The soft hiss of metal against a whetstone slipped through the gentle evening air. The cadence was precise, each interval flowing easily.

  The sun was somewhere in the horizon and the clouds were dowsed in the orange blood of the dying day as it slowly dipped into nonexistence. The slow hiss was its gentle dirge. The harbinger of its growing finality.

  Valdan let out a very slow breath, staring into the clouds. Not for the first time today, he wondered how he’d gotten here.

  He wasn’t the strongest believer in fate, not as much as Melvet was. But there were just some things that, when viewed in hindsight, simply screamed fate.

  [Knight of The Crown].

  He could still remember the day he’d earned the title. The day he had walked into the castle and applied for the position of [Knight]. There had been over fifty applicants with the [Knight] class, just like himself.

  Watching each of them had filled him with worry and anxiety. They had been adorned in the finest armors, enchantments stacking upon themselves. Valdan had walked in with the clothes on his back and a sword he’d bought with the funds he’d saved up from selling corpses of monsters that he had killed with his own hands, most times as a member of a team.

  But not everyone present had the [Knight] class, though. There were other classes, as the title is free for any who is worthy of claiming it. Even now, there was a [Knight] with the [Alchemy] class.

  A soft hiss of a blade being sharpened filled the evening air as Valdan reminisced.

  Despite how many noble children or famous adventurers or mercenaries with surprisingly good reputations stood in the cleanest and most expensive or armor that day, Valdan had not been dissuaded.

  He had not been, because he could not be.

  Born in some unnamed slum to a father he’d never met and a mother he did not know, he had always been the hardheaded orphan who prowled the dirty streets since he’d had enough sense to think.

  When you fought by yourself for yourself long enough and learned the taste of victory and defeat, what others had rarely tempted you. You learnt the difference between stealing a fancy necklace because it would look good on you and stealing it because it would fetch a hefty price.

  A small smile touched Valdan’s lips at the thought. It was wisdom he had been given, not one he had come to understand on his own.

  He hadn’t been a thief, after all, those had been the path of a few friends. Valdan’s path had been to work whatever jobs he could, from sweeping someone’s front door steps to taste testing a rich man’s meal when he thought he was being poisoned.

  “That was stupid of me,” he muttered to himself, remembering how he’d done the latter knowing the risk. “But I hadn’t eaten in three days, and I was at death’s door.”

  Sometimes he liked to think that the rich man had been fully aware of the fact that the meal wasn’t poisoned. Valdan couldn’t prove it, but he liked to think that the man had used it as an excuse to feed him and give him money without making it seem like charity.

  It was a twisted idea, but back then it had helped Valdan sleep at night. It had helped Valdan ignore the fact that he had done a stupid thing.

  So, in the end, he had gone into the examination and had come out at the end of it as one of twenty people to bear the title of [Knight]. A month later, he had taken up the title of [Knight of the Crown] sponsored by the oldest [Knight of the Crown] under the king’s employ.

  And look at you now. He stared up at the orange skyline. About to lose it all.

  It was ironic how a single gesture had led him here. Valdan couldn’t help but think things would’ve been different if he had simply pretended to know nothing when the king’s advisor had gestured for a weapon on the day Aiden had been summoned.

  “If I had just done nothing…”

  The words trailed off with the thought that had birthed them. Yes, if he had done nothing, perhaps a different knight would’ve lent the advisor their sword. But he was a [Knight of the Crown]. Even though they answered to nobody but the king, all of them knew the importance of the advisor.

  So, he had obeyed.

  And now here he was, about to lose the one title that had kept him fighting for most of his life. The one goal that had kept him motivated and moving through the sweat and the blood and the betrayal.

  The one goal that had kept him from going astray.

  “I don’t think the sword can get any sharper than it already is, Sir Valdan.”

  Valdan took his gaze from the sky, recognizing the voice and its owner. It was casual and lazy, easygoing. These days it sounded like that whenever they were alone, not the voice that hid everything and was wary of anything.

  Watching Aiden stroll into the training ground with such casual ease, Valdan knew that he didn’t really wish he had ignored the king’s advisor that day. Because if he had, who could say if Aiden would’ve gotten along with whoever would've.

