The Three Malics. (1)

In a massive multi-winged building located at the far end of the city known as Aracia, a young blonde-haired man was training with a halberd. His red cat-like eyes exuded a large amount of concentration as he swung the bladed weapon through the air.

SWISHHH!

The young man suddenly stopped practicing and stood upright. The morning sun shone brightly upon his muscular body, causing him to look like a warrior angel basking in its light.

Picking up a large mug of water with one hand, the young man started chugging it down as if he was a bottomless pit. As he did this, he thought, 'Damn it all, I've reached a bottleneck in my training! If I don't improve soon, the other two princes will only get stronger while I stay at this level. I feel like I'm missing something...'

When the young man put down the jug, a young servant girl ran up to him, bowed, and said frantically, "Excuse me, Your Highness! May I speak?"

The young man turned his head toward the girl and a blossoming smile appeared on his face.

"Raise your head and speak, Yanra. What's wrong?"

The girl hurriedly did as she as told and replied, "Greetings, Your Highness, Prince Muzan. I've come to report an urgent situation! All guards that were stationed in the city have gathered in the palace compound to surround one intruder! One of the guard captains apparently angered him and he was killed on the spot! That's what the intruder claimed. Now, he said he wants to see the Three Malics but they aren't paying him any mind! My prince! Please help us with the situation before it gets out of hand!"

The young man, now known as Prince Muzan immediately grabbed his halberd tightly and grabbed his robes from a nearby tree.

"We have no time to waste! Let's go!"

"Yes, Your Highness!".

Prince Muzan hurried down the hallways of the castle with the servant girl in tow. If it was a usual day, the halls would be incredibly busy, and running through them would've been almost impossible.

Anxiety.

Fear.

Anger.

Those were the emotions taking over Prince Muzan's entire being as he drew closer to the front of the Palace. He stopped in front of the palace doors and quickly put on his robes while making sure that everything was intact before exiting the doors.

Turning towards the servant girl he shouted, "Yanra, go find a place to hide and make sure the rest of the servants do the same! And please try everything you can to get the Three Malics into hiding too! Hurry!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The servant girl hurried off and the prince placed two hands on the palace door, swallowing his saliva as he did. For some reason, no matter how he tried to get rid of this deep sense of fear, it only got worse as he got closer to the compound.

SLAP!

Prince Muzan slapped himself with his empty hand and took a deep breath with his eyes closed.

'Even if I'm afraid, I can't show such a pitiful look to my citizens and guards. They must find courage through me!'

WHOOOSH!

Muzan pushed open the doors and charged outside as the sun blinded his eyes. Putting his hand up the block the overbearing light, Muzan walked forward and...

THUD!

He hit something resembling an iron wall as he stumbled back trying to regain his balance.

'What? I don't remember there being a wall in front of the palace? Was there some kind of fight going on? When the flare clears, I can...what the?'

As his eyes got accustomed to the light, Muzan quickly discovered that what he bumped into wasn't an iron wall, but a tall muscular man with piercing red eyes. His long white black-rimmed robes flew gracefully in the wind as his angry gaze locked on to Muzan's figure.

To Muzan, this man looked like an absolute monster. When he finally spoke, his voice was even more sinister.

"Oh? You look important. I was just about to walk in there and slaughter everyone myself because it seems that your leadership thinks I'm a joke. I hope you don't disappoint me."

Muzan's hands trembled as a part of him wanted to attack Erik but the rest wanted to just lead him to his father and two uncles; the ones known as the Three Malics. His breathing became erratic as he wondered what to do.

Leading him to the Three Malics could calm his anger or make him erupt depending on how it's handled. Knowing his family though, they were too prideful to look at this situation calmly.

He could try to fight him but, that thought was quickly abolished. Muzan was a man who loved the thrill of battle but in times like this, only smart decision-making can help avoid a disaster.

Mustering the strength to not back down and break eye contact, Muzan replied, "You must be the intruder, the one who killed the guard captain. I was informed that he had tried to attack you without good reason so you delivered rightful justice upon him."

Closing his eyes and lowering his head ever so slightly, Muzan continued, "I apologize for the behavior of my subordinates and I hope it doesn't sully your impression of us! May I know your name and what clan you belong to?"

Erik's anger subsided immediately for the most part, as all he was looking for was a sincere apology from one of the higher-ups. After all, he wasn't someone unreasonable.

Erik outstretched one of his hands and said, "Call me Erik. I'm not from around here so I'm afraid I have no clan that I belong to. And, I accept your apology. But, I'm still curious about the three men who thought that I was no threat. As a warrior myself, I can't help but think that they must be extremely powerful."

Muzan quickly grasped his hands and he wasn't surprised at what he felt.

'These calloused and worn out hands....this man has fought many battles. He is not even afraid of death as he stood against our entire kingdom by himself. Maybe if I was like that, our leadership wouldn't be in such a bad position...'

Noticing that he hadn't answered yet, Muzan smiled for a bit before replying, "I'm sorry about that, I was stuck in my thoughts for a bit. It's a pleasure to meet you, Erik. My name is Muzan and I'm one of the princes of this kingdom. About my father and uncles, can I be frank with you?"

Erik nodded and Muzan continued, "They are all too arrogant or prideful to accept that this kingdom that is known as one of the most powerful in the land could be trounced by one man. We have subjugated most of the other kingdoms around us so an unknown force appearing out of nowhere to do the same to us is a hard thing to fathom."

As Muzan spoke, his natural fear of Erik was being slowly eroded.

"But, I can understand it as I've always felt that this world is bigger than we imagined. I will lead you to the Three Malics while being the intermediary. Hopefully, I can convince them to change their ways."

When Muzan finished speaking, Erik realized that these people didn't know that they were on a floor of the tower. They didn't know that they merely an insignificant cog that was part of a massive machine.

Erik smiled mysteriously as he thought about this fact. He then said calmly, "Muzan, I like your attitude, so as long as they don't try anything funny, I won't attack anyone else."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Muzan sent away the battalion of guards and lead Erik through the palace. As he looked around the place, Erik couldn't help but admire its architecture.

"Not bad, Muzan. This palace is quite impressive."

A smile appeared on Muzan's face as he was about to respond but...

SHWINGG! CLANG!

A sword appeared out of the shadows to strike at Erik but Muzan managed to block it with his halberd. As soon as he saw the sigil on the sword, a serious expression appeared on his face.

A section of the wall opened up as a hidden door was revealed. Out of that door walked six people. Three middle-aged men, one woman, and two boys who resembled Muzan. Judging from their clothing, Erik guessed that they were probably the Three Malics, one of their queens, and the two other princes.

One of the middle-aged men stepped forward and pointed a sword at the duo while shouting at the top of his lungs, "Muzan! As my own son, you dare lead an intruder into the palace without our permission?! Have you lost your mind?!"

Muzan almost exploded from anger when he heard his father's words. He had saved the lives of everyone in the palace by acting as fast as he did and now he was being scolded for it? These people were simply outrageous.

When Muzan saw Erik was about to say something, he quickly interjected and shouted furiously, "Father, I'm sick of the way you act! If I didn't act on my own earlier, we would've all been dead! All of you were just cowering in your holes while I was the only one who stood up for us! Then you have the gall to ask me if I dare?! Well yes, I do!"