Arthur and his friends left the examination field and made their way inside for their adventurer cards. As they entered the waiting area all eyes were on them. Not everyone saw one of them battle, and the first ones not in their group saw three of them rank in the B class, leaving five of them that could have tested for AA class. Considering how young they all were no one could imagine that whoever it was could have successfully passed the examination, especially Arthur. Although some had seen Elijah before and even teamed up with him, and knew of his A class status, so assumed it must have been him. Several of the adventurers recognized Curtis and Kathyln, and figured they were all a bunch of noble brats that were probably just given their ranks because of their name. After waiting a little while for all of their names to be called, they finally all had their adventures cards, and were ready to begin their adventures.

"Ok Arthur, you're in charge. Where to?" Claire asked as they left the guild hall.

"Well as much as I would like to grab some lunch, we have a long trip ahead of us to get to our first dungeon. So we should get to the beast glades and head out," Arthur replied and began walking as his stomach grumbled.

"So which dungeon are we headed to first?" Lilia asked.

"Oh that's right, I forgot to fill you all in," Arthur commented as he pulled several maps out of his dimensional ring. "Elijah and I made several plans as to where we could go depending on how everyone ranked. Thankfully everyone placed at the best I could have hoped for." Everyone felt some pride in themselves at that comment. "We decided we should start with a relatively easy dungeon since this will be the first time we all will be fighting as a team in a real battle. So I decided on the Jungle Crypt."

"Jungle Crypt?" Feyrith questioned.

"It's not like I named these dungeons. Anyways, it's a B ranked dungeon. It's mostly C ranked mana beasts with a few B ranked on each level. Now if we do well and feel up for it, the final level has an A ranked beast as well as a few B ranked. But that's just the last level, I don't want us to walk in there if we don't all feel confident that we can handle it," Arthur explained.

"Come on Arthur, do you not have faith in us?" Feyrith asked.

"Of course I do, but you are all inexperienced and anything can happen in a dungeon that can even catch veteran adventures off guard. I just want to make sure we all come out of this in one piece," Arthur replied.

"Well I hope you have a more challenging dungeon planned for us after," Tess commented.

"I do. It's called Frozen Hell and it's A ranked. And our last one is still unnamed," Arthur replied.

"How can a dungeon be unnamed?" Kathyln asked.

"This is a newly discovered dungeon at the base of one of the largest of the Grand Mountains. It was only discovered a few months ago and hasn't even been completely mapped yet, but apparently this new dungeon is actually multiple dungeons in one," Arthur said with excitement.

"How can a dungeon be multiple dungeons in one?" Lilia asked.

"Before the first level the path forks several times. Each path leading to different ranked dungeons going from D ranked all the way to S ranked. Apparently no one has ever seen anything like this before," Arthur explained, his voice filled with a childlike excitement.

Shortly after Arthur explaining their route they arrived at the teleportation gate, and showed their adventurer cards to get through. There was some trouble with Arthur's card though, as the guards believed that he had stolen it since they couldn't imagine how a thirteen year old could be an AA class adventurer. Thankfully, despite the fact that Curtis and Kathyln weren't royalty any more, their voices still carried sufficient weight to get the guards to leave Arthur alone. Arthur was of course grateful for their help, because his plan of releasing his killing intent to get through did hold the risk of potential problems later.

"Ok Feyrith, where's your uncle's rental business?" Arthur asked after they all emerged from the teleportation gate in the beast glades.

"He gave me directions, so just follow me," Feyrith stated as he walked to the front of the group.

They all followed Feyrith as many of them looked around at the bustling shops of the outpost they arrived in. Surrounding them were merchants trying to sell armor, weapons, and other various supplies, although all were overpriced. There was also an inn, and several taverns there for adventures to either rest or share information. As they walked Arthur felt a jolt of electricity in the air.

"I felt it too papa," Sylvie commented.

As he looked at his friends he realized he was the only one who felt it. With a little focus Arthur was able to quickly find the source.

"I'll catch up with you all in a little bit, there's something I have to do," Arthur said as he broke off from the group.

"We can go with you if you want," Claire offered.

"That's ok, this shouldn't take too long. Just get the carriages ready so we can head out when I get back," Arthur replied as he walked off with Sylvie walking beside him.

The rest of the group did as their leader said and continued on to get their carriages. However Tess kept her eyes on Arthur as she slowed down, her instincts telling her to follow.

"Tess go," Lilia whispered.

"What?" Tess replied. "No, I should stay with the rest of you. Arts going to be fine."

"Just go. We both know you're worried," Lilia replied as she practically shoved Tess in Arthur's direction.

"Sylvie you should stay with the others," Arthur instructed as he walked.

"No, if he tries something you're going to need me," Sylvie replied with a determined tone.

"If he tries something we're both as good as dead," Arthur replied, knowing odds were good that they would be fine.

They arrived at one of the taverns where there were several tables outside. Arthur walked to one of these tables where a man wearing a hooded cloak was seated eating some food, and sat down in the chair across from him.

