The darkness of night was about to envelop the sky. It was twilight. The tapping of horses echoed out in the surroundings as the 100-man cavalry accompanied two carriages. The city of Berteira which was the capital of Bronzwood county was in sight. The city was fortified with tall walls on which the guards were standing solemnly. The guards wore lightweight armor with the insignia of the Walker Family. The door to the city was bold and huge. When the carriages reached the City, the door was already opened. A middle-aged man was standing at the entrance near the entry guard post. few of the city folk watched curiously as the carriages stopped in front of the wall, the 100-man cavalry was behind the carriages.To the people, this scene looked as if someone important was being welcomed. Few of them began making conclusions about the guests.The man who seemed to be a butler judging from his appearance came forward and bowed politely. He said in a respectful tone, "Lord Marquis, I am t
Karna woke up from the noise of door knocking. He slowly opened his eyes lazily, his eyes opened wide fully when he again heard the sound of door knocking, and it was even louder this time. The room was very dark, but the combination of a bit of moonlight mixed in with the dimmed glow of the magic lamps gave off a mystic feeling to the vicinity. Stars were blinking in the night sky, and a slight tail of smoke could be seen far away in the distance from the direction of the woods, probably because of the bonfire made by someone. The City of Berteira was shining in the darkness as the magic lamps were lit on the streets. The light coming from the torches on the walls of the houses mixed with the luster of the full moon and the numerous magic lamps around the city gave an impression of a 'Heavenly City' of some sort. Karna saw a glimpse of this scene while getting off the bed. Chilly air was blowing which made the balcony's and window's white contain flutter. The sound of fluttering c
The banquet hall was over a basketball court long. The hall was decorated with colorful curtains made of silky fabric, antiques that seemed to be expensive as the servants were extra careful around them, paintings, and vases of strange shapes and designs. Tables made out of brown wood were placed in an orderly manner with the red table clothes over them. Various Magical Beast meat with salad and sweets were on the tables on silver plates. The musicians were playing a mild tune with their strings and other instruments. Karna met up with Ron while heading toward the banquet hall and both of them together arrived. The Guard who was standing beside the door announced the arrival of Ron and Karna as he saw them heading his way."Lord Marquis Zarx and Young Master Rudra Zarx are entering." The guard announced with a straight face. The clammer inside the banquet hall ceased as everyone waited in anticipation of the arrival of the Zarxs'. The lighting in the hallway was dim so no one cou
The Banquet continued.Everyone was doing their own thing, some were discussing matters of the empire while some were gossiping about the latest news. Karna was awkward as this was his first banquet and he did not know what to talk about so he just decided to eat.Ron and Bryan were discussing the geopolitical situation of the continent and the new laws endorsed by the emperor. Ron remembered that he required some good-quality wood between the conversation,"Lord Bryan, I need 10 tons of brown wood. What's going to be the prize?""That's quite a large amount, If you don't mind... what are you going to do with it?" Bryan asked curiously. "Not at all, I'm going to begin a Large scale construction project in the territory. That's why I need so much wood." Ron answered without any change in his expression."I see, since your lordship is buying it in a bulk I will give you a 10% Discount. Originally it would have been 500,000 gold Hons, with the discount it will be 450,000 gold Hons."Ron
Joseph stared at Karna with determination. By now, everyone had stopped whatever they were doing and looked over in Joseph's direction. "Joseph! What are you doing!?" Bryan said angrily.Joseph slowly removed his hand glove, A look of 'oh, so that's it' appeared on the face of Ron and Bryan. "Joseph, this is not the time and place." Bryan said as his anger subsided a little.Joseph completely ignored Bryan as he threw the hand glove in the air. The sound of 'Shiing' echoed out in the banquet hall as the glove fell on the ground in two pieces. Few of the noble women gasped, surprised by the speed with which the sword torned the glove in two in a blink of an eye.At this point, everyone in the hall understood what was going on. They watched with excitement and anticipation as the events were playing out."I, Joseph of House Walker, Challenge Rudra of House Zarx to a duel!" Joseph said his intention out loud.Karna had seen from Rudra's memories that many hot-blooded youths challenged
Karna opened his eyes slowly as he woke up in a daze. His eyelids were heavy and he felt weak and drowsy. sharp sun rays coming from the cracked wall penetrated his eyes as he squinted in pain. Karna blocked the rays with his hands and recovered his stunned eyesight shortly, he jerked his head left and right to clear the drowsiness.Karna felt very uncomfortable as he was unfamiliar with his own body. Although the body wasn't his in the first place.Karna found himself in a shabby-looking room, likely the servant's quarters. The room had a single bed with simple bed sheets, a full-body mirror, a table, and a wooden compartment to store some things. He was on Lara's bed when he saw Lara beside him sleeping peacefully. Even while sleeping, she seemed to be in a guarded posture as she was hugging her own body, seemingly protecting the vital parts. She looked like a scared kitten with her unmatured and petite body. The rough marks of tears could be seen on her cheeks.Karna moved his neck
