CHAPTER 2 (PART 2): KILL THE BEAST

"We have another competitor coming through!" the announcer from the arena spoke.

Holding his left shoulder, Arth walked towards the center of the stage where only four warriors left were seen, including Bran. He was moving a bit slower from the exhaustion of his whole body. If only he could skip the evaluation and just head straight to the lounge to rest.

Looking around, Arth saw the crowded audiences sitting around the circular arena. Their loud, ongoing yells echoed around the place. At the center of the arena, there were three Grand Knights and one Grand Mage, standing in front of the warriors. One of them was Grand Knight Tera. Arth took a short glance at the Grand Mage who was wearing a white cloak with a ruby badge on his left chest. He already looked old because of his white hair and wrinkled face.

Then Arth turned his eyes to Bran, whose face looked surprised of seeing him in the arena.

‘You’re lucky my arm is injured,’ Arth sharpened his blue eyes at the young thief. Bran just smirked and looked away.

The sun was already down. A sound of a loud drum was heard, then followed by the huge torches, suddenly blazing up that gave light around the circular arena. The people began cheering louder, seemingly excited for the results.

"Bran, it is your turn to present the cores you have collected," the grand mage spoke in a husky voice.

Bran cast a stare at Arth first with a smirk, before bringing out the jar from his bag.

‘You thief,’ Arth clenched his fist. ‘If only I had proof that he stole my cores!’

he closed his eyes and breathed heavily to calm his nerves down.

The eyes of the audience widened in amazement as Bran showed his jar filled with white cores and two red cores on top.

"This is a big lead," the old mage complimented Bran as he took the jar. The Grand Knights behind him were whispering to each other with a couple of nods on their heads.

Arth looked down when he noticed that the grand mage was approaching him. "Where's your bag and jar?" the old man asked with one brow raised. Arth bit his lower lip and glared at Bran, but he was avoiding Arth’s gaze with an annoying smirk on his face.

Arth heavily exhaled before answering. "Lost," he replied with a small voice, a bit disappointed.

The grand mage furrowed his brows, "Have you collected any cores?"

Arth nodded and slowly showed the purple core on his hand.

The Grand Mage, including the Grand Knights, widened their eyes in shock. A loud, echoing gasp was heard from the audience around them. Even Bran could not prevent dropping a jaw.

"This is..." the grand mage slowly took the purple sphere from his hand. "This is a first… for a warrior to collect this core in every annual competition… ever."

Arth raised his head, looking at the old man with furrowed brows. “What?” he asked while holding his injured shoulder.

Sir Tera suddenly stepped closer and glanced at the purple core. “Grand Mage Aldred, what is your decision?” he asked and pointed at Bran. "This kid, Bran, has full of white cores and two red ones-"

"A single core of an A-class beast is valued as ten cores from B-class beasts," Aldred explained.

Sir Tera nodded in respect of the grand mage’s decision. He went back to his fellow knights and had a quiet, short discussion. Silence stayed in the whole arena as they were all waiting for the result.

Finally, Grand Knight Tera was seen, walking towards Arth. He held Arth's right hand and raised it above. “We have a winner!” he announced. "Arth from Frostwood… is the champion of this year's competition!"

"What?!" Bran whispered in frustration.

The huge drums began to roll and so were the people with their hands clapping loudly. Blue-colored confetti was suddenly blasted out in the air and began to rain down like snow. It was an explosive celebration. The other two warriors smiled and also clapped their hands for Arth.

‘I did it...’ Arth’s lips slowly formed a smile as his eyes witnessed the warm cheers of the people around him. The yells, the drums, and the claps… all were deafening, but at the same time, satisfying for his ears.

"This is a remarkable win," the grand mage said, looking amused. "You have surpassed what every champion had achieved in years. Young warrior, you have the gift and talent. I know you will get far."

Arth let out a huge breath and nodded at the old man. He still could not believe what was happening. After all the years of intense training, he was finally able to accomplish his first step towards his dreams.

