"Sss.... its so fucking cold. More nkets here," a rather pale man with long white hair with blue streaks on both sides of his head said in annoyance while holding arge cup of piping hot tea.


    On the table ced over hisp as he sat in bed, wrapped in thick nkets like a giant worm, was a te full of treats – biscuits, muffins, hard choctes among other stuffs.


    The man gracefully picked up one of these at a time and expressed ss while eating them with his tea, profanities following afterwards as heined about the ungodly weather.


    "It is sir," a formally dresseddy said while sitting on a chair at the side of the bed. "At least for you."


    "You don''t need to retort every time. I''m perfectly fine grumbling to myself," the man said.


    The woman seated at the side of his bed shook her head, the brown, braided hair of hers that was tied into a bun shaking as well to emphasise how she thought about her master''s words.


    "Instead of insisting on murmuring to the obvious, shall we review the list you asked me topile, Master Aurolio?" the woman suggested.


    "Only after you add another nket, Idline," the man identified as Aurolio said while pointing a shaky finger at the woman who was named Idline.


    A sigh and a set of footstepster, another thick nket covered Aurolio from the head to the shoulders and back. The white haired man expressed some semnce of relief that was reced by a light quivering once again.


    "Go on," he said to Idline.


    The woman nodded as she pulled out a sheet from what seemed like a t file, many texts being methodically written along with symbols used to distinguish each point.


    "Of the individuals I have verified, to some degree, to surely be participating in the Premium Age Royale, I have noted eight figures, three of which you know, rest you do not," Idline said.


    "Start with those that I know."


    "Very well. At the top of the list is Vali Kinn of the Kinn Family."


    Aurolio continued to sip his tea before adding another spoon of sugar to it.


    "She already announced her interest in the game a while ago. d to know she hasn''t changed her mind. I have no interest in that nasty freak unless... Wait. She can''t be the one that fucking swindler, could she? He likes gender bending in his predictions to confuse people, doesn''t he?" Aurolio asked Idline with a light frown.


    "I highly doubt it, though I wish she had been the one. When was thest time you even entertained the idea of a woman in your bed, Master Aurolio?" Idline said with a teasing tone on her stern face.


    "Don''t start with me, Idline. I''ll fuck you up this time and take away your PRIVILEGES," Aurolio said while narrowing his eyes.


    Idline smiled and continued her report.


    "Very well. The next one on the list is Nexius Oldd of the Oldd Family. My sources confirmed that he intends to join the Premium Age Royale to impress his fiancé with his... incredible prowess."


    "If it weren''t for our alliance, I would have killed that womanising fuck. Am I the only one who sees that you lot are severely overrated?" Aurolio said while munching on another biscuit.


    Idline sighed and ignored Aurolio''sst question.


    "Thest one you should know is...." Idline paused. "...him."


    "Right. Multiple rumours said that he confirmed that he would join if this Royale was real, right? He''s somewhat interesting but I doubt it could be him either," Aurolio remarked while yawning, his tongue cleaning the sugar from his teeth.


    "He signed himself to a wealthy Family from the East. Don''t know its name yet. He''s been on a rather excessive killing spree though. Six fairlyrge families from the south were wiped out in one hour as soon as a bounty was setup for their heads. Apparently these Families were created by several bands of bandits for the Royale and someone didn''t like it. I heard everyone there died the same way, a deepceration from the shoulder to the side. Men, women, children and all."


    "That''s a killer for you. He hates wasting time. I like that about him. And the ones I don''t know?"


    "Well, it seems someone from the Academy has also signed a contract with a Family to participate in the Royale. A Mage."


    "Ha. Didn''t expect that," Aurolio said with a shortugh which made Idline smile for a brief moment.


    When this man wasn''t having panic attacks, he really reeked of confidence.


    "The rest are Maxim tbed from the tbed Family.


    Bonoli Fisher from the Fisher Family..."


    ....


    ***


    EverSword Estate.


    "The Venue is ready right?"


    "Yes. It is ready. Everything has been prepared.


    "The beast is secured? Firmly?"


    "Yes. The beast is firmly held down and gagged."


    "Good. Nothing must go wrong."


    A man with a look of pride on his face said.


    He dismissed his steward after getting the details to the finalisation of the elements surroundings the Venue.


    Many problems could arise from this, namely scrutiny by the Capital Service and the Purity.


    A Pdin Champion had been ced in Genhuis City to aid the Capital Service against possible attacks from the Green Neolists and Evenfall.


    This could be problematic, but Actuass had told him to be at ease.


    He knew the risks.


    Divination and Divine intervention itself.


    No one knew for sure if perhaps the Deities would intervene, but most people had lost faith. They only believed in the system and not these gods themselves.


    This man, the head of the EverSword House remained standing, staring intently at a mural that was on the wall.


    It wasrge, its height being 4,5 meters while its width was roughly half of that.


    It depicted the image of and that was ruptured, releasing a blood red glow like moltenva while a sea of green me poured down from a sky untainted by clouds.


    In between these two was the vague image of a man floating between the two eerie depictions.


    Surprisingly detailed it was, showing not a distraught face but one of... gratefulness.