Sorry about not releasing any chapters in the past few days. I've been thinking a lot about this arc/part of the story/chapter and boy did I bite off more than I can chew. Who would have ever imagined that writing a peaceful part of an action story while introducing new characters and advancing old ones while still keeping the story going and keeping it interesting would have been hard for someone who's barely been writing for over a month... me... I did...

Anyway. Enough about that. I hope you find this chapter worth the wait as I can't guarantee you it was... because I don't have NEARLY enough confidence or arrogance in myself to say that it definitely was. Enjoy!

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We were questioned by the guards as we approached the gates and there was an actual toll to pass into the city. The toll was only a silver per person. There were separate prices for if you have wagons with you and of course nobles and other people in a high position were exempt from this but that’s irrelevant as we just handed the three coins and went inside. The guards also asked Lily and Cel to take off their hoods but when they did they instantly understood why they had hid their faces… or at least I think. They either thought it was because they were both quite beautiful or because neither of them are elves.

As for me. They didn’t ask me to take off my blindfold as I pretended to be unable to see the whole time and I have to say my act seemed pretty convincing. The problem was when he found Lily and Cel’s weapons although they were not registered in the adventurer’s guild. I had to stick up for them as the “elf” in the party and convince them that they had just come to the country and have just yet to register. There were a few others too like why I was with them when I didn’t have an intention to join their party which I took advantage of and instead asked them more about the rumors about the mage test that the royal family had been preparing.

The two guards that were expecting us looked at each other then back at me with a faint smile on their faces. The smiles weren’t malicious or ridiculing but rather warm and somewhat pitying. I felt a bit conflicted about that. Even I had a hefty amount of pride, not as a being of power above the gods. But as a man who wanted to learn more about magic and had created his fighting style from nothing at all… well technically I was not the one to create it… but he was still part of myself so it was true that all that he did was also accounted to myself.. After all, this power I had was something that felt more granted than earned. Even though I knew that it was neither and that it was something I was born with.

“You probably mean the test to decide the third prince’s tutor. It will be held three days from now in the royal palace but… Not just everyone can get in.” Said the guard with a weird smile on his face.

“What are the conditions for getting in then?”

The guards seemed a bit surprised at my unwavering smile and turned a bit more serious about their explanation seeing that I’m either someone who’s being cocky or of significant skill.

“You would either have to be someone of significant fame or to prove either your magic or swordsmanship with a test. After that the person will be chosen by the third prince himself after an explanation and demonstration of their abilities. You should go to the front of the royal palace if you’re interested. You are lucky as the registration was supposed to close tomorrow so you can still register.” (Guard)

I nodded and thanked him for the information. The two questions I currently held was. Weather I should use swordsmanship or magic to get in. Weighing my option I thought about it a bit. Both of them had huge drawbacks. If it’s magic then the fact that I don’t know too many advanced spells might be a problem. I was sure they would take me since I am basically and Archmage. A person who has become so close to the elements and magic that they could be considered a different race from their initial one. As for swordsmanship. The fact that I am pretending that I’m blind is a huge drawback but the other is that I don’t have personal experience with strengthening through mana. Even now that I have an incredible amount of strength it is not because of mana but because I could simply control my strength. In the end… I decided to go with both. No need to conceal either was there?

As we entered the town we were assaulted by an assortment of vivid and bright colors which were spread around the city. But… for some reason even someone like me who usually preferred the more subtle and soft variants of these colors could appreciate the beauty of the town. The colors were not obnoxious but seemed to belong in just the right place. That being said it wasn’t as if there were no dark colors but it was almost as if those colors were shunned within this town. If only that were metaphorical for how there wasn’t any darkness in this country…

As we walked the roads we noticed a few carriages and wagons pass by going either up or down the road but one of them garnered specific attention as everyone actually gathered to greet the person in the carriage. It was almost as if there was a parade only there was only one carriage. The person inside the carriage was a boy around twelve and a woman who seemed in her twenties. Judging by that, the sun symbol on the carriage and the people’s reaction to it I could only assume that the boy was my future pupil while the woman was his mother. Elves ages are so confusing… then again who am I to talk?

As we walked we were searching for an inn. I wanted to find one before I went to register as it would provide a meeting place as well as a simple resting place. The problem was that we couldn’t find one. As we reached what seemed like one of the town squares Lily suddenly suggested she would go ask a guard about it. I had no problems with it but she seemed to not care as she ran off before she received any confirmation. *Sigh* There she goes again. She seemed to be doing that quite often recently. Not running off without listening to me… well that too but what she was doing was leaving me alone with Cel.