  Who could say if he would’ve ever let go of whatever kept him too alert and secretive most of the time.

  Valdan looked down at his sword and the whetstone he was using to sharpen it.

  Aiden was right, the blade couldn’t get any sharper because it was just a whetstone being used on an enchanted blade. If ever an enchanted sword grew dull, a whetstone would not suffice to sharpen it.

  “How was your day?” Valdan asked, placing the whetstone on the floor beside him.

  Aiden watched him, cocking his head to the side. Then he looked out onto the training ground. “I’m beginning to think it was more fun than yours.”

  The training ground was littered with training dummies. All of them lay scattered on the ground, some of them dismembered at one arm. One of them had a shattered head and Aiden walked past Valdan, making his way straight to it.

  He pushed it a little with his foot and looked at him. “What happened here?”

  “Frustration.” It was all Valdan could say.

  Aiden cocked a brow. “I don’t remember any of the things I showed you being this destructive.”

  Valdan pushed himself up to his feet. “I know. I got destructive.”

  Aiden nodded, then his expression changed, switching into what Valdan was beginning to see as something of an instructor mode. It was as if he had taught people in his old world.

  He probably had people who looked up to him.

  “Not to overstep here,” Aiden said, turning away from the training dummy, “but destructive doesn’t really work with these moves. Not the w—”

  Valdan gave him a look. “Not the what?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Aiden said. “Is destructive the most efficient way for you?”

  Valdan took a moment to think about it, and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t more destruction than finesse.

  “It’s more comfortable,” he answered.

  “That explains a few things,” Aiden muttered.

  Valdan folded his arms over his chest, sword dangling from one. “Things like what?”

  “How a level forty-nine [Knight] could spar with a level ten [Weaver] without accidentally killing him. You were training me with finesse not with your preferred style.”

  “Would you have preferred my normal style?”

  Aiden looked thoughtful for a while before answering. “Nah. How you did it was preferrable.”

  “Besides,” Valdan said. “Don’t act like you weren’t holding back a lot of things, too. I’m sure there are still things from your home world that you haven’t tried yet.”

  Aiden gave him a half-smile and Valdan did not miss the touch of sorrow in it.

  “We’ll find a way to get you back home,” he said before he could stop himself. “King Brandis is not known to make promises he cannot keep.”

  Aiden snorted. “There’s always a first time for everything.”

  His words practically bled with doubt.

  No, not doubt, Valdan realized. Certainty.

  Aiden didn’t doubt that King Brandis could or would send them home, he was certain that the king either would not or could not.

  “But it doesn’t matter,” Aiden finished with a dismissive tone. “These things happen. Our job is to accept it and make the best of it.”

  Valdan frowned slightly. Aiden was a problem solver. It was who he was. If he had a problem that needed to be solved, he did it himself. At least, that was the impression Valdan had gotten from him since meeting him.

  Valdan had sparred with enough younger fighters to be able to tell the difference. Aiden was a patiently impatient boy. If nowhere else, it showed in their training sessions. There were times when he desperately wanted to win. It showed in the way he would fight. Despite his desperation, however, he faced each individual hurdle as they came.

  A normal fighter his age would try to barrel through to the end goal, only looking for how to get to the end. But Aiden worked differently. If it was an overhead slash that kept on breaking his rhythm and preventing him from winning, he dealt with it first, isolated it and conquered it. There was a systematic way about how he did it.

  It taught Valdan that Aiden was not the kind of person to simply accept his fate. It meant only one thing.

  If he’s written off the king, then does he intend on doing it himself? Valdan couldn’t really wrap his head around it. How?

  A new thought came to him and he grew worried.

  Whatever broker keeps giving him information, have they told him something that they shouldn’t?

  “Aiden,” he said, voice cautious.

  Aiden was looking around the field and not at him. “I’m listening.”

  “If you cannot trust the king to send you home,” he said slowly. “How about you trust in me.”

  Aiden looked at him with a brow raised in amusement. “You intend on trying to send me home yourself?”

