The Challenge of the Masters

⊱⊰ Teaser + Announcement ⊱⊰

Walking around the temple that had numerous red-brown boulders carefully organized around the spacious area, En noticed several marks on the ground. He raised a brow, realizing that the marks looked like foreign writings.

He frowned, recognizing those symbols. He stopped and bent over a bit to examine those writings more closely.

"These marks," he said, his fingers rubbing the rough ground, "they are the same as the ones on Zhurog's Eye."

En remembered his curiosity about the symbols inscribed on the blade of the King's sword.

"That's because Zhurog's Eye was found here," said Regina, her voice echoing in the area. "It is believed that those marks were seals that trapped the sword on the stone until the Fourth Dragon King removed it."

En stood up, his gaze meeting the tall woman with slightly wavy short brown hair, standing several steps away from him.

"So this is the place where the God of Fire sent their answer to the Dragon Clan's prayers," said En, examining his surroundings.

Not far from where he was standing, he spotted another boulder in the middle of the area. It looked as though all the marks on the ground lead to it. He concluded that maybe the sword was stuck there.

"Yes," said Regina, admiring her surroundings. "According to the legend, after many years of our people asking for help to fight the creatures from other worlds, a red light shone on this island and something fell on it. The impact was so strong that it caused an earthquake."

En kept examining his surroundings as he heard his aunt. His dark eyes met a large hole on the cavern's ceiling, illuminating with a bright light the spot where he guessed the sword used to be stuck in to.

"When our people checked what had fallen on this island," continued Regina, "they found a sword with a red gem on its pommel and concluded that it was a weapon sent by Zhurog to protect us."

"But none of them were able to remove the sword until the Fourth King showed up, I know," said En, looking back at his aunt. "Aunt Regina, why did you bring me here?"

The slightly tanned woman gazed at her nephew, her green eyes looking thoughtful.

"Remember the tale of the Fourth King?" she asked.

"The second son who wasn't supposed to be born," said En, remembering the tale. "Yet he was born looking exactly like his brother, but powerless."

En couldn't imagine how useless the Fourth King must have felt for being born minutes after the heir was born. With the kingdom already having a future King, his existence wasn't needed.

"Even though the Third King had twins and one of them had no powers," continued Regina, "He raised his boys equally. The boys grew up with a strong bond, even though the kingdom would always compare them."

Despite most of the time wishing he had a sibling as he saw Miria's relationship with her brother and Kazuya's relationship with his sisters, part of En was glad he was an only child. He couldn't imagine how annoying it must be to be compared with your own sibling.

"The youngest prince had accepted that he would never become a King and had told his brother he would always support him," continued Regina. "But after his older brother died protecting him, the young prince had great responsibilities ahead.

"People still didn't like him as the next King and even spread rumors saying that he had planned to kill his brother to get the throne. Despite the slander, the young prince did his best to show his people that Eteria would be in good hands. It wasn't after he removed the sword on the stone to protect Eteria that he gained the respect and trust from his people."