Afterward, Aric sits all of the vassals down at the round table. Aric walks into the room with a solemn look to explain the situation at hand. He starts to speak with an unusual seriousness to his voice. [Aric: As you have probably heard before. The king of Aurorium has been assassinated.] Aric tells the six vassals with an air of sadness. Azarath looks extremely shocked; however, after that wears off, he is left mostly unworried. Blake is scared about how this will affect the world's current state. Peak is mostly wondering about who the assassin is; he has to be strong in order to beat a king. Selene didn’t even know about the other countries until she started getting some education a few weeks ago, so it didn’t shock her as much. Harpstein is extremely saddened by this news, as he has met the former king of Aurorium. Bracken is smiling; he doesn’t care about the well-being of anyone except Blake. Pax starts to speak.

  [Pax: How the hell is this even possible!?! Don’t you guys all have high special grades?!?! Are the kings not special grades themselves?!?! They lost to one person?!?!] Pax eagerly demands answers, as he is more confused about the situation than anything. Aric responds calmly.

  [Aric: Let me tell you the timeline of what happened according to witnesses. Firstly, it seems motion detectors captured an individual entering the king's mansion. It alerted around 10 Grade 1s and the High-Special grade of Aurorium, who rushed over to protect the king. We don’t know exactly what ensued. However, it ended with the mansion being destroyed and the High-Special Grade named Tech engaging in one-on-one combat with the assailant, according to civilians watching the fight. The assailant was glowing pitch black and could go toe to toe with Tech. Civilians described that Tech got seriously injured during the fight, while the assassin had no visual damage done to them. Tech got saved by the arrival of reinforcements. Currently, Tech is in a coma at Auroriums best hospital. The 10 Grade 1s, the king, and reinforcements all disappeared. Because of the mansion's explosion, the king has been labeled dead; however, no dead bodies have been uncovered yet. We will have to wait until Tech wakes up for further details.] Aric explains with a very serious tone. Pax responds with a [That's insane!] Blake opens his mouth.

  [Blake: So that means the assailant was at least High-Special Grade…] Blake is analyzing what he just heard. Peak is excited and scared at the prospect of fighting someone that strong. Azarath pitches his thoughts into the conversation.

  [Azarath: Ok? So, some old king got assassinated. What does this have to do with us?] Azarath is very blunt; however, Selene silently agrees with him. There was no reason to believe the assassination had anything to do with them.

  [Aric: Well, I just wanted to keep you up to date. Also, because of this event, a summit meeting between the four kingdoms has been set up three weeks from now. This means today is your last day of training, as it takes a week to get to the ascended crucible. We will leave early tomorrow. I will drop you off at the ascended crucible and come back to prepare for the meeting. After the summit meeting, I will come back to pick you up.] Everyone is surprised at leaving so soon, Aric reassures them. [We were able to get you all to Semi-Grade 1; you should be fine as long as you don’t meet any Grade 1 enemies. This is your last training day. Let’s make the most of it!]

  After saying that, Aric dismisses everyone to the training grounds for the rest of the day. They all head out with a renewed sense of vigor.

  ____________________________________________________________________________

  A day later…

  Aric calls everyone to the castle entrance. Peak excitedly bounces out of his room, climbing the walls to reach the door. Meanwhile, Pax, Selene, and Blake descend the stairs looking weary. Azarath and Harpstein are already waiting at the door. Once everyone has assembled, Aric opens the door to display a large carriage. It is drawn by eight enormous white horses and features several compartments. It is being drawn by a butler named “Victor Hawk.” Victor has dark green hair and eyes, combined with his glasses and butler uniform, which makes him look very distinguished.

  [Aric: This is Victor. He is a specialist with the ability 『Spatial Awareness』. This ability allows Victor to see over a wide area with just his mind and sense any dangerous objects or individuals in that area. Any dangerous thing he senses will be given to him on a scale of 1-10 in danger level. He will be vital in making sure our trip is safe.] Victor responds with [It’s my pleasure.] As he takes a bow. With the introduction over, the vassals all get into the enormous carriage, and the one-week journey starts.

  ____________________________________________________________________________

  Four days later…

  It has been four days since they started their trek. Azarath and Pax being in such a close space has made their fighting near unbearable for Selene and Harpstein, while Peak's endless stream of jokes is making Blake and Bracken go insane. Aric is not in the carriage. He can fly due to his magic and prefers to fly beside the carriage instead. Aric flies next to Victor, who is leading the horses.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  [Aric: How is our supplies?] Victor responds.

  [Victor: They are somewhat lacking. I know that there is a village a little ways up from here. I am planning on getting some supplies there.] Aric is satisfied with that logic; however, he still asks if anything dangerous is nearby. Vactor closes his eyes for a second before reopening them.

  [Victor: It seems the village will be a no-go. Orcs are currently ransacking it. We will have to restock somewhere else.] Victor sighs. However, Aric sees an opportunity.

  [Aric: What is the threat level?] Victor responds with 3. [Really? That is low for orcs.]

  [Victor: My ability also takes into account the people I have with me. Alone, it would probably be around an 8 because I am weak. However, with the number of semi-grade 1s we have, the threat level is reduced to 3.] Aris thinks for a second.

