Kayron...
Ruvick had ordered him to use the connections that he has in Duranell's royal court to manipulate the king into issuing an official order so that the Darkmoon Knights and the Ruin Sentinels would be required to participate in the Contest of Champions.
He had already intended to do that to establish is own champion through Julian but this made things significantly easier for him. Trying to do things on his own without Ruvick finding out was damn near impossible, yet even with him breathing down Kayron's neck that didn't make things impossible for him to insert Julian into the mix.
The rules of admission state that anyone can enter the contest so long as they have a recognizable work history of combat and labor as well having a well of power within an acceptable level of spiritual concentration.
This means that independent contractors that take jobs from the official channels which are usually administered to various brotherhoods and guilds can be recognized and are allowed to participate in such a contest.
Julian can join the contest under a fabricated work history and get his wish to fight Marcus.
That being said...he's still worried about whether or not he can manipulate the selection process and the order in which contestants fight each other. Especially so since Ruvick will be inserting his own champions into the mix.
Reyna will almost certainly participate in order to gauge Marcus's strength but as for the second champion... He had no idea who else Ruvick would choose but they will surely be on Marcus's level of power or much greater.
He needed to find a way to change the order of each fight so that Marcus is forced to fight all of the most powerful champions while giving Julian every opportunity to analyze how he fights and keep him at his peak strength all the way until the end.
Dressed in a finely tailored red suit with a white undershirt and a red blazer and pants, Kayron walked into the ambassador of Mordran's personal chambers.
Ambassador Gennon of Czechost, the second major city of Mordran and one of the only cities in that land still standing. He was dressed in plain cotton pants and a white buttoned shirt and his face was of an aging bald man with a thick yet finely trimmed brown beard.
"Ah, I wasn't expecting visitors today but it is still good to see you again. To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting, Kayron?" Gennon asked as he welcomed Kayron.
He bowed to Gennon in a gesture of genuine respect and the doors were closed behind him.
"I am here to ask from you another favor if you would hear it."
"Do tell."
"As you well know, Duranell's annual tournament will be taking place in just under a month's time from now but there are certain brotherhoods that I would like to see required to participate. Namely, the Darkmoon Knights and the Ruin Sentinels brotherhoods," Kayron requested and Gennon's eyes rose in fascination.
"And what in particular would be the reason for this? I never knew you as a man who would be interested in this sort of thing. Such wild barbarism is beneath the likes of us is it not?" Gennon asked with a chuckle as he poured himself a goblet of wine and began to sip from it.
"There are a few individuals that I am invested in for which I am hoping this contest would bring out their potential strength. One of them you might have even heard of...Marcus Wright," Kayron said and Gennon nearly coughed as he nearly choked on his wine.
"Marcus Wright you say...? The man who brought down that abominable Archdragon Malthael?"
"Yes, just the same. I will say that it was a shame that we had lost such an important asset during the war, though its probably for the better either way. Malthael was far too unpredictable to control, only driven by his lust for battle," he stated and Gennon placed his goblet down with a sigh.
"I see that you have not swayed from your path of ridding this world of gods and beasts, have you? You are still on the path of welcoming an Age of Man?"
Kayron's eyes narrowed and he could feel his anger rising as he replied, "I will bring about the Age of Man. You of all people should understand my devotion to this cause. Have you not suffered from the fickleness of gods as well?"
Gennon didn't seem convinced by Kayron's conviction as he said, "Hmm...we both know the chaos that comes from trying to bring about a world dominated by man. The Mordrinite War should have been lesson enough for you of the consequences of attempting to change the causality of this world."
"Are you trying to deflect blame of the failure of that war onto me alone? You had your hand in it as well, do not forget that," Kayron said with subtle venom in his voice.
Gennon flinched slightly at his words and said, "I would not dare feign innocence of my involvement in that war to you but I still understand that our actions lead to an undesired conclusion."
