I slowly woke up to the sounds of birds chirping outside as the sun's rays were somewhat coming into my room through the window.

The massive leaves of the willow tree covering most of it. I slowly got up and grabbed my book, which was wide open, however as I closed it a knock could be heard on my door immediately, I put away the bamboo spear I got under the bed and grabbed the thin but sharp spear I got from the random pokemon yesterday evening.

As I got up and put my stuff away the knocking stopped and the door opened slightly only seeing a white muzzle push in and speak up.

"Grej is waiting for you already Hellas." The voice said as I immediate recognized it as Lyra's voice as I got out of bed and held onto the spear as I walked out the door and came face to face with most of the team, Christopher and and Jack were the two that were missing, however both Brigett and Lola were right next to Lyra to aid her as Elizabeth was taking to Grej.

My upbeat tone quickly sank as I saw Grej's back, his massive sword right there as soon as he saw me however he asked everyone to make way and to let us go over to dry land. As we slowly went down the vines back to the rafts I slowly got a sence of dread as I saw Grej somewhat boasting as he showed off how powerful he actually was, but as I began thinking about it, he did seem rather old as well, somewhat making me think that he was just trying to stay fit.

Soon as we arrived on land we quickly pulled ourselves up onto the docks, slowly making our way farther and farther away from the platform, I slowly felt the adrenaline rush through me as I waset with the training arena, it was made out of clay as much if it was old, however Grej only looked at his sword that began lighting up with dark energy, as the blade of the sword began shimmering the sword came apart into two, both swords depicting dark wings as the red crystal was near the base of the blade where he held his grip.

I only walked to the center of the fighting ground as I looked at Her. I somehow couldn't get my eyes off Lyra. However my eyes did go elsewhere as Grej swung one of his swords in front of me, as if he was waving to grab my attention.

"Alright Kid, let's see whatcha got." He said as he spread his legs and got into a martial position, flipping his grip on the sword as if he was holding a dagger and lowering his body closer to the floor, I took out my spear as he looked at it for a second and grunted before looking at me, I almost did the same, except keeping the spear between the two of us so that he couldn't rush me down with a strike so quickly.

Slowly we began circling each other before Grej rushed at me, throwing my spear out of the way and hitting me in my stomach, almost punching through me as I heard the air under me almost explode from sheer force sending me up a bit with his punch, however when he pulled back and was about to hit me with another one I simply ducked under it and punched him in the gut, he staggered back slightly before hitting me in the chest with a kick, getting me off himself as he sent me flying through the air a little as I rolled on the ground, the moment I got back up I saw Grej charging at me again, trying to get into effective range and make my spear worthless in the fight.

As he approached I spun the spear around myself before knocking him back with the sturdier end, not the spike.

I saw him fly back a bit but landed a bit more gracefully onto both of his legs. He finally pulled his sword out and I was ready to strike but as I pushed that end towards him he deflected with his sword coming into close quarters combat once more, he punched me in my chin this time, feeling the punches shock reverberate through my skull as I got another punch into his stomach making him stagger back a little bit before all I saw was red as the side of my head hurt immensely, feeling the World around me slowly come back a bit before feeling hazy from whatever Grej did, slowly as I got up I saw him shake his right leg off, finally realising he probably high jump kicked me in the side of my head almost landing it perfectly as my vision was Blurry and I felt myself become dizzy. 

I slowly got back up however, holding the side of my head with my gauntlet as I felt blood trickle down from the side of my head, coating my fist in my blood as I felt myself somehow still able to stand even with all the injuries. Soon however I wanted to finish it off and he just uppercuted me off the training field and over the benches as I landed in the grass with a thud, my limbs stinging with pain from the cuts, however Grej took some damage as well.

I slowly got back up and out of e and bushes, in pain as I finally was ready to take it seriously.

I made my charge at him as he was sitting down, I thought I could get a clear hit on him however he just deflected my attack and sprung up from the ground. Hitting me in the chest as I staggered back from the blow.

However I held up my spear and jumped back to get some more distance, this time around I pointed the spear lower, seeing that Grej usually got under it and tried to push it above himself so that he could close the distance, however as I got my vision back I only saw Grej put away the sword he had behind himself as he charged at me again.

I gritted my teeth as I hissed from the pain. My vision came back and I finally felt some Adrenaline kick in as I saw him slow down along with everything else around me.

I steadied myself as he rushed at me again, this time jumping above me and readying a spinning high jump kick above me as I jumped backwards only to be met by the back of the arena, I soon realised that I couldn't flee from him anymore as the sold sand behind me reminded me of it.

