Chapter 8_ The 1st Hunt

Reinhardt was the capital of the Eternal Kingdom. Inside the royal palace, a man was leisurely sitting in his throne. King Wiesbaden, the king of Eternal Kingdom was already old. Sometimes he wished to step down on his throne and appoint one of his three sons as the new king.

The king would look at the potential and the morality of all his sons. He didn't want anyone who didn't have the interest of the people to rule, irrespective of how favored they are from the nobles.

Though he also needed someone who could also be somewhat cruel to the enemies. Being a leader or a king of a nation, is knowing how to sway and control the opinions of masses. A weak willed and incompetent king could easily lead to a revolt from the people or even worse.

There were always nobles who secretly opposed the idea of having one family to rule forever. A weak willed king would give these people the opportunity to rally up the masses to be against the royals.

King Wiesbaden also had to consider and make sure that the future king was not cowardly, greedy or short sighted. He definitely didn't need a prince who would sell out his country because of greed or one that would runaway cowardly in the face of danger.

He needed a prince who was brave and courageous enough to die for the kingdom, even if the enemy had successfully invaded it. In fact, he had been evaluating his sons on who would be the best candidate to be chosen. However, for First Prince Ren – the eldest son of King Wiesbaden, and Second Prince Aslan – the second son of King Wiesbaden…

They were all proud, arrogant, greedy and selfish.

If the throne would be handed in the wrong hands, the kingdom could be filled with a lot of bloodshed and violence. Only the third prince was the only one he could think of. His personality was better than the other prince, he was way smarter than them and possesses more potential.

Since the young age, among all of the prince, Lexus was the fastest to learn how to write, speak and read. That was not the only thing but there were countless more.

King Wiesbaden had guaranteed it, that the third prince has unprecedented talent. It might even be possible for him to reach the realm of the legends. According to history, a person becoming a legendary figure will generally have high value that couldn't be explained through words and common sense and won't die easily.

If his strength will reach the legendary realm, it was a great benefit for the kingdom since the legendary realm belongs to the pinnacle fighting force in the West Continent.

However, he also had his flaws. He lacked motivation to do anything. Living a life with a golden spoon, he could obtain anything he wanted; therefore, he was unable to make any effort for anything. Additionally, he did not really desire anything to be in his possession. All he wanted was to live a lazy, leisurely, and prodigal lifestyle.

"I guess it's time for Lexus to grow up. Sending him to tour in Lubana Kingdom is definitely not enough to change his mind."

King Wiesbaden murmured and then looked at the knight who stood beside him.

"The third prince is the most appropriate candidate for the throne. He only needed to change the way he thinks...What do you think we should do about this Chucksley."

Sir Chucksley was the Royal Knight's commander. He was a great swordsman and thus held a high position in the kingdom. Sir Chucksley's family had been loyal to the royal family for generations, making him a trusted man to King Wiesbaden.

"Your Majesty, Prince Lexus is already 17 years old, nearing adulthood. You should no longer tolerate his childish behavior and it is time to be strict with him."

Charlesley expressed his honest opinion to the king.

"I see. Honest and blunt as always. Do you have any other ideas?"

King Wiesbaden listened to the opinion of the commander of the royal knights.

"We should have trained him harder before; otherwise, we could have announced that Eternal Kingdom has a third prince. Keeping his identity hidden from the public was unnecessary and really was a mistake, which led him to develop such an attitude. He is wasting his talent, which surpasses and transcends any of ours."

Chucksley expressed what was on his mind, honestly, to the king. King Wiesbaden pressed his fingers between his eyebrows as he heard those words.

The reason why he decided to keep Lexus' existence hidden from the public eye was due to his monstrous talent. (A/N: Yeah...NPC Lexus was blessed with the potential on par with Lord Steim in the novel but definitely lower than Madra's talent potential...Well, should I match it with Madra's level or not? Well, sorry for the pointless question.)

So for short, it was to protect him. He had been worried that the young Lexus who grew rapidly better than anyone, would be targeted by any malicious enemies. Worried for his son and for the benefits of the kingdom, he made the third prince's existence as a secret that only the trusted people of the royal family knew so that he won't be assassinated by those who saw him as threat.

"Since he has been isolated from the public and doesn't have any friends, let's arrange for him to meet your daughter, if that's okay with you. If they somehow become close friends, his hidden/untapped talent might start to bloom, which could be beneficial for everyone involved."

Dovie, the sole daughter of Chucksley. From an early childhood, Dovie was shown to have tremendous power and according to her instructors and Chucksley himself, his daughter had a natural talent for the sword, being able to defeat her instructors on the first try.

She's just a year younger than Lexus but her skills had already surpassed some of the royal knights, befitting the daughter of a Great Swordsman.

"I don't mind, your majesty. If it is for the sake and the glory of our kingdom."

Sir Chucksley replied without hesitation to King Wiesbaden. His loyalty to the royal family was that strong, and he himself, also hoped that the lazy third prince would finally wake up, and become a being similar to a dragon that would lead the Eternal Kingdom to the supremacy of the continent.

•~~~•

After finishing his endeavor in the Northern End Cave, Lexus and his escorts were now on their way to Reinhardt. Looking at the clear blue sky through the window of his carriage, Lexus happily and delightedly made a humming sound as he was in a very good mood today.