"And what I am saying is that my plans around Marcus Wright may yet lead to that desired conclusion," Kayron said with a firm tone and Gennon sighed.
"What would you have me do then? My influence within the king's court is very limited," he asked.
"As you and I both know, King Dorian is extremely paranoid of those with profound strength. Any one person with the power to kill a beast on Malthael's caliber would be closely investigated or kept under strict surveillance, yes? That being said, he is not so foolish as to compromise the freedom of Duranell's citizens otherwise he would risk an uprising," he said and Gennon nodded in confirmation.
"What are you proposing?"
"I suggest that you advise him to request the participation of the two brotherhoods under the context that their strength be observed and documented so that potential countermeasures could be made in the event that they decide to turn against Duranell," he offered and Gennon seemed genuinely impressed.
"Hmm...I am certain that King Dorian would propose this sort of solution himself if he was inclined to, so perhaps a gently prodding of this idea would be enough to convince him. It certainly does help that Captain Dean Smith has close ties with the king himself which would solidify this proposition even further...," Gennon stated as he pondered this more and more.
"Very well, I will see to it that this is presented to him as soon as possible. I do hope that whatever you are plotting succeeds," he said.
"For all our sake's, I hope so as well."
Artemis...
It was a strange feeling to be welcomed into a brotherhood after living and fighting alone for several years. Most people would think that time for an ageless and nearly immortal goddess such as herself would feel the passage of time as fleeting but like humans, she felt every single moment, every second that passed in her life as painfully long.
With this in mind she was somewhat excited to be part of a collection of warriors and former soldiers once again, like she had during the war with Adrianos...
"...Artemis?" Lysandra said as she broke Artemis out of her stupor.
"Sorry...I was thinking of the time during the war...its hard to get used to being around so many people again," she said and Lysandra nodded.
"Yes, but things are much better now that you can speak our language! For the longest time, I thought you had your tongue cut off or that you were a mute since you never spoke to us," she said with a sigh of relief.
"If I remember correctly, Adrian had told me you complained about the lack of other women to talk to in our company. No one to talk to about your failed advances on Dean, yes?" Artemis asked playfully.
"Make no mistake Artemis, I succeeded in the end! All it took was playing the innocent frightened maiden in the face of the incoming dragon ready to kill us all and he swept me away!" she said in a dreamy tone.
"I doubt you had to 'act' scared at all," she said with a smirk and Lysandra rolled her eyes.
"Okay...maybe I was a little terrified for my life but I still got what I wanted."
"And how well did that work out for you in the end? I don't see Dean with you now," she asked.
"Well...After the war, I picked up a gambling addiction...and I couldn't pay my debts which meant he had to take up the slack...and we've been separated ever since," she said with a somber tone.
Artemis placed her hand on Lysandra's shoulder, to which she looked up at her as if hoping for words of consolation.
"I pity him for having to deal with you."
Lysandra's looked insulted at Artemis for not having taken her side and started to spout out excuses for why things ended up the way they did but all were ignored.
As the day dragged on and the sun had started to set, she was eventually guided to her new home and given enough funds to last for an entire month.
What was most important however was the fact that her home had a bath. After years of bathing in cold frigid streams and rivers, she was grateful beyond belief to have her own warm bath once again.
After she had undressed and stepped into the hot soapy water of her bath, all her worries and stress seemed to disappear as her body began to slip into a state of relaxation.
However...as the minutes stretched on and the water began to lose its warmth, she pulled her legs close to her chest as she started to think of what could have been. For such a long time she had been fighting in various battles and near constant conflicts over and over again. Now that she finally had a home like this where she can truly relax and didn't have to fight any outrageous battles, she was faced with a wave of sadness that she didn't have her family to share this home with.
"What do I do now Adrianos...?" she asked as the foam of her soap disappeared and the water became cold.
Dean...
His day started off normally joined by Selene as the two of them were going through various reports turned in by the brotherhood members of their completed jobs when a royal guard walked into their hall.
