Chapter - 28- fairy king

  In the underground prison of the mage tower, a mere 5 minutes had passed after the young prince drifted into the dreamscape.

  It was quiet all this time. The old tower master, Ryan, and Reed all sat around Leo. They were waiting for Leo to wake up.

  Suddenly, Leo's face started to sweat profusely, his eyes twitching, his tunic fully drenched. His arms and legs started convulsing. The old demon Gale stood up, his gaze sharp, voice sharper, and shouted, "Hold him down!"

  Ryan and Reed hurried from their place. They held down the arms and legs of Leo. Gale whispered some words. Runes formed in the air, then floated toward Leo's head and entered it. Then Leo's body relaxed. Gale let out a sigh of relief.

  Ryan spoke angrily, moving towards Gale, "What the hell was that?"

  Gale spoke, "It has started." Ryan asked, "What has?" Gale spoke, "Leo's fight has started."

  "What will happen now?" asked Ryan.

  Gale said, "No one knows. This spell was as old as the demon realm itself. In the runes we found it, it spoke that only by dying can one experience life."

  Ryan tensed and spoke out, "What does that mean? If something happens to him, don't blame me for not holding back, you sick fool."

  Gale held silence for a while, then spoke, "This was a spell used in the past to boost one's potential, to suppress one's strength for a long time, like placing a weight on him all these years. It's difficult to keep it down, but once he does, all his strength will be shown."

  Ryan calmed down, knowing full well Gale meant no harm. "Sorry, old man. I was flustered for a moment seeing my friend like that. What can we do?" he asked.

  Gale replied, "We can only trust your friend can overcome the so-called death."

  Inside the Dreamscape

  Leo stood in a dark room, 9×9×9 meters in dimension. All dark, no doors, only the mirror standing in the centre of the room. No signs of warmth or life.

  Leo tried to break out, banged the walls, shouted, but no response. Finally, after a long time of struggle, he decided to sit back, went near the mirror, and sat in front of it.

  Suddenly, the cold room turned freezing. The room shook violently. Leo was flustered, his footing started to slip, he fell to the ground, the mirror fell down and broke into 3 pieces. After a mere moment, the shaking stopped.

  Leo stood up. He was devastated. His only hope of leaving the prison—the mirror—had broken. He almost lost all hope. He turned his back on the mirror. Suddenly, a light illuminated the abyssal darkness, birthed from shattered hope.

  The fragments of the mirror glowed. Leo went near it. The fragments turned to ash, then all the shattered ash gathered together in the centre. That ash lit up in fire, and from the fire an ominous shadow, a demon-like figure, was born.

  A small one-foot figure, large round eyes closed, had horns, thin wings behind its back flapping to stay in the air.

  Leo went near the figure. It seemed like a faint miniature demon with wings, but cute all the same.

  As Leo approached the shadowy figure, its eyes opened up. The room lit up with a bright, blinding light. Leo was blinded, he closed his eyes. When he recovered, he slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a never-ending grassland spanning as far as the eye goes—an ocean of grass.

  The shadow fairy moved to him and spoke, "Centuries… it's been centuries since anyone was foolish enough to awaken me." Leo spoke, "Greetings, sir. I am Leo, a demon from the central kingdom."

  The fairy spoke, "Shhhhhhh. How dare a mere pest speak in the presence of the great Fairy King. Do not speak until spoken to."

  Leo could feel the weight behind the soft words. He felt that if he didn't follow, he would end up dead.

  The Fairy King spoke, his voice echoing through the whole realm, **"Honoring the pact with heaven, I shall grant you your trial.

  You are to attend 3 trials. If you fail any, you die.

  Now choose your first trial."**

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  Then he waved his hands. The 3 broken shards floated in his hands. Each glowed its own colour—white, black, and grey.

  "Choose your first trial," asked the Fairy King.

  Leo stepped forward. Leo spoke, "Respected King, I shall choose the white shard first."

  The Fairy King spoke, "The one who chooses the shard of light—go find life buried in death."

  As he said the words, the screen shifted, the space collapsed, the grassland sucked into a single point, sucking Leo along with it. Then Leo, who was sucked into it, was dropped from the sky.

  A dark sky. The land filled with magma. He was dropped on a piece of rock. Leo was confused but not injured in the slightest.

  The fairy appeared with a shining orb in his hand. He spoke, "This is the Soul of Fire. One who holds it shall be immune to fire, but it can grant immunity only for a limited amount of time. Now your mission is to go find a bracelet which has a socket to hold it. It's hidden in the depths of magma. Find it."

  Leo understood. The fairy waved his hands, and the gem floated to Leo's hands.

  "Now begin," said the fairy.

  Leo held it in his palms. A warmth surrounded him.

  Leo stepped forward. Only then did he notice the flames dancing on the belly of magma, its orange blaze lighting up the starless night. He then stood on the edge of stone. He dropped a stone from the crystal slab he stood on into the sea of magma. He saw the magma melting it down.