Grej charged once More at me this time I let him into my range before using the spear as a long club to smash it into his side and make him stutter a bit to the side, enough time for me to sprint past him back into the center of the field, grinding myself to a hault as patted the part of his side where I hit him, another charge was made at me, I spun the spear above my head and quickly enough I tried hitting him again with it, this time he just raised his gauntlet in front of it, however the force was enough to hit his metal glove and smash it his own head, making him stagger to the side.

However he didn't seem to take to much damage as he recovered quite easily. Runnig at me again at full speed, he knocked the spear out of my hand as he was already up and Personal up against me, he dodged one of my attack before pinning inside my hitting zone but quickly kicked the apear out of the arena, making it land next to Lola who grabbed it with her whip like fur, I only looked for a second before Grej was trying to uppercut me once again, only for him to miss and hit me in the gut as I jumped back, thankfully his hit wasn't that strong this time thanks to me jumping over him before he landed the hit. I only got back up slightly as I turned around and got ready to strike once again, as he approached I felt the power rush through my whole body, a warm sensation that energized me and as he tried to shadow claw me from below everyone got surprised as I unleashed a plethera of blows, making Grej have to hold up his gauntlet to block my my strikes.

"when did you learn close combat?" Grej asked he lowered his gauntlets, both of them having small dents in them that Grej easily ignored, however he didn't seem to care too much as he pulled out his sword and got ready to rush at me once more, I only felt that same energy keep me standing in the fight just a little but longer until Grej rushed at me, a crimson red Aura around himself as I hit him square in the head with another superpower, if not hitting him for an instant knock out it would have dealt a lot of damage, however as before my vision faded to black as I collapsed right on the spot. Feeling myself struggle to get up as I placed my fist on the ground to help me up, only for my arms to give in and for me to land on the ground with a thud, getting some dirt on my face as I just groaned.

...

"Are... You alright?" I heard a familiar voice as I already opened my eyes slightly, Tring to take in my surroundings, Lyra, Lola and Jack were next to me alongside the Rampardos and Grej, the two of them finishing their statement as Grej handed the spear back to the Rampardos before he left the room, I put one of my gauntlets behind myself as I grabbed my head, feeling my metallic hair and the cloth up against my forehead as I knew It was bleeding.

"Well, you seemed pretty decent out there, however you have a long way up till you can challenge me and have a decent chance of winning." Grej said as Lyra looked at him for a second and seemed to pout.

"HEY! He at least gave it a shot, unlike you when you first came about and tried to fight Kingston!" Lola said as I recalled the name Kingston from... Somewhere, but I didnt know where.

"I knew even back then when to and when not to take on an opponent." He said as he looked at Lola who gave him a threat by showing her fist Grej just chuckled a bit as he stood up from the stool he was on and walked straight up to Lola and looked down at her, she clearly got a bit frightened as Grej looked down at her. Lyra got a bit in front of Grej along with Brigett. However Grej only looked at Lola before smirking slightly.

"If you want to be some pompous about it then why not challenge me to a Farenait?" Grej asked with a smirk on his face as he crossed his arms and took a slight step back, obviously he wasn't backing down as he straightened his back out and stood a bit taller, Lola on the other hand shook her head, refusing the challenge.

"good, I think the outcome would have been obvious." Grej said as he sat back down and turned his attention towards me.

"So, your a soul User... I guess The rules didn't really state the usage of soul element moves, so congratulations on that close combat." He said as he just looked at me as I looked at the floor, before back at him. Feeling my jaw hurt as I wanted to talk but I squeeked it out.

" c-can you train me?" I squeeked it out as I immediately flinched a bit from the pain in my jaw as I put my gauntlet over it rubbing it a little and flinching again as I touched the part that was sliced a bit.

"heh, only if you'd get to be alongside a Royal or something absurd like that."

And that's all he needed to say For Lyra to go over to her bag and slam the paper we signed into his face. Making Grej retaliate a bit as he took the paper and unfolded it, looking through it for a second, he glared at the paper more as he seemed sceptical about the whole thing, he handed it back to Lyra then looked at me.

"Listen here Kid, if you think you'll get into the ranks of royalty and alike, think again, we're here to serve the Nation, not just the royalty within it. So once we get back to our guild outpost, I'll grab the documents on what you'll need to do, and I'm sure Lyra has a few extra rules to put next to it... The last time someone tried this they collapsed form exhaustion, so I hope your mind and your body is ready for the test you just accepted."

