Cedric

"Finally, some peace and quiet," Johann said as he fell into a chair in his private room, Cedric following behind him.

They had left the feast nearing its end, Johann had asked Cedric to follow him into his private quarters to talk and he had agreed. The room mirrored the palace pretty well, to call it a room was probably nearing an insult as it was more like multiple rooms that made up his private quarters that in total were bigger than most houses in Reen. They were packed with luxuries and decorations; Cedric had never understood why Johann was so obsessed with these kinds of things.

He sat down in a luxurious chair, that was carved out of dark wood and had symbols carved into it, Cedric was pretty sure though that they had no magical power.

He smirked at his old friend and said, "You are getting old or what?" He looked at the man and his smile froze on his face as he saw the dread on the king's face.

"What is the matter, Johann?" Cedric wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer, the last time Johann had looked like that, his oldest son and wife had been murdered while he was out on a hunt, they were not the only ones his father, mother, and brother were all killed because they supported no one in the civil war. Cedric could still hear the wails that had pierced the night that day and he would never forget them as this was the point from where everything changed forever.

To see his friend, have a similar but weaker expression on his face made his heart freeze.

"I am dying, Cedric. My healers say I am suffering from mana burn," he said with a forcefully neutral tone. He was staring forward, his gaze fixed on a bust of himself that was standing in the corner.

Mana burn was a rare disease, that acted like a strong allergy against mana, which in a world that had mana in everything was a probable death sentence with the lowest mana levels but with the rising levels, it was a certainty. He couldn't use his mana anymore as that would trigger seizures but if he didn't use it the mana would gather in his body until it poisoned him. So, he would sooner or later die either because of the seizures or the mana poisoning.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Cedric asked, "How long?"

"Could be one year could be five, depending on how much exposure to mana I have and how violent my attacks will be. It is hard to predict this kind of disease."

"Is there nothing we can do? Nothing the Order of Purity can do?"

The king shook his head and Cedric sighed. "So, what am I here for then? You have certainly not called me here for moral support."

Johann laughed at this and said, "You are the last person I would ask for moral support." Cedric joined in his laughter.

After a while, they were just sitting in silence again until Johann began again, "My son is too young to become king. I am sure he will be a good king once he is an adult, but he will have to brave many dangers until he gets there. I need you to help him with that."

Cedric leaned forward. "Is your son in danger?"

"Nothing specific, but you know how succession can be, especially with such a young successor. Our neighbors will sense weakness, the barbarians will raid more often, and nobles are always ambitious," the king said dismissively.

"You know I am useless at politics and intrigue, the only thing I am good at is killing things," Cedric warned him, wanting to prevent the request that he was sure would come in the next sentence.

"I know you are. This is why I want to request that you become the master of war in my son's council once I am dead and protect the kingdom for him to grow into his position without being ripped apart." The king knew that Cedric would hate this request, he could see it in his eyes, but he made it anyway.

There were some that could match him in a one-on-one confrontation but no one in the kingdom could stop him on a battlefield, his sense of tactics, mastery of sword, and augmenting being too oppressive. Johann needed him to be in command of the military of the kingdom to deter any from invading the kingdom and he was prepared to risk their friendship to achieve that.

"You promised me that I would have nothing to do with the royal court when you made me a count. And now you want to force this position on me?" Cedric was angry, his expression formed into a snarl and his eyes narrowed.

"I am not forcing you to do anything, I am requesting as your friend," the king said calmly.

"So, I can refuse," Cedric asked him with a suspicious look.

"Of course, you can!" The king tried to play it off nonchalantly, but Cedric could see the tension in his body and knew that he would be disappointed if he actually did refuse.

"Why not Duke Torras, he is also a great military leader?" Cedric tried to get out of the situation, but he had little hope of it. Johann shook his head and said, "I want you Cedric, I am concerned that Duke Wulfen is going to try to enhance his influence, he is a very ambitious man and Duke Torras is not. He would just do his duty and nothing more. You would fight for Zenial, on more than one battlefield."

Cedric sighed and got up, "I will think about it and talk to my wife, but I have my own kids to care about so don't expect too much."

Johann rose as well and looked at his friend with sad eyes, "That is everything I can ask for. I am sorry that I have to come to you with this, but it is the best for my family and family comes first, right?"

