The Divine Elements

Early morning at the Raizel Mansion.

A streak of bright sunlight seeped through the window of a small hut, rousing wake the still sleeping figure of a young man.

“Ugh… my neck… ”

Calron groaned, stretching his neck and slowly sitting up on his bed. His mouth felt dry and slightly sore from last night. The soreness was due to Rain forcing alcohol down his throat while Calron pitifully resisted.

For Calron, it was one of the most memorable nights of his life as it was the first time that he felt like a teenager. After his parents died, he never had time to enjoy his life as a kid and it was one battle after another or running away from enemies. It drained his happiness, and he only felt alive when he was with Avi or Roran.

I could get used to this.

He smiled while standing up and taking a quick stretch.

Glancing at the finished tiles on the table next to him, Calron guessed that Roran had not arrived yet to pick the God Tiles up.

“I promised that I would spar with Asra tonight, so I have enough time to visit the shop and see how everyone is doing.”

Calron took a sip of water and washed his face with the remainder.

“Big brother!”

A voice exclaimed from the outside, causing Calron to turn around and see the big body of Roran cheerfully walk into the hut.

“Yo!”

Calron hugged his brother and then dried off his face with a nearby towel.

“I was just about to grab something to eat, want to tag along?”

He asked Roran after handing him the tiles from the table.

“Oh… I completely forgot about that this morning! I was planning on freeloading food from the Raizel clan, but then I smelled the breakfast being prepared at the inn, so I couldn’t contain myself and stuffed all the food in my mouth… ”

Roran wistfully complained, regretting his impulses. He really wanted to try all the delicious food prepared by the famous Raizel clan, but he had no space left in his stomach.

“Hahaha, I’ll bring you back for lunch then.”

Calron burst out in laughter and walked outside the hut.

“I’ll come to the shop in an hour, so wait for me there.”

He conveyed to Roran and began to head towards the clan’s kitchen.

“Ellie will be excited to see you again, big brother. She said that she wanted to ask you for something.”

Roran yelled back and departed from the area.

“I hope it’s not about the flowers on the board sign again… ”

Calron muttered to himself while walking.

……………………………

“Morning, Calron!”

An energetic voice greeted Calron while hen was finishing up with his food.

“Harol!”

Calron swallowed the last remaining morsel of meat and chugged the milk.

Harol was one of the teenagers that Calron had met last night, and he was even bulkier than Roran. Contrary to his outwards appearance, Harol had a bubbly personality and loved to crack jokes. Often at the expense of Rain.

“You are up early, how’s the hangover?”

Harol put his tray down in front of Calron and sat down.

The kitchen was close to empty, so the others were probably still sleeping off their hangovers. The elders had their own private residences, so they did not have to come to the kitchen for meals.

“Feeling a bit sore, but other than that, I’m all good. How’s your back by the way?”

Calron grinned, recalling last night’s memory where Harol vomited all over Linda, infuriating the young girl and causing her to repeatedly kick the same location on Harol’s poor bum.

“That woman has a heart colder than northern ice giants… ”

Horal whined, as he gingerly rubbed his buttocks.

“Want to see?” The bulky boy began to stand up.

“I will electrocute you in the same spot where Linda kicked you if you dare to pull your pants down.”

Calron glared at the teen, with a spark of lightning hovering over his finger.

“On a second thought, I think I should keep my pants on.”

Harol nodded wisely and swiftly sat down.

“So, are you going to participate in the Royal Tournament today?”

The bulky youth asked Calron, peeling a boiled egg and swallowing it whole.

“Tournament?”

Calron frowned, unaware of any news related to a tournament.

“You don’t know? It’s the princess’s sixteenth birthday today, so the young generation of the six towers will be competing against each other to show off their skills. Anyone under the age of twenty can enter, but it’s usually the geniuses of the six towers that reach the top five. Asra’s big brother is one of the contestants, and he is most likely to be the winner. The Raizel clan always wins!”

Harol winked at Calron and took a sip of his juice.

“I wish that I could go and see the celebration, but I have to help out in my shop.”

Calron smiled. Although he couldn’t care less about some princess’s birthday, he was intrigued by the tournament and wanted to see the talents of the other young people in the city.

“Oh yeah, I heard about your shop! I’ll definitely come and visit it sometime. It sucks that you cannot come, as I heard that the princess is quite the looker. Most of the guys are just participating so they could catch the eye of the princess.”

Harol gave Calron a thumb’s up and went back to munching his food.

“See you later, Harol.”

Calron patted the bulky youth on the shoulder and left the kitchen.

It was time to see how the Azure Pavilion was doing.

………………………….

“Shit, we were late once again!”

A pair of merchants grumbled in frustration as they exited the infamous Azure Pavilion shop.

For the past week, rumors about the shop had been circulating wildly amongst the merchants claiming that the goods in this store were mind-boggling and the envy of any cultivator. The only problem was that they had very limited stock and only the first-comers would be able to even glimpse at the God Tiles.

“Move aside, lad.”

The merchant in front grumpily pushed Calron aside and continued to curse at his misfortune.

Calron ignored the two and chuckled as he opened the door to the shop.

He was greeted with the sight of a group of people happily paying for the tiles at the counter while Ellie counted each and every coin. Avor was stoically standing near the shelves where a few vision tiles still remained, but his eyes would often scan Ellie’s surroundings to see if any of the customers tried to antagonize her.

He noticed Roran dealing with a customer and explaining to him when the next stock of God Tiles would arrive at the shop.

I need to break into the Saint stage soon, or we will slowly start to lose our momentum with the lack of stock.

Calron mused, as he remained at the back and waited for the customers to leave. Due to their meager number of wares, all their goods would be sold in the first hour of their shop’s opening every morning.

Avor was the first one to notice Calron in the shop, and the blonde man gave a slight nod as a greeting. Immediately after that, Roran sighted Calron as well and waved at him once the customer who was talking to him had left.

Calron slapped Roran on the back and smiled at the sight of Ellie working hard to take the payments and counting them accurately.

Once the last customer received his purchase, Ellie let out a tired exhale and slumped down on her chair. Her eyes passed over to Roran, and when she saw the young man next to him, Ellie instantly stood up and rushed towards Calron.

“Master!”

The little girl’s head crashed into Calron’s stomach, the sudden collision expelling all of the air from his lungs.

“I see that you’re working very hard.”

Calron ruffled the little girl’s hair with pride.

“Master! Master, I have something to ask you!”

Ellie began babbling with excitement, as she tilted her face up to glance at Calron.

“Hmm, what is it?”

“I want to see the princess!”

Ellie’s eyes shined like the stars, her cute and adorable face staring at Calron in a pleading way.

…………………………

Eleven figures robed in midnight black robes stood on the outer walls of the city, as their leader, the man in front of them glanced down at the glassy sphere in his hand. Dark clouds rumbled inside the object, exuding a vicious and baleful aura.

It was an artifact that would cripple the six towers and the Royal family of their powers.

It would be the cause of their downfall.

And death.

“It all begins now.”

Zarvel whispered, as he put the artifact back into his spatial ring and his dark eyes transformed into draconic irises.

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