The silver armor felt light,a perfect fit as he slide it's parts through his features,the metel glistening under the effect of sunrays striking it from the open large windows.
Falling off a horse or being beaten in this would hurt a lot but Zero had braced himself to loose this challenge,he would take all the beatens he could if he had to.
Despite their hidden agenda,at least the eyes before him would know he didn't merit the position being forced upon him.
The second phase of the exam consisted of a sword fight and horse race and the third,a one on one interview with the Emperor himself,his chance to have an audience with the Emperor and probably some answers to his questions.
As chatter from all corners filled the armoury room Zero Jager found himself becoming even more irritated.
He shouldn't be here but here he was with fifty other contenders.
And although he hadn't written anything in exams,he had found his name top ten on the list of candidates who had qualified.
How?if not that some higher-up was out there pulling the strings for him.
Earlier the previous day,he had snuck into where the imperial records were kept and made an important discovery;this year,he was the only candidate that had gotten a summon.
At that it seemed the next Emperor's knight had already been decided beforehand.
He watched Athena walked up to him, helmet in hand.
Her black long hair was tied in a ponytail,her lips chapped with eyebags beneath her eyes.
She looked tired,no rather exhausted as though she had been training all night.
Zero shook his head before picking his helmet to walk in the other direction.
What a waste of energy and time.
The chief knight appeared before him, bringing him to a halt.
"What?!"he snapped
The last thing he wanted right now was another conversation with her.
"Are you avoiding me?"she asked looking into his face.
"What does it look like"
"How did you qualify?"
Zero hissed and looked away.
"You already know how".
Athena placed a hand on her chin.
"Hmmm so_"
Zero drew even closer to her,his face only few inches from hers.
"So you,me and everyone else here is but wasting his time"he said in a low tone so as not to draw attention but he was sure they had heard him.He already percieved the pairs of eyes stuck on him the moment he said that.
"To think I had been training for this_".
His black eyes peered deeper into hers.
I am the only one here with a summon....now you know so even if you go ahead and kill yourself trying to win or pass these exams...you won't,no one else here will.
Zero said via telepathy
Athena stared dispiritedly at him for a while unsure of what to say or do.
Their intentions were clear now,a new chief knight had already been chosen.
**********************
Dark brought out an hourglass and sat before it,legs folded.
His eyes was fixed on the lad who lay legs crossed with both hands clasped against his abdomen.
Although the king wouldn't admit it, killing a leaner was a big waste.
For centuries only one semonio ever resurfaced with such gift and having such person on their side would be a great advantage.
A leaner at commander tier level would have the power to control a semonio in full form,even a spirit guard and they could even have the Emperor's under control,a creature no one has ever seen.
He had tried all the spells he could to wake the lad except one dangerous one.
A spell that allowed him to enter into a person's dream to wake him up but in Gabys dream he would be at his most vulnerable,like a mortal having no magical abilities but still strong enough to crush a little lad's bones.
If this didn't work he would waste no time in doing so.
The sorceror turned the hourglass over and closed his eyes,hands clasped together as a magic circle appeared before him.
He began chanting.
Dark opened his eyes to a vast area of land filled with carpet grass which stretched as far as the eyes could see.
The direction of the wind was in the opposite direction,strong enough to make walking difficult for him and the sun,unreasonably hot.
How could this be someone's dream version of comfort?it made him wonder if the lad subconsciously knew he was here and was trying to drive him away and prevent their meeting.
Dark smiled to himself, whether this be his own version of comfort or he was doing this on purpose,he was strongly built,no amount of wind was strong enough to bring him off his feet.
The sorceror shook off the thought immediately.
Normally the owner of the dream would have no memory of his life as a semonio and this lad somewhat had an issue with memory retaining.
Dark spotted a cottage ahead.
From afar he caught sight of a lad,not Gaby but someone else,the dead lad whose name he couldn't remember.
On sight of him,the lad quickly hurried inside and shut the door.
Dark walked on till he reached the cottage.
