At the same time as Boe and Kamys were moving back to the camp, a dark shadow appeared in a middle of the Dale’s tent.
“Young master, I followed them, as you commanded, and watched them fight each other,” A hoarse voice belonging to the now kneeling dark shadow reported to Dale.
“Excellent. Tell me everything in details.” Dale’s eyes sparkled as he sipped wine from the glass and listened to the shadow’s report.
On their way back to the camp, Brienne never stopped talking about the fight she just witnessed. With a cunning smile on her face, she praised Kamys for his extraordinary achievements in his clan’s battle teaching and tried her best to find out the name of Boe’s battle teaching.
Kamys’ hands were lying on Boe’s shoulders because he still didn’t have enough strength to walk on his own. He was glad to discuss the battle with Brienne and smile never left his face throughout the entire walk. Boe, on the other hand, was quiet and his face looked grim. Seeing Boe’s mood, Kamys tried to lighten up the atmosphere, but he was completely ignored.
When they reached the camp, Brienne left two friends and went to her own place to sleep. Boe and Kamys were staying in the same tent while Richard was placed together with Gareth Ziegler, but when they reached their camp, Boe silently turned around and left without uttering even a single word. Kamys was left alone in the tent, thinking back to the fight and Boe’s strange behavior.
“Eldest sister, when will master get back?” Boe was standing alone in a middle of nowhere and talking to an empty air.
“Little Boe, if you need anything, you can always ask me.” Krstvinga appeared in front of Boe in the same bright green tight dress she was wearing when they first met. The green-haired beauty with sparkling green eyes and green scales all over her body was looking at Boe with a kind smile on her face, so Boe didn’t know how to react. He didn’t actually understand what kind of person Krstvinga was nor what should he expect from her. She was really an unfathomable existence that didn’t seem to belong in this lowly world.
“I just wanted to consult on how I could get stronger and what path should I take further.” After the fight with Kamys, Boe understood that even though he had an amazing master and an extremely powerful battle teaching backing him up, he was still inferior to geniuses of this lowly world. Kamys and other geniuses all over the universe were training from their childhood and Boe had only stepped on the path of wizardry mere few months ago.
“In my opinion, your strength is fine for your level and the time you spent on training. The problem is that you have almost no real life-or-death situation experience. What you need right now is not new techniques or weapons, but the experience in fights where your life is at stake to temper your spirit as a warrior. Also, you are training in a demonic magical art, so you need to bathe your hands in blood of enemies to strengthen your affinity toward demonic path of cultivation.” Each Krstvinga’s word was thoroughly thought through and had a profound meaning to it.
“Thank you, eldest sister.” After a brief period of thinking, Boe slightly bowed to Krstvinga and turned around to leave without saying anything else. He slowly walked back to the camp, reflecting on Krstvinga's words. But his face wasn’t grim anymore, there was now only a cold resoluteness to become stronger in his pitch black eyes.
On the morning of the next day, Kamys and Boe both healed up most of their injuries, but they didn’t spar anymore. Even though Boe’s behavior was the same as usual, Kamys felt that something changed about his friend.
Boe now spent most of his free time alone, practicing thirteen moves of his battle teaching while Kamys was now spending most of his time with Richard. Boe was already a rank 2 wizard, so he started training to break through to the rank 3. There were three major steps to become the rank 3.
The first step was to reach a certain level of control over the shadow attribute battle aura. Boe had to release a small amount of battle aura from his body, then control it to create a thin line over his entire body and maintain it for a brief period of time. Even though Boe already knew how to release battle aura in small amounts, he had no control over it after it was released. So the first step was basically to gain the most basic control over his battle aura.
To reach the second step, Boe had to control the battle aura to create different forms and shapes. If he could achieve the level of creating any form he imagined, that would be a medium level of control over battle aura.
The third step of the battle teaching’s breakthrough to the rank 3 was to control the battle aura to attack his enemies. In reality, any rank 3 wizard was able to do this, but each battle teaching was using its own unique method to do it. When the wizard would achieve the rank 3, he could use any technique without the need of chants as long as he knew the technique’s secrets.
At the end of the sixth day of their journey, Boe had finally saw the Fordothrond City on the horizon.
“Brother Boe, we’re finally near my hometown. I invite you, Richard and Kamys to my palace to stay there for the time being.” Dale came up to them after he exchanged a few words with Brienne.