Sighing again I walked over to the fountain in the middle of the square and sat on its edge. It didn’t seem to be prohibited as a human and an elf were also sitting down on the opposite side. Cel walked over with me and sat down next to me. It wasn’t like I didn’t notice how she looked at me… but that didn’t change the fact that I was reluctant. I knew she was older than she looked so she wasn’t a child anymore but that wasn’t really what was bothering me. Honestly I had always thought the law which prohibits people from being in a relationship with people under a certain age was stupid and restrictive. I mean I understood that that sort of thing shouldn’t happen between an adult and a child but what’s a child is so subjective. Nobody can detect the moment a child becomes an adult. It’s not about age.

No what was bothering me was something much more selfish… was she really looking at me? Or was she looking at a fragment of my past? I looked towards Cel to find her looking down with a smile on her face. It seemed like she really enjoyed being together with me. But again… I felt like she was just thinking of me as Kenos and not as End. My problem was incredibly selfish. Honestly I couldn’t be in a relationship with Cel until I clear that up.

We just stood in silence until Lily came back before long, putting on a bitter smile as she saw us. I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell she was expecting. In any case she told us why there were no inns around here. It’s not that there weren’t. There just weren’t any on the main street. She then pointed out that the guard had pointed her in the direction of a good inn nearby.

We found the inn easily enough after that and rented two rooms for four days. The inn itself was quite extravagant and unlike previous inns we’d stayed at it had an actual public bath rather than just a tub they took up to your room and filled with water in which you could wash yourself off. I was honestly looking forward to it. But first. I needed to go get my job done. I couldn’t wait until tomorrow as the registration would be closed off then.

I informed both girls that I would be gone and left the inn, heading straight towards the large palace in the middle of the town. Apparently the town was separated between common areas, noble areas and the palace which was the home for the royal family and their guests. The common areas were the outer parts of the town which was built in the shape of a circle with the noble areas being further inside and the palace in the very center.

I walked while thinking about what sort of test would be at the palace but something caught my attention. A single girl ran past me wearing high quality clothes. I was still in the commoner’s area but those clothes looked nothing like those of a commoner… but again… who am I to talk… What caught my attention was not that though. What caught my attention was her black hair coupled with the pale yellow tint of her skin which both suggested her to be of eastern descent… eastern descent but not in this world. In fact. This world only had one “race” of humans and that was the Caucasian one. I thought about different possibilities as she ran rounded a corner and went into the noble area with the guards not even stopping her. The reason she wasn’t stopped was that she had the royal symbol on her clothes which meant she was their personal guest.

In the end I came to a conclusion but I decided to leave it for later. In the end since I would be affiliating myself with the royal family I would either have a chance to meet with her again or to ask someone about her. In the end my curiosity would be satiated but I would not have to resort to stalkerish methods to do it so I was content with that.

I myself also tried to enter the noble area from the same entrance she had used but the guards did not stop me as well. Maybe it was because I also wore quite the extravagant clothes? Well no matter. It saved me an interrogation so I won’t complain. In the first place maybe commoners weren’t really prohibited from going in here but it’s just that nobody really does? I walked through the streets until I reached the gate of the royal family’s home which was also known as the Sun Palace.

The guards eyed me suspiciously but I just walked over to them innocently and asked them about the competition. The guards themselves pointed me to a direction slightly away from the gate in a way that a blind person would understand while looking slightly annoyed. They might have had to do this a bit too regularly for their own good. I just smiled while I was listening to their directions and then turned and headed straight there. The place they pointed me to was a sort of park area. I saw a line with a few people in it waiting to sign up and an even larger amount of people waiting outside of a very large tent which seemed to serve as the place the test for entering would take place. Of course they wouldn’t bother letting inferior mages in the competition. I just walked over and stood at the line end of the line.

I noticed that even though a few people on my line had already passed the tent had only one person leave. Seeing that there were over twenty people waiting in front of it… this would be a long afternoon. The registration itself was simple. They just asked me whether I was a mage or a swordsman as well as my name. The person who was handling the registration raised an eyebrow when I told them my name was End. It wasn’t because he understood the meaning. It was because it was incredibly short and I didn’t mention a family name. But he still just pointed me to the tent anyway. When I say my name I always say End in English but that language does not exist in this world so people wouldn’t actually know the meaning of it.

The wait was long but unlike other people I could actually observe what was going on inside the tent so I was one of the less bored ones. It took five hours until it was finally my turn. During that other people had gathered after me. One of them tried to cut the line and take my place trying to take advantage of my blindness but I just tripped him with my cane and entered myself leaving him cursing with a red face. Assholes are everywhere.

The inside was what I could only describe as an arena. A large circle covering most of the inside of the tent was risen out of the ground, probably with earth magic, with a staircase on either side of it. Stepping up the staircase in front of me stood three people. The one on my left was a large over two meters tall with a greatsword almost as big as he was on his back. The one on the right was a beautiful woman with a smirk on her mouth who was wearing a customized robe… I was tempted to call her out on her blatant seductive clothing which revealed a large part of her bust and thighs but I resisted. The one in the middle was an elf who seemed old even for one. His hair was white and his face had wrinkles. Elves barely age in their lifetimes which suggested that this man had lived for hundreds of years to look like he currently does. I wonder how powerful of a mage he is.

