The king suggested we go inside the castle. Then he told Ryuu to go with him as he wanted to ask him about his past and why he had disappeared for 3000 years. There was a moment of silence but Ryuu agreed to go with him. They went inside another room and Ryuu started to tell him about his past, he said “I was banished in the great library in the castle not to return until the demon lord is born and I was to guide the hero to defeat him.

The king asked why he was banished in the first place. Ryuu replied “it was because in the war I because I killed the dragonkin imprisoned for minor crimes because of my hate and rage as they killed my family during the war, it was a very unjust thing to do so I angered the gods and they imprisoned me in the library where I studied about magic and expanded my knowledge.”

“After 1572 years a God came in my dream and told me about the prophecy which predicted the birth of the demon lords reincarnation. And told me to guide the hero to defeat the demon lord. So I studied and learnt many hundreds of spells but wasn’t able to use them as I was banished so the magic isn’t polished and is weak. Now I must guide Argos to defeat the demon lord who was reborn.” Ryuu said. The king was saddened to hear all this but Ryuu told him not to worry and that it was also due to his own fault. The king asked Ryuu “could I ask a favor from you great spirit Ryuu? Would you be able to train my two sons along with the hero.” Ryuu replied “of course the more competent warriors we have the better, and also there is no need to be so formal and you are the king whose position is much higher than mine”

Meanwhile I was touring the castle with Irin and she told me about the history of the spirit realm, she said “the realm is divided into 4 provinces with their own capitals and royal families, they are the Prexura family, Tarton family, Sasta family and Metruirid family. I belong to the Prexura family. It rules the northeastern part of the realm. The realm was split as the king ruling after the war wanted to give his four children equal land to rule and gave each of them a province separated by the soaring summits which is a giant mountain range in the centre. It also made ruling the realm easier because the communication problems due to the mountain being in the way no longer were a hurdle. But now communication is much easier due to the progression in magic so there are many spells to get information across the borders” “that sounds a lot like phones” I thought.

Irin had a lot of knowledge about the realm.Talking with her was fun and we looked around the castle for a while. It was an amazing place. It had well decorated interiors and a great hall, a massive throne room. We also went to the massive garden with beautiful flowers and many trees with many birds and squirrels it was a really enjoyable place. There were fruit trees there as well we sat on a bench next to an apple tree and picked some apples to eat, they were really sweet and tasty.

We talked for a while and then Ryuu came to talk to me and told me that we would start to train along with Telentus and Gadreel is that ok with you? I agreed to that and then we went to have dinner in the palace. The dinner was extremely delicious with many things made with ingredients only grown in the spirit realm. After dinner I went to spend the night at a guest room in the castle. The next morning I went to the training grounds to train with Ryuu. He didn’t go easy even on the first day, we trained like crazy and learned spells and physical combat as well he taught us war strategies as well due to the blessing god gave me, I was able to learn all the spells that Ryuu taught me. The king and everybody else was shocked as no one who was able to learn the skills of other species was ever known.

Telentus and Gadreel also worked very hard and improved vastly having a teacher like Ryuu was amazing although very tiring. At the end of the day we went to rest and I lied down on the grass just then Irin came to give me some water and something to eat and sat down beside me and we ate the snacks she brought, “she is really kind” I thought. Then we talked and then went back to the castle as it was starting to get dark. Irin told me to come with her for a while, I went with her and she took me to a little known place hidden in the corridors of the castle, it was an open balcony with a really amazing view, she said “this is the best place to see the sunset, this is the best view in the castle” and it really was the best view it was amazingly beautiful, I thanked Irin for showing me this amazing place. We went back and met with the king he told us that dinner was ready, we went with him and had a delicious dinner like yesterday. I trained with the brothers the next day as well and learned a lot of magic, there are far more spells then I had ever imagined, the ones Ryuu taught me were far more complex than any I knew

He taught me fast to cast spells like ‘ignitus’ which creates a flame which can vary in size in accordance with the users mana which only requires a few seconds to cast and there are also spells like ‘flames of the abyss’ which requires a magic circle to be drawn and anything inside the circle is burned by a flame that burns but doesn’t kill and which cannot be extinguished unless the user is killed, runs out of mana or decides to stop the spell. These are the fire type spells I learnt today .

there are many other types of spells as well involving different elements and different requirements to cast and there is also black magic which drains the life energy of the caster along with the mana it is used for necromancy and curses and made to kill or inflict great harm to targets. We were not taught this magic as it was far too dangerous.

