Xavier, flanked by his trusted knight, exited his palace and headed for the training grounds
Arriving, his appearance immediately drew the attention of some guards training.
"Your Highness, why..."
"Shhh" he put his hands over his lips gesturing them to be silent. Then he took slow strides towards a nearby stool and sat, crossing his legs over the other.
His eyes darted around the area, finally landing on a certain short head wrapped boy.
'Hmm...where have I seen him? He looks oddly familiar and his aura... it's quite strange. This should be fun'
Just then, Lucien arrived followed by a stunning young girl.
She had long sky blue hair pulled into a ponytail, striking hazel eyes that sparkled likeke gemstones and was very curvy. She seemed to be no more than twenty years and wore a simple short black dress that clung to her body showcasing her curves in all the right places.
"Hi guys, I'm Aria, I'll be training with you, please take care of me" The girl waved at the crowd.
"What in the world...?" One of the men muttered, his eyes fixed on Aria's curves.
"A girl? Training with us? This has to be a joke, right?"
"This can't be true, right? A girl has never been allowed to be a guard"
"What sort of insult is this?"
The crowd immediately burst into a frenzy, even Xavier couldn't help raising a brow, narrowing his eyes slightly. This was... unexpected.
"Hey, girl, why don't you go find a husband instead of coming here? Didn't your mother ever teach you that such places aren't for girls? At this age your rightful place should be in your husband's house!" one particularly burly man growled, his fingers pointing acussingly at her.
"Uncle, thanks for your advice but there's no rule that states that a girl isn't allowed to be a guard, so why exactly can't I be here?" Aria stood tall, hands akimbo, locking eyes with the burly man.
It was true. There was no particular rule that stated that a lady wasn't allowed to be a guard. Tradition however dictated otherwise, and no girl had ever dared to breach that unspoken rule, well... until now at least.
This was what really gave Lucien a headache, when he had heard someone was causing trouble at the gates.
He had immediately rushed there, only to arrive and see the guards sprawled on the floor, clutching their bellies tightly, blood spurting out of their mouth.
He was immediately shocked but it quickly switched to anger, and he questioned the only possible attacker... the girl.
It turned out, she had arrived at the palace and requested to be let in, hoping to be a guard.
The guards eyed her with disdain, concluding she was just lying and was probably just coming, hoping to attract the attention of a rich noble or maybe the prince. It was a well known fact that the demon prince was very handsome.
Facing rejection from them countless times and seeing them about to throw her out, she attacked, leaving them in their current states.
Then Lucien was called here by the other guards that had withnessed the scene
What surprised him was that he didn't see any weapons on her, so she had beat two grown men with swords barehanded and still appeared to be bubbling with energy.
It was simply... monstrous.
Since it wasn't really her fault, he led her into the training ground.
"Enough! She'll train alongside you, and if she's not worthy, she'll be dismissed. Simple as that." He swept his gaze across the crowd, his eyes locking onto Xavier for a brief moment before moving on. Since the prince didn't make his presence known, he must want to access the trainees performance secretly.
With a nod, he continued, "Now, let the training begin! Anyone can be challenged, and if challenged, you must accept. No exceptions." His voice echoed across the grounds, and the crowd immediately erupted into a flurry of activity. Men scrambling to find opponents.
Aria took slow strides, her hips swaying slightly as she walked up to the burly man who had been targeting her earlier.
Standing before him, she scanned her eyes over his body, taking in his well defined muscles and broad chest.
The man couldn't help straightening up, seeming to enjoy her attention and a small smile crossed his face.
'This girl had probably fell for him after his 'manly' display earlier.'
"Since you seem so confident in yourself, I'll give you the honour of being my opponent" she finally spoke, Her eyes locked unto his, her gaze piercing.
"Huh?" The man's jaw dropped, his eyes widening in disbelief, his lips parted slightly as he inhaled sharply, his breath caught in his throat. He blinked rapidly as if trying to make sense of what he just heard.
"Are you challenging me?" He pointed at himself.
"Do you see anyone else here? If you don't have the guts just say it but Sir Lucien already said we must accept any challenge" She waved him off.
"Hahaha..." He burst into laughter, clutching his belly as if he'd heard the most funniest joke in the world.
"Little girl, I must commend your courage, I really admire you, I accept your challenge, but don't think I'll go easy on you just because your a girl" His smiling face quickly switched to a cold indifference.
"Don't need it, you should be more worried about yourself, none of my opponents have ever left in one piece" She smirked, her body emitting a cold bloodlust. The man couldn't help shivering slightly, feeling like he was the prey standing before a predator.
All the other guards also scrambled about, each rushing to pick their own opponents.
Alexia just stood in place, scanning the crowd of men walking past her, no one had come to challenge her, probably due to how frail she looked in her oversized clothes.
But she didn't mind and just kept sweeping her eyes over the crowd, searching for her perfect opponent.
"Too short..."
"Too thin..."
"Too tall..."
"So fat..."
She seemed more like a girl searching for a husband than an opponent. But who cares! if she wanted to be appointed to the main palace where all the good stuff were kept, she would have to perform outstandingly.
After some pointless searching, her eyes finally landed on a burly man, he just like a giant, his frame as solid and unyielding as an ancient oak. Broad shoulders strained against the fabric of his coarse tunic, muscles rippling beneath tanned skin hardened by years of labor.
His hands, large and calloused, bore the marks of many battles, and his square jaw was set with a determination that spoke of unshakable resolve. Beneath a mane of unruly brown hair, piercing dark eyes glinted with both wisdom and the hint of a warrior's ferocity.
He crossed his arms over his chest leaning against the wall, it seemed no one was willing to challenge him.
"Just... right" she walked up to him.
The burly man just casually stared out indifferently completely bored, that was until he noticed a small boy walking towards him.
The boy stopped in front of him and eyed him from head to toe, then nodded his head, seemingly satisfied.
"I want to fight you" Alexia said.
"Son, What did you say?
"Are you deaf? I said i want to fight you and who the hell you calling your son!"
The man couldn't help being a bit dumbfounded, out of all this men none of them dared challenge him, he was already thinking he'd have to go challenge someone himself yet this little brat just walked out of nowhere and did it. He even had the guts to call him deaf.
"Aren't you a bit too cocky brat? This isn't a playground, you..."
"Oh just shut your trap hole! are you fighting me or not?"
"Good, good, good" he nodded his head repeatedly, his face turning cold. " No one has ever dared to talk to me like that, i accept your challenge, but don't regret it later when you leave with a broken leg or two"
'We'll see who regrets it' she mused, grinning widely.
Sweeping his eyes over the ground and seeing that everyone seemed to have selected their opponents, Lucien nodded his head.
"Good, now first up, Aria versus Bryan"