The King's Beloved

"Thank you for letting us know about Luna," Elliot thanked Ducis. "We're not sure what this means, and it seems Luna wouldn't know either. But let's see what else we can find out as we travel to the next gates. Maybe we can find out more".

Rania nodded in agreement. "For now, let's focus on this realm and look for the temple. We explored the whole town and we didn't see anything that might resemble a temple. The only place left is the castle and the coliseum. We haven't explored inside those places yet. But we registered for a fighting competition in the Ventus Coliseum!"

"A fighting competition?" Ducis looked confused. "Why did you register for that?"

"I'm sorry for that, I got lured in by the theatrical play," Rania clapped her hands together and bowed her head. "The woman said it's a bittersweet love story of a fairy and a dragon".

Ducis was taken aback. "Ack! Seriously, that guy …," he mumbled to himself as he shook his head.

"Who?"

"The guardian of this realm. It's most likely his doing".

"So that play … is about you and Flora?" Rania asked carefully. She didn't want to rekindle any sad memories.

"Most possibly," Ducis agreed. "It's nothing interesting really. There's no need for you to watch it".

Rania and Elliot fell silent and looked at each other.

"The competition will start in 30 minutes," Elliot broke the silence. "Let's eat first and go there".

"Alright. Let's gather information there as well, if there's any".

"Ducis, can you survey the castle and see if the temple is there?" Elliot turned to Ducis, "Or are you not allowed to help me on this?"

"It's fine, I can look it up for you," Ducis agreed, much to Elliot's surprise. "The guardian of this realm is a bit different than most of us. You'll know soon enough".

"Got it. Thanks".

"Kyaaaaaaa!"

Rania, Elliot and Ducis jolted from the sudden scream they heard. They were about to bite on the food they bought, too. Looking back, of course, it was Luna screaming - she had just woken up, probably by the smell of food.

"What is the meaning of this?" Luna bawled her eyes. "You're all enjoying delicious food without me? Unfair! And Rania, too! How can you not wake me up?"

"It's rude to wake up someone sleeping, though?" Rania answered her.

"No, it's not. I don't mind. Now, give me some of that!" Luna replied and glided towards them in an instant. She sat down beside Rania and happily ate with them.

 "You just finished 20 pieces of chicken and you still want more?" Ducis was appalled.

"Shut up, Ducis".

After eating, Rania and Elliot went to the coliseum to attend the competition. Luna accompanied them while Ducis did as Elliot said and surveyed the castle. 

Upon entering, they were welcomed by a big crowd of people. The inside of the coliseum was circular as compared to its rectangular form outside. On an elevated platform, the crowd gathered to their assigned seats, bringing banners and other items used for cheering their favorite team. With the size of the coliseum, it was big enough to handle thousands of people. In the very middle was a spacious area, as big as a soccer field. This seemed to be the place where the contestants of the fighting competition would battle themselves. And in the sky, floated different banners and balloons, and fireworks kept on booming from left to right.

"I thought the competition didn't have many contestants?" Rania asked. "But there's a lot of people here. They must be looking forward to it".

"I thought so, too," Elliot agreed.

"Yes, they do look forward to it!" A man who was also a contestant answered them. "This is the most awaited event of the year!"

The woman who was with him smiled at them. "It is true that not many people registered this year. But it's most likely because of 'him'," she chuckled. "No one was really brave enough to enter a battle with him".

"Who's him?" Elliot asked.

"Oh, you must be new here?" the woman asked.

"Yes, we're travellers," Rania answered.

"That's why you don't know".

"Aww, bad luck," the man added, "You should have checked first before you registered".

Rania and Elliot shrugged.

"You see, this year, he's back - the strongest fighter in Ventus' Kingdom".

"We don't know his name, he never introduced himself. He's always just appearing out of nowhere and challenges any strong person he would see. I think he's aiming to be stronger".

"Possible. He would always join the competition every year. But for the past few years, he stopped. We're not sure why. But now, he's back! And everyone is excited to see him again. Thus, the reason for the crowd and not many registering".

"Ha ha ha!" the woman chuckled. "They must have known that they would lose".

"I see," Elliot replied to them. "Thank you for letting us know. Then that means you two are pretty confident in your skills? Since you didn't back down?"

Then the couple before them smiled confidently.

"Of course we are! Good luck to the both of us".

"Yes, good luck! And thank you".

Luna sat amongst the crowd when Rania and Elliot got called by the staff. They were given lots to pick from to determine their order in the fight. Rania and Elliot got the number seven, meaning they would need to battle with the 8th pair. Afterwards, they were brought to a room where they could stay while it wasn't their turn yet. A large screen was situated in the middle of the room, and a few benches on each corner. The screen showed a view of the stage where the emcee stood and greeted everyone.

Like what the couple said, there really weren't many who registered. The way Rania and Elliot saw it, there were only ten couples in the room. Well, not entirely couples but more like a pair of a man and a woman since they were too professional towards each other. It seemed that their only purpose of registering was to defeat that 'man', whoever he was.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The emcee greeted everyone, and his voice echoed throughout the whole coliseum. "The moment you have all been waiting for has arrived!"

Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun Dun! 

The sound of the drum rolls heightened the atmosphere.

"The annual Ventus' Fighting Competition!!!" the emcee enthusiastically shouted. The whole crowd yelled with him and cheered on their seats. "Have you placed your bets yet? Have you chosen your favorites?"

The crowd yelled "Yes" in response to him.

"Yeah, yeah, we all know this is most likely a landslide battle," the emcee shrugged. "But who knows? Maybe we have a great challenger in the house?"

The crowd booed and didn't believe him.

"Aww, you all hurt me so much," he faked a cry. "Oh well, you all are most likely right. But don't be too sure~ like what the old saying goes, never judge a book by its cover!"

"Get on with it!" one of the crowd shouted at the emcee.

"Oops! We have a fiery audience!" The emcee jolted in surprise. "Alright then, without further ado, let's start with the first contestants!

"In the east corner, both with excellent skills in hand to hand combat and magnificent control of their spiritual powers, we have .... the golden pair, Liam Twins!"

The crowd clapped their hands as the twins entered the stage. They brought magical weapons with them - a scythe for one and a bow for the other. No one seemed to complain about them not being a "couple" as opposed to what the competition was supposed to be about - a couple's fighting competition.

"And on the west corner, guess who we have? The lucky person who drew the number 1?"

The crowd's cheer heightened. It was too loud to the point that even in the basement, where the rest of the contestants stayed, they could be heard. The keyword for them to go nuts was "lucky person".

And there it was, a silhouette of a man appeared out of the west corner of the stage. He had sage-coloured hair and a pair of golden eyes. He wore a white shirt covered by a green coat, and black pants paired with black boots. On his neck was a large, green scarf, with both ends on his back, making them look like a pair of folded wings. He was alone and carried nothing. And on his face was an expression of excitement. He smiled smugly as he stared at the twins whom he would soon be fighting.

"As everyone had guessed, it is indeed him! Give it up for … the strongest fighter in Ventus' Kingdom!"

The crowd roared once more, and the ground shook in their hype. The Liam Twins did their best to smile confidently, but evidence of sweat could be seen trickling down their foreheads. How lucky of them to have their first fight with him.

"So that's him, huh?" Elliot stared at the young man he saw on the screen. 

"Golden eyes," Rania noticed. "He must be the guardian of this realm".

Elliot nodded as his eyes fixed on the screen.

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