Thorjen Verse. 4 - The Knights Exam (Pt.2) - Inner Chaos

Thorjen

Standing this close beside the area sent goosebumps crawling up the tiny hairs along his arms. Thorjen was currently half submerged within the shadows, standing in a small area closely beside a tall rack of crudely shaped iron weapons. He could smell aged blood from them if he stood close enough. But he didn't mind, right now he was locked into the sheer brilliance of this atmospheric splendor.

Directly above, the roars from the seated guests jampacked into the arena filtered through. He could also see the main ring from where he stood, and the surrounding seated crowd enclosed around it. All eyes centered towards the two fighters locked in battle.

The sun brightly shone a majestic golden glow against the center ring. Beneath it, the two fighters were like titans fighting within a waterfall of gold.

Arya's duel had started a few minutes ago and Thorjen was left in awe by how masterful the girl was, especially considering she was dealing with a ranked knight who was twice her size, there was hardly any threat from her opponent nor did she ever seem as though she was being pressured.

'Her attacks are quick and precise. She hardly wastes any movement and never allows her strength to surge wildly after the first attack. She moves like water but her attacks are as ferocious as fire...and probably as heavy as stone. Heh-eh-a-amazing'

Thorjen felt his heart beating faster, he was excited! His natural talent for understanding battle forms was on full display at this moment. Despite his weak body constitution, his eyes were sharper than most of his peers. And he discovered at an early age that he could read through both battle and martial forms if he focused intently on them in real time.

Arya moved gracefully with little to no effort. Attacking and parrying at will, the ranked knight couldn't land a clean blow against her fleeting movements. She was like the wind, moving through everything thrown her way with little to no resistance at all.

At a certain point, Thorjen had completely forgotten Arya was the one challenging the ranked knight. You couldn't have known judging by the overbearing pressure she was constantly putting on the knight.

Another minute ticked over and Thorjen's gaze widened again. Arya suddenly stopped in the middle of the ring and pressed her knuckles together. A surge of two Qi's spiked and two bright colours roared free from her body and danced wildly into the air.

'Ah! Th-those are the same two auras I saw from her before. Seeing them in battle like this is an entirely different matter though...she's strong'

Thorjen felt little beads of sweat dotted against the back of his neck. Just from watching a brief display of Aryas power, he could already sense he stood no chance against a power like that. Even if she cut it down by 50% or so, she would still most likely overwhelm him.

Her aura covered her entire body like a ghostly flame. Thorjen 's eyes locked onto her aura control mostly, he still couldn't understand why aura appeared in the form of flames whilst Qi appeared in the form of a thicker liquid, something similar to ink.

Arya was soon covered completely in armour made out of water. Again, Thorjen's mouth slackened wide out of shock. He felt his mind storing everything she was doing. He felt something strange within his chest. Something was moving in accordance to his will. He couldn't describe it too clearly, but it felt as though he had more than his two eyes eagerly watching the fight before him.

Minutes continued to cycle along until a horn was soon heard bellowing into the air, signaling the end of Arya's duel.

"TIME!"

The onlookers erupted into a sea of choruses and cheers. Thorjen felt a warmness seeing Arya had done so well. He too couldn't help applauding her display.

"Oh-excuse me are you the last young hopeful waiting to take the test?" He heard a gentle voice arriving behind him.

He twisted around to find a man clothed in boiled leathers standing in the shadows, he had pale and wavy short hair and an unmissable red scar carved from the corner of his left eye, down across to the right side of his chin. Despite his slightly scary appearance, his eyes were filled with glee with a broad smile affixed against his face.

"Oh-y-yes I am." Thorjen replied back slightly reserved.

"No need to look so nervous. This is an important moment for you. I too remember vaguely just how nervous I was during my test. Haha such an interesting time. The names Jax by the way...Silver ranked knight at your service."

"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Thorjen...Silver ranked Knight you say? You must be strong then"

"Ahaha I've worked my socks off I can tell you that. But between iron and Silver ranked knights the main difference separating each band would be experience. It's hard to gauge a knights strength with just the ranking alone. After all, it wouldn't be so impossible for a Knight to speed run themselves to a higher rank."

