Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

"Lucius! Lucius of Pelith, please report to the front of the line!"

Laris stood beside The Marks waiting for the boy to come forward. They claimed they had seen him and the rosters said he was picked up in Lelvern and would be present today, so all they had to do was wait.

What he saw approaching him was unexpected. It was a young teen, no more than fourteen like Mia said. He had jet-black hair and had two differently colored eyes, one gold and one silver. His teeth were also indicative of a mixed bloodline with a beastman.

On his hip was a scabbard for a standard longsword, though the hilt sticking out of it did not match the blade design. The boy also did not exhibit any of the telltale signs of a teen sent to the field of battle. There was typically a lot more anxiety, worry, and/or fear.

The boy before him had none of those emotions on his face. In fact, the more concerning thing was the sheer lack of expression. It was as if nothing mattered, not in a "given-up" way, but like he could not be bothered by the circumstances of reality. Something about it made Laris shudder internally a little.

When the boy stopped in front of the recruit organizer, Laris called out. "Lucius. You come with a recommendation from Mia, leader of the famous band of adventurer's known as The Marks." Laris paused for effect. "They wish for you to join their group for a variety of tasks I will be assigning. However, before I accept you, I have a task for you to complete.

You must survive ten minutes in a fight with my son without dying or losing consciousness."

Several of the soldiers and other personnel listening to the decree flashed concerned gazes at the boy. This made Laris chuckle because his son was a powerful warrior of the Intermediate Rank. He was verging on breaking into the Advance Rank and it was only a matter of time before he completed that transition.

In the old man's mind, it was only right that he set such high requirements because the boy would either die or suffer severe injury here, or worse on the battlefield. Lucius had no reaction to the announcement, but that made sense because he had no idea who Laris' son was.

"Fine. Shall we do it now?"

"Hmph, fine. Someone, fetch Dravel! Bring him to the staging area, he has a challenger."

Lucius stayed in place while the spectators created a pseudo-ring where the match would be held. Several people gasped as the crowd parted and a massive man wielding a large hammer approached. He was easily over six feet tall and looked as though his body were pure muscle.

Laris eyed Lucius haughtily, but was still met with the same empty expression. Per the paperwork, Lucius was a Beginner Rank. Mia was actually surprised to here he had ranked up, which meant she had every intention of bringing along a Novice Rank.

"Marks allowed? No penalty on death?" Lucius asked calmly.

"Free for anything." Dravel grinned.

A self-appointed referee stepped between them before dropping a cloth to start the fight. The moment it hit the ground, Dravel had leapt towards the much smaller opponent. Dirt, grass and dust scattered behind him, bathing spectators in filth.

Lucius did not seem to move and prepared to meet the strike. "[Tempestas: Thunderclap]"

Instead of the typical firing of the spell, Laris watched as mana seemed to concentrate in the boy's sword. Seeing that his face turned white and he slowly turned to look at Mia, who had a massive grin on her face. The smile did not reach her eyes, yet she still seemed so happy.

"Did I forget to mention he can use Mana Manipulation techniques?"

He watched helplessly as the boy's sword collided with the face of Dravel's hammer. A massive clap of thunder made the ground shake as Dravel was thrown backwards a few dozen feet, grinding to a stop in the dirt.

"[Tempestas: Lightning Charge]"

Electricity crackled around Lucius' body, making his hair stand on end. For this spell, the energy typically focused on the legs and feet, but to Laris' trained eyes, it seemed to flow through his entire body.

"[Forsaken Arts: Mutilation]"

It was at this point that Laris finally focused his attention on the weapon Lucius was holding. It was a machete, and the fact that the boy had mentioned Forsaken Arts solidified that this skill he was using was dangerous. On top of that, instead of gold, the weapon glowed red. Soon this energy combined with the magic spell to cause red lightning to pulse around the boy's body.

"Oh, that's new." Mia said with wonder. "It doesn't feel like Mana Manipulation anymore…its more like something else."

Laris gulped. He had witnessed Channeling once in his life and it was terrifying. This was very reminiscent of that, however it was not true Channeling. It was close enough to be a threat.

"Stop!" Laris shouted leaping in front of Lucius. "You win the duel. Please… don't kill my son."

Lucius' eyes glowed with power and intensity. They were the eyes of a man preparing to kill, and mercilessly. Laris could not let such a person near his son, not with those skills. Dravel's death would be painful, slow, and without shred of dignity or honor.

"Mia, Lucius may join your group." Laris decreed in resignation.

Lucius did not power down his abilities, despite the decree. "The match is over when one of us dies or gets knocked unconscious. He has done neither."

Lucius began to advance on Dravel who was still trying to get out of the dirt. The impact of the spell and the ground bent his arm at an odd angle.

"Stand up so I can strike you down." Lucius ordered.

"I yield." Dravel muttered.

Laris could hear the pain in his son's voice. Not from the broken bones, but from the embarrassment of loss. The aura pouring off of the younger and smaller of the opponents felt oppressive.

"Fine."

Laris was genuinely concerned that he would not accept such a win condition. Everything about the boy's presence screamed death, as if the moment he took the field, his intention was to end his opponent's life. For Laris, that alone would have been proof enough that he was ready for the task. Everything after was icing on the proverbial cake.

"Winner, Lucius!" Laris yelled quickly.

A couple of healers and Dravel's friends rushed out to help him stand and reset his broken bones. If they weren't set before healing magic set in, he might lose some functionality of the damaged areas. The old man wanted to make sure his son was okay, but first he needed to ensure that everything would be alright with Lucius and The Marks.

Mia had a strange look on her face. It seemed she also was surprised by the outcome of the event.

"You seem different now." She said towards the boy.

"I'm the same as I have always been."

"Mmm… that girl… Rena, was she your handler or something?" Mia asked. Laris perked up at that, if the boy had someone that could control his tendencies, it would be a great boon to them on the field of battle. As things stood, the boy was strong, but a loose cannon.

"Rena is a daughter of the Petra family. I did do my best to not reflect negatively on her house." The boy's tone was emotionless and clearly practiced.

Despite that, Laris sighed. There was no way in hell that he would be able to get a daughter of the Petra family to the battlefield. He would have to find other ways to ensure this boy's loyalty… and sanity.

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