  [Aric: I have an idea! Let’s have the Vassals take care of them! Then the villagers will give us the supplies for free because we saved them!] Victor face palms.

  [Victor: Do you really want them to fight before the Crucible?] Aric replies.

  [Aric: I mean, we still have three days left, and they won’t be injured by a threat level of 3. Don’t underestimate them.] Victor relents and stops the carriage. Aric calls them all out and tells them about the situation.

  [Blake: Any real reason we should be doing this? I'm tired.] Aric just smiles.

  [Aric: Whoever brings me the most orc heads will get their own room within the carriage!] This promise instantly turns the heads of all the Vassals. None of them want to spend another second with one another in that carriage. Pax immediately activates Unstoppable and makes his way over to the village. Azarath uses his super speed. Peak starts web-swinging to the village. Harpstein also makes his way over. Blake stands still and looks at Bracken.

  [Blake: Hey Bracken. I'm tired. Are you down for 50%? Win this for me.] Bracken gives a devious smile.

  [Bracken: Ya got it, boss! They came to the wrong hood!] Bracken instantly disappears with blinding speed.

  Selene is about to leave as well, but Aric stops her. He points to a single giant orc destroying a part of the village.

  [Aric: Selene, take down the boss of the orcs, and you will get your own room. Free of charge.]

  Selene smiles and takes out her bow. Back in the main part of the village, Bracken easily outspeeds everyone and instantly decapitates ten orcs with his claws. Azarath follows suit, easily taking down multiple orcs. Pax uses unfair and creates a perfect barrier around 30 orcs. So he can kill them without interference. Harpstein walks into the center of around 20 orcs. They raise their clubs to bash down on him. Suddenly, all 20 just fell to the ground with stab wounds to their necks. Harpstein walks over to the next group. Peak is easily swinging around and webbing orcs to him, in the process killing multiple orcs in places the other vassals are not checking. Also, Peak steals orcs from other vassals through his webs.

  Selene takes aim at the big orc. She fires an arrow imbued with fire, making it burn a bright orange.

  『Flame Shot』

  ____________________________________________________________________________

  A man is covered in wounds and clutching a child as the big orc sees them and approaches. The big orc stops before the man and raises its club. The man blocks the child with his body, and the orc is ready to strike. Suddenly, a bright flame hits the orc's head, so powerful it sends the orc's body flying while its head is on fire. The orc died instantly.

  Selene walks over to claim her bounty. The man sees her and immediately runs over. He cups both of her hands, startling her. Selene can now get a better look at his face. His hair and eyes are strikingly dark and deep blue, so dark you might mistake them for black. His eyes have stars as their pupils instead of the standard circular shape. He wears a long, dark cloak, which Selene notes he probably has weapons underneath.

  [???: Thank you so much! You truly are my savior!] He is so over the top with his movements and speech she is taken aback.

  [Selene: No problem…] Selene tries to back out; however, he keeps a hold of her hands.

  [???: I think I'm in love! In love with my savior, so romantic! Please tell me what your name is?] Now Selene is getting truly weirded out. [Selene] She responds in a cold tone, trying to end the conversation.

  [???: Ah, such a nice name! My name is-] Suddenly, a blast of energy heads his way. The man quickly jumps out of the way. He looks to see Aric walking into the scene. Aric and the man stare at each other for around five seconds. The tension in the air is palpable. The man smiles and looks at Selene.

  [???: It seems I will have to go now. Sorry our first meeting was so short.] The man looks at the child. [Let’s go, Mimiko.] The child grabs his hand, and they walk off into the distance. Aric turns and looks at Selene.

  [Aric: Do you know that man?] Aric asks in a commanding tone. Selene responds.

  [Selene: No. I don’t know him. He seems like a weirdo. Why do you sound so shaken, though.] Aric responds.

  [Aric: It makes no sense. That man was easily High-Grade 1. Yet he was faking his loss to that orc? He definitely has some agenda. I'll ask Victor about him.]

  After this event, all of the Vassals gather back in the carriage. The winner of the contest is Bracken by a wide margin. That means Blake is the winner of the room. Azarath vents about how that bullshit because he didn’t kill any of them. Aric creates a compartment for Blake and a separate one for Selene. After this, he goes to Victor, who is currently gathering the overwhelming amount of supplies the townsfolk are offering the carriage. Aric asks about the man.

  [Victor: I did see a unique presence. With you in the equation, I didn’t think it was necessary to point one individual out.] Aric replies that he did have a kid with him. Which leaves Victor confused.

  [Victor: A kid? I only registered one person in the area at the time of the attack; it was an adult male… Whatever.] Aric gets to business.

  [Aric: Without me in the equation, how much of a threat would that man have been to the vassals?] Victor responds with his honest thoughts.

  [Victor: The danger level was almost zero with you in the equation. Without you, the danger level would have probably been a seven or an 8. This means that if he had fought all of the vassals at once, he would have probably killed a few before being forced to retreat. He is gone from my radar, though. I don’t think it matters too much anymore.

  [Aric: I get that. I just want to make sure they are safe.] Victor smiles at Aric’s compassion. After unloading all of the supplies, they get back on the road to The Ascended Crucible.