“Young Mistress-,” he began with resolve in his voice. “I don’t expect you to be completely on board with this-“. I cut him off “it was expected, and to be honest, you actually beat me to it,” I said matter of factly. “I’d be a fool to think otherwise”.

There was a pause before the two burst into laughter, “I don’t want to go through with this unless you’re okay with it,” Ogy stated. I could tell that he cared about how I felt about the situation. 

“You’re so sweet,” I told him, flashing him a quaint smile. He stood to his feet and immediately dropped down to one knee, “You don’t have to give me your answer now, but when you’re ready, please, will you consider my hand in marriage?” This conversation was oddly mature for two preteens to have, but I wasn’t the average preteen, and something told me that Ogy had just as much autonomy as I had. 

I glanced over at my interface, which had appeared soon after Ogy made his proposal. There were several text boxes stacked on top of each other, and the first had read, “New Event: Minamiryushi Betrothal; Upon accepting Hikariryushi Ogunosuke’s proposal, the event Minamiryushi Betrothal will begin. This is a preliminary event that will need to be completed before progressing to the next event, ‘Minamiryushi Clan Formation’”. Underneath the information, were two options, somewhat like buttons, both labeled ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. 

Without a second thought, I stood up and curtsied before Ogunosuke, “I humbly accept,” I said delicately. The interface acknowledged my answer and the ‘Yes’ option highlighted, followed by the text box vanishing and it had been replaced by the text box behind it. 

The new text box read, “Congratulations, you’ve officially accepted the new event ‘Minamiryushi Betrothal’. You may now establish a connection of consummation between you and the individual known as Hikariryushi Ogunosuke in order to gain the Epitaph ‘Minamiryushi Clan Head’. Perform or delay this task?” There were two more options, ‘Perform’ and ‘Delay’. 

I’d read the text box several times with my accelerated thinking, and I knew exactly what the interface meant by connection of consummation. My ears grew hot, and although my skin had a red undertone, I didn’t need a mirror to tell me that I was blushing. 

“Is there something wrong, Mini?” Ogunosuke asked as he grasped my hands. It took me a moment to realize what happened next, but as soon as Ogy grabbed my hands, I instinctively pushed him away and yelled “DELAY”!

The interface acknowledged my answer and highlighted the ‘delay’ option, which minimized the box into a folder icon that had a blue bubble marked the number “1”. Another text box appeared that read “Event Blocked, user is not yet qualified for this event”. 

I looked over to Ogy, who was speechless by my visceral response. “My apologies, Ogy, I do accept your proposal and I look forward to forming this clan with you”. He smiled before standing up, “thank you, I shall not disappoint you,” he said before leaving my room. 

Meera Dracoventis

Several days had passed since me and the other Royal Knights were sent to train the apprentice knights and I had to say, we were quite impressed. Both Daisuke and Laith had taken a liking to the change of scenery, especially Daisuke who’d taken a liking to a few of the palace maids. 

“This place is like a dream come true,” Daisuke said with a twinkle in his eye. Unlike Laith and myself, Daisuke was a newer member of the guard and hadn’t yet established himself within our ranks. However, that wasn’t to say Sir Daisuke wasn’t immensely strong. 

Sir Daisuke was of the Moontone Demon race from Jigoku, meaning he had received training from the Jigois Warriors. These mages were the best the continent of Jigoku had to offer, and when Lord Chronos made the announcement that he was forming an elite royal guard for Garudora, the demon continent was one of the first places he went looking. 

I, on the other hand, had been sent to Garudora as a diplomatic exchange between The Ryudō and West Sidhe. We, like all the other nations of our world, have a non-aggression pact that prevents any senseless wars or violence, and the trade I had participated in was a part of that pact; however, there’s a bit more to the story. 

