《Dormir》 Chapter One with a little prologue Dormir "No nurse at the hospital could ever doubt the vibrant doctor¡¯s honest and diligent work." A male voice announced to the countless number of people standing with their heads bowed, some with their hats in hand. There was a slight pause as the man adjusted his suit, making sure his director badge is placed straight and visible out of habit. His eyes swept along his surroundings once more to take in the image of the solemn crowd and the coffin which laid before him. He willed his voice to continue with the speech once more, accompanied by a soft crackle of feedback of the mic. "As a hard-working doctor, she has never judged a person by their appearance, gender or race nor had she ever lost her temper to a patient. Her helping hand reached to every member of the facility and in every emergency, regardless of how precarious the situation, always supportive of the patients¡¯ families and friends. She was skilled at her profession of saving lives, and though there had been unfortunate events in the past, this did not falter her virtue any less. It also became a daily routine for her to work overtime well through the night, treating each patient with care regardless whether they were under her responsibility or not. For this reason we can comfortably say that her constant battle to stay awake between each successful treatment of the patients, how she used to bob her head up and down as if to kiss the cafeteria table in front of her we were well-prepared to overlook." Perhaps the man had mentioned the last bit as a means to lighten the mood, evident by the slightly higher tone of voice and a small awkward laughter that trailed off at the end, but soft sobs were all that he received as a reply. Clearing his throat, he continued. "During the decade in which she worked as a doctor, she had moved the hearts of her patients and was one of the reasons why our facilities became famous throughout the region. We of the State Hospital will never forget the lives she has saved and worked for since her youthful days. It saddens us greatly to send you off so early. Farewell doctor, thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and may you rest in your well-deserved peace."
Chapter One ¡°The young master has woken up!¡± ¡°The young master?¡± ¡°Thank the heavens!¡± Chatters of joy spread quickly throughout the Inmos Mansion like the warm spring breeze outside; the sun was ablaze with a radiant glow which happily basked the forest surrounding the mansion. Men and women of all ages and faces, all wearing the identical black suits or frilly maid outfit were visible from the windows, rushing towards the highest floor. ¡°Oh how long has it been since our sweet little master has fallen ill?¡± ¡°Almost three years, woman. Three!¡± ¡°That¡¯s three years too long since i saw his cheeky smile...¡± ¡°Hey now, we can finally see the master again so don¡¯t tear up!¡± At the same time as the crowd coming up in haste, in the room of the highest floor, a couple were caressing a child in the bed. The room was as devoid of details as the servants¡¯ attire, consisting only of a simple white coffee table, some wooden chairs and a bed which was arguably the only source of colour; a brilliant one at that, draped with luxurious blue, the fabric of an unimaginably soft quality. The couple who were holding the child were also richly dressed; the man showed little sign of aging, his braided locks of brown hair coming down to his neck. He had a crisp, long-sleeved tailored shirt on with a royal blue and gold-stitched fabric draped over his shoulders, the fabric hanging loosely all the way down to his lower clothing and shoes. There was a ripple of happiness shining within his eyes which were easy to locate like two pools of clear blue pond amidst the brown forest of facial hair covering his face. The woman¡¯s eyes were hidden beneath closed lids, her skin holding a slight tan with two wet trails of joy appearing down her face. She looked to be in her late twenties, definitely younger than the man whose hand she was holding tightly. Perhaps due to her complexion, but her simple dress seemed to shine with grace. Her slim figure was very pronounced against the dress, the curves and all - especially more so when she moved to hold the child in her embrace. On the other side of the bed sat a young cleric who still had some childish features despite reaching adulthood. His hand was resting on the wooden cross-shaped amulet around his neck while the other on the holy scriptures on his lap. His face was clean of facial hair unlike the other man but the flaming-orange hair of his was more than enough to draw in others¡¯ attention. He looked at the couple with a soft smile, knowing how pained they were all this time to see their only son in bed, lifeless and pale. The cleric¡¯s face darkened a little soon after, recalling that their ordeal wasn''t over just yet. His eyes went to the child, the young master of this mansion. The young master, who had turned fourteen this year. He was still deathly pale, almost as pale as the simple gown around the boy, though he was recovering fast as shown by the swirl of pink in his cheeks. His eyes and hair had lost much of their original charm due to the draining illness and while it would be difficult to regain its former glory, all was not lost; flickers of green were emerging amidst his ill-silver hair, the colour inherited from his mother. ¡°Thank you, oh thank you, we owe you our lives,¡± A manly voice broke the cleric¡¯s thoughts. He turned to face the owner of the voice. ¡°I merely kept the young master¡¯s health in check. It was all the young master¡¯s will which was able to surpass the illness, Sir Hugh Inmos.¡± The cleric replied with sincerity, for it was true. ¡°You have allowed our son enough time to tame the illness, that in itself is enough to owe you our lives,¡± The woman in the dress addressed the cleric this time, her voice clear and strong unlike that of a woman crying tears of joy. The cleric smiled and bowed, but faced the two again, deciding that it was something they needed to know right away. ¡°There is one troubling fact,¡± he paused, catching the lady losing her composure for a fraction, her glittering amber eyes wide and mouth open before she caught herself. He continued his words while pretending he did not see her reaction. He was well-acquainted with the masters of the Inmos House, but even if he wasn¡¯t he was willing to overlook how the woman of perfection, Lady Ann Inmos had lost face; before she was the figurehead of the Inmos House, she was a mother. ¡°The young master... does not seem to remember anything. When he woke up, his eyes were blank and confused. I have seen this many times before from patients recovering from long-term ailment. At first I thought it was the shock of waking up after the extended period of unconsciousness, but now I am certain that the young master is suffering from complete amnesia.¡± Silence followed the cleric¡¯s words. Sharp gasps broke the silence soon after; the servants who had reached the room and crowded to see their young master had finally processed what they¡¯ve heard. As if that was the trigger, the man snapped out of his shock and looked at the child who flinched at the sudden fierce gaze upon him. ¡°Is this true, my son? Do you not recognize your father, or your mother? Do you not understand me?!¡± The child¡¯s eyes widened with fear as the man spoke, his voice getting louder by the second. The woman swiftly held her arms around the child protectively at that, shooting a glare at the man. ¡°Why are you berating our son? If he does not remember, we can help him regain them! If he cannot speak, we can teach him again!¡± Silence filled the room again as the man and woman held their gazes. Before long, the man closed his eyes. Without another word, he got up and left the room. After a time, the woman relaxed her protective hold around the boy. She looked at him with soft eyes, murmuring ¡®everything is fine now¡¯ both to herself and to her only son. She knew of the man who was her husband. She knew his love for their son. How he had great hopes, how he longed for their son to become the next Head of the Inmos House. Though his love was as great as her own, she also knew that Sir Hugh was a warrior to the bone; he was not one for subtlety. And yet, she also knew, he would never be able to give up on their son. He was certain to accept their son just given time to cool down. ¡°There there,¡± the woman comforted the child. ¡°Your foolish father is being hard-headed as usual. Do not worry though, Hywel. I am here for you¡­ and over time, we will both be here for you. For now, just get better soon. I wish to see you playing wholeheartedly and without a worry once more." The western side of the mansion was blooming with red, orange and brown of shedding trees. Most of the beasts in the wild had settled down in preparation for the coming winter, and so there were little activity seen from the windows of the Inmos Mansion. If one looked out the eastern side of the mansion however, they would see that the evergreens were at their primes, a magnificent sea of green as always despite the sepia glow of the setting Autumn sunlight. Unlike two seasons before, the young master¡¯s room now had decent furniture: a wide closet that covered the windowless side of the wall, artistic designs chiseled on the doors; a reddish-brown desk with papers and writing tools scattered about; and a bookshelf beside the desk of the same wood, crammed with all sorts of books. There was a window located from about waist-high on the wall diagonally opposite to the door; it was big enough for a boy of fourteen years to sit with his back against the sill comfortably. In fact, that was what the young master did most of his time inside; stare out the window to the nature which was getting ready for the cold winter. The boy, or as the servants called him ¡®master Hywel¡¯, had on a tunic which came down to his thighs, the family crest stitched on the left shoulder with a dark green material. His blue-violet eyes shifted from the wind-swept forest to the darkening horizon as the sun made its descent to the west. That was when there was a knock on the door, which the boy had expected; after all, this was his daily routine now. ¡°Come in,¡± he called with his soft yet clear voice without moving from the windowsill. The door opened with only a single creak when the knob turned, revealing a man robed in blue who looked to be at least in his sixties. The only trace of hair on his gleaming round head was his white brows and a long, braided beard that was thrown back and around his neck like a neck warmer. He had a pair of crooked half-moon glasses resting on his equally crooked nose, a stack of books held in his left armpit. ¡°Master Hywel,¡± The old man bowed slightly, the wrinkles around his eyes creasing as he formed a warm smile. His eyes shone with intelligence, his hazel gaze at the young master. ¡°Teacher,¡± Hywel returned the greeting without looking back. If a stranger saw this, they may think the boy had no manners to their elders, but the scholar Hildes knew better. There were no trace of discrimination in the young master¡¯s voice, nor did he showed confusion at being greeted like in the past, as if he did not know what the scholar was saying. In fact, this was now a common greeting to the two here. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Hildes closed the door as silently as he opened it and sat himself down at the desk chair, preparing to start today¡¯s studies while going through how much the boy has progressed. Amongst the pile of papers, the scholar found the sheets of paper he had left as homework. ¡°Now then, shall we start off with what we learnt last time?¡± Hildes called out towards the boy as he shifted through the papers in his hands. The boy did not respond for a second or so before his clear, still high-pitched voice drifted around the room once more. ¡°The kingdom of Glordia, the greatest kingdom in the world. It is currently governed by the humble King Glordia the fifth and the twelve Houses, established by the first king of Glordia during his reign. The twelve Houses are Adecia, Cygwin, Elegia, Grinmous, Inmos, Kniver, Masque, Ophress, Qwantas, Supre, Ultimos and Wyveria. Each House swore eternal loyalty to the royal family and the head of the family is rightfully knighted by the current king to support the kingdom with their unique talents. The Inmos family serves the king with the duty of the guardian; they are called to action in times of war to protect the kingdom¡¯s people and the land, and to guard the kingdom¡¯s treasures and secrets during peace. Our foremost priority as the Inmos House is not the royal family, but the kingdom itself. In recognition to this, the Inmos house crest consists of the Orichalcum tree, a tree named after the fabled metal for its hard bark, standing tall with its roots holding down firmly on a piece of earth floating in the void.¡± Hywel paused after that, but continued as the room was silent except for the sound of shuffling papers in the scholar¡¯s hands. ¡°To the North of the Kingdom lies the Elves¡¯ Forests where men are forbidden to enter. To the East lies the greatest enemy, the nation of Runia which had grown in power over the years and is constantly at war with the peace-loving Glordia. The Adecia House and the Cygwin House currently governs the wars happening in the Eastern borders of Glordia to fend off the kingdom. To the South lies the vast ocean, and across it lies the Isles of Corvum. In record, there are a total of seven islets, however there have been rumours that there are far more islets than it is known. The expedition parties sent by the Qwantas House has yet to confirm this fact. To the South-West are the mountain ranges where a Dragon is said to reside, thus named the Dragon¡¯s Nest. The King has yet to send any troops out in that direction in caution, resulting a void of records to what lies beyond the mountains. Lastly, to the North-West is the appropriately named Silk Road for it is a crossroad where the merchants from across the world gather. This is why the kingdom of Glordia thrived; they had direct access to the Silk Road for supplies and trades, as well as the reason why Runia is looking for a chance to claim the lands of Glordia.¡± ¡°That will do for now,¡± Hildes finally spoke, and unknown to Hywel whose eyes were still lingering to the sight out the window, the scholar had a bitter smile on his face remembering how much this boy had absorbed in such a short time; only two seasons ago they weren¡¯t even able to communicate, but now he was picking up and remembering everything perfectly, albeit a slight slur of an accent which he had never heard of before. Hildes pondered in his own time of this peculiar accent which the young master did not have before the illness. The young master did not roll his ''r'' like those from Runia, nor did he dull the ''k'' like the elves. It wasn''t similar to the foreigners who regularly visited the silk road, who often had trouble between the ''r'' and the ''l'' sounds either. Of course there may be other foreign accents which Hildes have yet to come across in his lifetime, but even then he was stumped as to how the young master who had never set foot outside the Inmos Forest could have such accent. ¡°Now then, today is about the Powers That Be.¡± Hildes¡¯ tone changed in an instant, taking a more childish vocabulary. It was a habit of his, picked up from the countless years of teaching; the younger students fared better with ¡®small¡¯ words. True to his intuition, Hywel found it better to understand when Hildes talked like this due to his limited vocabulary; whilst he was able to memorize how the words sounded to recite long texts he was given over the course of the seasons he was taught, the majority of these memorization made little sense or meaning to the learning boy. ¡°Listen well; every tree, every living person and even the table there... Do you know what they all have? Mana. Mana is an energy. We eat bread so we get Mana. To use magic, we need Mana. We breathe air because we need Mana inside us. We lose our Mana little by little as we move, you see.¡± He paused to catch his breath as well as thinking up more ways to describe Mana. Part of the joy Hildes found from his profession was to stretch his imagination, to try and describe a context in various ways for the students to feel or imagine it in ways words on paper cannot hope to relay. ¡°Mana is life. Put your hand on your chest; can you feel the beating? Mana is in there and makes it beat, makes you move as you want. Ah, but what about that table? Mana is in those too, but... let''s say they are Mana that is sleeping. Mana sleeps in tables, in pebbles, on the earth. People who use magic can wake this sleeping Mana to make magic happen. Ah now, what is magic? Magic is a thing which can heal you, or make fire. It can help you sleep better or make you live longer! This is why-¡± Hildes words trailed off. For once, for the first time ever, the boy had turned around during their lesson. Their eyes met; his vision seemingly blurring of everything but the pair of piercing blue-violet eyes. This wasn¡¯t the first time he saw the young master¡¯s face, but the way his eyes glowed with such... such life. He knew that something was wrong here; how could a fourteen year-old who had never set foot outside the forest, just an ordinary, perhaps slightly clever boy of noble birth who had lost his memory and had to relearn everything, have such vibrant eyes? ¡°Mana... can make me live longer?¡± the young master asked in his usual soft voice, but to Hildes it sounded louder than normal. He also caught a hint of excitement under the words. He gave a slight nod, still entranced by the sudden intense interest. After a pause, the boy broke his gaze and turned back to the window. Everything went back as if Hywel never turned around, and Hildes sat there gaping. ¡°Teacher,¡± It was Hywel who broke the silence. ¡°...Yes?¡± ¡°About these people who can use magic...¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Hildes remembered what he was talking about before the sudden interruption. He also knew that this was how the young master asked when he was curious; rather than a direct question, he would often trail off. Out of curiosity he had asked the boy before. He showed a cheeky smile as if to say ¡®I won¡¯t tell you¡¯ but then answered it honestly while blushing: ¡°Because before, people could lose their lives if I didn''t know...¡± He wasn¡¯t entirely sure what the young master meant. Even so, he wasn¡¯t able to get anything else out of the boy and eventually gave up. ¡°There are many names for them; wizards, swordsman, elementalists, clerics... We call them differently for what kind of magic they can perform, just like how there are many kinds of things in the world to get Mana from. From these people, we can separate into three groups: mages who use Mana in the nature; warriors who use Mana in their body; and worshippers who gain Mana through gods." Whilst talking, Hildes kept a close eye on the young master, however there were no particular events like earlier. He just sat there, staring out the window while listening to the scholar''s words. "The Great Sage Ivan Kniver, whose son¡¯s son is the current head of the Kniver House, is an example of a mage. Sages are mages who has unimaginable power over a single element; the Great sage Ivan has complete control over fire magic. He is well over a hundred, serving as the overseer of everything happening in the palace. Sir Hugh Inmos is an example of a warrior. He is called The Spear due to his weapon. Sir Hugh can use the Mana in him to make his spear stronger, or harder to break. He can also use it to heal small wounds and strengthen his body. It is also the secret to his handsome looks; who would think Sir Hugh would be in his late-fifties? Lastly, the mansion clerics will be examples of worshippers. They receive Mana from the goddess Sola. There are many gods and goddesses who can grant you their Mana but to do so you will need to please them some way." Hildes¡¯ lecture went on even after the sun had set and well into the night. By the time they were done, the moon was high above the sky between millions of bright stars. It was impossible to see anything more than silhouettes despite the lights in the sky, which forced the need for a candle in every room of the mansion. And as always Hywel would have to be in bed as soon as the lecture was over. After a short parting greeting, Hywel was alone again in his room. As the night deepened, the mansion fell quiet as all but the guards on duty and maids on night-shifts fell to slumber. That night was especially chilly, a sign of winter only around the corner. The guards on patrol around the mansion were all in twos, one holding a torch, the other a weapon in hand. Most were quiet in the darkness, but some were talking to themselves as they held an eye out for any suspicious movements. ¡°...Hey,¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Look, there¡¯s light on the top window,¡± A guard pointed to a window on the western side of the mansion. ¡°Ah, that¡¯d be the young master.¡± his partner answered with little interest. ¡°You mean master Hywel?¡± ¡°Yeah, this your first time patrolling? he always has his light on at night. Must be scared of the dark or something.¡± ¡°But at this hour... the candle would¡¯ve snuffed itself out unless he¡¯s awake to relight another one...¡± ¡°Now that you mention it, you¡¯re right; but his room is lit every night, surely he must sleep? Maybe he has a maid or someone to relight it every night.¡± ¡°Yeah... but that young master, isn¡¯t he a little... peculiar?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± the partner was now starting to actually listen; after all, they were walking around a building in the middle of a forest in the dark, it wasn¡¯t exactly eventful. ¡°Well... he had that illness right? the one where your life whiffs away and you lose colour from your body...¡± ¡°Yeah, I once had duty near the young master¡¯s room during the past, his hair and skin were completely white. I thought it was the end.¡± ¡°Exactly, I heard that once your hair turned white there was no way to live. Something about how the body can¡¯t hold Mana anymore so it was imminent death.