The pair was currently standing outside of the castle of the kingdom of Rien. It was magnificent to say the least.
"Who are you two?" A guard of a tier four ranking quizzed as he saw the pair. He was on the first array thus when he saw the two on the fourth array, he was skeptical of their presence. "We have a meeting with one of the princes."
Hedon said with a smile as he looked around. There were four more guards however the one they were talking to was the leader of the posse. 'I can't tell whether this is true as no reservations were made for anyone to come to the royal palace.'
He knew that the pair I front of him were clearly not simple. "Sir Zephyrin and Sir Rhys. I didn't think that would make it here on such short notice." Zayne appeared as he saw the two. "What are you guards doing? Let them in!"
The tier four guard was both internally pleased and a little distraught that Zayne was here. He had thought that he would be forced to chase them away but seeing that they were acquainted with him, it made his work much easier.
'But who do they have to be for Zayne personally to come and welcome them.' He thought as he let them pass. The pair walked through as Zayne took the liberty of leading them. The reason why they chose this as the venue was because Orsen wanted to personally meet the royal family.
As they walked down the halls, they went towards a small garden that was located on the back end of the castle. Numerous flowers growing all over the place riddling the scene with a splendid picturesque canvas, appealing to the eye.
A small appetizer was brought by the servants present as they held their chat under a gazebo. Not far from them was a luscious green pasture that stretched far before the edge of the forest came into view.
"You definitely have a beautiful place here." Hedon admired as he watched the craftsmanship present however Zayne brushed it off. "Well it's not mine's but rather my fathers." A simple laugh came from his end.
"Brother!" A faint voice came from behind them and Zayne's face turned from jovial to disturbed. It was a lady on the fourth tier whilst on the first array. It was Elexa. "What is it sister?" He grumbled back however the smile on Elexa's face didn't fade.
"I just wanted to see how you were doing since you were on the fourth tier." She said and yet her eyes betrayed her as they landed on the two individuals. 'Each on the fourth array.' She concluded.
"What a beautiful sister you have! Why doesn't she take a seat with us?" Hedon pointed out. Elexa could feel a predatory gaze within his eyes. She knew who he was. 'The more promiscuous one.' It wasn't just her who knew this.
The rest of his siblings knew this and it didn't help that Hedon wasn't keeping a low profile either. "Does it look like I would accompany myself with the likes of you? Really brother! This is what you had to resort to?"
"I consider myself a proper gentleman." Hedon spoke up. Elexa had already turned as she was ready to leave. "Don't talk to me you filthy wretch!" She took her leave shortly after. "Hahaha!" He laughed it off.
"The reason as to why we're here is to gift you this. You'll definitely need it but I recommend opening it somewhere less crowded." Orsen said calmly as he handed over a small pouch. It was mundane in appearance with nothing grand about it.
Regardless Zayne took it. "Thanks in advance." He said before the two dug in. "As for the test, it is only two days away. Here are the components of how it will run." Hedon raised his hand as he picked up a cup of wine while Orsen preferred tea.
"It's about champions, it will be based on pure 'luck' as the competitors will be picked at random. Death isn't allowed and so is cheating but everything else is allowed. The winners will be allowed to make a request from the prince they were representing and a personal conversation with the king."
"Blah, blah, blah about weapons are allowed and there will be other third party contenders from both the princess's choosing along with a selected few nobles present. Tomorrow will be the day when we were supposed to be here… Anything else you have to add that we don't know?"
Zayne was shocked when he heard this. 'It seems that they are aware of the regulations but how?' This recurrence of them knowing classified information is what terrified him because did that mean they knew everything about him.
'Do they know all my secrets, my weakness and strengths?' He thought. "Well seeing that you have nothing else to inform us, we will be taking our leave." Orsen speculated as he stood up from his chair along with Hedon.
"As for your sister. Tell her I'll be meeting her sooner than she anticipates." Hedon added and as they prepared to leave, another came about. "Hello brother!" It was Sirius. The pair however deemed his presence null as they walked past him taking their leave.
"Hey! You two reprobates! Where do you think you're going?" They paused as they turned to face him. "Should I?" "Not yet. Wait until this trivial test is over." The two whispered to each other treating Sirius like air.
"What are you two whispering about?" Hedon responded to his antics. "Oh so very sorry your majesty. How could our simple eyes even dare to fail and see one of the princes of the prestigious Rien kingdom? It would seem that they don't work like they used to and for that, we'll have to have them washed!"
His tone was completely bloated and filled with ridicule. "You! Do you know who you are talking to in such a manner?!" The two however didn't seem all that invested in entertaining him. "We have places to be."
Orsen said calmly. "I'll escort you two out." Zayne commented as he took as his leave as well leaving Sirius all alone in the peaceful garden however his face was completely unsightly. "To think that you would be embarrassed in such a manner! Hahahahaha!"
