Arden was unchained again and by Bellum's side in the spacious part of the carriage that wasn't his. At the moment, they were watching the prince carry Arden’s stand-in down one of the many streets of Silverbrook.

  The city itself was not what Arden expected. Admittedly, he hadn’t seen much from the inside of the carriage, but what he had seen was surprising. When Nux and Bellum had called Silverbrook a village, Arden was expecting a village.

  To Arden, a village was a small town, normally rural, that consisted of a few hundred residents. Maybe a few thousand. The people were friendly, both with each other and with outsiders.

  To Nux, a village was apparently closer to a city.

  Silverbrook was situated alongside a river, and as was the case with most of history's civilizations, the water source made the city incredibly densely populated.

  White buildings made of stone lined the cobble streets. Silver lamp posts with blue glass lined each of the streets as numerous people walked beneath them. None of the lights were on, as it was only midday. Arden had no doubt that this city was incredibly beautiful at night, perhaps even more so than during the day.

  It was almost pretty enough to take Arden’s mind off of the fact that he had been endangered by a doppelganger again. Almost.

  ‘I would have done the same thing if it meant saving Sya. Doesn't make me any less bitter at having it directed at me, though.’

  A knock at the door of the carriage made Bellum snap his head around to face it. He sighed and approached it, mumbling under his breath.

  “I wasn't paying attention. I should have seen them coming.”

  “Yeah, you suck.”

  Arden said with amusement, knowing that Bellum couldn't spare the time to hit him. Instead, Arden settled in to watch the scene that was beginning to unfold for the fourth time.

  Bellum opened the door and stood in it, preventing anyone from seeing Arden, and said the same thing that he had said several times before to those who approached the carriage in an attempt to curry favor with the prince.

  “I've told you before, sirs, that the prince is not here at the moment. No, we are not planning to visit the Merja representative. Yes, I'm sure. No, we won't be staying long. The night, at most. No, the prince doesn't want any of your belongings, so put them away. Yes, I have the authority to speak for the prince.”

  Arden shook his head with a smirk on his face. It was nice to see Bellum struggle with the local aristocrats.

  Several voices spoke over each other as they tried to make their cases. Bellum's face showed no emotion as he nodded along to what they were saying. At this point, it was just a formality to make the people seem like he was listening. In reality, he would have loved nothing more than to slam the door in their faces. Every word spoken by the sycophants in front of him annoyed him more and more.

  He held back, however, as nobles had to take proper care of their image. And the crownguard of the crown prince ignoring or being hostile to the local powers would likely lead to something worse than mere image problems.

  As the bureaucrats' words went in one ear and out the other, Bellum had an idea. Earlier, when he met up with the prince after securing the stand-in, he told Nux that he had asked around, and found that brothels were outlawed in Silverbrook. Something to do with “tainting the silver flows,” according to one man.

  Naturally, the prince was unhappy with there being no easy way to have a woman, and neither was Bellum. But now, he had a solution.

  He silenced the bureaucrats and began to speak.

  “There is something you can do if you want to meet the prince. As I’ve said, we will only be here for a small while. Tonight, throw a party or host a banquet in Silverbrook Gardens. The venue is big enough and accessible enough to everyone that there will be no problem.”

  One of the men spoke up.

  “Will the prince show up?”

  “While the objective of our journey is classified for now, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the prince will enjoy a lighthearted gathering. If you truly want to appear good to the prince, then invite anyone and everyone, regardless of status.”

  The same man scoffed.

  “We have to walk among commoners? How unbecoming.”

  At that moment, Arden felt Bellum’s aura sharpen as it spread around the carriage car. Everyone there felt it, like it was a cold wind.

  Arden began to focus now. This was something that begged for his attention.

  The noble who asked the question felt the sharp energy at his throat, threatening to cut him. It was suffocating. He could feel the promise of violence, barely restrained and begging to be released.