“You’ve finally made a breakthrough during this trip?” Kamys had always thought that it was strange for such a talented youth from the royal family to be only at a rank 1.
“I could’ve made a breakthrough long ago, but my father forbade me to do it so I could participate in the trials. Even though you’ve managed to win the trial, it doesn’t mean you’re stronger than me in an actual combat.” Dale’s voice was full of arrogance and burning fury as if it was Kamys’ fault that he failed his father’s expectations.
“You want to try me out right now?” Kamys’ eyes were already burning bright with a fighting spirit. Apparently, the wild fire attribute battle aura influenced Kamys’ character on a rather deep level.
“I have no time to waste on you. Just follow me to my palace and then I’ll show you the glory of the Fordothrond City.” Dale didn’t even try to conceal his unshakable pride of the city he was born and raised in.
“Calm down, you’ll have more than enough chances to fight him during our adventure to the ruins of the ancient wizard Enthriil’s fortress.” Noticing that Kamys was about to say something, Boe had no choice but to interrupt him not to waste any more time here.
At the entrance to the city, Boe beheld enormous black gates made from an unknown metal. Just looking at them made Boe feel a pressure, they were five kilometers high and he couldn’t see the end of them on either sides. This city was far bigger than anything that Boe saw in his life. There were more than a hundred armored dark elf soldiers guarding gates and anyone who wanted to enter the city had to go through a thorough inspection and pay fees.
Due to the fact that they were escorted by the royal guards, Boe and company didn’t have to go through the regular procedures. They calmly walked past people who were lined up in queue the entire morning.
The scenery of the city hidden behind those gates was truly amazing. Vast streets, constantly brimmed by crowds of people, stretched across the entire city in a beautifully-designed infrastructure. City architecture composed of lithic buildings that rose hundred meters tall to the sky and immense strongholds that belonged to nobles.
The majority of people, naturally, were dark elves, however, despite a certain level of ill-will coming from indigenous population, Fordothrond City harbored all other races too, with humans being the second most common race. Half-beasts, dwarves, goblins, giants and other strange creatures that Boe had never heard of before even in books..
Dale led Boe, Richard and Kamys for almost four hours before they finally reached his palace. On the way there Boe saw quite a few big houses, manors and palaces, but Dale’s palace was a lot bigger than any of them. The whole palace was made out of a shiny grey rock. A giant stature of a red dragon was standing right next to the entrance of the palace.
“This palace is called ‘The Fire Dragon Nest’ and it’s one of the biggest private buildings in the whole city,” Dale proudly bragged about his house. Just by looking at this palace, Boe understood how highly does the king think of this son of his.
“Greetings, young master.” A deep loud voice sounded from within the palace as a three-meter-tall brown-furred minotaur with two spiral horns on its head came out of the palace and knelt down on one knee upon seeing Dale.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Kreoz, these are my guests. Escort them to the guest rooms and then prepare a feast for us,” ordered Dale nonchalantly to the minotaur before walking past him and entering the palace.
Boe went in without even thinking, while Richard and Kamys silently looked at each other before following Boe.
“Was that a real minotaur? I’ve never heard of a half-beast in form of a minotaur before!” Unlike Boe, Kamys was born in a high-class family and he knew a lot more about this world than Boe and yet even he had never heard of anything like minotaurs.
“Half-beast? Minotaurs aren’t half-beasts, they’re monsters. Half-beasts are dirty spawnings of magical beasts and humans or elves. Monsters, on the other side, are the genuine race that were created the way they are now. My father caught Kreoz on one of his adventures and brought Kreoz here to serve him long ago. When I turned twelve, my father gifted me the monster, so I’m the master of Kreoz now. He’s bound by the magical contract, so he has to obey all my orders and will easily give his life to protect me.” The minotaur behind Dale clearly heard each Dale’s word, but he didn’t even flinch.
Boe was looking at the minotaur with an interested look in his eyes. He clearly felt that Kreoz was unfathomably powerful, but he didn’t feel any energy fluctuations from it.
“How strong are you?” Boe’s interest piqued, so he decided not to hold himself down and asked the question while looking straight at Kreoz.