The people that live in Sidhe, specifically West Sidhe, all are descendants of the union of fairies and humans referred to as ‘Faefolk’. We’re basically long-lived humans that can use magic at the capacity as heteromorphic races and other mana adept beings. I come from a noble household in Sidhe called The House of Dracoventis, and although we’re are Faefolk who were born and raised in Sidhe; our household in particular, have draconic ancestry along with fairy ancestry, hence the name ‘Dracoventis’. Our family holds the dragon race in a high regard and even though the dragon blood that runs in our veins is minuscule, it’s still enough for us to be revered as one of the strongest noble houses in all of Sidhe. That being said, my contemporaries were equally, if not stronger than I am.

Sir Laith worked with his apprentices that had an affinity with a lance, which coincidentally was his preferred weapon. The Hour of Wind was originally from Dartaania, however his family migrated to the Elphdaema Woods where they served the lord of the region, Druid Dante Elphdaema. Despite the pronunciation of the region, the population aren’t actually elves, they’re a society of rare elven sub species called Forest Ogres. Sir Laith had told us that there was a divide between the elves and forest ogres that caused them to flee the continent as a whole. The dragon emperor at the time, Emperor Samael, allowed the refugees to take residence in ShanGriLa; the Balasit Tribe were among the few elven tribes to assist with the migration and actually sided with the forest ogres. 

“Forward LUNGE!” Sir Laith commanded his students, “No, no, no, your form is incorrect! Your back must be straight and your right knee must be angled at exactly 90 degrees, with the left ankle angled at precisely 30 degrees. You’re angled at 115 degrees and your ankles are bent at an impossible 5 degrees! Do it again!” His voice boomed and the student scuffled back to his starting position. The boy lunged forward, sweat beading down his face, “BETTER! Now, do it AGAIN!” Sir Laith was intensely drilling the technique in his apprentice’s being. His approach is a bit harsh, but I’m sure they’ll appreciate it. 

I looked over at my own students, along with Ogunosuke, I had three other students, Ayanitokosei Ogunkoya, Ololadeseijin Akinyemi, and Idowuokurestu Olufemi. Similarly to Ogunosuke, these three also come from noble families, but they don’t necessarily let their backgrounds dictate who they are and their goals and purposes. 

Akinyemi was a young, petite dragonman that wore her hair, pulled back in a single silver ponytail that cascaded down her back. Her skin was a vibrant golden brown and had striking red eyes. She had a poised personality that oftentimes made her seem more snobbish and arrogant. Deep down, however, she was shy, sheltered to be more exact. Her family, like most noble families, focus on cultivating battle ready mages, with their training being extremely secretive. Akinyemi was no exception, she had a HellFire signature that gave her the ability to manipulate and control the intensity of flames. Her level head acted as somewhat of a counter to her signature and it ultimately worked out in her advantage. 

Olufemi was a boyish young forest ogre girl that was of average height. Unlike Akinyemi, Olufemi had her hair shaved down to a fade with a swirled part at the corner of her hairline. She also made it a point to, in lack of better words, stay “active,” unless she’ll get ambushed by her many imaginary enemies; her battle prowess is top notch, despite her active imagination. The young forest ogre possessed a standard Earth signature and she was quite versatile with the element. The Idowuokurestu family was known to be the linking noble family between Garudora and Elphdaema. As such, most of, if not all Idowuokurestu members are shipped to the Western Dragon Empire, however this would be the first time one of them would be transferred to Minami. 

Lastly, there was Ayanitokosei Ogunkoya, a stoic young dragon man with dark ebony skin vibrant light green eyes. He fashioned his hair in neatly twisted locs that were pulled back into a short hanging ponytail. The Ayanitokosei family wasn’t a traditionally recognized family in Garudora, as a matter of fact, this family was among some of the scant few families that were given nobility by the emperor. Similar to Akinyemi’s family breeding battle ready mages, the Ayanitokosei family does the same thing except they focus on training physical attack warriors opposed to mages. Ogunkoya was a natural genius when it came to both physical attacks and magic attacks. 