  “Oh, gods no.” Valdan couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea of trying it himself. “No. Trust in the fact that I am a good judge of character. Trust in my trust in the king.”

  Aiden smiled. “Never said I don’t trust the king.”

  “You snorted when I said he would send you home.”

  “That’s because I’ve lived here long enough to know that magic is as confusing as it is useful.” Aiden walked in the direction of the weapon rack. “And seeing how the darkness had to rise for us to be brought here, I am under the impression that bringing us here wasn’t even as easy as we’ve all been led to believe.”

  Valdan watched him pick a sword from the rack. “It seemed like it was a very difficult task bringing you here, though.”

  “My point exactly.”

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  Aiden checked the sword he was holding, looked down its length as if it was an actual sword not a wooden one.

  “When is this… exam you’re having?” he asked, replacing the sword and picking up another one.

  “In a few minutes,” Valdan said. “Why?”

  Aiden ignored his question. “Did you learn the moves I showed you?”

  “As best I could.”

  Aiden looked surprised. “You got the system notification?”

  “No. Unfortunately not.” The weight of Valdan’s sword was suddenly weighing down on him so he placed its point to the ground, standing casually. “But I learnt it well enough to be dangerous with it.”

  Aiden walked back to the scattered dummies and held out the sword. “Show me.”

  “I’m confused.”

  “You’ve learnt it well enough to be dangerous against a dummy,” Aiden answered. “Show me what you can do against a person.”

  Valdan had a feeling that there was a trick in there somewhere.

  “Why do I feel like you’re about to pay me back for something I’ve done?”

  Aiden laughed. “I promise you that I’m not. I do, however, want to show you something.”

  With a sigh, Valdan stabbed his sword in the ground. He walked up to Aiden and retrieved the wooden weapon.

  “Will you at least take off the coat?”

  Aiden looked down at his home world styled coat and shook his head. “I’m good, thank you.”

  Valdan shook his head with a smile as he stepped back, creating space between the both of them. “Suit yourself.”

  Valdan took his stance. If Aiden had anything to say about it, he couldn’t tell.

  “Now remember,” Aiden said. “I am not a dummy.”

  “I’m more worried by the fact that you aren’t worried about getting hurt.”

  “It’s a wooden sword and an imperfect move.” Aiden clapped his hands together, then set them back to his side. “I’ll be fine.”

  He still weaves those signs too fast for me to see, Valdan noted.

  “Alright,” he said. “Here I come.”

  Valdan knew the moment he activated [Dash]. He blitzed through the distance, ignoring the breeze in the air, and swung his sword.

  He’s of equal level and currently enchanted, he told himself as he swung with as much force as he could muster. He’ll be fine… I hope.

  But his swing never completed its trajectory. He staggered forward, instead, almost falling to the ground. Pain erupted in his shin, forcing a scowl out of him.

  “That hurt,” he said, looking to his side at Aiden who still stood where he’d been with a leg outstretched. “Why did you kick me?”

  “Because I’m not a dummy,” Aiden said. “The lesson here is that this will only work once, each move-set will only work once. If your examiner is intelligent, they won’t fall for it a second time.”

  Valdan pointedly did not rub his shin. “Noted.”

  Aiden nodded as if he was satisfied with what he had done and started walking over to where Valdan had been sitting. As much as Valdan wanted to join him, he made his way to the weapon’s rack first to return the sword.

  When he was done, he walked over to Aiden and stood in front of him. Aiden Lacheart had a forlorn look on his face. He was like a child with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Valdan remembered how that felt. It was the thing about being young. At a young age, every problem felt like the weight of the world.

  He does have to combat the rising darkness, though, Valdan noted.

  Still, he doubted that was what worried him.

  “Isn’t all this depleting your stamina?” Aiden asked out of nowhere. “Or is this an exam that will allow you have a potion or two before it begins.”

  “It is an exam that is intended to test me to my fullest capacity. I will be at my best when it begins.”

  “And you will pass this exam?”

  “I will try.”

  Aiden looked at him, just looked, nothing else. Valdan couldn’t read his expression. After a while, Aiden looked up and sighed.

  “What kind of place is Nastild?” he asked out of nowhere. “Have you traveled beyond the kingdom?”

