Cheers can be heard from the entire city. The streets are even more livelier than yesterday, as everyone waits for the great event to begin.

"I told you to wake us up early didn't I?!"

(Samael) "Well you looked like you needed more rest, so I left you to it, and besides this is good exercise right before it begins."

"We'll be late. The king might be giving out the tasks, while we're here struggling to get through these crowds."

Although not related in battle. I use the things I was taught in terms of maneuvering through obstacles, and it helps as I smoothly get through people passing by, passing the second circle's gates in a shorter time compared to when we first started.

(Samael) "Do you think you can jump from roof to roof?"

"Well not from here I can't. I need to be up on a roof to do that, but we don't really have the time to do that right now."

(Samael) "No time to hesitate. Think fast!"

Samael speeds forward, then stops to hold out both his palms out indicating that he wants me to jump on them. "No hesitation huh? Fine." I run faster, gaining more momentum increasing the success chance of me landing on a roof.

He springs me up! I land on a rooftop surprisingly. We pay no mind to the people staring at both of us. Samael shouts something at me.

(Samael) "Keep running! I'll catch up. Don't be late, and good luck." He winks at me, and gestures for me to go ahead.

I run from building to building, alerting the guards of what I am doing. *sigh* "problem after problem" I ignore them, and instead increase my pace.

"Finally, there it is"

I jump down from the rooftops as it is impossible to jump the walls of the first circle-boundary. I approach the open gates, but I am halted by the guards trying to catch up to me. Luckily, the guard from yesterday wa on duty. He tell the guards that I am a contestant for the event, and they all gesture for me to go ignoring the felony that I had just committed.

Running inside the castle, I can hear the king addressing some names, then i hear my name.

(King Lazarus) "Is the child named 'Fafnir' present in the crowd?"

I run with reckless abandon, and yell out. "I'm here! I'm sorry I'm late."

(King Lazarus) "Good. Now step forward along with these participants."

I walk quickly, trying to catch my breath as I had just ran with all my energy. I had not even had breakfast yet. I try to look around the crowd, and all I see are the townspeople and the nobles looking at the king as he makes his address. they seem satisfied about everything happening so far, but what surprised me was seeing a familiar face among the crowd. A familiar face that I thought would not be here yet, but here he is. Samael stands with the crowd, and he smiles at me catching my full attention.

I thought I would burst into a fit of anger, but I decided not to make a scene. I ignored Samael and decided to listen carefully to the king instead.

(King Lazarus) "That is all for my address. Now I shall give out the details of this event. I will give only one task for each day. This great event will take 3 days to complete, and the tasks will be as great as the rewards. The things you have to overcome to be hailed king of this kingdom, a great amount of gold, the sword owned by the previous king, the greatest king our kingdom has ever known. 'King Arthur, Kal-Ardonia, and said to be blessed by the gods themselves, and last but not the least, my daughter as your wife in succession to the throne.

The crowd becomes keen on listening as the prizes come up. I notice the other participants beside me looking confidently at the princess. Most of the children that are participating along with me are children wearing exquisite clothing, and only a few are wearing normal clothing including me, as I had left my armor at the tavern, and I did not really have anything else to wear.

(King Lazarus) "I will remind you that death will be inevitable in this task. So I shall give you children a chance to back down, and again once more after the first task. If no one will concede, then I shall officially mark the event open.

"The first event is to scale the grand castle tower, and on the very top of the tower, there lies a nest where a special breed of bird roosts. You're goal is to obtain the golden egg that is inside the nest safely. Use any means necessary except destroying the tower to complete your task, keep this in mind that there are only few that are laid each day. If you do not complete this by the end of the day. Then the event is will be finished, and no one will be considered even close to worthy for the title 'king of Ardrasthrur'. Begin!"

The children merely stand there, motionless. Well I can't blame them. If you've seen that tower from within the gates of the first boundary, then you'd know that it was impossible from the start. I look at Samael, and gestures for me to come to him.

(Samael) "By any means necessary huh? This'll be easy. Come, let us do this for the riches."

"How? I don't think I can manage to do that at all."

We exit the throne room, and all eyes are on us. Even the king has its interests piqued. Samael suddenly runs fast.

(Samael) "Follow me! This is a fairly easy task."

