You're weaker than I expected," a voice said from the shadows.
It was cold, deep, and laced with power, each word echoing with an authority that made the air tremble.
"Try not to fail my pride again." the cold voice warned.
Suddenly Malcon felt a compelling raw energy flood into his body. It was overwhelming, wild, and Malcon suddenly felt very much alive.
Cage instinctively stepped back, his gaze locked on Malcon, who now stood still, something was different and he could feel it.
Cage for some reason felt like he would soon turn to a prey as he felt the surge of power growing in Malcon.
His breath quickened as Beads of sweat rolled down his temples. The pounding sound of his heart echoed in his ears, thudding like a war drum, trying to break free from his chest.
"What is this…how?" he asked himself.
The shadow underneath Malcon slowly wrapped his body in a living armor of darkness, sleek and fearsome. Only his eyes remained visible, glowing a menacing crimson through the veil of black shadow that covered his entire body.
"No... I can do this," he muttered, Cage swallowed hard, forcing confidence into his trembling voice.
He quickly activated his ability, eager to get a glimpse of Malcon's next move again.
"Ahhhhh!" Cage shouted in pain. Blood streamed from his eyes like crimson tears, pain searing through his mind as if it were being torn apart from the inside.
With one of his hands slightly covering his eyes, he looked at Malcon who was still glaring at him, as though he was thinking of the best way to attack him.
Cage felt a sudden airwaves smash into his face.
His eyes widened with fear as he saw Malcon standing in front of him, his fist moving towards his face. The pressure was so much that he wet his pants. Instinctively, Cage knew if that blow so much as greze his skin, he would drop dead.
A massive shockwave erupted across the arena, tearing through the air and sending chunks of earth flying in every direction.
Malcon suddenly dropped to the ground. and out of the haze of dust that covered the arena, they all saw Eckhard glowing blue eyes.
Two medics rushed in, picking both cage and Malcon who had both blacked out.
After the duel, the kids were asked to go back to their rooms while the captains were called to a meeting by the king.
"Firstly," the king started.
"I'd like to thank the captains who devoted their time in training these children."
"It's an honor, your Grace."
"Secondly," he continued. "some of them impressed both me and Darius with their level of skills."
"Indeed," Daruis nodded in agreement.
"The boy who used mana magic as though he was at the rank of an expert, and to make everything worse. He had a breakthrough in his duel entering the rank of a veteran." the king said, his tone filled with amazement.
"The second person," he continued. "Was his opponent. He displayed no ability but was very much advanced in his speed and strength."
"Adrian" the captain said. "He's the strongest among them," he added.
"As expected," Daruis commented.
"The third Person that also amazed me was the mind control girl" the king said. " what's her name"
"Megan," the vice captain answered.
"But among all these people, none of them caught my attention like the Eden boy," the king finally said.
For a while the room was quite like a graveyard.
"Darius" the king called. "What did you find out about Eden Malcon?" he asked.
"Mhmm mhmm mm" Daruis coughed before starting.
"Eden Malcon is the last son of Eden mavis, who was known as the shadow viper" Darius announced.
"Mavis left the family house after their father's death. I could not get the reasons for his departure." he confessed
"You've done well Darius," the king commented. "was there any other information you were able to retrieve?" he asked.
"Yes, after Eden Mavis left his family home he settled at Diagon where he married and gave birth to two children. Eden Mal, and Eden Malcon. I also found out that Eden Mal was a prodigy blessed by the gods. As at a very young age he attained power that was unbecoming even as an Eden. Eventually he left the diagon, and a few years later his head was found by the holy knight."
"Thank you for the information" the king appreciated. "honestly i am surprised, cause we were told many years ago that the shadow viper died." for a while he paused, thinking.
"There is a problem." he finally said.
"Shadow viper was the hair to the family's throne, if Eden Theodore who is the current family leader finds out that his brother's last son is alive, He'll tag him as a threat to his throne. But hopefully it won't get to that" he finally said, smiling.
"Now let's get to the main reason why I called the meeting." his voice turned deep and serious.
"During the duel. am sure you all felt what I felt?" he asked looking around while they all nodded their heads in agreement.
"When…I grabbed his fist" Eckhard stammered.
"I felt an underworldly energy radiating from the boy."
Let's all hope is not something to invite the holy knight." the king commented. "Where is he now?" he asked.
"The clinic,"Eckhard answered.
"I'll go and visit him. This would be the end of the meeting, tomorrow the children should be teleported to Eleanor." the king said leaving and they all stood up and bowed.
The king was led to the hospital wing by a medic.
"thank you" he said as she showed him Malcon,
and she bowed and left.
