They walked deeper into the castle, the scenery had changed. Swords hung off the walls that were decorated with pitch black. The floor was pitch black while the carpet that led down the hallway was a dark red resembling blood.
Seraph looked around and noticed that there were no other rooms except the single room at the end of the hallway… 'Why make a huge corridor for only one room?'
Seraph looked out the window, the view was amazing as always however, he felt gloomier and the pressure around him increased the more he went further down the hallway.
The maid had to bow mid-way through their journey and requested to leave. Her face was dripping with sweat and she had finally lost her composure. 'This is what happens to normal people..'
Seraph also felt the pressure increase, He felt the will to kneel down 'Damn, why is this not hard for them…'
He looked at Sela and Alena who had grim looks on their faces but regardless they were able to walk normally without any form of problem. The more he went down the hallway the more pressure he felt causing him to slow down…
[Circulate holy mana. ]
He looked at the system message in front of him and did as he was told, circulating his holy mana he felt a huge part of the pressure come off of his shoulders. He rolled his shoulders as a smile spread across his face 'Thank god.'
They reached a great door, the door looked more like a small gate entrance more than it did a door. He looked to the side and saw the humongous great sword that hung next to the door… He then looked back at the elegant door.
Alena opened the door and a wave of power shifted through the room and into the corridor. Seraph eyes widened as he saw the behemoth of the man in front of him…
The man in all respects of the word was a giant, a great white beard and his long hair was pulled back into dreadlocks. His arms were as big as logs, and his face looked fierce and elegant like a lions. His broad chest was covered by his toga and his hand held onto an ax handle…Seraph attempted to measure the man's height with the door and found that the man could be taller than 7'0.
However, what surprised seraph the most was that this tall and mighty man was in his bed just gazing at them emotionlessly.
Seraph looked to the side and saw that there was a little cart of things next to him that had ax handles in it and ax heads… 'Quite a hobby… but my information was right the king is a warrior.'
Seraph froze slightly, the man that he heard from Alena should be confined to the bed and be weak… However, the man in front of him could be considered anything but weak. The king looked readied to pounce on seraph the moment he did anything wrong.
Seraph was even quite sure that if this man wanted to he could kill seraph with a single thought… 'That pressure I felt must've been mana if he really wants to… he could simply increase the amount of mana he's outputting and crush me right here and right now.'
"Seraph, is it?" The Behemoth of the man spoke. His voice was neither loud nor was it imposing as Seraph first thought it would be.
Seraphs arm bent and his hand touched his chest, he took a step forward as he knelt down with his head bowed "Yes, Your Majesty?"
Seraph had learned this much from yesterday's research. Which surprised Alena and Sela who were about to intervene until they saw Seraph's reaction. Both of them looked at each other, they both shook their heads then looked back at seraph's kneeling position.
"Hmmm…" The King nodded, "You have learned this much from us. My Daughter must already be teaching you how to act…"
The King's oppressive gaze left seraph and turned toward his daughter, "Y-Yes, Dad. I've already taught him at least that much…" She chuckled softly… she had completely forgotten about the king's greeting. She was his daughter after all so paying attention to his greeting never really crossed her mind until they were actually here.
Alena seemed special, she neither greeted nor did she have any form of interaction with the king other than standing in the room she was practically the most ignored person in the room.
The King waved his hands, sending Alena out of the room. Silence enveloped the room, until she came back this time accompanied by two maids with chairs.
"Come and sit down." The King spoke more softly, the pressure in the room gradually decreased.
Seraph stood and took his seat, the chair positioned him directly in front of the king's bed. The King loomed over seraph, but seraph felt calm and stoic. If it was him before, he probably would've been sweating bullets just being in the same room as the behemoth.
Seraph looked to the side, seeing Sela pull out a chair and sit down next to him.
"I've heard much about you." The King had set aside the ax handle in his hand.
Seraph nodded, "Thank you, your majesty. It's my greatest pleasure to be seen by your grace."
Sela stared at seraph, his mannerisms resembled that of a noble. He even looked calm. 'Is this the power of a hero?' She shook her head at the notion, 'No, No… Father has destroyed many heroes and all of them were destroyed easily…'
The King noticed the shocked looks his daughter and her servant gave but didn't react much. He waved his hand, a servant coming over and pulling away the cart from his bedside.
"Mh, in the outskirts of the dark forest, you saved two dark elf children. Killed two High Elven hunters and made my daughter's servant use mana." The King said things in a matter of fact way.
