The Direwolf stood at nearly four feet, and had this purple glowing light in its eyes.

The beast grew agitated, refusing to be subservient, as it revealed its canine fangs, while letting out this low growling sound.

But Aiden stepped forward without hesitation, stretching his palm towards it, with his irises turning into vertical slits and a grin that revealed a side of his teeth turning into fangs.

Magical Creatures were sensitive, especially the ones in the likeness of animals. The direwolf felt the presence of a much stronger beast approach it, and in that moment it understood that it wasn't the true apex predator in that room.

Its growl softened into whimpers, and its ears flattened down. Then it sat like an obedient dog and lowered its head.

Aiden pat and stroke its head, and the ferocious monster stuck out its tongue in excitement.

Thamoryn watched quietly in amazement. Messengers, as she knew them, were never beasts, certainly not ones this powerful.

The summoning circle designed to call onto messenger shouldn't have brought forth a creature of this level in the first place.

But somehow, Aiden did the impossible.

Glowing screens appeared before him.

[Host Acquired a Messenger]

[Messenger needs a name ]

Aiden took another look at the beast again, and said "I shall give you the name, shadow"

The direwolf reacted with a howl. It understood that it just got a name.

[The Name Of Your Messenger has been saved as Shadow]

[Shadow can now be sent into Host's Pocket Domain]

"I refuse, it'll be too lonely there" Aiden thought to himself.

Then he turned towards Thamoryn, his eyes still had the transformation but his fangs had receded already. "I guess each time i call onto Shadow, it would come from the Eldergreen realm?"

Thamoryn nodded in agreement, and with that Aiden dismissed the summoning spell with thought and Shadow return back to the realm of magic creatures.

"Well, that was all I was going to teach you today" Thamoryn said.

Her lessons with Aiden rarely lasted long. Unless she decided to teach him more than one spell, their sessions usually ended just as quickly.

[Daily Mission Day 17: Attend Your Magic Classes with the Grand Magus → Complete]

[+15 Available Stats Points]

[You have gained +350,000xp]

[Bonus Reward +280,000xp granted]

"A few more left for Skyfang Rank, perfect" He thought.

Over the last month, Aiden had climbed all the way to last level of the Drake Rank, leaving only about 200,000 more xps to go before he achieved the Rank Of Skyfang.

Aiden nodded, and then walked out of Thamoryn's chambers.

He came towards a corridor and someone wearing the uniform of a palace mage, walked past him. The last person he remembered this on, was grandal.

Aiden stood there a moment and then exhaled. He had just decided to finally pay a visit to his friend, Grandal.

He hadn't been able to talk to him since after the war and when he asked after him at some point, he was told that Grandal resigned from his post in the palace.

Which meant the one place he could check right now for Grandal would be his home. A place the palace mage had once taken a young prince Aiden.

Aiden stopped before a modest building in a quiet street, standing beside other similar buildings.

He stood there for a moment, staring at the door. Then exhaled and knocked.

There was silence and no one answered the door at first, which made him knock again.

"Who's that?," came a familiar voice from inside. It was Grandal's

"It's me," Aiden said quietly.

There was another moment of silence. Then steps could be heard approaching the door, and after wards it was opened.

Grandal stood in the doorway, looking older than Aiden remembered. The man had to be past sixty now. He had sturdy frame despite his age, but there was a weariness in his posture.

Only his eyes remained unchanged, and right now, it looked like it had alot of disappointment in it for Aiden

"What do you want?" Grandal asked flatly, his voice was rough.

Aiden opened his mouth, then closed it. What did he want? Forgiveness? Understanding? He wasn't sure he deserved either.

"I wanted to see you," Aiden said finally.

Grandal let out a harsh breath that might have been a laugh once. He shook his head slowly.

"Forgive me my prince—" He stopped. Then said, "I'm unsure if you're still the Prince now but I don't have patience for whatever this is. Or have you come here to take my life as well?

Aiden's eyes widened at that utterance, then he turned his head away in pain. If anything, grandal was one of the reasons he saw that war ended the way it did.