I follow Samael through what seems to be an endless flight of stairs.

(Guard) "Hey your not allowed to be here! Stop this instance."

(Samael) "Don't stop, riches await."

We have been running for a while, and I don't think that it will end soon, but I think I have an idea as to what Samael is thinking. The tower looks so much larger from the inside. I wonder if I'd be able to scale this from the bottom until to the top.

After what seems like an eternity, we finally reach a steel door. It does not budge even an inch.

(Samael) "Let me try, but first, turn around."

I do as Samael says, and after a slight moment I hear a loud crashing explosion that makes me turn around, and suddenly the door is nowhere to be seen, as if it was ripped off the hinges, but to my surprise, I see it bashed in from the outside, and it lies there broken at the side.

"Wha-how did you do that?" Samael completely ignores my question, and speaks once again in rapid succession.

(Samael) "Once you're outside the tower. I think that you'll only need to climb a bit more to reach to very top. This is the only window the tower has. So we might be the only ones that can complete this.

I look down from the window of the tower, and I can make out a figure looking up from the castle grounds. It looks like the king along with the crowds of people all watching the children scale the tower from below.

(Samael) "Good luck, and try not to fall. It'd be terrible if your life ended here."

Without any other choice. I exit the Windows, and hang from the ledge with broken hinges that's conveniently laid out as if it was waiting for you here.

~meanwhile, down below~

(King Lazarus) "Truthfully, I don't think anyone can succeed on the challenge.(not unless they're intelligent enough to think about it.)

(Nobleman) "look up there. Someone is climbing from out of the window of the tower!

(King Lazarus) "Hmm, it seems that someone is different from the rest. Interesting.

Everyone looks up, ignoring the other children struggling to climb from the base of the tower.

I keep climbing the ledge, leading up to the top. I am deathly terrified of falling, so I avoid looking down, but the strong gust of wind tries to make it more difficult. I ascend the tower, passing the clouds. It feels cold, but the warmth of the sun above the clouds could be felt as I go farther up the tower.

Finally! The top. I feel refreshed as I reach the top. The winds smell fresh, the view of the sun is amazing. After a resting for a moment. I look around for a nest, and sure enough there lies a nest with something reflecting the Sun's light onto my eyes. I approach it, and indeed it is a golden egg. As I pick it up, I hear loud screeching noise from overhead.

A gigantic brown eagle swoops down from the sky. The eagle tries to reach me with its talons, but I roll to the side, dodging its sharp claws. I failed to grab the egg as it still lays on the nest.

There is a student strong gust of wind, and I get caught off guard, knocked back by it. I know hang by the ledge of the roof, and my hands are slipping. I quickly plan out my tactic as is will be life of death. I use all my strength to pull myself up from the roof. Now only the two of us stand upon the roof as the wind blows ever so softly.

"This is ridiculous, but it's now or never."

I dash forward to the eagle that sits on top of the nest. I run with everything I have once more, and the eagle tries to peck me with an unbelievable speed. I dodge it, still running forward. I one motion, I jump reaching out to grab the golden egg, but the jump doesn't not stop there. I am still in mid air, while I cradle the egg as to not break it, and I go flying down the roof. I just hope the eagle does what I want him or her to do, otherwise I'm done for.

I free fall while holding the egg. I struggle to open my eyes, but cannot because of the wind that's blowing into my eyes, my body aches as gravity does its work, making my body heavier. At that moment as I was close to the ground. The eagle catches me with his talons.

*sigh* just when I thought that i was done for. My gamble of a plan had worked. My heart still pounding, and my entire body trembles from what I had just been through, I fall to my knees, then lay on my back. Breathing profusely

All eyes are on me. The king, the crowd, and the other participants stop whatever they were doing, but it's not as if it's my first time seeing something big similar to an eagle. I've seen a hound from hell already, so I don't think a giant eagle would faze me. By the way, where is that hound from hell? I have not heard from him ever since we left Rydia.

Speaking of a hound from hell. Where the heck is Marchosias? At this point he'd be telling me "what a ridiculous farce, your gamble will only work so many times, and it stops when you need it the most." Or something along those lines.

As I was thinking to myself. The king approaches me, looking straight at me. I look at the eagle behind me, but it returns my look and tilts its head to the side, pecking my head. I immediately give the king the golden egg, and the eagle stops pecking me.

