Cedric was not at all prepared for where the discussion with the prince and princess had led. Especially not with the way that Sir L had manipulated them into this situation. Cedric had actually missed most of the conversation. This time it wasn’t because he lost focus, rather they had begun talking with words that seemed to have alternate meanings. The surface of the conversation had been about the elixir and what it had done for Cedric, but there seemed to be a hidden exchange happening in those words.

Whatever the conversation had been about, it resulted in Cedric being led into the castle. He couldn’t help but feel a bit giddy as he entered the double doors. Sir L and the two members of the royal family were walking ahead of him, and he tried not to get too distracted. Using all of his attention into following the three people, he had missed the slight lip that had been set up for the door. His foot crashed into it roughly, and it actually broke under his strength.

His casual movements were quite strong now, and his usual stumbles would result in damage like this occasionally. It happened less now, but they weren’t completely gone. Years of stumbling into things and falling couldn’t get fixed quite so quickly, though the elixir had helped a little. Hitting the lip had caused him to stumble forward, but he managed to avoid falling by using an arm to push himself back up.

Raising his head quickly, he saw the three people had turned to look at him. Under their gazes, he found his mind race for something to say. The only thing that came to his mind was a stupid apology.

“Sorry about breaking the stone.”

He felt some heat on his face but managed to give them a smile. Only the princess seemed to find it amusing. Sir L was mocking him, and the prince seemed to become angry. Deciding that it went as well as Cedric could have expected, he quickly straightened himself and rushed after the three. He moved inhumanly quickly and startled the prince and princess. They didn’t let it show for long and turned quickly.

The hallway was long, and their walk took several minutes. The walls were painted white, and there was an endless stream of paintings along the wall. At first, he looked at each painting but quickly grew bored as he realized they were all of the people he didn’t know. They were probably old members of the royal family, though that was something most people didn’t care about. It was the current king that truly made Larkin great, and everyone knew it. The walk was long enough, that his mind had thoroughly begun wandering.

Even as they descended a flight of stairs his mind was focusing on what his next fight might be. He remembered how he had single-handedly stormed the wall, and that he would probably need to do so again. Oddly, he didn’t feel any fear, but somehow already felt some serious regret. The fight hadn’t even happened yet, and he knew that he would need to kill more people. How much longer would he need to fight?

Thinking about that question, Cedric followed the three aimlessly. He didn’t know how long the war would be but already wanted it to be over. He needed to try harder and impress the prince and princess. That would be the only method to get out of fighting for the sake of killing. Imagining being around to protect the king sounded amazing, and it would hopefully mean that he wouldn’t need to do so much killing. Even knowing that those he killed were chanters didn’t make him feel any better, but it did let him understand the need.

The three eventually stopped before an archway in the basement. As he made his way to the entrance, he took note of the golden lines embedded into the stone archway. He carefully stepped over the lip this time and entered the open space. There was a large circle painted on a smooth stone ground. The walls were made of stone bricks, though these weren’t painted white, and just had the natural grey color of the stone. He looked toward Sir L and the prince who were speaking with one another with more eagerness. The princess seemed bored at this point and kept sending weird glances at him.

He didn’t know what that was about and only responded with a forced smile. It was definitely awkward, but he couldn’t feel comfortable when in the basement of the castle. The three people in front of him didn’t help either. Eventually, Sir L finished with the prince and walked over to Cedric asking him a question nonchalantly.

“Do you think you could hit the prince without killing him?”

Hearing the words, Cedric did a few double takes. A dozen thoughts flashed through his mind, and he assumed that he must have heard incorrectly. His confusion must have shown, and Sir L repeated it much more slowly.

“Do. You. Think. You. Could. Hit. The. Prince. Without. Killing. Him.”

Hearing it spoken like that didn’t make Cedric feel any better, and he felt his gut churn from the words. He thought that he might vomit, but managed to contain himself and just shook his head no. In reality, he might be able to manage it but it was not a risk he was willing to take. Instead, he just spoke stumbling through his words rapidly.

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“No, w-why would I even do something like t-that?”

Sir L laughed and spoke again, not letting Cedric’s mind grow more confused. This must all have been some kind of sick joke, that seemed like a much more realistic situation.

“Fine just stop your attacks before hitting him then. Either way, get ready. You too are going to spar, take this as your first test toward getting the job.”