My four students held themselves in high regard and were some of the most skilled and intelligent fighters that I’ve had the pleasure of teaching. They each had qualities that were complementary to each other, and where one lacked, the others were able to compensate. My method of teaching usually consisted of pairing them up and having them spare, testing out techniques from our lectures. Instead of my usual routine, today Sir Daisuke and I agreed to organize a mock ranking tournament between all three groups. There were a total of twelve transfers, and even though us three instructors had mastery over certain weapons, each of them were well versed with a specific weapon and signature combination. This tournament was not only a mock ranking, but it was also something that I suggested to the Young Mistress; it was imperative that she knew Ogunosuke’s level of skill before she’d accepted the betrothal. She agreed, and mentioned that it’ll be a great way for her to also gauge the skill of the other transfers, so that she can delegate them accordingly; logic that I simply couldn’t disagree with. 

When the day of the tournament came around, the Young Mistress had one of her palace maids, I think her name was Bolajiyo; she had the maid write down all the names and pull them in pairs from a bowl. Once the names were all pulled and paired, we made an announcement for the tournament to begin. The Mina Colosseum was filled to capacity with not only residents of Minami but also denizens of Garudora as well. 

The Empress’ box in the colosseum had an overhead view of the arena floor and was ordained with traditional Minami tapestries. The Young Mistress stepped into view of the audience, and although she was merely eleven years old, she had the poise of a ruler beyond her years. Unlike the usual kimonos she wore, she was dressed in a deep royal purple gown that when she would move would shift colors to a metallic black color. This gown was crafted not only with silks and fabrics, but scales as well. Scales from dragon, not a dragonman, but a full fledged dragon; there wasn’t any mistaking it, Dracoventis’ can usually sense when draconic relics or artifacts are around, and the same would apply for draconic beings too. However, scant few of us have been in the presence of a full blooded dragon, let alone something as intimate as their scales. Her hair was fashioned in two full and large buns, positioned in a Mohawk. She carried a chrome scepter that matched the dazzling intensity of the crowned jewels on her head; the sight of her was breathtaking. Her family was standing behind her, each wearing their royal garments, no one daring to outshine the Young Mistress. 

As the crowd cheered and chanted the Young Mistress’s name, “Lady Minerva! Lady Minerva,” the Young Mistress raised her hand to silence the audience. “Residents of Minami, and to all visitors of ShanGriLa,” her voice managed to carry the same weight as her father’s. “It is with great honor to hold this small mock ranking tournament, here in the country of Minami,” the crowd roared in celebration; she raised her hand again and was met with the same sudden silence. 

“Today, we will take witness of twelve extraordinary and exceptional mage knights, and based on the outcome of the event, I shall delegate roles as I see fit for the participants,” she said. “Without further ado, please meet our competitors,” the crowd flew into a celebratory frenzy as each of our students stepped into the arena floor. 

There was a magical projection device that was able to capture the students in real time during the event, so those that weren’t able to come to view the event. Once all the players were in the arena, the projection device screen switched to a screen displaying a match tree along with the pictures and names of the students. Each of my apprentices were matched up with someone from a different group, which is good. If they had been paired with each other, I’d be afraid they’d treat it more like a training exercise than a match. “Our first match is set and the combatants may make their way to the battlefield,” Minerva announced “may the match between the tank, Idowuokurestu Olufemi and the berserker, Gonzalo Tigeress!” The crowd bursted in a roar of applause as the two made their way to the field. It was now time to see how far my students have come. 

Idowuokurestu Olufemi

As I walked into the arena’s battleground, and the crowd cheered, I felt as though I was representing my entire dynasty. I raised my shield and mace and gave the audience a hearty grin, “For ELPHDAEMA!” I shouted. The crowd, in response bursted with cheer. My opponent, Gonzalo, that was his name, wasn't it; he did the same and was met with a similar reaction. 

I was the physically strongest out of our group and I intended to end the match rather quickly, the only thing that I couldn’t get over was the fact that I’d never faced off against a berserker before. Gonzalo was of a large stature with tan skin marked with tiger stripes along his arms and face. He wore heavy armor as his bottoms and opted to wear nothing to cover his torso. Extremely naive, I thought. The two of us stood and awaited the match horn to sound, and when it did, my body instinctively lunged forward to attack.