"Speed run? is that somehow cheating your way to higher rankings quicker?"

"Yes, precisely that. It involves using resources to setup your own party under the guise as beginners when truly you've employed secret experts and high rankers to help you fill out the quota needed to advance along the rankings. Usually the rich brats from noble families do this."

"that sounds...unfair. But I would imagine the kingdom is aware of that? Aren't they do anything to stop it."

"Not much you can do about it. After all, you still have to beat a ranked knight to be awarded the promotion. So there's that. Haha don't let me bore you with such things though, just thought it would be good for you to have a base understanding towards that matter. Also, you don't look like you've got any gear-so take this and go ahead and get changed over there. You've got a short window before the intermission ends."

*Thorjen received basic gear*

Thorjen carried the gear he received towards a nearby open storehouse filled with small boxed sized rooms with opened doors. He picked an empty room by chance and proceeded inside where he begun to shed away the travelling clothes he had been wearing for numerous days now.

_'What's that smell...' _He thought to himself, whilst he handled the gear Jax had given to him, he could smell something strong faintly lingering on the clothes he was given to wear.

It smelt odd enough to draw his attention as he then started to wonder if these were recently used clothes. The thought made him feel a little sickly, but he understood he was under no privileges to kick up a fuss, considering he didn't have the right gear equipped himself.

'Also, what's up with this sword' Thorjen felt the blades weight was lighter than the usual swords he had handled in the past. He also noticed a strangeness about the bladed edges. He gently smoothed the sharp groove with his palms, and couldn't help narrowing his gaze as he discovered the edges were blunter than normal.

'Maybe the swords are supposed to be like this for the test. Sigh, that certainly makes this battle already twice as hard. But I can do this! I just need to survive for 7 minutes. It's been a while since i've actually had any form of sparring. Hopefully I'm not too rusty.'

*****

*footsteps ascending*

Thorjen slowly closed in towards the arch shaped golden light just up ahead. Despite being submerged within this lightless tunnel, he could feel the noise from the arena vibrating throughout the dark stone walls. His heartbeat gradually quickened with each footstep he took.

‘I’m finally here…Mother. Julien…Th-threya.’ He could feel the nervousness growing inside of his heart. But there was something else also existing within the same realm. The feeling of excitement.

‘Wait for me…I’ve finally made it here.’

Thorjen exhaled one more lasting breath before he finally stepped out from the shadows where he was instantly swallowed by a mass of bright and warm light.

“Groaaaaaaar!”

“Woooooo-let the show begin.”

“Do your best boy!”

“Try not to die so quickly ok”

Thorjen was completely stunned in place, feeling an overbearing pressure from the collective roars spreading around the arena. This was completely strange to him, since he had never felt Qi gathered into a single place like this before.

‘This is...insane…it’s not like they’re doing it on purpose. But the tiny amount of Qi they’re exuding from being so animated, is collectively creating a vacuum of pressure.’ He sniggered mockingly at himself. Perhaps if he wasn't so weak this might've not effected him as much.

“So this is what it means to be a knight? Can a cripple like myself even get past this stage .’

He glanced at both the rusty iron sword and the short wooden shield in his possession. A strange feeling crept inside of his heart. He remembered the red bead festered from the the guardian of chaos’s last hope passed onto him.

‘I…I can do this- of course I can. I am strong!’

He beat the center of his chest in hopes of psyching himself up, before he carefully made his way to the center of the ring.

The place was as wide as he might’ve imagined it to be. He felt almost lost at sea as he took a few moments to admire the sheer width of the arena. There was a thin walkway which allowed him onto the ring. But beyond the rings edge was a steep fall which descended into darkness.

Thorjen gulped nervously once he noticed that. ‘Which means you can be killed by fighting or killed by falling…this-this wont be easy.’ He chuckled nervously

Not long after he had taken center stage. He saw the adjacent portcullis gates being raised. Once they reached the top he saw a towering brute covered in dark iron scales slowly unearthing himself away from the shadows. With each mighty step the brute took a small patch of sand jumped up.

