Chapter 10

Draceo quickly got up from his bed, stretched his limbs before clicking his fingers. A dark mist rose from the floor, engulfing him head to toe, then disappeared almost instantly. The white ragged shirt and black trousers were now replaced with a long flowing black robe with blood red linings embroidered on the front and black, perfectly accenting Draceo's crimson eyes and dark hair.

Satisfied with his current look, he glanced over at Arnea and clicked his fingers once again. The dark mist covered her up and disappeared as quickly as before, revealing a magnificent black gown with silver gemstones scattered all over, like a starry night sky and a small silver tiara resting on her head, each point having containing a precious red gemstone embedded onto it.

Draceo glanced at his status once more; Humanity Remaining: 66%. This time nothing was taken from him.

'Seems like it only takes away every 10%.' He thought to himself.

Walking towards the door, he took a glance back,

'Follow me.'

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Arnea walked quickly through the long corridor, afraid of getting left behind and angering His Majesty. Every corner they walked past, the passing-by demons would stop and bow deeply at him. She could even hear some whispering flirtatious comments at His Majesty, but he would completely ignore them and continue moving on. Before long, the group of 3 arrived at what seemed like a training ground. The eerie moon shone upon the heavily damaged stoned floor. Trails of blood and body parts could be seen littered all over the sparring stage, causing a huge stench of rotten flesh to fill up their noses. Draceo calmly walked past the stage and sat himself down on the spectator seats.

'You two. Spar.' He said, getting himself comfortable.

Larik quickly gave Draceo a confused look and glanced at the frail looking girl, unsure of what to do.

'Your Majesty... Are you sure?' He asked,

Draceo simply stayed seated, crossing his left left over his right, tapping his finger on the seat bench, with the other hand supporting his head.

'I haven't got all day.' Reaching into his inventory, he fetched out a staff and tossed it to Arnea.

She reached out her hands and attempted to catch the falling staff but ended up fumbling around until it fell onto the ground anyway.

'You have a weapon I assume?' Draceo asked Larik,

'Ah, yes Your Majesty,' he replied taking out two daggers with magic stones embedded on the handle.

'Then begin.' Draceo said, producing one last loud tap with his finger, indicating the fight to begin.

Arnea tightly held her staff closet to her chest, unsure of what to do whilst Larik positioned himself for an attack.

The tension rose as Larik leaned forward and became a blur, instantly appearing behind Arnea. His dagger ready to dig through her neck.

'Stop.'

As the dagger was 2 centimetres from her throat, Larik immediately paused his attack and stepped back.

'She's too weak. Train her.' Draceo said simply before walking away.

Arnea and Larik stared at his back as he slowly faded into the darkness of the castle, both breathing a sigh of relief as his figure passed.

Arnea instantly fell to the ground, her legs trembling from the fear.

'My Lady, I apologise for my actions.' Larik said quietly, reaching his hand out to assist her. 'It may not be the same where you came from, but a spar here means fighting till the last man stands.'

Arnea felt the blood rushing out of her body, as her hands also started trembling. Larik, gently grabbed the trembling hand and helped her on her feet.

'May I ask you a question, My Lady?' Larik suddenly asked, as he patted the dust out of his suit.

Arnea gave a quick look at Larik, indicating him to continue.

'What's your relationship with His Majesty?' He asked, 'When he first found you in the human empire, he seemed so worried and concerned.'

Arnea gave him a quick look of confusion, 'I... never met him before...' she replied quietly, keeping her head down. 'He doesn't seem too concerned right now though.' She continued.

Larik quickly pondered for a bit before shaking his head and returned back to his given task; training her.