  “I’ve been to different parts of the kingdom,” Valdan answered. “But never beyond it. Why?”

  “In my world, we have countries instead of kingdoms,” Aiden said. “Ultimately, it is—just like your kingdoms—a large geographical area ruled by one governing system. I never left mine—never got to. But I knew that my world had beautiful places.”

  “Would you like to travel?” Valdan asked, still standing.

  Aiden smiled, something about it looked nostalgic. “With this rising darkness that is coming, I believe that I will not have much of a choice. I guess I can see that as the silver lining in all this.”

  Valdan moved to sit beside him, forcing Aiden to scoot over a little.

  “I’ve heard that traveling is best with companions,” he said suggestively. “It’s best to travel with people.”

  “Traveling alone is also fun.”

  “Lord Lacheart,” Valdan groaned.

  “Sir Dirtwater,” Aiden returned.

  “What do you have against friends and making them?”

  Aiden was silent for a moment before he answered. “Nothing.”

  “Pretend I’m not stupid and don’t lie to me,” Valdan said, slightly irritated.

  “And I’m not lying to you,” Aiden insisted.

  “You were summoned here with over a handful of people, and apart from your brother, none of them know anything about you.”

  “Because these things just happen.”

  “Two have tried to befriend you,” Valdan continued. “And from what I know, they knew you from your world.”

  “'Knew me' does not make us friends, Valdan.”

  “Alright,” Valdan turned to face him. “What of the princess?”

  “What of her?”

  “She has been trying to be your friend from the moment we boarded the carriage at the palace entrance.”

  “She’s a princess, Valdan.”

  “And?” Despite asking the question, Valdan knew that Aiden's response was enough of an answer for why he couldn’t befriend her.

  “And she’s the daughter of the king that summoned me," Aiden said. "Befriending her causes different kinds of problems for different kinds of people.”

  “And that’s why you won’t befriend her? I call jepat shit.”

  “Befriending her means dancing in the chaos of politics.” Aiden shook his head. “I would rather not dance to that tune.”

  “You’re lying,” Valdan accused.

  Aiden shrugged. “A little bit, but not entirely.”

  “Then what’s the entire truth?”

  “She’s her mother’s daughter and her father’s daughter,” Aiden said. “She came with us for a purpose. Seeing it isn’t rocket science. If her father didn’t send her, then her mother did. Her will to be my friend might have been real, but there were ulterior motives beneath it.”

  Valdan had no idea what rocket science meant, but he was sure he understood it in the context.

  “I am a knight,” Valdan said, voice calm. “And I am your friend.”

  Aiden raised a brow. “Your point?”

  “I am a knight, Aiden,” Valdan repeated. “Just like the princess, my allegiance is to the crown. And I am your friend.”

  “Ah, I see.” Aiden chuckled lightly. “The difference is that your ulterior motives are not hidden, hence they are not ulterior. Hers were.”

  Valdan sighed. This was the problem he had with the young. They were always too stuck on complicating things that were simple. Sometimes he wondered if they did it just for the drama. To somehow feel deeper than they truly were.

  “Make friends, Aiden,” he said solemnly. “You might not understand it now, but a friend or two makes a difference the older you get.”

  “I know,” Aiden said casually. “I know.”

  “Then make friends.”

  Aiden smiled once more. “I probably won’t. One just might be enough for me. One friend and one brother.”

  Valdan gritted his teeth, knowing that Aiden would not have one friend once King Brandis was done with him this evening. But children needed friends. He’d spent his life without real friends and where had it gotten him.

  A man who achieved his dreams but made no friends. It was hypocritical of him, considering he didn’t mind being friendless.

  “I have one friend… right?” Aiden asked.

  Valdan offered him a smile. He’d intended for it to be reassuring but it came out a little strained.

  Aiden looked at him, gaze searching. He was looking for something and Valdan knew it.

  “Do I have to come and watch this exam, Valdan?”

  Valdan shook his head. “It is an exam for a [Knight of the Crown]. As important as you are, it is not a place for you.”