Thorjen observed him with slightly concerned eyes whilst he approached. That huge iron sword in his hand sent shivers running down Thorjens spine. Watching this iron brute slowly advance. There was a slight premonition which surfaced within his mind, that perhaps, he was being overestimated.

The knight was built strong like a bear, his shoulders were wide and yet the top of his helm still reached around 7 feet high. Thorjen tilted his head slightly upwards. His eyes didn’t betray the concern ladened inside of his heart. Instead, he met the chilling stare piercing through those thin slits cut into the helmet. Gazing down upon him with dread

“Ho-oh-ho-oh. Ey Kid! Ya sure ya cut out for this? Don’t wanna ruin that pretty face of yours now do we? Buahahaha! Ya folks cant do nutin to me neither. This arena is protected by the laws of the Queen ya see. So don’t think I'll go easy on a highborne sissy like yaself. Now then...come at me.” He grunted fiercely before lifting the the broad sword into the air and letting free a guttural roar.

“ROARRRRRR”

The crowd replied dutifully as hundreds of voices all bellowed to the top of their lungs in unison. The open roof heavens were suddenly filled with the roars of the multitude.

Thorjen felt the entire floor beneath him quake in response. Their cheers erupted like a battle song and sent an unexpected feeling of doubt crawling into his bones. He fought against the downcast feeling by reminding himself, this was the place he dreamt of being since he was little. The road towards knighthood, so what if he was weak, he refused to give up.

He placed the flat side of the rusty iron sword across his chest. He closed his two eyes and slowly went through the breathing techniques he had learned from both his mother and the guardian of chaos.

Thorjen squeezed the pommel tightly, he then bent his knees slightly and tried gathering as much pure Qi as he could beneath his soles. He understood his body couldn’t weave Qi as fluid as his peers but he could still just about use it to slightly enhance his movement and speed.

A few seconds passed on by gently, Thorjen waiting for the broad sword wielding brute to make the subtlest of movements. That opportunity arrived once Thorjen noticed a small black and violet coated butterfly, strangely dancing delicately past the knights vision.

“Ah-choo-scram you blasted thing-”

*Whooosh*

Thorjen buried his heels deep into the earth before pushing off with the **** of a leopard as he sprung towards the knight. His plan was simple, he would first strike as quickly as he could, aiming beneath the knights arms and behind his knee. Once the knights' movements were detained, he would simply keep his distance and wait for the timer to run its course.

He was under no illusion that the knight was by far stronger than he was, but Thorjen assessed that with that towering hulking frame of his, he stood a chance to survive just so long as he moved well and caught the knight off guard using speed. Being unable to properly cultivate **** Thorjen to strive to perfect other areas where he did have a little more control over. His foot movement. One of the staple techniques which all cultivators must hone.

Thorjen saw the knight adjust his large frame quicker than expected. The sword moved from one hand to the other before he felt a tingle against the back of his neck. He sensed danger was near and responded by diving so low, his body almost made an unnatural slight push against the ground. This allowed him to still maintain his charge forward.

The knight's attack whistled dangerously over his head. Thorjen didn’t have a second to breathe, and increased his pace whilst he positioned his iron sword at an angle to take flesh.

*CHING! * He passed through the Knight and skidded against the white sandy ground. His eyes were visibly widened as he peered over his shoulder towards the hulking iron unmoved by his attack. He times that to perfection, almost. And yet...

“Grrr...f-fuck his armour...so-so strong”

He felt his arms go numb as though he had struck the side of a mountain. Nerves threatened to gather within his chest, but he held firm and shook the dark thoughts away.

“Guauhaha! Slippery little fish ey...Well, it’s my turn.”

As soon as those words were spoken Thorjen felt a heavy pressure in the air descend. He sensed danger again and swiftly dashed away from the iron brute.

