Ezra scratched his head as he smiled, hobgoblin never even thought of Ezra having such a tender side in him.
"This hobgoblin's name is Didara and he is here to be the personal guard of mother." The prince said as he gestured towards Didara.
The smart hobgoblin quickly knelt and spoke. "I give my respect to the King and Queen"
"Raise Didara, you are part of our kingdom now. I will arrange a room for you in our castle so that you can be by Queen's side all the time.
Didara's big head daintily nodded when he heard this as her rough and thick voice sounded, "I'll give the best of my services."
"You must give your best, if a single hair of mother is damaged, you will be held responsible for it." Ezra Zephyr glared at Didara after his cold warning, the latter flinched and slightly shuddered.
Mirza and Tania looked at each other and then pivoted their sight at Ezra and said "Since your concern has proactively been addressed, let us get ready to get back to Red Sky City. There is someone you must meet, be respectful when you see him."
Ezra nodded. Deep inside, he became curious about this new person.
The 6 of them followed the exit way out of the cave and as soon as they stepped out Ezra's eyes fell on the Imperial Guards, in the front row were 9 strong young men and women, the 9 Supernovas.
The army gave a respectful salute and knelt right after. "WE WELCOME THE CROWN PRINCE, EZRA ZEPHYR." The united voice echoed like a war horn.
The King of Bloodfang Kingdom went on to instruct supernovas to get ready.
A breeze brushed at his face, the familiar atmosphere and air hit Ezra differently. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Ezra, eyes full of wonder, questions and expectations.
Ezra strolled down the 9,999 stairs of the pyramid and delicately said, "Supernovas, report before the prince."
Within a blink, 9 outstanding youths arrived before him and respectfully knelt. "It's been a long time, hasn't it brother Rockey?" Ezra said as he looked at 1st Supernova, Roch Whitefang.
"Haha indeed, Prince Ezra. We are very glad to see you again, we have been working hard to fight beside you since you left and all of us have reached Foundation Establishment Stage. Me and Jani Galearms are at mid 7th level, the rest are at early 7th level or peak 6th level of Foundation Establishment Stage, except for the youngest Ivar Wrathside." Rockey answered.
Ezra remembered the weak boy Ivar, he looked at him and what Ezra saw was a completely different person. A ferocious and powerful beast, he smiled at him and said. "You have reached the peak of Foundation Establishment Stage's 7th level, very impressed my friend."
"Crown prince, it's all because of you. Now my mother is happy with me and she ordered me to pay your kindness with my life as my father did." Ivar Wrathside said.
Ezra's strong hand delicately stroked his hair as he looked into the distance. Before long, he showed an evil grin to supernovas. "Don't worry, I'm not someone with the character of sacrificing lives. I will make sure that those lionman bastards taste the agony created by our blood and hatred." The scene of Ezra sent chills to all 9.
Ivar's eyes widened, ever since he started training he surpassed his seniors and never backed down from a spar or training. But this time, his instincts were telling him to avoid this person. "What is this sudden fear... what happened to the prince when he was inside the grotto." He questioned himself and he was not the only one, the remaining 8 had the same thoughts.
The most surprised one was Rockey, as he was the one who knew about Ezra the most. "What is with his sinister energy, is he the same innocent Ezra that we knew of?"
Ezra's quiet and cold voice contained a horrific fragment that made supernovas shake a bit. Even they were way stronger than Ezra, to the point where their one swing could kill the prince.
"I didn't know you had a such good impression in your kingdom." The monstrous wolf of Norse finally spoke.
"Ohh.. you are alive! I thought you died when we teleported." The prince retorted.
"So these are the people you gave 6th-grade spirits cubes, how disappointing! 5 years and they couldn't reach Soul Formation Stage. Except for that Ivar lad who is passable the rest is just a pile of trash, such a shame you wasted cubes on them." Fenrir said his piece.
Ezra Zephyr sighed "This is as fast as they could, stop complaining."
"Complaining? I stated facts. Upper realm people would have reached Nascent Soul Stage in 5 years."
Ezra wanted to cuss him loud but controlled his fury. "Sometimes I wonder if you are what you said you are, you are comparing the upper realm with this lower realm? Wise men were right when they said 'Common sense is not so common"
"Did you just call me dumb" Fenrir was enraged while Ezra didn't bother to answer him.
When he rode on Blazing Tail Pony and made some distance from Pyramid, a wave of energy emerged from Pyramid and stucked Ezra Zephyr's wrist. Ezra looked at his wrist, it was a bracelet with Fenrir's head on it. "This is your spatial item, the entire timber and cave is inside of it."
"Thanks for making it look stylish"
The familiar roads, gates and castle. The aroma of incense burning and sparrows chirping on the large windows of the castle.
Ezra was lost in thoughts of the past when he was interrupted by his father. "Let's go this way son"
They took a route and arrived inside an ancient room. The king looked at the shelf and dragged his finger on the books before tilting a certain old book.
The room started to quake, the wall slid sideway and a secret path was opened.
When they went inside, there was a gigantic room. It was made for training, walls had strange ancient runes that makes the room sturdy.
The prince's gaze ultimately paused on a recliner in the very middle of the room. where an old man in black was peacefully resting as he gently rocked back and forth.
As if he had sensed Ezra's gaze, the old man opened his eyes and looked at the former.
The young man's pulse increased faintly when he saw the old man's eyes. Those eyes were filled with an indescribable ancientness as if they had experienced countless aeons.
At the same time, Ezra Zephyr was able to feel a thick declining and decaying aura cloaking the old man. As if he was a ferocious beast trapped in a cage, losing all hopes to get back his freedom. Seeing all that, instead of worrying the prince smiled wickedly and uttered "Interesting"