"I didn't come here to hurt you," Aiden said "You were… you were like a father to me when Jarius wouldn't be. And I wanted you to know I'm sorry. For everything."

Grandal was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was softer but no less firm.

"I can't be angry at you the way I want to, even if i tried. But you made a choice that you'll have to live with. So leave, and do not return looking for an absolution I can't give."

He moved to close the door, then paused.

"I hope whatever you gained was worth what you lost," Grandal said quietly. "I truly do."

The door shut.

Aiden stood there for a long moment, staring at the door. Then he turned and walked away, feeling heavier than he had when he'd arrived.

———

Later on that day at the guild, Piers had just stepped into the building holding a rolled-up scroll.

"Gather around people, You all are going to want to hear this." He said, with this grin on his face.

A few of the guild members walked closer, although Aiden remained on his seat, with the other magic apprentices.

Katherine stood at the center, with her arms crossed, and a rare smile on her face.

"What's going on?" Fred asked.

Piers unrolled the scroll and held it up. "Official announcement from the palace. They're holding the Grand Guild Games."

Most of the guild members who are originally xathians, instantly reacted excitedly. In Xathia, Guild Games happened only once a year, usually when Oberon saw fit or towards the end of the year.

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Guild Games?"

"The Grand Guild Games," Piers repeated, his grin widening. "It's usually three-day event of different competitions amongst the guilds, and this time it'll be done in the days leading up to King Oberon's coronation.

Katherine scoffed slightly but said nothing more.

She could guess that the reason why Oberon was hosting this was to somehow create an atmosphere of unity between the mages of Dragonhold and the new ruling house.

Aiden nodded slowly. "What are the events?"

Piers glanced at the scroll. "Day one is a cooking contest. Best dish prepared by guild members. Day two is a search contest, and

Day three…"

He paused dramatically.

"Day three is the Tournament of Power."

Aiden seemed intrigued. "A Tournament…"

"One-on-one duels," Katherine said. "Mages from all guilds competing for a spot on the rankings. We had an established rankings list in Xathia, but we are no more in Xathia so."

Piers added. "But there's a catch." He looked at Aiden. "You're banned from the Tournament."

Aiden blinked. "What?"

Piers winced slightly. "Yeah. Specific clause in the announcement. 'Aiden Crowley is prohibited from entering the Tournament of Power to ensure fair competition.'"

Aiden stared at him. Then let out a humorless laugh. "Of course I am."

Innis who sat at Kayden's side then said, "To be fair, you could easily overshadow the event and it wouldn't be worth participating in"

Kayden rolled his eyes per usual.

Aiden leaned back against the wall, not exactly happy with the no contesting part but understanding.

He'd be able to watch anyway, so that was a win still.

The excitement returned to Pier's face "Now here comes my favorite part. Guild with the most points gets rewarded, A Hundred Thousand Gold Coins! Amongst other rewards"

Everyone had shocked looks and widened expressions on their faces, then it evolved into sheer excitement.

Katherine with a grin on her face said, "this is even more than the last guild games" then she turned towards the group, "Ravens Grave! We are getting those coins! Is that understood?!"

"Yes Captain!" Most of them yelled in unison.

Aiden smiled as he watched their excited faces.

The rest of the day passed on normally, mostly with the mages of ravens grave looking forward to the Guild Games. The Captain had also started appointing up the mages who would represent dragon hold.

Bernard was going to Oversee the Food Cooking Contest happening on the first day of the event.

——————

THE NEXT DAY

Whilst Mana flowed through every surrounding in the world, it had the highest concentration, in the elven kingdom, Elandria.

The kingdom was built into the side of tall mountains and surrounded by thick forests. Its white towers rose high above rivers and stone bridges, glowing softly in the sunlight.

Lady Arnarra was in a private council chamber. Around her, seated at a circular table carved from a single massive tree trunk, were her most trusted generals.

The Lady addressed her generals.

"The coronation is in seven days," she said, her voice was calm but firm. "Oberon will officially take the Wyrm Seat. And ofcourse, we will not be attending."

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