"Celia, gather the Vanguard together to our allocated field. We need to make preparations for the second round."
"On it, Sir!" Celia saluted so hard she nearly smacked herself in the forehead before sprinting away like a runaway wind spirit. A trail of papers immediately flew out of her bag as she flew past.
"Lady Celia! Your notes!"
"My notes can catch up later!"
The poor academy assistants stared in despair as the wind mage disappeared over the stands.
Meanwhile, Sora gracefully returned to his rightful position beside Cassian.
More specifically—
Directly beside Cassian and painfully close to Cassian. The sort of close proximity that suggested he would gladly merge into the prince's shadow if given permission.
"Did you see that, my lord?" Sora asked proudly. "I did well, didn't I?... I am deserving of staying on your side, am I not?"
Cassian looked at him.
"Sora.."
"Yes my Lord?"
"Did you hide your strength from me on purpose?" Cassian asked, his eyes unyielding from staring daggers down at Sora and Sora flinched, taking an instinctive step backward.
"Not at all, My Prince. I would never." Sora immediately looked offended as he clasped his hands together slightly above his chest.
"I merely had no reason to fight or to publicly show off my true strength before. And besides, the pregnancy drained my mana pool at a rapid pace before I reunited with you. Hence I was so weak, frail and pale."
"Your highness, I was practically dying. And I was starving, living in a lowly pleasure district with a highly demanding heir as yours inside of me, was draining every life force of mine."
He dramatically scoffs leaning the back of his palm on his temple and Cassian sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Just then Sora straightened up, calming down with a teasing chuckle as looked towards Cassian.
"No matter, I am only half way through gaining my full strength once again. Therefore in no time my powers will all be back."
Cassian blinked.
"What? This is still half of your strength?"
"Yes."
Sora nodded seriously, as if he was never fooling around a few moments ago.
"I suppose once I finally give birth, my mana pool will stabilize once more without getting drained away by your heir."
Cassian froze
Every single time Sora casually referred to the unborn child, it somehow caught him off guard. Because once again it was a reminder that he was going to be a father in this timeline as well.
"My exalted lord, you should remember. My bloodline is of ancient races. Not one but actually two ancient races. And even if I never intended to get strong, I would still grow strong nonetheless, as I was born with the blood of powerful races that were blessed with divinity."
"Moonborns are not blessed with divinity. They are impure." Lucien scoffed from the side, causing Sora's eye to twitch.
"The Moon is a god unto itself, Sir Arden."
Lucien folded his arms and Sora folded his.
"All gods possess different divine powers." Sora snarled. Lucien raised an eyebrow and Sora raised both.
"Then your god is also impure." Lucien jeered and Sora only leaned closer to him.
"Just because we don't worship your god doesn't make us any less deserving of divinity or deemed impure....Sir Arden." Sora countered with a growl, silencing Lucien.
Lucien opened his mouth. Then closed it.
For once, he had absolutely nothing say and Cassian smirked indulging the sight of his defeat..
It was a rare sight and Lucien looked personally offended by that fact.
"Come on now, this is not the time for us to delve into religious beliefs, politics and customary practices."
Cassian casually reached forward, stepping in between them.
"For now, let us focus on the tournament ahead and have fun, shall we?"
Without thinking, he turned towards his left and he adjusted the straps of Lucien's armor to fit properly on his chest. It was a kind gesture for someone who is always on his side and he slowly growing accustomed to his presence. Seemingly the breastplate had shifted slightly and it took him full two seconds to fix it.
Normally it was a completely an ordinary, harmless and a friendly gesture. But for Lucien it was so sudden that he even froze. His brain stopped functioning for a moment and his heart forgot its duties.
For several seconds he simply stood there while Cassian continued speaking as if it all didn't matter and what he was doing was only natural. Lucien was no longer listening to him, instead he let him be. His eyes only remained fixed on Cassian's calm face with a soft smile slightly creeping on the edge of his lips.
They were slowly getting closer to each other and he liked that.
And across from them—
Sora witnessed everything. The half-elf's smile twitched.
His eyebrow twitched.
His eye twitched.
His soul twitched and several violent instincts immediately awoke inside of his mind. The Moonborn side of him wanted blood, the Elf side wanted to purge the paladin to dust, where as the pregnant side of him wanted to bite onto something.
And preferably Lucien.
But fortunately—...Sora managed to restrain himself as he held himself back from overreacting like his inner core demanded him to. His pregnancy has been making him experience a turmoil of emotions at once.
And Cassian being a mate that bonded with him and internally marked him, he couldn't help but to be territorial over Cassian. Even if he didn't want to, the bond was still intact and his core made him do so.
Sora took a deep breath. Then another.
And before he knew it, he had accepted the situation with a brand new perception.
After all, before his pregnancy and his abrupt presence he was merely a courtesan of a pleasure house meant to please the Prince for only a single night, selling his body to survive and pay his debts.
