It was twelve noon. In an office, a man sat in his chair in front of a finely decorated desk filled with papers of all kinds. In the corner of the room, there was a tall man who seemed to be protecting the person sitting there. There was absolute silence throughout the office; the only sound that could be heard was the soft brush of a pen on paper and the occasional tap of a stamp on documents that needed to be approved. The silence was soon interrupted when there was a knock at the door.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The sound was soft, as if the caller intended not to disturb. Angrod let out a tired sigh. It was more than clear that he was not in a good mood. A lot had been happening in the past few hours. They had learned that the humans had made their move, taking advantage of the fall of the Kingdom's Barrier. Wasting no time, they had sent units to take advantage of the situation. At that very moment, there were infiltrating humans attacking various territories. Although most of those who had dared to do so had been executed, the other noble houses were not at all friendly to the humans; in fact, they hated them to death. In a slightly annoyed voice, he said:
"Forward".
A short man quickly walked in and stood before him. In a swift movement, he bent down on one knee and bowed his head.
"My lord, we have important news."
"Speak," Angrod urged in a commanding tone. His annoyance was palpable.
"That boy is back. He was seen a while ago entering through the main gate. According to the guards, he seemed to be seriously injured."
"What did you say?" Angrod asked the person to repeat what he had just said. He thought he had heard wrong. The person, still kneeling, cleared his throat and repeated the message.
"That boy is back. He was seen a while ago entering through the main gate. According to the guards, he seemed to be seriously injured."
Angrod immediately stood up. He walked to the door, opened it and walked out. Behind him followed Eru and the man who had delivered the previous message. The destination they were heading to was the room of the white-haired, blue-eyed boy. He had to corroborate the information he had received, as he couldn't believe it. As he walked through the halls, he let out a curse.
"What the hell is going on in the kingdom?"
He asked that question in a barely audible whisper. His annoyance was more than understandable. There were too many things going on at the same time. His instincts told him that difficult times were approaching for his family. He quickened his pace; he was in a hurry to arrive and verify the information. After a few minutes of walking, he finally reached his destination: a wooden door. Without wasting any time, he tried to knock, but was interrupted.
At the other end of the hall, Idril approached. Seeing her face, he knew immediately that she had already been told the news of what had happened.
"What are you doing here, Idril?" he asked, even though he knew the answer. Idril looked him straight in the eyes and replied:
"I was informed that this individual was injured, so I came to corroborate the information. In addition, the king also wants to know what happened."
"I understand".
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Angrod knocked on the door three times, but there was no response from the other side. So, after a few moments, he tried again.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
He was being careful not to knock on the door too hard, as he did not want to disturb the individual inside. At that moment, a voice echoed from the room:
- You may come in.
They had been given permission to enter. Angrod was the first to cross the threshold, followed by Idril and Eru. What they saw upon entering left them frozen. The white-haired boy lay on the bed, naked from the waist up. His injuries were evident: deep cuts on his sides, a severed left arm, and numerous bruises covering his torso. He seemed to have been attacked by multiple creatures, as some of the cuts looked like they had been made by sharp claws. Angrod was the first to break the silence:
"Can you tell us what happened to you?"
His gaze fell on the young man's wounds, but his concern went deeper. He was worried about the creature or person capable of inflicting such damage. The white-haired boy, after a moment of reflection, replied in a tired voice:
"It was nothing serious. Just a little skirmish where I was outnumbered."
Angrod frowned in disbelief.
"Who attacked you?"
The young man gave a wry smile.
"There is no need to answer that question. They are all dead."
D's answer left everyone perplexed. Who would be able to face him and come out alive?
"Do you need help with those wounds?" Angrod asked, though he knew the offer would be declined.
"No need, these wounds are nothing to me," the boy said indifferently. It was more than clear that he didn't trust them. And after all, why would he trust them?
"Did you just come to ask that?" he asked.
"Well, we just found it strange that someone with your abilities would receive such injuries. Let's just say it's a cause for concern for us," Angrod replied, trying to remain calm.
The white-haired boy, who was called D, looked at them with narrowed eyes and then let out a sigh.
"Don't worry. Those who attacked me weren't humans, they were slightly more intelligent beasts than the ones you normally find out there."
"What do you mean by 'smarter'?" Angrod asked, intrigued.
"They organized themselves to attack me. They could even avoid being detected by me. It was fun to a certain extent to watch them fight like thinking beings," D replied with an enigmatic smile.
D's statements were not well received by the others. After all, something very similar had happened before. The first person Idril thought of was the beast tamer she had fought with. That guy used beasts in a very terrifying and coordinated way. And the worst thing was that he, on his own, was already powerful.