(King Lazarus) "Amazing! Such a child like you exists? How did you manage such a feat?"

"Uhh I went out through the towers top window?"

(King Lazarus) "I shall accept this victory for Fafnir! It seems that he even tamed my pet; Alastor."

He points to the gigantic eagle that stands over me.

(King Lazarus) "It seems that no one else will be able to proceed with the task other than Fafnir, for he obtained the only golden egg in the nest.

(King Lazarus) "I intentionally made this event impossible to accomplish, but it seems that we have a worthy king in our midst. Do not rejoice yet young Fafnir, for there will be two more tasks that are for you to complete. Succeed in that, and you are without a doubt a worthy king of our kingdom. Everyone please gather at the palace once again tomorrow for the second challenge that will decide if Fafnir will be the one to succeed in his this task.

The crowd cheers in amazement, chanting my name, but I just think to myself. "What have I gotten myself into..."

I hear a soft whisper near my ear. "Please meet me in the plaza of the second circle tonight. I would like to talk to you." And she leaves, a faint, and very sweet scent. She caught my attention, but I could not make out her image as she wears a silk cloak that overs her face. She must be the princess...

Everyone clears out, and the excitement dies out once more. I walk back with Samael to the tavern. "That was an amazing finish you did there. I expected you to just walk back down the stairs, but you took it to the extreme, taunting the eagle into catching you by using the golden egg as bait. Just genius, but I never thought the king to own a mythic beast.

"Mythic beast? What do you know about them Samael?"

(Samael) "Well as far as I know. Having an eagle such as that as a mythic beast, means that you have a loyal companion that will stay with you for all your life. Eagles like the one the king has, are known to be loyal war companions, or so they say. For no one was able to prove that they exist up until now.

When we arrived to the tavern, Samael looked at me with a wide smile, saying "I wonder how you'll fare in these last two competitions..." And as we enter the tavern, I am greeted by cheers echoing throughout the entire the tavern.

"I'm amazed at what you did there boy! If I were you, I'd faint right as i look down that tall window."

Some people of the tavern try to give me drinks, but it smells weird. It is a drink that glows brown, and has white sizzling bubbles on top of them. They don't look to good to ingest, but Samael takes the glass and drinks it in one motion. I try to slip away quietly, intent on resting for the day. The toll that task took on me was too great. I remember that I have to go to the plaza before midnight.

Dusk has just begun, and I doze off thinking that I needed a well deserved rest...but unfortunately, that doesn't work too well for me, as the noise down below keeps on getting louder and louder.

I slip out through the window, intent on escaping the noise from downstairs. Luckily that tavern only has 3 floors, and is not as high as the tower. If there were the case, I'd be nauseous all of a sudden.

I walk through the alley, and people recognize me as the only child to complete the task. Now that you think about it, the king said that he created this event to be impossible to succeed in. So does that mean he was just doing this all for fun? He does look like the kind of man to pull something like that.

I try to imagine what he looks like again. Dark short hair, fully bearded, eyes that look at you as if he sees through your soul. Hmm I don't think that's the case, or rather I don't want to believe that he has those kind of intentions.

Everytime I think about the word 'king' my head hurts slightly. it feels obvious, but I just can't seem to remember anything about it. I'll have to become stronger quickly. Andour must know something important that I don't. "Wait for me Andour, I'll be there soon."

While I was talking to myself, I notice that it has gotten darker, and the time has come for me to meet the princess. I run toward the second circle's plaza thinking to myself why I was called over so suddenly.

I get closer to the meeting place, and the plaza is filled with guards equipped with fancy and menacing armor, but beneath the lone tree in the middle of the plaza, there sits a girl looking up at the clear night sky. I assume that she is the one that called for me. I approach her slowly, making sure not to provoke the guards that stand beside her. "You requested my presence, correct?"

She gestures for the men to leave her side, and she pats the ground beside her. "Please sit beside me, I would like to talk to you, my future husband."

Confused at what she said about the word husband, I sit down with a puzzled look. "Husband? What is that?

She laughs softly and explains to me what husband are. I'm surprised that she knew about such things at her age.

"I apologize for I have not had a proper introduction. My name is Juliette Arcadia, the daughter of King Lazarus Arcadia and Florence Arcadia, the king and queen of Ardrasthrur. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Fafnir."

