As Ezra and Aurelia walked out of the mansion, they were greeted by the sight of a clear blue sky, and the gentle gaze of the autumn sun warmed their cold bodies. The town of Aranor looked as charming as a wood elf’s abode with the Dogwood and Red Maple trees donning new cloaks dyed in scarlet hues. Even the air was light and soothing as the wind carried with it the songs of distant robins. It had been quite some time since Ezra had taken a stroll down the streets. But it wasn’t because he was too lazy to walk or thought too highly of himself to mingle with the commoners. It was simply because he felt insecure with all the gossip around him. However, now that Ezra had Aurelia by his side, he felt a lot better. “I must admit father hasn’t let the years catch up with him. He is still as clever as always,” Aurelia said as she fixed her glove. Ezra had always regarded Lord Sebastian with respect, but he didn’t understand why his sister was praising him on this occasion. “What makes yo
Ezra thanked his sister, and together they left the potion store in high spirits. Aurelia was happy to see her brother finally enjoying the sun and engaging in other activities rather than pouring over his books and overthinking about his future. They were walking through the town square when suddenly Ezra felt a tingling sensation in his right arm. He understood that the cursed eye was about to manifest itself at any moment, and if anyone saw that on his hand, he would become the talk of the whole town again. Ezra knew he could not take any chances and immediately stopped in his tracks and shoved his right hand inside his pocket. “Sister!” he called out unusually loud, even though Aurelia was barely a few steps ahead of him. Startled by Ezra’s panicked voice, Aurelia turned around with an anxious expression on her face. “What is it? Are you okay, brother?” “I’m fine. It’s just that I think it’s best if you’re not seen together with me. You know how the townsfolk always think we ar
A noble being refused entry into an establishment by a mere commoner was unheard of in all of Aranor, and this left Ezra shocked and confused. Gathering his hurt pride, Ezra looked straight at the guard, his eyes blazing with fury. “Do you even know who I am?” “It does not matter. Only members bearing the guild pass are allowed to enter this establishment, so beat it, kid,” the guard replied, tilting his head to point Ezra in the direction of the tavern. Offended by his impudence, Ezra lost his cool and pulled out his enchanted revolver. Pointing it at the guard, he spoke in a commanding voice, “I am Lord Ezra Romanov. Get out of my way, or I’ll drop you where you stand.” The guard never expected someone to pull a gun on him. And though he too, was armed with a flintlock pistol, the sight of the enchanted firearm in Ezra’s hand made his hands turn cold. Raising his hands, the guard whimpered, “You are making a big mistake here. Even the nobles aren’t allowed to enter without permi
The merchants present in the guild’s meeting chamber exchanged curious glances with each other as Ezra left the room. A local trader stepped forward with a frown on his face and asked, “Why did you say that we would support the Romanovs? Lord Wilhelm has promised to give us interest-free loans all year round, and he has close ties with the Duke as well. Why didn’t you get Lord Ezra arrested for barging into our guild house and threatening us with violence?” Yarpin smiled at this as though it was the silliest thing he had ever heard and replied, “What do you think that would have accomplished?”As he turned to face the trader, a devious grin flashed on his sly face. “Getting the little Lord arrested would be a temporary solution. Either Lord Sebastian or his sister would have showed up to free him. My goal is to permanently get him out of our hair.” “What do you mean?” the trader asked nervously. Yarpin placed his hand on the trader’s shoulder and whispered in a cold voice, “Lord Ez
The three rogues slowly emerged from the shadows and took flanking positions, surrounding Ezra from three sides. “Get out of here. You can still run!” the old man lying on the floor parted his bloodied lips and cried aloud. “It’s a bit too late for that!” the rogue wielding the large iron axe snapped back. Pulling out a prickly grape-sized fruit, he tossed it in the direction of the door. As soon as the fruit touched the wooden door frame, it split open to release a cluster of thorny green vines which spread out from the center and blocked the doorway. Ezra looked over his shoulder and saw that his only exit had been blocked by an impenetrable mesh of vines riddled with venomous thorns and tendrils. “Thornberries aren’t local to our province. How did you manage to get your hands on such an exotic fruit?” he asked, turning around to face the bandit. The man who had just tossed the Thornberry smirked and replied, “That’s none of your business. Besides, you are going to end up in a
An hour later, Ezra felt something cold and wet on his forehead and slowly opened his eyes. His throat felt so dry that he gasped for breath and soon started coughing. “Wha…what happened?” Ezra questioned in a feeble voice as he faintly made out the blurry outline of an elderly man standing over him. “You expended all your strength and magic power during the fight. It caused severe contractions within your body and weakened your immunity, hence the fever,” a familiar voice replied. Ezra tried to get up, but he was still too weak to stand up on his own, so the man beside him propped him up with a pillow. As Ezra’s vision slowly cleared, he squeezed the tears from his eyes and wiped his face clean with his kerchief. “I think you should stay the night. Your body is in pretty bad shape.” Hearing the man’s voice, Ezra turned his head to look at him. He thought it was Glenn, but the man looked far younger than the old collector. “Who are you? What are you doing here? Are you with thos