"Did you see a tall guy with black hair and brown eyes, who has strange tattoos on his arms?" Idril asked, her voice full of anger. She remembered all too well what D had done to her and her brother-in-law.
The boy turned to look at her and a strange smile formed on his lips.
"Oh, but look who we have here! Isn't she the great magician who lost to me?"
Those words undoubtedly angered Idril. She bit her lip.
"Whenever you want we can have a rematch. Now answer my question."
Angrod had warned Idril not to provoke D. He didn't want any more trouble with him. But it seems she did want trouble. Angrod worriedly looked at the boy's face to see if he had been upset, but what he saw was the opposite: an expression of amusement.
"Hahahahaha, as temperamental as ever, Idril. I accept the challenge. We will fight," D said, enjoying Idril's reaction.
The situation became tense when he agreed to the rematch. Everyone thought he had gotten seriously upset. But the situation calmed down when he declared:
"But don't worry, I promise I won't kill you. I'm just going to show you that there are heights you can't surpass."
Idril replied mockingly, "Big words for someone who lost an arm and is badly injured."
"Even in this state I can beat you up," D challenged.
"Here, show me how you'll do it," Idril challenged.
My intention to accept Idril's rematch was genuine. I would make her fight with all her might and thus learn all the tricks she had to add to my arsenal. I didn't mind fighting her in my current state; after all, I would only need about a minute to take her down. I wouldn't even lay a hand on her, as she would be directly facing my authority. I was completely sure that if I defeated her using my authority, she would never challenge me again. She would realize the huge difference in power between her and me. There was a tension in the air. I stood up from the bed I was sitting on. I was going to prepare for the rematch she was asking for, and noticing me standing up, she got ready as well. But unfortunately, we were interrupted.
"Idril, calm down, leave your tantrum for another time, or are you planning to stain your pride in a meaningless fight?"
They stopped her in her tracks. I could see the strongest mage in the elven kingdom being scolded. A giggle escaped my mouth.
"I'm sorry," she said, apologizing and acknowledging her mistake. This was not the time to be having pointless fights.
"Hey, Idril," I called out to her, "I didn't see the man you described, but I know who you're talking about, and let me be honest with you: that man is most likely more powerful than me."
My words echoed throughout the room and I could see everyone's faces; they seemed confused by my words. I wasn't lying to them. The information I had gathered about this beast tamer was serious stuff. He wasn't part of the group that had attacked earlier. He was different. They had given him something in exchange for joining them temporarily. The guy was a human who possessed devastating power. All I could find out about him was that he was even stronger than the boss of the invaders. Simply put, Idril was only alive because he had taken pity on her.
"And if you've already confronted him, let me inform you that he was just playing with you. You're only alive because he wanted it that way."
My words fell like a bucket of cold water on Idril's head. She immediately replied:
"Lies, that battle was a draw."
She seemed wrapped up in that thought, but deep down she knew otherwise. I knew this because I had been reading her mind for some time now and I learned what had happened to her in her confrontation with that beast tamer.
"Think what you want, Idril, but you should be grateful to be alive. Luck was on your side."
Once I finished telling him what I wanted to say, I turned around and looked Angrod straight in the eyes and said in a soft tone:
"I accept the proposal, but I have two conditions that must be met without fail."
At the same time we were having our conversation, I could feel an ominous presence watching from afar. He was using a strange and new kind of power that I had never seen or felt before. If I hadn't had the 'dominance' feature activated, I might not have sensed it and it would have gone unnoticed.
- WE ARE BEING WATCHED BY A STRANGE POWER. IT SEEMS TO ALLOW THEM TO DO SOMETHING SIMILAR TO WHAT THE 'DEMON EYE' DOES. THEY ARE NOT USING MANA.
'The rats fell into the trap. It was worth the effort.'
It was more than clear that those two were employing some kind of strange power to observe my physical state. They wanted to know how hurt I was. According to D's analysis, they could only see, not hear what we were talking about. With this, the deception theater was complete. They had already taken the bait. It was only a matter of time before they reported this to their superiors and tried to kill me. It should be noted that those guys were afraid of Idril because she had a rather powerful technique that certain elves possessed, but they had to ask permission to be able to use it. It should be noted that Idril did not use that power against the beast tamer, as she thought she was winning. It's possible that the beast tamer did not want to push it to the point where she would be forced to bring out her trump card. Also, another thing to keep in mind is that those guys who wanted to kill the elf girl saw me as a problem factor. They had me labeled as someone as dangerous as Idril herself. It seems they had plans to deal with her, but as for me, it was getting out of hand since they had very little information about me.