¡± The two fell silent at that, their mind reeling a reasonable answer... finding none. And another question popped up in their minds; if he didn¡¯t need to sleep anymore... as well as the fact that he had avoided certain death... would he still be a normal human? As the night deepened, the two guards felt a chill up their spine which had nothing to do with the weather. Chapter Two - Hywel Inmos Chapter Two - Hywel Inmos Hywel''s day officially started at the crack of dawn. He used the tiny bell near the bed to call for a servant. After so many months it was still uncomfortable for the young master to call his servants this way, for it felt like he was treating them on the same level as a pet or a slave but after being berated for hours by one of the older maids accompanied by vicious finger thrusts in the bell''s direction, he had little choice. Only two seconds after ringing of the bell a maid came in while pushing a three-storey cart. The top two storey held silver platters which he knew was his breakfast while fresh clothes were laid on the lowest storey. This was probably the second most uncomfortable time of day for the young master as he was also forbidden to clothe himself. After breakfast was a little walk around the mansion. The maid who arrived with his breakfast, who Hywel learnt was called Luteia after he learnt enough of the foreign language to hold simple conversations, accompanied him outside. It wasn''t like him to take such luxury in the past as every second spent was a second less of a patient''s life, but for the time being it was a necessity. If he had to put every second into saving lives in the past, he had to put every second now to learn about this world and more importantly, this foreign language. Hywel never found these walks to be boring. From the moment he left the mansion''s marble floors the scenery was that of a fantasy book; the trees which grew as tall as the third floor, with marvelous branches and leaves. Magical spots of light danced in and out of the forest floor''s shrubbery as the sun rose which he later learnt was Mana seeping out from the trees as they took in the sun''s light. This was apparently a unique sight even in this world, where only the places in harmony with nature can create. Hywel greeted the guards and servants they passed, sometimes striking up a small conversation. They were all insignificant chatter such as the weather, but Hywel couldn''t help but feel like they were honoured to even just being able to talk. It didn''t help that certain young maids turned red when spoken to. A part of him felt like he had lost, seeing how even the least attractive maid was cuter than he was in his ¡®previous¡¯ life. As the sun rose above the horizon, Hywel decided to head back to the mansion. He knew there were more opportunities to speak with people there during this hour than outside, and from experience he knew that conversation would help him greatly to adapt to this place. "Oi, wha''s that for you pig!" Hywel''s ears caught a gruff shout as they neared the mansion. After glancing at Luteia, he quickened his pace towards the source of the voice. "You''re the pig here, stinking up the whole place with your sweat!" Another voice rang out. The second man''s voice was slightly higher than the first man as well as a hint of amusement in his words. A group of male voice erupted into laughter after the second man''s comment. Hywel and the maid turned the corner to view the scene at that moment to the small resting area for the guards with a water fountain and shade. There was a group of guards there, each holding an empty bucket and surrounding a soaking wet guard. As the young master watched to gain hold of the situation, the wet guard took off his top with a grunt and threw it to a blond guard. His soaked clothing landed straight on the face with a heavy ''plop'' and before anyone could react, the soaked guard snatched the nearest guard''s bucket while they were defenselessly laughing. "I ain''t going down by m''self!" As quick as a flash he dunked the bucket into the fountain and expertly splashed the entire squad. They all shouted in surprise at the sudden coldness of the water, but proceeded to laugh hysterically once more. Even the soaked guard held a grin of triumph, and before long they were going at it like wild animals, throwing bucketful of water at each other. Some even followed suit of the first soaked guard and threw off their water-logged top, revealing their spectacular and well-toned body glistening with light reflected on the water droplets around them. "Sto-" Hywel opened his mouth but had to quickly look away. If there was a heavy secret back in his ''previous'' life, it was that he had a soft spot for handsome and strapping men. Despite being in a male body in ''this'' life, it seemed his ''weakness'' was still there. Trying not to blush too visibly, he turned to Luteia instead. "Stop their fight..." "Young master, those ruffians are just enjoying themselves." Luteia answered back with a hint of amusement. She would not dare talk back if she was dealing with Sir Hugh or Lady Inmos, but over time she has gotten to know the young master. He was very gentle, sometimes extremely so. It made her worry that he would grow up being naive and exploited. She also knew of Sir Hugh''s personality; she knew that he would be more than unhappy if his only child grew up to be such a character. On the other hand, there was a certain charm to this young master. Something inside her woke up when she first saw how cute he looked when he was troubled or didn''t know what to do. "Perhaps the young master wishes to discipline them?" "Ah... no." Hywel spoke while trying to think of what to say. He knew that they weren''t really fighting, but for one they were in the way to the mansion. He will have to meet them along the way, and he wasn''t sure if his inner expression won''t come out if seeing those men up close. For another, he couldn''t just stand here and wait until they were done. He looked up at the maid while thinking. Luteia found herself looking deeply into Hywel''s troubled eyes. They were blue, yet not as blue as a clear pond, like that of Sir Hugh. It held a crimson hue, an aftermath of that draining illness. She had overheard the mansion clerics talking about the young master''s condition; while she wasn''t educated enough to understand majority of what they were saying, she understood that normally the eye''s colour is dark enough to cover the colour of blood behind the eyes, but due to the illness only some of the original blue is left. Hence the two colours are reflected in the young master''s eyes. A similar thing could be said of his hair and skin as well; it has only been a few seasons since the illness has passed, but everyone in the mansion knew that master Hywel will not be able to recover completely from the illness, at least in the outward appearance. The shades of green flickering like emerald amidst the silvery white of his hair was most likely the closest to the original sheen he would ever have, and his milky-white skin was more than enough to buy the envy of a thousand women in the world. How long it had been Luteia wasn''t sure but she caught herself staring too much into the young master''s eyes. She gave a motherly smile, and while she had a strong urge to tease him, she decided against it. She was a maid, and he was her master. There were things she forbid herself to do even if she wanted to. She approached the rowdy guards with steady strokes, then cleared her throat as loudly as she could manage. Thankfully the guards caught it straight away, a sign of well-trained ears. "Could you gentlemen please make way for the young master?" She addressed them with a half-smile. The men looked beyond the maid to finally spot Hywel with his troubled look. "Ah! We''re so sorry young master! Please, go ahead." The guards quickly gathered themselves and parted to the side for Hywel to go through. With a small sigh of relief, Hywel obliged. "Please keep this a secret from Sir Hugh though, else our necks won''t be on our shoulders knowing we were rude in front of the young master." One of the guards jokingly whispered to Hywel as he went by. He gave a smile and a nod, trying his best not to stare too much at the muscles. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. From his daily walk until Hildes visit his room for studies, Hywel spent most of his time on the first floor of the mansion. While he was within the walls of the mansion, Luteia left him to continue with her other maid responsibilities. He knew he would see her again when it was time for lunch and dinner so it wasn¡¯t that long a separation however. It wouldn''t be a lie to say that he was most familiar with Luteia, but she was quite busy when she wasn''t there to supervise his meals or his walks. So instead, he used his time to explore the mansion, making small talks with the servants he came by. They were always busy with one housework or another, which the young master gazed at with nostalgia. During the first few months he was afraid of interrupting their work, but over time he realized that they were very kind about it, always greeting him with a smile and being patient with his limited vocabulary. When he was capable of speech without the other party feeling he is lacking for a fourteen year-old, they confessed that they were grateful of the little breaks they could get from talking with him; the reason why they were patient with him at first. "But now," Marten, one of the older butlers Hywel was talking to responded to him. "We love our time talking with the young master not because of the little breaks, but because it is enjoyful. Some of us even work the whole day with smiles on our faces if we get the chance to speak with master Hywel, ho ho." "I am glad I can make them smile. It always made me uncomfortable thinking I was disturbing everyone." Marten shook his head. "Master Hywel can never be a burden to us. Why, over half the maids in the mansion are already falling head over heels for the young master!" He chuckled. The Inmos Mansion was bustling with activity; servants running up and down the floors, their usual manners long forgotten as they hurried. The commotion could be heard all the way up in the top floor despite the fact it was deserted save for three people. Hywel was at his desk with a paper in hand, rereading his completed homework. After a sigh, he dropped the paper back on the desk, scraping the chair on the floor as he got up to sit at the windowsill. He heard the two servants¡¯ voices from the other side of the door to his room, but it was nothing he needed to be concerned about. The view outside, however, was a different story. About twelve horse carriages and people moving about in haste and a beautiful woman on horseback pointing everywhere; Lady Inmos. The servants were loading supplies to take it to the battlefront to the East where Sir Hugh Inmos was. His love for battles was well-known and would always find himself available to the incoming attacks from Runia, using the excuse that he was there to ¡®protect the citizens within the battlezone¡¯. Whatever they did, though, was not Hywel¡¯s concern; not because he was a child, not because they were an adult, but because they were as foreign to him as any stranger passing by. That is, he was certain everything was a dream when he woke up that day with unrecognizable faces and the strange language. The handsome man and woman, the luxurious bed sheets... He was a simple doctor before. With an adult, ¡®female¡¯ body and now was inside a fourteen year-old ¡®male¡¯ body in a strange world where something as weird as ¡®magic¡¯ existed. Science seemed to have taken a backseat to let this unfounded ¡®energy¡¯ be the main source of reason and logic. ¡°Mother...¡± He whispered to himself as he looked down at Lady Inmos pointing and giving orders around. He shook his head. ¡®Parents...¡¯ he thought to himself, closing his eyes. Memories of a kind, but poor couple; the image that pops up when he thinks of ¡®parents¡¯. Those who didn¡¯t care about loyalty or fame, but family happiness and safety. Those who would tell their child not to waste food, telling them bedtime stories to sleep. The mother whose hand was always rough from working as a housekeeper, and father who would clumsily sneak into the child¡¯s room after a long day at work to kiss goodnight. The parents who had tears of joy when their child got accepted as a doctor. ¡°...Was it a good choice to leave them behind?¡± He muttered to himself again, but he already knew his selfish answer, unable to deny that this luxurious life was much, much better. And yet, he often found himself longing the old ways from time to time... A loud knock at the door snapped him out of his thoughts, automatically answering in the foreign language he had to learn. The days he spent memorizing various chemicals and illnesses to help even one more patient came handy; most if not all the difficult names he had had to learn rarely made sense let alone the chemical structure diagrams, and so the process to memorizing the sounds and associating them to the foreign alphabet was not all that an unfamiliar process. The door swung open, revealing a woman dressed in travelling clothes; light brown top with a leather vest, a sword in its sheath around her waist and black leather pants tucked under her knee-high boots. Wearing a beret of some sort, her light forest-coloured hair loose down the back. Her amber eyes were shining with delight at the sight of her son, but she held a gracious atmosphere about her; calm and collected as she told the servants behind her to close the door. Her lady-like composure broke down the instant the door clicked shut, launching into a tackling embrace followed by a massive cheek-to-cheek rubbing, chanting ¡®Howi, Howi, Howi~!¡¯ ¡°L-Lady Inmos, please let go of me!¡± He called out from under the embrace, struggling to get out. ¡°No, no, no Howi, call me ¡®Mother¡¯, not that!¡± she argued, pulling him closer until his face was buried in her bosom. ¡°M-Mother, let go of me, it¡¯s hard to breathe...¡± He replied painfully. With a frown and later a kiss on the forehead, Lady Inmos let go of her son. After a few hard breathing, Hywel composed himself and looked straight at the woman. ¡°Was there something you need from me?¡± His voice had an air of exhaustion. ¡°Does a mother need a reason to see her son?¡± She rebutted with a sad smile; ever since he had woken up from the illness, he had been like this; distant and closed up. In fact that was why she was so unlady-like when only her son was with her, hoping this would let him open up even just a little, back to the fun-loving and cheerful boy. ¡°I would¡¯ve thought Sir Hugh was in need of the supplies as soon as possible,¡± the Lady flinched when he said ¡®Sir Hugh¡± instead of ¡®Father¡¯; another change after the illness she couldn¡¯t get used to. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t like his ¡®new parents¡¯ but Hywel wasn¡¯t sure how to deal with them; this place was obviously unlike the place he was from, so he didn¡¯t want to be rude, however expressing their love back the way they found it ¡®normal¡¯ was difficult. The way Hywel said things due to this stung the Lady more than Hywel realized. ¡°Well, your father wouldn¡¯t mind a little quality time with our dear son,¡± she muttered, emphasizing the ¡®father¡¯, but sighed at the undeniable truth of his words. She gave him another kiss on the forehead and got up to leave. She paused at the door once more, turning back to face her son one last time. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a few days again and let¡¯s have a proper meal together then,¡± she said longingly. ¡°Also I left a book you might be interested with Jannet so ask about it after the commotion is over.¡± Hywel nodded in reply, making a mental note to ask the head maid for the Lady''s gift. He got up and gave a formal bow, and with that the room was occupied by the boy alone again, only the lingering scent reminding him that the Lady had visited. Chapter Three - Premonitions Chapter Three - Premonitions Hywel¡¯s free time started once the lecture with Hildes was over, despite the fact that he was supposed to be asleep. As always, he prepared enough candles to last the whole night and sat on the desk. The scholar had gone through about other manifestations of Mana, namely familiars today. He was certain at that moment that it wasn¡¯t a coincidence for the Lady to get him a detailed book about Sages, Shaman and Summoners, the three most common types of mages. ¡®Asked the teacher probably,¡¯ he thought as he flipped open the book to read. ¡®In this age and time, which job will get you famous? Which job would pay you the best? Why, a monster-slaughtering job no doubt! Rescuing helpless maidens from the clutches of a foul beast, or saving a town from a herd of monster rats! In this edition, we will focus on the three of the most well-known and gold-gathering jobs of mages.¡¯ Hywel flipped a few pages, skimming through the Sage and Shaman sections and taking notes of the words which were unfamiliar to him. Most of the things mentioned were covered by Hildes in the past, and so they served as a light revision of what he knew. There were some new information here and there, but the text was difficult for him to decipher and left it at that. Instead he wrote down a summary of Sages and Shamans. In short, a Sage is expert at manipulating an ''element'' of fire, water, wind or earth. To a certain extent they are capable of all four, but they usually stick to one and progress with that element. Over time those who pursued more than one element became known as Elementalists instead. Shamans however are more attuned to nature. If Sages and Elementalist are manipulators of elements, Shamans will their surroundings to do their bidding. This can be making a nearby tree grow abnormally fast, or make the clouds gather quickly to make a certain place rain. ¡®Summoners are more common than Sages or Shamans, however it is still a feat to become a well-known Summoner. As mentioned before, Becoming a Sage or a Shaman depends on the amount of study and effort one puts into their job. A Summoner¡¯s strength however is decided from the moment they are born. There are countless variations of familiars in this world, and the familiars which a person can call is decided. This is referred to as a Summoner trait.¡¯ ¡°Summoner trait...¡± He mumbled the word in his mouth; he had learnt about the possible kind and personality of familiars, but didn''t cover much about the requirements of becoming a Summoner with Hildes. It took them a fair bit of time going through the foreign vocabulary that he was bombarded when Hildes lost his composure to list a hundred different kinds of animals and monsters which could become a familiar. Recalling the lecture again, he scribbled down what he knew; a familiar generally holds the appearance of something from the nature, such as monsters or animals. These familiars are an irregular cluster of Mana willed by the Summoner, and so they are not as restricted in appearance. Basically, the familiars have a shape-shifting ability, though the extent of this ability depends on how strong it is. While this is the case, all familiars have a certain affinity to the four basic elements. No matter how great a power their shape-shifting ability is, their element will stay the same; for a familiar with a fire affinity for example, even if it can shapeshift into a fish it will not be able to last long under water. ¡®Up to the time this book is written, the most powerful familiar was capable of shifting as an Orc. The Orc familiar which is the closest human-like shapeshift has shown to have immeasurable power, and so it is assumed a familiar which can shapeshift into a human would rival that of an entire kingdom''s army, if not more. A Summoner''s fighting strength depends on the familiar, though only a tiny portion of the Summoners out there is gifted with a combat familiar. Instead, a Summoner excels in areas such as enhancing other fighters or laying traps with the aid of their familiar.¡¯ After a few more pages of reading, he came across an interesting chapter, titled... ¡®Contracting demons and angels. There has been a number of records for those who successfully made contracts with demons. There are two ways to contract a demon. One is if your Summoner trait designates a demon, in which case just simply following the procedures to Summoners summoning familiars would suffice. The other is when one worships an evil god or goddess. With enough favours with them, they will provide with demons to contract. Making a contract with a demon almost definitely involves sacrificing something dear to oneself. Most of the time this is their soul or their personality, and in exchange they are able to bind the demon to do their bidding until the contract is broken. It is said that all demons have a hideous appearance, however are able to create illusions to hide their true form. It is yet unknown if it is possible to contract with an angel, however there has been rumours of an angel Summoner. It is assumed the procedures are the same as those with demon contracting.¡¯ It took Hywel a few reads and re-reads to get the jist of what was said, but it was interesting to know that demons and angels existed; seeing as magic was present, it¡¯s not an unbelievable story. Besides, there were the worshippers as well. Truth be told, Hywel had spent many days reading literature of such nature when he was still a student; his fascination of fantasy and mythology had took up his free time. Thinking back, Hywel realized that due to this reason he was always tired and falling asleep when he wasn''t studying or reading even during his student times, much like when he was working as a doctor. The more he learnt about this world, the more he realized how different and fascinating it was. Winter was over by the time Sir Hugh came back home, leading a long trail of horse carriages and soldiers, mostly on foot. Not a single member was marching properly, their armour beaten and full of dents, most if not all having bandages over one part or another of their body. Some were noticeably missing a limb or two. Even so, everyone was in a cheery mood of having made back from the battle safely, being able to meet their family again soon. Sir Hugh, who was clad in full body plate armour with a giant spear in hand, its length almost twice the length of the warhorse he was on, steadied his mount as they reached the Inmos Mansion entrance. Lady Inmos who was following behind also steadied her mount behind her husband. With a single effortless strike of the spear to the ground, the troops halted and fell silent. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°We will stay here for the night and tomorrow continue our way back to the Glordia Palace where your families are waiting for your safe return. Have a well-earned rest and as usual will depart at the crack of dawn. Dismissed!¡± His strong voice was heard by everyone in the troop, and with his final command, the soldiers resumed their chatter as they casually walked into the mansion. The servants, who were already informed, had prepared the guest rooms and the medical facilities ready. The crowd filtered into the mansion, the masters of the mansion forgotten by all for the time being. The said masters, after checking that all carriages and horses were accounted for, made their way up the floors. Unlike the time when Lady Inmos last visited, Sir Hugh did not knock or wait for the servants to open the door to his only son¡¯s room; a single push and the door no longer stood in the man¡¯s way. A cool breeze greeted the couple as the door opened, the lingering cold of Winter making its final waltz before the inevitable. Against the partially opened window sat a silver-green haired boy with one leg propped against the window, the other hanging down the windowsill. His eyes flickered opened to see who had barged in. Recognizing the tall, bearded figure, Hywel got up and bowed as formally as he could. The man did not move but just looked at him; last time they saw each other was when he had woken up from the illness, and showed that he did not remember anything. That shock was the main reason why he was away from the mansion far longer than ever before; almost a year. It was his wife, Ann, who had convinced him that he was now back to ¡®normal¡¯ for the most part, though none of his past memories had returned. ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± He called out with his commanding tone he use on his soldiers. There was a slight flinch from the boy at the amount of charisma and authority the man had, but he didn¡¯t lose his composure as he looked up. Their eyes met, and unlike what first impression Hugh had of his son, he saw that his eyes were shining brightly; yes, he could see fear within those eyes, but also determination and potential. ¡°Ann,¡± he called back at his wife, coming to a conclusion. ¡°Valce will be staying here for a little longer. Go pass on this message.¡± Lady Inmos made a questioning face, to which Sir Hugh answered in a small voice after a brief glancing at his son. The Lady smiled as she realized what her husband was hinting at, happily exiting the room to locate the head guard. ¡°Sit down,¡± Hugh spoke in a less commanding tone to Hywel when Ann went out of sight down the stairs, closing the door behind him and pulling the desk chair for himself. Hywel obliged, sitting back against the windowsill. ¡°There is an Inmos House tradition,¡± he started. ¡°To hold a coming-of-age ceremony when the ''head of the house'' candidate nears adulthood. It is to show to the members of the House that the candidate is worthy of becoming the next head. And if you fail, you are banished from our family.¡± He had spoken in monotone, but to Hywel¡¯s ears the man¡¯s voice took on an ominous tone. ¡°Your ceremony was planned to be held on the next full moon, a few days after the day of your fifteenth birth but due to your... state, we had decided to call a distant relative of a similar age to hold the ceremony instead. Whether by luck or ill fate you have recovered in time to have the choice of entering the ceremony as well. You will be risking your position in the ceremony; if you fail, you will never be allowed to set foot within the Inmos territories as a House member ever again. If you succeed, your relative will face that fate instead.¡± He paused, wondering if he should say the rest or not. He opened his mouth again after a time. ¡°If you back away, you are disgracing the family tradition. You will still be part of our family, but you will no longer be welcomed to stay within this mansion, or see my face ever again... so decide well.¡± With that he stood up, looming over his son. His hand went down on Hywel¡¯s head with an unexpected amount of softness, and the next part was said in a much gentler voice. ¡°From tomorrow onwards you will be taught by Valce during the day and Hildes during the night. You will need to be familiar with both swordsmanship and the lore of the world regardless the path you choose, so learn well. You have up until the next full moon to prepare and decide on an answer. Remember this; the other candidate, while roughly the same age, has been training since they were born. They have more experience and memory than you. If you are going to fight, then use that amazing head of yours that Hildes never cease to praise about to the full extent.