“Not so fast! Here catch this” The knight audaciously tossed his sword, which caught Thorjen unprepared. ‘Shit...’ He made a cross guard whilst he used the momentum to attempt to twist his entire body to one side.

*BOOOOM*

“Arggggh”

His body slammed against the arena floors and bounced a few times, but he managed to find his footing and pressed his palms against the ground to stable his roll.

‘F-fuck...that s...word...That’s not an ordinary weapon’ the second he felt the iron closing in on him he sensed a heavy aura pressing against him. Thorjen counted his lucky stars that the throw wasn’t as accurate as it should’ve been.

‘He’s probably still sparing me. This is a duel after all.’ He thought to himself wiping the trickle of blood running down the side of his lip.

“Not bad-but I wanted you to do that guahaha...Lesson one. Never judge an advanced gear the same way as a normal weapon...it’ll cost you your life.”

Thorjen felt a cold chill descend against his bones again this time every nerve within his body was screaming at him to dodge. He froze in the moment as his instincts kicked in and screamed at him to look above. He saw a dark world falling towards him in a hurry. Not giving him even a second to relax, Thorjen flipped backwards, just about narrowly avoiding the fallen iron sword from taking his life. The **** still sent pieces of rocks harshly beating against his body. The armour he wore wasn’t nearly as sturdy as he first thought. Gradually he began to feel the biting pain from the wounds being marked against his body at every given opportunity.

Very quickly Thorjen could see carmine liquid oozing out from his cuts, he wasn’t familiar with these light leathers, but he was confused as to why his apparel felt so heavy. His limbs were getting heavier each time he moved whilst the knight was getting quicker, and sharper.

For the consecutive time, Thorjen found himself being tossed across the arena floor.

*CLING –SWOOSH-BAM-WHOOSH – CHING-SHICK –BOOM*

The rusty iron sword finally shattered.

‘This isn’t good...how did I get injured to this point. His mind started to move at a faster pace whilst his eyes tried to remain locked onto the knight and the dancing sword almost moving freely with its own will.

As a result, he found himself constantly on the backfoot, either retreating or narrowly escaping fatal blows.

By the time the 4-minute mark had gone. Thorjen could hardly see straight. His vision was a distort blur with misshapen colors flashing across his sight. Caught between two minds, he was constantly trying to steady his heavy breathing whilst keeping his mind clear in order to avoid losing consciousness.

One single wrong step and he knew he was done for.

By now the crowd were jeering against him, begging for him to lose quicker. The knight hardly broke a sweat as he simply kept throwing that giant sword whenever Thorjen created enough distance from him, or he would use his flurry of short and unpredictable swings if he got too close.

The perfect attack and defense. As painful as it was to be on the receiving end of it. Deep down he had analyzed it to be the perfect way for the knight to fight.

‘If only I had power strong enough to break that defense. I might stand a chance.’ Thorjen took a careful look at his body, he understood from a single glance that he wasn’t going to last long. He was breathing heavy, and each time he paused he felt the corners of his eyes being filled with darkness. Sinking into a state of hopelessness, he heard a feint mocking laughter from the unknown depths within his consciousness. Thorjen snapped his eyes open. A particular face appeared within his mental.

_‘The guardian...of chaos?’ Thorjen turned his hand over and gazed at the lines against his palm. **‘Oh right...there was that move.’_** He balled his shaking hands into a fist and raised his sunken head again.

He couldn’t see the knight’s face, but he could tell he was mocking him.

“Buahaha finally understood? Well-well this took longer than I initially thought...Guess we should end this ey.”

The knight twirled the giant sword as though it hardly weighed anything. Thorjen felt the air pressure around him changing, but there was something strange about how he was feeling right now. There was something reacting to his feelings at this present time. As though the deeper he sunk into hopelessness, the stronger the bond between he and the red bead was.

“HAHAHA given up? I don’t blame you. This stage is only for the strong! Here! take my strongest attack.” The knight's aura exploded as he gathered momentum from swinging the sword around, right before tossing it like a javelin towards the boy sat on his knees.

