"Your Highness, the wielder of Joyeuse has arrived."
"I will be there in any moment."
After spending three hours pondering how she should pursue her "first love," Tinuviel finally calmed herself down. No matter how shook she was by the revelation, she needed to be professional when greeting the guest.
"Let's go."
Nodding her head at Nissena, she headed out to meet the representative of Frachtenhein with Nissena on her side.
Just like Braxtein, Frachtenhein Kingdom provided its representative with an army. Tinuviel could already feel the fierce aura they were exuding from afar.
The amount of soldiers the wielder of Joyeuse commanded was thrice the amount of the soldiers Basil commanded. Unlike Basil's soldiers however, his soldiers were not sensible enough to adjust their pressure.
They were, after all, there to help, not to declare a war.
"How impolite! They are the one asking for help, but we are the one who have to wait."
"It is to be expected, Lord Cyane. There is no way people who live in this kind of place know something called manners."
The conversation between the wielder of Joyeuse and his second-in-command made the ears of the Elven guards twitch. Although they knew their Tribe Chief was the one to blame, they just couldn't stand being trash talked.
"I am sorry for making you wait, Sir Cyane Candlestone."
Even before one of the Elven guards said something unwanted however, Tinuviel came to placate all of them and prevent the situation from escalating.
"The days have been hectic for me—I really needed the rest." Tinuviel shook her head shamefully before bowing lightly. "This is very embarrassing, so please forgive me for my insolence, Sir Cyane."
"All good." Cyane waved his hand lightly. "As a Knight, I am not really a fan of formality. As long as you do feel sorry about it, I can easily brush that blunder aside."
"Thank you for your understanding." As Tinuviel gave Cyane her realistic but fake apologetic smile, she thought, 'This man's ego is greater than his power.'
Observing him for the first time, she also couldn't help sneering inwardly. 'His mediocre appearance aside, he isn't even as charismatic as Basil. Why does he act all mighty when someone who is better than him doesn't even flaunt his power?'
Cyane Candlestone was a young Noble and a Knight. He had a shoulder length green hair that was let loose, a sufficiently manly face, a muscular body, and a height of 190 centimetres.
Although not extremely good looking, Cyane was undoubtedly attractive. Tinuviel had just picked the wrong person to compare him to—Basil.
Hailed as a genius since he was a child, Cyane was a little bit stuck up; he knew he was superior to most people, so he hardly treated people with respect. This side of him got even worse after the King entrusted him the Royal Family's heirloom, Joyeuse.
"Well, you can follow me, Sir Cyane. I will guide you to the Manor I have prepared for you."
No matter how unlikeable she found Cyane, Tinuviel still maintained her smile. She led them to the place where they would sleep in like a good host she was, all the while holding back herself from telling them they were scaring the citizens with their pressure.
"Oh, what a fancy Manor! Just a perfect place for the Kingdom's representative to stay."
"I have to agree, Lord Cyane. Let me take my words back—the Elves do have manners."
Upon reaching the Manor, Cyane couldn't help nodding his head in appreciation. Not even his Manor that he was proud about could match the grandeur the Manor in front of him had.
Curious, he turned his head to the Manor on the opposite side of the Manor he was going to stay in. He could feel well concealed yet strong presences covering the field before the Manor, so he wondered if it was what he thought it was.
Pointing his finger to the Manor, he said, "There. Is that...?"
"Yes, Sir Cyane. The Braxtein's Golden Apple, Master Basil Pacifer is staying there," Tinuviel confirmed with a nod.
"Where are his soldiers?" He wondered why there was no one camping in the field.
"It seems that Master Basil commanded them to take a rest in the huts."
As soon as he heard the answer, Cyane couldn't help scoffing. "Hmph! What kind of nonsense is that? What kind of Commander spoils his soldiers? Soldiers are built different! They can sleep everywhere that has a stable ground."
"Owuh!"
Tinuviel, who was about to remind Cyane that his soldiers were living people too, was slightly surprised by the enthusiastic cry of the soldiers. They agreed with Cyane greatly, which made her wonder how they normally treated themselves.
p Shaking her head, Tinuviel said, "Very well, Sir Cyane. You must be tired from your journey, so I will leave you to your own devices. For the meantime, I am going to call the Elders and prepare for the meeting we will have in a few hours."
Tinuviel's courteousness had run out; she didn't want to give Cyane a brief tour around the Manor, thus she wanted to immediately stay away from him. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to handle his stuck up behaviour.
Luckily, Cyane didn't even mind her leaving. "Of course, you may leave now, Lady Tinuviel. I also want to pay a visit to my fellow representative now." Unfortunately for her, what she heard next wasn't very pleasing to her ears.
