everyone. The Maze of the Lost was a dungeon outside of Eisenheim. It was originally built as a prison by the first emperor of Zagon. But rather than a prison, it served as an entertainment game to watch the people thrown inside get lost and starved to death. However, that was just the specialty of this maze. The main problem that adventurers encountered was that this maze constantly changed itself and did not follow any specific pattern so for years no one has managed to find the way out once inside.

“This is a bit cruel, don’t you think?”

“Poor child!”

“Well here I thought at least he would pass one.”

“You own me one hundred golds coins now”

“Wait just a minute! We haven’t seen the result yet!”

The crowd began to murmur loudly in front of this difficult challenge which an eleven years old boy must face.

“The candidate will have a day to find the exit. Are you ready?”

“I am” Alastor said.

“Very well! I will now teleport you to the dungeon. May the odds be with you!” Alastor could see Svelt’ smirk before a bright light engulfed him.

“Your Majesty, shouldn’t you stop this? He is just a boy. He will die at this rate!” minister Sinclair began to sweat for the poor boy.

“You underestimate too much. He is my son! I know him! He will be able to pass it!” though Morrigan might seem indifferent in her words, she was actually quite nervous inside. She knew what Alastor was capable of and he has passed challenges much more difficult than this but being a mother, you couldn’t help but worry about your child.

“Before this test, I have given the candidate a crystal orb that would follow him and show us his movements through this orb in my hand. Using this will allow you to monitor his every action, assuring the fairness of the trial.” Svelt proclaimed.

He even spoke of fairness while everyone here knew what he was up to. Now they could only hope that the boy would have a painless and quick death.

.....

Alastor now found himself inside a stone labyrinth with walls as high as the ceiling, making it impossible to climb over. Immediately the boy could spot two tiny holes on two sides. If he had taken just one step over, two lances would have poked out and skewered him like a brochette. And this was just the first of many other traps hidden in this maze.

On the ground were remains of the unfortunate visitors before him, now all was left was some bones. Were they adventurers who thought that some treasure was hidden in this place but ended up lost without ever find the way out? Or were they prisoners who were forced to go here? Either way they were all dead and Alastor had no intention of joining them. Because this was a maze, Alator decided to mark the ground where he was with a cross to orientate himself before traversing through the labyrinth.

But there was a problem. It has been an hour since Alastor has walked through this maze. At first he thought of just sticking by one side of the wall and following it would guide him eventually to the exit. However, he just found himself at the place where he began again, for the second time. He also noticed a wall that wasn’t supposed to be there as it was obstructing the path he took earlier.

“So the walls can actually move by themselves…conventional means won’t work at this rate…” the boy muttered.

Alastor decided to sit down and thought about the whole trial. This was a trial of Wisdom, so it wanted to test the wits of the candidate in face of this nearly impossible challenge. Also Svelt was the one who prepared it so it might be entirely possible that he found the mechanism that controlled the maze and has tweaked it so there would not be an exit.

If he wanted to get out of here, he must make an exit.

“Hope that this won’t get me disqualified.”

…..

The court observed Alastor through the giant crystal ball in the room. It has been a while since he was just sitting there without doing anything. He must have realized that his efforts were futile and has given up, waiting for the end of the day to come. Who could blame him? The dungeon has never been conquered before even by the greatest of warriors and mages. In the end they all gave up. How could anyone expect a child to do the impossible thing?

‘So you have given up! Too bad I was wishing that he would die to a trap inside the maze but now he is just sitting there. But no matter I will win at the end of the day. It wouldn’t be late to take revenge when I take over the court. Ha ha ha!’ Svelt thought inside his pathetic mind. He could not hide his creepy smile watching that his victory was near.

“Hey, something is happening!” a minister shouted when he spotted a few rubbles rolling on the ground toward Alastor.

“What is he doing with those stones?”

Through the crystal ball, everyone was stunned by what was happening to Alastor. More and more dirt and soil was converging to his location and encompassed his body until it formed a stone hard boulder. When it finally reached its peak, the boulder was already at the size of the corridor of the maze. It started moving forward and backward until it stopped at the end of a long corridor.

At that time a few smart people finally grasped what he was trying to do.

“He can’t be…..”

“ROLL TO WIN” a voice shouted from the boulder.

Accelerating and taking up speed, the boulder smashed one wall after another, leaving nothing in its path. The walls of this labyrinth were not just made out of normal stones. Black steel, the same material that helped Eisenheim survived the calamity caused by Merkabah, was mixed in to make sure that none could ever hope to destroy them. This was what the zagonian craftsmen and nobles were most proud of, their national treasure. At least that was the case before they saw their prized possession being grinned to dust by a kid in the form of a boulder casually passing through the hardest donjon in the entire country.

In just under one minute, after Alastor smashed the final wall, the Maze of the Lost was cleared for the first time in history.

“He did it!”

“Well that escalates quickly!”

“HAHA! YOU OWN ME ONE HUNDRED COINS NOW!”

“This is….This is preposterous! That’s cheating! He is disqualified.” Svelt raged.

“How is that cheating?” Morrigan stood up against the minister. “You challenge him to clear the Maze and he did it just like you ask. Sure his method was unconventional but a ruler must know to adapt himself to the situation. That’s what wisdom is all about. Just because there is a wall doesn’t mean you are not allowed to pass it.

Alastor has demonstrated the quality of a king: to not be bound by the common rules and to be able to find solution even when facing the impossible. The end justifies the means. What matters is that he succeeded.”

Minister Sinclair clapped his hands vigorously. Seeing him like that everyone else started doing the same. This put Svelt in a very bad situation. Morrigan has convinced all the nobles with her speech. If he went against that and decided that Alastor was to be disqualified, that would put him in a bad position.

He had no choice but to swallow his defeat for now.

‘You piece of shit!!! I underestimated you thinking you are just a kid. That won’t happen again in the next challenge! Just wait and see!’