¡± He stepped out of the room without hesitation after that, muttering under his breath. Unbeknownst to all but Lady Inmos, his treatment towards Hywel was his way of dealing with the sadness of his prideful son having to suffer such fate. ¡®...Good luck son; you¡¯ll need it if you¡¯re going to compete.¡¯ For the first time since Hywel woke up as a boy into this strange new world, he realized first-hand that even in this luxurious world, there were problems and ordeals to face. It wasn''t something he did not foresee, but there was a massive difference between just knowing and actually experiencing it. And for a moment he dearly wished he was back where he was from with all his heart. Chapter Four - Training and Preparation Chapter Four - Training and Preparation Only three days had passed since the troops moved out with the Inmos couple to the palace, but to Hywel each day was with overwhelming with grief. The reason? ¡°Is that all you have? Sir Hugh will be disappointed to see his so-called son having so much trouble with a weapon. A wooden blade at that!¡± A gruff and deep voice jeered from the other side of the training ground behind the mansion. Gritting his teeth, panting hard nonetheless, Hywel stood up from where he had collapsed earlier from a mock battle with Valce, the owner of that jeering voice. The head guard was at least twice Hywel¡¯s height and weight with broad shoulders and slender hips. The amount of muscle straining to be seen against his light top was so much it was coming to the point of calling it grotesque. His auburn hair was messy and short against the square-ish face and thick eyebrows, giving off a Yakuza-like impression. His dark brown eyes betrayed his emotions despite his words though; Hywel was sure they were crinkled with either surprise, amusement or both. It wasn¡¯t all that hard for him to figure out why. From his memories of the ¡®previous¡¯ life, he knew that sleep is an essential for a person to live. It was the phase where the body actively repairs and revises itself and relieves the person of fatigue. Having made a deal with that mysterious voice, he was now able to live without needing to sleep. While it was merely a speculation before, the current situation proved to Hywel that his body must be able to heal just as fast¡­ no, even faster than when awake to maintain his body without sleep. ¡®A freak side effect of altering his body''s necessity,¡¯ He phrased it in his mind. Hywel took the battle stance Valce had shown him on the first day of training when he felt recovered enough; yes, the reason the big man was surprised was because unlike what he would¡¯ve expected, the puny boy in front of him was able to get back up in no time after being knocked down. The boy could¡¯ve feinted defeat for sure, but what Sir Hugh had said to him had been revolving in his mind; that no matter what choice he chose, both swordsmanship and lore will be crucial to him. ¡°Standing again, eh? I give you credit for the guts at least.¡± The head guard took the stance also as he spoke. ¡°I won¡¯t hold back on my strength from now on, try not to die on me.¡± With that, he swung his wooden sword down as if he wanted to cut Hywel in two halves. His reflexes went for a block before he could think, turning his own sword above his head while holding the hilt tight, the other hand¡¯s palm on the flat of the blade. The impact sent pains down his arm, stunning the boy from any further actions until the pain subsided. That wasn¡¯t the end though; Valce¡¯s sword flowed onto the next attack already, swinging it from the side like a baseball bat, the flat of the blade knocking the air from his lungs as it hit the defenseless boy¡¯s body with enormous force. The pain was so intense not a single noise came out of his mouth as he was flung straight into a tree. There was a sickening crunch, and pain greater than anything he has felt so far exploded all over his body. His mind went blank at the pain, his first breath after the hit turning into a scream. Valce had a smile on his face, holding his weapon across his shoulder. ¡°That it? I was hoping you had something special, but ehh.¡± He stood there for a bit, looking down at the boy writhing in pain. With a sigh, he picked up Hywel¡¯s mock blade that had flown out of his grip from the heavy impact and walked back towards the mansion. ¡°Someone move the kid master back to his room!¡± Hywel came back to his senses as the sun began to disappear behind the horizon. He was treated by the mansion cleric and bandaged earlier and was now lying down in his bed. A sigh erupted from the boy after a while. ¡°So... unable to sleep also means unable to lose consciousness, huh...¡± He grieved, putting a bandaged arm over his eyes. The pain through it all was unlike anything he had felt before, having almost every bone broken, being carried so roughly by the servants in panic, though due to the epitome of shock and pain he couldn¡¯t feel much difference. He wasn¡¯t able to think and be lucid until the cleric¡¯s magic sorted out the worst of injuries, but every detail and sensation was engraved in his mind. From then on it was just him spacing out as he was bandaged and carried to the bed from the mental shock. Voices streamed from the half-closed door, catching his attention. Hywel recognized the voice of the maid who was on her shift at the door, and the other voice was... Hildes. It was a hushed conversation for Hywel to make out exactly what was being said, but it sounded as if the maid was explaining while Hildes asked between. Hywel looked at the window, and realized he had recovered in time for the evening lecture. Being as diligent as ever, he didn¡¯t think twice about resting.There was also the factor that he was now almost completely healed thanks to the inhuman speed at which his body was repairing now and going to sleep to fend off the spacing out wasn¡¯t exactly something he was able to do. ¡°...-at¡¯s a shame. I shall come back tomorr... oh?¡± Hildes noticed the young master¡¯s eyes peeking out from the other side of the door whilst talking. He had a look of surprise, then a gasp from the maid as she, too noticed Hywel drew both their attention. The maid blushed at the sudden stares then backed away. Hywel opened the door fully to let the scholar in. ¡°Master Hywel, I heard you were unwell. You certainly look like you should be in bed, yet you¡¯re standing fine.¡± That was when he realized how freaky others would find of his quick recovery, and held up a hand as he thought up a good excuse. ¡°...Standing is very hard for me. Please come in and I will lie down while you teach,¡± He regretted the vague words he had said, but Hildes seemed satisfied enough. With a slight nod, he came in and supported the bandaged boy back to the bed. ¡°I hear Valce was the cause,¡± Hildes spoke once they were settled, Hywel on the bed and Hildes on the chair. ¡°Yes... I wonder why Sir Hugh chose him as my teacher.¡± ¡°Valce, Sir Hugh¡¯s most trusted man, is a careful man despite how he may seem. He wouldn¡¯t commit such a dangerous act unless he was certain there were little to no risks.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Furthermore he nor Sir Hugh has anything to gain by the death of master Hywel. In fact, they need you to be the next successor of the Inmos Head to keep his reputation.¡± ¡°Do you talk with Sir Hugh often?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been with the Inmos family for over fifty years now; even for a scholar as myself a sharp intuition and the ability to decipher people¡¯s hearts is crucial to stay in a place like this.¡± Hywel nodded in acknowledgement, moving on to the next thing that was on his mind. ¡°About the other candidate...¡± ¡°Fabre Inmos, master Hywel¡¯s cousin.¡± Hildes replied almost straight away, catching on what the young master was trying to ask. ¡°Excellent swordsmanship, fairly decent summoner of a fire familiar. Its strength is not as strong as a mage but he truly shines in his skills to combine the familiar¡¯s power with his sword in a duel. Fabre is also well-known for his strong sense of justice and loyalty to the House. Good looks, many followers, but often pitied for his fate.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Fate¡­?¡± ¡°Becoming the head was the dream everyone of the House yearns yet cannot reach; Fabre was only one step away from reaching that dream. He had the power to become the next head, however his bloodline made it difficult.¡± ¡°...?¡± ¡°Lady Mabel, Sir Hugh¡¯s sister, eloped with a traveler during her youth. She came back after a few years and with her the baby Fabre; it was only because the king had adored Lady Mabel like a sister that she was allowed to keep her name.¡± Hywel vaguely recalled the bits of things he knew about nobles. ¡®Keeping the family blood pure¡¯ was a phrase which often associated with them. Fabre¡¯s parent was a random stranger. Following that thought, Hywel had no trouble imagining the possibility of Fabre being rejected from even being considered as the next head for such a meager reason as not being a ¡®pureblood¡¯. Then again his talents would have been something they wouldn¡¯t want to lose. To make matters worse, they received that the only possible successor, Hywel, was a mess with the illness and so all this had happened... Hildes leaned closer towards the bed he was laying down, breaking his train of thoughts. His voice was hushed, and the shadow over his face seemed almost intended to match the secretive and perhaps ominous tone the scholar was using to say the next few words. ¡°Take this as a warning, master Hywel; despite all of his good deeds, there¡¯s something about him that is sinister. Perhaps it is his sense of justice and the justice done unto him I cannot say for sure, but after the countless years of watching and meeting people after people I am confident that he will see you as nothing but an obstacle to his glory. Do not trust him easily.¡± ¡°Back on your feet already? I must be losing my touch. I¡¯ll make sure I don¡¯t make the same mistake again.¡± Valce growled with amusement first thing in the morning. Hywel thought through his options the night after talking with Hildes. He had little reason to compete in the Inmos tradition, for within the husk that was Hywel was someone else completely. There was also the fact that he wasn¡¯t exactly free on time. Hywel recalled the voice that became the trigger to all this events. "Of course. There is a condition, however. You will start over, and I shall take, mm, a part of your life and your fate as payment. You can keep whatever life span and the fate that was left on the boy though, not like he¡¯d need it any more.¡± "Boy? what are you talking about...?" And now he understood perfectly what the voice was talking about. Hywel didn¡¯t know exactly how much of his life was taken, and how much was replenished. Worst case scenario, the boy¡¯s remaining life could have been mere seconds. For all he knew, the amount of time he earned from escaping sleep to the amount of time he lost making the deal may have been negligible. The biggest question now was ¡®how¡¯. ¡®How should I lengthen my life?¡¯ Hywel asked himself. He was presented with three ways currently; to become a warrior, a mage or a worshiper. He had asked Hildes for guidance of becoming a mage to no success. The mansion Cleric hinted that Hywel must visit one of the main churches of Sola in order to follow the footsteps of a worshipper, and the closest one is in the capital of Glordia. That left with attempting to become a warrior. He was reluctant at first, but it seemed training with Valce was currently the best course of action. Sir Hugh was a warrior so his second-in-command Valce would definitely be able to teach him a thing or two about becoming a warrior¡­ once Hywel clears his hellish training, that is. And so Hywel appeared before the head guard at the training ground the next day. He readied his wooden blade, to which the big man opposing him replied with a grunt. He rushed forward to the young master as he went for the same downward slash from yesterday. This time, he was ready; instead of blocking, he stepped to the side just in time to avoid his opponent¡¯s blade¡¯s path. Expecting a follow-up attack, he was tense, eyes darting to where the man¡¯s arm was. As if to replay from last time, Valce went for a swing again, his wooden sword hitting thin air once more as the boy successfully dodged. There were no more follow up movements. The boy''s body moved faster than he could think, his weapon lunging at the man¡¯s muscular arm as a counter. The impact of blade on blade as Valce blocked sent a slight jolt of pain up Hywel¡¯s arm, but it was nothing too serious. He doubled back at the failed attempt to hinder the guard¡¯s arm. There was a pause from both ends; Hywel was staring straight at the man¡¯s eyes, panting, the blade clenched tightly in his hand, heart beating loudly in his ear. Valce was standing still with little evidence of exhaustion, a grin on his face. The training ground resonated with clashes of wood as they continued; Valce always started off with a big blow and then a quick and deadly follow-up which Hywel could do nothing but avoid. Having said that he wasn¡¯t able to avoid every blow; the follow-ups stung him hard, and whenever he had the chance to attack, his weapon would be blocked by the big man¡¯s weapon. All in all, it was a fight resembling an egg trying to erode a stone wall. The training lasted until sunset. Valce finally showed signs of exhaustion albeit barely; his posture wasn¡¯t as impeccable as before, and sweat was visibly gathering on his body. Hywel, too was panting with exhaustion but a closer look would reveal that the bruises, cuts and other minor injuries were now a thing of a past. His body still had energy left, his mind as clear as it was at the start of the training. By this point Valce was certain that there was something abnormal with Hywel. It was, however, misinterpreted by the head guard; the years he spent loyal to Sir Hugh was not one of simple awe, but of one who shared countless battles together. Valce knew of Sir Hugh¡¯s abilities as The Spear and from this he started to believe this rapid healing was the young master¡¯s dormant power as a warrior¡¯s son waking up. He felt a certain sense of accomplishment welling up within himself; he was certain this was thanks to his training. ¡°...That will do for today.¡± Valce opened his mouth to announce the end of the training despite his body screaming to train the young master more. The head guard knew his limits; it was a given he would be able to keep going for at least another three rounds or so but he would be risking the chance of making mistakes due to the fatigue. If he did not portray as an infallible wall to the young master, he feared Hywel may imagine the head guard as a target whom he can eventually defeat. Time was precious as the Inmos ceremony was nearing; if Hywel took lightly of him and dampen his growth, that was the extent he would have when he would enter the ceremony. Slowly, but steady was the key to nurturing a warrior to their fullest extent, Valce knew. Chapter Five - Fabre Inmos Chapter Five - Fabre Inmos ¡°Master Fabre Inmos has arrived!¡± A sudden interruption from the mansion¡¯s direction made the two figures pause from their clashes. Looking towards the mansion Hywel noticed the servant who had made the announcement. Beside him was a young man Hywel didn¡¯t recognize but judging from his blue and gold suit glittering in the sun this was his ¡®cousin¡¯. It was too far for him to make out the face, but even from here there were resemblances with Sir Hugh even without counting the similar coloured attire; the same brown shade of hair and the confident, somewhat arrogant posture. To his waist was what could only be a scabbard which could easily be as long as legs, if not longer. ¡°My, ain¡¯t he here two days early. A¡®ight. That¡¯s all for today.¡± An irritated string of words were spat behind him to which the boy instinctively turned. At that moment the head guard stormed past him, allowing him to catch the crumpled face of Valce. It was unlike any of the faces Hywel had seen Valce make - true and honest abhorrence. Hywel followed the head guard back towards the direction of the mansion as he, too, had little reason to stay at the grounds. As they approached the waiting Fabre, he could make out more of his details. He heard his cousin was at least three years older than him, though with that height he had doubts of his age for Fabre was roughly as tall as himself. Apart from his height however, everything about Fabre seemed to be contrary to him, starting from his flowing hair which came down to cover his neck to the possession of a proper weapon at hand. Hywel glanced at the slender scabbard around his waist. The fancy hilt had a cross-like design with a few added parts; the horizontal bar separating the blade and hilt had curved edges spiraling towards the hilt. The handle was shaped like the letter ¡®D¡¯ which Hywel guessed was to protect the back of the wielder¡¯s hand from attacks and there was a cup-like attachment between the cross-shaped hilt and the actual blade. The scabbard was beautiful; thin strings of silver were etched onto the dark wooden body to make it shine, but the most stunning part was the blue gem which Hywel assumed was sapphire embed in the middle. It was placed with a breath-taking craftsmanship, forming the foreign alphabet which Hywel recognized as having the ¡®F¡¯ sound equivalent in English. Looking towards Valce, Hywel realized the head guard had already composed himself and was bowing with courtesy. Realizing his rudeness, Hywel made a light bow as per the tradition here. ¡®Despite all of his good deeds, there¡¯s something about him,¡¯ The scholar¡¯s words rang in his ear. He wasn¡¯t able to gather exactly what Hildes had meant, but meeting him face to face, there was definitely something about his cousin that he noticed; he seemed adept at hiding his emotions. It wasn¡¯t a definite thing and Hywel could be imagining it, but staring at Fabre gave the young master the feeling of one staring at an art piece rather than at an actual person. There were no haughtiness of a proud opponent, nor were there gentleness of a family member. ¡°Master... Hywel.¡± His voice was deeper than he had imagined; a strong and confident voice. It was unlike Sir Hugh¡¯s charismatic voice, but a kind of tone which one would expect from a prince. Fabre bowed as well in a greeting. ¡°I am pleased to have met you after so long. I hear you were unwell these past few years, my condolences. Though I see you are recovering fast, which lightens my heart. Valce,¡± His last word was aimed at the head guard who bowed even more. With that, the big man excused himself and was about to leave. ¡°Ah, wait a moment; after observing your... training, I would like to see the strength of the famous head guard Valce. Master Hywel, if you please.¡± Fabre said, a hand stretching out towards the young master. Hywel glanced at Valce, then at the wooden blade in his hand. The atmosphere seemed to imply that Hywel should oblige, and so he did, or at least attempted to. His hand froze mid-way as their eyes met, for Fabre¡¯s emotionless mask had disintegrated into radiance. His indigo eyes shone brightly as the smile formed, and that was all it took for his cousin to take his breath away; one smile was all it took for his heart to skip a beat. Valce had little choice but to obey as well. Fabre was one of the nobles of the House regardless of his reputation or what Valce thought of him; he had to be careful and match to his demands optimally, lest he dirty Sir Hugh¡¯s reputation. Fabre took the blade from his cousin¡¯s hands without showing any signs of seeing Hywel¡¯s irregular behaviour. Instead he proceeded to test its weight in his hand, giving a few light strikes in the air. With that he took confident strides to the training area Valce and Hywel had been training at only moments before. Valce was grim and expressionless, unlike when he was toying with Hywel. Fabre reverted to a similar face as Valce, looking straight at the head guard as he took stance. The young master watched the two in silence, snapping out of his trance. "I shall go second," Fabre called out, getting a grunt in reply as Valce obliged to make the first move. It wasn''t the big swing start as he had done so many times when training with Hywel, but rather a quick thrust towards the standing noble. While the head guard may have showed reluctance to the duel, he did not waste his opportunity to strike. The thrust didn''t go very far however as Fabre retaliated with a swift slash at the incoming attack, veering it off its path. His movements flowed onto the next, sidestepping to let the head guard pass by before going for a strike to his back. Valce turned around to block just in time, using the angle to slide his blade up along the edge of Fabre¡¯s, to aim for his face; unlike a typical sword, the wooden blades were of simple design and there were nothing horizontally separating the blade and the hilt. The noble pushed his weapon away such that the counter failed while leaping behind to make some distance. He then went for a series of quick thrusts at blinding speed as he advanced towards Valce once more. Quite unlike his physique, Valce easily avoided the attacks and deflected the final thrust with his own blade. Perhaps Fabre did not expected to be deflected so easily, or perhaps it was due to the difference in power but the noble staggered at this. That instant Valce''s movement changed, bringing his arms up above his head to grasp the weapon with both hands. With a massive ferocity he brought his weapon down towards Fabre like a swing of an axe to a piece of lumber, along with enough force to make the muscles on his arms explode with power as he gave a bone-chilling war-cry. The place where the noble was exploded with a bang which Hywel could not believe was made simply with a wooden blade. Dirt and bits of wood temporarily created a cloud of dust, preventing anyone to know exactly what had happened for a time. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. When it settled, it was evident that Fabre managed to avoid the fatal blow just in time. Even so, the battle was over; Valce''s wooden weapon couldn''t take the impact and snapped in two, the hilt in his hands and the tip lying uselessly in the middle of a dented training ground. The two, panting a little, assessed the situation and both came to the same conclusion. Standing straight, they gave each other a bow as if to say ''good fight''. That was when they all realized that it was nearing the time for dinner. Valce offered to clean up, and so Hywel found himself walking back to the mansion with Fabre. "He is more skilled than I had heard, while Hywel is...." Valce muttered under his breath when they had returned to the mansion, a frown appearing on his forehead. On a normal occasion Hywel would''ve gone straight into his room after taking a bath and changing. Fabre, however, had insisted for him to come down to join him at the dining room and he had no choice but to oblige; it would have been considered rude to refuse such offering without a proper reason, which he had none. ¡®It¡¯s just dinner together,¡¯ Hywel tried to assure himself, but the uncomfortable feeling did not pass. "It''s been years since we''ve met, and yet your appearance is that of your younger self, save for the minor details," Unlike his first impression, Fabre seemed to be in a positive mood as he smiled brightly toward Hywel, who was feeling even more uncomfortable than before; he certainly seemed to be shining with a certain air about him and very talkative which he wasn¡¯t used to, not to mention almost inhumanly handsome to boot. They were now at the dining room, albeit a little early for dinner so were passing time with tea in front of them. Sitting face to face, it took great effort for Hywel to hide the discomfort of his ¡®past self¡¯, feeling his heart beating at the sight of such handsome face while Fabre did most of the talking. "If I remember correctly, you were only three back then, so you most likely don¡¯t remember. Even so, I remember you; how you used to follow me around like a little brother I never had." Perhaps his smile came from his reminiscence? "You were very cute and innocent then, although that hasn''t changed much," He chuckled a little after that, which made Hywel blush more than he would''ve liked. Fabre glanced his way, falling silent. Not knowing what to do while being gazed like that, his eyes darted a little; that is, until Fabre suddenly gasped and stood a little. Hywel jumped at the sudden reaction and looked at his older relative, whose eyes seemed to shine with a certain glow. "Perhaps this will help you remember! you used to be awed with Salamander," he said before lowering his voice to a mumble. As he mumbled, a faint glow of light appeared between the two, which developed into a small fireball. The fireball shifted and lengthened until it was long enough to entwine one¡¯s arm, with four stumps sprouting like legs. It was entirely made up of fire and so swayed and blazed in mid-air, but it wasn''t hard to make out its lizard-like body and head, its eyes no more than gaping holes on its fiery body. It only took Hywel a moment to realize what had happened; he had summoned a familiar. "Remember Salamander? although it''s bigger than that time when I could barely summon, it should have the same appearance as before." "This... is the fire familiar..." He whispered in amazement. He had heard Fabre was capable, but to see an actual one was breathtaking. Its body kept blazing in mid-air though there were no evident support or material to burn through, as well as having an actual face... It was as if someone had pulled the best movie special effects in front of him. Unbeknownst to Hywel, his relative¡¯s attention hadn¡¯t left him, as if observing the awed Hywel in search for an answer. After a moment he waved his hand. The familiar curled up and disappeared just as mysteriously as it had appeared. "Well that''s enough looking. It doesn''t look like it was helpful." "...I wonder if I can summon one," Hywel blurted out without thinking, to which Fabre suddenly burst out laughing. Hywel frowned a little, wondering if he had said something funny. "The same words you said when you first saw one!" He exclaimed in amusement as his laughter subsided, then looked at Hywel. "I can teach you the procedure to form a contract with a familiar again, however you had failed when we tried together," He said, then shrugged. "Do not get your hopes up." Hywel nodded slowly. "First, you must understand that the familiars are made by the Summoner''s will imposed onto a manifestation of Mana. As such, to call on them, you must be able to feel them with your mind. Once you think you can feel the familiar, say these words: ''By the Mana within me, bind the Mana for eyes to see.'' If successful, it will show up to make a contract. It will tell you its name, and from then on you will only need to call out that name to summon it." After hearing the explanation, Hywel wondered what exactly he meant by ¡®feeling¡¯ them with the mind. He closed his eyes and concentrated anyway, much like the way he had seen in TV shows or movies in the past. After a few seconds though he opened his eyes again. The first thing he saw was Fabre, who had gone silent after seeing him concentrating. He felt his face redden for the umpteenth time, barely managing to shake his head to signal that he couldn¡¯t feel anything. Fabre nodded in understanding and after a simple ¡®don¡¯t worry about it too much,¡¯ he went back to small talk. His perfect smile and friendliness kept Hywel tied down the dining room until dinner was served, and only when it was time for his studies did Fabre allowed him to leave his side. Chapter Six - His first weapons Chapter Six - His first weapons [Author''s Note: Due to the amount of negativity of the part(s) where Hywel shows interest as he adapts to his new body, I decided to upload two chapters this time since there''s... a few blushing and confused scenes.] "Such talkative person," Hywel said to his teacher. They were in his room now in the same place as every night; Hwel on the windowsill and Hildes on the chair. "Fabre? yes he certainly can be." Hildes replied in passing, his head bowed in reading the parchment of the past day¡¯s homework in his hand. ¡°I saw his duelling also. I wonder how much training he has done? The way they lunged at each other and the way he smiled¡­¡± Hywel¡¯s words trailed off, noticing the lack of attention his teacher was giving. He frowned and looked at Hildes. After a moment of silence, the scholar placed the parchments down and looked up. "Can we please go on with tonight''s studies now?" "Yes, I''m not stopping you." "Master Hywel," He snapped at the boy. "All you have been talking about since I entered this room is Fabre this, Fabre that; you''re not concentrating to the lesson at all!" He blinked, then looked away back to the outside scenery through the window when he realized Hildes was right. There was a sigh from the scholar. "Have I not told you to be weary of that man? He only sees you as an obstacle to his glory, an opponent to slay. And yet after spending a day with him you are completely awed by him. No... charmed, perhaps? You are sounding like a maiden admiring every single detail of a man she fell in love at first sight than anything." Hywel''s face lit up with red at that comment, seeing the truth of his words once more. They both went silent again. Hywel looked back at the scholar when he felt the colour of his cheeks had died down a little but saw that he was no longer in the room. "Teacher?" He called out to make sure he wasn''t imagining. ¡®Did he really leave during that short time?¡¯ The young master thought as he got up from the windowsill. The seat was still lingering with warmth. With a sigh, he threw himself in bed with an arm covering his eyes. How long has it been? Hywel wasn¡¯t sure of the exact time spacing out, but there weren¡¯t any light coming from the outside save for the serene moonlight. Slowly he got up and sat on the windowsill, gazing at the distant stars. He rarely saw the stars during his past life, always unbearably tired after work and going to sleep straight away. How different it was, not to feel tired and to be able to gaze at the stars every night. His mind went back to what had happened today, about Fabre, Hildes¡¯ warning and actions... Why had he acted that way towards Fabre, keeping in tradition and minding manners? No, that wasn¡¯t enough of an explain the obvious attachment to his ¡¯cousin¡¯. Then because of his looks? That was slightly off too, as it was only when Fabre was smiling that he felt engrossed in his cousin... Perhaps it was due to his skill as a Summoner? Hywel closed his eyes at that thought, and tried to ¡®feel¡¯ the element once again. Having said that he wasn¡¯t sure just what he was trying to feel. He shook his head, then sighed. He proceeded to hug his legs to his chest, resting his chin on his knees. ¡°I wonder how long I have left...¡± He muttered to himself. Closing his eyes once more, he pictured the Salamander he had seen earlier; such magical creatures who are said to be able to lengthen one¡¯s life... ¡°By the Mana within me,¡± He muttered. ¡°Bind the Mana for eyes to see.¡± Silence ensued, and the boy gave a bitter smile; he was afraid this would happen, partly why he didn¡¯t say the actual words when Fabre was so focused on him. He got up after a bit then nearly fell over, suddenly feeling weak. He managed to catch himself before tumbling to the floor though, and before his eyes something shimmered against the moonlight reflecting from the window. It took him precious moments to recover from the sudden weakness, and during that time his eyes were fixed on the space slightly above his eye level, where the shimmering was happening. As he observed, the light seem to twirl into a spiral as if the space was being distorted, then something round and tiny fell from that very place with a hard ¡®plop¡¯. The weakness Hywel felt went away as the distorted space dispersed but he was weary for quite a bit after it. ¡°What...¡± He spoke as he tested his own weight again; there was no difference now. He proceeded to light up a candle, being careful of where he was stepping. After a moment of searching the room¡¯s floor, he found something which seemed like the object that fell from that distorted space; it had rolled to the corner of the room. He shone the candle at it, but there were no response as if it wasn¡¯t a living thing. As a precaution Hywel kept clear of it while observing with the light for a time, yet there were no difference. After a time the young master risked poking at it. No response. With gritted teeth from the tension, this time he risked picking it up. There were no painful jolts or anything to his relief. The object was quite hard in his hands and round. It was the size of a pea and held a dark layer. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure of the colour due to the limited details a candlelight can give, but he assumed it was black or dark brown. Upon rolling it in his hand, he noticed there was one side that wasn¡¯t dark. A lighter surface shaped like a heart. Hywel slid a tip of finger over it but there were no noticeable grooves or edges on the object. He could try splitting it, but there was no telling what could happen. Then the question hit him; ¡®What happened, and why had this appeared?¡¯ The most probable reason that Hywel could think up was the chant for summoning a familiar. He was pretty sure that was the reason the more he thought of it. That gave birth to a new question; ¡®What is this? It doesn¡¯t feel right calling it a familiar¡­ Perhaps it¡¯s an egg? ...Do familiars hatch from an egg?¡¯ He came to a simple conclusion that he had no definite information to make any conclusions. For now however, he simply decided to call it a ¡®Heartseed¡¯ for it reminded him more of a pea than an egg, plus it had a heart-shaped surface. With that, he left it at the desk to observe it in the morning; perhaps the daylight would give him more clues. When the candlelight shone the desk, he realized that while the scholar left without warning, he left new sheets of homework on the desk. Smiling a little to himself, he sat down and spent the rest of the night with the homework as well as some reading, like he had done every night before. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Come in,¡± Hywel absently replied to the knock on the door the next morning. The door creaked open, then the room fell to silence save for the sound of pages flipping as Hywel sped through the book he was on. feeling something was amiss, he looked up and nearly fell off his chair. Luteia, who usually came to wake him up on the days he was too occupied to call beforehand was nowhere to be seen; Fabre stood with a hand on the doorknob instead. Hastily Hywel stood up, laying the book down at the desk and bowed in greeting. ¡°I apologize for my rudeness, I didn¡¯t expect anyone this early,¡± He said with his head down. ¡°Hm...¡± Fabre hmmed before continuing. ¡°The Head Guard asked for your presence down at the training ground.¡± He sounded formal and emotionless, much like the time he was talking to Valce. ¡°And to inform you that the Inmos Ceremony is scheduled to start tomorrow when the sun is at its highest.¡± The Inmos Ceremony... So it was that time already. ¡°Er... oh, Thank you for the news, um... I¡¯ll-¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be looking forward to your talents, Hywel.¡± Fabre cut his words short, back to his cheery voice. He could virtually see the magnificent smile he would have as he spoke in his mind, and only when Fabre left did he relax enough to lift his head. ¡°Why am I so tensed around him...¡± He muttered and shook his head when he realized he spoke out loud, making a mental note to stop talking to himself as he got ready for the morning practice. ¡°A... real sword?¡± ¡°And a real shield.¡± Valce was grim today, in continuation with the look from the day before. He was also barehanded unlike other days. Hywel looked down at his hands. On his right was a sword of a simple design, if any; the hilt was long enough to barely fit both his hands if needed, but holding it one hand proved little discomfort. This sword had a horizontal bar to separate the blade and the hilt, but unlike Fabre¡¯s sword it was merely a straight piece of metal. The blade itself was just long enough not to give too much trouble for Hywel to unsheath it from his waist and it was double-edged so it did not matter which side Hywel used to attack. The shield on his left was mainly made out of wood with metal casing around the edges. There were no particular design on the shield either save a strip of metal diving the shield into four quarters and a round bump on the center. Having said that, it was large enough to cover his entire body when crouching. It was rectangular in shape with the metal edges bent towards the wielder which oddly reminded Hywel of a coffin lid minus the shape. All in all, it was quite heavy but not so heavy that he would have trouble fighting, given time to adjust. If he go tired, it seemed like he could just put it on the ground to make a temporary one-sided bunker. ¡°Get used to using a shield and sword by tomorrow. You have no chance to beat Fabre on a duel, but might as well try to last as long as you can.¡± Hywel had no reply, for he agreed after seeing the duel yesterday. Instead he tested out the shield and sword heavy in his hands, giving a few swings and holding the shield up in front of him. ¡°Now, don¡¯t get hit.¡± Valce said without prior warning, closing in within moments and sending a lightning fast jab to his chest. Surprised at the sudden attack, Hywel backed away a little and held up the shield. The jab was blocked by the shield narrowly but a second punch followed. This one was harder and stronger than the first, and with his uncomposed stance, his legs gave way and fell on his back with the shield weighing on top of him. In matter of seconds, the head guard¡¯s foot was on the shield, effectively pinning Hywel to the ground. ¡°Again.¡± He barked as he moved his feet away and took a few steps back. He got up as fast as he can and held the sword and shield right, eyeing Valce. More punches came at his way, but this time he managed to block twice as many punches but the kick that followed was too much for the boy to hold ground to. Within moments he was on the ground again with his hands empty, the guard¡¯s foot on his stomach. Who knew how many tries it long it had been but after a while Hywel started to get the hang of it long enough to fend himself. The punches were erratic, but within time Hywel realized that if he focused solely on defending and having his eyes on the look out for even the tiniest movement, there wasn¡¯t a need to try and locate the punches all the time. The problem was when he attempted to retaliate; Valce easily deflected his sword by making a slapping motion as the blade closed in and sending in a follow-up punch. Around this time Valce shouted at the boy. ¡°If you can¡¯t even hit me with your sword, use the damn shield!¡± Hywel gritted his teeth; fending off the punches and kicks were hard enough for him, how was he to utilize the shield offensively? There wasn¡¯t much time to think though as Valce¡¯s attacks were continuing. Hywel hid behind the shield to protect himself for a few more seconds until he decided to push his shield to Valce like a shield-punch. With a short burst of shout, he struck the incoming punch with the shield; the result left a sting on his arm, but there was also slight frown of pain on the head guard¡¯s face. Taking this as a chance, he swung his blade at the guard who managed to evade the blade yet again. As Hywel¡¯s face crumpled in concentration, a small smile crept up on the head guard''s face as Hywel managed to get used to combat little by little. Their training lasted until sunset as usual. Valce gave him the shield and sword to keep, saying he¡¯ll need them for tomorrow. Hywel accepted them wordlessly, but his heart felt heavy at the real blade. This was capable of slicing open a person in a crude and dangerous manner that he wasn¡¯t used to. If he was up against someone like Valce who, despite his attitude and ways, kept them both safe then it would be fine, but Fabre... ¡®Surely the ceremony wouldn¡¯t allow killing one another, but would they forbid cutting off a limb or two?¡¯ He shook his head at the images following at that thought, as well as the growing question of ''will this unnatural body of mine be capable of attaching or regrowing limbs?'' then made his way to his room. Chapter Seven - Inmos Coming-Of-Age Ceremony Chapter Seven - Inmos Coming-Of-Age Ceremony The roar of delight from the crowd were so loud that Hywel could hear them through the walls of the waiting room. This was quite an astonishing fact to the young master who did not expect such enthusiasm from those who were not of the Inmos House. The ceremony was planned to be held for the entire day while keeping into consideration the possibility of any possible extension. Hywel was told that in the past the ceremony was merely a hunting game or battle royale in the case of multiple candidates and only required a full day, but this time the prince who was coming to referee had decided to ¡®spice¡¯ up the events. Sir Hugh had sent the general plans of the events to those who were preparing everything at the Inmos Mansion, stating that he would return at the day of the ceremony. The sheer scale of this ceremony put Hywel at a loss; the amphitheater for the audience alone could easily fit the lobby of the State Hospital, which Hywel had been a part of in the past, seven times over if not more. The lobby itself had enough seats for two hundred people, he recalled, but considering the standing space as well, the lobby could practically fit another half a thousand with careful managing. From a glimpse when he was led to the waiting room, he also saw many robed figures who he assumed was mages preparing something made out of fog similar to that of a screen projector in the air in every angle around the amphitheater. Later, he was told that there were others organizing the ¡®battlefields¡¯ as well in the depths of the Inmos Forest. He had no idea of how much it¡¯d cost to put up such high-class entertainment. The young master had caught the sight of the organizers busily moving to and fro since around the time his training with Valce began, so he knew there were even more effort involved than the ones he could see as well. All in all it made Hywel wonder whether the people of this place were more rich than that of his past life, or whether this was just because the Inmos House was just that rich. As for the actual events, there weren¡¯t any words on that except that the royalty who was coming to referee will be announcing the rules on the day. Hywel heard that the royalty in question was a prince who had a brilliant mind, however he only showed his knowledge to satiate his curiosity or boredom. Surely the Inmos ceremony would have been a great opportunity for them.. It would be a lie to say Hywel wasn¡¯t nervous, however his feelings were leaning towards anticipation and a hint of excitement moreso than that. His past experiences had played a huge role in his composure; the days he spent administering operations to patients allowed him to realize the importance of being calm and collected at any instance. He had experienced many times the fright of starting something new such that while the slither of doubt did linger across his thoughts he also recalled the excitement and the sense of accomplishment which followed afterwards. Having said that, Hywel knew that the biggest reason he was able to keep his tempo was due to making up his mind during the month or so of time he had until today. The more Hywel thought about his situation so that he can decide whether to compete in the ceremony or not, the more he realized that there really weren¡¯t anything crucial he would lose regardless of his decision or the result of the ceremony. If he had to say the benefits and risks involved in each scenario, it was mainly those which affected his relationship with the Inmos House, specifically with Sir Hugh and Lady Ann. They weren¡¯t his real parents but they had given all they could to help him, Hywel knew. In the end he decided to compete, not because he had no choice but because he felt it was a small price to pay for the amount of care and opportunities he was given because of them. Also the experiences he would get from the ceremony could be beneficial in the future regardless of the outcome. Even if he lost, he hoped he would not look too bad in the eyes of Sir Hugh. There were no guarantees, but if he lost and was sent out to this foreign land and in the future come across a time when he met Sir Hugh again, he hoped the fact that he did not back out on the ceremony would aid him somehow. A loud knock on the door snapped the young master¡¯s attention back to reality. He glanced down at himself to make sure he had everything in place; a hard leather vest over the short-sleeved tunic and fingerless gloves which stretched down to cover half his forearm. The shield was held in place with straps around the glove of his left arm currently to free his hand from the load, but there was also a metallic grip he can use instead of the straps. The leather pants around his legs supported his scabbard; it wasn¡¯t as beautiful as Fabre¡¯s but was well-made nonetheless, the sword fitting snugly inside. It was also surprisingly light, allowing the young master to focus on combat without being distracted by the unbalanced weight on his left side. ¡°Come in,¡± Hywel called and the door opened. The person entering was a maid whom he recognized. ¡°Master Hywel.¡± ¡°Luteia?¡± The young man expressed his question. ¡°I am here to take the young master to the stage,¡± The maid stated as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She took a step inside as she continued. ¡°And also to make sure master Hywel was impeccable for the audience.¡± Before Hywel could react, the maid was expertly tidying his hair and straightening any creases he missed. No matter how many times she had done so, it was still uncomfortable for him for others to take care of him like this but he knew better than to interrupt. To his relief, the maid¡¯s hand left Hywel early. He turned to face her so that she could lead him, but could not ask her to when he saw her face. ¡°To think that master Hywel had grown up this much¡­¡± She said a hint of melancholy in her voice and eyes. ¡°And to think this might be the last time I took care of the young master¡­¡± Hywel didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°If that happens, surely the young master would die from cold, no? After all, it was I who had always clothed the young master. Oh, and make sure you can differentiate between food for the pets and food for people.