The castle wall collapsed. The earth continued to quake, and booms resounded in the air. The ground beneath me shook so fiercely I tucked in my head. Seconds later the earth crumbled beneath my feet.

Jolts spread through my back. On both sides, rocks imprisoned me under this desk, its top curved in the shape of a concave bowl. It creaked and splinters began to shoot out. Unwilling to be crushed to death, I quickly created stone pillars to hold it up.

Although the earth had stopped shaking, the above ground explosions persisted. I dedicated a bit of my mana to heal my back while I dug a tunnel. This time doing so with haste. Not long after I began the excavation, I was met with a rock I couldn’t destroy. My sword vibrated, reaching for the wall. I cleared the nearby earth and created a flame big enough to light up the surroundings, but small enough not to exhaust the air too quickly.

The fire illuminated a peach-coloured wall which blocked my path. Dark red and light blue lines streaked across it and my sword gravitated to the wall. I pulled the sword out of its scabbard and let it be plunged into the wall. A hole opened and I entered.

Wooden chests were stacked up to twice my height. Through their wooden slits gold glinted. On the ceiling, pulpous material illuminated the room bright yellow. And in the back of the room, a scepter stood. Its shaft made of gold was ornamented with rubies, emeralds, and other precious stones I didn’t recognize.

The sound of exploding stones came from the other side of the peach-coloured wall. I ran to the sceptre and seized it.

Mission completed.

You gained the title Emperor of Flora

10 Additional trait points have been allocated to your Status and your potential has increased.

Just as I received the last of the system messages, a hole opened in the wall and the woman with silver hair I had met in the sealed forest appeared.

Mission: Defend your inheritance and establish your power.

Rewards:200 god’s favours.

“Aren’t you the one…” she started to say, but her eyes wandered down to the sceptre in my hands.

Her eyes glinted with fire and the desire to fight. She was no doubt the descendent of Lilianna and had a mission related to this scepter as well.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

I slashed at her with the sceptre and a wave of intense heat escaped.

She thrust her sword into the ground. A wall of ice exploded up and cut the room in two.

I’d seen this before. I jumped to the side and created an earth pillar where I stood. A foot broke through the wall, soon followed by a stab of the sword. The stone pillar exploded into shards of ice. I swung down my sword and slashed her back, but my blade couldn’t cut her studded leather armour. With a pivot, she swung her sword, and ice shards shot towards me. I absorbed her attack with a rock wall.

I exuded my black haze and released a flurry of flames. She created another ice wall. If this kept up I’d win by exhausting her reserves, she didn’t seem to have ascended into beasthood.

“Who are you?” I heard her ask through the wall.

She hadn’t believed me the first time I had already told her my identity so why should I repeat myself. I spread my black haze and waited for her to cross the wall.

“Can’t we come to an agreement? I’ll pay you in gold. Perhaps you have the strength to fight me, but do you have the connections to hold together a kingdom? I’ll pay you handsomely.”

Empty and useless words. “I’m already the prince of the kingdom of Rosalia. What rights am I lacking?” If she wouldn’t come to me, I’d take her out.

I stabbed my sword into her ice and channeled my mana into it. Flames spread in the wall which cracked and with the clap of thunder, imploded.

Ice spears rushed at me, but, yet again, my rock wall blocked it all too well. This fight was going nowhere. How long would it last? But as I tore down my rock wall, the lady with silver hair escaped out of the room.

Tired, I sat down. Perhaps, I should recuperate a bit of energy, but now with the sceptre in hand I was so close to achieving my dream…

His dream. Our dream.

Regardless, this dream would let me achieve the other.

I got up and headed back into the tunnel I had dug. But when I pressed my blade into the peach-coloured wall. I found nothing but earth. I moved my blade about in the wall, trying to find my tunnel, but I only found earth, worms, and her tunnel. Not wishing to deal with her again, I headed to another side of the room and started digging.

When I used up a fifth of my remaining mana I began to dig up to the surface. I hoped that I had travelled far enough to avoid her. When the soil was filled with roots I sat and waited for my mana to recover. The air here was cooler, but with each passing minute it grew heavier. Apart from that, my little burrow wasn’t half bad.

I didn’t know how long I’d been hiding here, but my mana had nearly recovered. I poked a small hole in the earth above me. Light shone down and fresh air soon followed. But as quick as the light came, darkness returned. The underside of an ant appeared. I held my breath.

Soon after light returned, but the earth began to shake. I couldn’t wait for this runaway life of mine to end. It tired me.

I pressed my hand against the earth above me, turned the bottom layer of earth into hard stones and infused rose flames into them like I’d done to the knights earlier.

The ants no doubt served that woman. They’d try to outnumber me, but it wouldn’t work. I’d find a way to escape.

A large boom resounded, and the surrounding earth collapsed. I sent the rocks into the air and burrowed back down into the tunnel.

I channeled all my mana into the rocks. Multiple large bangs resounded above and shook my organs. Blood lined my lips. It tasted of iron. Thankfully I had a bit of mana to heal me.

At least I heard the scream of ants above. I hadn’t wasted my mana for nothing.

I crawled out to conserve some energy. But as my head popped out the earth a spear made of flames descended towards me.