They didn't exchange any more words as Cedric left the room. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, and his head began to hurt already.

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Michael

The following day Michael had more free time, there was only a feast in the evening, so he used the morning to train with Eydis and Geron. He was finishing the training with some meditation when he heard a familiar voice.

"Oh, is he training mana movement right now? I can come back later," Prince Zenial said, probably to Geron. Michael opened his eyes at this and saw Zen and Theodore standing at the edge of the training yard. He stood up and walked over to them.

"I was pretty much done anyway," he said with a smile.

They greeted each other and then Zen asked, "We wanted to go into the city and look around at the festival a little if you want to come along?"

"Sure, just have to wash up and we can meet out front, I wanted to visit the city anyway."

They did exactly that and met up half an hour later at the fountain that Michael had arrived at two days ago. A carriage was already waiting for them together with some horses for their knights.

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"So, what is the plan," Michael asked curiously.

"Ehm, I think we should just take a stroll through the trade district for today, it is pretty central, and we can go anywhere from there. Also, most of the festival's activities should be around the trade district so it is a good place to start," Theodore explained.

"Have you been living here long," Michael asked Theodore, who nodded. "Yes, my father is the master of coin and we have been living here for like three years already."

"Don't you miss home?"

Theodore shrugged, "Sometimes but Lionsgate is a great city with much to do and most of my friends are here so not too often."

They continued their journey in the carriage until they reached the trade district. There they parked the carriage and took a look around. The district was filled to the brim with people drinking, singing, and dancing. On the edges of the street, there were countless stalls, selling food and drinks. The atmosphere was lively as the people celebrated.

They started making their way through the streets with the silver knight of Prince Zenial in the front making a path and Geron, Eydis, and a knight of House Gretten behind them. Most people quickly made way for them as soon as they noticed the knight of the Kingsguard and they advanced faster than Michael would have expected.

"This city is so big; I have never seen anything like it. I can't even guess how some of these buildings have been built." Michael looked around with curiosity flowing from his eyes as they darted around.

"No one does," Zen explained. "Many of the more impressive buildings have not been built by us but were ruins that have been rebuilt and renovated, like the church or parts of the palace like the great hall, we had the feast in yesterday."

"Really?" Michael was surprised, "I never heard of that."

"Yeah, I guessed so much because your home is a frontier and didn't have many ruins that could be used." That explained at least why he never saw anything like this in Reen or even heard about it in the area.

After pushing their way through an especially thick crowd Michael said, "I have never seen this many people, how does this city even function."

Zen laughed at that and said, "Believe me this is nothing yet, it will be even fuller in the evening when everyone is out drinking themselves into a coma. I saw it last year, that is a sight you will never forget, trust me."

After making their way further through the crowd they finally reached a plaza with a large wooden arena built in the middle, the plaza was even more packed than the streets. Michael turned to Zen and asked, "What is this?"

Theodore and Zenial gave each other amused looks and Zen then said, "This my friend is the monster arena."

Half an hour later they were on a platform watching a man in a ridiculous costume announce the next fight. It was easy to get good seats with Zen present and they didn't even have to wait. All of Michael's further questions of what this was exactly were shot down with a 'you will see'. Of course, he guessed it was some kind of fighting arena and with the name monster, multiple options came to mind, but he decided to just let it go and see what happens. Discovery is half the charm of a new city after all ... or so Solon had said, Michael hadn't seen too many new cities yet.

"Welcome, welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen! And an especially warm welcome goes to His Highness, Prince Zenial Merland!" He made a deep bow in their direction and the crowd applauded the crown prince. He waved at them with a smile and nodded at the showman.

The man bowed again, this time at the crowd, and then raised his hands dramatically, "So now without further ado, we will start the show. Our first fight of the day will be the mighty hero Siegwalt!" He then motioned towards a wooden gate opening and a small man in chain armor entered the arena, he was armed with a short sword and a shield.

"Facing off against the vile and despicable skull faaaaaced GOBLIIINS," the showman yelled, and the audience erupted in applause. A gate on the other side opened and three small green humanoids entered. They had skulls bound on their heads, a small piece of cloth covering their bodies, and were armed with knives.

"Goblins aren't monsters," Michael said with a raised eyebrow. Theodore looked over at him and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, most people that say monster mean Mana Beast and a goblin is no Mana Beast," Michael explained.