The air was humid as sweat tickled off the people's faces. The city was crowded as always, being the trade hub that it was. People with various color tones and clothing wandered the city in large crowds, some were finding opportunities in this city where a large sum of money would change hands daily, and some were hoping to purchase a few unique goods as souvenirs to bring back home, while some were just experiencing the wonders of the bustling city.The warm wind blew with the odor of dust, a stinky and fishy smell. The merchant caravans and lone travelers traveled across the land from who knows where to enjoy the summer in the Coastal City of Blue Isle.But this time it was somewhat different as there was a long queue of luxurious carriages with various insignia on them waiting outside the city gates with the company of guards and soldiers with them.The city folk and the pedestrians watched curiously as the guards inspected the papers one by one and gave entry to the long line of c
At the entry post of the Blue Isle city, An beautifully adorned carriage that was being pulled by two Magical Beasts arrived escorted by 80 horsemen, another similarly prestigious carriage, and a few other warriors who seemed to be the high-ranked bodyguards.The Magical Beasts had a build similar to a lion but they were broad and had sharp and very long fangs that even extended outside of their mouths. The beast's faces looked ferocious with long whiskers dangling from their mouth toward the chin beside the fangs.The creatures had brownish-red and dense fur which covered their entire bodies. The beasts had sturdy and strong legs with metallic-looking claws, even some muscles were visible which made it obvious that the beasts could pull the carriage effortlessly and for extensive periods without any bother. They also had small, pointy, and angular horns on their heads. The city guards who were at the entry post gasped in astonishment seeing the convoy. Some passersby even passed out
A majestic scene could be witnessed in the first square of Stonehill castle as the sea breeze made the robes of about 200-300 mages flutter on one side.While on the other side, countless horses were also ready to march. The many soldiers and warriors of Marquis Miller and Marquis Zarx were dawdling together with a great sense of brotherhood as they chatted in murmurs creating a small fuss.The whole scene looked as if the Lord was about to go to war but it was far from it in reality.Princess Aurelia also could be seen with the group of mages with her hands folded along with two male mages and one female mage looking in the direction of the soldiers of the Miller and Zarx Families as if she was sizing them up.Her attention shifted when she saw the soldiers and warriors who were chatting with each other a moment ago suddenly strengthened up.When she looked; Karna along with Oliver and Raka as well as his bodyguards, and Sophia, as well as Piers with Darvnir, Brock, and Kasper, had f
Everyone was at the table and the breakfast began, there was fish, bread, egg, and watered wine.Karna was very awkward sitting beside Sophia as he had ignored her for the past few months completely and didn't know what Sophia had to say about that.Of course, he also progressed in his strength a lot during this time so it wasn't in vain. First of all, his Spiritual Force issue was now fixed and as a plus, he also studied the Spirit Soul Force Manual and learned the Skill 'Stun'.During this time he also gained some combat experience fighting Magical Beasts along with Rudra."Ah... Good morning..." Karna said to Sophia in a lower voice."Good morning. You finally seem to have found some time today huh..." Sophia said with a straight face as she momentarily looked at Karna and then looked away right after, "It's just that you seem to be always so busy." She proceeded to say."Why? Did you want to see me?.... Perhaps?" Karna seemed to be in a teasing fit as he was teasing every girl he
Karna got back to the castle or rather he sneaked back to the castle and went straight to his room. The first thing he did after getting back to his room was to sit down and chug down a battle of Spiritual Force Potion. He then sat down on the mat and concentrated on his soul. After a few minutes of focusing on his soul, he found himself In his 'Sea of Consciousness' and saw the many specs of Spiritual Energies floating all over the place. The Energies slowly began moving and gradually headed toward his body. After absorbing the Energies for a while Karna recovered some of his lost Spiritual Force and felt a lot better, "This is great. I have recovered fifty percent already." Rudra said. Karna nodded and got back to the material world. Karna then suddenly remembered something and his expression turned worried. "Do you think Eirwen is fine all by herself in the wilderness?" Karna asked. "She is not a human... To grow stronger she needs to be where she truly belongs. Without that