‘If I do it like this...I wonder what will happen.’ Thorjen was in a strange situation, despite the roaring danger only seconds away from completely blowing him away. He didn’t really move, keeping his eyes focused on his palms. He felt the murmurs hidden within the darkness find his thoughts again, that time he spent trapped beside the guardian of chaos. He remembered hearing them softly at that time as well. Without a second thought, Thorjen stretched out his index finger towards the iron sword roaring his way.

*SHREEEEE*

“D-d-dark...ball*

*BOOOOOOOOOM*

Thorjen felt the air in his lungs cease. His world had turned upside down, in the literal sense of the word, his body felt weightless whilst his eyes were spinning. He was seeing the azure skies, the ground, and the roaring crowd spinning constantly. Thorjen then felt his falling body sinking into a fall of darkness. Clarity suddenly snapped into his thoughts, and he instinctively stretched out his hand, just about catching the rough edge of the ring.

“OOOOOOh* the crowd groaned

‘Not yet...n-not yet’ He grit his teeth painfully and pulled himself back up with all the last remaining strength he could muster. His body made cruel sounds whilst he forcefully pulled himself back onto the ring.

The crowd erupted with cheers as soon as he resurfaced.

Thorjen couldn’t bask in the cheers right now, he immediately fell to his knees. Heaving hot air through his mouth, with an immeasurable feeling of heat writhing throughout his frail body. ‘D-d-amn...Th... this is all...I can d-do.’ He thought painfully to himself.

Thorjen felt his entire strength sapped away from his bones. The noise...the feeling of pain...the fear of losing again...he felt a surge of emotions converging into a single point.

*Ding*

He felt it clearly this time. The red bead crying out to him.

Darkness clouded his vision.

Other POV

Being a knight wasn’t easy. Egor understood that truth somewhat a little better than others. Especially considering he spent all his youth training his body and his skills with weapons. Only to grow up to discover that the fame and riches he thought would come with being a knight, was promised to a few chosen folk.

He had already lost the passion he had as a youth for questing. The risks were too much whilst the level of quests he could take offered him very small money. Nowhere near lucrative enough to justify the means. Therefore, Egor had become just like everyone else. Stuck in the mud.

Today he had volunteered as a trainer for the new runts who were hoping to become knights. The Queen didn’t exactly pay as generously as you’d expect, but nonetheless she paid. Which was something Egor had time for. There was also a strange added incentive for him personally. Prior to him readying himself for this duel, a strange fellow had approached him with a weighted bag of coin. The job was simple. Kill the boy but make it look like an accident. And Igor might’ve refused if he hadn’t seen the pile of gold inside of the pouch, offered as down payment with a promise for more after the deed was complete.

Killing young ones wasn’t exactly the reasons he became a knight in the first place. But there was a first time for everything.

What he didn’t understand was why killing this strange but certainly weak youth was taking this much time.

He felt his Sword striking something stiff. And the thud he heard echoing after, sent an odd shiver running down his spine. Egor summoned his gear back without haste.

*whoooosh*

The swords arrived back towards his side dutifully. Egor wrapped his gloved paws over the pole. His heart felt relaxed for some reason once he held onto his weapon again. He inspected the sword a little more but found nothing after an initial glance. Egor was poised to chalk up his fears as delusions, but then he noticed a small crack against the lower half of the broad sword. He turned the gear over and almost swallowed his tongue because of what he saw.

A small area against the shimmering white steel had been corroded away. Egor’s heart shook. The sheer cost of the repairs alone was going to leave a lasting dent in his pockets. Not to mention concept gears were becoming very common, and those mages were enjoying the idea of extorting prices.

‘Fuck-fuck-fuck…how could this happen.’ Egor was assured he didn’t overuse the thing, nor did he feel any outside interference.

‘So what happened to it?’ He wondered darkly. He noticed the weakling crawling back onto the stage. He himself was a little surprised by that. Considering the boy should’ve well and truly gone past his limits. But yet here he was, fighting against his fate.