"Take these four young warriors for treatment," Aldred told the knights before speaking to Arth. "The Lord of Casterfall will be seeing you tomorrow, boy, early in the morning, please be ready."

The knights led the warriors back into the city. As they rode on a huge carriage, the two warriors congratulated Arth and asked more questions about him. However, Bran was still frustrated and had been quiet all the time while looking at the window.

"Man, how did you do it?" the warrior beside Arth asked him. "Please tell me how you killed an A-class beast!"

"It was a close call, actually. I could've died if I haven’t thought of something," Arth tried to explain while fixing his black hair to the side. 

When they arrived at the Standard Knight Academy, the knights took the young men to the medical ward. A court herbalist dressed Arth’s injuries and gave him some herbal medicine to speed up the recovery rate of his arm. 

"This dark herb will fully heal your wound in two days," the herbalist said. "So rest your left arm if you want to have the best results, alright?"

"Two days? What kind of medicine is this?" Arth's eyebrows rose in amazement while looking at the herbs, packed by a thin cloth. Usually a broken bone would take weeks or even months to recover. 

"These are quite rare. Only found in the southern kingdoms since we couldn't grow these here in our region. We have a very cold climate," the court herbalist explained while finishing up the white bandage on Arth’s head.

When they were done, Arth put on his blue cloak, carried his bag, and went out of the ward. The knights led him to the Keep. They mentioned that Arth will be staying there for the meantime. 

As they walked on the huge staircases towards the Upper Ring, Arth looked around, seeing most of the buildings and houses in the entire city. The roofs were covered by snow and the streets were filled with people, chatting and walking around. He admired the city lights beyond the night as he felt the cold breeze of the north wind.

“Hey, kid. Let’s go,” one of the knights called. Arth did not realize he had been standing there in the staircase for how long already. It was just his first time seeing something so beautiful, something he could never see from his village.

After taking a last glance, Arth followed the knights to the high grounds. The Upper Ring had a wide square-shaped landmass with one watchtower on each corner. The Keep was tall and circular in structure, standing at the center of the four watchtowers.  The grounds were heavily guarded by knights with several armed archers on top of the towers.

They stepped inside the huge doors of the Keep and entered the Great Hall. The sound of their shoes tapping on the white, marbled floor was heard as they walked. Arth looked up at the high ceiling where silver chandeliers hung above.

At the end of the Great Hall was the elegant seat of the Lord of Casterfall, also made of dark marble. A huge brown carpet was laid on the path as a runway from the entrance towards the marbled chair.

After taking the stairs towards the upper floor of the Keep, they finally made a stop at one of the doors in the hall. Arth thanked the knights before opening the door. The room was dark, so Arth lighted up the lamp. There was a small fireplace to keep the warmth, with glass windows covered by white curtains. He placed his bag on the wooden desk and sat on the soft bed. And because of his exhausted body, he immediately fell into sleep.

***

A loud, knocking sound on the wooden door suddenly woke Arth up. ‘Damn, it's already morning?! It felt like I've only had a few minutes of sleep!’ he groaned, pressing his face on the soft pillow. Another knock quickly forced him to jump out of his bed.

As Arth opened the door, a knight was seen, standing outside the room. "Lord Nicholas requests for your presence at the great hall."

"Uh... right now?" Arth asked in a soft voice while rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"You can take your time to prepare. But not too long. The lord is not that patient with guests," the knight replied before walking away.

Arth sighed as he closed the doors. He tried to touch his injured head. It was surprising to know that it was recovering fast because of the herbal medicine. However, his left shoulder was still painful for him to move. He went towards the wooden desk to get his clothes from his bag. But then his eyes were suddenly caught by a tiny scroll upon the table.

“What’s this? This was not here last night,” Arth picked it up and unrolled it.

'Congratulations on your win, Arth! We will leave tonight. The guild is waiting for you. Meet me at the west garden of the city at sunset.'

-Robert