"You've even wooed my daughter, just from a glance." There was no malicious intent, when he said those words but seraph could feel the pressure increase ever so slightly but from a different source.
Seraph glanced to the side, before quickly saying, "The princesses beauty is unparalleled and her talent is unrecognizable, it's my greatest pleasure to be favored by the princess, however, I believe his majesty may have needed something from me?" Seraph had guessed that the princess was talented from their little 'exercise' in bed.
The king only nodded.
Sela seemed to remember something at this moment, "Y-Yeah! Father, this man is the-"
"The man to fix your problem." The King finished her sentence. "After merely seeing him, I can tell you he's well versed in are ways and is an elegant upstanding young man… However, that is all I can see."
The Princess expression seemed to sink, seraph didn't know what was happening between them but the princess lowered her head and gripped the bed frame, "But with enough training and trial… he could become something."
The king paused for a moment, "You will have 1 year and 3 months… After 1 year and 3 months, he will have to participate in the Warriors Academies Tournament. If he wins, he is the solution to these problems. If he loses," His emotionless eyes swirled, his originally gray eyes turned a frightening black as the mana in the room increased twofold.
Seraph felt the pressure pound him into the ground, forcing him to kneel, he saw the same situation repeat to everyone in the room "If he loses, then he has to go. I can only suppress their advances for this long… any longer and i'll be forced to continue with this."
Seraph heard the king's words clearly, 'What entity could force a man like that? How strong are these groups?'
Sela nodded, "I understand…"
…
They left the king's room. Silent, Everyone was mulling over the king's words. Including seraph, however, he had more pressing concerns… like where his things were. He expected to see his items with the king, but he found that he was wrong.
"How did you…" The Princess finally spoke up. Seraph straightened his back and turned his head to look at her, she froze for a moment but continued "When did you learn that etiquette? Are you really a hero?"
"I read it from the book." The princess looked at him oddly.
"What book?" Sela asked him with general surprise.
"The book you picked up this morning." Seraph was suspicious, he only had the book for one day. Yet, he picked up basic etiquette and the greeting for the king and then put them to action easily, he was either a genius or a spy.
'A spy wouldn't be this stupid…How could they have guessed we'd come there either?' The Princess doubted that Seraph was a spy.
….
However, back within the king's room. The King who sat on his bed leaned back, his back gently resting on the gigantic bed head. His hand was gently stroking his beard as he looked at his door, his eyes were faded ever so slightly.
"Sir." A man in black, came forth from the king's shadow.
"Watch him." The King's voice was powerful. His eyes didn't even glance at the assassin, yet the assassin felt his body press to the floor. He invoked mana to resist but the weight didn't lessen "Don't kill him. Don't protect him either, just watch."
After the king finished what he wanted to say, the assassin felt the pressure release him from its constrictive hold "Go, don't wait…" The king's words were impactful and struck the man like a truck. The assassin immediately nodded his head and escaped the room.
…
Seraph was forced to answer question after question on his way back to his room. Leading Sela and Alena to both realized that they had no idea who seraph really was. His answers always sounded vague or they were completely ludicrous.
Seraph even devolved back to his form of stuttering and shyness, 'They are asking a lot of questions... '
"You were like a different person in front of my father. How were you able to do that?" Sela asked another question.
"Oh? That? That was… I just felt calm. Alena told me that i'd be fine if i'm with you so i just put my entire trust in you." Seraph half lied and also told a half truth. He really did put trust into Sela simply because he had no other option, however, being calm was the result of the system.
He was sure that the system helped him but he couldn't help having an odd feeling about the system's help.
Sela looked at seraph, before leaping toward him. Seraph tried to evade but she was too fast and too close. She hugged seraph and pulled herself to his chest. Seraph froze, 'She's hugging me?'
He was about to hug back when he saw Alena just watching. He looked puzzled for a moment, 'I thought she got angry…'His eyes then drifted to the maids. Both of them were calmly looking at seraph. 'Maybe, i've imagined things.'
He hugged back,"Umm, your welcome?"
"You trusted me so much back there! That's so sweet!" She nestled herself into seraph's embrace.
After some time, they broke the hug and they continued on their way. They continued walking until they passed seraph's room, "Huh? Aren't I going back to my room?"
"No, we're moving you to a different room, a room more near to the princesses. So we can have a talk." Alena responded.