But for Sir Lucien Arden it was different. He was a man of honor praised by the nations and valued by everyone and kingdoms. And that kind of man has been always there for Cassian. Before Sora arrived, before the unplanned bond, before the pregnancy and even before everything else. Lucien had protected Cassian with outmost care, he had followed Cassian wherever he went and no matter how long it took, he was never bothered as he blindly followed him. He was always there. He supported Cassian and he even challenged barbarian princes of another continent and the previous Crown Prince Adrian just to protect Cassian.
And Sora understood that.
And now–.....now he can only accept the truth as it was in front of his eyes, his mating with Cassian was only a coincidental and forbidden encounter. And right now he should only be glad that Lucien had spared him when he was meant to be executed. Any other holy knight might have executed him on the spot after discovering what had happened. But instead Lucien tolerated him, reluctantly, painfully, constantly. Yet he still tolerated his presence nonetheless and accepted him to remain at the Crown Prince's side, abandoning his very duty as a Holy Knight just for Sora's sake and Cassian's.
Sora sighed and silently thought to himself.
'Fine.'
Perhaps it was at that point that Sora decided that he would tolerate Lucien into Cassian's life as an intimate partner too. At least Lucien cared deeply about the prince and perhaps–.... Perhaps it was time that Sora faced reality and accepted Lucien completely instead of trying to fight him off his mate, just this once. And besides Sora was only Cassian's mate by chance and not his betrothed, he had no reason and no right to claim him for himself without being acknowledged by the Valemonts first.
Now he finally knows that he was only fooling himself with delusions about his future with Cassian because of his pregnancy. A forbidden pregnancy at that.
And he needed to wake up from that dream because Cassian might be only keeping his bond with him for the sake of the child. Nothing else but the unborn child.
Right at that moment Sora recalled back all his of his senses that were fading into delusions that fooled him to believe that he belonged to Cassian's side. Because he actually did not.
And more than anything he was only a liability and an abomination that could land Cassian in trouble with his Empire.
'Therefore I should know my place huh?, for a mate that's quite painful to bear.'
"Big Brother Cassian, I heard you wanted to talk to us."
Leo's voice broke the tension and the Vanguard gathered around them immediately.
"Yes, Leo that is correct."
Cassian moved away from Lucien and he walked towards the Vanguard.
"You guys did well on the first round. It was truly satisfying to watch."
The students instantly exploded into cheers.
"We did it!"
"We crushed them!"
"Did you see their faces?!"
"They looked terrified!"
"Our formation worked!"
Leo grinned proudly and one of the senior elites Gideon nearly lifted someone off the ground celebrating. Even Helena the quietest looked slightly pleased.
But then somebody remembered.
"But that guy Julian—"
"Let him be." Cassian immediately cut them off.
"His presence only highlights your capabilities as the underclassmen and that is all that matters."
The students immediately straightened, their commander had acknowledged them and that alone felt like receiving a medal.
"For now we focus on the second round." Cassian opened his notebook. "The group battle royale."
"Out of ten members, at least five should remain and survive the layout for each group."
Everyone nodded.
"And we all know that the Crimson Vanguard will be targeted the most." This time the nodding became much more serious. Nobody disagreed. It quite obvious that half the continent wanted them eliminated, just to quench their doubts about the Crown Prince Cassian. And they all wanted to prove Cassian wrong.
"This time around the group that participated in the individual combat trial will sit this one out completely. You will recharge your mana pools with the potions I provided." Several students sighed in relief, Cassian's potions were legendary and nobody knew where he kept acquiring them but none of that mattered.
"Now I will pick the second group to challenge the battle royale." He paused. "Ten of you."
Then he pointed.
"And Sora."
The students blinked.
"What? But only ten members can—"
"I know." Cassian closed his notebook. "And I am not planning to follow the rules."
Silence.
Absolute silence. Even Sora blinked.
Then Lucien immediately clicked his tongue.
"That is so like you." He shook his head.
"Cheating your way up with nothing but cunning methods."
"I'd do anything to win, Sir Arden."
Cassian's smile widened slightly.
"And you know, *anything* that benefits me." Lucien groaned, knowing that fact very well. He knew exactly what that smile meant. And somewhere inside Cassian's head—....The Scepter of the Sun King practically sparkled brightly.
'Getting my hands on that artifact is the priority.'
"You guys don't worry about how this game will progress and just focus on surviving the battle right until the time limit ends, and as you know it's only a duration of two days to conquer this trial."
"As you command, Your Honorable Highness."
"But also remember..." Cassian pointed his pen.
"The moment you step inside whatever field that the professors create, spread around in pairs. No matter what, don't move as a group. And if one of you becomes a liability abandon them and focus on the goal of conquering the trial. So hopefully it won't reach to that point, only minor injuries are acceptable....Do I make myself clear?"
The students nodded, immediately taking notes. Even Leo and shockingly Gideon too.
"Now then." Cassian glanced across them. "Let's pick the ten students."
He pointed.
"Felix."
Felix immediately stood straighter.
"You are one of the Senior Elites whose abilities I trust the most and you are a leader of your own specific group."