  Movement to the side caught their attention and they both turned their heads to look. A slow and familiar grip of fear touched Valdan. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as strong as he remembered it. It wasn’t as deep.

  It was simply sorrowful.

  Valdan pushed himself to his feet, groaning like the elderly who had failed to gain a class in their lifetime. “I’m guessing that’s me.”

  Aiden rose to his feet as well. All he did was watch the young boy in shorts and a white shirt approach them.

  When the boy came to a stop in front of them, Valdan greeted him kindly.

  “How are you?” he said.

  The child blanked, taken genuinely by surprise. His reaction saddened Valdan slightly as he realized that there was likely no one in the palace that was not wary of his presence.

  After his momentary shock, the boy bowed slightly. “I will be fine, Sir Knight. The king summons you to the amphitheater.”

  Valdan pulled his sword from the ground and sheathed it. “My king calls, and I answer.”

  He began his departure only to be stopped by the boy’s next words.

  “Lord Lacheart, the king’s advisor summons you.”

  Valdan turned immediately. “The king’s advisor?”

  Aiden shrugged. “What can I say, I’m famous.” He gestured forward, addressing the boy. “Lead the way.”

  Valdan had a bad feeling about this. Since entering the castle, he had never heard of anyone being summoned directly by the advisor. Never.

  His jaw tightened as his worry deepened.

  Why did the advisor want to see Aiden?

  He opened his mouth to say something when he caught the look on Aiden’s face. While he had been summoned to meet the advisor, he looked more concerned with following Valdan.

  He’s considering ignoring the summon, Valdan observed.

  That would be stupid.

  To prevent the stupidity, Valdan would have to leave first. He knew where the amphitheater was, so he didn’t need the boy’s help to find it.

  “I’ll be going ahead, then,” he said, walking away. He raised his hand in a final wave. “If you ever have the time, stop by the Festal region. It’s my territory. It’s quite humble right now, but it’s a work in progress. Melvet will like you very much.”

  Valdan did not turn back until he was through a door and swallowed by the palace. The door closed behind him, and he just stood there. He didn’t know how long he stayed standing, but he wasn’t certain that it wasn’t too long.

  He took a deep breath and made his way for the amphitheater. Tonight, he would lose the one thing he had spent a healthy portion of his life trying to get.

  Goodbye, Lord Lacheart.

  …

  He was a little too sentimental.

  Those were the only thoughts running through Aiden’s mind as he walked behind the [Sage’s] messenger.

  Valdan had always enjoyed hounding him about making friends, but something had been different about it this time. Something had been very important about it. It was like the difference between having a friend jokingly inform you that they’ll always be there for you if you need them and having them seriously tell you that they would always be there for you if you need them.

  The boy led him down the castle hallway and Aiden realized that he was currently unarmed. He did not have his soldier belt on him, and he did not have any weapons.

  He doubted being unarmed would really matter much. Instead, his mind tried to focus on just how much he could learn from training with a [Sage].

  Jang Su had been the strongest of all the summoned before his death, stronger even than Drax the [Hero]. Before Aiden’s death, even Ted had claimed that if Jang Su had lived long enough, he could’ve been a real threat to the demons.

  Knowing he had trained under the tutelage of a [Sage] to become that powerful made his rise to power make sense.

  The thought of training with the [Sage] everyday tempted Aiden to put his plans on hold. Even if he regressed through three lives, he doubted he could make himself as powerful as a [Sage]. He doubted he would even know half the things a [Sage] knew.

  This is an opportunity I can’t waste.

  Still, no matter how tempting it was, he refused to allow it to derail his plans. Also, he wasn’t excited enough. Not as much as he’d been when he’d been returning to the castle with Ded.

  Aiden frowned as the boy turned down another path that was now leading to a section of the palace that he had not been to in this lifetime.

  Why was he so serious?

  No matter how much Aiden tried to focus on the here and now, he couldn’t shake the feeling. It plagued his mind obsessively.

  Aiden gritted his teeth as he watched the back of the boy’s head.

  Something isn’t right.

  He knew that Valdan’s ‘exam’ was going to be difficult, but it couldn’t be that bad, could it?