He knocked several times before he was answered by the huge frightened eyes of the lad whose main body was under his control.
"Yes!"the lad managed to say as his hand trembled.
"Hello there"Dark said with a wide grin mustering his most friendly voice.
"I am a friend of...."Dark paused trying to remember the name of the owner of the dream but he couldn't.
"I am a friend of your friend and I have come to see him".
"M...my friend has a name you know".
Farhat stammered.
"Oh pardon me ,I am old and unable to remember a lot of things".
Farhat shook his head and made an attempt to close the door but Dark gripped it just in time.
"Wait....wait what If I describe him_"
Farhat shook his head again.
"His name ..."
Dark frowned, unable to hide his disappointment.
Here he was for the first time in his life trying to be nice Infront of a brat who only made things more difficult for him.
He was absolutely done with the act.
"Let me in!"his gaze hardened through furrowed brows as he exposed a pointy canine.
"Let him in"came a voice from the other side and Farhat swung the door wide open
Dark was quite taller than the door and almost the same height with the cottage.
From where he stood he could only see the Lower part of someone's robe worn on a pair of sandals.
He bent over to let himself in and his eyes fell on the Gaby's.
"Welcome.."the lad grinned widely, motioning for dark to have a seat on a small chair amongst the other three that he was most certain he would break if he dared sit on.
The chair surrounded an old round wooden table with a tea pot and two cups.
"I can stand....you sit"
Gaby nodded and went over to take his seat.
"I don't recall having such tall friends"he said through a wide grin.
"You have to wake up". Dark said but Gaby looked puzzled.
He burst out laughing triggering a giggle from farhat.
"Did you_ hit your head somewhere?....what, do I look asleep to you?".
"Everything here isn't real you are a demon,a sorcerer with great magic abilities,this is a world created by your subconscious and only you can break this spell,if you don't,you will die".
Gaby raised a brow.
"Excuse me sir....may I have your permission to tell you how stupid you are?...what do you mean spells, magic and demons.Those things only exist in fairytales and demons are evil beings evil to the very core...they don't exist either".Gaby said pouring himself a drink from the tea pot.
Darks brows furrowed with his teeth clenched tightly, doing his best to contain the rage he felt as he tried to swallow the insult from a child.
How stupid was he?how dare this brat_
"If you love fairytales that much I would suggest you go westward you will find a town.At lady Harang's you can hear a lot of tales like this, would only cost you a few bucks".
Dark watched him in silence encouraging himself to calm down.
It appears weren't the only persons in this world,and this sprung up a new desire within him to know what this strange land was.
"Where is this place?"he queried breathing heavily.
"Delvin of cos,In Sentah precisely the sixth kingdom of the realm"Gaby eyed him.
"You don't look so good...have a tea"Gaby said offering him a cup with a wide grin."It's medicinal you know"
"Am fine"
He really was.The rage he felt without being able to do anything for some reason accelerated his breathing.
He found himself peering into the lads heart,what he had always wished for,a quiet and secluded life with just his friend away from the rest of the world.
A world without magic,demons and humans alike.Dark found Gaby's version of a peaceful life absurd and outrageous.
He was running out of time and had to find a way to wake him quickly.
If the sand in the our glass runs out he would die in real life and be stuck in this cursed place of a dream.
"Snap out of it!"Dark barked."None of this is real!"
"Are you sure you are even real?....you make it seem like I am in a bad dream".
"Exactly that's what you_"
Dark paused eying the lad closely as his last words rephrased in his head.
You make it seem as if am in a bad dream.
Just then it struck him_
Could he?
"If you are real and can hear me I would like you to leave now".Gaby said through a frown slamming the cup on the table.
Dark walked over to the window and peered through it.
The wind had stopped,and the sun had hidden silently behind the clouds.
The atmosphere was calm now..It had been that way ever since he stepped into the cottage.
He could recall vividly now.
Dark turned to Gaby,his eyes widened in shock.
"Wait....you knew all along!".