Shimmering light of dawn seeped through the gaps of the lush forest, providing life to those beneath it. The melodious sound of birds chirping echoed through the air as the cool morning breeze swept through the landscape.

Today was the tenth day since Tristan last met the queen and marked the second week of his stay in the Vanyar Kingdom. On this day, a commotion was happening throughout the bustling city of Vanyar.

Hundreds of elves could be seen filling out the streets, heading towards the south part of the city and gathered at a wide clearing in the Evernight Woods.

Today was the day. The day of the momentous event, the Gauntlet would be held.

It was such a huge event that nearly all the elves who lived in Vanyar came, which could obviously be proven with the current sight.

A group of people wearing formal attire that exuded a regal aura arrived in the clearing.

The chatter gradually died down when the elves saw the arrival of this group of people. Respect and adoration could be seen clearly on their faces.

In this group of newly-arrived people were the Queen of Vanyar Kingdom, Queen Leena, and dozens of esteemed elven elders.

Tristan could recognize Elder Anmar, the adviser who seemed to always accompany the queen, Master Ortiz, who taught him Katra and hand-to-hand combat, and the other masters of the Warrior Hall's disciplines.

What Tristan didn't expect was the presence of Captain Raika as well as the Kingsblade members. Heck, he could even see Nyx waving his hand at him.

As for Tristan, he was currently standing in the center of the clearing together with two dozen elves who stood separately. Those who had the slightest inkling of what was going on would know that this group of elves were those who would be participating in the event.

Standing alone in the sparse group, Tristan spotted Sindur, the disciple who sparred with him. He beamed a polite smile and waved his hand at the latter as a greeting, but Tristan didn't expect the man to approach him. Moreover, he brought two unknown elves with him.

"Greetings, friend." said Sindur politely, to which Tristan replied in the same manner. After all, he was a cultured person.

Subsequently, Tristan sensed that the two elves who Sindur brought were not weaker than him.

The elf on the right was a man with a large build, which was a little unusual to see among the elves. Meanwhile, the other one was a female elf with green lustrous hair that reached to her back.

Sindur turned to the two elves and said, "Friends, this is Tristan, the one we should give thanks to for this event."

Tristan was trying to ignore Sindur. Heck, the only reason he even greeted the man was because of their earlier encounter. After all, he had faintly noticed the latter's intention at that time.

Alas, if he liked to have a better stay in the Vanyar Kingdom, he would probably have to be polite again.

Therefore, he nodded his head at the two and greeted them with the proper elves' handshake manner that he had learnt.

The large elf was called Elyon, and from the impression that Tristan had, the man was extremely quiet - bordering cold as he stood there without much to say after greeting him. On the other hand, the female elf named Alanis let out a hostile attitude towards him, which certainly confused and made him wonder as he had never met her before.

However, now that the other party clearly didn't like him, Tristan also had no obligation to be polite either. Hence, he launched a question laced with poison.

"Are you all joining the Gauntlet? I wonder why females are joining.." said Tristan while his gaze wandered around.

Alanis seemed to look at Tristan in an even sharper gaze when she heard his words. With a tone that obviously screamed enmity, she opened her mouth, "I came to protect Serene's honor! You don't deserve her, outsider!" She emphasized the last part of her words, as if reminding Tristan of his status.

Unexpectedly, Elyon grabbed her shoulders and stopped her from talking more.

"Please don't mind her" Elyon said when he saw Tristan looking at him.

Afterwards, the two left, or rather, Elyon dragged Alanis away, leaving Sindur with Tristan.

The man appeared and acted politely, but Tristan noticed all the words coming out of him were in a condescending tone.

He 'kindly' told Tristan that the two were stronger than him, and that he had to be careful of them. Apparently, the two were already in the peak stage of stage three Katra and were expected to break through to stage 4 after this Gauntlet.

From Sindur, Tristan found out that he, Elyon, Alanis, and Serene were the four top disciples from each discipline - the hand-to-hand, one-handed blade, dual dagger, and bow.

After more meaningless and complimentary talks, Sindur gave Tristan a slight bow and wished him good luck before he walked away.

As he watched the man leave, Tristan fell into deep thought. He had to give it to them as it was apparent that they weren't all talk. Tristan had analyzed them when they talked earlier, and the numbers weren't lies. The two had similar battle power stat with Sindur and Serene, which meant a real deal.

Other than them, although there were a lot of participants who had reached stage three Katra, none of them had their battle power passed through the 100 mark. Seeing these, Tristan was quite confident he could win the Gauntlet.

The moment Queen Leena took a step forward, all participants and the audience instantly turned quiet. There was a total silence.

As the queen's gaze swept over, the elves were seen lowering their heads as they didn't dare to look at the queen directly.

"People of the Vanyar, today, we finally held the Gauntlet once again after 5 years of its absence. As the tradition goes, those who manage to pass the Gauntlet will receive their warrior status!"

The queen then turned to the side and raised her hand. A moment later, Serene was seen walking in a silver dress that made her appear absolutely beautiful.

"It is my wish that with this Gauntlet, I will be able to find the right mate for our princess, my daughter, and the kingdom's Valkyrie, Serene."

Tristan noticed all the elves gave a slight bow to the queen's decision. If this happened within humans, he was sure they would definitely cheer and whisper immediately, but it looked like it was different with the elves. One more difference between the two races.

After announcing that, Queen Leena talked a bit about the sacred tradition, the Gauntlet. Apparently, it was a great honor to have the best warrior united with the princess.

"Let the best warrior win!" said the queen in a loud voice, which was then quickly followed by the others.

The queen's declaration signified the start of the Gauntlet.

Immediately, all 25 participants began to be tied up with special elf silk, one over their eyes and one around their hands which had been placed behind their backs.

As the silk covered his eyes, Tristan was surprised that he couldn't see anything at all. In addition, he discovered that hearing ability was partially impaired. Even so, Tristan wasn't worried. In fact, a faint smile could be seen on his face.

The Gauntlet was about to begin.