I Accept

Darius put the metal cylinders back down on the desk. He was defeated and he knew it. Even though there was no more that needed to be said, the eldest clerk still took still took it upon himself to say, "And to think that the likes of you swarm these halls like vermin each year, disgraceful! I will not tolerate your filth anymore! When you return to wherever it is you come from, I want you to tell everyone there not to show their faces in this noble and honourable guild ever again!"

Darius cringed as he looked around him at the massive crowd as if looking for some empathy and understanding but all he found was a sea of cold, uncaring faces. He slowly began to slouch off into the distance, the salty tears streaming down his face as he walked. It was a long walk back to the entrance through which he had come in and Darius found that he couldn't get out fast enough. Far in the background, he could hear the clerks processing the other, more worthy applicants.

Within a large decorated office sat an old man meditating on his chair. His office was illustrious, with incredible weapons, medals, gifts and other regalia lining it everywhere. The old man stopped his meditation and opened his vigorous eyes. The moment they opened, the aura of an expert washed over the room. "This doesn't make sense. Why did he give up so easily? Last night he completed ten thousand refinements with ease, yet he gave up so easily? Truly odd! He also barely has any spiritual essence affinity. Just how many refinements must he have gone through to achieve his current state? Amusing! Truly amusing! This old man will follow him and take a look Aha!" With those words, the old man's body flashed and his body was no longer in the room...

A few hours later Darius found himself brooding alone on the hill, staring blankly at the castle he had dreamed of for more than six years. His tears had long since dried as he sat with his legs folded on the ground. He felt broken inside, the dream he had fixated on for so long had just been shattered in one five-minute conversation.

He felt a plethora of feelings rushing through him. He felt hurt and abandoned in a harsh and unforgiving world in which he had been left broken and alone. His breathing grew heavier as he watched the sunset and the great doors through which a better life had been denied to him sealed shut.

Darius could feel the miniature-sized anvil in his pocket. It felt heavy and warm as the sensation began warming his right leg, he could tell it was time to begin striking it again, but in his current state of mind, he rashly pulled it out of his pocket, stared at it for a moment and raising his arm threw it back over his shoulder. Finally getting rid of the accursed thing.

Much to his dismay it simply grew back to its original size, this was all Darius needed to push him over the edge. Various new emotions began surging up out of him as his face contorted from that of immense sorrow and despair into one of immense rage.

As he looked at the large anvil, motionless yet somehow mocking him from where it stood on the soft grass, Darius' breathing became deeper and more audible. "Fine then." he breathed through clenched teeth as he ripped his hammer out of its strap and walked straight for the anvil.

In a fit of uncontrolled anger, he began striking at the anvil, harder than he had ever done before. Immense shock waves were sent out from where he struck. They were so powerful they were visible to the naked eye, like ripples moving outwards through the air.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Darius gave it all he had, the sound could be heard like thunder as it rang out, loud and clear.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Instead of feeling despair and pity for himself, Darius now felt anger, rage, and most of all, he felt cheated. He had played it safe his whole life and what had that gotten him? Absolutely nothing.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

His breathing became louder and more rapid as an expanding ring of bare earth began forming around the anvil. He was no longer the same Darius who had been bullied by everyone at the orphanage and had done nothing about it. He wasn't the same Darius who allowed himself to be trampled on by everyone around him. No, he was now the real Darius Omen, and nothing was going to stand in his way.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The anvil itself began to turn red due to the heat generated from the force of the impact and the rapidity at which Darius was striking at it. As he took out all of his frustrations on the anvil his strikes became clumsy and less precise, but he didn't care. He just kept on hitting it harder and harder until it all became too much for him.

All his emotions came roaring out in a single, desperate shout as he tossed aside the hammer and fell onto his knees, breathing heavily. A new man. A new Darius Omen.

Slowly he rose up off his knees and shrunk the anvil back down to the size of a pebble, still warm from the hammering it had just taken and put it back inside his pocket. He then went on to pick up his hammer and walked over to the sign he had found earlier by the rail.

He took out the taxi button Prince Lionel had arranged for him the previous night and pressed it. He had never in his life felt more alive and determined than he did right now. It wasn't long before another silver sphere came speeding at him.

As soon as he entered the hatch reassembled itself and without a moment's hesitation he said, "The Imperial Dragon."

The taxi took off and headed straight for the restaurant where he would be able to contact prince Lionel. As it took off, the silhouette on an old man stroking his beard materialized and prepared to follow the taxi "Interesting! Just who is this boy? I need to take a closer look Aha."

This time Darius didn't even notice the view, his thoughts were scattered in a million different places as the pod descended and came to a halt right in front of the pathway that led up to the establishment's main entrance.

Much to Darius' surprise two different female attendants, a brunette and a redhead rushed up to greet him.

"Good evening, Mr Omen. Prince Lionel told us to expect you today. We will inform him of your arrival immediately." said the brunette. "Please, let us take your bags for you." insisted the redhead with her head bowed slightly.

"This way sir, you will be dining in the royal booth again." They said in unison as they both gestured toward the front entrance.

Darius walked in now, confident and proud. Although he still wished he didn't have to resort to this, it was the only choice he had. He walked over to the booth and entered, again the table had already been covered in all sorts of foods.

"The prince will be with you shortly." Said the brunette as she slid the booth doors shut.

The sight of all that food made Darius realize just how hungry he was as he had not eaten the whole day.

He immediately began to scarf down all the food in front of him, with the appetite of a man with a new energy to live.

At that moment the prince arrived inside the booth. His face beamed down at Darius as he ate.

"I knew you would make the right decision, I just knew it," he said as he sat down opposite Darius. "May I ask how it went at the guild?" he questioned with a smug look on his face. Lionel could tell that something was different, something inside him had changed.

"I think you know full well how it went," Darius replied, still stuffing his face with food.

Lionel looked at the new man in front of him for a moment, indeed he had changed much since their last encounter.

"So then, what do you say?"

Darius stopped eating and took a long hard look at Lionel, his face grew serious as he said two words that would change his life forever.

"I accept."