A New Encounter

For generations, every prince and princess of age was sent to one place!

Mystic Villay Academy.

To some kingdoms, the academy was a place to make connections. To others, it was where young royals sharpened their magic and proved themselves worthy of the throne.

But two kingdoms had never cared about either.

The Luminous Realm, kingdom of light.

And the Eternal Night Kingdom, kingdom of darkness.

Their rivalry was so old that no one remembered how it had started. They fought over territory, influence, magical achievements, and sometimes things so ridiculous that the other kingdoms had stopped asking why.

That was why Mystic Villay Academy had earned another name.

The Rivalry Academy.

Every year, the academy held an Arena competition. The winning kingdom would rise in rank and, if victorious enough, could claim the title of Supreme Kingdom.

This year was different.

Both rival kingdoms were sending their firstborn.

Ray Alderheart.

Eighteen years old. First prince of the Luminous Realm.

And—

Max Obsidian.

Eighteen years old. First prince of the Eternal Night Kingdom.

Their families expected one thing.

Victory.

Ray, however, had a different plan.

He wanted friends.

He wanted adventure.

And, preferably, he wanted to survive long enough to convince everyone that their ridiculous rivalry needed to end.

Which was exactly why he was currently climbing over the palace wall.

“Easy… easy…”

Ray glanced down.

Very far down.

“Okay. Maybe not that easy.”

He jumped.

He landed.

Then immediately rolled down a bush.

“Ow.”

He stood, brushing leaves from his clothes.

“Perfect. Nobody saw that.”

A guard walked past him.

Ray froze.

The guard kept walking.

Ray smiled proudly.

“See? Genius.”

Unfortunately, the first part of his journey proved that genius did not always mean competent.

Three hours later, Ray had walked in the wrong direction twice, nearly activated four traps, fallen into one, and accidentally set off his own smoke bomb.

Yet somehow, he made it into the Eternal Night Kingdom.

His newest invention—a camouflage mask—had actually worked.

“Finally,” he whispered. “My creations are useful.”

He slipped into the palace and eventually found the room he had been searching for.

Max Obsidian.

Ray opened the door.

A short dark haired figure stood with his back turned, surrounded by glowing symbols carved across the floor.

Ray took one step forward.

Crack.

Something beneath his shoe broke.

Max’s head snapped around.

An arrow flew through the air.

Ray dropped.

The arrow struck the wall behind him.

“HEY!”

Max reached for his sword.

“Who are you?”

Ray raised both hands.

“Wait! We can talk about this!”

“You broke into my room.”

“I can explain.”

“You interrupted my magic circle.”

“I can also explain that.”

“You have exactly three seconds.”

Ray swallowed.

“Okay, but before you kill me, I just want to say something.”

Max’s eyes narrowed.

“What?”

Ray smiled nervously.

“You’re actually prettier than I expected .”

Max’s expression went blank.

Silence.

Max’s sword rose.

Ray’s smile turning nervous.

“Okey… that was probably the wrong thing to say.”

Max stepped forward.

Ray stepped backward.

Then his heel caught on something.

Snap.

A net shot upward and wrapped around him.

Ray stared at the ceiling.

“…You have got to be kidding me.”

Max slowly lowered his sword.

For the first time, max found something amusing enough that a smile slipped off.

It wasn’t full hearted one though.

“That was easy.”

Ray’s heart sank.

“Why do I feel like you’re enjoying this?”

Max looked at the trapped prince.

“Because I am.”

And somewhere beneath the palace, something ancient began to awaken.

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