"Captain Dean Smith of the Darkmoon Knights Brotherhood!" he stated firmly.
"Yes, that's me. Is something wrong?"
"Your immediate presence has been requested by his highness of Duranell, King Dorian II!" he said as he handed Dean an invitation wrapped in a dark green ribbon and stamped with Duranell's royal seal of a wolf.
He broke the seal and read the contents.
"Are there no further details of the context of this meeting?"
"Aside from the fact that you will also be joined by Captain Lysandra of the Ruin Sentinels Brotherhood, I have no further information to give you of the meeting," he said as Dean and Selene cursed simultaneously.
"Dammit, fine. I'll make my way there now," he said and the royal guard bowed in thanks before taking off.
"Since when does the king himself request meetings with you?" Selene asked him.
"More often than you think actually...," he said but realized he made a mistake and didn't give her any further details on it. It was for the best if she didn't know what his relationship with the king was.
"Can you hold things down here for me while I'm gone?" he asked knowing the answer as she waved him away while she went back to working on the reports.
When he had arrived in the king's throne room, he realized that this was a far more important matter than he originally thought it would be as he noticed that his queen was not present and three of his advisors were all in attendance.
Duke Westfall, the one who oversees all of Duranell's markets and trade with other kingdoms.
Ambassador Gennon, the slimy little bastard of Czechost that escaped execution at the end of the Mordrinite War and was made of one of the king's advisors instead.
Thirdly, General Rourke, the commander of Duranell's army.
Next to Dean stood Lysandra and he wanted to roll his eyes upon seeing her but decided to keep his composure in the face of the king.
"Your Highness, you asked for me?" he said as he bowed to the king.
"Yes, I requested that both you and Captain Lysandra be brought here because something has been brought to my attention. The matter of two individuals who have recently joined your brotherhoods. The man known as Marcus Wright, he who felled the Archdragon Malthael only days ago and the Goddess Artemis, though there are records of her valor in the Mordrinite War, her loyalties are questionable as is what she has been doing in the past fifteen years since the war had ended," he stated and both Dean and Lysandra seemed confused as to what the king was implying.
"What would you have us do to rectify this concern, your highness?" Lysandra asked.
"I would like the both of your brotherhoods to participate in the Contest of Champions so that the two of them can be evaluated for their strength and their potential usefulness to the kingdom and so that I can dictate whether they would pose a potential threat in the future. Is that understood?"
"Yes your highness," the two of them said in unison.
What the hell...? What is going on here?
"If I may ask a question?" Dean asked.
King Dorian waved his hand for him to proceed.
"Aside from assessing them based on their strength and potential threat to your rule, are there any other motivations behind the decision of requiring our participation? If you had asked me personally then I could have assessed them my self and given you a detailed report," Dean stated.
"Their participation in the contest is indeed a roundabout method to gaining information on them but it is meant to prevent their suspicion in any ulterior motive behind their required participation. It will also give them an opportunity to earn money, potential fame, and establish a strong relationship with the citizens. If the kingdom has a positive view on them then it will impact them in a positive light which will reflect on us as well," the king said but for some reason it made Dean feel uneasy.
"Thank you for addressing my concerns. I'll see to it that Marcus Wright will participate in the contest per your request," he said as he bowed.
Lysandra bowed as well as she said, "I too will make certain that the Goddess Artemis participates."
King Dorian gave them a satisfactory nod as he dismissed them.
When they left the throne room Lysandra sighed in relief as she said, "Thank god that's over with. I hate meeting with the king. It stresses me out."
He was inclined to agree with her but all the secrecy behind this meeting unnerved him. It could cause too much friction if Marcus learned that the king saw him as a threat. After all, Selene had promised him that he and his sister would protected if they worked for them.
Granted it was a deal meant to protect them from Kayron but if the king himself was threatened by Marcus then that could cause its own set of issues.
He hoped that this doesn't come to bite him in the ass later on.