  “It would be wise to revise that statement, sir,” Bellum said in a deep voice. “The prince enjoys the company of everyone, regardless of race, sex, or status. If you want to leave a good impression, then throw the damn party, and leave your statuses at the door.”

  The energy receded as if it had never been there, and Bellum stood waiting for a response. The noble pointed his finger at Bellum.

  “You dare threaten me!? It would seem that the prince doesn't properly train his dogs!”

  “That wasn't a threat, sir Zash.”

  Bellum took a notebook out of his pouch of holding that also held Arden’s cuffs and keys. With it, he took a pen as well. He opened the notebook and began writing, narrating aloud what he was writing as he wrote it.

  “Zash…Barony…”

  Baron Zash scowled.

  “What are you doing, dog?”

  Bellum closed the notebook and deposited both it and the pen back into the pouch on his hip.

  “Writing down who's family will be sanctioned.”

  Veins bulged on the baron's forehead.

  “You can't do that! Only members of the royal court can strip the authority of noble families!”

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  “Correct. But as the crownguard personally selected by his majesty Nux Valtorin, my opinion holds a lot of weight. I can tell him to consider it and he will. As the sanctioning process progresses, your value will plummet. The people beneath will wonder what you did to warrant sanctioning and leave.”

  Bellum stared at the silently and paling nobleman before continuing.

  “That was a threat. I recommend you take my previous advice to heart, and prepare for the festivities where everyone is welcome.”

  One of the other nobles who agreed with the prince's sentimentality answered for the stunned Baron Zash.

  “Very well. We’ll take our leave now and begin preparation. It will begin at 8 tonight.”

  Bellum watched the men leave drenched in nervous sweat. Clearly being threatened by the crown prince’s crownguard was not something they expected. When they were gone, he shut the door and exhaled.

  “Damn them.”

  ‘That was actually pretty damn cool.’

  Bellum noticed Arden looking at him and promptly threw a right hook that impacted his forehead, sending Arden to the floor with his brain rattled.

  ‘That wasn't.’

  “Don't you dare look at me like that, monster. Try to corrupt me with your demonic influence, and you'll be dead.”

  Arden sat up and leaned back against Nux’s couch. He held his hand to his forehead and grimaced when they made contact.

  He wanted to tell Bellum what he said earlier about corrupting influences a second time, but let it slide.

  The room started spinning around him, and he was unsure if it was due to the effects of potion fatigue or a good old fashioned concussion. Regardless, Arden seethed at the feeling of hopelessness that he hoped he had left behind.

  Arden glared at Bellum, and the latter nodded his head.

  “That's better. If you look at me, make sure it's with hatred.”

  “You don't need me to glare at you for you to know that I hate you.”

  Arden slowly stood up, still propping himself up on the couch with his hand and looked out the window, just as Nux and the stand-in rounded a corner. Arden clicked his tongue as they disappeared from sight and slowly made his way back to his room. Every step worsened his condition.

  He stumbled into his room and pulled the door shut before collapsing on the bed. By the time he landed on the soft bed, his bout of dizziness reached the zenith. The world seemed like a tidal wave as it washed over him.

  He rolled over onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. Just the movement of moving through the shifting world sent jolts of pain through his head. White noise, discordant and static, rang in his ears, furthering his already debilitating condition.

  Left with no other option, Arden shut his eyes tight, held his hands over his ears, and hoped for this event to end quickly. Even doing that didn’t diminish the effects by much.

  He didn’t know how much time had passed when the bout ended. All of a sudden, the sensation stopped. His ears stopped ringing, and the world felt solid.

  Arden gasped for air and opened his eyes wide. He sat up with one of his hands clutching his chest. After several minutes of panicked breaths like he had just been saved from drowning, he collected himself and began to take deep breaths to calm himself down.

  ‘What the hell was that? That was worse than yesterday!’

  Arden looked at the clock. It was now 2 in the afternoon, meaning only around half an hour had passed since Bellum’s interaction with the nobles.

