Note to the reader: *.......* means he's saying that in his head.

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Chapter 10

*******************Eva POV******************

I've had really vivid dreams since childhood. Sometimes it's the same dream and other times it's different. The one thing that's always the same are the people in them. There's always me and an elf together. This elf is sometimes saving me and sometimes comforting me. I feel joy when I'm with this elf.

The elf was a very feminine looking man with long blonde hair and green eyes. He was very beautiful and even though he only existed in my dreams I was madly in love with him. When I was 9 I started hearing a new voice in my dreams. This time it was a woman telling me things like how that elf man would one day be my husband. The next day I told my father about my future husband.

Eva:"Daddy I'm gonna marry an elf!"

King Francis:"Honey you're husband won't be an elf. Lord Felix is your betrothed. His father and I have been friends for a long time and decided it the moment you were born."

Eva:"No! I want to marry Mr. Elf!"

I ran back to my room and shut myself in. My willpower was weak so I came out for dinner, but I stopped talking to my father after that day. As I got older I still only loved the man that came to me in my dreams. I never once heard his voice, but I could picture him perfectly when I closed my eyes. I was told many more things by the woman's voice including her name, Esyn. She told me I was to be his wife, but not his only lover.

On my 14th birthday I met Lord Felix when he came to my party. Father invited all of the nobles and their children to a dance. My siblings still needed suitors so my birthday was used to show them off to the nobles. I was given a beautiful blue dress to wear with matching heels. There were two tables with food on each side of the ball room and a large dance floor. I spent most of the party on a stage with my father and siblings except for when I had to dance. I was sitting quietly in my chair waiting for the party to end.

Felix:"It's nice to meet you again my betrothed."

After being here for about 30 minutes he finally came to greet me which most would find rude, but I really didn't care if he ever greeted me. He was about 10 years older than me with dark hair and blue eyes. I couldn't quite tell what his build was since he wore a formal military outfit with medals on it and a sword at his side. He was handsome, but after seeing Mr. Elf in my dreams all these years I started to prefer a more feminine look. I knew I had to dance with him so I left the stage for my birthday dance with my betrothed. To get a little revenge I stepped on his toes as much as possible until he decided he was tired of dancing, but father invited him to eat on stage with us.

King Francis:"So Felix. How's your father doing?"

Felix:"He sends his regards for not being able to attend. There were some matters that required his immediate attention."

King Francis:"I understand. This is my daughters birthday anyway so you were the only one that was really needed."

Felix:"I was surprised when I heard she was turning 14. Last time I saw her she was still leaning to talk."

King Francis:"Yes and now she's become a beautiful woman."

Felix:"She has. I feel very honored to have her as my betrothed."

King Francis:"When should we set the wedding?"

Felix:"I'm still involved in a military campaign that will likely take years so it may be a while."

King Francis:"Then the wedding will be once you return victorious!"

Felix:"Very well my king."  

King Francis:"Eva, did you know Felix reached the rank of Grand Knight during his many successful military campaigns."

Eva:"I did not father. Is Grand Knight a high ranks?"

I already knew all about the ranks, but I feigned ignorance so that he would think I didn't understand his achievement.

Felix:"It's not important."

He seemed a little sad for the rest of the festivities. I was so happy to finally be back in my room after the party. Social events always made me feel so suffocated.

****************Becket POV*****************

Becket:"Before we go into the dungeon I'd like to hear everyone's name."

Big Man:"Why?"

Becket:"I'd like to know the names of my comrades."

Mage Guy:"I'm Tallie."

Becket:"I'm Becket. It's nice to meet you Tallie."

The big man seemed a little annoyed, but her still introduced himself.

Big Man:"I'm Balor and this is my little brother Haluk."

*So scar faces name is Haluk.*

Balor:"What about you hooded girl!"

*Are they not friends?*

The girl tilted her head towards us, but didn't say anything. I still couldn't see her face so I wasn't sure what she might be thinking.

Becket:"You don't know her?"

Balor:"No. The only person here I know is my brother. The adventurers guild told me I needed two more adventurers so they put that mage and girl with us."

Tallie:"I already said my name was Tallie not mage."

Balor:"Whatever Tallie."

Becket:"You know her Tallie?"

Tallie:"No. I was alone when I went to the guild for a job so they threw me in this group."

I walked over to the hooded girl.

Becket:"What's your name?"

Her mouth moved a little, but she seemed to be hesitating.

Girl:"I'm Sasha."

She spoke in a low tone of voice.

Becket:"It's nice to meet you Sasha. I'm Becket."

She nodded.

Balor:"Ok we can enter the dungeon now right."

Becket:"Yeah."

Balor and Haluk entered the dungeon first with Tallie behind them. I stood behind Tallie, and Sasha guarded the rear.

*I wonder how dangerous a dungeon is?*

Balor:"How about some light!"

Tallie:"Citatus atque imperio ignis. Ignis Pila!"

A small ball of fire appeared above Tallies staff and hovered in place.

Becket:"Was that a magic chant?"