¡± Luteia¡¯s voice was still the same and gave the impression that she was genuinely considering the possibilities of such examples happening to Hywel. He was at a loss of words to reply again, but for a very different and complex reason this time, unsure if she was teasing him or worried. The ceremony, while formal, was not one for speeches or greetings. It was a day of observing for most, and was often treated as a sporting event to some. Upon arriving at the main stage, Hywel looked up at the semi-circle of the crowds gathered and sitting at the amphitheater. Men and women of various clothing, of various faces. The majority were chatting to those next to them in excitement while holding a piece of paper in hand. Somehow Hywel was oddly reminded of a horse race where the audience betted on the winning horse, but he didn¡¯t think much about it. Instead, his attention shifted to his cousin standing next to him. Fabre Inmos held a serious composure as if in deep thought. Perhaps it was his way to appeal to the public, Hywel wasn¡¯t sure. Instead he found himself looking at his attire. It wasn¡¯t the eye-catching glamour that he wore on their first encounter, but something which looked sturdier; The top consisted of an indigo fabric around his neck of a very thin fabric which reminded Hywel of silk. One side was hanging down in front of him while the other his back. The day wasn¡¯t cold or anything, so its use was unknown to Hywel. Next was a vest similar to that of Hywel, however on the corner near the hem was an intricate pattern. It seemed like a spiral of words, but he was too far to make out anything. Underneath the vest was a simple tunic. His left arm and legs however were encased in metal plates. They shone silver in the sunlight, the joints and the areas which bend were had an absence of plates possibly to allow movement but instead protected by leather. The plates were focused on places with the most risk of being hit, namely the back of the hand or the shins. His right arm however was devoid of any gloves, but Hywel assumed this was due to his weapon of choice; the scabbard on his waist. The hilt alone had various extra bits for protection as the young master had observed in the past so he knew that a glove would undoubtedly be a hindrance more than aid. His attention did not linger on Fabre for long as there was a sudden announcement which caught everyone¡¯s attention. "All hail Prince Edel Glordia, the third prince of King Glordia the fifth!" The spectators¡¯ chatter ceased in unison, the wave of people rising to give a formal bow towards the highest platform of the amphitheater that was vacant until now. They all kept their bow until the prince spoke, their attention at the prince. Hywel noticed the sight of Sir Hugh behind the prince and a robed old man standing next to him. "At ease. Welcome all to the Inmos Coming-Of-Age Ceremony. Let us get the ceremony started without a second to waste on drawn out formalities and speeches. There will merely be a simple telling of rules - and a simple fight to the death." The prince''s strong voice covered the area, and with the mention of the word ''death'' , the crowd gave a loud cheer. The prince gave a majestic smile with a swish of his glistening golden hair, causing a chain reaction of women in the crowd falling to their feet with hearts in their eyes. Hywel would''ve too if he wasn''t so nervous. His focus was far away from the handsome prince in gold and green, and more on the bearded man behind him. The distance between them was great for one to notice where the other¡¯s sight was at but they both knew each others¡¯ eyes were on them. Hywel could not tell what Sir Hugh was thinking as he was expressionless, but after a time The Spear looked away as the robed man behind him turned to strike a conversation. That was when Hywel realized he was holding his breath and exhaled. The weight of weapons were heavy in his hands. Unlike the time he was in the waiting room, his nervousness was at its peak. He felt like he would lose strength in his legs any time, but willed them to stay standing. "I will now announce the rules." Prince Edel continued after a pause, turning to face the two candidates. Hywel''s heart skipped a beat at the sight of the prince, his worries leaving him for a split second and looked down as he felt his cheeks redden again. ¡¯Stupid stupid¡¯, he criticized himself. "I will pick a piece of parchment from the bag here,¡± He motioned with his hand and a servant scurried into view with a leather bag in tow, kneeling in front of the prince with the mouth of the bag open just enough for his hand to go in easily. ¡°As many may have heard, this year won''t be those boring game hunts you see every year, I assure you. The events will continue until one candidate gets a total of three wins, and once the current head, that is, The Spear wishes to retire, the chosen candidate will be crowned the next Head of the Inmos House! Every match will be decided by a random draw from the parchment I shall pick up. Simple, no? Then without a moment to lose, the first match will be..." There was a drum roll from the background as the prince reached into the bag and Hywel vacantly noted how drumrolls sound the same no matter which world he was in. "Protect the Maiden in Distress!" There was another uproar of cheers as the task was decided and as Hywel watched, the mages who were on standby around the amphitheater raised their hands in the air and started chanting. Hywel¡¯s ears caught a small ''May the best man win.'' from his cousin and suddenly Hywel¡¯s vision played tricks on him; it was as if the world had flickered off to nothing. It took only a moment for his vision to come back but the scenery had completely changed; he was all alone in the middle of a forest of trees. "Teleport?" Hywel questioned himself, looking around and spotted something odd; a piece of fabric under a tree... no... it was a person. Hywel crouched down after checking there were no immediate threat, getting on his hands and knees at the fallen person. It was a woman, lying unconscious on her back, half buried in grass and plant matter. His doctor mindset kicked in, checking for the person''s pulse. He frowned, checking if she had any injuries, her breathing, but no; no pulse and no visible injury, yet breathing. There was warmth in her hands and her cheeks were still coloured with life. Every other knowledge about a person''s body signalled that this person was still alive, but no pulse? He began to fear his skills were slowly deteriorating from no use. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Protect the Maiden in Distress," The Prince''s voice reverberated in the woods, startling Hywel. He got up with the sword unsheathed and gripped the shield out of its strap, readying as the voice continued. "Your task is to prevent any calamity to befall on the maiden nearby until she wakes, or until a candidate has fallen." The boy gripped at his weapons more, eyes alert for any sign of these ¡®calamity''. All was silent soon after. There were no way for him to know how long it was until he heard a faint rustling. The rustling gradually increased, spreading across the forest like a wildfire. He could actually see a few of the trees shaking as well, its leaves trembling at the wake of whatever was making the noise. Hywel¡¯s eyes followed the tremor of trees as it went from one side to another. This allowed him to retaliate in time when the bushes to his right exploded with activity. Instinctively he slammed the shield between himself and the thing that was coming right at him, and with a heavy thud and a gaspy scream, the thing stepped back. Hywel lowered his shield so he could see what attacked him. The¡­ creature had a humanoid shape, but glistening black in the light. There were gaping holes where the eyes and mouth would be, and the gaspy scream seemed to be the only sound it could make. The creature lunged after a pause at Hywel once more, to which Hywel slammed the shield again. This time though, the oily creature exploded out of its humanoid shape and latched onto his shield. Hywel shouted in panic and dropped the shield, backing away as the creature changed back to its humanoid form, the shield in its arm. Gritting his teeth, Hywel held the sword in both his hands now; his only defense was now in the hands of his opponent, which wasn¡¯t the best outcome there was. At this point Hywel doubted slicing at the creature would do much good; if it was capable of freely changing its form, then cutting it might do nothing, if not multiply it or something. The creature resembled a Slime, Hywel decided in his mind. The mucus-like texture was obviously replaced with some kind of thick oil, but nonetheless the way it shifted and transformed matched to the description of the fantasy creature from literatures he had read in the past. Even as he was trying to think of ways to combat it, the creature advanced towards Hywel and the fallen maiden. It was then he realized that while it could cover great distances when lunging, such as the time when it attacked from the bushes, its actual walking speed seemed to be very slow. Rather than walking, perhaps, it might be better to say that it was a mix between walking and rolling its lower half as the legs would lose the humanoid shape from time to time reverting into a blobby form. Hywel wondered why it was attempting to walk now. Perhaps the shield was too heavy for it to lunge? If that was the case, then while it may be impossible for him to defeat it, he should be able to buy some time. The young master risked a quick glance around his surroundings. All was quiet, and so this Slime seemed to be the only ''calamity''. Should he risk drawing its attention away from the maiden? It would leave her completely vulnerable if he was wrong about the number of enemies. When the monster closed in enough, Hywel attempted a slow slash. The monster pulled the shield up to block much like what Hywel did earlier. Instead of continuing with the slash however, he stomped down on the shield, remembering what Valce had done to him. The monster went down with little resistance, becoming trapped under the shield, the tilted edge of the shield making it the perfect trap for a monster like the Slime. Hywel sat on the shield just in case it was able to escape, and while he failed to catch the entire body under the shield, the small drops of its black body that were separated from the main body did not move. Just in case, however, he held a careful eye on them. A few minutes passed, but there were no sign of movement from the blobby monster. Hywel was uneasy, but he kept an eye out on the maiden and then the surroundings. If no new threat comes along, it seemed like he would be able to buy more time. The silence in the area made Hywel think about Fabre; how was he doing? Then again it was probably a piece of cake for someone like him, and so he dismissed the thought. A sudden movement caught Hywel''s vision. About an arm''s length away, the ground was moving. More specifically, it looked as though something was trying to dig out from there. Dark oily substance oozed from the cracks of the ground, hinting that the Slime was merely taking its time digging its way out from the shield-prison. Gritting his teeth, Hywel dared to get off the shield. He lifted the shield as quick as he can, equipping it to provide defense if it burst out from under it but nothing came out. There was nothing under it save for a small hole in the ground. The oily Slime was still oozing out of the other side. Estimating the size of the body from what he had seen before, it looked as though he only had a couple of seconds before the entire body was free from the ground. Hywel''s mind reeled. What could he do? Escape was the first option, but how can he with the unconscious woman who was undoubtedly the maiden he needs to protect? He did not have the strength to carry a grown woman too far even with his inhuman recovery; it would diminish his fatigue to allow him to run for hours, but the speed from the weapons in his possession plus a grown adult would be horrendous. A little too late did he realized that the monster was finally free and proceeded to lunge towards Hywel once more with a gaspy scream. That was when the forest lit up with a sudden flare. It was deafening and blinding at the same time as a pillar of flames erupted from one side of the forest. The flames licked high above the clouds, lasting a couple of seconds before subsiding. Hywel was stunned during the entire thing, though he came to his senses right after it dispersed, holding his shield up towards the direction the monster was lunging at him. He saw that the monster had reverted into a puddle. After a moment of staring at it stupidly, he saw a head-like form poked out from the puddle. The young master quickly came to a conclusion. ''It is afraid of fire.'' His mind went back to a particular science class he had to take as a prerequisite during his studies to become a doctor, a plan forming in his mind. Immediately he scanned the area until he found a flat and round stone about half the size of his shield. While the monster was still wary from the pillar of fire that occurred before, he lifted and threw the stone in the middle of the black puddle. No matter how he looked, this monster seemed like an animate puddle of oil, and oil was highly combustible. Since Fabre was capable of using a fire familiar, it wouldn''t be a stretch to imagine he had lit one of these oily Slimes which resulted in that aftermath. If so, Hywel simply had to use what he knew to follow suit. Once the stone was in place, Hywel gave a warcry and swung his sword down like a hammer onto the flat stone. As he had hoped, small sparks crackled upon the impact, however the first attempt seemed insufficient to light up the Slime just yet. The Slime, realizing what Hywel was planning to do, suddenly erupted into action. First it tried to attack Hywel with tentacle-like appendages shooting towards him, but thanks to the training with Valce he was able to leap back out from the monster''s range. The flat stone surprisingly worked as an effective weight to hinder the monster. When the monster was retracting its tentacle-like appendages Hywel thrusted his sword down again and again at the flat stone while shouting with all his might. The monster gave gaspy screams at each clash of metal on rock, though none of the sparks seemed to be enough to light it up properly. Its attacks narrowly missed the boy time after time for while it was animated, it was still a creature of low intelligence. Its aiming skills were next to non-existent and with the hindrance of the stone on top of it and Hywel¡¯s constant movement in and out of the Slime¡¯s range made it all the more harder. The young master¡¯s body did not grow tired as fast as an average person, completely recovering if given the time to pause for a bit between each leap back and thrust forward, adding on to the demise of the Slime. Another pillar of fire erupted in the background, a few paces away of the first pillar, bigger and louder than the one before. The monster shied back into a puddle, and using more force than before, almost in a frenzy, Hywel smashed at the stone again and again. While sparks flew around the stone and the monster, none of them succeeded in lighting up the monster. Unlike the time with the first pillar of fire there a trumpet blazed across the forest when the flames subsided. The monster that Hywel was fighting suddenly dissolved into nothing and as he looked back to check on the maiden, dreaded at the assumption that something happened to her by a second monster while he was too preoccupied with the one in front of him, the maiden also dissolved into nothing. That was when he realized that the maiden was probably not a real person. It made sense; how could they risk someone for such an event? The woman was most likely have been an imitation created with some kind of magic. His vision faded to black as if someone had turn the TV off, then he was back at the amphitheater. ------ "Hywel Inmos is... how should I phrase it... hmm... ''unique''?" A blond man pondered over his thoughts. His green and gold attire shone brightly under the sun, contrasting greatly to the robed and wizened figure sitting next to him. The Great Sage had accompanied the third prince to the Inmos Ceremony, and while the events were going on he was to entertain the prince¡¯s rambling. The truth was however, the Great Sage was here as a bodyguard. Sir Hugh had left them to join his wife. Those sitting at the amphitheater were able to catch the entire events unfolding in the forest by the two candidates using the Projection magic installed throughout the place; the screens which Hywel had noticed earlier. "He certainly is. I wonder what he was doing to the doll when he found her?" Came the raspy reply. The Great Sage Ivan Kniver was in good terms with the third prince, and even if he wasn''t sent for this mission he would gladly become a chatting partner for prince Edel. There wasn¡¯t much on his features that didn¡¯t summarise the man as ¡®ancient¡¯ from the dead-white speck of hair on his scalp to the grey iris. His robe was a gloomy shade of orange and was covering every part of him save for his wizened face and his crooked boney hands. "I will give credit to his creativity; attempting to light up the Oil Ooze with sparks." The prince mused. "Though thanks to that he was able to win, unlike the conceited bra- pardon me. Unlike the other candidate." The prince gave a simple nod in agreement. The prince¡¯s glance went from one of the screens to another, switching from Hywel to Fabre. "Fabre Inmos is indeed skilled in combat. I almost feel sorry he is not of the Adecia House; he would have been a great asset to the strike force, given a few more years of training." "Indeed, my prince. His method is leaning too greatly towards the offense, which cannot necessarily be considered a positive aspect, especially for the Inmos House. As an actual result he ended up destroying the doll from the explosion of the second Oil Ooze." "Ah, yes. He most likely calculated the distance, however the oil which makes up the Oil Ooze are not necessarily the same oil. Certain ones will combust in a wider area. By the way, how big of a blast would the Oil Ooze that Hywel fought would have given if it was lit properly?" "Kek kek kek, about half the forest would have been burnt out of existence!" Ivan Kniver cackled at the question. "Although due to that, we had to put extra layers of fire-snuffing magic around it. If it went to Fabre however, such magic would not have made much difference to lighting up the Oil Ooze." "Hmm, I see. Well. I suppose the continuation of events is in order?" With that the prince got up from his seat and made his way to the front of the platform they were in where he could see the entire audience at a glance - as well as the two candidates who had been teleported back to the stage and were receiving refreshments. Chapter Eight - The Second Round Chapter Eight - The Second Round "The first round goes to Hywel Inmos!" The crowd rose to a unified shout at the prince''s announcement. Hywel was astonished at the results, glancing at his cousin. His face was as emotionless as ever, though he was tapping his feet impatiently with his arms crossed. The young master wasn''t quite certain of what had happened; he could only guess that there was a sneak attack or something. "And so, let us move on to the next event. Cue drumroll!" The crowd fell silent as the prince picked up another piece of paper from the bag. His eyes shone with amusement at seeing the paper. "The second round will be Barricade Defense''!" With those words, the two candidates were teleported once more. Hywel found himself on top of a sturdy structure. Looking down, it looked as if the ¡®barricade¡¯ was actually a piece of a castle wall that was made to block the wide dirt path, for there was a giant door which reminded Hywel of a typical medieval castle door. The top of the so-called barricade also reminded Hywel of a castle wall; those ones which shaped like someone aligned blocks of concrete and removed every other block. To the left and right was a dense forest of trees which seemed even denser than normal; possibly due to magic. To one side of the barricade the dirt path stretched to the horizon with nothing of particular interest. To the other side of the barricade there was a small town. Hywel wasn¡¯t sure if it was suitable to be called a town, for it while it had huts and buildings resembling houses, it was awfully silent. Not a single person was visible. The barricade also had steps leading down to the gates and to the towns if necessary. While he was observing the area, the prince¡¯s voice floated around the forest much like during the event before. His voice was loud and clear, as if he was using a megaphone. "Barricade Defense! As the name implies, each candidate must defend their barricade from the incoming wave of monsters. The candidate gets five minutes before each wave to assign and arrange their defensive formations." Suddenly, Hywel''s vision changed from the scenery of the barricade to the interior of a certain building. In that building were people clad in armour - soldiers. Confused at the current situation, the young master attempted to move but unlike the wooden floors he could see, his feet felt as if they were on something hard - something like the barricade. After a few more testing and bumping into the wall, it was clear that he did not teleport but rather only his vision was taken to this place. "Candidates can choose twenty members to aid in their defense, and after each wave of monsters they can recruit more members depending on how efficiently and effectively they clear the waves! Be careful though; some waves contain an abnormally strong monster. If a candidate defeats this monster, then the other candidate''s next wave will have twice the amount of monsters as well! The event will last until one of the candidate''s castle wall falls into ruins. Now, get ready candidates. Recruit your twenty men and lead on to victory!" The announcement ended at that, though Hywel''s vision was still magically viewing the soldiers. At least he now understood the situation, although he couldn¡¯t help but get a feeling this was like playing a game rather than being tested of his worthiness of the House. He did not linger on that thought for long, going back to the task at hand. He wasn''t sure how to go about doing this. His time as Hywel Inmos was all about learning the lore of the kingdom and self-defense, while back in his previous life it was full of healing the sick. The closest knowledge to strategic battles were fantasy scenarios in literature. Regardless, he observed the available soldiers to recruit. There were those in full plate armour, holding a sturdy looking sword and shield. Their sword was thicker and longer than the one Hywel had, while their shield was comparably smaller and round but the main material was without a doubt metal. The way it was almost spherical along with the spikes around the edges made Hywel doubt that it was merely used for defence. It somewhat resembled the round part of a boxing glove which also fueled that impression. Next to the plate armours were soldiers wearing leather armour. As they were carrying a quiver of arrows and a bow, Hywel figured this was to allow them more freedom of movement, and because archers were usually at the rear of a battle so they won¡¯t need as much protection as those with swords. Finally, the ones next to the archers were soldiers on horseback. The horsemen, too, were clad in heavy armour but their choice of weapon were different to those of the swordsman. Their lance were made completely of metal, most likely iron. The way it was resting in the hand of the horsemen alone was an intimidating, if not awe-inspiring sight. If not for the fact that he would have to select his twenty before the timer ran out, Hywel would¡¯ve spent over an hour trying to choose which soldiers to recruit but in the end he had picked ten archers, four horsemen and six swordsmen. He figured having half the forces at the front and the other half of the forces on the rear was reasonable. As for the swordsmen and horsemen, he wasn¡¯t sure which would be of a better frontal team but they probably had some advantages and disadvantages depending on the opponent. Hywel¡¯s vision reverted to the barricade where he was standing. He looked around and saw that the twenty soldiers that he had picked were appearing from the town area towards where Hywel was. Twenty identical men assembled, while differing in their attire or weapon, for the soldiers were imitations of humans just like the maiden whom Hywel had to protect previously. The young master looked at them, expecting some sort of reply¡­ receiving none. ¡°Okay¡­ Uh. Archers at the wall?¡± Hywel blurted out a flimsy command. The ten soldiers with bows and arrows instantly moved into position, their bows ready. It was then Hywel realized how this was set up; while the actual fight was done as a small army, he was to give them commands, else they would not be able to attack properly. ¡°Alright. The rest go to the gates and attack the enemy if they come close.¡± With that instruction, the horsemen and the swordsmen also moved into position. A trumpet reverberated in the distance. As Hywel watched, a horde of monsters came marching towards the barricade. Having said that, Hywel relaxed a little upon seeing that they were up against what resembled mountain boars and bears. The boars¡¯ coat was sable with a completely white set of eyeballs while the bears, standing on their hind legs, showed to have a light shade to the boars. Their eyes were also completely white. What made them monstrous was their sheer size, each beast as big as the soldiers on horseback and allowing about five or six to march abreast on the dirt path. From the top of the barricade, Hywel counted thirty mountain boars and six bears. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Archers shoot when in range,¡± Hywel instructed as the horde closed in at a steady pace. All was silent at the barricade, and so the shrieks and snorts of the beasts approaching which was carried by the wind reached Hywel¡¯s ears very soon. Ten arrows were loose in the air in unison. Before Hywel could act, another ten were reloaded onto the bows and by the time the first ten landed on the beasts, twenty more were following suit. The archers were aiming and reloading at a rate which astonished Hywel, with an accuracy that he could not believe. About nine out of ten shots landed onto the beasts. Their hide was too thick to give a fatal blow with a single hit, but after third hit the boars in the front slowed in pain. The bears which were mixed in with the boars noticed the arrows and started to retaliate. The arrows were expertly swept out of their course by the enormous front paws. Once they started protecting the boars, the rate of the arrows affecting the incoming horde decreased by a lot. ¡°Archers aim for the six!