“I would crush you with a single finger, if we were to fight.” A deep voice of the minotaur pierced right into his head as Boe’s body crumbled onto the floor with no power to resist the pressure from Kreoz.
“Kreoz, he’s my guest!” Dale’s shout resounded throughout the palace and the invisible force that pressured Boe vanished without a trace.
*BAM*
“My apologies, young master. My savage nature took control over me when I saw the fighting spirit in the guest’s eyes.” Minotaur dropped on both of his knees and smashed his head onto the ground right after it heard Dale’s voice.
Dale came close to the minotaur while Kamys and Richard helped Boe to get up. Boe’s body was still shaking from the natural fear it felt toward such a strong opponent.
“Slice off your right hand.” Dale’s voice was as cold as ever and his eyes were full of killing intent as he stared at the kneeling Kreoz.
“Yes, young master.” Without even standing up, Kreoz used a talon of his left hand’s index finger to slowly slice off his own right hand. Even though he easily cut through the skin and muscles, slicing off the bone was far too hard, so Kreoz spent more than a few minutes slowly grinding down his own hand.
*drip-drip*
A huge amount of blood was splashing out of the minotaur’s shoulder as he finally cut his right hand off his body. Kreoz finished his self-punishment without uttering even a single sound.
“Now clean up this mess and prepare rooms for my guests.” Dale shot a last chilly glance at Kreoz before turning around and escorting Boe, Richard and Kamys into his palace.
“That was too much. Boe is already fine, but that poor minotaur lost an arm for that.” Kamys was shocked by Dale’s cruelty, but he couldn’t say anything to the owner of the house, so he silently complained to Boe and Richard.
Even though Boe thought that it was a harsh punishment, he didn’t care about the minotaur, so he didn’t answer to Kamys.
Richard shared Kamys’ opinion, but he chose not to involve himself too much in that matter so he only slightly nodded.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Kamys. Minotaurs are monsters after all, so they have an extremely powerful regenerative ability. In just a few hours, he will grow a new hand for himself,” Dale calmly explained everything to Kamys as they finally reached the huge hall with a table in a middle of it. “Let’s eat and then we can go for a walk around the city.”
Kamys and Boe looked at each other and then took their places around the table. All the food on the table was breathtakingly luxurious and even drinks were of the highest quality. Boe had never enjoyed the meal as good as this one, so he ate twice more than usual.
When they finished eating, Dale invited Boe, Richard and Kamys for a tour around the city, but all of them declined as they wanted to rest and patiently wait for the time to enter the weaponry. Dale was rather upset, but he understood everything and let them do as they pleased.
On the next morning, Boe woke up because the sun was already shining right through the window to his face. He quickly dressed up and went down to the hall to meet up with everyone else. Dale, Kamys, Gareth, Richard and even Brienne were already waiting for him there.
After some brief greetings, Dale escorted everyone else straight to the weaponry. Before entering it, Kamys received the fire attribute magic essence and Richard got his spirit nourishing pill as it was promised.
As a winner of the trials, Kamys entered first and spent an entire hour inside of the weaponry. As he walked out of it, Kamys’ face was brimming with joy. He got himself a high ranked protective treasure in form of a simple-looking red robe.
Even though Dale was the prince of the kingdom, it was only his second time entering the weaponry. But just a few minutes after entering, Dale came out of it with his usual cold face and refrained from commenting.
Even the usually solemn-looking Richard revealed a rarely seen smile as he exited the legendary weaponry of the Dark Elf Kingdom. After a few minutes of nagging, Kamys had finally managed to see that Richard picked an icy blue sword for himself.
Gareth didn’t say a word nor did he show any emotion as he entered and walked out of the weaponry. Kamys wanted to know what Gareth got, but he managed to restrain himself, so his treasure remained unknown as well.
As, at last, Boe entered the huge building of the weaponry, he looked around himself and was deeply astonished to find himself in some kind of illusory array. Endless rows of words appeared around Boe that described all the weapons and treasures conquered throughout a number of wars in The Dark Elf Kingdom’s history. Boe only needed to name the item he was interested in and he would immediately receive it. But after thoroughly scanning through the information, Boe was rather disappointed. Although all items in possession of dark elves could be ranked fairly high, their value would fade before any random item from the Thomas’ mansion’s treasury. In the end, Boe casually picked the set of dual short swords and went out of the building.