A joking tone was shot at him. "Do these people think that they can just treat me like this? Do they know who they are dealing with?" Sirius posed as he clutched his hands. Elexa continued with her taunts. "Well they certainly don't take you seriously for the second prince of Rein kingdom."
…
"Do you mind if came to your place for some time?" Zayne asked as they were walking towards the exit. "Sure, why not. But it's going to cost you one gold quartz per night for security." Orsen said flatly to which Hedon gave a slight laugh.
'What? Isn't this extortion?' "But you don't have to waste your resources while you deal with the tier five mana disc. I'm confident that you'll deal with it by yourself." He paused as he heard this. "A-A- A tier five mana disc core?"
He wanted to check the bag but he refrained himself from doing so. 'I need a safe and calm place while I do this. The castle isn't ideal as I would have to deal with a lot of friction from not only my father but my siblings as well.'
Should he produce a tier five mana disc, how would he start on explaining how he got it? What concerned him was that Hedon was around for the past couple of days thus it meant that Orsen searched for the core alone.
'That a tier four expert was able to obtain a tier five mana disc core and chose to give it to him.' Of course multiple questions would be raised. 'Why didn't the tier four expert use it for himself and give it to him?'
And seeing that he had a match coming up, it was stupid to hand over such an item. Some may deduce for fame, recognition or to strengthen the bond with the prince but then again, the third prince was at the bottom of the barrel.
It would have been better to give it to the king for greater benefits or if a prince, then either the first or the second one. One had strength and the other connections while the third prince had neither. It was equivalent of handing over a bottle of water to a person who was barely thirsty whereas there was someone else who had just run a marathon.
All in all, he was skeptical of these two. Offering benefits while they asked for nothing in return, it was clear that they either were too naïve or they had other plans brewing beneath the surface.
Putting these thoughts aside, they made it back to their hotel. Zayne rented a room adjacent to theirs. Orsen cast multiple arrays to prevent the aura of the core from leaking all over but to specifically keep it under the king's radar.
*Six days ago in Aurorise Kingdom*
A lady had recently arrived at Aurorise and as currently, she was in a casual home. There was nothing outstanding about the home. In front of her was Reya and Elievana. Reya's father was dead as his body was callously lying on the floor.
Not only was it completely devoid of any life, it seemed perfectly untouched as if he had just fainted. The lady was naturally Ashley who was examining her nails. Perfect as always they seemed before looking at Elievana.
Stretching her hand out, a hazy dark tendril warped around her body. There was no cry for help, no shrill scream, only deafening silence which had made its presence dormant in the room.
*Thud*
Elievana's corpse fell to the ground while Reya could only watch the events unfold in front of her very eyes. The reason why her body was frozen in place was the strange power that clung to her body, threatening to eat her alive should she make a move.
"So it seems that he came this way and played as your brother but he left after a short while…" She contemplated as she stood up from her seat. "Don't worry about little old me." Ashley mused as a cold smile appeared on her face.
*Snap*
Her world went black in an instant. She could still feel the world around her however her eyes, similar to the rest of her body refused to yield to her brain. "ARRGGHHH!!!" A sharp pain assaulted her mind. Regardless of the dark purgatory that she underwent, it seemed that death was out of her reach.
"Stop overreacting. I'm just going through your memories. I'll be done even before you realize it." She heard a faint voice and suddenly, the darkness was filled with a flurry of images. Despite the pain that she was feeling, she could only watch as she helplessly writhed in pain and agony.
Images flashed before her recalling when she was interacting with her parents as a baby. "Too far back…" The voice mused and barely looking up, she could see Ashley floated like an angel and yet despite her gentle appearance, the amount of agony she caused to Reya was immeasurable.
"Here we go." She pointed out as the images were of a later date. The time when she first interacted with Orsen to when she got her vials, the quests till the last moment the two interacted. "Thanks." She said before her figure vanished from her sight.
Reya was jolted back to reality. The mind numbing pain was the first thing that assaulted her. She looked around to realize the corpses of her parents perfectly seated as a vial was in front of her. There was a note next to it. 'For the pain.' It read out.
She wanted to throw it against the wall and shatter it to pieces however the pain made her reconsider. Slowly but surely, she took it and the pain subsided greatly. "MMMM!!!" She broke into sniffles which snowballed into tears.
It was perfectly understandable. Both her parents were killed in front of her while she was writhing in pain on the floor. Her brother was long dead replaced with an imposter who helped her but at what cost was her contemplation drawing to.
For her to drown in solitude till her time came to pass. As for fame, she was known for working with a demon and her badge was revoked as a result. She was isolated in this world as of now and the concept of revenge wasn't even in her mind.
With such revelations dawning on her, she came to a conclusion.