¡± The young master commanded, hoping they understood him. As if being severely inexperienced in strategic defense was enough, Hywel had the trouble of knowing the names of the different beasts; his limited vocabulary was focused towards everyday usage and some technical terms from books or history. He knew what pigs were called in the foreign language, but bears he had yet to encounter. To Hywel¡¯s relief the archers understood him perfectly and the arrows focused on the bears. The bears did their best to fend off the incoming attacks but when Hywel commanded them to focus on killing one at a time after seeing that separated attacks were taking too long to take them down, it was starting to look good. The soldiers in the frontlines were already engaged in battle with the first of the boars. The swordsmen held up their shields at the marching horde which served as a temporary blockade while the horsemen attacked from their rear with their lance. The boars which were weakened by the arrow were sluggish and easily fell victim to this attack, but the ones left over were charging into the swordsman who were using all they have to block their advance. Their feet were leaving dragged marks on the ground as they did so, their swords thrusting and carving at the boars. The first bear fell from being needled with arrows, letting out a pained howl before bursting into a puff of smoke. Around that time, the first line of boars were eliminated as well much to Hywel¡¯s relief. The archers moved to attacking the next bear, but they weren¡¯t able to finish it off before reaching the swordsmen. As Hywel watched, the second bear swung its massive forearm at the swordsmen. Their defence was broken easily, four out of the six being flung back to the barricade wall with force. The remaining two got up as soon as they can to establish the defence again while the horsemen charged into attack. their lance were buried deep in the bear¡¯s body and it howled in pain. The arrows kept piling on it, but it still refused to burst out of existence. It swung its forearm once more towards the horsemen whose weapons were impaled, bringing death to one of the horsemen and heavily injuring a horse as it became a puff of smoke. ¡°Swordsmen and horsemen back to the formation before for the pigs. When the other monster approach, evade the arm and don¡¯t block. Try to hit and run those monsters.¡± Hywel commanded the soldiers in the frontlines. The swordsmen got back into the defensive method they had been performing with the boars, while the horsemen supported them. ¡®They¡¯re progressing a lot slower,¡¯ Hywel noted. The loss of a horseman and one the injury of a horse meant half their main offense have been decreased, even if the horseman with the wounded horse was still dishing out hits where possible; it was just that incomparable in Hywel¡¯s eyes. The swordsmen were whittling down the boars as they defended, but the boars from behind were pushing as well so if they could not kill the front line of boars, they would be run over. The archers had moved on to the third bear. It was using its forearms to absorb the majority of the arrows, protecting its vital points. Hywel¡¯s face was grim as he observed this, knowing that he had to do something to improve the situation. ¡°Try¡­ Yeah. Archers, aim at different points of the same monster at once.¡± Hywel voiced an idea that popped up his mind. The bear only had two forearms while there were ten archers. If they could accurately attack ten places at once, even if two were blocked the other eight would land. He wasn¡¯t sure if it would work as it was like attempting to hit a pea-sized target but their accuracy had been amazing thus far. His command bore fruit with the third bear. The bear crumpled in pain as an arrow miraculously landed in one of its eyes. It attempted to scratch at the protruding arrow, but that wasn¡¯t enough to lessen the pain. The way it was writhing made Hywel feel a certain guilt, but he had to harden his heart. The bear was taken away from its suffering momentarily as the archers continued to volley wave after wave of arrows much to the young master¡¯s relief. The second line of boars were nearly cleared, only one boar remaining. Having said that, Hywel saw that the boars of the third line merged with the single boar. From then on the bears provided to be of a lesser threat. The archer implemented the strategy of shooting the same target but while aiming different parts of the body, and it was proving to Hywel that it was a decent strategy, as the bear¡¯s advance slowed from attempting to protect itself better. The fourth bear took a fair amount of time to fall as well as it protected the crucial parts of its body with more care, but it was still okay as this allowed the swordsmen and the horsemen time to take care of the boars. In truth they were well-paced and perhaps due to being an imitation and not really humans, but they did not seem to get tired or exhausted. An ideal trait for the lower ranking soldiers of an army, Hywel thought. Chapter Nine - The Second Round, part 2 Chapter Nine - The Second Round, part 2 By the time the horde was eliminated, Hywel¡¯s forces had dwindled to thirteen men excluding himself. The soldiers fought valiantly and all seemed to go well but the problem occurred when the archers ran out of arrows. They had eliminated five of the six bears, but the remaining one was still too much to handle without sacrifices with his soldiers, especially when the four or so remaining boars diverted their attention. Hywel wasn¡¯t sure what kind of commands would help and he could not help but stare the first few seconds of the engagement with blank eyes. By the time two swordsmen fell victim to the combination of the bear¡¯s monstrous swing and the mountain boars¡¯ stampede, the enemy count had decreased to three; two boars and a bear. That was when the young master decided on a method to try and gave his command.. ¡°Two swordsmen each take a pig, draw it away from the other monster. Defense is your first priority but try to kill it as soon as possible. The horsemen at the other monster, stop it from going near the swordsmen until the pigs are gone. Be careful of its attacks.¡± From observing the battle thus far, he knew that two swordsmen were able to deal with a single boar, and the boars¡¯ only danger was their ramming strength which could be easily stopped with the tireless soldiers. The bear however continued to be a threat with their long reach and unbelievably solid skin on their forearms. The horsemen circled the bear, letting out quick strikes when it was occupied with the others to continue diverting its attention. The lance¡¯s reach and the horses¡¯ speed supported this idea for a while. The remaining monster count dwindled to two as a boar succumbed into smoke. With a sigh of relief, Hywel observed the ending battle. ¡°Eliminate the pigs first, then all attack the other monster!¡± He commanded to the swordsmen and within moments the only remaining enemy was the bear. The four swordsmen and the three horsemen closed in to the bear, lunging their weapons from all directions. The bear growled in pain as the weapons pierced its body, but its endurance was great enough to keep death at bay. It swung its forearms, connecting with the soldiers. ¡°Back away, keep your distance!¡± Hywel shouted in panic, but the attack had claimed the second horsemen, the one with the injured horse, and a swordsman. The remaining soldiers engaged with the bear were now five. The young master gritted his teeth in thought. The bear was heavily injured so the five would be enough to kill it. The problem was the death count; if Hywel commanded them for an all-out attack once more, but turns out he had judged the state of the bear wrong and survives once more, his forces will diminish once more. He thought about putting the swordsmen up as a defense with the horsemen attacking from behind them but it was unreliable; he did not doubt they would be able to withstand the bear¡¯s strength, but that was only if the bear was aimlessly charging at them like the boars. What made the bear deadlier was its forearms; the reach and flexibility of attacking the swordsmen from the side or from above meant that their shielding could easily be negated. No, it would be wiser to implement something like a hit and run tactic which the horsemen had shown before, Hywel mused. ¡°Horsemen keep the monster busy like before. Swordsmen, try to attack from behind and then get out of the attack range as soon as possible.¡± The soldiers obliged. The horsemen backed away and circled the bear while the swordsmen spread out around their target, just out of reach of the bear¡¯s attacks. They were wary of any incoming attacks and evaded accordingly. When the bear¡¯s attention were not on a particular horseman, they would lunge with their lance to attack from a blind spot then go back out of reach. The swordsmen, too, delivered strikes when the bear was facing away from them, then quickly leaping out of the bear¡¯s strike zone. That was when the bear gave out a roar, its eyes turning red. Hywel was stunned at the sudden change. The bear faced one of the swordsman and started charging towards them, completely ignoring the others. Due to the young master¡¯s orders, the targeted swordsman attempted to evade the bear¡¯s attacks while the rest of the team started striking at the bear. Even so, the bear took no notice of the others and continued to aim the single swordsman. The chase was quickly over as the bear¡¯s swing connected with the swordsman. Hywel shouted desperately as the swordsman turned into smoke and disappeared. ¡°If the monster targets you, run away with all your might. Everyone else keep attacking without holding back!¡± As soon as his command was out, the bear gave another roar as it had selected another target to chase. a swordsman turned around and ran away while the bear was close in tow. The other soldiers followed, hacking and slashing at the bear whenever they caught up and was in range. The bear was finally defeated and turned into smoke, but not before claiming another swordsman. With the end of the battle, Hywel''s vision was taken to a different place once more; to that place with a room full of soldiers. A voice which he recognized as the prince flowed into his ears. ¡°Hywel Inmos. You lost many men in battle due to indecision, but your tactics were not appalling. As you have also completed the first horde before the other candidate, I shall award you with a slight bonus. You may choose six more men to recruit for the next horde.¡± The announcement made the young master ponder what way Fabre was dealing with the hordes, but soon moved on to the task at hand. He saw that there was a new addition to the different types of weapons the soldiers were carrying; a spear and shield. The shield these soldiers carried was bigger than those of the swordsmen, easily covering the top half or the bottom half of their body. If the young master was to utilize a similar tactic to before, then these shields would most likely provide better defense and in the case something like the bear happens again and the better reach may allow more flexibility. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Back at the barricade, the young master noticed that the archers¡¯ quivers were full of arrows once again. He felt a wave of relief knowing that after every horde their supplies were replenished. He gave a similar order to the spearers as he had done to the swordsmen. Trumpets sounded once more and a new set of hordes appeared in the distance. Hywel was tense, hoping that there wouldn¡¯t be as much difficulties this time. Within moments he had a clear view of what he was to face. This time it was a horde of bears and tigers of monstrous size. There were twenty in all, six bears and fourteen tigers. Unlike the time with the boars though, the tigers were very agile, covering almost twice the distance in the same time the boars covered. ¡°Those with shields, defend the front lines for the incoming attack, then try to tire them. Aim for their legs or sensitive areas to stop them first. Archers, aim together on one target coming close to the front lines.¡± The bears were two-legged and sluggish compared to the tigers which meant if Hywel aimed for the ones advancing, there were little means for the bears to repel the arrows. With that in mind, he had decided to deal with the tigers first. It was also to see how strong they were. About half the tigers approached the spearers who were in line, they leapt with their vicious fangs wide open. As if they had expected it, the spears were protruding out from the shielded defense. Some of the stupider tigers were impaled, the tip of the spear easily going through the soft areas of its mouth. The tigers who managed to hit the spear with its body however only got away with small scratches; their leather was tough even against steel tip of the spear and crashed into the shields. The spearers were pushed back, but with the aid from the horsemen leaning on the other side, they resisted and retaliated the moment their balance was stable. The spears were aimed at the tigers countless times before they recovered from the crash enough to back away, there were many visible scratches along their body. Most of the hits were focused on their legs and face, and some had been unlucky enough to be attacked in the eyes. Others were visibly injured in their mouths. And yet, they were still standing, not one had turned into smoke in defeat. The arrows relentless impaled the wary tigers and finally some of them turned to smoke. At the incoming arrows, the remaining tigers backed away towards the bears while another wave of tigers, the other half who were at under the safety of the bears, went for the charge. Perhaps due to having no damage done onto them, Hywel noticed that none of the arrows were able to make much effect this time. A little too late, he also noticed that the majority of the tigers were leaning towards one side as if aiming to charge into a single soldier. ¡°Put more defense into the righ-¡± Hywel¡¯s command was no match for the speed of the tigers and the defense was broken; one of the spearers turned into smoke and the rest were surrounded by the tigers. ¡°Get into a circle, protect each other! Archers aim for single target facing away first!¡± The command was given and the soldiers executed perfectly. In the middle of the circle formation were the horsemen who, with their advantage of height and reach, were able to assess the situation of all side and lend a lance strike to repel attacks coming in the blind spots of the spearers. The spearers held their shield up while gripping their spears, ready to strike when a tiger would charge. The tigers growled low as they stared at the soldiers. The first of the arrows connected to a tiger who yelped in annoyance and turned towards the barricade. The spearer closest to it did not miss this chance and lunged, the spear correctly impaling it from behind. As if that was the cue, the rest of the tigers went for the attack with a mighty unison of growls and the spearers all attacked accordingly. The place was alight with the sound of ferocious beasts in frenzy and the sound of metal clashing into metal. It was difficult for Hywel to make out exactly what was going on, but due to the fact that none of the tigers were able to come towards the barricade he was hoping against all hope that they were winning. Soon the sounds of combat diminished, and Hywel saw that the remaining tigers started advancing towards the circle of soldiers. He commanded in haste. ¡°Archers aim for the approaching enemies. They are injured so your attacks should work.¡± The arrows instantly switched targets to the incoming tigers, though the bears were also advancing; he knew that soon enough the bears would be in range to repel the arrows. Even so, he wanted to get rid of as many opponents as possible before then. The aftermath of the intense fight was soon visible. To Hywel¡¯s relief the majority who were standing were the soldiers, but the circle formation had gotten smaller. He counted five spearers and a single horsemen. No, he noticed that one of the horsemen were on his feet, realizing that only the horse was the one who was taken out. That meant the casualty was two soldiers and a horse. The remaining tigers were eight in total, the bears completely unscathed. Now came the hard part; the bears. They were within range to support most of the tigers from the arrows, so ideally it would be best if the two kinds of beasts were separated. The problem he had faced with the bears in the earlier round was the flexibility of their forearms. If the soldiers put up a defense to their front, they would attack from the side. If their defense was on the side and the front, they would attack from above. In short, it was better suited for the archers to deal with the bears, and thankfully the amount of arrows they had spent on tigers were significantly less than what they had used for the boars. Assuming the amount of arrows were the same, Hywel was confident they had enough arrows for six bears this time. ¡°Soldiers fall back towards the barricade as fast as you can,¡± Came Hywel¡¯s decision, a plan forming in his mind. Chapter Ten - The Second Round, part 3 Chapter Ten - The Second Round, part 3 The clash of claws on shields. The caterwaul of tigers as they chased the soldiers with ferocity. Hywel waited impatiently as they approached the barricade. He had long given command for the archers to prevent the bear¡¯s advance so that was still under control but the speed of the soldiers were no match to the tigers. The spearers had to turn around every few steps to deflect the incoming lunges. If there was one good thing about this, it was that so far there were no more casualties. ¡°Now, spears and shield ready! Archers aim for a single monster coming closest, aim for the face!¡± Their distance was well-apart now, and so even if the bears were left to advance they would still take time. His plan was to let the archers take care of each beast one at a time while the other soldiers would take care of the tigers. The problem with this was the bears were a huge threat to those fending off the tigers but now, there was time before any of them can come in reach. The rain of arrows accurately fell on the first bear. Most of them fell on the beast who howled in pain. Soon another bear was in the lead, for the first bear had stopped in its tracks. The arrows rained on the second bear this time, also pausing it for a few minutes but long enough to let another bear go before it. As a doctor, Hywel¡¯s main area of expertise was in surgeries and operations. What aided him the most of this job was how he was able to observe things in detail - a single error in observing could lead to treating the wrong place in the patient¡¯s body - as well as his ability to quickly find a possible course of action from the information at hand. As such, he had picked up a peculiar trait of the monster bears of the first horde; the way it ¡®learns¡¯ of the soldiers¡¯ attacks. The bears were able to learn that the arrows were a threat only after they receive attacks from it. Once that information was processed, they would use their sturdy forearms to protect themselves and others. He however observed that the bears do not protect each other, so even with a mass of bears in one place the arrows would only be deflected by the one being targetted. Another fact was that after the barrage of arrows stopped falling, the bears seemed to ¡®forget¡¯ this piece of information, judging from how Hywel was able to hit the boars again after a while. Piecing these two facts together, he came up with the current method of dealing with the bears. The first bear which fell was the bear who had first received this method of barrage. Like Hywel had assumed, after it had recovered from the pain and upon seeing that there were no more attacks it dumbly progressed with the march once more. The second time it was the closest to the barricade, it was attacked once more and disappeared into smoke. The third piece of information that Hywel knew about the bears was that they also ¡®learnt¡¯ when a fellow bear dies. This was what made the bears so hard to defeat during the first horde. The bears were wary of the air now, their eyes focused upwards. Hywel planned to change the method of barrage when this happened, but soon realized it wasn¡¯t necessary. What he wasn¡¯t able to observe from the previous horde was the fact that the bears did not attempt to move when it was wary due to the fall of a comrade. ¡°Stop the arrows, but when they start advancing again, attack again.¡± He gave a different instruction to what he had planned, then focused on the tigers. The five spearers were facing the tigers, their backs to the forest in a fan-shaped formation. The horseless lancer and the horseman were aiding them from behind the wall of spearers. The tiger count was still eight, but only six were able to attack at a time due to the way they were surrounding the soldiers; this had been a huge factor for allowing the tireless soldiers to survive without any deaths just yet. ¡°Horseman drop your weapon and armour, then try to lead away some of the monsters!¡± Hywel attempted to instruct the horseman after seeing the speed at which the horse gave to fall back. He mused that if the horseman got rid of the weight plus the fact that the horse, too, did not tire, they would easily outrun the tigers. If the amount of the tigers focused on the spearers dropped, they may be able to kill them. The problem was he wasn¡¯t sure whether the horseman could unequip their gear, which made him reluctant to try anything of sorts until now. With a heavy thud, anything metal fell to the dirt path. The horse gave a whinny at the release of so much burden, drawing its front legs into the air. With that motion it jumped over the spearers and the tigers, softly landing on the other side with ease. Upon such an action, the heads of the tigers turned. Hywel saw with a tired smile that the tigers were licking their lips at the sight of the horse, now completely defenseless. The spearers did not lose this opportunity and attacked the tigers in unison, provoking the attention of the tigers back to them. Hywel cursed at their stupidity. If there was a plus side, the tigers were noticeably wounded now. Several were limping, their robust skin in tatters. Even so, their claws and fangs could easily rip a soldier in two. The horseman circled the tigers but they gave no attention. The horseman could not attack either since their weapons were far away. Hywel sighed, but moved on to the next command now that he knew his soldiers were capable of parting with their gears. ¡°One spearer, throw the spear at a monster with the most injury. Lancer, back him up.¡± The lance were mostly made of metal, however the spear were merely wooden poles with a steel blade on top. Hywel was reminded of javelins when he saw the spears, so this idea had been sitting in his mind for a time. The problem with such action, excluding the prior doubt of being able to let their weapons go, was that the spearer would not be able to attack afterwards. A spearer got into position, holding the shield in front with the spear overhead. As his mind reeled for other ways to win this, the spear left its owner¡¯s hand, flying with an incredible speed towards the incoming tiger. It was magnificently skewered and became a puff of smoke in moments. The spear kept flying in the air until it was buried in the ground a few distance away. The empty space was quickly filled by another tiger, but the plan had worked. Seven more to go. With a smile, Hywel gave the next command, getting used to how the battle¡¯s flow. ¡°Okay, take the lance from the horseman on the ground and continue attack and defending. Horseman, try to use the spear.¡± With that, he glanced at the bears. They were advancing once more, but only three were visible. Things were going smoothly, though this time Hywel did not lose his focus. The battle was over with two horsemen, five spearers and ten archers alive, but the fight with the tigers lasted way longer than Hywel would have liked. ¡°Hywel Inmos. I enjoyed watching the way you commanded your men. You showed a better control over the battlefield as well as evidence of learning and applying tactics from previous battles. This time however the other candidate has the lead. You may choose six more men to recruit for the next horde.