She bows, lifting one side of her skirt to her side. You could feel the gentleness coming from her, as if being gentle was a part of her entire being.

"Why have you called me here? Is something the matter princess."

(Juliette) "Please simply call me Juliette. I have called you here to know more about the man I will be wed to someday."

"Are you okay with being together with someone you barely know? I have figured out what it means to be a husband from what you have explained to me a while ago. I know that I'm in no position to say this, but I do think you'll find someone better if you're given more time in your life, not just this defining moment."

(Juliette) "You seem to be a very kind person indeed, but this was a decision made, I have no choice but to abide by it, as long as it will make my parents happy. That is all I ask for... A happy family. If I may ask, what was your family like? Was the man with you your father?"

I explain Juliette everything that had happened to me. From my parents dying, meeting Andour and about my quest in being stronger. I leave out the parts about my reasons for growing stronger, and the fact that I had met a hound from hell. I don't think anyone would believe me if I told them, they are beings only written in books after all. I've no proof to prove his existence with... I could show my blue flames, but I could not speak with Marchosias, thus I have no control of my powers as of yet.

(Juliette) "I am very sorry to hear about that... I had no idea that you had been through a lot."

"Don't worry about it. Although I can't forget about it, and I won't forget about it, as it serves as a motivation for me to become stronger so that in the future, I can protect those who are important to me. I still have a long way to go."

We talked until we ran out of things to talk about, she was laughing, but I couldn't see her face as it was still covered by her cloak. Oddly I notice that over the horizon, the sunrise is upon us, but as we look for a bit longer, screams could now be heard

Someone shouts from afar. "The enemy is here! Alert the guards!" And word spreads fast, and citizen after citizen begin to open their windows to look at the commotion.

(???) "The enemy kingdom has come to invade us once more!"

The streets are now filled with terrorized screams

(???) "They've invaded the third circle! Where are the soldiers!?"

A guard can be seen running towards us, the soldiers that were with the princess made a defensive position, but it turns out to be an allied guard, he is exhausted, but manages to state his purpose. "Evacuate the princess into the first circle, the king is waiting for her-"

The guard stops in his words, slowly falling to his knees, and from behind him lies an arrow that had struck him. It is then followed by a handful of soldiers charging to our location, and the sunrise from the horizon turned out to be a fire that had been made by the invading forces.

In an instant, the soldiers protecting the princess have all fallen due to the growing number of enemies carrying the banner of the invading forces. They slowly circle us, giving us no way of escape. I could feel someone clinging tightly behind me, trembling and clearly terrified. Unfortunately I do not have my blade or my armor to protect me with. "This is a very doing situation."

If only Marchosias were awake, then I'd be able to arrange a full proof plan, and use his powers to the fullest, but he still has not spoken ever since. I wrack my brains to think of something to do against them, but it'll only end up badly for me and worse for Juliette.

One of them approaches. "What is this? A randezvous between a secret lover and the princess." He tries to reach for Juliette's arm, but I take this as a chance.

"Juliette, cover your eyes, now!" I grab the man's left arm pinning it behind him, and I kick the back of his knee making him kneel on one leg. I grab his sword, free for the taking. I grab the sword with my right hand and spin clockwise, breaking his left arm and slitting his throat as I rotate once more. The man now lies there motionless, and the guards do not react for a moment.

They bring out their bows. "Kill that child!" They barrage me with arrows, I use the dead man's body to shield some of the arrows, but some were still set to hit me, or that's what I thought, but some were aimed at Juliette. I cover her entire body with my own, shielding her from the barrage of arrows.

"Aargh! Damn it!" I can feel the arrows dig into my body, I am riddles with arrows, but I ignore the pain that I feel and take a glance at Juliette to see her condition.

She's been hit on her arm... I touch the place where the arrow had hit her, and I look at my hand, shaking with fear as I see my hand bloodstained...

"I won't lose anyone else again..."

(Enemy guard) "wha-how is that kid still alive!? Ready your arrows again!"

I can't think properly anymore. My eyes change, it turns yellow, and the pupils take shape of that of a serpents, and I feel scales replacing the skin on my arms. I exhale, but it is replaced by a breath of blue flames coming out from my mouth... What am I?