Egor felt a swell of rage boiling inside of him. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was so angry seeing the boy, but he was the one to blame for this mess. Egor had enough of this farce and stomped his way towards him in order to end this duel. He grappled the pole again in his grasp. And readied himself to deliver the final blow.

Egor drew his sword back and lifted it up, ‘so long kid.’

He was poised to bring the sword crashing down devastatingly, expecting to see blood and guts splattered everywhere, but something strange happened. The boy slowly raised his head and Egor saw a wide and almost sadistic smile creased against the youths face.

As if the smile wasn’t bad enough, there was something very wrong about those eyes the boy gazed towards him with.

‘M-magenta? Wh-why are his eyes that colour.’

Egor suddenly felt an unnatural wave of dark aura descend upon him. He heard the skies groan and saw the arrival of dark clouds forming above the arena. Egor panicked and desperately tried to retreat away, but it was too late. He felt a stillness forcefully hold his entire body in place.

“It’s too late now…chaos is here. It’s awake…it should eat…will you feed it?” He heard a voice speak softly

Egor moved his rattling eyes towards the area where he heard that voice. It was from the boy? And he was standing as opposed to his earlier prone position. His wounds looked to have been miraculously healed as well, with a bone chilling an air of arrogance surrounding him.

Egor noticed a strange starry light gathered just above the youths head. It was almost trying to form a ring but couldn’t quite do it seconds later the halo turned into dust. A true sense of fear suddenly filled his heart. Egor glanced downwards, and saw many pale and golden eyed snakes converging onto his frozen body. He couldn’t move, nor make a sound. The only thing he could do was move his eyes.

‘Pl-please…please don’t.’

The boy took a lasting gaze towards him before looking up towards the clouded skies.

Thorjen

*Gasps*

"...s-save m-me...Thorj..."

“No! Threyja don’t!”

---

Thorjen awoke clutching his chest. That dream again he dreamt about many times before. But what suddenly shook him free from the gentleness of his dreams, was the drastic change in his scenery. He was seated on a crunchy forest bed, surrounded by a strange woodland with purple and dark reddish shades of leaves and flowers scattered everywhere . The partial grass was was blue, and the skies were a peculiar tint of twilight. It felt like it was morning despite it being noticeably dark. He couldn’t quite place his finger on why he thought that. Somehow he just understood it to be so.

‘Damn it! Is this a dream again? One moment I was in the arena, then the next…w-wait. What the fuck is that.’ Thorjen gawked at what he could only make out to be a large set of pale wing’s sprawled against the floor. He couldn’t see the body of the creature from this angle, since it’s wingspan was so wide it blocked most of its body.

Thorjen understood something was wrong so he gingerly rose to his feet and cautiously walked towards it. Upon arrival he could finally see the body of the winged creature more clearly.

It was a pale furred tiger of some kind, with deep set crimson eyes slowly fading. It was sprawled lifelessly against the ground with soaking wounds against its stomach as though something had bitten into it. Thorjen noticed as it lay motionlessly in a pool of strange gold liquid.

Thorjen felt his heart ache very badly. As though he could feel the **** himself. As though he had lost a piece of himself by its passing. Tears unwillingly started to fall down his cheeks. The skies above him rumbled violently.

‘Something…is angry.’ He saw a trail of golden blood splatter leading away from the beast. Curiosity had gotten the better of him so he ended up following the trail.

Thorjen met all manner of large fruits, oddly shaped trees and moving flowers as though they had a will of their own. He met no other creatures, both small nor big. He walked for quite a while until he noticed a small clearing between two slanted trees. There were tall arch shaped stones standing in the middle of this clearing. Along the ground was a beautiful array of golden petalled flowers with blue stalks. Thorjen was mesmerized to the point he understood he shouldn’t walk amongst those flowers. Admiring them from a far was enough.

