King Gaëlf slowly walked into the room.
His eyes ignored the crowd who were prostrating on the floor around him. Instead, they were locked on both Levian and Farys, who were both bloodied and with slightly depleted life force.
He stopped, standing over them as he scratched at his smooth chin.
"This looks like more than just an official elven duel?" The King pointed out instantly.
The crowd stirred in fear. After all, they had encouraged the fight.
"If I might raise my head and talk, my king?" Farys spoke, still facing the ground.
"You may raise your head and talk."
The bronze-skinned elf looked up at the king. "I offered this... man to a duel, but he refused. Then, he dared to name himself the True Elf, disrespecting everything we believe in. I had to put him in his place."
"Hardly seems like you put him in his place." A new voice suddenly came from the entrance of the training grounds. "You've both lost the same amount of life force."
The crowd looked up to find that a tall elven woman had entered the room.
Her hair was blonde, which resembled gold, and it flowed in curls down to her shoulders. A white bandage was wrapped around her head, covering both of her eyes, and yet her face was as beautiful as a god's.
She wore purple shorts, a purple cloak, and a purple suit jacket, all of which were lined in gold, giving her a sense of nobility. Her body was curvaceous in all the right areas, and she walked with an elegant strut.
Everyone in the crowd seemed to recognise the voice, and they became even more tense than when the King himself had entered the room.
Farys bowed his head again. "Archmage Supreme Jyselle."
He was too busy showing his respect to explain that he had not used his full power in his duel against Levian.
King Gaëlf turned towards the woman, not bothering to make her kneel.
She was one of the few people in Goldtree who did not need to.
Archmage Supreme was the highest official rank of mage that one could reach within the elven empire. Whilst that did not necessarily make her the strongest, she was definitely the most recognised and had helped advance magic immensely during her lifetime.
Jyselle stood beside the king, first looking the man up and down. "I swear Gaëlf, will there ever be a day that you wear clothes? I'm tired of seeing your ass cheeks everywhere I go."
King Gaëlf smiled, as though he had been given a compliment. Then, he turned his attention back to the two beaten men.
His eyes stared at Levian, as though considering something. Then, he finally spoke.
"Farys, you will not be punished for today's actions. After all, it was my mistake that I allowed Levian to walk through the academy before explaining to you all what his purpose is."
Some heads in the crowd raised, faces plastered with slight confusion. They knew that Levian had claimed to be the King's guest, but what could that mean?
Farys dared to ask the question that everyone had on their minds.
"Can I ask what his purpose is, my king?"
Jyselle tilted her head back and laughed. Then, despite having her eyes covered, she seemed to glance over the entire room.
"You're telling me that all of you, the future of the nation, are this stupid?"
Then, she made her way over to Levian and placed a hand on the man's shoulder, as if presenting him for everyone to see.
Levian felt himself turning red.
"This man is who he says he is. The man that we have been waiting for since the arrival of King Gaëlf. This is..."
She went silent for a moment and looked down at Levian.
"What is your name?" She whispered.
"L-levian. Levian Bladeblessed." He stammered.
"This, is Levian Bladeblessed, the True Elf!"
At first, the entire room went silent. They simply raised their heads and stared at Levian in disbelief.
King Gaëlf was shaking his head on the sidelines, as if to say, "I was meant to be the one announcing that."
Then, the room burst into sounds of surprised murmurs, and fear.
They could not believe it.
They had disrespected the man spoken about in prophecy, even after he had revealed his identity.
Farys however, wore the most shock on his face. But alongside the shock, there seemed to be anger, as his fists clenched.
He turned his head to look at Levian, who was trying his best not to show a reaction on his face.
"You... you are the true elf?" He asked.
Levian nodded his head. "I am."
His eyes scanned Levian up and down, questions running through his mind.
"Then why is the true elf so weak?"
It was Levian's turn to clench his fists in anger. Their fight had been close before the King arrived, so how dare Farys speak such words?
Before he could retort, the King stepped in once again, putting an end to the gathering.
"You would be wise not to underestimate Levian. In time, he might stand at the top of our nation, rivalling the greats in strength. Now then, everybody run along. I'm sure you have lessons to attend to."
The chattering crowd swiftly rose to their feet and filtered from the room. Farys did the same afterwards, still looking as though he wished to stay.
Archmage Supreme Jyselle left the room afterwards, ensuring that all of the students went where they needed to go.
That left Levian in the room with King Gaëlf.
"I apologise for what you had to go through. Being the son of such a powerful man, Farys often takes a position of authority over those he deems weaker than himself. I should have made sure that he was aware of who you were beforehand."
You're a king. You don't need to apologise to me...
"It's fine. It felt good being able to test myself against a platinum rank... I've still got so far to go if I want to make a difference in this world."
King Gaëlf nodded his head with a smile. "That you do, which brings me to my next question. Were you able to safely create another weapon and progress towards your mastery?"
Levian nodded his head, remembering the earlier events with the tree entity. "I did. If I create three more, I will have it unlocked."
"Good." The King responded, turning to face back towards the exit. "Work diligently, and remember to ask me for anything that you might need. You can find me in my chambers."
Just before the man exited, he turned back to say one last thing.
"Oh, and now that news has spread that you're the True Elf, please expect a large amount of attention heading in your direction."
Levian let out a sigh. "Thanks for warning me."
He only hoped that the attention would be different from what he was shown today.
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