The training continued and a week later we had learned about a hundred spells which was about impossible for anyone else in such a short time but having a teacher like Ryuu made it possible, we decided to take a break and rest for the weekend, during the week Irin helped me practice and we got a lot closer, all of a sudden the king called us and we went to see him. The queen was also there and they told us to take a seat.

He asked “Irin, do u like Argos”, her face turned red and she was silent for a moment, the queen said “ever since you met him you have been a lot more lively and seemed happier and I thought you could stay this way if you were to marry him” Irin replied “yes I do but what about Argos he can’t marry me if he doesn’t like me” I was embarrassed but I somehow managed to say “I actually like her too, she is really nice and I’ve liked her since the day we met” both of our faces turned red and then the king laughed and said “well that settles it, how about it why don’t you get married” We were both silent for a moment and then we both agreed to it and then the king said that they’ll leave us alone for a while and headed out, We both looked at each other and it got kind of awkward then I asked “would you like to go on a d…date?” Irin blushed a little and said “yes, let’s go, I know a beautiful lake with an amazing view of the province and other amazing scenery, there aren’t many people there as well” I agreed to go there and we got on a horse and headed to the lake, it was close to the castle and it was named ‘lake Estermere’ as she mentioned it was an amazing place. It was on a high elevation so we could see the town and it was amazing.

We sat down in a field full of flowers and Irin rested her head on my shoulder, the sun began to set and it the sunset was even more breathtaking than the one we saw at the castle, we enjoyed the stunning view and Irin had fallen asleep, she looked really beautiful and I didn’t know what to do, I thought “would it be okay if I ki..ssed her?” just as I thought that Irin woke up and said “oh! I fell asleep, I’m so sorry about that” I said it was nothing to worry about and that she looked really pretty when she is asleep, she blushed a little and smiled. We decided to head back as it was late at night.

She said she was a bit tired. So, I carried her in my arms and she blushed slightly, we headed to the horse and sat down, on the way we talked about a lot of things and when we got back it was dark so I accompanied Irin to her room and when we reached her face was a bit red then she said “good night, see you tomorrow, darling” hearing that made me blush but I was also really happy. As I was about to head to my room she called me and when I turned back she leaned in and wrapped her arms around me and gave me a gentle kiss. Her lips were really soft and her eyes looked even more charming then before, I was flustered and it was a feeling I had never felt before and my heart started racing and it fell like it would jump out my chest. She then leaned back and said “I love you” I said “I love you even more” her face turned slightly red and she went back in her room I said “good night honey” and headed to my room, I had little sleep that night remembering the day.

The next day training began again and the news of us getting married had spread to the whole castle although it wasn’t publicly announced yet. When we got to the training ground everyone looked at us and congratulated us we thanked them and headed towards Ryuu. The two brothers also congratulated us Telentus said “it was a total surprise to hear you were to marry Argos but well he is a really nice person so it is clear why you would choose him” everyone was surprisingly supportive even though I was a human. After that training started again and Irin was surprised to see our progression in just a week and so were the king and queen. After a few hours of training I took a break but the brothers were still at it, Irin came and sat next to me and we were quite shy to talk because of what happened the previous night seeing us like that the queen came and said “seems like you two had quite an enjoyable night yesterday” remembering the kiss both of our faces turned red and Irin said “nothing much happened!” but looking at Irin’s reaction the queen definitely knew something had happened and laughed and said “no need to be so shy but if you would keep it a secret then its fine”. Then Ryuu called me back so I had to leave and Irin wished me best of luck on training and that she also has to go to do something.