The forest was not as dark as before but it surely was not calm as a giant worm-servant thing that was very agile in movement looked to be going after a young man glowing in red who was just as agile. While the cat-and-mouse chase was happening, the nearby trees were being victimized as the serpent's tail was all over the place as it chased Rudra destroying the trees in the process. Seeing that its surprise attack had failed it was not able to beat Rudra in agility, the servant stopped in place and leaped into the air, and soared down at incredible speed as it rotated its body like a drill. The ground immediately split apart when it crashed, and the whole area became incredibly dusty in no time to the point that Rudra wasn't even able to see his surroundings. "I got this!" Karna said and conjured the 'Wind' spell and created a strong breeze that completely swept away the dust. When the location where the serpent crashed was cleared, Rudra and Karna saw that the earth was devastat
The woodland southwest of Blue Isle City near the Tejrov Mountains and the Goodsoar Valley was silent and calm, the time was early morning, it was a bit dark as the sun was just about to rise and only the sound of birds chirping could be heard. A cold wind blew by swaying the tree leaves which made a gentle rustling sound. The sun was slowly but surely rising in the sky illuminating the earth little by little dispelling the darkness. Everything was serene and calm in the vicinity. Suddenly a crunching sound of dry leaves being crushed rang out along with the mild, almost nonexistent sound of footsteps. A red-haired boy who wore a black scarf around his face presumably to hide his identity walked cautiously while holding a pitch-black sword in his hands. His steps were precise and his footwork was impeccable as he slowly made his way deep into the forest. The boy was, of course, Rudra. At least he was the one currently possessing the body. It had been three months since the banque
Liam felt as if someone had just hit him with a hammer. He was trembling with rage and looked at Karna with killing intent. He was just about to bring out his sword and attack him right there and there. Before he could make any impulsive move though, he felt a strong grip on his shoulders. When he looked behind, he saw his father the Duke who moved his neck sideways and tacitly said to not do anything. Nobles, Merchants, and others who were blown away by today's revelation slowly realized the existence of the Duke. It was obvious why Marquis Miller chose the Zarx Family as a partner. Marquis Miller was known to be an amiable man but not many people knew that he was very prideful at his core. He did not appreciate the fact that the Duke could simply choke the Trade Route and all the Blue Isle City's business with the Island Chain would be useless. And aside from the Dukes, the Imperial Family and a few others there was just the Zarx Family who had enough wealth to partner up with h
Duke Carlstine walked up to Marquis Miller amidst all the noise of people talking and the clinking sound of cutlery along with the soft and calming melody of music. "Lord Miller, it's nice to see you at last. I have been hearing that you were... rather busy these days." He said with a calm expression. The truth was that Duke Carlstine had been trying to have a meeting with the Marquis before the event but was told that the marquis was busy in preparations. "Forgive me, Your Grace. I have truly been busy in the preparations of a few ventures." Marquis Miller bowed and replied apologetically. "Oh? If I may ask... What ventures might those be?" The Duke asked sarcastically. "Just some minor matters, Your Grace. Not worthy of your attention. Did you like this city of ours? I heard you have been to the Auction House already?" Marquis Miller changed the topic and asked. "Oh it wasn't me, Liam was the one who went there. But I went on sightseeing just recently... You have developed
Karna took a sip of his wine and looked at the entrance as a sound of footsteps was heard coming from outside the Hall. The special guest came in and Karna's eyes widened as he almost spat out the wine in his mouth. "Our first special guest today is the representative from the Leblanc Auction House... Lady Vilma!" Marquis Miller said and raised his glass of wine. Everyone else followed his lead and welcomed her. Vilma came in with Kuku and Mayra on both sides and waved to the people present seductively. "How typical of her..." Sophia muttered. "Why is she here?" Karna spurted out, "You will know soon..." Sophia said. Many people were also wondering the same thing. But no one argued that the Leblanc name didn't deserve to be treated with respect as everyone knew that the mysterious house of Leblanc was not just limited to the Auction House. While on the other hand, Liam was fuming with anger seeing Karna and Sophia whispering to each other. The Duke shot him a glance hinting t
The fateful day of the banquet was finally here, the castle which was being adorned for a long time now was finally ready for the mysterious event that would soon begin. All preparations were ready, and the ballroom where the banquet was going to be held was especially adorned with gold plating for the grand occasion which only a few individuals knew what was really about. Noble Lords and Ladies, merchants, and even scholars from the capital along with representatives of Nobles who themselves could not attend were getting ready to finally attend the banquet. Lara was currently in Karna's room, she stepped away from him a bit to take a good look at him to make sure she didn't miss anything. Karna was wearing his extravagant clothes as always but he felt as if something was off with the clothes he was wearing that day. "Hey, Lara. Say... Isn't this a bit too much? Even my most lavish clothes aren't this extravagant. I look like a King." He said as he looked awkwardly at the cloth