"What do you want?" Arthur asked with a sharp tone.

"You've got a lot of nerve to talk to me like that, not to mention inviting yourself to sit at my table," the man replied angrily as he looked up from his food and showed his face from underneath his hood.

"You are the one who reached out to me Lance Bairon, and general manners and courtesy for this situation would have been for you to offer me a seat anyways. Besides, from the looks of you hiding your face, I don't think you want me standing in front of you drawing attention," Arthur replied calmly.

"And all that makes you think you have the right to sit at my table?" Bairon replied as he struggled to keep the pressure of his mana in check.

"Like I said, you're the one that reached out to me. So what do you want," Arthur replied, not wanting to spend more time with Bairon than needed.

"You look like you're going out with some friends for some summer fun. My brother would have been doing that too if you didn't kill him," Bairon replied as he glared at Arthur.

"So this is what this is about," Arthur sighed. "If I didn't kill Lucas he would have killed more people and just ended up in prison. It was confirmed that he killed at least twelve people, and tortured the elven council representative's daughter. Honestly if I didn't kill him I have little doubt that the council wouldn't have sentenced him to death," Arthur replied matter of factly.

Bairon was again seething with anger towards Arthur as his body sparked with electricity, but still couldn't do anything about it.

Following the attack on the Xyrus Academy, the council wanted Arthur brought to them to recount his part in ending the attack in person. Although no restraints were put on Arthur, the real reason most of the council wanted Arthur brought there was to assess the level of a threat he posed, as a child with that much power and a dragon for a bond had potential to be the making of a very dangerous situation. Arthur spent three days on the floating castle, where the council questioned him relentlessly. Well, the dwarf and human representatives questioned him, the elf representatives were satisfied after the first time Arthur explained his part in the series of events, and wanted him released and praised as a hero right away. The dwarf representatives argued that there was no way to know what kind of threat Arthur posed, and that was when everyone learned that Arthur was the disciple of the former Elf king, Elder Viron. Now Arthur's power started to make sense, as even now Viron was considered a force to be reckoned with.

This was also the point where Blaine Glayder started thinking like the human king again. Upon hearing that Arthur was Viron's disciple he began seeing Arthur as a potential threat if a war between the elves and humans ever broke out again, as he felt Arthur would side with the elves. Arthur might have only been a light yellow core mage, but he was also only twelve, meaning he could most likely reach the light silver stage by the time he was eighteen. There may have been no threat of war between the three races now, but there was no telling what the future could hold, and Blaine wanted to be ready for anything.

By the third day the arguments about Arthur became repetitive, with Tess' parents arguing for his release, and the Dwarves wanting his mana core destroyed and Sylvie killed. Blaine and Priscilla remained the neutral party, and tried to find a compromise. They both were grateful for Arthur protecting their children and wanted to release Arthur, while at the same time couldn't ignore his potential threat. They tried to argue that he should be kept in the custody of the council and mentored by the Lances to make him into an asset, but Tess' parents refused to rip a child from their parents. In the end Cynthia Goodsky proposed that a Lance would be present at all times to keep an eye on Arthur, since they were fully capable of handling him if he became a threat, but were still wise enough to stay away unless truly needed. Although Cynthia didn't care much for this idea herself, she felt this was the best way to keep Arthur as an ally, since every other option given would have either driven a wedge between Arthur and council that he could potentially strike back, or would have led to his death. The council agreed upon this, and apologized to Arthur before releasing him and Sylvie.

Bairon was present when Arthur was informed of his release by the council, and completely lost his mind. He roared with anger at the council and demanded justice for the Wykes family over the death of his younger brother. When the council reminded Barion of what Lucas had done and that Arthur was being seen as a hero by everyone across the continent that heard of the incident, he snapped. Bairon created a spear of lightning with full intent to strike Arthur down. Arthur had considered using static void to get away from Bairon, but knew that while still in the custody of the council, that kind of power could complicate things. Thankfully Lance Varay was present as well and was able to subdue Bairon in ice. With Bairon still up to his nose in ice, Lance Aya seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and escorted Arthur to the teleportation gate and back to Xyrus. Aya was under orders from Tess' father Alduin to ensure Arthur made it back to his family safely, since he did not feel that any of the other lances could be trusted. However as soon as Arthur left and before Bairon was released, with fear of the Wykes family going after Arthur of his loved ones, the council agreed on a protection order be placed on Arthur and all those close to him, with strict consequences for anyone who went against the order.

"One day," Barion said with his teeth clenched tight as he raised a finger. "One day I will avenge my brother, and you will feel the same pain I feel, before I make you feel the same pain Lucas felt."

Arthur knew exactly what that meant, and managed better than Barion to keep his anger in check as the Lance essentially threatened his sister's life. "There is a protection order on my family and myself. I know it's not a perfect defense, but I know good and well the Wykes family won't do anything to disobey that order," Arthur stated, trying hard not to sound smug or overconfident.