After training ended I went to meet Irin on the way I ran into her and she said she had something to give me and she gave me a box, when I opened it inside it was a necklace with a picture of me and her that she had made herself “I have been making this since yesterday, it’s not very good but I tried my best” it was really beautiful, I loved it. I said “that’s not true its really amazing it’s amazing you could make this in a single day, thank you so much for this it’s really beautiful”

But the whole day I felt a weird presence in the castle as if there was an intruder. I asked the guards but they said they didn’t see anything strange but it did feel like something was off, so I decided to be on guard and that night I was walking around looking for any burglars or intruders when I saw the king and queens bedroom door open I rushed to see what was wrong and I saw a masked man trying to stab the king and queen, I jumped inside and grabbed him and slammed him against the wall, the queen and king woke up from the noise and asked what was going on, I said “this man was trying to stab you in your sleep!” the king called the guards and then they tied the intruder and the other family members also rushed there one of the guards unmasked the intruder and the man behind the mask was a person everyone never expected.

The man trying to kill the king and queen was the commander of the army Valt seeing this the king was saddened as Valt was one of his most trusted people. Valt said “I am extremely sorry your highness I am doing this for the sake of my family.” The king says “what are you talking about?” Valt says “so the news hasn’t gotten here yet, the truth is that nova one of the six emperors of doom has taken over the Sasta province and are currently terrorizing the whole empire, he said the demon lord was reborn and I was ordered to assassinate the royal family and steal the lazarus sphere as it was a valuable asset for the demon lord, if I didn’t listen then my family would be killed as they are currently in the sasta empire I know this is an unforgiveable crime but I had no other choice I will accept whatever punishment you see fit.” Everyone was panicked as the lazarus sphere was extremely valuable. The king was shocked as the demon lord already made a move and already took control of ¼ of the realm.

I asked Irin what the lazarus sphere was, she said “it is an ancient artifact with time controlling property and there was one at each province which is the reason time is slowed down all over the realm, if they were to be taken then the spirits lifetime would get shortened and they would die much sooner”, I asked “how was Ryuu able to survive for more than 3000 years” she said she wasn’t sure but it was probably because the gods had punished him and it was the only way to aid the hero so the tragedy that was the war wouldn’t repeat itself.

The king asked “how many soldiers came to conquer the realm?” Valt replied in a scared voice “only one person… and that is Nova” the kings expression went from tensed to terrified everyone fell into panic and were all worried if one king can is so powerful how would they face six. Everyone was worried about the sasta family and province, after they heard what nova could do they lost hope of defeating him, I said “whether we win or lose we can’t know without trying, we have to prevent any further loss of life” Ryuu replied “you have some serious incentive but Nova is far stronger than even myself, it would be next to impossible to defeat him” I replied “then we’ll have to rely on strategy and strength in our numbers, I’m sure the other provinces would cooperate at such a time so we can assemble a team of the strongest and fight against nova!”

“that is an excellent idea but how do we send the news across to other provinces” said Ryuu. The advisor to the king said “We can do that by using the sdleni paper. “oh there seem to be a lot of spells developed in the 3000 years I was banished” said Ryuu. “it’s a very recent development it was developed just around 10 years ago so that is why it isn’t in the books that you studied in the library either Ryuu” said the King. “Then that’s decided lets do it” said Ryuu. the preparations required for the spell were relatively simple for such long distance communication, there was a room in the castle with a special artifact that was used to enchant a paper made with a special material, it is connected with the same kind of artifact in the other province and when something is written it is also written on a paper on the other side so it’s kind of similar to the telegram. It was an expensive method though so only nobles used it.

They sent the message and as expected it was not a welcome one, they decided the only way to defeat nova would be the suggested plan. So I was included into the team for defeating the feared Nova the fire king of doom. It was time to put my training to use. The two brothers would also come with me along with me but Ryuu wouldn’t be able to come as he had an important matter to discuss in the god realm. So the team of warriors was decided and all hope was on us to save the realm.