King Reginald had strict orders not to let anyone enter the palace grounds without his permission, but no one in the royal household could dare to refute the words of the princess.Vivette and Aya remained silent throughout the journey as they accompanied Princess Aleena and Tanya to the palace. As they entered through the front gate, the Royal Guards rushed to open the door and bowed like obedient pups.Although Aleena did not like this kind of slavish obeisance, her instructors had taught her that it was all a part of being a princess and it would ruin her image if she refused to uphold her dignity as the only heir to the throne of Valaria.A bronze footstool was laid down for the princess, allowing her to alight from the carriage without soiling her sandals. Aya quickly joined her at her side and held a silk umbrella over her head to shade her from the pitiful gaze of the morning sun.Tanya could tell that King Reginald took care of all his daughter's needs despite not being present

The orcs and the humans had a long history of bloodshed and violence. In fact, apart from the elves, the orcs were the only civilization of humanoids who had waged three wars with the human kings. However, just like the elven kings, even the orcish chieftains were defeated and compelled to surrender.Over two hundred years had passed since the last great war with the orcish tribes, and no human settlement had been attacked in the last few decades. But one could always hear rumors of caravans being ambushed by orcish raiders and travelers getting lost inside the forests and brutally slaughtered by the orcs.While the elves had chosen to honor the peace treaty and co-exist harmoniously with the humans, it was impossible to establish such friendly relations with the orcish tribes since they lacked empathy for all other species and lived for the love of battle.Ezra and Count Gressil knew the orcs could never forget their animalistic instincts and co-exist with the humans, but Marquis Desm

Hissing like vipers, the Undead Nagas approached the convoy with malicious intent. The knights pulled out their battle axes and tugged at their reins, making the horses neigh and raise their forelegs off the ground. It was an intimidating gesture meant to scare off smaller animals, but the Nagas paid no heed to it.“They are undead. You can’t scare them off. We have to fight!” the leader thundered and charged at the largest Naga. With one swift blow, he hacked off the creature’s left arm and sent it reeling back. The others quickly followed suit and joined the fight.Meanwhile, the foot soldiers on the other side of the bridge were forced to adopt a more cautious approach since they were stranded without any mounts. The ones in front raised their halberds to form a defensive barrier while those at the back readied their crossbows.As the soldiers guarding the carts became occupied with the Undead Nagas, Ezra flew down and landed softly on a patch of brown grass. Cloaked by the invisibi

Ezra’s shocker of a performance in the last round had raised the stakes even higher, and that match had quickly become the talk of the city. This drew in an even larger crowd for the third round in which the contestants were set to participate in six different dungeon raids.With the spectators shouting and cheering them on, the contestants entered the arena in pairs. Apart from Ezra and Sam, there were five other pairs, consisting of the best Gunners on this side of the world.“Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to another exhilarating round of the Grand Dueling Tournament! Today, our contestants will fight in pairs again, but they won’t be dueling each other. Instead, each team will choose a dungeon and clear it before nightfall,” the announcer’s voice boomed across the Arcadium as trumpets blared in the distance.Moments later, six stone arches appeared in the middle of the arena, each carved out of a different kind of material and having its unique distinguishing features.The one

Sam’s breath stuck in his throat as he looked at the colossal monstrosity standing in the darkness. It was well over fifteen feet tall, and its arms were as thick as tree trunks. In its left hand, it held a wooden torch, while its right hand was gripping a massive wooden club with a bulging top.“That does not look good. That does not look good at all,” Sam gasped, his voice reduced to a squeaky chirp. “How are we even supposed to get past it? Do you think there’s another way around it?”Ezra pulled out the cork from a filled vial and gulped an Awakened Shadow Wraith Potion. As the bitter black liquid went down his throat and mixed with his blood, it boosted his reflexes and sharpened his senses.Tossing the vial away, Ezra replied, “We are not going around it. We have to kill it.”Sam’s eyes widened at the mere thought of going up against that humongous brute. The troll looked like a giant hunk of muscles, and the club in its hand could easily smash through any armor.The leather wrap