“Boy…”

A soothing voice laced with murderous intent filled his ears. Thorjen jumped back and fell into the arms of a very tall and slender figure. He looked up and saw a ghostly pale face staring down upon him, the face belonged to a very handsome man, he had straight silver hair, soft magenta eyes and a chiseled jaw. It took him a little longer to piece together why he felt safe around the fellow but it snapped into his thoughts soon enough.

“Ch-chaos? You’re the guardian of chaos…you’re alive!”

“Fufufu I told you my real name boy. But it is a pleasant surprise to see you again so quickly.” Thorjen noticed a strange doubt within the guardians gaze.

‘Why is he looking at me like that? Did he not know I was coming? Matter of fact…’

“Wh-where is this place?” He asked glancing around a little more at ease this time.

“Oh you haven’t realised it yet? This is your “inner realm” Similar to your sea of consciousness but a little more special. They say only mages at a high level can see such realms. Fufufu.”

‘Mages? Then am I?’

“You’re wondering why someone as weak as you can arrive at such a place?”

Thorjen nodded slightly embarrassed by being so easy to read

“It’s simple. It’s because you’re not normal… boy. You are special, more so than you could even imagine. Come.” He placed his unblemished pale hands against Thorjens shoulders.

“Walk with me. It might not look it, but there are dangers lurking that we must avoid.” Thorjen followed Mastramundus, he looked back at those arch shaped pillars once last time. ‘Now that I think of it, they remind me of tombstones.’ What also caught his attention was the stain of something sparkling against the side of the guardians mouth. It gave Thorjen the feeling he was either hurt or had been eating something.

***

The guardian led Thorjen through the whimsical forest. They talked about may things.

For starters, what the guardian of Chaos was even doing here. To which he explained how he was merely a fragment of his old self, existing in a form of a spirit which exists within Thorjen, the same way the bead exists within his sea of consciousness.

They also spent time discussing practical matters, like advancing Thorjens cultivation through the methods of him enduring pain and hardships. And how Thorjen mustn’t be afraid to allow his emotions to take over if he was backed into a corner.

“That feeling of explosion in your gut. Do not neglect that feeling. The cultivation art I honed was based off the strong emotions I carried back when I was alive. Pain, suffering, constant betrayal, broken loves. All these things will help you cultivate the dem-ahem I mean the red bead.

Also, you should avoid training with the knight guilds at this stage. You clearly have some kind of innate attraction towards mana. So seek the mage schools and perfect how to master the arts of magic. This will help you understand my cultivation better.”

Thorjen remembered the same words being hashed out towards him by Geary as well. Everyone was assured he should join the mages. Only he wasn’t, his dream was to become a knight after-all.

Thorjen felt the sky groaning again. This time however he saw an incredible light show above, as green, purple and red streaks of thunder marked the skies.

“A-amazing…so this place was made…by my mind?” He was expecting a response from the guardian. So he turned his eyes towards him. Thorjen was surprised to see his eyes narrowed, noticeably with a glaze of fear against them.

“B-boy…it’s time to go. The powers that wish for me to be dispelled from this realm are approaching. But listen to me, you are strong, believe in yourself and keep going. Failure is the opportunity to understand where you went wrong. Do not drown in your sorrows, but allow yourself to use that power to strike back! Never let anyone's betrayal go unpunished... Remember my teachings boy, meditate with the red bead at any given opportunity. I will one day be able to communicate with you properly…but for now. Survive.”

Thorjen felt confused, why was he going? Where was he going and who was trying to dispel him away from this realm? 'Wasn't I the one who created this realm' was the real question he wanted to know

Thorjen himself felt a sense of gladness once he saw those multi colored streaks of lightning. He had so many questions but it seems time was not permitting him to get them across.

The guardian gently tapped his chest, which sent Thorjen almost flying back into an endless void.

“Oh…and well done…you’ve mastered Dark (Demonic) Eyes.”

….

‘Why is so dark again…why is it always dark. W-wait…it’s noisy.’

Thorjen felt comfort layered beneath his aching body.

“Listen I don’t know who the hell you think you’re talking to like that but this isn’t your call to make.”