Malcon was innocently sleeping, the king tried to sense the underworldly presence he sensed during the duel but he couldn't.
He placed his hand on malcon's chest, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
Opening his eyes, he saw himself in a dimly lit up space, the floor was damp and the sound of drops of water broke the silence of the room. He took a few steps forward, the sound of the echoing drops of water getting louder and louder.
Then he felt it, a sudden shock wave of death intent smashed into his face, an underworldly presence that choked him. He tried to breathe but he couldn't, he tried teleporting back to reality but he couldn't. Running out of oxygen he fell to the ground, his face red as he struggled to breath.
"little mouse" a cold deep voice radiating with power and authority called from within the darkness of the room. Looking up, his eyes interlocked with two huge flaming red eyes, looking at the eyes alone he felt his life essence slowly being drawn from him.
"little mouse, dears to enter my chambers" the voice said mockfully. The glowing red eyes still fixed at the king who was bleeding from his eyes and ears.
"ha ha ha ha ha" the cold voice laughed, making the king bleed the more.
"Begon, little mouse" the voice said, as the eyes slowly faded into the darkness.
The king's eyes sprang open, the sound of his heartbeat breaking the silence of the room.
He was sweating profusely, and slowly, a thin stream of blood trickled from his nose. He reached for a towel on the nearby table, his hand trembling. Whipping the blood off his nose, he stood up quietly and left.
Malcon slowly opened his eyes looking around.
"You're finally awake," a lady said, walking towards him.
"Please, how long have I been sleeping?" he asked, trying to recall the last thing he remembered.
His eyes suddenly widened in fear as he remembered the cold deep voice, his breath became unsteady as though he was struggling to breath, his heart threatening to beat out of his rib cage.
And he blanked out again.
The morning sun and a soft breeze slipped through the open window, brushing against Malcon's face.
He blinked slowly, his eyes finally opening as the golden light spilled over him, gently and warm.
He was still in the hospital wing, except this time there was no beautiful medic to tell him good morning.
'I'll enjoy this breeze for the meantime,' Malcon said to himself, turning his face to avoid the sun. A sudden large shadow casted above him.
'Please don't be the medic! Please don't send me away just yet!' Malcon said to himself, slightly turning his head.
Everything went quiet as his eyes locked with sky blue eyes.
"Get out of the window you fool, you're blocking my Fresh air." Malcon snapped, turning back his head.
"Get up you fat lazy cow." Bane demanded pushing Malcon to the ground. "Everyone was worried about you," he added.
"Arhhhh!" Malcon shouted at the top of his voice.
"My leg, my leg." he added, rolling on the ground.
"What is it?" The medic asked, as she quickly ran into the room.
"He pushed me off my bed," Malcon said pointing at Bane, whose jaw dropped at malcon's acting.
The medic assisted Malcon to the bed and chased Bane away. After healing, she told him to stay for a while and rest.
"Finally, some peace and quiet." Malcon said to himself, stretching.
His eyes sprang open a few minutes later as some guys ran into the carrying someone.
"There was an accident, and he broke his hand." Damian explained to the medic.
"I'll take care of him from here," you guys can leave." the medic said.
'stupid people,' Malcon cursed under his breath, 'can't allow someone rest.' he continued, turning his head, closing his eyes and sleeping off again.
"I am done healing, but please stay and rest for a while" the medic said softly after attending to the boy with a broken arm.
"Okay, thank you," the boy said.
Malcon's eyes sprang open again on hearing the boy's voice. Slowly he turned his head, and tears rolled down his eyes as he saw Bane lying opposite him.
"Are you ready to leave?" bane asked, with a devilish smile on his face as sparks of lighting appeared on his finger.
"Yes,yes, I am ready to leave." Malcon said with tears in his eyes.
Malcon was used as a joke throughout that day.
The next day the king visited, and they were all called outside.
"I am deeply impressed by the level of strength you displayed in the dule." the king congratulated them while they clapped their hands.
"I was told recently that you lost one of your brothers. May his soul rest in peace." the king said.
"Today marks the end of your stay here, you'll all be going to Eldergrove institute in Eleanor. There you'll be trained on how to use your various ability"
And they all clapped louder.
After his speech, Eckhard opened a portal where the king entered, leaving.
"I'll meet you kids in the future, make sure you get strong fast" the captain said with a smile on his face as he entered the portal.
"I love you all." the vice captain said entering the
portal which vanished behind her, Damian chick turned Ross red on hearing what he vice captain said.
"I'll be stuck with you guys for a while, " Eckhard said, arranging his tie," let's begin our journey to Eldergrove." he added, as a magic circle appeared above their heads. With a single swipe of his hand the magic circle came down on them.