"Haaaa!"

With a powerful swing of the sword, the dummy made from enchanted steel was split into two cleanly, but the middle-aged man did not stop swinging, proceeding with three more swings that further tore th dummy apart, causing it to fall to the ground in pieces.

With a deep breath, the man eased his body out of his stance and took a break, watching as the various runes made from the ancient language flashed across the dummy's body, causing the pieces to slowly float in the air and reform into a complete whole once again.

The red-haired man did not get the chance to start practicing again as one of his subordinates walked into the room and bowed.

"Lord Solvian, we got a letter from the Capital."

"Who is it from?"

"The sender is Duke Terron."

"From Aelric? Give it to me."

The knight walked towards his lord and handed over the letter and quickly retreated a few steps, both out of respect and due to the extreme heat around the Duke.

As Duke Solvian Ignire continued to read the letter, the surrounding temperature continued to rise along with his Aura before he exploded in laughter followed by his Aura receding into his body, allowing the sweating Knight to sigh in relief.

Despite having an Aura related to flames just like his lord, the Knight who belonged to the Falmeclad family, the subordinate Knight family of the Ignire Duke family, was unable to endure the sheer heat generated by Duke Solvian.

The only ones in the dukedom that could even come close to enduring the Lord's Aura were none other than his children.

"My Lord?"

"Hm? Ah, it's nothing to worry about, Adrian. I just got some amusing news from my old friend. Looks like we will be hosting his son for the next few months until the academy opens its gates. Aelric wants us to give him some 'practical experience' since he seems to have recently learned Aura."

Duke Solvian laughed once again as he saw the dumbfounded look on his Knight.

"That good for nothing learned Aura? Did the sun rise from the West? Are the Demonic Beasts breaking through the wall?"

"No need to be so surprised, Adrian. In the end, no matter how useless, Cedric is still the son of the Shield of the East, not to mention who his mother was. It is a given that he would succeed in gaining Aura at some point in his life."

"…That makes sense. Then, shall I make preparations?"

"Please do. He should be here in two months' time and will be with us for about eight months. Also, inform my son and daughter of my orders, they are not to provoke Cedric in any way as long as he is here. But if the brat messes with them, then they have my blessing to beat him to a pulp."

"Understood. Also, there is another matter."

"What is it?"

"We have spotted a large group of Demonic Beasts swarming on the other side of the wall. Nothing too bad, a bunch of Shadow Wolves, a few Ignious Raptors, and some Infernal Drakes. But the way they are swarming is slightly suspicious."

Immediately, the jovial expression on the Duke's face turned serious as he contemplated the information.

"Raise the gates and double the guards manning the wall. Issue a curfew within the town, no one goes in or out of the town after sunset. Gather a retinue of Knights and have them stand guard where the swarm is estimated to arrive in case of an attack. Inform the quartermaster to start rationing the food supply. The swarm might be just a group of rogue monsters, but we cannot take any kind of risks if we are wrong."

"Understood."

The Knight bowed with a serious face and headed out to implement his Lord's instructions immediately.

The Kingdom of Luminarion was the only human settlement on the entire continent which is dominated by Demonic Beasts and a few groups of other races. Due to this fact, the Kingdom is besieged on all sides by the Demonic Beasts, and on some occasions, other races that had joined hands with human Demon cultists.

It is the reason why the ruling class of the Kingdom is made up of nobles who have powerful forms of unique Aura powers.

The Shield of the East, Duke Terron, guardians of the Eastern territory of the Kingdom. Their Earth-powered Aura allows them to thrive in the mountainous area and keep the dangerous Demonic Beasts of the area in check. Their territory is responsible for the majority of the Ores and Minerals that are distributed across the Kingdom.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Duke Solvian, who is known across the kingdom as the Sword of the West, and his family are responsible for guarding the ancient Western Wall of the Kingdom, keeping the massive population of Demonic Beasts, Demon Cultists, and the other races that have made their home in the ancient woods in check. The Western Wall is also known as the Western battlefield due to how regularly the people of this territory clashed with the Demonic Beasts. The Ignire territory is also famous for its blacksmiths and metalwork.

It was also the place where a majority of the Noble families lost their children due to their inexperience in life and death struggles.

The only reason the Ignire family did not receive any blame for the deaths of nobility was due to their contributions to keeping the Kingdom safe. But that did not mean that the other Noble families gave up on plotting against them.

The deaths of Duke Solvian's eldest son alongside Duke Terron's eldest son were one of many examples of the attempts made by the lesser nobility that lost their children to the western borders on the lives of the Ignire family.

Thankfully, that incident was just one tragic event that happened due to their negligence, a fact that they had rectified from that point on thanks to the Aquatia family.

If the Terrons were the Shield and the Ignire were the Sword, then the Aquatia were the hidden daggers of the Kingdom.

The Aquatia family guarded the southern borders of the Kingdom and guarded the people from the vicious monsters that lurked in the sea. They were also the main source of seafood and other water-based products. The only academy in the Kingdom that taught healing to its students was also located in their territory, making them the greatest healers on the continent.

But the fact that was only known among the nobility of the kingdom was that the Aquatia family also had a secret spy network spread across the Kingdom, even within the Imperial family. So great was their power, that not even the Imperial family was confident in finding out the spies among them even if they were to torture every single person in their palace and beyond for years on end.

The Imperial Family protects Humanity, The Duke families protect the imperial family, the Marquis families protect the Duke families and the lesser nobility support the Marquis families. Such is the system that makes up the Kingdom and protects the presence of Humanity on this hostile continent.

This was the system that allowed humanity to persist despite the many threats it faced both external and internal.

But things are now starting to change, it was apparent to Duke Ignire just as well as the rest of the nobility.

The unrest in the western forests, the stirring of the Infernal Drake nest within the Eastern mountains, the recent sightings of Merfolk near the southern shores, and even the rumors of a Kraken spotted on the Western shore by the scouts that venture deep into the Western territory.

Above all, the suspicious silence from the Demon Cultists across the Kingdom.

All of these events were causing those in power to start feeling uncomfortable. The fact that the lesser nobility were starting to push for their children to not attend the Imperial Academy, one of the greatest honors for a noble child, was telling of just how cautious the nobles of the Kingdom were feeling.

And as if all of this was not enough, there is also the political war being waged between the eldest prince, Valerion Altair, and the second prince, Thalion Altair, for the throne.

All in all, it was quite clear that the Kingdom's future did not look good in any way.

This was the reason why Duke Terron was sending his son to the Western territory so that he could learn to defend himself should something happen to Duke Terron. And he was not the only one with that thought.

Duchess Lysandra was also pulling her daughter, Elara Aquatia, out of the Aquatia Healing Academy and sending her to Duke Ignire's territory for training.

Duke Solvian chuckles as he gazes out of the window, thinking back on the memories he had of the two children.

"Things will be very interesting. Let's see if you can withstand the hotheadedness of your Cousin and the scorn of your childhood friend, Cedric Terron."