¡± Once again Hywel¡¯s vision was taken to the soldier selection, the prince¡¯s evaluation accompanying him. The amount of soldiers he could choose did not change despite being unable to finish before Fabre, most likely due to the prince¡¯s high evaluation. The new soldier that was added to the list were mages - their robes and the staves gave away their specialty. As Hywel observed them, they nonchalantly summoned sparks of fire and ice while a few others were creating wind or earth which seemed to suggest that they were elementalists. Elementalists, he remembered from the lessons, weren''t as strong as sages but they were versatile with their ability to utilize all four elements. They require time to prepare the magic to be used as they draw the Mana from their surroundings so each blast of spell has a considerable down time. The plus side was that their magic did not run out like that of archers¡¯ arrows as long as there were Mana in their surroundings. Their spells can give various effects, from fire which has burning properties to ice which can slow or freeze opponents. "Two spearers, one horseman and three elementalists." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.Hywel recruited six more members. He instructed them to be at the frontlines save for a single elementalist, though a question popped up in his mind; ¡®What kind of spells are the elementalists capable of?¡¯ He knew the general information of them but when it came to the type of spells they can make, he did not know. From literatures in the past, things like ¡®Fire Ball¡¯ seemed to be the most common example of a fire element spell, but surely that was not their extent? ¡°Elementalists, what spells do you know?¡± Hywel asked without expecting a reply for until now these imitations haven¡¯t spoken a single coherent word at all. The elementalist who was standing the closest to Hywel opened their mouth. ¡°Magic Ball, Magic Bolt, Magic Blast, Magic Cage and Magic Shield with elemental properties of fire, ice, air or stone.¡± The young master nodded slowly in understanding; basically, he gathered, they were mainly capable of providing ranged support for the most part. He was interested to know more details on cage and shield, but that moment the trumpet sounded for the approach of the next horde. He looked down at his small army and saw that their supplies were replenished once again. The horseless lancer had regained a mount as well. There were three horsemen, seven spearers, three elementalists and ten archers, with the archers and a single elementalist at the barricade to provide covering fire. "Alright. Spearers at the front for defence. Elementalist support attack. Horsemen attack monsters that comes to elementalist mainly but if there aren¡¯t any then support attack. Elementalist at the barricade follow orders given to archers. Archers shoot when monsters in range." By the third wave, each soldier¡¯s place was settled in Hywel¡¯s mind which allowed him to command them with more confidence; his side had suffered losses, but he had gained that much knowledge about them.. As Hywel observed the incoming wave, he noticed that there were no recurring beasts this time. To make things slightly harder, there were shadows approaching from the sky; aerial monsters. "Archers attack the flying enemies first." He commanded swiftly as the enemies closed in at a fast pace. Soon they were close enough for him to make out exactly what they were: abnormally huge bats with a wingspan longer than Hywel¡¯s height, screeching and shouting their way towards them. Their talons were just as big and vicious. Arrows were let loose in the air with a ¡®woosh¡¯, along with a needle of fire. They relentlessly attacked the bats, impaling in various places. Two out of the twelve that Hywel counted fell like stones as the arrows impaled the skin of their wings. The rest kept flying towards the barricade whilst suffering the brunt of the arrows. The bats were very fast, but they had little to no way of defending themselves; every time the barrage of arrows landed at the flying beasts, the ones who received the arrows on their mighty wings fell from the sky. Even so, a handful of the bats managed to reach the barricade. Their appearance was much uglier when Hywel could see one up so close; their eyes were mere black lids on their pig-like face, their body covered in dirty coarse hair. Their wings consisted solely of skin and bones and the stench - Hywel could smell one before they were even at the barricade walls. The archers were forced to stop their shooting as the five bats screeched together; the noise was so great that even the human imitations had to crouch with their ears covered. At that moment the bats each grabbed an archer by their talons and flew up and away with them, only to drop them from high up in the sky. Almost in no time, half the archers were dead. When the bats came back, the remaining archers were ready with their arrows ready in bows. They aimed at the bats before they could screech again, the arrows easily piercing the bats'' vital parts due to close proximity and turning them into smoke. Hywel sighed in relief, but as he did so he smelt the dreaded stench of bats filling his nose again. His body moved before he could think, taking the sword out of its sheath and the shield gripped in his hand. The hairy figure popped up from below with a screech, having climbed the wall of the barricade, and lunged towards Hywel. The shield made a grating noise as the bat¡¯s talons clashed and while the impact was great, the young master managed to hold his ground albeit slid a few distance. At that moment the bat burst into flames, disintegrating into smoke. Hywel looked up from his shield in bewilderment, and saw that the elementalist was there with their hand stretched out; he was rescued. Hywel muttered a word of thanks but the elementalist took no notice of that, already moving towards the wall, looking down the barricade. He also did the same, and saw what had happened; the bats whose wings were shot down earlier did not die, but rather used the time when the soldiers'' attentions were at the flying ones to crawl their way to the barricade. Three of the remaining six were already latched onto the wall, evading or blocking incoming attacks from the archers. The elementalist was also chanting and casting spells of fire as fast as they could, but the bats were using their useless wings to absorb the arrows and quelling the flames towards them. Hywel dared to glance away from the wall to the spiders. The spearers were still standing firm while the other soldiers were slowly culling the spiders. They were putting up a good fight, being able to maintain the defenses while successfully killing a fair few. Hywel wasn¡¯t able to count all the spiders earlier due to the swift attacks the bats gave them but he knew there were at least forty spiders. Now, he could count half that. As he watched, an elementalist who was focused at chanting raised their hands and summoned a huge boulder in the air, throwing it to crush countless number of spiders in one go. The other elementalist provided support to the soldiers with a strong wind current when the spiders would shoot webs to hinder them, proving to be an invaluable asset. Seeing that they were dealing with the monsters well on their own, the young master''s attention returned to the bats. ¡°Try ice magic on the monsters on the walls.¡± Hywel instructed the elementalist who was engaged with the bats. The sparks of flames which danced around their hands flickered out, replaced with a fine mist of cold air. Once their chanting was over, a brilliant blue ball appeared. The blue ball, which was surrounded by the same icy mist, sped towards the bats. It hit a bat on its wing, freezing it solid. Shrieking with surprise, the bat lost its footing and fell, the ice shattering at the impact and heavily damaging it. A few arrows from the archers easily finished the defenseless bat off. The next few rounds of Ice Ball were evaded by the nimble bats, realizing they would suffer more from attempting to block it, but instead it covered the walls to make it more difficult for them to climb up. By this point all five remaining bats had reached the walls and were scaling it, but perhaps due to their habit of travelling as a group, they were all attempting to scale the same length of the wall as others. When they came up to the strip of the wall covered in ice, they dug their talons in deep to crush the slippery parts; their inept control of power however drove their talons into the wall much deeper than the thickness of the ice, making it difficult for them to take it back out. Using this chance, the archers rained their arrows at the bats to finish them off. "Alright, let''s aid the spider hunt now." Hywel commanded his soldiers with an exhausted expression. The archers obliged, their arrows flying straight and true towards the remaining spiders. A trumpet suddenly sounded at that moment. As Hywel observed, another group of bats and spiders were approaching from the distance; twelve bats and countless number of spiders. The young master muttered in defeat; the spiders they may be able to fend off, but the bats were a different story especially with only five archers and an elementalist. "...I guess this is the end." [Author''s Note: I haven''t slept since last night doing assignments so please comment if there''s any weird sentences and/or mistakes. ] Chapter Eleven - The Second Round of Fabre Chapter Eleven - The Second Round of Fabre [Author¡¯s note: due to a number of suggestions I will change ¡®spearers¡¯ to ¡®spearmen¡¯ as well as ¡®foreleg¡¯ and ¡®forearm¡¯ of bears to ¡®claws¡¯ and ¡®arm¡¯ respectively from this chapter onwards. I don¡¯t think i¡¯ll change any of these from the past chapters unless i get told to do so by a lot of the readers because I¡¯m a lazy person.] Fabre chose twenty archers for the first round. He was certain this wasn¡¯t the most effective method, but this guaranteed a number of things. Firstly, he considered the opponents. Judging from the location - a linear dirt path with unnaturally thick forest to the side - it was most likely that their opponent would be running towards the barricade, or come via air. Naturally, the opponents would implement some kind of method to bypass the barricade; the noble picked out three most likely methods as using force to break the wall, climbing up the wall or flying over it. Out of the horsemen, swordsmen and archers, Fabre knew that the latter could effectively defend from two of the three methods; climbing and flying. Being able to deal with the flying opponents were the plus point in Fabre¡¯s books since he himself was not very confident in dealing with them. Secondly, there was less burden on Fabre; having a mix of soldiers meant that he needed to be alert in multiple areas. That alone is fine for him, but if the battles become intense, it also brought about more chances of making mistakes. Fabre was a young man who knew his own limits and strengths. While it was true that he has learnt about strategic tactics and controlling armies during a battle, he had never gotten the chance to apply it outside paper. and was lacking experience in that area of expertise. Instead, he knew he excelled in front-line combat. As such, his method required his own involvement in battle as well. The first wave consisted of mountain beast of monstrous size and power, thirty-six in all, to which Fabre smiled. The boars were no threat to the archers, while the bears were slow enough to kill before they got the chance to climb. ¡®First things first.¡¯ Fabre mused while standing in front of the barricade, observing the incoming horde. "Archers ready. Shoot together when a bear is in range.¡± His command left his lips to which twenty archers armed, their bow strings taut. A moment or two later, the arrows were loose in the air. Fabre¡¯s indigo gaze followed the arc of arrows, landing accurately at a single bear. The beast vanished into a puff of smoke before it could even cry out. Fabre¡¯s smile broadened, having assessed the accuracy and range of his archers. He took his time to draw his weapon, a rapier gleaming brightly in the sun. After a light test of the weight of his weapon in hand, he mumbled under his breath before charging towards the boars, his neck scarf trailing behind him. ¡°Salamander, imbue my blade with your blazing power.¡± His rapier erupted into flames, settling into a thin laser of a blade as he ran. He used the Mana in his body to propel his feet, each stride covering huge distances to reach the boars in no time. Before the beasts could even register that there was an enemy approaching, the flaming rapier had buried deep into the first boar¡¯s body, the flames consuming it from the inside. Fabre¡¯s attacks did not stop there, applying Mana to his limbs to make them faster and stronger, pulling out the rapier towards the second and third boars even as the first boar started turning into smoke. They both fell victim to the same fate as the first boar. Fabre took a leap back once the third boar was inevitably turned into smoke and only moments after that, the place he had been standing was crushed by an enraged bear¡¯s claw. ¡°Archers fire at this bear! Salamander, become my allies¡¯ strength!¡± The noble commanded, and the flames around his weapon died down. The arrows left the barricade and sped their way towards the bear as Fabre expertly kept distance to the enraged bear¡¯s attacks. As the arrows closed in, a ball of fire appeared from Fabre and ignited the arrows with flames. The targeted bear pulled up its claw to block the incoming barrage, and it was successful; all twenty arrows were blocked with its arm. All twenty burning arrows. The flames licked at the bear¡¯s fur and within moments covered its entire body in flames before turning into smoke. Fabre did not call upon his familiar again once the second bear was defeated. He could certainly end this battle early with it, but once the familiar tires out he would not be able to summon it again for a time. It was much better to let it rest from time to time in order to bring out its full potential. Also, for all he knew, the hordes after these could be tougher than these. Besides, he was certain that he was capable of hit and run tactics long enough to fend the enemy off with the current number of opponents left now. A boar charged towards him with an angry snort. Fabre jumped with ease, stepping over its snout and landing quick thrusts of his rapier to its body. The boar did not die, but Fabre paid no mind, noticing that there were already other boars charging towards him. He regulated the Mana within his body in the way he had trained for drawn-out battles, using minimal amounts for quick jumps or thrusts. If one was observing Fabre¡¯s battle, it was as if he was dancing amongst the monstrous mountain boars, whittling their health little by little as he approached a bear. Now, Fabre¡¯s rapier was designed with reinforced steel; its width was a little less than the width of his palm and length long enough that he would need to unsheathe with his arm fully extended. It was designed for piercing, but with an added flat edge to allow limited amounts of slicing an opponent - specifically around the thinner connecting parts of the body such as limbs or the neck. Fabre lured an enraged bear to charge at him. He focused a bit more Mana in his legs to allow faster movement, for even with Fabre¡¯s skill he wasn¡¯t confident that he could completely outspeed the bear¡¯s attacks. As he saw its claw coming down towards him, he rocketed out of his spot, angling his jump such that he would land beside the bear rather than away from it. His rapier passed between the bear¡¯s body and arm, cleanly severing it. The bear howled in pain, but Fabre did not give attention to that. ¡°Archers fire!¡± Fabre¡¯s command was obliged, and the third bear was defeated without being able to protect itself, the pain of losing a limb making its reactions too slow to block the arrows with its remaining arm. "Fabre Inmos. You have shown your ability to defeat the enemy with your own hands. Your skills in commanding an army is still questionable, however for the time being I acknowledge your ability to keep your men safe. You may choose four more men to recruit for the next horde." The noble listened to the voice of the prince solemnly. When his evaluation was done, Fabre proceeded to study the new unit added to the list; spearmen. They boast in long reach with a shield for defence. The noble pondered if this was a hint to the next wave. If so, the monsters will be either be hard to reach, very tough or there will be an incredible amount to which one would need to control the field of battle. There was also a chance he was overthinking things, however. He still had his twenty archers ready so if it was a monster that is hard to reach, then he knew those can be dealt with. While it would be fun to fight tough opponents, if the amount of the tougher opponents were close to the amount of mountain boars from the first wave he knew he would not survive. He pondered selecting the swordsmen as they are balanced in offense and defense for the cost of reach, however he wondered how helpful the four swordsmen would be. He himself was a valuable forward asset; in fact, Fabre thought, it would be nice if he was able to take the glory of killing the majority of the enemies. As long as the second wave do not have consist completely of strong monsters, he should be okay. "Four spearmen." He decided in the end. He lost the last match, ¡®Protect the Maiden in Distress¡¯, due to being careless. This time he wasn¡¯t willing to risk the chance of an exceptionally strong ground opponent and so came the conclusion of choosing these soldiers. They were placed in the frontlines with Fabre himself. Once they were in place, he called out to all of his soldiers to instruct brief commands to use during the defence of the barricade - then the battle was resumed accompanied by the blast of trumpet sounds. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Fabre observed the coming horde in concentration. The first thing he saw was the familiar tall silhouette of the monster bears, six in total. In his mind¡¯s eyes he could already envision the tactics he would unfold and to bring them down. Next he caught the sight of the tigers. Their speed was almost unrealistic compared to their size, leaving the bears behind in moments. Fabre did not bother counting how many there were - he just needed to confirm the total size of them all to have all the plans set in his mind. ¡°Archers get into the bear-hunting formation. Spearmen, funnel formation. Move it, defend the barricade from the incoming enemies!¡± Came the command from the noble while he, too, got into the formation he had told his soldiers earlier. Fabre briefly glanced to check that everything was going as planned. The spearmen were all in front of him, two on each of his side, wide enough for them to be able to defend the entire length of the dirt path. They were currently standing in a V-shaped formation towards the incoming horde, with Fabre at the furthest point to the monsters. Just as the noble had instructed, the spearmen were crouching into a defensive stance with their shield ready so that they can receive any incoming attack with as little damage as possible. The archers were separated into two rows of ten soldiers each along the barricade¡¯s wall. They were spread out such that between two archers from the front row was an archer from the back row. The archers all readied their bows in preparation for the bears to enter their shooting range. The tigers and the spearmen clashed within moments of them getting into position. There were roars of ferocity as they collided, but the spearmen were able to withstand their impact; the tigers were big and strong, but the path wasn¡¯t wide enough for more than five to stand abreast. If they had been approaching in an orderly and filed manner then there were no reason why six or even seven could fit, but they did not have the brains to think through nor were they able to do so due to their charging attack - if six or seven attempted to run while squishing themselves in a line, the outer tigers would succumb to grazing the trees on the side, not to mention the potential danger of tripping against other tigers¡¯ feet or body and suffering damage even before they reach the soldiers. Due to this fact, each spearmen only had to deal with one tiger at a time. The beast which aimed at Fabre was the first one to be killed. Unlike the spearmen, Fabre had charged towards the tiger, his rapier raised with the deadly tip towards the tiger. The speed of the beast¡¯s charge fueled Fabre¡¯s thrusting attack, allowing the blade to impale the beast with such force it had turned to smoke the moment it would have collided with the noble. The brown-haired noble slashed away the smoke to recover his visibility of his opponents. Like he had planned for, the remaining tigers charged towards Fabre, noticing the gap in the middle of the path. This allowed Fabre to focus on each tiger one-on-one, preventing the chance of being surrounded as well as not letting a single beast through to the barricade. He kept checking the status of his spearmen from time to time though, for if any of the four were defeated, the formation would crumble and he would have to regain control of the situation. The archers simultaneously shot their arrows at a single bear. Twenty deadly projectiles landed at their target, making it disappear into a puff of smoke. The other seven bears stiffened into defence at that. The archers readied their arrows again, but this time the archers at the back row loosened their arrows a single moment after the front row. Ten arrows sailed to the second bear, but it was prepared. Using its massive claws it easily got rid of the incoming arrows, but the arrows which the back row had shot impaled the beast as it was drawing its claws back from the swing. It howled in pain, its eyes turning red in fury. The next round of arrows were shot in three groups; five from the front row shot first, then the other five, then the ten from the back. The bear was prepared to claw away the first two shots as it had learnt, but again the arrows from the back row were impaled into the bear, leaving six bears to deal with. ¡°Archers to support formation.¡± Fabre called out after checking that the second bear was eliminated. Similarly to Hywel, Fabre picked up the trait the bears had from the previous horde though in his case it was mainly thanks to his knowledge of monsters. Fabre had studied and read as many books as he can in relation to combat, from bestiaries of Glordia to the various forms of weaponry and their techniques. If it was in theory, he was certain that there were only a handful of his age who knows more than him in these area of expertise. The archers changed their target to the tigers. The front row and the back row aimed at separate tigers who were blocked by the formation which weren¡¯t engaged in battle with the spearmen or Fabre, however when any of the spearmen looked like they would be in trouble, the arrows were directed to the tiger they were dealing with. Fabre specifically instructed the archers to avoid attacking the ones being held back by the spearmen if possible in case monsters like the boars were to appear once more; that is, monsters who excel in powerful charge attacks. Tigers weren¡¯t as beefy as the boars, but they had the upper hand in speed; Fabre doubted that the spearmen would last long if they were charged at over and over again. The noble instructed the archers to focus on the bears once more when they started approaching again with their guards lowered. Once again, they were successful at taking down two more bears. By this point seven tigers had been defeated; three by Fabre, three by the archers and one by a spearman. That left two tigers being idle. Fabre applied mana into his feet and jumped up high, eyeing the two tigers at the back and the tiger that was attacking him. He shouted his familiar¡¯s name as gravity took hold of him. ¡°Salamander, imbue my body with your flaming power!¡± Flickers of red and yellow light appeared in front of the falling noble and soon he was encased in a sphere of spiraling flames. He landed right in the middle of the group of tigers, causing a loud burst of fire. The remaining tigers fell victim to this explosion, killing the three that faced the brunt of the attack at once. The other four suffered the aftermath of severe burns. Once the flames subsided spearmen, who were crouched behind their shield as they had been instructed before the battle when Fabre jumped up, quickly finished off the suffering tigers. Fabre stood up from his attack, glancing at the bears. ¡°Spearmen, prepare to circle formation.