Chapter 37- The Undercurrents of a Calamity

In the middle of a forest on the border of the Higloas Kingdom a clearing was currently filled with the sounds of clashing metal and the smell of blood. There was roughly 200 men in a deadlocked brawl. It was chaos, they fought as if the man in from of them had killed their family and hung their corpses from the kingdom walls. However no one was killed in this massive struggle, those injured would be brought away by a gust of wind and all of a sudden they were carried to get healed by a nurse, but that was no gust of wind it was an aura user!

6 aura users in one space! They were the apex of the land, no one could undermine their words. However they all stood by and saved the lives of regular warriors. If anyone would witness 6 aura users obeying any menial command like this they would swear they saw an elf in their soup! And to top it off a 17 year old girl was watching over the men as if she was a top ranking general.

This was but a common occurrence in the Blood Hound unit.

"Alright stop!" Eliana gave a brisk command and all 200 men halted their movements and stood at the ready. As she gazed over her obedient soldier a grin spread on her face. This bloodbath was only a minor exercise that was cut out for them, but the final result made them into killing machines. She made them into soldiers that could strike fear into the hearts of the continent, but she was not content at all. Over the past 7 months she had been in the forests drilling them through hell, yet there was only 4 other aura awakenings!

She understood that her talent should be greater than them hence it gave her the ability to become stronger faster. They, on the other hand, still became strong at a noticeable rate albeit not as fast as her. Her training never stopped either, she would pit herself against the 6 other aura users and still beat them! She felt her training was stagnating lately so she tried to pick up sorcery. She failed in the end.

"Princess you have summons from his highness." A respectful carrier delivered a small note and announced. The king had come around the first month to observe her and have a real reunion with his daughter. He wasn't shocked at all by her brutal treatment of the soldiers because he already had known that she had changed; to what extent he was still unsure.

Traveling for a couple days Eliana arrived back at the capital and went into the king's conference room. She entered the large double doors and glittering gold covered pillars that lined the single hallway in two parallel rows. Enormous windows stretched all the way to the ceiling letting the midday's light flood the hall. Majestic murals were painted on the ceiling that contained various pictures of life and death struggles. A purple and gold embroidered rug was situated on the floor leading all the way to the king's throne. However no one sat there because the king was standing and greeting two men who the princess had never seen before.

One of them wore a black outfit the shrouded his figure, but his imposing might left a great impression of him. The other looked to be a man right out of a fairy tale, he wore a light blue robe that straddled his ankles and when he shifted his body one could see a silver rune covered armor that didn't seem to reflect light and just absorbed it. When Eliana entered all three of these men turned to face her.

"Eliana you have arrived just in time. Allow me to introduce these two," The king was the first to speak and he respectfully presented the two,"The one in the blue is a sorcerer from the Lands of Sorcery, he is a young master of one of the elders there and he said he has come to see you personally. And this gentleman here said he comes from someone who knows you very well I believe you said his name was... Now what was it again? It was an odd name wasn't it?"

"Roen, this lowly one is only one of the fifteen lowest that serve him." The man in black spoke in a gruff tone and a peculiar purple glint shined in his eye for a second.

"Ah yes anyways as I was..."

"ROEN! You said you came from Roen right?! Tell me how is he!" The princess cut off her father and instantly rushed towards the man in black. The king saw this and gave a wry smile to the man who had come from the Lands of Sorcery only to see as disdainful look casting itself at the man in black.

"Yes I am one of his many eyes and ears. I was sent to tell you that my master is stirring up the south at the moment and wants to change the preordained date to two years from now." The man in black said some pretty ambiguous statements that could have been interpreted in any way.

"Isn't the south in conflict at the moment?" The king's voice invaded the conversation and inquired. He was very curious about the master of such a formidable man. And to make matters worse the one in front of him only said that he was one of his lowest retainers!! The king began to put assumptions on to who the mysterious man's master was, and when he reached one conclusion that he might be the one who annihilated the Thaolos Kingdom he quickly dismissed his thoughts to be impossible.

"Hmph, who cares if weaklings fight. Eliana come with me the Lands of Sorcery want you." The man in blue finally spoke and quickly got to his point.

"Weaklings like you and your pitiful master will never have the chance to enter our holy zone." The man from the Lands of Sorcery turned to the man in black and spat out venomous words. The man in black started to manically laugh in response.

"Haha~ that's a wonderful joke. Anyways princess my master said to take revenge with your own hands in around a month or two, that is when you'll have your chance." The man in black began to walk out of the room as he finished his message.

"Wait didn't you say you needed something from my kingdom?" The king yelled at the leaving man as he remembered when he first met the mysterious man, who said that 'they' might need something from him.

"Ah about that, all you need to do is play along. With your life as collateral of course." The man in black seemed to fade into the shadows made by the large doors and disappeared. Seeing the man disappear before his eyes the king was very surprised and stared at the spot for awhile expecting something else to happen.

"He's quite good being able to run away like that. Oh well, Eliana let's get going now." The men in blue spoke without missing a beat and immediately grabbed for Eliana's wrist.

"Who do you think you are!?" Eliana yelled and quickly retreated from his grab.

"You have been rude and have been so familiar with me calling me 'Eliana' I don't believe I gave you permission to talk to me like so." Eliana spat out those words and left the room quickly. The man in blue hadn't even expected such a response and just dumbly stood there. A red blush crossed his face and his anger exploded out,

"Who do you think you are! My words are law! Yours are nothing!" The man roared and shot towards Eliana with a ferocious glint in his eyes. The king had no time to react, the aura users that normally guard him were too far away to react either and even if they did they believed that their efforts would be futile in front of this man.

"Who do I think I am...Let me tell you this I. Am. Roen's. LOVER."

""Huh...""

The king and the man in blue didn't have any time to react as Eliana's fist connected to the man's face claiming his consciousness instantly. Eliana spat on the fainted man and left leaving the king with a wry smile as he was thinking of ways to soothe this situation.

Eliana returned back to the training grounds and the Blood Hounds returned to their grueling training.

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~ the Southern kingdom of Cordias ~

The capital of the Cordias Kingdom was situated in a mountain and was known as the impenetrable fortress. Not many would have much luck in attacking it in a siege. Those sturdy walls had stood for centuries and this has grown to be a symbol of the kingdom's strength. They were bold enough to put their capital on the outskirts of their territory to protect it's interior. And for the most part it worked, normally it would deter most attackers before they even reached it.

However a massive army was encamped outside the walls and the pressure they gave off didn't even waver in front if the walls. Each soldier was equipped with a simple double edged sword strapped to their waists and a spear was tightly held in their hands. Those who couldn't wear plate armor wore leather armor and many donned wooden and metal shields alike. There was siege weapons scattered about the ranks if men in specific patterns. The bloodlust in their eyes signaled that they were about to attack at any moment so long as they were given the signal.

From a nearby hill a 16 year old boy in white robes sat on a protruding rock and gazed over the whole moment. A warm smile was plastered on his face as he closed his eyes. Suddenly he stood up and walked down the hill. There was about a couple miles till he reached the battlefield, so he should be safe from that distance. That is if he was headed in the opposite direction. His unfaltering steps brought him every closer to the war about to take place with his smile still stuck on his features.

"Let's begin." His voice could not be heard by anyone, but his tone carried a weight that would easily engulf the massive army in seconds.