  Then there was the talk about visiting his territory and someone named Melvet. Aiden guessed that Melvet was the woman that Valdan held dear to his heart. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t slightly curious to meet her.

  But why did he bring her up after asking me to visit the place?

  Aiden’s steps were slowing down now. For some reason, he was beginning to think he’d heard the name ‘Melvet’ before. It had to be in his past life, but where, when, and why?

  The name slipped from his mind as the unimportant thought that it was as Valdan took up its place there once more. It brought Aiden discomfort.

  He didn’t do anything wrong, did he?

  He couldn’t see a world where Valdan had done something unforgivable. His steps grew slower. The [Sage] was growing less important in this moment with every step.

  It’s just a test.

  But was it?

  Aiden’s legs stopped moving beneath him. Brandis wouldn’t… would he?

  Brandis was a good King, known for his kindness and benevolence. In fact, when both worlds of Nastild had merged during the war against Ted, he had grown famous and trustworthy even in the eyes of the other side because of the fame of his benevolence.

  But he’s still a king.

  And Aiden had met enough Kings to know that a King would do what a King had to do.

  He wouldn’t… right?

  There was no way that Brandis would kill Valdan. Whatever was about to happen was definitely extremely serious if Valdan had been lying to him about it, but something about their conversation felt very off. It was almost as if Valdan was…

  Aiden’s eyes widened in realization… Saying goodbye.

  In a split second, Aiden’s knowledge of the palace blueprint erupted in his head. The boy had told Valdan that he’d been summoned to the amphitheater. From what Aiden knew, the palace only had one, and he knew where it was.

  Aiden’s legs moved and when the boy in front of him took a left turn, he took a right.

  The [Sage] would have to wait.

  Valdan had been ultimately unimportant in his past life. So unimportant that Aiden had never heard of him before. But Aiden was certain about one thing in this life.

  Valdan does not die tonight.

  He took another turn, his legs moving faster, and he checked behind him with a quick glance. The boy had not followed him.

  That was a good sign, Aiden thought as he pushed himself into a jog. There would be no hindrance. He took another turn, a left corner.

  No one would stop him. No one would—

  “Where are you going?”

  Aiden’s entire being froze at the sound of the voice.

  “I do not believe that this is the way you’re supposed to be headed.”

  The voice came from behind him and Aiden hesitated to turn. He was currently in a hallway. The hallway was wide enough to hold eight men if they stood side by side. The walls were a bright beige color. On one side, there was a table with a mirror and flowers that settled properly in a vase.

  Nothing else adorned the hallway save the small bulbs of light hanging from the walls to illuminate the space.

  The vases have pebbles in them, Aiden thought as he turned very slowly. The walls will serve a purpose and my next turn is—he gauged the distance at a glance—fifteen steps away.

  When he completed his turn, he was met with exactly what he expected.

  “I believe the child was leading you in a different direction, Lord Lacheart,” the [Sage] said simply, standing there in a casual grey robe, hands clasped behind his back. “You should learn not to deviate. Now, come.”

  Aiden didn’t move an inch. “How about we do this tomorrow morning, just before my trip.”

  The [Sage’s] expression didn’t change. “I would rather we do it now.”

  “That’s a little complicated.” Aiden rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “You see, there’s somewhere I need to be right now.”

  “Does not matter.”

  “I have to go see a friend about a thing.”

  The [Sage] sighed. “Does not matter.”

  “Yeah, no. It kind of does.”

  The [Sage] made a face. It made him look like a grandfather who was tired of repeating himself.

  “Do I have to drag you along, Aiden Lacheart?”

  Aiden paled a little. “Can’t we find a compromise?”

  To his greatest surprise, the old man rolled his eyes. “Children,” he said, “are always an annoyance to deal with.”

  Then he took a single step forward.

  Aiden found himself in one of the worst positions he could possibly think of: on the opposing side of a [Sage] armed with nothing but himself.

  Aiden gulped as his gaze shifted slowly to the mirror, trying to see how far behind him his next turn was.

  This, he knew for a fact, was not going to end well.

  “If this is what you wish for, then come, child,” the [Sage] said in an unbothered tone, taking another step forward. “Defy me.”