Tallie:"Yeah a simple one. It creates a ball of fire. The more mana I dump into it the more powerful it becomes, but if you don't concentrate and put more mana in it than you can handle it will explode."

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Becket:"How long can you keep that going?"

Tallie:"As long as I'm awake it won't go out. Well it might if I was injured and couldn't concentrate. To a mage concentration is everything."

Becket:"What other kind of magic do you know?"

Tallie:"I can only use two fire spells. The fire ball and fire wall. I was told to focus on first learning an attack and a defensive spell."

Becket:"Who told you that?"

Tallie:"My teacher at the magic academy."

Becket:"Magic academy Huh."

Tallie:"Yeah I decided to focus on fire magic since it seems the most powerful."

Becket:"So you can learn magic there."

Tallie:"Not just magic. Anything to do with mana is an option. The knights train there for a few years unless they're going to be royal knights that live in the capitol then they get trained by the current royal knights. You can also learn summoning and binding, runes and magic circles and appraisal for artifacts. There might be some other classes, but I'm not sure since I only took fire mage classes. I never bothered learning about everything the school offered."

Becket:"What are artifacts?"

Tallie:"Magical objects found on the dark continent."

I remembered the world map and the one continent that was blacked out.

Becket:"What do you mean by found?"

Tallie:"You must be from some small village if you don't know anything about artifacts. Well they can be found randomly while on the dark continent, but not many have been found since the dark continent is so dangerous. When they are found and brought back they usually create new nobles. Anyone that has an artifact will become a noble. I heard once that an artifact user with no skill in fighting defeated a Warlord, but that's just a rumor."

As we moved farther into the dungeon our talking ceased, but monsters still hasn't appeared. I did see herbs growing on the floor, walls and ceiling. None that I needed since the title stone didn't react. Some of them were herbs I recognized, but I was confused as to how they were growing inside this dungeon. There was no sunlight and I knew some of these needed sunlight to survive. I couldn't say for all of the herbs since some obviously didn't exist in my world. My guess was that some how they survived off of magical energy instead of sunlight.

Balor:"Stop!"

We all froze in place. I was curious as to why Balor took the leader role, but since he seemed to be doing a good job I ignored my thoughts. A line wolf walked out from the shadows.

*Wow. Balor has surprisingly good senses.*

Before any of us noticed anything a dagger was already through the wolfs neck. It seemed just as surprised as us with wide eyes. Sasha was standing behind it holding the dagger. None of us saw her get behind it. The wolf collapsed without ever getting a chance to fight. Sasha walked back to the rear of the group and didn't say a word. We decided not to say anything and continued the march forward. I wanted to eat some of it, but Balor told me that there would be plenty more of them so I could get something to eat from one of them that attacks us when we camp.

I saw other small creatures, but couldn't make most of them out. The cave was dark even with Tallies fire ball. I tried a few times to chant the fire spell like Tallie, but nothing ever happened.

*Magic is hard.*

We did run into a bunch of wolves and I never had to do anything. These adventurers seemed more capable then the knights I've run into so far. I started collecting some of the herbs I knew so that I could make some herbal remedies the doctor in my mercenary group taught me. I also wanted to test their effectiveness when fused with magical energy. I injected mana into them to keep them fresh. When we made camp Balor and Haluk set up two tents. I was surprised at how prepared they were since only those two knew each other before today.

Balor:"Tomorrow we enter the ice hell for scouting. It was given a low danger rating so we should be fine, but theres always the chance the rating was wrong. Thats why we're here to recheck its rating. The women will sleep in this tent and the men in the other."

Becket:"Ok."

Sasha didn't say anything and just crawled into the tent. She went to sleep, but still didn't remove her hood. Balor gave me a chunk of wolf meat he cut for me and Tallie cooked it with a fire ball. The two of them were really nice to me, but I still hadn't heard Haluk say a word. I didn't feel any pain after eating the meat and I didn't want to check the title stone with people around so I went to sleep in my tent with Sasha.

*****************Felix POV****************

She was still a child when I first met my betrothed. A cute child, but still a child. I wasn't skilled with the sword, but I worked hard to honor my house. I sharpened my mind and body which led to me becoming a strong military presence by the age of 24. I was given command over a campaign for the first time. On my request the king sent me updates of my betrothed's life. I would visit sometimes too, but only watched from afar. She became a willful person that defied her father often which I found cute.

My mother raised me to be a faithful man so I never held another woman. When I was invited to her 14th birthday party I found myself unable to approach her for a while because of how beautiful she had become. It was then that I realized I had developed feelings for her and was truly happy that she was going to be my wife.

Four years passed and I started losing the military campaign I was given so the king sent me some of his highest ranked knights and I was able to win after a year. I was now 29 and my wife would be 19. I hadn't seen her in these past five years so I was excited to get back since I knew I could finally take my wife. One day a message arrived for me that changed everything. The king informed me that an elf attacked and raped my betrothed then escaped from the palace. If I had not needed all of the kings strongest knights to save me than my Eva might have been safe.

Intense hatred boiled inside me and I vowed to personally rip every limb off of the elf once I find him. I will see justice done for my love and I will use my families artifact to do it.