After waving to Noelle, I crossed the hall to my chambers, cleaned up, and headed downstairs to the grand hall. It was enormous and heavily decorated with tapestries and banners, where we would be dining with the king's family. No one had sat down yet, but everyone was greeting each other. I met the king's son and daughter.
Both were my age, and they also looked strikingly similar, sharing the same blue eyes and red hair. Their hair was not as bright as my family's, but it was a light shade of red. The girl was a bit shorter than her brother.
She wore a red velvet dress patterned with crushed rose petals that complemented her hair. A silver chain belt rested on her waist, and her sleeves fell loosely to her wrists. Her hair was half-tied with a blue silk ribbon that matched the subtle sapphire pendant resting at her throat.
Her brother wore a snow-white tunic with silver stitching outlining the collar and cuffs. His trousers were soft charcoal wool, tucked into knee-high black leather boots.
I bowed slightly.
"Nice to meet you, Arthur and Fera."
Arthur scratched the back of his head.
"No need—we're cousins. The pleasure is ours."
I left and started to walk toward Stark and the king's knight. The knight next to him was a beautiful woman in jet-black armor, and she had jet black short hair that complemented her armor, black eyes, and caramel skin. It almost looked like she had never been injured in her entire life. She looked like a shadow in her twenties.
However, her looks could not mask the overwhelmingly intense feeling of power the closer I got.
'Wow, she is gorgeous.'
She looked straight at me and smiled.
"Thank you."
My heart didn't just skip—it sprinted, tripped, and faceplanted.
'Nope. Nope. Did she just—? No way. Are mind readers real? I'm so screwed.'
Before I panicked, I calmed myself down, and I forced a nervous laugh.
"What do you mean? I said nothing."
Stark was barely holding back a smirk. Great. Now I was the joke.
"Hello, boy, this is Bell. I used to train with her when I was younger. And before you ask, she uses Spirtha, a spirit user.
She's two ranks above me; she's one of the five Eclipsed Monarchs. I'll teach you about the ranks tomorrow."
"Oh, okay. Nice to meet you, Bell."
She nodded
I turned away as soon as possible.
'Okay. So she's a telepathic warrior goddess. Great. I'm so out of my league, I almost dug my own grave.'
I then walked along to greet the last two guests. The king had the same hair and eyes as his two children. He wore a robe, the top of which was white puffed fur with black spots, while the inside of the cape was white, the outside red.
He wore a red uniform as if he had come for a meeting. The gold chain was wrapped around his waist and up to his shoulder. He had white pants and black shoes.
His wife had black hair and blue eyes. A silver chain belt rested on her waist, and her sleeves fell loosely to her wrists. She wore a black dress. A black belt ran across her waist just like her daughters.
'That's some strong genes. '
I kneeled.
"It is my honor to meet you, Eren, and you too, Mel."
The king smiled and looked down.
"Get up, no need to kneel, Damien, after all, we are family. Tonight is your night, and I would like to discuss more during the banquet."
I got up and headed for the table where everyone started to walk. A long table overflowed with food, rich with succulent aromas, filled to the brim. Each meal looked incredible: golden roasted chicken, potatoes glistening with oil, sizzling flying elk wings, vibrant salads bursting with strange vegetables, and thick stew filled with chunks of horned rabbit.
'So many choices.'
I took a seat, and soon everyone else followed. Laughter and chatter filled the air as servants poured drinks into crystal cups and passed out warm bread rolls. My plate was a mountain of meat, so rich and fragrant I almost drooled onto the table.
The king grabbed everyone's attention with a golden voice that made everyone stop to listen.
"Today we are here not to lavish ourselves with the grand meal, but for Damien's survival. The boy has gone through hell. Let's not stare at the past but keep looking forward. Let us feast."
Through the feast, it was hard to eat with one arm; my other arm was still recovering, so from time to time I leaned and almost fell a couple of times. Somehow, my plate was empty. I didn't even remember chewing. I already ate and didn't plan to go for seconds. This had been my first good meal in a while. I did live in a forest.
The king set down his silverware and turned to me.
"Damien, please, tell us what happened during your time away."
Every fork stopped. Every gaze pointed at me like I was about to recite my late homework.
'Why did everyone stop to hear? This is too embarrassing.'
"Um... yeah. It was hard. I killed a bear. Uh, and… stuff."
The king's interest grew, and so did his smile.
"Please do go into further details."
'Is it me, or is it hot in here? I gotta finish this quickly. Why me? Why now? I can barely remember what I ate this morning, let alone summarize days of trauma over roast chicken.'
I explained everything that happened, except for the parts with Nox. I don't know why, but I had a strange feeling about it.
"And that pretty much wraps it up."
The King widened his eyes and chuckled.
"Damien, what a warrior you'll become. To use the Ki blast to propel yourself up to dodge the wild beast was remarkable. If you're already doing this now, I expect nothing less from you in the near foreseeable future. Arthur takes notes. Damien, please tell me you'll be joining this year's YGT. Arthur will be joining, and so will Fera next year.
'Oh no. He thinks I knew what I was doing. I just flung myself and hoped for the best.
'What am I supposed to say? Thanks, I nearly died doing it. Arthur's going to think I'm some kind of prodigy.'
"Thank you. I'll definitely join. What's a YGT?"
I scratched my cheek and gave a half-smile.
The king paused. The whole room seemed to blink in unison.
The king's face became still, and his brows raised, and he turned to Father and Mother.
What? Did I just insult some sacred event? Why is everyone looking at my parents? Did I mess up again?'
"Have you not told the boy yet? It's the most important time of the year.
Father and Mother stared at each other, then looked back. At the same time, they both responded.
"We were going to tell him tomorrow."
Stark cleared his throat.
He will not be joining this year. For the year ahead, he will be spending his time training with me. I want to make sure the boy can have absolute control over Ki.
The king looked at Stark with a serious expression.
"I see, so next year he will enter. I understand."
The banquet continued from there, and everyone went back to chatting. After everyone was done. Arthur came up to me.
"Hello Damien, your story was awesome. I need to tell you something: due to a family matter, we will be held back as well. So get as strong as you can and we'll fight."
'Did I get a rival? He probably got the idea that I'm some prodigy., I gotta stay cool and nonchalant, I cannot mess this up.'
"Alright then, just know I'll be way stronger, and when that day comes, you'll have to get stronger too."
A freakish grin appeared on Arthur's face.
"Oh yeah! Bring it on, pal. I can't wait to whoop your sorry ass!"
We went back and forth for a while till both our parents yelled at us.
We began to laugh together. Fera, Noelle, from a distance, started to giggle. This is something I could never do to anyone before. Noelle was an exception.
'Is he my friend?'
They started to leave one by one. Today was a good day, and for some reason, I thought I forgot something. It was at the back of my tongue, as if two annoying people weren't here to harass me.
'Ben and Ken. I haven't seen them since I left. Good riddance.'
Before Stark entered the guest house, he came up to me.
"Get some rest because tomorrow hell will rain upon you."
'Huh, definitely not scary or anything.'
Without letting me respond, he left and closed the door. Mother came up to me.
I bet you're wondering where Ben and Ken are. They went to train with Grampa to enhance their Spirtha technique.
'What the hell is up today? Is she a mind reader as well?'