Cassian nodded folding his arms infront of Felix.
"You have a strategic mind as well."
Felix looked proud.
"Your two-circle lightning magic is more than efficient."
Felix looked even prouder.
"And unlike Gideon, you actually think before punching things." Everyone laughed and Gideon looked offended.
"I think sometimes though."
"No you don't."
"I absolutely do."
"When?"
"..."
The silence answered everything and Cassian smirked moving on to glance at his notebook.
"Along with you, Helena."Helena nodded calmly.
"Your three-circle ice magic will be our wildcard."
A few students shivered. Helena's definition of "ice magic" was often considered a war crime. She could freeze the entire field if she put her mind to it.
"Then the rest of eight remaining students will be amongst the underclassmen. A healer, a fire element magic weilder, Honda's infiltration skills will prove efficient as well. So choose among yourselves, fight for the spot if you have to. But Leo, Gideon, Celia and Silas you guys stay out of this turn, I have other plans for you in the upcoming trials."
They nodded immediately without complaints as his word was absolute.
"And Sora" Cassian's voice snapped Sora back to reality and Sora looked up at him. A little silently than usual, but Cassian didn't let it bother him instead he signalled Sora to follow him.
"Come with me, I'll let you in on my plans."
"Yes your highness."
Cassian walked back to the royal box with Sora and Lucien, leaving the underclassmen discussing among themselves, not aware that most of the attention in the arena had diverted to them. Or perhaps they couldn't care less, just like their commander.
Later, while the students debated the remaining positions, the spectators watched from afar. Many nobles frowned and some laughed. Others looked completely baffled.
"Is the Crown Prince crazy?"
"To let the contenders injure themselves with fights even before the trial?"
"Is he too arrogant that they'd win even if injured?"
"Or just plain stupid?"
Unfortunately for them—
They were misunderstanding the situation entirely. The Vanguard wasn't fighting because of internal conflict. They were holding practical evaluations just like they usually did during training.
And within minutes the strongest candidates naturally emerged among them.
And the nobles quickly stopped laughing, realising the strategy behind the light bouts.
*****
Meanwhile—
Inside the royal box.
"Sora, we'll need your shape-shifting magic to mess with the other teams' strategies during the trial."
"What?" Sora pointed at himself. "Me?"
"Is it impossible?"
Sora immediately sat straighter, shaking his head.
"For you, my lord anything is possible." Lucien sighed.
This was beginning. *Again.*
'They should just get a room wherever they go.' Lucien looked at both of them lazily, he couldn't be bothered anymore.
"I can shape shift into anything. Be it turning into their favorite personal weapons to kill themselves, I'll gladly do it."
Cassian smirked and Sora smirked back his thoughts finally at ease. But Lucien stared at both of them. Blankly.
"They are both just evil."
Neither heard him.
"Just outrageously evil. And it is quite scary how I am starting to understand why they get along."
Still no response.
"It is because they're both impure and cunning. It is so outrageous."
Sora looked proud, Cassian looked even more pleased. And Lucien looked at the heavens.
'Gods bless this Holy Knight's sanity. I feel I will soon go crazy.' Lucien sighed shaking his head.
*****
After the artificial field or the Island dome was put up, all the competing teams were trapped inside. Dying inside the field meant elimination and surviving until the time lapses meant victory. And right now no one knew of the figure lurking in shadows preparing to sabotage each and every team he came across that wasn't part the Crimson Vanguard.
Sora was clearly ordered to incapacitate at least up to three members of each team and completely avoid coming across the elves. And Sora eagerly took the role and did as he was told.
*****
The matches progressed exactly as Cassian had calculated. Down in the dome, watching through the magical floating screens, the Southern Sea institution's spatial-distortion matrix was systematically dismantled by the Crimson Vanguard. The kinetic-drain array Silas prepared ahead of time, executed its function with ruthless precision, dissolving the rival academy's mana reserves in under four minutes and securing a flawless incapacitation of four of their members just as the trail had just started. Only six remained, but they were not so safe, only five could make them progress to the second trial but they were already down to six right from the beginning of the game.
Up in the royal box, the victory was treated as nothing more than a routine, an expected outcome. But nonetheless Cassian was proud. He smoothly rested back, his only interest laying on the artifact at the far etched podium, his crimson eyes already drifting back toward the Scepter of the Sun King. The Earth artifact fragment hummed beneath its protective glass casing at the center of the arena, practically begging to be repossessed.
"The tournament structure is entering its final fiscal phase," Cassian drawled flatly, closing his notebook with a sharp snap. "We should already prepare ourselves for tomorrow's trial and I want a public display of overwhelming dominance from my Vanguard, to prove these people wrong and also garner some support from the big shots up there....after all financial funds are also pivotal to empower our youth to fight effortlessly for our continent. And for that to happen, we'll crush everyone that gets in our way."
Across the arena, several rival academies suddenly felt an inexplicable chill run down their spines.
Something told them tomorrow was going to be very unpleasant.
*****