He said as he seemed like a strict father all of a sudden, almost as if he was bashing me for my stupidity, however I wasn't phased by it. Quite the contrary.

" I know it will be tough, that's why I asked for it. Because I knew you would take this to the extreme!"

I shouted at him before I shut up from the pain all over my body, however I just grunted and put myself back down onto the bed, Grej just smirking as he snickered before looking at Lyra.

"You picked a good bodyguard Lyra, he's got that fighting spirit in him. Grej said as I just felt a little better, almost like it was a praise, even though he did seem a bit sarcastic with the tone he was using.

" okay, you two should talk about the rest somewhere else and not in front of the beaten down boy." the Rampardos looked at me before smiling slightly.

Grej grunted as he walked outside, Lyra looked at me for a bit with her crimson red eyes before she followed suit.

"The names Persz, blacksmith for the guild, a pleasure to meet you." The Rampardos said as he held out a hand, it was quite short but I took it with my hand and shook it before he sat down and looked at me.

"Is it true that you're from Battalonia?" He asked as he looked at me.

"why, did my performance not prove it to you?" I asked him as It seemed he didn't know.

"No, I barely fight so I've got no idea, I've only heard a new person was coming and wanted a spear so I forged one out of some spare metal I had."

"the spear was too thick and the head of it didn't seem like it was too sturdy."

"yeah, making a good spear takes time ya know, which I didn't have." He said as I looked at him as he looked back.

"besides, I didn't have a good mold ya know... So I only got to make a semi okay spear for you. I'm guessing that it's better then the makeshift spear they gave you."

"yeah it was better by a small margin... Wait, if you get a mild, can I get a spear from you?"

"well, you can buy one, but if you want a custom made spear, you're going to have to become a house representative in your club."

"What" I asked as he talked about House and clubs which I knew what they were, but nobody told me anything about it.

"Oh, I'm guessing you didn't get full into it... You see, you could put this into status rankings as well, the highest being the club, then comes the house and then the guild. There are three club representatives who are the top dogs of the guild, then comes the house members, each one also have 3 house members and currently one rep owns a house, then the guilds have a guild leader and members, maybe the guild leader is a house rep or club rep. As an example, Grej is a club representative and owns a house and a guild in the capital."

"wow, no wonder he has so many ties then." I said wondering how great it might have actually been to be in such a position, only for my mind to Flash back to my father, and then I started wanting not to be in such position because of all the work there might be.

" ya know... Hellas, correct? "

"yeah."

"Hellas, Grej has worked hard to get to the spot he currently is, he also gets to be a council member. Meaning he has the power to actually influence many parts of the country. So him taking you as a student is something that you're going to have to take with Grace, not to mention that he said he'd only train ya if you bear him in combat, which you didn't."

As he said that it slowly dawned on me, of course this was only correct if My assumption was correct as well.

"Uhm... Persze In this... Hierarchy... Is Lyra above Grej?"

"hmm... Y-yeah actually, she's one of the five princesses running for queen." He said as I was stunned.

"L-Lyra is a princess?!" I asked, baffled a bit as if my memory had gotten wiped off the face of the earth. Of course I slowly laid back and thought about it a little.

"Yeah, she is... The only way one of them is going to become Queen is if they get married first, to a prince or a high ranking individual."

"Question, would I fit the bill?" I asked as the air around us became still, awkward silence fell upon the room as I gripped the bed as best I could.

"n-no, you just agreed to being her servant... And you're from Battalion, a place that Vespasia isn't too fond of being in their higher ranks. Mostly due to fear." He said as I looked at him, did he know I was a prince or not? And if so, could that actually alter things drastically.

" Uhm... If I have to say something... Can Lyra come in as well?" I asked as Persz nodded, walking to the door and seeing that Lyra walked in.

"uhmm... I wanna talk to the two of you in private I said as Persz raised his eyebrow and Lyra sat down next to me. Looking at me cold in the eyes.

" Uhm... Man, how do I say this... " I said as I gulped and looked at the door  before Persz nodded, walked over and opened it, immediately Grej fell forwards and into the room as he was actually eavesdropping on us.

"Grej..." Lyra said as he stood up, the red cloak on him again as he wrapped it around his whole body, making him look like a cacoon.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a bit interested in my new... Student" he said as I sighed.

I sighed as I looked at Lyra who sighed before shaking her head.

"Grej, Hellas here is from Battalonia." Lyra said as he just stood there for a second before looking at me.

"heh..." Grej said as he gave a smile before burst out from laughter. Lyra of course was taken a bit back from it all as Grej almost went to wipe a tear off his face.

