Aaron Sees Something Interesting

'Raven Longstaff huh? There's no denying his strength, and it'll be difficult to complete my mission with him as my enemy.His master is also another big problem, from the Intel, he's one of the only mages in possession of a fragment of the Warden Necklace and to get it out of his possession is going to be difficult. I had hoped this mission would not take up to a year but I guess I'll have to train to get even  stronger now. Hah, so much stress'

Aaron sighed in his mind before jumping off the tree branch he was standing on and landing gently on the ground. 

"Nembrylla, I hope you're bringing good news"

He spoke loud enough for the creature hiding in the bushes to hear him and a soft rustle of leaves confirmed their presence.

"I'm sorry for hiding, my Lord but I didn't want to intrude on your private time"

"I didn't ask you why you were hiding, I asked if the news you bring is pleasing to the ear or not"

Nembrylla went down on one knee before Aaron and bowed her head. She was a queer creature with dark skin and long pointed ears, her dressing was also queer as she dressed in oversized green robes with a cowl that was probably used to hide her ears when in human company. 

Nembrylla was of an almost extinct race of magical creatures known as the dark elves and humans would do anything to have a dark elf under their control, they were excessively beautiful and had a relatively long life span.

"I bring bad news my Lord, there have been increased sightings of those black robed people around the boundaries of the land and more than once we have had to desert the area for a few days to escape discovery"

"The black robed people, do they have a crest on their robes?"

"Yes, a sword with a serpent coiled around it"

"That's bad news for us then, I knew they were monitoring me but I didn't think they'll start an investigation the moment I left the camp. You know what Nembrylla? You have to get back there immediately, evacuate everyone to the emergency vaults and do not surface until a two weeks from now, I have someone in the camp that'll solve this for us"

"Thank you my Lord"

Nembrylla bowed once more before getting up and moving quickly out of sight. Aaron waited a few minutes until he was sure she was well on her way before he turned around to face his second guest.

"Bad news from Barrya?"

"Yes, it seems like Robert is investigating my movements from before I left the camp"

Aaron replied Cecile Thorn in his usual manner but for once his voice lost a little of its chill.

"That's bad news, I'll try to get him to call it off"

"He better, because I might just quit this mission to go cause a ruckus at the camp. My business remains my business, remind him of that"

Cecile smirked as he spoke, her eyes were filled with pride at the boy she trained herself.

"Pretty big words for a seventeen year old, don't you think Mr. Regis?"

Aaron got her implication and bent his head to hide the fact that he couldn't laugh at her joke. He cursed inwardly before raising his head back up and nodding his head.

"So... That elf was very pretty, what do you think?"

Aaron gave Cecile a long hard stare before shaking his head and giving his reply in his usual voice.

"She's just my regent and she won't be anything more to me. I don't get what you're trying to imply"

Cecile groaned in frustration before face palming.

"You're so dense Aaron, go now before Aldesty realize how bad their guards are at protecting their palace"

She waved him away before turning around and heading back out of Aldesty to stop Robert's investigation into Aaron's affairs.

But Aaron wasn't ready to head back yet as he headed for Raven's room in the palace.

'Jackpot,' he thought as he sighted the young necromancer from afar.

He was about to cross the distance when he realized something and quickly hid himself.

Raven was standing with his teacher and the two of them were talking in low tones. Aaron his himself on time as Erik's eyes suddenly turned to inspect his surroundings

"...are you ready?"

"Yes master"

His sharp ears caught those words and his curiosity was piqued finally. He stole away to a safer position where he couldn't be seen from and he sat comfortably to watch the scene that followed, a scene that could have eliminated Raven from the competition.

Six dragons made of bones and dark energy rose out of Erik's back and hovered for a few seconds before diving into Raven's chest.

"Keok! Argh!"

He screamed out in pain as the soul soldiers entered his chest in a mad frenzy.

"The joy of winning the Howling Competition will make you forget the pain you're going through now, endure if because after now you'll be the most invincible mage in the competition"

Erik spoke softly to Raven as he bailed with the pain of the transfer of soul soldiers more powerful than his grade.

'This is really underhanded for the strongest supermage and his apprentice. I guess this competition just got more dramatic, yeesh'

Aaron turned around and took another path back to his room.

***

"Erik Crawford, Daniel Walker, Jane Compton, Aaron Regis, Andrew Duncan, Andrea Duncan, Happy Trelawney and Selene Gabriel"

The names of the competitors were called off loud as they each walked into the arena. Each member of the crowd already had their favorite mage and they cheered for them.

"Each of you will now publicly receive your rewards for passing the first stage of the competition from the king himself. Now, let's welcome in our beloved leader, King Marcus Duncan!"

King Marcus walked into the arena decked out in royal regalia. His crown shone brightly under the sun and his staff glittered with enough precious stones to light up a hall.

He lifted his staff into the air and received a standing ovation from his people. When the crowd had calmed down, he cleared his throat and began to speak. As usual, his voice was projected through sound magic to the crowd.

"The eight of you have shown immense talent and have put in a lot of hardwork to get to this stage and therefore you deserve special praise. I know you are all itching for some action so I'll make this quick"

He received grins and smiles from the competitors as a large box was carried in by some servants.

"From the depths of the Forest of Night, our mages have brought forth these amazing gifts. Every mage has heard of the fabled Tear Of Tamorra, also called The Saint's Tear. This very rare and very precious solution has amazing recuperative abilities and can exponentially increase the size of one's mana bank. It is quite intoxicating and can sometimes cause loss of consciousness or drunkenness when over consumed. We have prepared ten vials of this Saint's Tear for our competitors alongside ten A-rated spatial bags to help them in their future adventures"

As the king was speaking, the servants began to hand out the rewards to the competitors and each bowed deeply before the king, Aaron included.

"Now, let the Howling Competition begin"