Sparring Against the Masses

Zack curiously gazed at the purple-haired girl that he had lured into his private abode. He was initially interested at why a noble was acting like a commoner, especially since her complexion and mannerisms didn't help her disguise. He was initially going to bring them in for a small chat but all of a sudden, the young girl said something extremely out of the blue.

"Hahaha, I've never heard someone say that to me before." Zack had his own plans for the future which coincidentally aligned with what the girl just said. "I wonder what your background is? Care to tell me?"

Zack's smug smile showed just how confident he was in front of the two children in front of him yet Gwen's openly wide grin wasn't diminishing at all.

"Felix, I can tell him, right?"

At this moment, Zack felt something was off, like an indescribable sense of oddity. The name 'Felix' was a common name, possibly one of the most common names in Jianna Kingdom yet for some reason he felt that there was something hiding beneath this name.

Felix thought for a brief moment when he decided that there was no point in hiding it from royalty, "Go ahead. But remember to show your manners, he's royalty after all."

Gwen teasing asked, "Then does that mean I'm royalty too?"

This made Felix ponder, technically, the Aria Estate was the size of a kingdom and as the sole family in charge of everything, that does make Gwen hold a tremendous amount of power. Yet after thinking for a while, "Actually, no. Maybe if your father decides to officially create a kingdom then yes but I don't think it matters as much."

Felix looked sideways, looking at Zack's expression, "Besides, being an Aria is a status in of itself."

Zack finally understood why he was feeling off, based on the stories hovering around the kingdom, the youngest child of the Mascre family was sent off to the Aria Estate for marriage. Adding on the fact that Felix had the hallmarks of someone bearing the Mascre bloodline, the young girl had bright purple hair and deep red eyes, a terrifying signifier of having the Aria bloodline flowing through her, this made him connect the dots and realize the status of the two people before him.

"I guess so. Anyways, Prince Zack, I'm Gwendolyn Aria. Nice to meet you. So, what do you say, are you going to join me?" Gwen reached out her hand as the two guards that were previously steady were now shivering in fear.

The royal family had to tread very carefully around the Mascre family, their wealth and connections were well beyond what any normal clan could possibly have. Although their strength wasn't the greatest, they could easily call upon someone who could solve their problems for them. There was even less need to mention what the Aria family's status was. Both reverence and fear, yet there was one thing that they could never be, jealous.

Zack tried to calm himself down as he tried to gather more information, "Lady Gwendolyn, may I ask, what do you mean by joining you?"

"I thought I already said it? No?" Gwen looked back at Felix who was just planning out their next move. Seeing that Felix was too busy living in his own world, she decided to consult herself.

'Did I say it? I'm pretty sure I did. Never mind, one more time wouldn't hurt.'

"Ahem, it means following me in the future. Don't you want to rule the continent in the future? Come under me and you'll rule for as capable as you are."

Zack had always dreamed about going beyond the borders of the kingdom he grew up in, to conquer the lands beyond what his current eyes could see. The desire to rule was deeply embedded into his bones. This was his most primal sin that he couldn't bear to give up on. Even at such a young age, The Corruption had already taken its toll on this young boy.

Zack looked at the guards right beside him and ordered them to leave. After hearing one the of princes give them orders, they had no choice but to comply. Even without Zack telling them to leave, they wanted nothing more than to escape this current predicament, the family name Aria bears just too much pressure on people like them.

Without fearing the consequences of his actions, he merely asked, "Why do you want me?"

"Simple, you're barely talented enough to join me but I need as many people as I can get."

'Barely?'

The shame of only bearing the title of 'barely talented' was a hard hit toward Zack's pride that he almost wanted to speak up in anger. However, he knew that based on the Aria family's understanding of barely talented, he was already well beyond the scope of normal geniuses.

"Then I have to ask, how strong are you, Lady Gwendolyn?" Zack wanted to get an understanding of how terrifying a child of the Aria family was.

"I'm a Tier 2 Mage. What about it?" Gwen's innocent and smug smile made it seem that it was a feat that no other people could compare with but Zack felt something was off.

All of a sudden, Zack heard Felix snicker, "What's wrong, Felix Mascre?"

"Oh, nothing. Just don't underestimate a child of the Aria family."

Zack took Felix's advice somewhat seriously but compared to his Tier 5 Mage prowess, he felt that Gwen seemed to be a little… lacking.

"Then may I ask you for a quick spar? I just want to see just how strong you truly are."

When Felix heard Zack say this, he almost couldn't contain himself. Asking to spar the monster beside him was something that words couldn't describe. He sparred with her last night and it ended up in his defeat, even though he clearly had the advantage in everything, he still lost. Him having not been able to understand the First Sword was something completely normal, in fact, the technique that he was currently training in was an Auric Swordsman technique, meaning that he was using something that he shouldn't even have the ability to.

Despite this, Gwen managed to use another technique on the same level with an even lower realm than his and even surpassed his understanding of the blade. The worst part of it all was that Gwen hadn't even stolen any of his talents, meaning that without the talent to make everything easier, she was already demolishing the barriers of common sense. When she finally manages to take his talent in its entirety then the possibility of being stronger than Nio was almost a certainty.

Gwen simply smiled, "Sure. A quick spar wouldn't hurt. Felix, wanna see something fun?"

"What do you want to show me?"

"Something fun. Hehe." Gwen's signature mischievous smile appeared once more. And every single time it showed up on Gwen's tiny little face, someone was in trouble.