“Oh and I guess it’s your call? Pfft who cares if you’re his 'childhood friend’ I have important business with the weakling so ill be staying put. And you should respect your elders and higher Rankers, I could kill you if I wanted too girly.’

“Shut up! Thorjen isn’t weak! He’s the strongest Elf I’ve ever…”

“You two keep your voice down…he’s waking up.”

‘Why are there so many voices. I recognize tw-two of…

His vision was a blur, gradually refocusing itself. Thorjen was staring at a pale ceiling. But then he saw a someone with reddish fiery hair appear. Her almond eyes were filled with azure. She had on golden armour with a face which was oddly torn between shyness and annoyance.

“Ar…arya?”

Thorjen was about to question why she was here but then a voice he hadn’t heard in many moon’s suddenly filled his ears. Thorjen felt as though time had slowed down.

“ Thor-Thorj…*whimpering* is it…really…Thorjen...are you my…Thorj?”

He slowly turned his aching helm, seated on the edge of a bed he somehow found himself lying on, was an immaculate Elven beauty. Perhaps when they were young he was too naïve and green to understand the telltale’s of a beautiful woman. But now they had somewhat grown more. And Thorjen finally understood.

Threyja was one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever set his eyes upon.

He felt a whole range of different emotions at this moment. But only one had made it to the forefront of the picking.

Joy.

Thorjen felt immense joy to be reunited with her again.

“Ye-yes…heh-heh..It’s really me...Threyja” He said slightly brokenly tears welled against his eyes

“Waaaaaaah! Thorjennn!” Theyja almost leapt into his arms, crying her eyes out.

“There she goes again.” Said Arya

“Ouch-ouch!”

“Hey you’re hurting him you weirdo! Let him go- look he’s still not healed yet.” Said a voice from someone he didn’t recognize. Thorjen followed the voice and beheld the woman.

She was a tall and very voluptuous woman with striking long pink hair and two furry ears. Her outfit was revealing to the point Thorjen fought hard against staring at her rather enormous sized breasts.

“I’m…so-sorry Thorjen. I…I just can’t believe it…you’re alive! But how?” Threyja whimpered with a bright smile despite the fall of many tears

Thorjen understood how Threyja must be feeling, hell, even he still couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea he had been missing for so long. He wondered where he should start. But firstly.

“Who are you?” He noticed a second figure he hadn’t seen before sitting quietly in the corner of the room.

The obvious girl was wearing a mask and playing awkwardly with her lavishly long blue hair. She had subtle tanned skin which gave Thorjen the impression she must be a strikingly beautiful person. As soon as he spoke he saw her slightly tremble.

She exhaled a deep sigh before she started to remove her mask.

The tall girl with furry ears panicked. “N-no wait you don’t have too.”

“It’s ok Ness…I want to…show him.”

Whilst she adjusted the straps around her face, eventually the mask fell away. There was a deep gasp from Arya first. Her usual icy demeanor looked to have been startled.

“Y-you…it cant be…” Arya mumbled. Thorjen watched the mask fall away and even he had to admit. If Threyja was one of the most beautiful Elves he had ever seen. Then this girl before him, perhaps she just might be one of the most beautiful human woman he had seen. Her eyes almost left him starstruck. And unwillingly felt butterflies stir in his gut.

“I am…I am Princess Lana of the Lucien Kingdom. And I have been looking forward to meeting you. Thorjen the half ling.” She creased the most prettiest smile he had ever seen. Thorjen was almost lost in her captivating beauty.

But he was brought back to reality again , once he felt a light hearted tap against his shoulders from Threyja, who he had realized was still hugging him. “Where are your eyes watching Thorjen. Hmph.”

“Pfft- So this is your true nature Elf? A man who seeks to taste many fruits? You pervert I knew it!” Arya added disapprovingly.

Thorjen couldn’t wrack his mind behind how he had gotten into this situation. One moment he was involved in what felt like a life or **** duel. The next, he was surrounded by beauties.

‘Heh…My life is never easy.’

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