"okay... Hehe... Okay... So, Ahem Its a pleasure to have you as my student prince Hellas." Grej said as Lyra was taken back by Grej's statement, he looked at her hen Burst out laughing.

"Ahhhh, I knew you'd have that reaction Lyra... Thing is, I know the situation since it's a big discussion... If you take Hellas here as your husband, you'd be crowned king and queen. However that chance slipped as you pushed him under you... You can't be crowned queen and we all know who you'd have to take as husband..."

Grej said as he looked at me.

" however... "

He said as he looked up at the ceiling before looking at me.

" If he completes the initiation trial and fights all three of the club leaders and being victorious the weakest would lose his title and be demoted into a house before you'd take his place... And you can marry a club leader and be promoted to king and queen." Grej said as Lyra looked at me before looking at me. The awkwardness was real but we had to get through it.

" Ahem, So Lyra, would you take pity on Hellas and take his as your husband?" Grej asked as he looked at Lyra, she only backed off a little before I butted into the conversation.

"Hey, don't just throw that onto her out of nowhere, something like that takes time!" I blurted out as Grej chuckled.

"Yeah... It does but first impressions count too ya know." Grej said as calmly as possible, seeming like a different Mon altogether.

"Look, We've only known each other for a few days. How are you expecting for us to get together in such a short amount of time?" I asked as Grej headed towards the door.

"Well, for Lyra, I suggest that you either take him or you know who... And as for you Hellas, yeah, I've seen you eye her from the corner of your eyes.... You two would make a cute couple anyways." he said as He made the whole room shut up. I only felt my cheek turn red slightly as he said that I was eyeing her, she of course also looked at me before walking next to me and then placing her front paws onto the bed I was before looking down at me, scaring me a little as I couldn't help but feel the instinct to look her in the eye. Her crimson eyes seemed to giggle slightly as the two of us just kept staring at each other.

"I'll mark you then... Maybe Grej might be right about that..." Lyra said as she placed her left paw onto my forehead, pinning my head down as I felt her head slowly draw closer to my neck, when she reached it she gently chomped down onto it. Leaving a slightly visable bite mark as she pulled her paw away from my forehead and her head away as well.

"If by any chance I decide to have you as a Mate, I'll let you know... But for now, you're my butler Hellas, and I'll make sure you know that... And as for you staring at me..." She said as I looked away that very instant she brought up me looking at her, Grej was right, it was as if I found a diamond amungst the stones.

" Would you mind telling me what you enjoy about me so much?" She asked as I was a bit stunned as she actually asked that question.

"I uhmmm... It's hard to explain... I guess it's the way you act..." I said as she raised an eyebrow before looking at the door. Persz was gone by now, probably walking up even before Grej when we were too focused on talking about anything else before Lyra suddenly jumped onto my bed, spreading the her legs apart atop of me as she looked down at me and smiled a bit before going over to the side of my head, where my ears were as she whispered something bone chilling as It went down my spine, making me shiver.

"well, I don't think you'd want to look at a hemomancer in that regard Hellas, before he draws your blood~" She said as I just froze in fear as she chuckled above me slightly before pushing my head down onto the pillow before rising above me a little, chuckling slightly.

" Did anyone kiss you on the lips before?" She asked with a slightly smirk on herself, I shook my head almost wanting to be obedient to her as she got a clear view of my neck, she only chuckled at me response before going over to my lips and teasing me by almost going in for a kiss, keeping her lips just e her slightest bit away before pulling away and jumping off.

"You should get yourself together, we're leaving tomorrow... And don't mention what happened inside this room to anybody... I like my men when they submit to me and know when to go aggressive on me...being half Hemomancer and half... Something else... Is quite a good thing you know~" She said as a smile was on her face, she only smoothened out herself right in front of me, probably to taunt a little bit before looking at me, waving with a paw and then walking out of the room. The moment she did I placed one of my gauntlets onto my lips.

"I hope that'll actually happen one day." I said to myself as I laid my head down and looked at the ceiling for a bit before slowly closing my eyes and just going over things, I finally got my life back up. And Now I had someone to fight for, someone I felt like I wanted from the depth of my heart. Someone like her.

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4276 words have been written down on this chapter and oh my lord did it take WAY too long for me to finish it... Anyways, I hope everyone is enjoying the book and I can't wait to publish the next chapter, I've gotten back into the writing Zone and it feels great!

Anyways, cheers everyone who's reading this, you all are the light in the dark that keeps me going!

-Krisi1009