¡± He commanded as he lifted his rapier up, pointing to the nearest bear. The spearmen obliged, lining up behind Fabre. ¡°Salamander, draw that bear¡¯s attention to me with a harmless prank.¡± A small flame appeared from the tip of his rapier, speeding towards the bear. The flame burst with flashing light and a loud noise as it connected. The bear gave an astonished snort before noticing Fabre in the distance. Its eyes turned red in rage and charged towards him, the archers no longer something it was cautious of. As if on cue, arrows were unleashed towards the bear and impaling it to death. Quickly, Fabre casted the same spell at another bear; this time, the bear approached with more caution than the one before. ¡°Now, circle formation!¡± Fabre called out as the bear was closed enough for it to strike him. The spearmen moved quickly, surrounding the bear with their spears ready. Fabre quickly joined them, circling the bear to quickly avoid getting hit. When its attention was at a different soldier, spears and rapier struck the bear mercilessly. The archers took care of the remaining bears with ease. And so Fabre cleared the second horde with ease. Chapter Twelve- The Second Round of Fabre, part 2 Chapter Twelve - The Second Round of Fabre, part 2 ¡°Fabre Inmos. Your ability to lead your men has been observed with great interest. As you have successfully protected your barricade before the other candidate, I will allow a total of eight additional men to accompany your next battle.¡± The noble¡¯s eyes were shining with pride at the prince¡¯s words magically transported to his ears. This was his first chance to command others to lead victory and yet he was doing it magnificently. Fabre chose four more spearmen for extra defence and four Elementalists who were newly added, his initial caution of having multiple types of soldiers to command diminished. He told himself not to become conceited however, recalling back to the first round¡¯s results. ¡®No,¡¯ he told himself. ¡®I did not select them without a thought. As a summoner, I know the importance of magic in combat.¡¯ The battle with the third horde introduced aerial enemies to Fabre''s dread; huge bats. Accompanying them were spiders of monstrous sizes. He tensed, instantly shouting commands at his army. ¡°Archers to anti-air tactics, aim for their wings and the head. Spearmen to shield-wall formation. Elementalists try each elemental spell, then go for field magic of the element spiders are weak to.¡± The bats were soon falling out of the air as arrows pierced the skin and bones which made up their wings. Fabre observed them with caution and soon enough he saw that gravity wasn¡¯t enough to kill them. As he approached the crawling bats, his face creased in disgust. ¡°What is this putrid odour?¡± He blurted out loud as he was forced to take a step back. He lifted the scarf around the neck to his nose and mouth. He chanted a spell, and the scarf glowed with a certain light for a second or so as the enchantment took effect. ¡®To think a situation where I¡¯d use the gas filter magic on the scarf would happen¡­¡¯ The noble thought to himself as an image of a certain female appeared in his mind. He pushed that thought to the side, focusing on the battle ahead and approaching the bat once more with his weapon ready. The bats proved to be very nimble and shrewd, using its useless wings as defence. When Fabre attempted a thrust, the bat would lead the rapier¡¯s course astray by allowing it to pierce its wing, then pulling at it sharply. When Fabre tried a slashing attack, all that he was able to cut were the skin and bones of its wings. Of course eventually the bats also attempted to strike back, but Fabre easily blocked those with his metal-protected left hand for its strength wasn¡¯t all that great. The problem was that each fight with the bat was taking a while and that meant the bats which weren¡¯t dealt with were closing in towards the barricade. He attempted to apply Salamander¡¯s strength to finish off the bats quicker, but he knew that apart from the hairy body it was resistant to flames. It was still time-consuming to attempt a fiery strike to the hairy body, Fabre found. The wings were especially capable of quelling the blaze with a mere fold. A sudden tremor made Fabre glance towards the source. The Elementalists were chanting and motioning their staves in unison and a huge boulder was summoned to crush the spiders underneath. It effectively made a rocky blockade on the path; the tremor was from the Elementalist dropping such a big boulder on the spiders. The remaining spiders were few, and even those were considerably damaged. There were a few spearmen who were trapped in webs, but overall they were victorious with the spiders. ¡°Spearmen, strike formation towards the bats. Elementalists supporting fire.¡± Fabre commanded, and each soldier went to fend off the bats. Soon there were no more monsters standing. The noble took a deep breath after the last bat was killed, his scarf removed to save the enchantment left in the scarf. The enchantment, gas-filtering magic, was not a limitless supply; after a time, he knew, the scarf would lose its effect until an Enchantress such as Lady Mabel, his mother, was able to enchant Mana back into it. As he was waiting for Prince Edel¡¯s voice to flow into his ears, he glanced towards the stone wall the Elementalists had created. As he observed, however, ugly cracks were appearing. His attention snapped back into caution, barking an order for his soldiers to get ready. Through the cracks, something dark seeped out. It dripped down the boulder slowly, the way it dripping reminding Fabre of something he had seen before earlier this morning; black oil. As if to confirm the answer to a certain assumption of the monster he was about to face in his mind, the boulder crumbled at one point, spewing thick black liquid. Soon the boulder was mere rubble, its base crushed by the force of the flowing black liquid. The liquid melded together in front of Fabre, forming a certain shape as more and more liquid piled from the other side of the boulder. The form had a humanoid torso with a bald head, its complete lack of facial features being compromised with an oily black crown atop its head. Its arms were freakishly long, the four digits dragging on the ground. Its lower half lacked much shape, looking like the base of a root-less tree. Its height was easily as tall as the barricade wall itself. ¡°King Oil Ooze,¡± Fabre breathed in disbelief. He had read about it before, and he knew how to deal with one. He did not, however, realize exactly how big it would be. The noble snapped back into attention as the King raised its arm. ¡°Archers standby! Spearmen at front, shield-wall formation! Elementalists shoot ice magic at the King¡¯s arm!¡± Fabre commanded, stepping behind the spearmen who were obliging to the command. As the King reached out to the spearmen, the Elementalists¡¯ chanting was complete. A shivering breeze went past Fabre and to the King, freezing its limb solid. The limb fell off from the main body, landing with an enormous crash and shattering to millions of pieces. Fabre crouched with his armoured arm over his face at the impact. When he recovered enough to look up, the situation wasn¡¯t exactly good; part of the frozen arm had landed on top of some of the spearmen as the spell wasn¡¯t casted fast enough. His spearmen count went from eight to five in mere seconds with one heavily injured spearman to boot. The injured spearman had escaped death solely due to being right next to the fallen King¡¯s arm and not under it, but it was clear that his arm and a leg will be useless, judging by those limbs hanging down from their side and due to the countless number ice-and-oil shards impaled in them. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.Fabre grimaced, but he had recovered from his panic and commanded again. ¡°Injured spearman, fall back; Elementalists continue with the ice magic. The other spearmen continue with the shield-wall formation, protect the Elementalists from every harm possible.¡± He knew archers were useless, as was any other physical attacks which were not regulated with Mana. That meant only the Elementalists and himself were capable of damaging it. Even then, Fabre¡¯s options were limited to fire spells - while that, too, was the King Oil Ooze¡¯s weakness, the explosion from an Oil Ooze this size would surely end up burning the entire forest, if not more. Initially Fabre planned to freeze the Oil Ooze¡¯s body to small portions and burn those so that little by little the King would run out of oil to form a body, but the impact from the frozen arm was completely out of his expectations. The King formed a replacement arm in moments, the exact replica of the frozen one. It was a head shorter however, using what was left of its body to form the replacement. ¡°Spearmen protect from attacks. Elementalists aim for the body and ignore the arms.¡± Fabre said, coming to a decision. It was risky, for the shields weren¡¯t completely capable of blocking the King¡¯s attacks but at least it would draw attention away from the Elementalists as they chanted and casted the spells. Freezing from the body, Fabre mused, would prevent another incident like the arm. At the very least, if it happens again it would be due to its body falling. In that case, there wouldn¡¯t be much oil left anyway to deliver the final blow. Fabre watched as the King¡¯s arm moved towards the Elementalists. Its finger-like digits spread out much like two pairs of pinchers around the Elementalists. The spearmen however got in the way, using their shields to fend the oil away from the Elementalists. The oily arm had a grip force strong enough to rebel against the spearmen¡¯s defences much to Fabre¡¯s discomfort, but they were able to hold their ground until the Elementalists were able to successfully freeze a huge chunk of the King¡¯s body. ¡°Archers shoot at the frozen parts to make it shatter.¡± Fabre called out urgently; the reason physical attacks were ineffective to the Ooze species of monsters was due to their ability to reattach and reform their lost parts. If it was frozen, however, the Ooze weren¡¯t able to reattach using the same amount of oil. As the King lost more oil, the grip around the spearmen loosened. It noticeably dropped in size once more to reform its body. That was when it completely abandoned its humanoid shape, stretching itself into a sphere and puffing up itself much like a balloon. Fabre¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, desperately shouting commands as he brought the enchanted scarf to his nose and mouth again and activating it. ¡°It¡¯s going to explode, spearmen protect the Elementalists with your life! Archers get down, shield yourself with the barricade wa-¡± The King exploded with a noise that cut off the noble¡¯s words. Oil shot in every direction with the force matching that of a cannon, each drop of oil becoming a deadly projectile. If the explosion wasn¡¯t loud enough to cover all other noises, one would hear the endless clash of oil ricocheting the spearmen''s shields and digging deep into the barricade walls. When Fabre got up as the noise and the oil died down, his eyes met a grim sight. There were oil spread out everywhere; the dirt path was dotted with oil seeping out, the trees and the barricade wall were full of dripping holes. The spearmen were crouched behind their shields but two had been too slow to cover their entire body. They were injured, albeit still alive. An Elementalist was dead, perhaps due to being too slow to take cover, but the other three were okay. Likewise, as Fabre looked up to confirm, the archers managed to escape unscathed. Fabre rose from his spot unscathed. He was too far away from the spearmen to be protected, but that wasn¡¯t an error in his judgment. He looked down at his vest, specifically to a corner where a soft light was fading away, reverting back to a detailed design sewn into the vest. In actuality, it was a shield; another enchantment from his doting mother. It was a high-level enchantment unlike the scarf; it had to be engraved or sewn into something to be able to use it and was limited to two uses before the object will crumble away, but in return it allowed a more powerful spell than the type of enchantment on Fabre¡¯s scarf. The oil started gathering at the spot the King was standing before the explosion. Fabre went into full alert at that moment, barking out orders. ¡°Elementalists ice magic at the gathering oil! Back row of archers come down and support the injured back into the barricade.¡± After a moment of thinking, Fabre opened his mouth again. ¡°Salamander, appear before me and burn any oil that is smaller than the size of my fingernails. Do not let anything bigger than that ignite.¡± Flickers of fire appeared and dispersed. The oil which was gathering started to crackle and spark out of existence like small fireworks, but just in case he ordered the two uninjured spearmen to protect the Elementalists with their lives. Even so, they were not able to freeze or ignite all the oil. The King reformed itself to the humanoid form, although it was only as tall as the monstrous bear they had fought. The noble frowned in annoyance, but told his familiar to rest once more. ¡°Elementalists, prepare for Ice Cage.¡± Fabre commanded, sheathing his rapier into its scabbard. He then untied the scabbard from his waist, holding the weapon by the neck of the scabbard with the blade towards the ground. The sapphire etched into the scabbard glowed with a violet-blue at the waning sunlight, and with that the noble approached the King. Chapter Thirteen - The Second Round of Fabre, part 3 Chapter Thirteen - The Second Round of Fabre, part 3 A single brush of the scabbard was more than enough to draw the King Oil Ooze¡¯s attention away from the Elementalists who were busy chanting in unison. It turned away from them, facing the owner of the enchanted scabbard. A cleansing enchantment was placed on the scabbard for convenience, but over time Fabre came across an interesting way to use it; the enchantment would ¡®clean¡¯ the scabbard by making the substance dirtying it to disappear into thin air. Upon the impact, Fabre felt a resistance quite unlike what he had expected from a body composed solely of oil, but the impact still managed to coat his scabbard in a thin splatter of oil. As Fabre observed after taking a step back from the attack, the dark glossy substance which covered the strands of silver dissipated to nothing as the enchantment took hold. The King retaliated with a swift lashing of its arms, realizing that its body had been diminished, which was dodged with premonition. The strikes continued again and again, but each strike was skillfully evaded thanks to the hesitation the King showed when the scabbard would be in the way of the lashing arms. As long as the King kept going like this, Fabre was certain of his ability to stall. After a few more times of dodging and defending the incoming assaults, the King¡¯s body was at least a palm-width shorter than before. At this point the King showed a different reaction; it changed its shape once more. The oily mass lost the humanoid shape, breaking down to a round blob-like body, its wobbling resembling a giant jelly with a crown resting atop much like the one seem on the humanoid form. With its changed body, the King went for a full-on body slam towards Fabre. He gave a grim look, putting more force at the jump to evade such charge; while it would be possible to defend it using his scabbard, the force of the impact was not something that would be nullified. Even if the enchantment ate its way through the oil, the scabbard still would be in danger of breaking in two. The King landed on the nearby forest of trees, the impact snapping the trunks with ease. Fabre could not help but shiver at the sight, his mind already drawing up the certainty that his scabbard would be the last of his concerns had he attempted to block such an attack face-on. His fingers gripped around the neck of his sheathed weapon, thinking things through. It was possible for the shield left on his vest to provide a single protection, though he would be defenseless for the rest of the rounds, as there were no other enchanted gear with him. The gas-filter scarf was also eliminated from possible uses in his mind unless the King had some hidden attack involving gas. Then there was the final enchantment on the sapphire of the scabbard - one of the greatest enchantments his mother was able to create. It was the same type of enchantment as the shield however, meaning that upon use it has the chance to break. The scabbard was his most-prized possession however, which was the main reason for his reluctance. The King had recovered from the recoil of the massive slam and was ¡®facing¡¯ his way once more. Eyes were engraved to his opponent, quickly making up his mind. ¡®If the Elementalists cannot complete their magic until the next charge, then I have no choice but to use the final enchantment.¡¯ The King threw its massive body towards Fabre again. At the same time, Fabre regulated the Mana within him to get out of the way. It wasn¡¯t too long however until he realized his mistake. The King stretched its body mid-air, reforming the familiar arm it had as a humanoid form. No matter how much Fabre had trained, he was not capable of altering his advancing course mid-air, nor was he prepared enough to retaliate. The most he could do was to put his scabbard forward, instinctively defending his chest and face more so than anywhere else. The King¡¯s arm latched onto Fabre¡¯s leg unlike where he had defended, then pulled him down. The force was so great that he wasn¡¯t able to react as he was impaled to the ground, knocking the air out of his body. The King landed not too far away with a soft plop unlike the time when it had crashed into the trees. A series of coughs erupted from the recovering Fabre, getting up with much effort from the cloud of dust that floated around him at the crash. He winced while trying to stand and looked back towards his lower body. He cursed at the sight of his leg which was twisted to an impossible angle; it was broken. ¡°Curses,¡± Fabre muttered, eyes searching through the dust cloud wildly. Despite the overwhelming pain, his mind was alert for any incoming secondary attacks. There did not seem to be any as far as Fabre could see, though he was definitely not in a position to distract the King now. The dust cloud shifted on one side and Fabre found himself glaring at the massive oily body. It wobbled up and down which to him looked like as if it was snickering at his injury. Fabre gripped his scabbard like a cane at the sight, struggling to get up. The King did not make any move to stop him to his surprise, but Fabre understood the reason well-enough; the arrogance of the strong. The King was looking down at him in Fabre¡¯s eyes. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. A cool breeze wafted towards him as he glared; the Cage was forming. This was the most crucial moment - if the King realizes what was happening, it may try to attack him or the Elementalists. He did not make any sudden movements however, regulating his Mana in silence. The King¡¯s massive blobby body stopped wobbling as it felt the same breeze Fabre had felt. His eyes flashed into action, sending a massive amount of Mana to his good leg, jumping over the King. At that moment the King, too, jumped away from its spot, away from the incoming magic. ¡°Salamander, block my enemy¡¯s path!¡± Fabre shouted as he made an arc in the air towards the fleeing enemy. He lifted his scabbard up above his head with both his hands, a posture as if he would pierce whatever is in front of him with the sheathed weapon. As he fell towards the King, he saw a wall of flames flickering into life a few distance in front of the King¡¯s path. The oily mass dug into the dirt path as it hastily attempted to stop itself running into the wall, and that was all the time Fabre needed to plunge his scabbard into the King¡¯s body. If it had a voice, Fabre was certain the King would be screaming in shock at this moment. The first line of ice appeared right between himself and the King. The ice rapidly circled the King, branching off into multiple lines in every direction and forming a shape resembling a ribcage, albeit all-around the oily mass. He pulled his weapon out and fell back, wincing in pain and coming to his hands and knees at the pain of his broken leg. The King wasn¡¯t able to stop itself from touching the the ice due to this and the moment the oily body made contact with the ice, the dark oily mass was frozen solid. There were mist of cool air seeping from it, showing how cold it would be. ¡°Archers fire at will.¡± Fabre declared with an exhausted smile. Arrows pierced the frozen body with deadly force, cracking and shattering the King¡¯s body. As Fabre had expected, only the ¡®outer layer¡¯ of the King was frozen. Once the arrows cracked open this, the unfrozen ¡®inner¡¯ oil oozed out from the holes. The reason Fabre chose Ice Cage over other spell was its duration. Cage magic, as he had studied, will constantly apply its effects as long as one touches its cage. The oozing oil, too, started to freeze the moment it came in contact with the cage, and arrows shattered these too. The battle with the King Oil Ooze ended in Fabre¡¯s favour when every single drop of oil was frozen solid. He had faced more casualties than he would have liked, to which he berated himself about. His thoughts were cut short however as the voice of the prince flowed in his ears. ¡°Fabre Inmos. I congratulate you for defeating the King Oil Ooze. For defeating such a strong monster, the other candidate will be facing an additional wave of horde at this moment.¡± There was a slight pause after that, then suddenly a trumpet sound echoed. ¡°Hywel Inmos has admitted defeat. Fabre Inmos wins the Barricade Defence.¡± The prince¡¯s announcement brought the triumphant smile back on his face despite the pain - the score was even now. The sun had mostly disappeared from view around the time the two candidates were magically healed and teleported back to the amphitheater. Orbs of light had appeared around the audiences in remedy to this while the second round was going on. Prince Edel got up from his seat, standing to view the audience below him. It was difficult to see detailed aspects of their faces due to the lack of sunlight, but even so their behaviour and the excited chatter told him that they had enjoyed the events thus far. The prince closed his eyes, remembering how much effort he had put into this ceremony: the amount of workers for each round¡¯s area; the capturing of monsters; the amount of funds they needed to hire he mages for the audience and for making those dolls. The amount of slaves he had to deploy for the second day''s rounds. Unbeknownst to all but a handful who were organizing the ceremony, they had decided to use different sets of ''events'' for rounds as each day passed; something more challenging as time went by as a means to increase the excitement of the audience. This meant the rounds would get riskier and would require more efforts. At first the prince was reluctant to use slaves for various reasons; there was the risk of their deaths for one. This fact was definitely closer to becoming a reality now that he had seen Fabre''s actions with his own eyes, but what was done was done. Besides, the prince reasoned, the dolls which the mages were able to make were flawed; they made weren''t able to convey humane feelings which were crucial for the rounds to come. "Let us give a round of applause for the two candidates who have bravely fought to show us their strength!" Prince Edel announced, his thoughts pushed to the side to continue on with the ceremony. "Unfortunately our time is running short for the day and so the ceremony will be postponed until tomorrow. As a symbol of apology, Sir Hugh Inmos has gladly prepared a feast for all to enjoy. Please do not hesitate to join us at the Inmos Mansion tonight!" Cheers of delight could be heard from the crowd. Indefinite Hiatus Greetings. So, uh. The title says it all but if you are looking for my excuse as to this decision, it''s a messy blend of that hospitalizing incident that I posted [and deleted] about last time I posted a break thread, much less time being near a laptop to type things and just plain exhaustion from various real life stuff happening. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I''m hoping to get back to this writing by the end of June at the latest, but we''ll see how it goes. Thank you for your attention thus far, love you all~ Cetyl