In another part of town, Aurelia had met up with the miners’ guild, which comprised mostly of able-bodied dwarven adults and their pet mole rats. Since Aurelia used to visit the mines quite often for inspection, most of the old miners were well-acquainted with her. So, instead of treating her as an outsider, they welcomed her as one of their own. However, things at the mine weren’t looking too good for the dwarves. There was news of trouble brewing in Kasari, the largest coal mine in Aranor. And the problem was so great that it had forced the miners to stop working and abandon the mine altogether. Currently, Aurelia was in the guild’s meeting room, carefully studying the layout of the coal mine, which was drawn on a piece of brown paper. The dwarves standing around her looked vexed and were constantly grumbling among themselves. “Keep it down, men! You’re distracting, Lady Aurelia!” the chief of the miners’ guild thundered, silencing his comrades. Although he was only four feet ta
The firearms merchant from the Eastern Province of Wazanjho had rented a small store on the southwestern side of town, in a secluded part of the mercantile area. As Ezra and his companion approached the store, a gruff-looking guard stopped them. “The store’s not open yet. Come back next week.” “We were sent by Mr. Yarpin Dale,” the assistant replied. “I believe Mr. Lee would not mind entertaining a guest for a while.” The firearms merchant, a scrawny-looking man sporting a long gray beard and pencil mustache peeped out of the store’s window and asked, “What does your guest want with me?” “He wishes to browse your wares, of course,” the attendant replied. Stepping aside, he introduced, “This is Lord Ezra, the youngest son of Lord Sebastian Romanov. I am sure he will be able to compensate you adequately for your troubles, Mr. Lee.” The merchant stared at Ezra, scanning him from head to toe before turning to his companion. “And what do you want?” “Nothing. I was just sent here to in
Sir Galahar and Servius had been preparing for this day ever since they heard about the Flame Demon sighting outside Avondale. The city’s guard towers had been repaired, and the walls fortified with magic. But the threat marching toward the capital was much larger than they had anticipated.What made things worse was the appearance of the Eye of Doom over the city, which caused widespread panic among the masses. People scurried out of the Arcadium like insects, and those out on the streets rushed homeward to seek shelter within the safety of their houses.Ten squads of City Guards were immediately dispatched to man the walls, and the sirens were sounded from the garrison, spurring the snipers into action.The Mech Defenders were ordered to clear the streets and reinforce the gates while the adventurers were tasked with protecting the guild houses.Servius surveyed the undead army through the magic windows and quickly understood their strategy.“This is not a skirmish. They are going
Shocked gasps escaped from the people in the crowd as Ezra revealed who he actually was. The news of the brutal massacre in Aranor had made its way to the capital many weeks ago, and it was common knowledge that the Romanov family had been wiped out.But seeing Ezra standing there as the living proof of his bloodline subverted all past notions.This white-haired boy had once been hailed as a prodigy across Valaria, but his name had quickly faded from their memory after his tragic accident. But it seemed fate still had one last die to throw, and with the final toss, it had restored his fortunes.The only ones in the Arcadium who knew about the masked devil’s identity beforehand were Tanya and her father. Ezra had revealed his secret to them just last night, but it was a complete shocker for everyone else.Even Queen Guinevere and Princess Aleena had been completely clueless about Ezra’s identity up until now, and this unexpected revelation left him speechless.“So…the dragon still lives
The Duke’s shocking confession turned the whole narrative on its head, spreading further panic among the crowd. Not even Ezra had suspected him to be allied with the necromancers.“Is this another trick of yours?” Tanya questioned, still struggling to make sense of the whole situation. It seemed absurd that a high and mighty noble like Duke Carrington would willingly worship Zepheroth and kneel before the necromancers.But the Duke was quick to clear her confusion. “There is no trick in what I say. I do not worship any Gods, but I understand Zepheroth’s powers cannot be matched by mere mortals. We must kneel before him if we are to survive his reign,” he replied.“So you lied to all of us?” Marquis Desmond’s voice boomed from the distance as he marched into the arena, ready to confront the Duke. “We thought you wanted to protect the king and help the people of Magaravia fight this darkness.”“Fight? How can anyone fight a God?” Duke Carrington retorted in a mocking tone. “Are you even
