A Dance with Darkness and Light: Re-Origination

54: Back In Ralun

It was a cold day in the capital of Ralun. The first snow fell by night and covered the kingdom's cities in white as winter came with the eleventh month.

The lot that traveled to Donar had returned two days ago and settled down well. The citizens had welcomed them with a parade then, even though their finalist, their fourth prince, had gifted the final victory to the first princess of Lumin.

Currently, Bazuul slowly rode along the snowy streets of Ralun's central city atop his horse Shadow. Children played in the streets with the snow as children would. As for the reason he ventured outside into the cold, he was invited to the Hall of Fortune and Fame by a certain friend. Therefore, he deliberately chose to leave his warm home and take a break from cultivation.

Now usually, Bazuul wasn't the type to focus on such things a lot, he never quite understood the kind of characters categorized as cultivation-freaks in novels back on Earth. Neither did he think much of the differences in stages and realms. Sure, after a certain extent, the gap became an unscalable wall, but where exactly did that range begin?

As of today, he knew at least that the fourth stage of the origin realm was within that space known as an unscalable wall...

Kuzan and Bazuul stood across from each other in a training hall within the palace.

"Little Zuul, you might wonder why I asked you to spar with me. The reason is simple, there is something I have to show you, and I also need to pay you back for the sparring matches back in Leizyr." Kuzan said.

Bazuul chuckled lightly while he thought back to the one-sided matches they had in Donar. "Sure thing, big brother."

Kuzan could see the relaxed expression his little brother wore. It was evident that the latter didn't think much of it. The first prince also chuckled and removed a ring from his finger. The moment he did immense spiritual pressure gushed out of him and filled the training room. Shocked, Bazuul had to take a step back due to the force Kuzan radiated.

"You know, I'm sure I wasn't the only one wearing a restricting artifact at the royal tournament. This, my little brother, is the fourth stage of the origin realm. The reason I'm also showing you this is for you to keep your feet on the ground. Not everything one can see is also the truth."

Bazuul looked at this brother of his as he could feel his body instinctively tense up. Knowing that he was at a severe disadvantage, Bazuul chose to attack rather than wait for him to fall into a passive position. Activating his [Lightning Steps] and appeared behind Kuzan, his fist already launching at him.

Less than a blink of an eye before his fist connected, Kuzan disappeared, and Bazuul felt something akin to a sting in the back of his neck before his vision turned black.

A while later, Bazuul woke up on the floor, not wholly aware of what had happened and how much time had passed. As he sat up, he felt his brother's presence. He looked toward him and saw that Kuzan just sat there looking back with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

~~~

Bazuul had finally reached the Hall of Fortune of Fame. Someone came out to greet him, ordered an attendant to bring his horse to the stalls, and led him to one of the private rooms. As said before, Bazuul had been invited to have dinner here and meet some friends. He did not come here to take part in an auction or such. For an auction house to have such private rooms and serve dinner was not the norm, but as an establishment of the scale the Hall of Fortune and Fame had in the Seven Kingdoms, it was a given to serve aristocrats, nobles, and royals in such fashion.

Voices escaped the room. Apparently, there were already people inside. His entrance disrupted their conversation and attracted their attention to him. Tarek stood up and greeted him, his little brother Karim did the same. Emilia jumped him from the side in a half hug, and her little brother Eren pushed her back before he greeted his old friend. Ironically, the friends he made at the royal tournament, were the elder siblings of his older friends. Shu Huang was also present, Bazuul hadn't actually seen much of him ever since the former disqualified in the third trial. "Maybe this loss hit him harder than he let on. "Looks like this little Huang has more ambition than his carefree manner gives away." He thought in a chuckle.

Bazuul took a seat and joined the group. They ate and drank for hours, and slowly their minds became clouded by the food and a drink called Nightshine. It was made with the juice of the mistleberry and mixed with alcohol. The name came from the dark blue color of the mistleberry. They recounted the stories and their experiences in Leizyr, and as their intoxication grew, so did the exaggerations in their adventures. The occasional lightning traps in the second trial became a cave complex akin to a lightning hell. The same went for the streets of Leizyr, and each competitor seemed at least two stages stronger in their narrations. Everything was a bit more dangerous, a little stronger, and certainly much grimmer than it actually was. Then again, maybe that was the case for them, and Bazuul's experience was just vastly different. After all, the second trial was, apart from opening the Will of Noxae, like a walk in the morning. He had also met with Elanar, something he didn't think would happen at all. So, in the end, while for most competitors, the hidden dragon trials and royal tournament were paved with adversity, for him, it was a joyous time.

His third encounter with the shadow of the blade had almost been forgotten, drowned by memories and emotions connected to someone else.