  He swallowed cautiously. He held the Soul of Fire tight in his mouth, then leapt into the magma. The blazing fire giant's touch was akin to a warm hug from a mother. The Soul of Fire worked.

  Then Leo quickly dove deep, searching for the necklace with his mana. Due to the dense magma, he could only reach about 3 meters around him. He searched until he had to take a breath. He returned to the surface, opened his mouth, and took a breath.

  The fiery flame in the gem had dimmed a bit. Leo understood there was no time. He swam fast, he rushed, searching the whole sea. The gem slowly lost its shine.

  In the final moment of its shine, Leo found an underground cave. He went through it as he was losing both his breath and the mana from the crystal. He rushed. All he could sense was the red-hot magma.

  Leo refused to go back—for if he didn't find it here, he was dead either way. The magma's heat started to affect the young demon, his clothes starting to burn. The orb in its final embers.

  Then Leo suddenly felt something—his mana detected air. He swam towards it. At the end of the tunnel was a pond.

  Leo quickly swam up as the orb was about to die. He took one final leap out of the pond of magma, landing on nearby land.

  In front of him was a cave. Too old. By the traces, there had been no life that had come here for at least a few centuries. The cave was covered in dust and magma ash. It was dark, but a slight light was seen at the end of the cave.

  Leo, with his burnt clothes, tired body, and a worn-out orb, steadied his breath. Then he stood up and followed the light.

  He walked for what seemed like hours before he finally reached the end of the cave. There it was—the bracelet floating on a stone slab, basking under the light born from the celestial children playing in the skies, illuminating the cold dark cave.

  He slowly walked towards it. The orb in his hand glowed again. He took the orb into its rightful socket and placed it. Then a flash—he was back on the grassland. The bracelet was on his wrist.

  The fairy stood there, "Congratulations. You succeeded. You are the first one to get it in only one day of search."

  Leo replied, "Thank you, sir. But what do you mean by saying only in one day?"

  The Fairy King said, "Many search for months. They reach the shore, wait for the orb to recharge, and dive in again."

  Leo asked, fury burning inside him, "So you mean the orb recharges over time?"

  Fairy King said, "I may have forgotten to mention it. Don't sweat the small stuff. If you had come back, you would have never found the truth."

  "What truth, sir?" asked Leo.

  The fairy spoke, **"The only way to find the key was by fully depleting the orb's power—to overcome your fear of death. To grant death to yourself who knows fear. Only then is a fearless demon born.

  But boy, I wonder. Here, all the participants had to stay for years before anyone could overcome the fear of death. Did you not fear for your life, or did you perhaps seek death?"**

  Leo replied, **"Sir, death is but the inevitable end. To fear what is inevitable is but funny. To seek what shall find you one day is the deed of a fool.

  To live following your soul's purpose, to try your best to fulfil it day by day—that is all one can ever do. To want more or to see less—there is nothing more foolish than that. It's a disrespect to the people whose hopes you shoulder.

  Hence, rather than denying the inevitable, it's better to fight what's in front of you to protect what's behind you."**

  The Fairy King said, "Boy, no… Leo. Good answer. Now go home, child. There are people waiting for you. Until next time—don't die on me."

  As soon as the Fairy King said these words, space warped. Leo lost consciousness.

  Slowly, the mana in the air gathered around Leo in the dreamscape. The giant ball of light Leo saw earlier—the chains on it collapsed. The light was liberated. The dark realm was now completely brightened.

  In the Underground Prison

  Ryan, Gale, and Reed were all waiting, sitting around Leo.

  Leo's eyes moved slightly. "There, he blinked," Ryan spoke out. All rushed to Leo.

  Then Leo slowly opened his eyes, took a deep breath. The mana in the air gathered around Leo's wrist, taking shape of the bracelet Leo saw in his dreams. Now the Soul of Fire rested on Leo's arms.

  Gale spoke, "Welcome back, Prince." Ryan spoke, "You sure took your time, great Prince Slowpoke." Reed, with hidden disdain, spoke, "So you survived. That's good."

  And Gale slowly leaned down. Leo went and held him and asked, "Are you alright, sir?"

  "The mana core of this old man was already damaged. Just a little rest, I will be up on my feet," saying this, the old man fainted on Leo's side.

  Suddenly, a sound was heard outside the cell. The gang looked out. A guard in his uniform flew across the room, hit the wall, and died spitting out blood.

  Footsteps were heard. They were getting loud. The gang stepped back in caution.

  A shadow appeared in front of the prison bars. Leo came forward. Then a figure appeared.

  A familiar voice sounded, "Seems like someone's in trouble." It spoke out, then—slash—a sword struck against the bars, cleaving them open.

  Who is the shadow? What happened to Gale? Where is Melody? What is the fate of the young demon? Stay tuned to find out!

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