The Moonlit Landscape of Elrod.

Veritas stared at the scene right in front of him.

He saw three bodies that lay unconscious, surrounded by a crowd of people. Those bodies belonged to men with a large physique, almost double the size of Veritas. 

To be fair, Veritas was also quite tall! Standing at around 6'0, and of medium physique. He did not look too bulky nor too skinny, he was average at best. 

With cold daring eyes, Veritas turned to leave the commotion, squeezing through the crowds of people and slowly headed towards the inside of the den. 

That's right! Those three large men were defeated by the distinguished white-haired Prince singlehandedly!

He was eating popcorn too!

Traversing through the large crowd gathered around him, Veritas spotted a black-haired and blue-eyed teenager wearing a clown's makeup and extravagant clothing. This boy stood out amongst the crowd and Veritas very quickly took notice of him.

Likewise, the boy was staring at him too, looking shocked and amazed at Veritas.

Veritas sang praises of himself in his mind.

'That's right.. Praise me!'

He looked smug and smirked at the teenager with a clown makeup.

Bello took notice of this and couldn't believe that Veritas could make such a face in a situation like this.

'This guy is crazy!'

He looked even more dumbfounded as Veritas got nearer and nearer towards him. 

Upon getting closer, Veritas signaled Bello to head over to the den with him.

"Come on, I wanna see the fight between the White Bull and Cloud Mongoose, hurry up!"

Veritas rushed his friend and headed inside the den, Bello followed through and heard whispers among the crowd.

"H-hey! Isn't that the Prince?"

"He singlehandedly brought down 3 members of the Blazing Night!"

"I guess that's normal for a Prince of royalty after all.."

Bello ignored the gossips and went on along his path of going towards the den. 

As the two got closer to the fighting den, they could already hear the loud cheers and shouts of the people inside!

Veritas looked lost as he had already missed a portion of the fight.

"I'm gonna miss the whole fight, hurry up Bello!"

Veritas rushed along the crowd and made his way to the area where the seats were, looking for an empty spot for the two of them.

He searched for a couple of seconds and finally found a spot that they could rest on. 

They arrived shortly at the spot and settled down to watch the ongoing fight amongst the beasts.

It was a fierce fight! On one side, was an Albino Bull, with gray tusks and fiery red eyes filled with malice and destruction. And on the other, was an average sized mongoose that looked cloudy and fluid as if any attacks were not going to work against it.

So, the battle had begun! Immediately, the White Bull charged straight at the Cloud Mongoose! The Bull seemed so fast that clouds of dust were left as an afterimage! In just a few seconds he had reached the Cloud Mongoose.

However, the White Bull ran straight past the Cloud Mongoose, as if he had ran into a real cloud!

The White Bull was confused for a second before charging up his attack once again. The White Bull charged at the Cloud Mongoose once again, accelerating and gaining momentum for a fierce attack!

But the same scenario happened once more and the White Bull passed by the Cloud Mongoose again.

This scene happened for about 7 times until the White Bull started to become sluggish. The small Cloud Mongoose looked as if it was yawning and taunting the White Bull!

Due to this, the White Bull was enraged and charged up the greatest attack that it had ever unleashed before.

This was called by the spectators as..

"The White Lightning Charge!" Veritas screamed out.

As a fan of the White Bull, Veritas knew about all its attacks and all of its glory. He was very knowledgeable when it comes to these things as he had been a long-time customer inside the den!

Naturally, Veritas voted for the White Bull to win.

So, with the greatness of the White Bull's attack, Veritas had confidence that it was going to win! He was nervous for a couple of rounds but now he had been reassured of victory.

The White Bull's body began to glow radiant and sparks came out of it. Then, it moved its right leg on the back as if it was charging up a great attack!

In a split second, all that was left in the White Bull's place was ashes! It may have been an exaggeration to say that it was as fast as lightning itself!

With the White Bull's attack, dust clouds covered the entire arena! No one could see anything and the suspense was wild.

As the clouds subsided, Veritas saw a distinct figure in the arena.

And it was..

The White Bull!

Behind it was a fainted Cloud Mongoose, the White Bull's ultimate attack had worked against the filthy challenger!

Veritas screamed at the excitement and hyped up the White Bull.

He felt thrilled at the feeling of winning a gamble!

Screams were heard along the den, although there were some boos too!

Some people were joyous at the event but some people looked saddened and tired!

Veritas was one of the people that felt joyous, he almost jumped in excitement if not for Bello stopping him.

Thus, the next matches started and finished in a breeze. 

*

The sun was setting and people were leaving the Beast Master Den. There are those that looked ever so satisfied at their earnings. While, there are some that looked disappointed by their loss.

And in other instances, there are individuals that laid on the ground and punched the earth.

Veritas had been one of those that belonged in the latter.

He stared at the twilight sky and grieved in loss.

"I was so close to winning too.."

Bello kneeled at the fallen Prince and stared at him in disbelief.

'This guy always ends up like this after every gambling session. Does he not learn at all?'

"I know! Bello! I have finally been enlightened!"

Bello was taken aback by the Prince's sudden declaration.

"This feeling, I could no longer ignore it! From now on, I will change my mindset."

"So you've finally realized that gambling is bad huh.. Good for you."

Veritas stared at Bello like he had been crazy or was spouting something stupid.

"Ha? No, I realized that I just needed to get luckier.."

Bello looked dumbfounded before he finally scratched his forehead in confusion. He could not believe the words coming out from Veritas, he was a Prince too! A Prince of Elrod at that!

'This is the person that will lead the kingdom in the near future!?'

Upon looking down at the stupid Prince below him, Bello could not help but sigh at his figure.

'This kingdom is doomed...'

After that, the two headed in their own directions, saying their farewells upon each other.

"Thank your brother for me please!"

"Yea.. Take care."

The boy with white-hair waved enthusiastically and the clown-faced boy only stared at him with indifference. 

Disappearing in the twilight, Bello slowly made his way back to the outskirts, using the road that he and Veritas used earlier in the day. 

While Veritas headed in the opposite direction, towards the Diamond Borough. 

Bello stared at the scenery around him, noticing the beautiful peaceful landscape of Elrod.

Although he was in the Copper Borough, it did not seem bad at all. The Copper Borough housed many slums and darker areas, but the majority of it consisted of normal households and structures. It was not as pleasing to look as the Silver Borough but it was still a sight to behold. 

Bello recalled everything that happened on this day.

In the morning, he had become an official Pathbearer, then he learned about Veritas' true identity. They then went to the Copper Borough to gamble, but Bello's main purpose was to sign up to become a contracted Beasttamer. 

After that, he saw the pathetic sight of the Prince, and when twilight came, both of them went on their own ways. 

Bello was lost in his thoughts and had not realized that he had already arrived at the outskirts. Only a road stretched far and wide towards his house.

So, as night fell, Bello admired the stars above and walked alone with peace.

*

Returning to the present, Bello stared at the same night skies and the stars from within. He gazed upon this sight inside the castle of the Central City of Elrod, at the Diamond Borough. 

The stars complimented the peaceful landscape of the City, the Diamond Borough was at a higher level in terms of terrain when compared to the rest of the Boroughs. So, the view had looked even more spectacular!

Never in his mind would he imagine being inside the Diamond Borough, and at the castle at that!

He walked silently as his footsteps echoed across the hall, the night view of Elrod was really a spectacle to behold. 

Especially, from inside the elegant castle of Elrod. 

With a distant smile on his face, he and Veritas' parents soon arrived at the medical ward.