The Runic Alchemist

Damian entered the inner castle, led by a beautiful maid. This wasn't the path to the throne room, which meant the matter wasn't official. It seemed more casual.

The room he stepped into screamed wealth. Its ornate designs and lavish furniture radiated class. Despite being adorned mostly with vines and flowers, the room managed to showcase the immense wealth of the Elven palace. It was the perfect space for hosting guests or conducting negotiations.

Just as he entered, Damian noticed Sam, Einar, and the princess seated together. The trio raised their eyebrows at his arrival but didn't seem overly surprised. It was the first time all of them had been summoned together like this.

Damian hadn't seen the princess since that day in the throne room, when the marriage proposal had been brought up. He felt a twinge of awkwardness. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel insulted or inadequate. His refusal had nothing to do with her—it was his own issues. Damian had tried to convey that sentiment back then, and with his limited social skills, he believed they'd understood to some extent. Still, the fact remained: he had said no to her.

Only a few members of the royal family had been present during that discussion, and the matter had remained private. Even Sam and Einar were unaware, and Damian had no intention of gossiping about it.

The princess regarded him with her usual blank expression, her doll-like Elvish features betraying only mild curiosity about his presence and nothing more. She was one of the rare Eldorian family members with golden hair instead of the characteristic green. As far as Damian knew, hair color held no practical significance, though the older generation seemed to all have green hair, so it wasn't a very good thing in their eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked, as if offended by his presence.

Damian lowered himself onto a padded wooden sofa opposite the trio. They were all seated together on a similar couch across from him.

"What are you doing here?" Damian retorted.

"We powerful people are often called for business," Sam replied smugly, "unlike peasants buried in their mountain of books who can't even level up."

"Weakling," Einar added with a mocking grin.

Ever since the two had achieved second-ranker status, they had been a pain in his ass. They never missed an opportunity to brag. Damian had expected it from Sam, but Einar, too, seemed to have been corrupted by his influence.

"Do you want to go?" Damian said, cracking his knuckles.

The two were undeniably strong. But with 80 out of his 100 stat points with his third job distributed across defense, agility, and other balanced stats, Damian was confident he could hold his own in a hand-to-hand fight against any ordinary second-ranker. And that wasn't even his specialty—his spells were his deadliest weapon. Still, Sam's enhanced lightning powers were formidable, and Damian wasn't sure he could win without going all out.

"See, Evrin?" Sam said, turning to the princess. "This is why this savage is not ready to enter high society.. He has no manners.."

"Yes, he doesn't care about a woman's consent at all," Einar added with mock indignation.

"You pieces of—" Damian began, but before he could finish, the door on the far side of the room opened.

The Queen of Eldoris, Velanoria Ardelis Eldorian, entered with her queen's guards and the third-ranker spellsword, Vidalia's cousin. Damian realized he didn't even know her name—he'd never thought to ask. That was so rude of him.

Damian rose alongside the others and offered a slight bow. He wouldn't have bothered, but after the proposal, he didn't want to give them any more reasons to dislike him.

The Queen gestured for the guards to remain outside. Only she and the spellsword entered, the door closing behind them. She took a seat on one of the padded chairs near their sofas, while the spellsword stood behind her, ever watchful.

For a few seconds no one said anything as an awkward silence hung in the air before the Queen finally spoke,

"I've summoned you all to relay some important information," She paused and looked at all their faces one by one, they were all paying full attention to her words. "As Evrin already knows, the Highsword Academy will hold its annual entrance exams three weeks from now. She will be competing, and as her guards, you two will join her. No official guards are allowed within the academy, so your participation is essential."

The Highsword Academy. Damian had once considered entering it himself but had since surpassed the need for its teachings. Still, He would have loved visiting their legendary library.

"Where is this place?" Sam asked.

"North of Ashenvale, in the island city of Edgeheaven," Einar replied eagerly, a note of reverence in her voice. "That's where the Obsidian Bastion is—the Highsword headquarters."

He had read about the famous Highswords too and could relate to her, those guys were like official heroes of people. Childrens and men alike. Not to mention they had the world's strongest people as their members, and were the highest power on this whole continent. All they did was kill monsters for them and save people when things went bad. All five kingdoms had to donate every year to them for their services, though that was just a custom - The Highswords never asked for anything. But the five kingdoms also understood that if they wanted it, no one could stop them, so they never broke the customs their ancestors had set. And of course, the famous highsword rankings. Most likely the reason for the queen to send her daughter there was also for her to get a good enough ranking. It was necessary for her to be recognized as a good warrior of her generation, being a princess, even if she didn't want to be a queen.

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The Queen turned to Damian and extended an envelope toward him. Confused, he took it and examined the seal: two crossed swords surrounded by laurel wreaths and intricate patterns, with the word

Highswords

inscribed in bold, medieval-style lettering.

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