  ‘Longest half hour ever.’

  Arden sat with his back against the headboard and looked around. He wasn’t chained up, which was a plus, or it would be if he and Bellum weren’t separated by a door that wasn’t even locked.

  The fact that he was surrounded by enemies at every moment in this world showed him just how much he needed to improve. He couldn’t just sit around waiting for an opportunity to strike. He needed to force opportunity and turn it into fortune. And while there wasn’t much he could do to even improve himself because he lacked the environment to train, there was one thing he could train.

  His mind.

  Arden’s eyes traveled to the door, but he wasn’t looking at it. He was looking past the door, towards Bellum who had given a display of power that would aid in Arden’s training.

  Arden now had a proper display of aura that he could train with.

  Arden had felt the auras of certain individuals before, most notably Maverick Rogier, Frozhe, and the doppelganger. Frozhe’s aura control was sloppy at best, while the other two were not human. Admittedly, Arden wasn’t completely human anymore, but he believed that having a human baseline would be the best way to learn.

  A baseline like Bellum.

  ‘Vera would like that I was doing this.’

  Arden focused intensely on the feeling he had felt when Bellum unleashed his aura. It was cold, potent, and solid, but oddly fluid. When Arden felt it recede, he noticed that it didn’t completely dissipate. There was a trace feeling hovering around Bellum.

  ‘No, not around.’

  It was Bellum. His presence. His existence.

  It wasn’t like a Satellite, which were tools. Aura was an extension of one's being, which made sense to Arden. Bellum wasn’t using a special power or tool, just the power of himself.

  Vera had stressed that the stronger a person was, the larger their aura was. She also told him that aura training was something that they would have to do to prevent any instances of harming innocents.

  Unfortunately, Arden didn’t yet have the power that allowed aura to act as a physical force. That would only happen once he completed the trial and became a Starborn. What that meant is that he wouldn’t be able to put the training into practice. The meditation technique that Vera taught him was for circulating Stellar essence, not refining his aura.

  At that thought, he realized something about Bellum’s aura.

  ‘How is that possible?’

  There was no power. No Stellar Essence. Even the weakest Celestial and Starborn had a small amount of energy that fed their presence. It was what gave them their power.

  Bellum, however, had no energy but power was still produced. It was like an impossible engine, turning nothing into electricity or thermal energy.

  ‘If there is no special power for aura, then why do we need to have Stellar Essence to have aura back home? And how is Bellum able to attack with his aura if he is essentially a mundane?’

  Countless ideas ran through his mind.

  ‘Is it because of magic?’

  ‘Is it different from the aura that I'm familiar with?’

  Eventually, one question rocked Arden to his core.

  ‘If he is able to use that power despite having no essence-like energy himself, then how strong is he?’

  He took the thought one step further.

  ‘Then how strong is Nux Valtorin?’

  Arden already knew that the prince was strong. He wasn't able to react either time when Nux made his move with his sword. But coupling his already advanced power with magic and whatever allowed use of aura would elevate him beyond even Vera.

  ‘But Vera is the same! She's a mundane, but is able to use actual abilities as well!’

  Arden thought he was on to something, but then remembered something important about Vera’s powers. Whenever she used them, she would be left exhausted, or most recently, she was left near death.

  Bellum experienced nothing of the sort after using his power.

  Arden clicked his tongue.

  “Everything is so confusing now…”

  He pushed the confusing thoughts out of his mind. The world was still on a one way road towards oblivion in the form of the StarFall.

  Arden doubted that solving the mystery would help him avert the end. Even if he did figure out the difference between Bellum's and Vera's powers, just knowing didn't mean that Arden could actually put them into practice.

  “Just focus on surviving. Everything else is secondary.”

  This was a trial. Survival meant passing, which meant returning home with a suite of powers.

  And Arden promised himself that he would survive. Just like he had all of this time.