"I think I am going to stick around a little bit."
"Hahaha," Cyane laughed pretentiously. "Don't worry, Lady Tinuviel, I won't cause a ruckus that may disturb the peace of the people in your territory."
Tinuviel didn't say anything, and merely looked at Cyane stoically. Silence immediately filled the space between the two; it was only broken after Cyane shrugged and told Tinuviel to come along.
Walking towards the field where Basil's Manor was located, Cyane was hiding a smirk. He had heard a lot of things about his rival (Basil), and he wanted to see for himself if said rival was as amazing as the rumours claimed to be.
Boom!
As soon as his foot touched the field, Cyane was shocked to find a Barrier surrounding the field. He almost fell on his knees as the pressure put a great force on his body, and he was extremely embarrassed because of it.
Luckily for him, he had left his soldiers behind. Had it not been the case, he would've lost his face.
"I think it is not good to trespass," Cyane remarked after retracting his foot. "Do you perhaps know something about this?" He asked as he turned to Tinuviel.
"No. I don't know anything about this." Tinuviel shook her head lightly, half bewildered half astonished.
Clicking his tongue as he thought he would never get the chance to meet his rival before the meeting, Cyane couldn't help a smirk the moment he noticed the door of the Manor was opened. At the same time, the soldiers also came out of their huts.
"Well, here we go."
Tinuviel leered at Cyane coldly for his remark. As she expected, he wanted to cause a ruckus.
"Greetings, representative of Braxtein! I, Cyane Candlestone from Frachtenhein, am here to pay you a visit as a sign of friendship."
It was slightly unsavoury for Cyane that he had to be that courteous towards someone who wasn't even right in front of him; but he knew he needed to do that, otherwise he would never be allowed to step into the field.
Silence filled the space for a couple of seconds; until Basil, Iliana, and Ione walked out of the door. The three of them looked so otherworldly as they strode towards Cyane—even said Knight was a little bit speechless looking at the scene.
As Basil waved his hand lightly, a gap was made in the Barrier. Cyane could tell he was already allowed to enter, but he couldn't bring himself to.
'This... This pressure! As expected of my rival—what a strong pressure!'
He was blown away by the pressure Basil was passively exuding. He could barely feel Basil's Qi, but Basil's presence alone could already make his heart race.
"Greetings, representative of Frachtenhein, I am Basil Pacifer."
Basil stopped four metres from Cyane. His greeting awakened Cyane him from his thought, prompting said Knight to step forward, and extended his hand.
"A pleasure to meet you."
"A pleasure to meet you too."
Cyane, who had thought he could still look impressive in front of Basil, felt like a child. Their difference in body size aside, Basil's gaze on him really made him feel small.
He was as thrilled as he was terrified to find Basil up to the rumours. His hands immediately felt itchy—he wanted to take Joyeuse out as soon as Basil let go of his hand.
"My view has been broaden." He, of course, didn't do anything stupid like that. "I am ashamed of myself for thinking Basil Pacifer was only amount to the wielder of Durendal. The rumours don't even do justice to how impressive you actually are."
'Huh? He is... Actually a good person?!' Tinuviel, who could tell Cyane really meant his words, was floored.
"Your King will not be too happy if he ever hears what you said to me just now," Basil remarked casually. "To him, you are invincible, after all."
"Ha-ha-ha. Our King indeed views me too highly, but the fact that I am invincible in our Kingdom is still undisputed." Cyane smiled emptily. "Besides, being impressive doesn't mean you can top me, Sir Basil."
Boom!
Cyane's Qi Pressure swept over Basil, Iliana, Ione, and the soldiers who were standing behind him. The ground cratered as it couldn't handle the sheer pressure Cyane was exuding, but none of the people were fazed much to his surprise.
The soldiers were actually surprised, but they soon realized Basil had just countered the pressure with his. It still boggled their mind regardless; they knew Basil's level of Mastery was lower than Cyane's.
"I can't really expect no less from the wielder of Joyeuse, can I?" Basil remarked with a small smile.
Not knowing what to do, Cyane retracted his pressure and stared at Basil silently. He was extremely bewildered.
"I am going to resume my training, so let us meet again at the meeting."
Basil was still smiling. It looked so warm and welcoming, Cyane couldn't help thinking he was just a naturally good person.
... At least, that was until Basil patted his shoulder twice.
Boom! Boom!
Two pats—Basil merely gave his shoulder two pats. These two pats, however, didn't only almost make him lose consciousness, but also almost crushed his soul; the Qi Pressure was absurdly terrifying.
As Basil walked away and commanded the soldiers to return to their huts, Cyane was immediately convinced Basil wasn't someone he could mess with. He had learnt it the hard way.