The old man in the middle looked at me appraisingly for a second before speaking.

“Mage or swordsman?” (Old man)

“Both.” I answered simply before unsheathing the sword in my cane… normally this time. Not by completely stripping the wood from the sword.

The old mage looked at me, once more evaluating me.

“I see. Unfortunately we have not brought someone capable of both swordsmanship and magic with us today. I apologize for that. You have a choice to be tested on one of the two or take two of us at once.” (Old man)

“Then let’s go with the latter.”

The others who seemed to show only slight reactions to what I was saying until now suddenly got angry.

“Hey brat! Who the hell do you think you’re speaking to?” (Large man)

“Aren enough. You and me will go together. IF he is simply overestimating himself then this will be a good lesson.” (Old man)

“W-Wait. Master, you’re going?” (Woman)

The woman seemed quite surprised at this.

“You’ve fought your share. I’ll take this one. Don’t worry. There’s plenty more waiting outside.” (Old man)

The woman seemed a bit displeased but still stepped down from the platform. The whole time I simply stood and waited.

“I apologize for that. Are you ready to begin?”

As he says so a staff appears in his hand from seemingly nowhere and the large man draws his weapon. Before I even finish nodding the man rushes towards me. *Sigh* Impolite. I throw aside my blade’s sheathe before dodging the man’s first attack. The mage was mumbling an incantation with closed eyes, probably thinking I would be held off for at least a bit but unfortunately for him this man isn’t strong enough to hold me even if I restrain myself. I was a bit surprised that the old elf was not an Archmage. I guess it truly is something only a select few can achieve.

As I dodge the first attack of the large man I bend my body in a weird way, making use of my flexibility before kicking straight at his exposed gut. Well… as exposed as the full-body heavy armor he’s wearing keeps it. He flies back a few meters since I held back but looks to be in pain as his armor is a bit dented. Blunt force can cause a lot of damage even through armor you know.

The old mage opens his eyes in that moment and I hear the last words of his chant which are pretty much the name of the spell.

“Hellfire Pillar!” (Old man)

I know that one. Or at least I’ve read about it. I don’t have the chant though. Maybe I should’ve listened more closely. I would have been able to hear him if I tried. I was still slightly off balance as I hadn’t even put my leg back on the ground but instead of regaining it I further unbalance it until I’m falling. I put one of my hands to the ground and using it push myself off into the air and away from the zone of the spell used before pointing a finger at the old man while I was still airborne. A small drop of water gathered in front of my finger and quickly fired off with an incredible force and speed almost reaching that of sound. The old mage could do nothing about it when it pierced his shoulder and caused him to fly back a few meters effectively throwing him outside of the stage.

That one was a quick victory. He had not let his guard down but to me it seemed like he had gone rusty. Maybe he hadn’t been in actual combat for a long time. As I landed on the stage effortlessly I looked over to the other opponent. He looked at me in honest shock as he got over the pain in his gut and finally seemed to stop underestimating me while raising his sword.

He imbued his sword with mana so thickly that even a normal person would be able to see a faint blue glow around it. Unlike the mana monsters were made of which had turned into looking like a gray mist normal mana was actually bright blue if concentrated enough to be seen. Rushing me with his full speed he actually used proper technique this time as he faced me. He wielded the huge sword as if it had no weight at all even though I calculated it to be somewhere around a ton in weight.

His first attack was a wide horizontal slash which I ducked under but the slash stopped right where my body was before as if the man knew I would do that in the first place and turned the edge down towards me. I was honestly quite impressed for him to be able to stop mid-slash with such a huge sword was honestly impressive to me. But…

I jumped to the left rolling on the ground and standing back up in only a second. His sword had stopped right above the ground of the arena, not damaging the ground at all. He turned to me as he fixed his stance and once again charged. I shook my head and charged towards him as well while sharpening my sword with wind mana. That was the advantage of . I’d always liked straightforward people like this. As we reached each other both of us slashed with an incredible speed. The result was that his sword was only half as large now. His body itself was unharmed. He looked at the sword in his hands and threw it away.

“I surrender.” He said while walking away.

I faced the white haired man who had been watching after being thrown out of the arena.

“So am I in?”

He nodded.

“Come to the Sun Palace in three days. That is when the actual competition will take place. Also I wouldn’t be sure of my victory if I was you. If it was a tournament you would no doubt be the winner as the strongest but in the end this all depends on how the young prince sees it.”

I simply nodded as the lower part of my cane flew back towards me. Grabbing it I put the sword back inside and left the tent to see the astonished faces of the people outside. The Hellfire Pillar had reached outside the tent and burnt a hole in the top. I laughed heartily as I left and went back to the inn. I know I have a purpose for doing all this but I might as well have fun with it. I smiled as I thought of the possible ways to have fun with the competition in three days while I headed back to the inn.