"Orders change all the time you little bastard," Barion replied through his teeth.

"What kind of orders?" Asked Varay as she approached the table.

Barion was at a loss for words right now, knowing if Varay were to tell the council of his talk with Arthur he would be in trouble.

"Lance Varay," Arthur greeted as he bowed to the Lance. "Lance Barion was just giving me some warnings about taking quests as an adventurer. Apparently sometimes quests are changed last second in an effort to try and not pay adventurers."

"I see. Well why don't you take your leave now Arthur, Barion and I have things to discuss," Varay replied. Arthur bowed and walked away with Sylvie right beside him as Varay watched him leave. "So is this why you wanted to give me your report here? So you could harass the boy?" Varay asked Barion as she sat down in Arthur's seat, her eyes locked on Barion with a cold glare.

"Like Arthur said, I just gave him a warning. I honestly had no idea he was going to be here," Barion replied calmly.

"Mhmm. Consider this you're only warning, stay away from Arthur Leywin," Varay warned.

—————————————————————

With Tess

As Arthur walked away from the rest of his party, and his party walked to get their mana beasts and carriages, Tess was carefully following Arthur as she tried not to be seen. Avoiding being seen while also keeping Arthur in site was no easy task, aside from dealing with the other people walking up and down the streets of the outpost, Arthur's head was on a pivot as he constantly appeared to be looking for something, or someone. Eventually Arthur stopped at a tavern with tables outside, and walked right to one of the tables and spoke to a man wearing a hooded cloak. Tess then hid behind a crate of supplies as she used her excellent elf hearing to listen in.

When Arthur first spoke to the man his tone wasn't pleasant and showed this was the person Arthur was looking for. The man spoke back with a superior sounding tone, and Tess was confident that she had heard his voice before but couldn't put a name with the voice. The man looked at Arthur, but Tess couldn't make out his face at this distance. Then she heard Arthur call out his name, "Lance Barion". A chill of fear ran down the teen elf's spine upon hearing that name, not fear for herself, but for Arthur's life.

"Oh no, did Barion signal Art here so he could kill him?" Tess thought to herself in a panic.

She knew the lances were unbelievably strong, and that despite how strong Arthur is, he wouldn't be able to last for very long against one. Tess considered if a fight broke out if she could help, she knew when it came to fighting even if she didn't have the restrictions on her core and had her beast will mastered that she wouldn't really be of much help. "Maybe my presence could make a difference. I was a princess, and my parents are on the council, maybe I could reason with Barion to stop," Tess thought to herself as worst case scenarios started playing out in her head.

Barion then made a comment about making Arthur feel the same pain he felt. "What's that supposed to mean? Arthur doesn't...." Tess thought to herself when she realized Barion was threatening to kill Ellie. This made Tess' blood boil, here was a lance, a man who was supposed to be representing the best Dicathen had to offer. Lances were not only supposed to be strong, but also a symbol of honor, dignity, and power people were supposed to strive to achieve, and here one of them was threatening the life of a little girl. Tess could see Barion's game now, he wasn't able to attack Arthur, but if he could provoke Arthur to attack him he could give him a beating or kill him and call it self defense. Tess wanted to contact her father and inform him of this so that Barion could be punished. Suddenly the temperature dropped significantly.

"Hello Tessia."

Tess quickly spun around to see Lance Varay looking down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Hello Lance Varay," Tess replied Nervously. "What brings you to this outpost?"

"Classified. What are you doing hiding?" Varay asked as she looked over in the direction Tess was looking in. "I see. Tell me, did Arthur go on his own or did Barion draw him in?" Varay asked with an impatient tone.

"Barion did something to draw Art in," Tess replied confidently.

"I see. Don't worry, Arthur will be fine. I'll deal with Barion," Varay replied and began to walk off before stopping. "Before I go, your grandfather told me about your summer plans. Be careful, it doesn't matter how strong you are, the beast glades are extremely dangerous." Varay then walked to the table and seemed to end their talk, as Arthur stood up and left.

As soon as Arthur started to turn around Tess quickly ducked back behind the crate and held her breath. She could hear Arthur's footsteps getting closer and closer, until they just stopped.

"Well I hope you know where we're going, otherwise the three of us are lost now," Arthur said.

Slowly Tess peaked out from behind the crate and her eyes met Arthur's with an amused smile on his face. "How did you know I was here?" Tess asked.

"I was aware of your presence while you were following me down the street." Arthur then shrugged. "I don't know why, but I can feel your presence better and more clearly than anyone else's," Arthur replied.

"Maybe you subconsciously want to always be able to find this pretty girl," Tess commented with a slightly smug expression.

"Maybe," Arthur thought to himself. "Come on, let's go find the others," Arthur replied with a chuckle.

Sylvie ran up and followed right beside them with a happy smile on her face, as she heard Arthur's actual response to Tess in his head.