Dance With Darkness And Light 41 The Banque

Today the whole emba.s.sy of Lumin would come to visit, and the emba.s.sy of Ralun would hold a banquet for them in thanks to the birthday party.

Unlike the birthday party for Bazuul, that was held in a rather small circle of both parties. This banquet would host almost all current residents of both emba.s.sies. Royalties, n.o.bles, and commoners alike. Of course, the magnitude of this event raised some eyebrows. Some present even theorized the political undercurrents of this banquet.

Meanwhile, Bazuul was in the master study with his uncle Faolan, going over the information of the compet.i.tors in the royal tournament they had acquired. Obviously, there were some candidates that they had more information on, and on some less. Three other compet.i.tors for the tournament were merely known by name and affiliation. Other than that, those three were shrouded in obscurity.

The first one would be the candidate sent by the Circle, the inst.i.tution of magicians on the continent of Ytolan. William Sinclair, a sixteen-year-old prodigy of theirs that had already reached the rank of grand magister.

Then came the duo sent by the Directorate, the political leader of the Seven Kingdoms. A sixteen-year-old boy that went by the name of Horlet Richat and a fifteen-year-old girl named Nazela Amenti. Nothing was really known about them apart from their names and their age. Two names, that caused Bazuul to raise a brow.

Luckily, information on the other partic.i.p.ants was much more transparent.

For one there would be Hugo Dias's eldest brother, Ma.s.simo Dias. As the crown prince of their kingdom, he was the true heir and thus enjoyed vastly more resources than his other siblings. While Hugo was merely two years younger than his brother, he had only reached the third stage of the true qi realm. Ma.s.simo, on the other hand, had long reached the seventh stage.

Another figure one had to watch out for came from the royal family of Jian Zheng's homeland, Shasta. That was the first princess, Sawako Fujimoto. At fourteen years old, she had already reached the seventh stage of the true qi realm. Her brother, being three years older, was still stuck at the sixth stage. Emphasizing her talent even more.

Then came the information about the crown prince of Donar, Eirik Donarim. Of course, since his multiple "bouts of debate" with the shadow of the blade, Bazuul was fully aware of the crown prince's nature and paid even more attention. Naturally, as part of the royal lineage of Donar, he was attuned to the element of lightning and air and had reached the eighth stage of the true qi realm shortly after turning seventeen.

Next up Faolan mentioned, Arkenon Luminaire, the older brother of Elanar, was seventeen years old and had an affinity for the element of darkness. He was only a magister since his talent in martial arts was cut short by his rather weak body. Yet, this should not deter caution from this teenager. Highly talented as a magician he was rumored to take on the exams to ascend to the rank of grand magister soon after the royal tournament.

Other names that were to be watched included, Markus Bender, the crown prince of Eras was at the seventh stage of the true qi realm, and another was Eirik's twin sister, Ragna Donarim, which was also at the seventh stage of the true qi realm.

Obviously, Jian Zheng's name also came up but as Bazuul had already met him before it was rather unnecessary to go into further detail on him. The other partic.i.p.ants, apart from Elanar and his brother Kuzan, should not be much of a problem for Bazuul considering the efficiency he had displayed in the sparring battles the last couple of days. At least that was Faolan's opinion, Bazuul, on the other hand, had even fewer names he registered as...tenacious enough to stand their ground in battle.

At this time a retinue of Faolan informed both that the emba.s.sy of Lumin had arrived at the gates. Bazuul and Faolan went out to receive the guests. After some initial courteous greetings, they led them toward the dining room. Leading the royals of Lumin and their elders to the table both sides took their places. Obviously, Bazuul and Elanar sat next to each other.

Not a minute later a scowl came from the other side of the table. A tall youth, approximately the age of sixteen or seventeen, was the source of this. To be clear, the first prince of Lumin and Elanar's eldest brother, Arkenon Luminaire. He found the casualness that everyone portrayed when his dear sister sat next to that youth and the fondness in their eyes ridiculous. He could not accept a brat like that to be a.s.sociated with his sister, much less a relations.h.i.+p. His sister was the second princess of Lumin and the second-placed of the five fairies in the Seven Kingdoms. He could maybe accept him if they were talking about his third sister Idriel, but only if he actually were eligible for the position as crown prince. Which, as the fourth prince, was certainly not the case.