Apart from becoming a legend, he had also become the successor of the two legends who stood at the pinnacle of the strongest warriors throughout the world.

'So his highness can make that face.'

Sera, the maid who had been taking care of him these past few days, thought in her mind looking at Lexus who was in a good mood with a slight flush on her face. She was on the same age of Lexus and reached the stage that she can be attracted especially of how good looking he was.

Unfortunately or fortunately for her, Lexus didn't notice her expression as he was immersed in his own world. Then suddenly, he heard a roar outside which snapped him out of his daze. With curiosity getting the better of him, Lexus stepped out of the carriage to take a look before Sera could stop him.

"Your highness! You mustn't get out...Wah, wah! What should I do?"

She panicked and swiftly followed Lexus despite the danger that it might pose, stepping out of the carriage.

•~~~•

"What's the situation?"

On the outside, the calm knights heard the voice of Lexus. They had already recovered from the injuries they suffered due to the traps with the healing potions from their supplies they had brought with them for the journey.

"Your highness?"

Some knights spoke in surprise. This was the first time they had seen him step out of his carriage, aside from when they took stops to rest. It made their jobs easier, for Lexus hadn't caused them any inconvenience at all. They were used to it; seeing him go outside left them confused.

"Your highness. Its dangerous out here so please return inside."

Sera, who had caught up with Lexus, stated while heavily catching her breath. Though the distance she ran wasn't that far at all, the nervousness of Lexus being harmed caused her to be distressed like this.

"I don't think that would be the case Sera."

Lexus looked back at her and softly spoke. They had capable knights protecting him, so he didn't really see any problems.

"But..."

She was about to voice out her opinion about the unseen danger that could happen to him but stopped. She didn't want to be misunderstood that she was saying that the knights were incapable; that might insult their pride. She didn't want that as she was just a servant and had a lower position than them. Seeing her pursing her lips, Lexus neared her then softly caressed and patted her head. He then spoke with a gentle voice.

"Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen."

Her face slightly reddened, not expecting his action, but Lexus was no longer looking at her; he was turning his attention to the knight named Darius who was speaking.

"Nothing so serious your highness. Just a young troll warrior had his misfortune of meeting us."

This wasn't the first time they had encountered monsters along the way. It had been so many times that the knights could no longer count, but it wasn't something they couldn't handle. He then pointed out a monster that was blindly charging towards them in a clear distance. It was running at full speed when it saw a group of humans.

"A troll?"

Lexus turned his attention to the direction where Darius was pointing. Trolls were medium-sized monsters known for being the most ferocious. They mainly live in groups, and their intelligence was also on the high end, making them very difficult to deal with. Needless to say, the individual's fighting power was excellent.

They also possessed a formidable regenerative ability which made them hard to kill but they were sought out by alchemists as their blood were a rare material for the creation of health potions. Trolls were monsters that were over level 100 so encountering one is very dangerous. However, the troll warrior that was rushing to them is a young one, most likely at level 20.

It was still young, so it likely lacked the experience to distinguish that the humans it intended to attack were not something it could handle; the average level of the knights here were over level 150+.

"Hmmm, can you leave that one to me?"

Then, all of them were surprised when they heard Lexus. None of them expected that the prince would volunteer to face a monster himself.

"No need to trouble yourself, your highness. We can easily handle that creature."

Darius spoke with certainty in his voice that they would deal with it. Hearing his tone, Lexus shook his head and clarified what he meant.

"I don't mean to say that I'm doubting your skills and abilities. I just want to test my ability and this troll just happened to be the perfect partner."

Sera was about to voice out her objection, but Darius stopped her with a glare. "Are you opposing the will of the young prince?"—the hidden message in it. As a knight, he had his chivalric code to follow; he had to obey and respect the will of the one he was serving, even if it meant putting himself at risk. So, he found Sera's concern unnecessary, even though it was for Lexus' sake.

Well, the main reason was because he knew Lexus' skills and abilities better than any of them here; he was the one who had sparred with him. So, he didn't doubt Lexus at all. Fully supporting what Lexus wanted to do, Darius pulled out his sword from its sheath and respectfully handed it to Lexus. Seeing his gesture, Lexus smiled.

"That's great."

Then, he picked and grasped the long sword. As soon as his hand made contact with the long sword, notification and details of the sword appeared in his vision.

[Fake Fantasy Blade]

Rating: Rare

Durability: 120/150 Attack Power: 250

* Attack Speed: +3%

* Strength +80.

* Agility +50.

A one-handed sword that can be easily used by anyone, and is designed to exert high attack power.

However, it emphasizes convenience, so the overall perfection is poor, meaning additional functions such as durability are weak.

If steel was used as the main material rather than black iron, the limitations of this work would be more prominent and it would be treated as a consumable item.

User Restriction: Level 140 or higher. 300 strength. Intermediate Sword Mastery level 3.]

[Due to your class characteristics, you have equipped Fake Fantasy Blade.]

[A penalty is applied because the item conditions aren't met.]

[Attack power of Fake Fantasy Blade will decrease by 30%. Only half of the option effects will be applied.]

[Your understanding of Fake Fantasy Blade is high so the penalties are reduced.]

Having a real sword, not a wooden sword anymore in his hand, Lexus calmly stepped forward to face the troll and have his first real life combat.