The Tower

Wearing his blue lined uniform, Adrian was all set to give the South-Western tower a visit.

The moment he opened the main door of the Fredrick house, his eyes met that of the principal of the Academy, Rastia Bell.

"All ready?" She looked at him from top to bottom.

"Want to come in? We can have a session before we go." He smirked.

"Not now, they are waiting." She shook her head, even though her eyes betrayed lust.

******

"Why are you so stiff?" The brown eyed tower master looked at his old friend.

"Well, he is a potential grandson-in-law." The blond haired high king said, somewhat nervously.

Both of them were sitting at the end of a long hall, facing the large door. Their chairs were lavish and a tea table was separating the two.

"Why are you the one who's nervous? He should be the one."

"You see, I never had a daughter."

"So what? You are not marrying her out anyway. If the marriage actually happens, he will be the one marrying in."

"Still-"

*Knock. Knock.*

Both of them straightened their backs and put on a serious expression.

"Come in." The tower master said in an authoritative tone.

The huge door opened. The principal, Rastia Bell, stepped in- followed by the second year student, Adrian Darkheart.

"I greet your Majesty and the grand tower master." She knelt on one knee. Adrian kept standing beside her.

"Skip the formalities. You will be joining us soon." The tower master waved his hand.

"Yes, you will be one of the main pillars of the Kingdom soon enough. Stand up."

She bowed before standing up. She looked beside her, at Adrian. Though she was somewhat expecting this, she was surprised nonetheless. He was nonchalant in the face of two supreme level circlers.

'KNEEL!' She screamed inside her mind. But it was useless.

Both of the men looked at the nonchalance of the young man and nodded. They did not mind this 'insolence' at all; if anything, they were impressed at his ability to face two level 9 circlers without any sense of fear or discomfort.

"I am the South-Western tower master of the Academy, Brian Wells."

"I am the High King of the Kingdom of Nemphis, Ernic Greatwoods."

"I believe you already did a background check on me." Adrian 'introduced' himself casually.

"Ahem. We called you in today because we selected you to be the leader during this years Hunt." The tower master declared. "We believe you-"

"I refuse."

Silence ensued.

"Can I ask why?" The high king asked.

"Nope." His answer rendered the two men speechless.

Rastia felt her heartbeat stopping for a second as she almost slumped down to the ground.

"WHY do you not want to lead the Academy?"

"It's a chore." He shrugged. "Not worth it."

'Young master. O young master. Take my daughter for another year but please don't do this.' Rastia wanted to cry.

The green eyed high king spoke, "Young man, at your age- I would take every responsibilities-"

"But I don't want to. Besides, at my age, weren't you infamous for sleeping with any beauties that you fancied, including the engaged and married ones." Adrian said.

"Pfft-" The tower master covered his own mouth with his hands, but he could not held back his shoulders from trembling.

The principal was soaked in sweat though the weather was cold.

The nervous high king's skin was thick. Nevertheless, his face flushed as he gave his old friend a glare.

The tower master controlled his laughter, but he could not put a serious face anymore. "But we want you to teach the Institute a lesson. What do you need?"

Adrian looked at the High King and smiled.

"No no no no." He shook his head. "I know what you are thinking; but it is my duty as the high king to be completely impartial."

"Tsk. You can't even afford to spare some rare Potioneering ingredients from the royal treasury. And you call yourself the High King."

"Pfft-" the tower master again muffled his laughter. But this time, his eyes were closed and whole body was jerking.

Rastia shook her head and sighed. She gave up.

"I… You… take whatever you want!" The high king wanted to leave right away. His dignity was compromised like never before.

"Good. But I still don't have any intent to lead though."

The tower master composed himself and squinted. "What do you mean? He agreed to your condition."

"Yes, I agreed to teach the Institute a lesson." Adrian looked him in the eyes.

The high king regained his calm. "Can you do it alone?"

"Of course! Besides, I am not alone." Adrian smiled.

"Your guarantee?" The tower master asked.

"I can't guarantee anything. But let's make this arrangement, shall we? I will take high grade magic crystals for every student of the empire unable to leave the 'fleeting lands'. I believe this should attest to my seriousness in this matter."

Both of them looked at each other and nodded.

"How much?" The high king asked.

"Level multiplied by hundred."

"Fifty."

"Hundred and fifty."

"Seventy five."

"Two hundred."

"A hundred."

"Since your Majesty is proposing a hundred, how can I dare not accept?"

"Good." He smiled. But soon he squinted. Something was not right.

The tower master watched the whole conversation in amusement. "Since you do not want to lead. The kills of others will not be added to your own account."

"Of course. I just want to notify you in advance that all the unknown deaths will be of my doing."

"I understand. But, what if you fail to punish the Institute? Will you cut off one of your own limbs?" The tower master raised one of his brows.

"If I really fail, why not?" He grinned.

Both of them looked at each other again. They had planned to probe him. But they did not expect him to reveal everything that fast.

"You know you have only this chance. The fleeting lands open only once every four years." The tower master then looked at the principal. "Give him whatever he needs; it's not everyday we get two tier 5s at the same time. We may never have this chance again."

Adrian nodded while the principal bowed.

"You may leave now."

The principal-student duo left.

*Click*

Just as the door closed, the high king heaved a long sigh of relief. "That was intense. Is he really a seventeen year old?"

"I know, right? He really is a monster."

"I am rooting for Evelyn now. Though this may completely ruin our decades old plan, he is completely worth it."

"This year's Hunt will be quite the blast. Have your magic crystals ready."

"Hmph. How much can he claim? Three to four thousands at most; I don't even have to open the royal treasury."

"But you have to. Remember those ten thousand crystals?"

"You!"

******

The principal's office.

*Click.*

The moment the door closed. "Are you insane?! Oh yes, I forgot you are one. But how could you do that in front of two level 9s. You should have at the very least, maintained etiquette."

"Relax. One of them is my to be grandfather-in-law and the other is the master of my mother's master." He approached her and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Tsk. Whatever, you survived through it and also managed to do a 'bit' of business with them. It's all fine, I guess." She sighed and looked into his abyssal eyes.

But she shook her head vigorously, escaping from being sucked into them. She stepped back and got behind her desk, and took out a stack of paper from her drawers.

"Here, these documents have details about the known abilities and properties of participants from the Institute."

Adrian skimmed through few of the papers. He torn apart the few he had in his hands.

"What are you doing?!"

"You call that details? I don't care about abilities or anything. Give me information about their weaknesses- their secrets, their loves, fiancés, fiancées, their guilty pleasures, crime they love to commit- everything."

"I need time. But why do you need them?" She frowned.

"Why?" He before her, untied her hair and pulled them hard.

"Aaah."

"To inflict the most pain and sorrow, of course." He smiled.