"Don't get your hopes up boy, a little brat like you is vastly unworthy of my sister!" He announced before he continued. "If anyone is worthy of my sister, then it would be someone strong and reliable, with a high position. Someone like crown-prince Eirik. At least he will be the king of Donar one day; also, the kingdom of Donar and Lumin are neighbors. Thus she would remain close to her family. What can you offer on the other hand?"

Gazing deeply into Arkenon's eyes Bazuul's expression darkened at the mention of Donar's crown prince. Not because of the empty words spewed by Elanar's brother but because of the affiliation the crown prince had with the shadow of the blade. Hylion's and Idriel's expressions also paled at the behavior their eldest brother displayed. After all, this was a banquet held by Ralun for the emba.s.sy of Lumin with a lot of prominent figures present from both nations.

Grand elder Arya was shocked enough to have trouble finding the words to reprimand the first prince of Lumin. Faolan, on the other hand, seemed utterly indifferent, maybe even slightly amused.

"Brother, please stop, this is no…" Elanar tried to pacify her brother, but before she could finish her sentence, Arkenon interrupted. "Silence! This is not up for…" Yet, before he could finish his sentence though, Bazuul cut him off in return.

"Shut up, kid! You should maybe consider who you talk about to whom. Especially considering this beloved crown prince of yours affiliations. Or has the first prince of Lumin already become a p.a.w.n of another nation's crown prince? Pitiful! Do you have any pride or dignity? Considering your behavior that's not the case but who knows maybe your facial skin is especially thick. Remember this well, because I won't repeat it a second time. If anything, you can consider yourself lucky today because if you weren't Elanar's brother, you would be dead already. Now use your tongue to taste the food rather than spewing nonsense and supporting an ant of no significance." Bazuul didn't hold back when he struck back with his glib tongue. Of course, he was fully aware what Arkenon was insinuating with his talk about the crown prince, political marriage. Obviously, he would not have any of it.

"Watch your mouth, brat! Believe me, if we meet in the tournament, I'll make sure to educate you well. Then you will know who the ant is between you and crown-prince Eirik." Arkenon retorted immediately afterward, slightly shaking in rage.

At this comment, Bazuul and Elanar couldn't help but glance at each other and chuckle all so slightly for all to see. This, in return, gave Arkenon a slight feeling of insignificance. It was clear to see by their reaction that his opinion had no weight at all and that he wasn't given the respect he thought he deserved. He had the feeling that even some commoners were looking down on him right now.

The reason for this was simple, both were aware that Arkenon was a highly talented magician focused on the element of darkness, and Bazuul, with his particular const.i.tution, had nothing to fear when it came to the aspect of darkness. Certain light attacks, on the other hand, were a different story for now.

This feeling he got from them, one of a child not taken seriously, enraged Arkenon even more as he readied himself to launch another tirade at his sister and the youth at her side.

Before he was able to do so though, Bazuul asked Elanar a completely unrelated question. Ignoring her brother, she casually answered, thus taking the wind off of Arkenon's sail and finally changing the subject.

About an hour later, the dinner went on peacefully, but after a while, Arkenon left with an elder when he realized that everybody was having a good time, not minding his previous words. Even more so, no one seemed to want to a.s.sociate with him at this time, not even his siblings. Which irritated him greatly. Especially his sister and that little prince seemed to completely ignore him.

Even with a tumor such as Arkenon present, the atmosphere had been pretty good. Many people from different social backgrounds and, well, two separate kingdoms had come together to find common ground for discussions about all sorts of things. Be it the cultivation of martial arts or magic, the food they just had, the situation earlier, the royal tournament, and so on. This atmosphere, of course, became even more vibrant when the first prince of Lumin, Arkenon left.

Another hour later, the banquet ended, and Lumin's delegation left for their emba.s.sy.