" I am actually at the king's palace". Derkile said in amazement.
" It's so huge and beautiful!!". He mumbled in awe, while staring at the castle.
It was a well built, tall and round building made out of special materials, it had different magic stones decorating it, and on the top a large, shiny bright green magic stone was seen, it seemed to generate energy into the castle.
Derkile wondered how long it took them to build such a large building, but also remembered that everything could have been built within the flick of an eye by a sorcerer. Due to powerful sorcerers, many time taking processes have been made easier and faster.
He soon began to think of what he would do, as there was no where he knew.
' This should be the polling area'.
He thought , as there were a lot of little buildings for residents living with the king. But only people who had influence and were rich could afford to live in the polling area, which was wrong but no one could dare question the king.
A lot of people were moving up and down in the market place beside the polling area, as there were a lot of commercial activities going on like trading of foodstuff, stationary, daily amenities, but mostly one important thing..., And that was the trading of magic stones.
Magic stones of different sizes, shapes, colour, and strength were been traded, people bought magic stones for mainly two things, protection and power, and some could also be used as decorations, to furnish a building and so many more.
Only rich people, like the people residing in the polling area, could afford to buy a magic stone, because even the weakest magic stone could not be bought by a commoner. Magic stones were quite useful, so therefore they were costly.
Derkile kept on walking to nowhere in particular, but was glad that he had finally got out of the forest. He didn't know what to do because tommorow was the day he was supposed to arrive at the king's palace, but now due to what happened he had arrived a day earlier. Derkile was still thinking, when he heard a screaming of a woman.
He was passing a corner in the street, and from an angle, he heard the screaming of a woman.
" Leave me alone, you jerks!!".
Derkile didn't mean to interrupt others people privacy, but it seemed urgent, so he decided to check it out.
He quickly ran, and within a twinkle of an eye, he was there .
He saw three men ganging up on a woman, the men seemed to be about his age, Maybe a few years older than him or so. One guy held her hand, he was a ugly looking guy with brown hair and a big, round face, he looked like a watermelon. He yelled back at the woman and wanted to hit her, raising his hand, about to strike her, when suddenly, another hand gripped his arm.
" What!!, Who are you?, And how dare you hold my arm??!".
The man man screamed at Derkile, but Derkile simple, with a quick reflex, flung a kick towards the man's torso. The man was lifted into the air as the blow hit, he flew backwards until he crashed into the wall of a house nearby.
The other two were astonished. Just one hit and their friend went flying, they considered taking off, and ran for their dear life.
The lady was also quite surprised, and was continually staring at Derkile, she wondered if he was a high ranked soilder, to be able to do something like that.
The other guy had passed out, his hand on his stomach.
" You better quickly leave before they come back. I might not be there next time". Derkile said
" Thank you so much, I really appreciate what you did for me, please can I take you home to my dad, so I can return the favor". The lady said, anxiously.
" No, I am in a rush, maybe next time, if we meet".
" Then please can I at least know your name??".
Derkile argued whether or not to tell her his name, but later decided..
" My name is..... Derkile". And with that he walked off leaving the girl in confusion.
' I have not heard about any general, who goes by the name Derkile, could it be that he is not a soilder, and why is his clothes covered in blood'. The lady thought, and quickly walked home.
.....
Derkile had finally found a place to settle down before Dawn came. It was an old shop stall, used in trading clothes. He easily broke the lock on the door and changed his clothes to some better ones. Derkile had finally took a rest and used this time to think about everything, starting from the dream he had a day ago , he still didn't understand the dream, the more he thought about it, the more it spooked him out.
Now, he decided to think about everyhing that happened to him. How he was merged with a lion through the use of magic stone, and how he gained all those supernatural abilities. He finally figured out that the dark energy he had consumed from the beast earlier, was actually fear. The energy somehow made him stronger.
He wanted to know more about himself, but this wasn't the right place to do so, so he had to wait until the perfect time before he could do so.
....
Derkile was getting sleepy, so he decided to take a rest.
*****
" Oh no!!".
Derkile exclaimed, as he awoke the next day, he was quite late, and quickly had to find way to the castle gate, and enter, well he hoped it was as simple as that .
He quickly got up and got out of the shop, and looked towards the castle, and started running with speed, to the extent that when he passed by, only a little breeze could be felt, and within a few seconds he had almost reached there, but decided to walk to the entrance, to prevent people from noticing.
" Wow, these powers are so amazing"
He said in awe, as he had quickly reached there in a few seconds, he had passed some places before reaching there, but the only way he was able to find his way was due to the tall castle, making it easier for locating.
Immediately Derkile reached the gates, he was met by fierce royal guards, guarding the gate.
" Hey, you over there. What are you doing there?, Are you part of the people who were chosen to come today??". One of them asked.
" Yes sir".
Derkile calmly answered.
" But then that means the stone given to you did not take you directly into the castle ??".
"Yes, sir , I was transported into the polling area". Derkile half lied/ half told the truth.
" Then, the stones are quite weak. And inaccurate, many others have also been teleported to other places like you, so the king gave the other to let all of you enter, after testing you with this".
The man said and held a magic stone towards Derkile, and a strange scanning light flashed around Derkile and he was been scanned.
The stone glowed in affirmative to show that he was actually also part of those chosen for the selection.
The door was unlocked and opened and he was let in. When Derkile got inside, he was met with a crowd of other people, waiting for it to begin. Some were discussing, while others just watched. Derkile noted the face of each of them.
Derkile himself had jet black hair, and black eyes which slightly changed to yellow ever since the incident. He was average tall and was quite handsome, well he became more handsome ever since he became what he became, but he didn't notice all this since it had been long he looked into a mirror.
He was busy looking into the crowd, when some one tapped him on his back and called out to Derkile.
" Hello, there"
Derkile turned back to look at who was speaking, and he met a short guy, he had black hair and green eyes with a cute shaped face and a well looking jaw. A handsome guy, only he was a little bit too short. His head reached Derkile shoulder. And that was quite short for someone above 17 years , he thought.
"Umm, sorry to disturb you but I just want to ask a question , please do you know how we are going to be selected. Because I really am nervous about this". The boy said.
" I am sorry, but I don't know how they are going to do it, I also want to know". Derkile replied.
" Ohh, sorry then"
" No need"
And Derkile kept on waiting, he didn't really expect a conversation to come up .
Derkile noticed something was strange, he felt it but didn't want to pay too much attention to it, it was in the castle, a strange scent ran into his nose, he knew he was the only one smelling it because of his enhanced senses, he was about to ask when suddenly, a royal guard rushed in on the raised platform in front of them.
" welcome the royal majesty!!!"
The king had arrived
****
End of chapter 3