Theodore scratched his head, "What is the difference?"

Zen jumped in here and explained, "Mana Beasts are formed by atmospheric mana and goblins are born from other goblins."

The goblins had used the time of their conversation to charge at Siegwalt. They were screaming like lunatics and saliva was flying everywhere, while Siegwalt threw kisses into the crowd, completely unimpressed by the little green devils running at him.

When they reached him and the first one slashed with his knife, he suddenly fell into a combat stance and dodged the weak strike of the goblin. He retaliated by kicking the creature in the head, sending it flying five meters before it crashed into the arena wall. That kick was certainly strengthened by mana.

The second goblin met a similarly pitiful fate as Siegwalt just dodged his attacks until he found an opening and smacked the goblin on his head from above. Michael could hear the skull the goblin was wearing crack first before its head was carved in by the mighty blow and the goblin hit the ground and stopped moving.

The last goblin tried to run away after seeing his comrades be ruthlessly murdered but he didn't get far. Being half the size of his opponent also meant that he was quickly caught up and grabbed the goblin and threw him to the ground placing his foot on the struggling creature's neck and slowly pressing down after kicking away his dagger while showing his muscles and posing to the cheering crowd.

"That was quite anticlimactic," Michael pointed out at the easy victory.

Zen shook his head and said, "These fights aren’t meant as fights for survival. They are just for entertainment and to assure the people of the superiority of the human race, so they don't fear the monsters, a population that is too scared to work don't pay taxes."

"It is also fun to see these beasts being stomped, most people in the city will never see a monster, ..., well that might change in the future," Theodore added.

Michael rubbed his chin while he thought about what they said, "Seeing the human win is definitively better for morale but I still hope they have some better fights."

Theodore nodded and said excitedly, "I heard they have a stone crusher, but I don't know if it is up today."

"What is that?"

"Uh that one is a monster, I think. Imagine a huge bear that is strong enough to crush a boulder, hence the name," Theodore explained with a raised finger.

"Do you know what designation it has," Michael followed it up, he had never seen a live monster yet and was curious.

"Designation?" Theodore looked confused; he most certainly hadn't studied any monster lore but Prince Zenial saved him. "It's a two-zero if it is a cub."

"So, like a dire wolf?"

"Yeah, but dire wolves are pack animals, and the stone crusher wanders alone so one of them is much stronger than a dire wolf, the wolves would probably be one skulls if they weren't moving in packs," the prince most certainly had done his studying.

They continued to watch the fights as the gladiators killed monster rats, centipedes, and even a dire wolf in ever-increasing difficulties.

After two hours of fights, the showman raised his voice again. "I thank you all for your visit, the next show will be in the evening, and tomorrow at noon we will have the most intense fight this city has ever seen, the fight against the fearsome STONE CRUSHERRRR!!"

"So probably more like a two-one," Michael said to which Zen nodded. "Gotta come back for that tomorrow."

After that, they wandered the city for a while longer before they made their way back to the palace for the evening feast.

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Zenial

Zen had seen so many feasts and heard his father's speeches a thousand times already that he began to lose interest. His mind was wandering as his father talked about unity and strength, so much in fact that his sister needed to tap his arm three times until he finally noticed.

"What is it," he whispered to her.

She looked at him with a curious expression and asked, "I saw you arrive with the carriage earlier where were you?"

"I went into the city," he said, uninterested in a conversation with his little sister.

"What did you do there?"

He sighed, she would not leave him alone until he spilled the beans anyway, so he resigned himself to another thing he had no interest in, "I went with Michael and Theodore to the Monster arena. Satisfied?"

"Why didn't you take me along," she pouted.

"Because you are way too young for that," Zen said in a questioning tone, shaking his head at her.

"Michael is about my age," she argued.

"Maybe on the outside," Zen chuckled a little.

"Take me the next time or I will tell Mom that you have gone to see these fights again," she said with a smile.

Zen rolled his eyes; he knew that his mother would be mad if his precious little sister told on him. She always said these fights are for peasants and not royalty and he should go for the more sophisticated things in life. It was hard enough to convince his knight not to spill the beans but to deal with his sister was easy at least.

"Fine, you can come," he said with a defeated tone, and she just smiled at herself and turned back to her food.