Boe and company spent the whole next week strolling through the city and enjoying best places of entertainment. Due to Dale’s influence as the prince of the kingdom, they didn’t have to pay for anything and could enjoy the best treatment possible, so that even usually cold and indifferent Boe and RIchard liked such sort of pastime.
On the morning of the seventh day, Boe, Kamys, Dale and Brienne left the city and moved out for a journey to the ruins of the ancient wizard Enthriil’s fortress, as per agreement. Kamys tried everything he could, but Richard still rejected the invitation, mentioning an indisputable order he received from the patriarch of his clan, and left alone to get back to his hometown.
“Fordothrond City is incredible! Mark my word, one day i'll live in the city of the same caliber, and definitely will be an important figure in it!” Kamys casted the last gaze in direction of the city as they left it far behind them.
“The Royal Capital of our kingdom is even bigger and a lot more beautiful.” Brienne lived her whole life in the biggest city of The Shadow Kingdom, so there was nothing new in Fordothrond City for her.
“HALT!” A middle-aged man, riding a huge wolf, hastily ran toward Boe and company, and pulled up before them as to stop them from moving any further.
“On your knee, soldier.” Dale revealed himself, stepped forward and looked at the soldier as if he was looking at an ant under his feet.
“Your highness.” After seeing Dale’s appearance, the soldier immediately jumped down from his mount and dropped to his knee with a loud sound. It was easy to understand that Dale was a part of the royal family because of his pointy ears.
“What kind of urgent matter could happen that you dared to interrupt my travel?” Dale’s voice was even colder than usual and a killing intent broke out from his body.
“I beg your forgiveness, your highness.” The middle-aged man’s voice was noticeably trembling and he didn’t dare to look up.
“You better have a good reason for your prior behavior.” Dale’s frigid and frightening aura broke out of his body, white translucent white balls appeared out of nowhere and started sinisterly howling. The middle-aged man’s eyes went wide from shock and his body started shaking from fear.
“My-my nephew… He was kidnapped by the demon that appeared as the heavenly maiden.” Even though the middle-aged man was a rank 4 wizard and could easily dispel Dale’s aura, he didn’t dare to do so. So he had no other choice, but to withstand the pressure from the translucent spheres surrounding his body.
“Demon who changed his appearance?” After hearing about the involvement of demons, Kamys momentarily joined the conversation.
“Yes. the demon appeared in our village out of nowhere and then kidnapped my nephew, who was the most talented kid of my family for the last thousand years. Even though the demon looked like a 16-17 years old otherworldly beautiful maiden with blonde hairs, green eyes and a long green tail, she used some kind of mysterious magic that I’ve never even heard of. And after...” Before the middle-aged man could finish his sentence, he suddenly felt an enormous pressure and a thick killing intent focused on him that was far more terrifying than what Dale previously unleashed.
“Where is she now?” Before Dale and everyone else had a chance to realize what was happening, Boe started slowly walking toward the middle-aged man. A previously never-seen horrifying madness was bursting out of Boe’s body. His aura was as cold as death itself and his eyes were like two infinite pools of blood created from slaughtering millions of living beings. Without even using his demonification form, Boe was already radiating an unstoppable aura of the demon and anyone looking at him would certainly took him for a real demon.
“B-brother Boe?” Even Kamys felt a tinge of fear as he looked at the current Boe.
“That’s interesting...” mumbled Dale, thinking about something deeply. There was an obvious gleam of excitement in Dale’s eyes as he saw the current version of Boe.
“Big brother Boe, what happened?” Brienne’s voice was slightly trembling as she tried to understand what was happening. She was already used to the cold and indifferent Boe, but the current situation was a bit scary even to her.
Boe didn’t react to any of the three friends behind him as he kept stepping toward the middle-aged man, who was already covered in cold sweat all over his body.
“Sh-she vanished into the thin air right after she snatched my nephew. We used all our resources, but couldn’t find even a single trace of her. That’s why we’re now searching for her all over the place.” The middle-aged man was now prepared to flee for his life if Boe would come too close to him. He didn’t understand what he did or said wrong, but he had no desire to lose his life here because of a foul mood of prince’s friend.
“Lith!” Boe’s voice almost cracked from all the anger built up inside of him as he clenched his fists so hard that a fresh blood started dripping out of his palms.