Sir L sounded normal, but Cedric’s eyes went wide. Not shock, but horror at the prospect of fighting with one of the princes. He wasn’t all that worried about getting hurt but was terrified of offending or harming the prince. Sir L didn’t seem all that worried and simply walked to one side of the room. He joined the princess, who was watching the fight with some serious excitement. Cedric squared his feet and prepared for some serious fighting.

Now that he was giving the prince his whole attention, Cedric watched as the space around the prince seemed to shake. No, it wasn’t shaking, but vibrating. It had done that before but now it was more violent. He was about to comment on it, but the prince raised his hand toward Cedric, and he watched the vibrating space seem to move around his hand.

On instinct more than anything else, he dove to the side. There was a flash of light, and he was blinded for a second before it quickly passed. His eyes healed quickly, and he saw what the attack had been. The sound of thunder only confirmed his thought. Lightning like the chanters he had fought recently. It was weaker than the one he had seen before though, and he turned his head quickly. The scorched ground and heat reminded him of something he didn’t want to. More importantly, he considered what it meant.

The prince having this ability surprised him. He rarely fought, so many people only speculated on what he could do. The reality was a lot more impressive than the imagination. As Cedric rose his eyes, he met the gaze of the prince. The prince’s eyes were wide with shock, and he seemed frozen in place. Confused by the man’s reaction, Cedric turned his gaze to the other two. Both had expressions that matched the princes.

Cedric had dived to the side and was still in a partial crawl. Pushing himself to his feet, he spoke aloud.

“What’s wrong? Did I do something bad?”

The questions startled everyone from their confusion, and it was Sir L who managed to respond first.

“How did you avoid the lightning? There was no way you knew what was coming. Even if you did, dodging lightning?”

Sir L sounded incredulous as he spoke, and the series of questions made Cedric realize what he had just done. The prince’s abilities were well hidden, and Cedric had dodged the attack. Also, dodging lightning sounded like something impossible, and if not for the weird thing he had seen it wouldn’t have happened. Cedric only shrugged his shoulders, explaining how little he understood. Even he was surprised by his actions.

Obviously, the matter didn’t drop there, and Sir L told him to try again. The prince seemed more determined now and raised both hands toward Cedric. Squinting his eyes, Cedric was able to make out the shift in the man’s aura. Jumping forward into a roll, he felt the heat pass above him. This time he closed his eyes though and managed to avoid getting blinded. This confirmed that he was able to see the prince’s attacks somehow.

The first person to speak was Sir L. He had left the side of the arena and stormed towards him with a wide smile on his face. Even before getting close, he started speaking without any worry and loud enough so that the others could hear.

“How are you doing that? I thought I saw you squinting your eyes.”

The words came excitedly, and the princess followed behind his mentor. She seemed just as eager for the information, and even the prince seemed interested. Cedric muttered a response.

“I can see something around the royal family. For the prince, it's like something is vibrating, and the princess seems to be hot. When the prince was going to attack, I saw it move, and just reacted…”

As he finished speaking, he noticed the slight blush on the princess's face, and he realized what he had just said. He couldn’t stop his own face from growing hot, and his mind raced to try and find the words to explain properly. Thankfully he didn’t need to as Sir L seemed to ignore it.

“You can see it? A new effect of the elixir? It is certainly something we will need to test and see if the others have a similar ability. This might make a big difference in the upcoming fights.”

The prince’s voice cut in before either Sir L or Cedric could continue their conversation.

“So, you can dodge, let’s see what happens when we make things a bit more exciting.”

The prince sounded annoyed and was obviously eager to continue the fight. Not resisting in the slightest, Sir L and the princess returned to the side. Cedric looked towards the prince unsure of how to proceed. The prince was obviously not happy with Cedric’s dodging, which was a bad sign. The bigger issue was that he wanted to get on the man’s good side as that would probably help him get what he wanted.

Rather than attempting to dodge the attack, he simply raised his arms in defense as the aura around the prince shifted. It grew more violently for a second before condensing, and Cedric realized that the prince was trying to delay his attack. It worked to surprise him, but he hadn’t planned on dodging, so it didn’t really matter. The lightning flashed white, and there was a searing sensation across his body. A second later the pain vanished, and the attack ended. Other than some burned clothing, there was no real damage.

Knowing that the prince would probably be surprised, he jumped towards the man. He cleared the distance in a single leap and landed beside the man. He moved inhumanly quickly, and the prince couldn’t react as Cedric placed his hand on the man’s shoulder. In an instant, the fight was over, and the prince’s face froze as he watched Cedric. There was tension in the air, and he was worried that he had done something wrong. A second later he heard Sir L laughing, and the rest of the tension vanished.