Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Beside her was a maid who looked a little like Natali, who must have been her mother Mylene. After introducing herself to the woman, she gave her a kind smile. "It is quite nice to meet you dear. I hear you are good friends with my Lyrah and little Natali. Thank you for being their friend."

"I should thank them for being mine. If they were not at the academy, I would be isolated and alone." Rena responded with a bow. "Thank you for making them such kind people Lady Adellia and Miss Mylene."

"Why would you be isolated? You seem like such a sweet thing?"

"I…"

"She fell in love with a Marked One and her father found out so she was stripped of her rights and sent to the academy, then her cousin spread the rumors among the other students." Lyrah blurted out quickly while stuffing her face with cookies.

Rena looked at her friend with wide eyes. Lyrah was about to defend her actions when she suddenly yelped in pain from Natali smacking the back of her head.

"Oh my. Well as a Marked One myself, I must say I am surprised… I hope that he treats you well?"

Rena felt a lump form in her throat, keeping her from speaking. Adellia noticed the silence immediately and apologized. For a while after that, things were awkward and tense, then Rena asked, "When do the next fights for the final four begin?"

"Huh?" Lyrah blinked. "They already happened."

"What? I wasn\'t gone that long!" Rena nearly shouted.

"No…" Lyrah said. "But, the fights ended quickly. That Titan person was fighting some snobby prince from Paede and wiped the floor with him using a lightning spell. It was quite interesting. The other one was an elf girl from Aedrider. She used this wicked-looking hammer…"

Lyrah continued to regale her with a recap of the fight between an elf and a nobleman. The elf was an Enchantment specialist, which is quite rare. She used the battle less as a way to show off her strength, but rather to advertise her work.

From what it sounded like, this \'Corva\' girl seemed like quite an interesting character. It made her wonder what it was her request would be. For that matter, what would Titan want?

"I\'m sorry you did not win your fight, sweetie," Adellia said while Rena was contemplating these matters.

"Oh, it is quite all right." She responded with a shrug. "I had hopes early on, but as the list of applicants grew and I began to see other fighters practice… like my cousin… I figured my winning was an impossibility.

*****

King Aleksander found himself staring at the documents he had in front of him. Though he had managed to push back most of his paperwork so that he could focus on watching the fights, however… there was something that bothered him. One of the fighters seemed out of place.

In the box with him were the other leaders of the kings in attendance. All of them were extremely interested in the final four. Fighting for it was Corva of Aedrider, Titan of Eroa, Thomas von Petra of Arcadios, and Desmond Adler of Keinydd.

Of those, the one that had the shared interest of everyone was Titan of Eroa. Like a dark horse, he showed up as a last-minute submission from the king. According to Verdayl, he was a late-start senior from their academy and his abilities impressed him so much he requested for the young man to attend.

Of course, the mask was a dead giveaway. Also, every leader in the viewing box, save the queen of Aedrider, was there at the signing of the Alvora Accord. Titan was the reason that Eroa took the city, though King Verdayl declined to answer how. The only explanation he gave was: "Titan asked if I wanted to take the city at any cost. And I said yes. He took it from there."

It was as about as much a non-answer as anything the man could have given, but he refused to say much more. Eroa asked for a lot for this tournament as well. They wanted permission for Titan to enter. They also wanted to allow Kalivas into the border to observe the match. Aleksander agreed to the requests, but on the condition that they prove that Titan was eligible for the tournament.

To do that, he needed to be Intermediate Rank or Advance Rank.

To his great surprise, they agreed to the terms and brought the young man to the embassy where he was tested using the same devices the Adventurer\'s guild used. Due to the fact Titan was not his real name, they used a modified one that simply showed one\'s Rank. Lo and behold, he was a simple Intermediate Rank.

Aleksander immediately shared this news with the other members of the Union, which Verdayl was fine with surprisingly, and none of them could believe it either. If the gods judged his abilities to only be at the Intermediate Rank, he was honestly terrified of where the young man would go when he got stronger.

Everyone in the room, they were convinced that this young man was likely the next King Ranker if he survived long enough to become one that is.

"Verdayl… what is it the boy is going to request?" Aleksander asked.

Verdayl put down his drink, which was a fortified wine they were serving for their esteemed guests. "I\'m unsure. I did not think to ask. Whatever it is he wants though, I am sure will be entertaining."

"I\'m sure it will be."

"You know, Titan joined the order of the King\'s Shadow before he was even eighteen. Did you know that? I was shocked when I found out someone so young was so talented. In only six months he even rose to the rank of Commander within the order! I presented him with his mask. Quite a unique fellow that one!" Verdayl laughed.

Kalivas coughed lightly. "My liege…"

"Oops it seems the liquor has loosened my tongue. As an apology for making this display Aleksander, allow me to assist you in providing the fulfillment of the winner\'s request. You have conceded much to my kingdom for this event and now must deal with my drunken state. It is the least I can do!" Verdayl laughed.

Aleksander felt his eye twitch a little from annoyance. "Thank you very much, Verdayl." He managed.

Every other leader in the room clenched their fists in frustration. It seemed most of them had spent countless manhours looking for information on the elusive and mysterious \'Titan\' and here Verdayl was simply providing them a wealth of knowledge because of a simple bottle of liquor.

"Ah!" Lady Voltara al Famyn called out. "It looks like it is about to begin."

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A/N:

There was a glitch in my internet that caused a double-pasting of the next chapter. I did not catch it till after it was posted. As such, I could not delete it or correct it. So the next chapter contains 2 in 1. I am SO sorry for this. Please feel free to berate me in the comments

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