The spectators who had once eagerly supported Ezra now seemed to regard him as the greatest enemy of the kingdom. The sudden change in their behavior shocked him.“How did they believe him so easily?” Ezra asked, unable to believe what had just happened. “Something is not right.”While it was common for the gullible commoners to be duped by the cunning words of the influential nobles, the change seemed to be too drastic this time. The same crowd that had been cheering for Ezra had suddenly changed sides, almost on a whim, and even the other nobles seemed to be siding with the Duke.Marlin was also surprised by this twist. It was as if Duke Carrington had bought their allegiance with a snap of his fingers.Queen Guinevere stood up to reason with the spectators. “Listen to me, good people of Magaravia. Your beloved Duke is lying to you. King Reginald never intended to sell you to the Lord of Decay. While I agree he may not be the bravest, he is certainly not a traitor.”The Queen though
The Spectral Phoenix let out a piercing shriek that carried its voice across the city, dispersing the gray clouds and illuminating the sky with a brilliant golden radiance.Ezra channeled his magic energy outward and boosted his flying speed, breaking away from the phoenix as it surged toward him.“I have never seen a Spectral Phoenix before. These spirits are primal manifestations of the fire element and are regarded as the most challenging ones to tame. Their flames are undying, and if you get touched by its feathers, it will burn you to ash in the blink of an eye,” Marlin cautioned.Ezra continued flying backward, keeping the phoenix in his sights. But he was so focused on the spectral bird that he forgot all about its owner.Duke Carrington took advantage of this distraction and replenished his magic power with a couple of Superior Magic Restoration Potions before warming himself with the phoenix’s Thermal Radiance ability.Finally free from the numbing effects of the frost, Duke C
Duke Carrington fired a round into the sky to celebrate his victory and turned to the crowd expecting a thunderous applause. But instead of being greeted with cheers and shouts of joy, he was met with a stern silence.“What’s wrong with you all? Are you not happy I vanquished that rookie and offered you a glimpse of my true powers?” he yelled at the top of his voice, staring at the mute spectators. “I am the Champion of Valaria, and I promise Magaravia will be safe in my care.”“So, what are we celebrating?” A voice questioned from behind, wiping the smile from Duke Carrington’s face.“Over there!”“He is alive!”The crowd went berserk with shouts and howls as they spied their favorite Gunner flying near the clouds, holding a sniper in his hand.Duke Carrington clenched his fist, digging his nails into his palms, and turned around to face his opponent.“How did you survive that?” He muttered, trying his best to restrain his rage.“I have been stabbed in the back plenty of times before
Duke Carrington’s eyes widened as he heard the accusation. He could already tell his plans had been leaked, but he could not understand how a stranger could know about his ambitions.“Who are you?” he demanded, staring daggers at Ezra. “The dragon of Aranor,” Ezra replied, staring right back.Before either could speak again, a set of stone slabs and pillars shot up from the ground, redecorating the arena with obstacles and separating the two contestants.The crowd erupted with wild cheers as the brass bell was hammered in the commentary tower, declaring the start of the round.“I don’t care who you are, but that mask is coming off today!” Duke Carrington shouted with full-throated fury, unleashing a devastating volley of Disintegration Rounds from his Rapid-Firing Six-shooter.Ezra ran across the arena, moving from cover to cover as the stone slabs in front of him were punched full of holes. “There is no point running from me. You can’t survive!”Duke Carrington reloaded his second g
The next day, Ezra put on his new attire: a fiery red coat with golden yellow stripes and two split tails. His old demonic mask was replaced with a new one sporting two large black horns and blazing red eyes. To complete the look, Ezra added a black bowtie over a clean white shirt and a pair of red trousers trimmed at the bottom, hanging taut over his jet-black boots.Although Ezra hadn’t cared much about his appearance during the other rounds, this time, he combed his hair back, put on a pair of spotless white gloves, and pinned the dragon brooch to his pocket.Holstering his single-shot flintlock on his right hip, Ezra walked up to the mirror and gazed at his reflection.Ezra still remembered staring at his trembling hands in the mirror in the Romanov Mansion. He was treated like a cripple back then and could not even shoot a target lying straight in front of him. But a lot had changed since then.Magaravia knew Ezra as the Red Devil: a formidable sharpshooter who had defeated the b
Back at the Blackwell Mansion, Ezra was busy at his workbench, trying to craft a new kind of enchanted ammunition for his sniper rifle.So far, Ezra had experimented with all the common metal ingots and alloys and even tried infusing magic crystal shards and dragon scales into them, but to no avail.Each time Ezra tried to craft a new enchanted bullet for his weapon, he would end up with something so brittle and volatile that it would disintegrate as soon as he loaded it into the sniper rifle.“The Celestial Avenger is a Legendary weapon. You cannot load such low-quality ammunition in it and expect it to work just fine,” Marlin barked once more, grinding his teeth in frustration. “I already told you that you need rare metals to craft your round. Try titanium or refined zirconium.”Ezra loaded another newly crafted round into his weapon and watched it explode with a loud bang before finally relenting.“Damn it! I don’t have any rare metals at hand!”“Then perhaps you can ask your careta