The throne room of Wyvern's Keep fell into utter silence as a bluish portal suddenly tore open in the center of the hall.

King Jarius, seated at the head of the table, froze mid-sentence. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the figure of Aiden before him.

"Impossible," Grand Magus Mumbleton whispered, losing his usually composed demeanor.

Captain Ursula of the Starry Maidens gasped audibly, her hand flying to her mouth. The son of the king she had failed to find was standing right infront of them.

But it wasn't just Aiden's unexpected appearance that had stunned them into silence. There was also the fact that they could sense magic energy come from him and not just one they could regard as insignificant.

Jarius finally found his voice, "Aiden." He rose slowly from his seat, his expression a mixture of disbelief, confusion. "What happened to you? Where have you been"

Mumble was the first to notice the extra detail. "That uniform...." he whispered to himself with his expression suddenly grim

Aiden scoffed, "why do you all look like you've seen a ghost?"

"Answer the question, boy. Where have you been? What just happened and why are you suddenly here?" Jarius was too flustered to even direct his questions properly

"Your Grace, his clothing" Mumbleton said to Jarius as he himself had stood from his seat.

That was when Jarius paid attention to it. The uniform was not of their kingdom and there was only one other kingdom who pinned mage rank badges to their uniforms

That was Xathia, the Kingdom planning to attack Dragonhold.

The other captains and Baran immediately noticed it as well.

"What are you doing on that uniform?" Jarius questioned. His tone had shifted now and he had a more grim face.

"I'm a Xathian Mage" Aiden looked amused while uttering that. A part of him was certainly enjoying these look on the faces of those who never thought he'd be anything even close to being regarded as a mage.

That confirmation worsened the tension in the room.

"So you left Dragonhold to join a Kingdom waging war on us?" Jarius looked like he was still in disbelief.

"Who do you think set it off?" Aiden sneered

"What do you mean?" Jarius asked, looking puzzled and not sure of what to make of Aiden's utterance

"Listen to me old man." Aiden began, totally drifting away from Jarius's question. "You are going to write to Oberon, challenging him to a Contest of Champions. The loser will surrender their lives along with the rulership of their family to the other."

"You stupid boy, why the hell will i be doing that?!" Jarius' voice thundered across the room.

Aiden then took one step forward, so that his eyes met his Father's even closer when he said this in a solemn voice, "Because it is the only way i'll be making certain you're the only casualty of this war. Make no mistake Jarius, however this goes, your life ends in two days"

The Contest of Champions was an Old Rite in the continent. Something Aiden had at some read in the history books within the Academy's library. It was an alternative to war between towns and Kingdoms, where the kingdoms would select warriors who would fight against each other till there was a winner.

The Grand Magus got agitated immediately he heard the threat to the King's life and was about to act.

[Malice Detected]

But Aiden's malice perception passive skill picked up Mumbleton's intent to do harm and so he acted faster than the grand magus could make a move.

Almost immediately as malice was detected, Aiden stretched his hand towards the old mage and caused an unsuspecting telekinetic force to blast him away to crash onto the seats and table.

Captain Greyfus was about to act in retaliation, and once again Aiden's Malice Detection picked up his intent to harm.

Aiden slightly turned and snapped his fingers, forcibly warping the Captain away from sight. This was his space skill: Banishment, and right now about, Greyfus would have found himself suddenly reappearing mid air in Aiden's pocket dimension and falling to the ground.

Their eyes widened in disbelief, but even then another fearless captain wanted to make another attempt. It was in that moment that Aiden exclaimed, "Enough!"

Everyone in the room got paralyzed by an aura of crippling fear that ate into their senses. This was Aiden's Dragon's Fear skill at the level of a Wyrm and no human could withstand its effect, nothing even captains, and not even the grand magus.

Everyone in the room lost their will to do anything against Aiden, involuntarily falling on their knees.

This feeling however was somewhat familiar to one Guild Captain, Ursula. She remembered the last time she felt something like this which was when she tried to divine into Aiden's location but was met by the Presence of Thyrak in her subconscious.

The amount of Magic power oozing out Aiden was equally terrific that it quaked the entire wyvern keep.

Captain Azam of the Silver Pegasus felt his body quivering and sweat beading on his forehead. "What… what is this pressure?" His voice came out strained. "This magic power… it's suffocating."

The air itself seemed to distort around Aiden, as if reality struggled to contain the force emanating from him. Every mage in the room could feel the weight pressing down on them physically.

"He's eclipsing everyone in this room," Captain Daegal of the White Vortex said quietly, his analytical mind trying and failing to comprehend what he was sensing. "Even the King…"

Jarius who was known to force people down with the weight of his magic was utterly helpless against Aiden's aura.

"W-Why a-are you doing this?" The King's voice was shaky due to the effects of being stricken down by fear.

"Because I intend to keep a promise I made to myself. I'll bring an end to the crowley name on the throne, starting with your demise, Father" Aiden had no expression on his face, and felt absolutely no pity for Jarius.

Then Aiden stopped the usage of Dragon's fear and lowered the intensity of his magic.

"Now that everyone is in clear understanding of the difference in power here. I trust you will all be at your best behavior." Then he turned towards the Captains and recovering Grand Magus, "I will grant a swift death to anyone who makes one more futile attempt at me" Aiden threatened, and something in their souls told them he would really make certain of it.

To be helpless this much had never happened before. Their minds questioned alot of things starting from where Aiden had gotten all that power, that it was more than enough to put a grand magus in his place.

Power that made them question if they were even still dealing with a human.

Then he turned back to Jarius who remained dumbfounded, "You, get to writing"

"And if I refuse to issue Oberon the challenge?" Jarius stared at Aiden's eyes

"Good, then we don't have to wait for two days then, and for that I'll be sending you away along with every other person in here" Aiden then laid his palm out to the side and a white mass of energy started gathering on it.

This was his destruction beam skill slowing building up.

"Wait.. wait" Jarius beckoned whilst slowly standing up, "Get me a scroll quickly!"

Baran who the order was issued to, got up on his knees and went to do as asked.

"Good" Aiden then stopped building the destructive energy. Admittedly he had made a gamble with that last threat, though a good part of him knew Jarius would cave in at that point.

The King had realised the difference in power that even a good part of him started seeing the sense in issuing the challenge.

Should they have gone to war, was there really that certainty that they were going to win if someone as powerful as Aiden was on their enemy's side.

This had all been part of Aiden's Plan. Make them realise the difference in power and force them issue a challenge. That way, he would have prevented much more casualties.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.